The Reasons Why Puzzle Books Can Be a Good Source for Acquiring General Knowledge

Puzzle books can have the added benefit of not only presenting you with challenges to solve but can help you to acquire general knowledge or broaden the knowledge that you already have at the same time. The types of puzzle books that can include general knowledge are quiz books, crosswords, word finds, brainteasers, history of puzzles, etc. The knowledge contained within them could come in a question-answer format in which knowledge is asked for and then the answer revealed or it could be one in which the knowledge is given and then questions are asked about the knowledge given or the question/puzzle is an introduction to a topic/paragraph/chapter in which the knowledge will be given. They can have various levels of difficulty that allow you to go from easy to difficult step by step either within one book or over multiple with each book having its own set level of difficulty. There are other forms of puzzles in which you can acquire general knowledge with a board game being an obvious example but these are often designed as multiplayer games that are difficult to play or less fun to do alone. So here are some reasons why it is preferable to use puzzle books as a way to acquire and boost your general knowledge.

If a person is somebody who never reads books then one with puzzles may be the best way of getting them to do so as they are mostly designed to be fun and are not really just reading material but rather a series of challenges or a game. Puzzle books can be quite short reads so there are ones with less than 100 pages which may be more appetising or less intimidating for somebody who normally doesn't read much. If you already do read books then you will already likely be a knowledgeable person but one with puzzles could still be worth your time as they can be a way of testing how knowledgeable you are but you also may encounter a fact or learn about subjects you would normally not encounter in other types of books or the ones you normally read.

One of the best reasons is that you are potentially becoming more literate as well as acquiring knowledge and puzzle skills at the same time so it can be a very productive and enrichening experience. Puzzle skills can be applied to other areas of life in which you would need logical skills or the ability to think outside the box such as jobs or everyday tasks. They require practice and a puzzle book will usually give you plenty of challenges so you can get better at solving them which means being able to recognise quickly what is being asked of you and do it as fast as possible in an as efficient manner as possible. They do often translate from one type of puzzle to the next so if you get good at solving one type of puzzle then it should give you the skills and confidence to have a go at and succeed at solving other types.

The big advantage of a book is they are in a lot of cases easy to take with you wherever you go but there is a type of puzzle that has a significantly bigger advantage in this department and that would be an audio puzzle that could be downloaded onto a phone that you would already likely have with you anyway. You may even choose a book largely on its size and weight because the smaller and lighter it is the easier it will be to transport but you will likely need a rucksack or some sort of bag to carry and conceal it with. The importance of it being easy to transport is that if you can take it with you almost wherever you go so it means you will have opportunities to read it whenever you have the time for example on the bus or train to work. Having a puzzle book with you will allow you to fill times that would otherwise be boring or unproductive into productive and fun periods it will just be a case of reminding yourself when these suitable opportunities arise to get the puzzle book out which may take a while to get into the habit of doing this.

A puzzle book is often ready to use immediately especially compared to other types of puzzles like a board game that can take ages to set up and the place you are at may not be ideal for setting up and playing a board game anyway as it may require a large table to place it on that you don't have or is not available. It can easily be bookmarked and then be returned to when a person has the time or motivation to do so especially if it is one that won't require you to remember anything from your previous session reading it when you do pick it up again. It can usually be stored on a shelf or bookcase easily which could be much easier to get access to than another type of puzzle such as a board game that can often be situated in the attic or under a pile of board games that would all need to be shifted to get access to it.

Most puzzle books are often intended as a enrichingsingle player although there are multiplayer ones but those that are single player can be often adapted to be multiplayer and way to do this could be for two or more people to compete against each other to see who can do the challenge or challenges the quickest or who can do the most challenges successfully. Making it a group activity could be more fun than doing it alone as well as possibly helping you to develop social skills and if it is a quiz type challenge then you are helping others learn and expand their knowledge as well. Doing it alone may be your preference or you could have no choice but either way it can help you to learn to do or solve things on your own.

Most books consist of many pages which means that the author has plenty of room to go in-depth on a subject matter which would be more informative than say a board game in which information is given on cards that will have limited space. Puzzle books can have hundreds of pages that means you could pack a lot of general knowledge into those pages as well as plenty of the challenges themselves. As there are so many to choose from you will have the choice from the aspect of just how in-depth you want the puzzle book you choose to be in terms of the general knowledge it provides as some it could be a paragraph or two of information on a certain subject matter or maybe even just a sentence or two while other puzzle books may have whole or multiple chapters. The puzzle ratio may be a determining factor when deciding to choose one as it needs to have enough challenges to be appealing for those who don't just want to read a normal book and to justify calling itself a puzzle book and not just a book on whatever topic it is discussing so if it was about the history of crosswords for example with only 4 or 5 challenges to try in the entire book of a hundred or more pages then this is not really a puzzle book just a normal book with information on crosswords.

General knowledge can be illustrated with pictures in a puzzle book that could make a fact or piece of information more appealing than if the general knowledge was just worded and also a picture can be just as informative if not more so than a written fact. A picture might also stay in the memory longer than a worded fact especially if it is a striking or unique picture. Pictures also help to break up a book to make it more digestible rather than it just being words and text with paragraph upon paragraph of information and questions that may not look that appetising compared to one that has plenty of pictures sprinkled throughout. The pictures may be in black and white but could also be in colour with the latter maybe better-helping someone to remember a fact or just that it made the experience of reading the book more enjoyable and therefore more likely to persist with it until the end and find more of them to read.

Acquiring general knowledge is important because it makes you a more well-rounded person and you never know when knowing a piece of knowledge could be of use or of importance. It is important to know what is going on in the world but also what has happened in the past so you understand how we go to this point in history and to learn from mistakes of the past for future reference as history tends to repeat itself. A person with a lot of general knowledge can also impress others and will have more to discuss in a conversation or will be better able to find a topic with which you and the person you are talking to both know something about. Having a good level of general knowledge can also help you to make better decisions in life be it for example where to go on holiday or what you want to do as a career as the more you know the better more informed decisions you can make. A puzzle book could help you to spot gaps in your knowledge you previously didn't know you had or just help you to remember things you had forgotten or to show how accurately you have remembered.

In conclusion, there are a number of features specific to a puzzle book that gives it an advantage over another type of puzzle or other forms of books in terms of acquiring and testing general knowledge and it being fun to do and would be likely the most accessible form of a book for acquiring knowledge for those who don't normally read due to their usually entertaining formats.