Book Nook: Staying Entertained with Workman Publishing

We love to stay busy in the summer, especially with things that are educational or creative. I had a chance recently to review two books from Workman Publishing that are good ways to stay occupied.

299 On-the-Go Games and Puzzles to Keep Your Brain Young - This is exactly what the title says -

hundreds of puzzles to keep your mind working. There's a lot of research on the benefits of puzzles that stretch your brain, plus, they're just fun! I love the sense of accomplishment I get when I figure something out, and even if I need a little bit of help to solve something, the next time around I'm usually better at solving a similar puzzle. The puzzles required some out-of-the-box thinking and logic, and I've enjoyed the difficulty level - not too hard to solve, not so easy that they take no time.

Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt - The author of this  book on creative ways to personalize your t-shirt definitely has a certain sense of

style, so it might not be perfect for everyone, but I was really surprised at how many different ways there were in the book. Not only were there ways to deconstruct and reconstruct t-shirts to make them truly unique, but there were also ways to create skirts and other fashion items (including good ways to use up the scraps from other projects). Every project had a picture to show how it turns out, and the instructions were clear and easy to follow. It's a great book for budding fashion designers! (And if you like it, there's a second book with more ideas - Generation T: Beyond Fashion 120 New Ways to Transform a T-shirt)