Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2019 Challenge Prompts - Regular
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39 - A book revolving around a puzzle or game
Could the book Nerve count? (It’s also a movie with Emma Roberts)
Kim wrote: "I'm intrigued by this book, Montague Island Mysteries and Other Logic Puzzles. I think it's actually a book, with a narrative, but is filled with puzzles to solve. Here is what one ..."I was just about to suggest this book when I saw your comment. I purchased this last year and have done a few of the puzzles. I am going to finish it for this prompt. I highly recommend it if you are into logic puzzles but be warned it is very challenging. There is a story that weaves the puzzles together but it is light in length and content. Overall, I would highly recommend if you like a challenging logic puzzle. I would not recommend if you are looking for a great read.
In doing some re-organizing of my Want To Read List, I've stumbled on some wonderful options for this category:Life A User's Manual
Tea from an Empty Cup
The Rabbit Back Literature Society
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
Emily Roman wrote: "Kim wrote: "I'm intrigued by this book, Montague Island Mysteries and Other Logic Puzzles. I think it's actually a book, with a narrative, but is filled with puzzles to solve. ..."This sounds so interesting!! I used to LOVE logic puzzles. I would try and find those puzzle magazines that only had them without the crosswords and stuff. So much fun. I haven't done them in years.
Theresa - I also looked at 'life a users manual' for this. My husband loves it and he usually gives good book recs. And it's a puzzle on several levels, so should fit really well.
Oh yes, and also 'the rabbit back literature society'
Tracy wrote: "I used to LOVE logic puzzles. I would try and find those puzzle magazines that only had them without the crosswords and stuff. So much fun."Girl, YES!!! I remember when those were a thing! I used to find old copies in secondhand book stores and had so much fun solving them. And then earlier this year I found THIS: https://www.logic-puzzles.org
(I apologize in advance for introducing another time-sucking distraction...)
Melody wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I used to LOVE logic puzzles. I would try and find those puzzle magazines that only had them without the crosswords and stuff. So much fun."Girl, YES!!! I remember when those were a thing....."
OMG!!!! And theres an app for that LOL. My phone battery is going to die 😂 Thanks for sharing the link. I bookmarked it so I have something to do with all my wasted time.
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A more put there suggestion in YA - The Winners Curse series by Marie Rutkoski. The title obviously references a competition, and the characters regularly play a strategy game that sounds like it might be like Mah Jong; this is a stretch though, because the real "game" in question is a long term military strategy, the protagonists father is the military general and she is trying to outmaneuver him and her political enemies, so it's not a traditional game or puzzle.
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So ... I checked out that site. I did a "moderate" puzzle on my phone. I was on the SLOW side of average!
There is a website I use all the time, they have the graphic puzzles (you fill in squares and end up with a picture) and number puzzles (most well-known being Sudoku) - there is a free puzzle each week, and now you know what I do every Saturday morning when my kids are still asleep!! Www.conceptispuzzles.com
They have apps too. Hashi are my favorite - so satisfying!
Johanne wrote: "Theresa - I also looked at 'life a users manual' for this. My husband loves it and he usually gives good book recs. And it's a puzzle on several levels, so should fit really well."Exactly!
I'm thinking I might have to read several books with puzzles or games in them during 2019 because I'm finding so many intriguing ones both already on my Want To Read list or that I want to re-read because it has been so long since I enjoyed them. Maybe I give myself a private challenge to read at least 12 different puzzle or game books in 2019. Hmmmm.
Melody wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I used to LOVE logic puzzles. I would try and find those puzzle magazines that only had them without the crosswords and stuff. So much fun."Girl, YES!!! I remember when those were a..."
I have a friend who absolutely adores them and still buys those books at newstands and does them. I personally loathe them - never been any good at them - surprising given I'm a lawyer! I have a particular aversion because they introduced the logic puzzle as an critical section to the LSAT (standardized test which is a criteria to get into law school) tests way back in the early 1980s, and I so sucked at them it brought my overall score down significantly.
StefanieFreigericht wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Curtain - Poirot's last case, involves a crossword puzzle.would not agree, though, for "Name of the Rose" - cyphers, yes, but not really a game ..."
It's puzzles or games ... and cyphers are puzzles.
I am going to be reading caraval this has been on my TBR for forever.
