A rich variety of puzzles

A very nice book, this one, with 100's of several types of puzzles, most of which I hadn't seen before including Corral, Deja Vu (a quite easy type for a change!), Eminent Domain, Alternate Corners, Variations of Battleships, Dominoes, End View, Hex Loops, Lighthouses, Minesweeper, Nurikabe, Rain Clouds, Skyscrapers (my own favourite), Spiral Galaxies, Snaky Tiles, Square Routes, Tents (another favourite), Fences, Pentomino Fences, Oxtails, Spokes & Number Place (Jigsaw Sudoku).<br /><br />Plenty of original entertainment for puzzle enthusiasts for a fiver! Absolutely recommended.

Many, hard puzzles

If you always skip the"Easy" and"Medium" sections of Kakuro books, this is the book for you.<br /><br />250 puzzles, all as hard as (or harder than) the hardest puzzles in other"from easy to hard" Kakuro books.<br /><br />The only bad thing about this book is that all the puzzles are at about the same difficulty level. Having some"extra hard" and"impossibly hard" would be even more fun.<br /><br />Even so, being able to have fun from the first puzzle more than makes up for this.

10 out of 32 ain't bad

This book would be great for kids. I bought it as a stress reliever for my husband. We had fun trying to make some of the designs but we did find some mistakes in the directions. I'm not sure a child would have been able to figure those mistakes out alone. He'd need an adult to help. There are 32 designs, but only about 10 of those truly make you feel accomplished when you finish making them and are"interesting" to look at when you are done. But 10 out of 32 ain't bad, is it?

Perfect to add to the bathroom library...

This is a great book whose home should be either one of two places: your bag (do on the bus on the way to work), or next to the loo (need I say more?) Either way, it ensures that all those minutes you usually spend thinking about nothing are productively spent training your brain.<br />It has all the obvious brain teasers, like Sudoku and memory tests, but my faves are the mental arithmetic-style ones. Perfect amount of questions for when nature calls!<br />The book has a useful introduction, and the brain teasers progress throughout the book from"Beginners" to"Advanced". Would definitely recommend!

Please sir, can we have some more?

As a personal trainer and speaker in creativity, I have found Paul's books all very useful and inspirational in trying to make my audiences become aware of how our minds are wired, and how we need to challenge assumptions and learn to 'think out of the box'. This book takes on where all the others left off, with an abundance of stories and situations, some from real life, that will turn any boring evening or presentation, into a fun filled 'mental aerobic' exercise. I have personally used the puzzles with various audiences of all ages, and always thoroughly enjoyed the laughter inevitably generated as suggestions are put forward in attempts to arrive at the correct solution. I will close this review with a comment made to me by a young female student at the end of yet another enjoyable 'lateral thinking puzzles ' session," Please, sir, can we have some more?" More indeed, I hope Paul and Des can keep the supply coming as readers appreciate the effect that lateral thinking can have in their lives.<br />

Informative and entertaining

Schott's Almanac is, amongst other things, a record of the newsworthy events and notable people of 2007, alongside lists of facts and figures of more general interest. There are reminders of things such as the Olympic logo controversy and the Big Brother Shilpa Shetty scandal, which although garnering miles of newspaper coverage at the time, are now rapidly fading from our memories.<br /><br />The great joy of this handsomely-presented book is its mix of earnestness and sense of fun. It's guaranteed to raise a smile or spike the interest in the quiet aftermath of Christmas meals and present-opening.

Absorbing and entertaining

This book kept my husband amused from Xmas till Easter on journeys and any spare moments.<br />Try a codeword in the Telegraph first, and if it suits you'll love this book.

An essential bible for Scrabble players at all levels

An easy-to-use ultimate Scrabble adjudicator. This fourth edition now reflects all new words in line with the latest edition of Chambesr dictionary and lets players get on with the delight of the game without resorting to argument over word acceptability. But as well as an arbiter, it's a great book for dipping into to pick up some seful words to play. My copy is already riddled with highlighter and I find fresh exotic words to impress opponents everytime I flick through it! The list of the essential two's and three's with definitions in the appendix serves to persuade newer players that, yes, those strange combinations are indeed real words!

Excellent Resource

I would give this book my highest recommendation. I have used the activities in it many times. My students find the activities fun, and they are always enthusiastic about completing the tasks. I just wish there was a book 2.

A well-written and comprehensive book on holdem poker odds and probabilities

Want a book that tackles in depth the key concept of pot odds, draws, probabilities and even some starting hand options, but whilst not ignoring mathematics, does try to explain it in an understandable way? - then I'd recommend Matthew's book whole-heartedly. Look to Dan Harrington and Arnold Synder for more depth and advanced table strategy with their tournament books, and John Vorhaus's latest 'Killer Poker Online 2' (better than his first one) if you want a few more tips to adapt it all for the manic world of low-stakes internet play, but I think this is the book to provide you with the basic groundwork you need to stop you expensively chasing draws and pushing second-best hands, whilst also giving you enough facts and odds to understand when looking to improve your holding at a reasonable risk is actually a good option in some circumstances. The probability tables/lists at the back are very useful. It comes with a free CD, but that really only takes you to his website and is not essential to the quality or depth of the book at all. In Limit poker such a book is essential, and whilst No-Limit and Tournament play needs a more flexible approach and an eye on implied odds (which to be fair he does cover well), this basic grounding is essential. Every new player needs to build on these firm foundations of pot odds and improvement probabilities, before they move onto developing their own style and advanced strategies and I haven't come across a better book for drawing this area of poker into a single place so well. One for your poker library for sure.

Entertaining for all

I AM a mathematician and had come across a few of the things in far more detail in other books before - which I'd also liked. Seeing these and other nuggets in this lighter book was great - I'm now re-reading bits, and am buying a copy for my dear old mum (who claims to be not at all mathematical but liked the look of it when she visited).