Challenge your brain with engaging word puzzles. This book filled with word fill-ins puzzles: Each puzzle will have words, phrases, and acronyms to use to complete the clueless crossword grid. All the fun and mental dexterity of crosswords, without needing to know sports, history, or TV. There are over 70 word fill-ins inside the book. 192 pages.
In this delightfully witty, provocative book, literature professor and psychoanalyst Pierre Bayard argues that not having read a book need not be an impediment to having an interesting conversation about it. (In fact, he says, in certain situations reading the book is the worst thing you could do.) Using examples from such writers as Graham Greene, Oscar Wilde, Montaigne, and Umberto Eco, he describes the varieties of "non-reading"-from books that you've never heard of to books that you've read and forgotten-and offers advice on how to turn a sticky social situation into an occasion for creative brilliance. Practical, funny, and thought-provoking, How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read-which became a favorite of readers everywhere in the hardcover edition-is in the end a love letter to books, offering a whole new perspective on how we read and absorb them.
From the author of The Italian Teacher, this acclaimed debut novel set in Rome follows the topsy-turvy lives of the denizens of an English language newspaper. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Janet Maslin, The New York Times • The Economist • NPR • Slate • The Christian Science Monitor • Financial Times • The Plain Dealer • Minneapolis Star Tribune • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Kansas City Star • The Globe and Mail • Publishers Weekly Look in the back of the book for a conversation between Tom Rachman and Malcolm Gladwell Fifty years and many changes have ensued since the paper was founded by an enigmatic millionaire, and now, amid the stained carpeting and dingy office furniture, the staff’s personal dramas seem far more important than the daily headlines. Kathleen, the imperious editor in chief, is smarting from a betrayal in her open marriage; Arthur, the lazy obituary writer, is transformed by a personal tragedy; Abby, the embattled financial officer, discovers that her job cuts and her love life are intertwined in a most unexpected way. Out in the field, a veteran Paris freelancer goes to desperate lengths for his next byline, while the new Cairo stringer is mercilessly manipulated by an outrageous war correspondent with an outsize ego. And in the shadows is the isolated young publisher who pays more attention to his prized basset hound, Schopenhauer, than to the fate of his family’s quirky newspaper. As the era of print news gives way to the Internet age and this imperfect crew stumbles toward an uncertain future, the paper’s rich history is revealed, including the surprising truth about its founder’s intentions. Spirited, moving, and highly original, The Imperfectionists will establish Tom Rachman as one of our most perceptive, assured literary talents.
Pit your worldly wits against family and friends, or just challenge yourself, with this ultimate travel trivia book. With head-scratching questions on everything from geography and culture to history, wildlife and transport, it's a fun and challenging test for all ages - and the perfect addition to any trip. Lonely Planet's Ultimate Travel Quiz Book is split into three sections: Easy, Medium and Hard, with 100 quizzes in total, each featuring 20+ questions that will confound adults and kids alike. Perfect for social get-togethers, rainy days and family trips, this fun and illustrated book also makes a great gift Themed rounds include: Food and drink Transport Culture Flags Famous landmarks Seas and oceans Wildlife History Books Islands Museums Sporting venues Mountains Film locations Rivers Space travel Capital cities Currencies Languages And lots more About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more.
When you're in need of a brief escape from the daily grind, grab Petite Wordplay Crosswords and add a little excitement to your life. Each crossword has an expertly crafted, wordplay-based theme, not just a random collection of assorted words. Keep it by your bed or in your bag so you'll always be ready for a little brain-bending fun!
