Ötzi, what are you doing here?

Nonfiction books that are definitely not about Ötzi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural mummy, but which manage to find a relevant way to bring him up anyways.

Inspired by a weird little trend I've been noticing.

🏔️
📚️
🥶

created by The_BookishBug

last updated August, 2026

67

Comments

Ötzi really is just THAT famous, he must be in everything 💅

7

He's an icon 🙂‍↕️

1
avatar
Edited

Ngl this is such a genius idea Vic! I can’t believe that so many books managed to bring him up randomly haha Maybe that’s the push I need to finally read Entangled Life 🙂‍↕️

6

I think it was Night Magic and Rope mentioning him on my back to back reads that finally made me go "hm" 🤔 Three of these books bring him up just to talk about the fungi he had on his person 🍄‍🟫🍄

4

The fungi?? Scientist really are one of a kind😭🫪

3

I think the fungi refers to birch polypore which I think was used to carry embers for making fire

6

Ohhh ok that sounds a bit more reasonable. Super cool niche knowledge though, thank you!

3

I love learning and sharing mushroom facts!

2

Fearless, Sleepless, Deathless by Maria Pinto brings him up for this reason too! 😂 (It really is so cool though, so it does make sense that everyone wants to mention it. 🙂‍↕️)

3

Okay but this book sounds dope as hell, I will be collecting that for my interested shelf thank u

2

That’s exciting because it’s one of my absolute favorites! 💞

2

Ötzi is everywhere for me. I keep encountering mentions of him in my daily life over the past few months. Ötzi, Ötzi, Ötzi. Soon I will begin dreaming of Ötzi. Ötzi, Ötzi, Ötzi. And now I've come across this list!

6

This feels like a sign of something, but I have no idea what it could be 🤔

Oh and if you came across any nonfic books that mentioned him, feel free to share and I'll add it to the list!!

2

I will let you know ✨✨

2

Not me being confused that DJ Ötzi was so famous like “wow I mean Anton Aus Tirol is a banger but I thought he was kind of niche….” Actually never knew where he got his name lmfao!

4

Lmaooo I had no idea there was a DJ with the name 😆

2

I only know it because I went to a German language immersion camp as a teen and they played a lot of his music at the weekend dances lol. It’s stuck in my head forever now. 😭

2

this is such a funny list kfkskskd

2

It came to me in a flash of inspiration while I was baked last night 🤓

2

clearly that was a message from him specifically, he reached out to you through the ages to make sure we knew he was using that birch polypore to light one up

2

Ur so right

2

Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can't Look Away by Coltan Scrivner did! And I think Caitlin Doughty’s Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals about Death did too

2

yay yay yay thank you!

2

Who Ate the First Oyster? The Extraordinary People Behind the Greatest Firsts in History by Cody Cassidy features him as the first murder mystery!

2

Yesss, thank you, added!

1