News / Life / Clark County Life

Check It Out: Paradoxes and puzzles are good for your brain

By Jan Johnston

Published: January 29, 2017, 6:05am

Do you like riddles? Here’s one to figure out: What is weightless, visible to the naked eye, and when you put it in a bowl of water, it will make the bowl lighter in weight? The answer is — well, you’ll have to read the whole column to find out. See what I did there? I just gave readers an incentive to read all the way to the end. Booyah!

OK, I started off with a riddle (the “reading hook” idea is brilliant, if I do say so myself) because today is National Puzzle Day. Yay!

Now, jigsaw puzzles are awesome, and I would love to recommend some good puzzles to put together, but it might surprise you to know that jigsaw puzzles don’t work very well as circulating items in a library. Something about all those hundreds or thousands of individual puzzle pieces, I hear.

Anyhoo, I like the idea of a day devoted to puzzles, so I’m presenting a reading list of puzzle-oriented titles which includes brain games, puzzle boxes, regional mysteries, body language interpretation (wouldn’t you agree that people can be puzzles, too?) and riddles, of course!

• “Animal Riddles,” by Lisa Regan — Even though the intended audience for this riddle book is kids, no one will judge you if you decide to check out a few riddle books for yourself. Giggle like a 7-year-old and feel good about it. And the answer to today’s riddle: a hole. I still expect you to read the rest of the column, by the way. So there.

• “Body Language Quick & Easy,” by Richard Webster — Your mate is standing in front of you with arms akimbo and lips pursed. You might know what that type of body language is saying to you, but you might not. Read this book and bring harmony to your life. And maybe take your better half out to dinner.

• “Brain Candy: Science, Paradoxes, Puzzles, Logic, and Illogic to Nourish Your Neurons,” by Garth Sundem — Gray cells need exercise, too, so put down that TV remote and take your brain to the brain-gym (a.k.a. the library).

• “Brain Games,” DVD series produced by National Geographic — This entertaining television series will definitely make you think. The library has multiple seasons for your viewing pleasure.

• “Brain Games for Dogs,” by Claire Arrowsmith — Doggies may not know it, but they have brains, too. If Fido is spending way too much time lying around on the couch watching “Animal Planet,” turn that furry couch potato into a canine genius! Or at least give him something more to do than sleeping, eating and channel surfing.

• “Puzzle Boxes: Fun and Intriguing Band Saw Projects,” by Jeff Vollmer — Want to create your own puzzles? Learn how to make puzzle boxes. Measure twice, cut once.

• “Washington Myths & Legends: The True Stories Behind History’s Mysteries,” by L.E. Bragg — Every state has its mysteries — including Washington. How did a corpse found floating on the surface of Lake Crescent turn into soap? What does Mount Rainier have to do with Roswell, N.M.? Get your hands on this intriguing book to learn the answers. And, oh yeah, cue the spooky music. Bwah-ha-ha.

Jan Johnston is the collection development coordinator for the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District. Email her at readingforfun@fvrl.org.

Related Stories