A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Age | David J. Helfand

*Book provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summary:

"From dissolving our fear of numbers and demystifying graphs, to elucidating the key concepts of probability and the use of precise language and logic, this book supplies an essential set of apps for the pre-frontal cortex while making science both accessible and entertaining." - NetGalley Summary


Review:

This is a book to be taken slowly. I have a relatively strong interest in math and science, but less than average ability, so reading large segments at a time proved quite difficult. My brain wandered significantly while reading.

I appreciate what the author is trying to do. He is using the first several chapters to try to train your brain for the final few where he presents science vs. pseudoscience. It's similar in structure to Portal where the first 13 levels are actually tutorial levels for the final 10% of the game. He's even given several sample problems in the appendix (and their answers) for further mental exercise.

So, if you're looking for a refresher in math, science and/or critical thinking, this is a good exercise. Be prepared to take it slow, though. Helfand says he understands that his audience probably hasn't doesn't these kinds of mental exercises in some time, but I still felt that he was overestimating my abilities. 3 Hoots!

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Finding Jesus by Winston Rowntree

This is a cute, fun for a few minutes, kind of book. It's basically "Where's Waldo" but with Jesus instead. I definitely had a lot of fun looking through the pages, not just for the main character, but also for the jokes. There's a lot of silliness in this book and it's definitely fun for several minutes. 

Probably the most notable thing about this book for me is, sadly, the condition I received it in. Not sure if it was the fault of UPS or Blogging For Books* but it makes me sad to see a book so damaged so quickly.

But, book's condition aside, it is fun. I give it 3 hoots!

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*The people who sent me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Bend Your Brain from Marbles: The Brain Store (Mini-Review)

So, I've kinda held off on reviewing this book as well. Mainly because I've never reviewed a book like this before.

Bend Your Brain is advertised as a workout for your brain to help you build mental mental muscles. In fact, it's a puzzle book with a bunch of information on how these different puzzles work different parts of your brain. So it's an educational puzzle book.

The format of it is nice and I like the variety of puzzles. The problem is, after a while I treat it just like I do other puzzle books, I do the puzzles I want and forget about the ones I don't.

Overall, it's an okay puzzle book and the factoids interspersed are interesting. I give this book 3 Hoots out of 5.

Hoot!Hoot!

Hoot!

***I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Cosmosis by Rainer Rey

Cosmosis by Rainer Rey is a novel about a scientist trying to save the world, Maddie, and a man on a path of vengeance, Jace, and their intertwining quests. Through a lot of heartbreak, action, sweat and tears, Maddie and Jace find themselves on a journey looking for an ancient source of energy, given to mankind by an alien race.

This book made it difficult for me to work my regular 9-5 job because every time I set it down, my brain would nag at me to pick it back up! Even when, after a particular scene* I needed to put the book down, my brain kept telling me "go back! There's more I need to know!" There is so much going on in this book but the pacing of the chapters keeps everything from getting overwhelming. At first I was worried that the constant back and forth chapters between the main characters, Maddie and Jace, would end up irritating, but it really does work for this book.

I found the characters to be very interesting. No one is one-dimensional not even Kit, the annoying ex-boyfriend**. And while there is a good amount of exposition, it is well paced and well spaced. I did kind of worry that the explanations from Jace and his friend Corey were too much for something to be told to the Vacnouver Sheriff, since it was something Corey could not tell the FBI or CIA. However it established the characters as honest people who were simply looking for answers. Each of the characters presented has their own depth, even Hans, who only speaks Swedish and we don't hear from much.

There are times when this book feels like a sci-fi DaVinci Code. You've got a male and female lead character, trying to solve a puzzle given to them by the female's recently deceased relative, the goal of which will change humanity's understanding of the past, and its future. Fortunately Cosmosis has plenty of factors to keep it separate. The puzzles seem a little easy to solve, but they had almost completely been answered by a coalition of scientists by the time Maddie and Jace inherited it.

Overall, Cosmosis is a fun ride that you don't want to put down. I'm looking forward to see how this book does.I give Cosmosis 4 hoots!

Hoot!Hoot!

Hoot!Hoot!

*Pg. 186 is all I will say. I really try not to give spoilers.
**Who reminds me so much of my own ex, I wonder if all ex-boyfriends are like him.
***This book was an uncorrected proof provided by Turner Publishing. These facts do not affect my review.

1000 Piece Ravensburger Dragon Puzzle

Well, I promised I'd review jigsaw puzzles as well on this blog, it's about high time I delivered. I've loved jigsaw puzzles since I was a kid. I was the only child that grandma would ever let touch her 1500 piece puzzles.* I've always believed that you can tell a lot about a person by how they solve a puzzle. Let's see what we can find out about me. Please note, this is not a new puzzle. I've put it together once before.

It should be noted that I begrudgingly wear reading glasses. I am naturally far sighted so I need to wear these when I cannot hold a computer or book at arm's length. I also wear them for puzzles though because of things like this: 

So close!

So, back to puzzles showing you things about people, let's look at the types of approaches there are to puzzles. The vast majority of people, myself included, like to start on the outside and work our way in. Others prefer to group the pieces first by color, shape, or something else. Others prefer to just grab a bunch of pieces of and work with what they get. I like to set up my borders, get some parameters and structure in place, then go for more substantive** aspects of the puzzles.

Setting up the borders.

After the edge pieces are all in place, some people will go after the big sections of the puzzle. In this case, they'd focus on the dragon, get the big stuff out of the way and then work on the details. I'm too much of a procrastinator for that so for the next several hours of puzzling, I worked on the sea, the clouds, the sky, the rocks, everything BUT the outlines of the dragon.

This was taken right before I was done for the night.

Progress on the beautiful sunrise/sunset.

 Finally, it became time to work on the dragon! I found this part of the puzzle to go quickest because of all the details in the dragon. So while working from the outside in may have been slow going at first, it is fast running from here in.

Dragon's outline.

Finally I have removed all the pieces from the box. But what's this? I am missing one piece and have an extra of another!

Missing Piece

Extra Piece

I've completed this puzzle before so the missing piece is on me, but the extra piece? The one that caused hours of contemplation and cursing the first time I assembled the puzzle? That's on Ravensburger. I just hope there isn't another puzzle out there that is missing this piece!

Finally, I am done with this puzzle for the second time:

I have to admit, I do enjoy this puzzle. It's nowhere near the brain-wracking mess that is the Krypt Puzzle, and I'm grateful for that. I am very happy with this gift from my husband, Fluxxdog. I find that it is a beautiful picture, well structured and, aside from an extra piece, very straightforward. I give it 4 hoots!

Hoot!Hoot!

Hoot!Hoot!

*It greatly surprised her that I was so good with puzzles because my mother was always the type to pound pieces together if they didn't fit like she thought they should.

**I actually wrote this word before I was certain of what it meant. I'm pretty sure I'm using it right. Hit me with a comment if I haven't.