Word puzzles, etc.

[Ashley]

I've been going through the Chronicle Books and marking the "not a books," and I've come across a few such as "Mensa Riddles and Conundrums" and "Mensa Word Puzzles." I don't remember reading anything about whether these are books are not, what does everybody think?

[Billy]

I would think that they were books but that's just my opinion.

[Cait]

Unfortunately, I think these live on a sliding scale from the sort of puzzle collections that get tossed in the trash at the end of the train ride (which I would consider not books) to one of my favorites, The Man Who Counted , which is a story expressed through logic puzzles that the protagonist solves (which is quite definitely a book).

[Kisholi]

I have this problem too. Plus, sometimes there are these various DIY type "kits" with little instruction books, quote books or some readable item included. I've seen the occasional plush toy come packaged with a book also.

Are those books? I know they are in a partial sense and I've left them alone so far but I feel we should be deleting them... :(

[Lobstergirl]

Puzzle books are books. This includes crossword puzzles, sudoku, IQ puzzles, word puzzles, math puzzles, etc.

(See NAB author profile.)

The puzzles that should properly be NABbed are jigsaw puzzles and the like - things that come in a box.