Take a photo of a barcode or cover
devoted_bookworm's Reviews (24)
Relaxing Brain Games for Adults has a variety of different types of puzzles. At the beginning, there are a few pages with instructions and tips on how to do some of the puzzles. There is also an answer key at the end.
It was good to have different types of puzzles because I could pick and choose what I wanted to work on based on my mood. Some of the puzzle were a good challenge, but some of them felt too easy.
Let’s talk about each puzzle type:
Logic Puzzles- I enjoyed the logic puzzles. They were enough of a challenge that I had to think about it, but they weren’t so hard that they were impossible to complete.
Wordsearches- All of the wordsearches that I have tried were too easy. There wasn’t enough variety of which directions the words were put into the puzzle. All of the answers are straight across or straight down. There were no diagonals or backwards words.
Masyu- At the beginning of the book, there is an instruction page for this puzzle. After I read it, I still didn’t understand how exactly it was supposed to work. I ended up googling how to play masyu. Then I was able to figure out a couple of the puzzles. Unfortunately, there were still some puzzles that didn’t seem to follow the rules and I couldn’t figure them out, but these might just not be a good puzzle for me. I like learning new puzzles, but this one was not explained well enough. I shouldn’t have to seek out additional outside information to be able to even complete the example puzzle.
Calcudoku- The calcudoku were fun puzzles to complete. It was an interesting change to the normal sudoku puzzles. I thought they were a good challenge.
Cryptograms- I enjoyed the Cryptograms and thought they were done well.
Nonograms-The nonograms were way too easy. I wish they had been larger and more of a challenge. I was able to complete each of these in less than a minute.
Sudoku- The sudoku puzzles were good. There were some numbers that took some figuring out. I would say they are in the easy medium to medium range. It would have been nice to have more of a range of difficulties, but I still enjoyed these puzzles.
Crossword Puzzles- The crossword puzzles seem pretty good. There were a couple that I completed quickly on the first pass, but most of them were more challenging. I enjoyed these puzzles.
Cryptic Puzzle- The cryptic puzzles were interesting because they took the other types of puzzles and changed them a little to share a secret message. I enjoyed figuring out what the twist was.
There was a good selection of puzzles in this book. Some felt too easy, but others were just right. I enjoyed spending time figuring these puzzles out.
Thank you to Netgalley and Callisto Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Ultimate Fun Adult Activity Book has a collection of different types of puzzles. Each chapter in the book has its own theme that the puzzles are designed to fit. There are a few pages at the beginning with instructions and tips on how to do some of the puzzles. At the end, there is an answer key.
I liked that there were lots of different types of puzzles. It’s nice to be able to try out all of the different types and not just be stuck doing the same type of puzzle every time. I thought some of the puzzles were too easy, but some of them were a good challenge. I had a problem with how some of the puzzles were set up or laid out.
Let’s talk about each puzzle type:
Mazes-I don’t usually enjoy mazes, but I really enjoyed the mazes in this book. In fact, I’m now considering getting myself a book with only mazes in it.
Wordsearches-The first Wordsearch was too easy and didn’t have enough variety of which directions the words were put into the puzzle. The rest of the Wordsearches were better.
Coloring Pages-The Coloring Pages were good.
Logic Puzzles- Some of the Logic Puzzles were too easy. I felt like I was given too much information, so I didn’t have to wrestle with it at all to figure out the answers. Some of them were a little more difficult, but, in general, I would have liked more of a challenge.
Magic Squares- The Magic Squares were pretty good. There was a range of difficulty. I enjoyed these.
Find the Difference in the Picture- The Find the Difference pictures were pretty good. I got stuck on a couple of them and had to check the answer key to find the last item. I like getting stuck sometimes.
Cryptograms- (decoding an encrypted quote) I enjoyed the Cryptograms and thought they were done well.
Sudoku- All of the Sudoku puzzles were way too easy. I was able to figure out every one of the puzzles after going through each of the numbers once. It felt like everything was just given to me.
Crossword Puzzles- The Crossword Puzzles were not numbered in the traditional way, so it was very difficult to find the number that you’re looking for. The numbering was all over the place. It was very off-putting. Some of the clues were too hard and some were too easy, but that probably just has to do with my knowledge of the subject matter.
