If you want to exercise your brain, crossword puzzles are better than Sudoku. Instead of playing the same computer game all the time, you should try a new one every week. This advice comes from Garth Sundem, who interviewed brain scientists and scoured studies in peer-reviewed journals to come up with the 62 tests in “Beyond IQ: Scientific Tools for Training Problem Solving, Intuition, Emotional Intelligence, Creativity, and More” (Three Rivers). The tests range from role-playing as MacGyver and analyzing the illogical quotes of world leaders to sorting ladybugs, writing limericks, and answering questions like “How is an old dog like a paper mill?”

JAN GARDNER