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Christine A. (965 KP) rated 60-Second Brain Teasers Pencil-Free Puzzles: Short Head-Scratchers from the Easy to Near Impossible in Books

Sep 16, 2020

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

I enjoy brain teasers, mysteries, and puzzles. I enjoy the satisfaction you get when figuring something out that made you have to think. Too often, we just Google an answer and do not have to figure it out for ourselves. 60-Second Brain Teasers Pencil-Free Puzzles: Short Head-Scratchers from the Easy to Near Impossible by Nathan Haselbauer makes you think and is not a book to read in one sitting. Your brain would hurt too much if you did.

Haselbauer includes an array of puzzles that involves logic and some thought to figure out the puzzles. Some of them stumped me. None were too easy.

The puzzles varied in difficulty and process to solve them. Some are logic-based; others involve math. Either way, they are a fun way to use your brain and pass the time.

This book is reminiscent of the Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games I enjoyed so much while growing up. It would be perfect for a road trip or a family gathering.

Several reviewers suggested it helped their children start using their brains again to get ready for back to school.

It is part of a series of 60-Second Brain Teasers published by Fair Winds Press.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 9/15/20.

Kudos

Christine A. (965 KP) rated How To Bury Your Brother in Books

Oct 3, 2020

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

How To Bury Your Brother is the debut novel of Lindsey Rogers Cook. The title drew my eye, and I thought it would have been a humorous novel. Reading the description, you quickly realize it is not. After selecting the book, because of personal reasons, it was not easy to start reading this book. However, once I started, I could not put it down.

Alice thought she would see Rob, her estranged brother, again. His funeral happened first. Years passed, and while cleaning out her parents' house, she discovers a box of letters her brother wrote to other people. Devastated he did not write a letter to her, Alice is determined to learn about the brother she lost and discover why he left by delivering the letters and meeting people who knew Rob.

Doing so forces Alice to look at the dysfunctionality of her seemingly normal family, how Rob and his abandonment shaped her life, newly discovered family secrets, and secrets she has kept from her family and friends.

The well-written story is a fast read. Cook pulls from her Georgian background to accurately portray southern families, their interactions with each other, with the community, and the stories they tell.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 10/2/20.