Bigger than I thought
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I originally came across this book through the abridged version the 'Independent' newspaper gave away as part of their Brain Training promotion. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed being challenged so much with a book - and my brain was stretched too! The puzzles started-off at a fairly gentle pace but it wasn't not long before they begin to crank up and become more challenging. The range was great: logic, lateral, speed maths, sequential, memory, visual etc. Pretty much every type I should think. Talking to a friend of mine who also bought the book, it turned out that some puzzles I thought easy he had to work at, and others that I sweated over he strolled through. That, to me, is the sign of a good puzzle book. It's not set at some automatic, robotic, level.
What was the size of my brain at the end? I'm not telling, but it made my girlfriend chuckle [...]. One thing though, it does feel bigger now [...].
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A Brain Work-Out
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"How Big Is Your Brain?" is an innovative puzzle book that was introduced to me via the Independent newspaper through a series of samples and supplements. The book consists of a series of puzzles that test you through mathematics, memory and logic. A points system is used to work out how well you are doing, as if a certain puzzle can be correctly completed within so many minutes you score points based on that time.
The scores at the end of the book do not actually result in any sort of sensible answer though, so as to score an IQ or anything like that. Answers approximate something like "you have a brain the size of a planet - you should take over everything!" or "you are so stupid you should hand control of your life over to a chimpanzee." So do not buy this book under the assumption that the result of your neurone-busting calculations will be a scientific answer about your mental capabilities. Instead the book makes a point out of trying to make puzzles something fun as opposed to something that you force yourself to do for the sake of getting a sensible result that you can then put on your CV.
It could be said that the point of the book is to understand that your brain is in fact a muscle just like any other part of your body, the less it is used the more atrophied it becomes until you end up forgetful and unable to concentrate on anything (such as I was becomming). The book identifies through a somewhat dry humour that number and logic puzzles are not just a means of entertainment but are also good for exercising your brain and keeping it fit.
Thoroughly entertaining.
Though do note, you will need a stopwatch of some description...
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