Reference books

Random facts about what? Writing?

Wikipedia.

Stunted said:

Are there reference books for writers that are just full of random facts we might need? I think that might exist for medical info, but are there others?

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Stunted, that's just the problem. What one writer needs is different from what the next writer needs. You might need facts on a tasteless poison and I might need facts on how people talk in Wisconsin, or what everyday life was like on a WWII heavy cruiser. So there aren't really general books that cover everything (except, as someone else noted, encyclopedias online or in print.) As far as I know, there's nothing else similar.

The best solution I've found is to buy a few books on each area of specialized interest. For example, for the WWII navy novel, I've got a shelf full of books on WWII, the history of the navy, ships, etc.

On the other hand, if you are looking for info on grammar, style, language or writing, there are a ton of books out there.