A complete introduction to solving diagramless crosswords, featuring dozens of puzzles! Diagramless puzzles (crosswords where the black squares aren't included, and solvers must figure out where they go) have been a popular crossword variant for decades, but they only appear rarely in newspapers and magazines. This means that there's a shortage of puzzles out there for diagramless fans. But this also causes another problem: if you've never solved a diagramless crossword before, they can seem intimidating, and there aren't a lot of opportunities to practice them. This book offers beginners extra help with solving, while offering plenty of puzzles for everyone. The extensive introductory guide woven through the book will provide step-by-step instruction, and some of the tips and tricks might be new even to veteran solvers. Starting a diagramless puzzle is the most challenging part, so multiple hints for each puzzle will help smooth the way for new solvers, while experienced solvers can go it alone without any hints for maximum challenge or pick and choose as they wish. Puzzles will start out easy and get more challenging, with crosswords of many different sizes and shapes included--and each grid's shape relates to its theme, adding to the solving satisfaction.
"Easy Italian Crossword Puzzles" offers beginning students of Italian - and those who are brushing up - an entertaining and effective way of expanding their word power in Italian. The parole incrociate in this book cover a wide variety of topics that will challenge you and help you develop your vocabulary and, as a result, your speaking and writing skills in Italian.
This lively, intricately plotted, laugh-out-loud funny, and surprisingly touching family drama combines the wit of Carl Hiaasen with the southern charm of Jill McCorkle. Seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is going to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs come hell or high water. In 1953, he gave her a radioactive cocktail without her consent as part of a secret government study that had horrible consequences. Marylou has been plotting her revenge for fifty years. When she accidentally discovers his whereabouts in Florida, her plans finally snap into action. She high tails it to hot and humid Tallahassee, moves in down the block from where a now senile Spriggs lives with his daughter’s family, and begins the tricky work of insinuating herself into their lives. But she has no idea what a nest of yellow jackets she is stumbling into. Before the novel is through, someone will be kidnapped, an unlikely couple will get engaged, someone will nearly die from eating a pineapple upside-down cake laced with anti-freeze, and that’s not all . . . Told from the varied perspectives of an incredible cast of endearing oddball characters and written with the flair of a native Floridian, this dark comedy does not disappoint.
'Beautifully researched account, full of humour and personal insight' David Crystal, author of Making Sense: The Glamorous Story of English Grammar 'A witty, wise, and wonderfully weird journey that will change the way you think . . . This book is a delight' Bianca Bosker, author of Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste 'Delightfully engrossing, charmingly and enthusiastically well-written history of the crossword puzzle' Benjamin Dreyer, author of Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style 'Full of treasures, surprises and fun . . . richly bringing to life the quirky, obsessive, fascinating characters in the crossword world' Mary Pilon, author of The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game 'A gold mine of revelations. If there is a pantheon of cruciverbalist scholars, Adrienne Raphel has established herself squarely within it' Mary Norris, author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen Equal parts ingenious and fun, Thinking Inside the Box is a love letter to the infinite joys and playful possibilities of language, a treat for die-hard cruciverbalists and first-time crossword solvers alike. The crossword is a feature of the modern world, inspiring daily devotion and obsession from millions. It was invented in 1913, almost by accident, when an editor at the New York World was casting around for something to fill some empty column space for that year's Christmas edition. Almost overnight, crosswords became a phenomenal commercial success, and have been an essential ingredient of any newspaper worth its salt since then. Indeed, paradoxically, the popularity of crosswords has never been greater, even as the world of media and newspapers, the crossword's natural habitat, has undergone a dramatic digital transformation. But why, exactly, are the satisfactions of a crossword so sweet that over the decades they have become a fixture of breakfast tables, bedside tables and commutes, and even given rise to competitive crossword tournaments? Blending first-person reporting from the world of crosswords with a delightful telling of the crossword's rich literary history, Adrienne Raphel dives into the secrets of this classic pastime. At the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, she rubs shoulders with elite solvers from all over the world, doing her level best to hold her own; aboard a crossword-themed cruise she picks the brains of the enthusiasts whose idea of a good time is a week on the high seas with nothing to do but crosswords; and, visiting the home and office of Will Shortz, New York Times crossword puzzle editor and US National Public Radio's official Puzzlemaster, she goes behind the scenes to see for herself how the world's gold standard of puzzles is made.