Acrostic Puzzles- I thought the Acrostics were pretty good. Some were trickier than other and gave me a challenge, which I like.
Symbol Equations- The Symbol Equations drove me crazy. Some were way too easy. Some had many possible answers. I thought each symbol needed to be a different number, but the answer given in the answer key had a duplicate number for an answer (like symbol 1 is 3, symbol 2 is 3, instead of a different number for each symbol). This was frustrating because there were usually multiple answers that could work for the problem, but the answer they chose for the answer key had duplicate numbers?
I don’t know if that all made sense without seeing the puzzle, but basically what I’m saying is that the Symbols Equations need some work.
Equation Grids- All of the Equation Grids were way too easy.
Word Pyramids- The Word Puzzles were good. I was challenged with them and got stuck on a couple.
Answer Key-I wish that the answer key had page numbers for each puzzle, it would make it so much easier to find the puzzle you are looking for and not accidentally see the answers to another puzzle.
While this puzzle book did have some problems, I enjoyed the time I spent working through the puzzles. I especially enjoyed the Mazes, the Cryptograms, the Magic Squares, and the Word Pyramids. If you’re interested in Sudoku or Crossword Puzzles, I would suggest looking elsewhere.
Thank you to Netgalley, Zeitgeist, and Julie Demyanovich for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I was excited to read this book and try out some of the patterns, but this book was a disappointment.
The images in this book did a horrible job representing the crocheted items that the patterns were for. I know that they were going for a specific vibe with the illustrated girls, but when you’re going to take the time to crochet an item of clothing, you need to see what it’s actually going to look like on a real person. I wanted to see the cardigans, the halter top, the hood, the shawl all on a real person. I needed to see how they hung and what I could anticipate my creation looking like, if I decided to attempt crocheting it.
The blankets weren’t spread out evenly for the pictures. The picture of the granny square blanket, in particular, looked horrible. I would never make that pattern just because the picture was so awful.
The graphs needed for several of the projects were way too small to be usable. There was a QR code to scan that gave you access to the graphs on your phone. You could zoom in, but they just felt hard to use and difficult to follow. Plus, when I have a book with a pattern in it, I expect to be able to use the pattern in the book and not have to go off somewhere else to make the pattern usable.
The Reputation doll was pretty cool looking.
I made the headband and it turned out pretty cute. After I got used to the pattern writer’s style, the pattern was easy to follow. There was a small mistake in the numbering of the rows (it has rows 1-3, then row 4, then rows 3-16, instead of rows 5-16), but other than that, the pattern seemed correct. I did 24 rows for the even section because it was looking kind of small. When I put the headband on, it immediately starts to slide off. That always happens to me with this type of headband. I guess I’ll have to use hairpins to keep it in.
In the end, this is not a book that I would recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley, Quarry Books, and Lee Sartori for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The images in this book did a horrible job representing the crocheted items that the patterns were for. I know that they were going for a specific vibe with the illustrated girls, but when you’re going to take the time to crochet an item of clothing, you need to see what it’s actually going to look like on a real person. I wanted to see the cardigans, the halter top, the hood, the shawl all on a real person. I needed to see how they hung and what I could anticipate my creation looking like, if I decided to attempt crocheting it.
The blankets weren’t spread out evenly for the pictures. The picture of the granny square blanket, in particular, looked horrible. I would never make that pattern just because the picture was so awful.
The graphs needed for several of the projects were way too small to be usable. There was a QR code to scan that gave you access to the graphs on your phone. You could zoom in, but they just felt hard to use and difficult to follow. Plus, when I have a book with a pattern in it, I expect to be able to use the pattern in the book and not have to go off somewhere else to make the pattern usable.
The Reputation doll was pretty cool looking.
I made the headband and it turned out pretty cute. After I got used to the pattern writer’s style, the pattern was easy to follow. There was a small mistake in the numbering of the rows (it has rows 1-3, then row 4, then rows 3-16, instead of rows 5-16), but other than that, the pattern seemed correct. I did 24 rows for the even section because it was looking kind of small. When I put the headband on, it immediately starts to slide off. That always happens to me with this type of headband. I guess I’ll have to use hairpins to keep it in.
In the end, this is not a book that I would recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley, Quarry Books, and Lee Sartori for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