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Nadine wrote: "@Theresa - hahaha the GRE had a whole section of logic puzzles in the late 80s and I kicked ass on that section!! I couldn't believe my good fortune!"Well, I kicked ass on other sections!
I was so unhappy at that logic puzzle section - pure torture.
I keep thinking that there is out there somewhere a book in which a jigsaw puzzle or doing jigsaw puzzles plays a big role in the plot. I have to think it's a mystery of some sort...I also have read over the years a lot of books where games of cards or chess play a big role. Can I think of more than those I've already posted?? NOOOOO!
Nadine wrote: "@Melody / @Tracy - haha I LOVE logic puzzles!!! I have a pile of logic puzzle magazines at home - I used to buy the new one at the grocery store every month, but didn't finish them as fast as I bought..."Nooooo!!! Stop Nadine, I don't have time for logic puzzles I have too much reading to do LOL
Would The Maze Runner work for this prompt? Since the maze is kind of a puzzle?
Ashlei wrote: "Would The Maze Runner work for this prompt? Since the maze is kind of a puzzle?"I think so. Requires strategy to master.
Other ideas in different genres:
The Eye of Minds
Ship of Theseus
The Three-Body Problem
A Murder of Magpies
Murder in the Queen's Wardrobe
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or 
."That looks like it would work perfectly! It's even got a chess piece on the cover! And I really like how "The Eight" follows so nicely after "The Seven Deaths of Evelyn .."
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I have never heard of this book and it is now my xmas present to myself!!! (shhh we don't have to talk about the book of Mary Oliver poems and the two Buffy graphic novels that are already xmas presents to myself)
It's weird and annoying that it's not available through Prime. But I ordered it anyway. Hopefully it will arrive in time for my winter holiday.
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Oh my goodness I've never heard of this book either!!! All these puzzle books! gahhhhh!!! (yes, I bought it. )
I was thinking about reading The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie for this prompt.«It began as an innocent parlor game intended to while away the hours on a bitter winter night. But the message that appeared before the amateur occultists snowbound at the Sittaford House was spelled out as loud and clear as a scream...»
Do you think it would fit?
I highly recommend Ready Player One by Ernest Cline for this one. I just finished the audiobook and really enjoyed it. Now I want to watch the movie!
I am reading "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club series by Ann Warner.
Suni wrote: "I was thinking about reading The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie for this prompt.«It began as an innocent parlor game intended to while away the hours on a bitter winter night. ..."
Yes! Recently read this one and the parlor game comes into play at beginning and end of the book.
Azrah wrote: "Does 
The Night Circus fit this prompt?"Yes, it does and it's one of my favorite reads of this year!
In case someone wants to read a regency romance for this prompt, Theresa Romain's Season for Desire features a quest for family jewels that requires tracking down 3 Japanese puzzle boxes and solving the code found inside. It's a very enjoyable read, and features some unconventional romances as well.
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That depends on how strict you are with your choices. There is a game, but it's a very small part of the plot. It's really more about "us and them" and covert operatives taking down the government, etc - a popular YA plot!
What about The Solitaire Mystery: A Novel About Family and Destiny by Jostein Gaarder? I've read it many years ago and forgotten most of the plot, but I remember the protagonist was trying to solve some puzzles to find his mother. Can anyone confirm if it is a good choice for this category?If it doesn't fit here, it will suit well into unusual chapters category!
I'm doing the manga Saint Marie by Yang Yeo Jin. Students as chess pieces? Count me in.
A Gathering of Shadows (the second book in the Shades of Magic trilogy) would work for this prompt since it mostly revolves around the Element Games.
It sounds like The Last Time I Lied would fit here. Can anyone confirm?
I might pick up a book about a mathematical puzzle of sorts, or maybe the above-mentioned The Westing Game!
The Last Time I Lied is based loosely around a game the girls play called Two Truths and a Lie.I think I'll choose Ready Player One
Claire North's Gamehouse series would fit this prompt. They are short novellas, so quick reads. The first one is The Serpent.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Pachinko (other topics)Cold Day in the Sun (other topics)
Nine Perfect Strangers (other topics)
The Westing Game (other topics)
Never Have I Ever (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Min Jin Lee (other topics)Erin Morgenstern (other topics)
Stefan Zweig (other topics)
Ellen Raskin (other topics)
Matthew Reilly (other topics)
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I hope so!! I was coming here to suggest that one! I would definitely think it counts, as it's both a puzzle AND a game!