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Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating and Fun Read
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was a fascinating read. I really learned a lot. I hope to try out more of their books.
Rating: 
Summary: Well I found out I'm smart. but maybe not Mensa stuff
Review: I recall years ago being what I thought was a smart person, but was treated in school like a dummy or just average intelligence.
However I always thought someday I'll show em what I can do. As it turned out I wasn't gifted, at least not IQ 140 or more, but fairly close to Mensa level. I have taken quite a few of the IQ tests on the web and scored 138 on one, but 119 on another. So why not pump up my mind as I would muscles? That's why I brought the Mensa Genius book. I rather suspect however that true genus may be IQ 180 and up with creative talents. In any event this book will help you discipline your mind to solve problems, some of which are tedious.
The one element I dislike about this book is its chapters on culture. I mean for pity sake what 20 year old IQ 160 is going to know a damn thing about Teapot Domb, Richard Nixon or what an Italian opera house is called ? Talk about cultural bias!
However the more straight forward and reasonable numeric and verbal puzzles I think do test intelligence, although I suppose one needs have read to do vocabulary items.
The book is fun, but I am sad to say too culturally or should I say cultishly biased for true measures of intellect. None the less good minds will knid the book challenging and perhaps warm them up for the Mensa exam, which I understand costs about 300 dollars, and you must score 132 to be considered in the high IQ club.
I bet Micheal Jordon would not pass any of these tests, but his gifts speak for themselves as being outside what Mensa is looking for. Am I Mensa material? Maybe not with all those strange culturally biased questions Mensa loves so much, but the book was a fun read and did sharpen my problem solving skills. I recommend it if for nothing else than recreation.
Rating:
Summary: White Caps on Gray Matter
Review: There seem to be several different categories of people who purchase books such as this: Those with superior intelligence who use these exercises as a kind of intellectual aerobics inorder to "stay in shape", those with above-average intelligence who are curious to know how well they can "do", and those with lesser intelligence who think that purchasing the book and completing the exercises will somehow make them brighter. (Perhaps there is another group whose members purchase the book and display it prominently but complete no exercises.) In recent years, I have purchased a number of these books and consider this one to be among the best. (Yes, thanks for asking, I completed the exercises but how well I did is not relevant to this review.) For whom do I recommend this specific book? Anyone who is curious to know what the exercises involve, how well she or he does when completing them, and (of greatest interest to me) learning WHY her or his responses are correct or incorrect. Completing exercises in several different books also reveals certain patterns of thought which stimulate the mind to approach a given problem or question from different perspectives. For example, what do the answer choices share in common? What is missing among the options offered? Over time, we develop certain mindsets. For example, we tend to see only what we expect to see. So-called "brain teasers" force us to perceive a given problem or question differently. The brain is a muscle which, like all other muscles, needs regular exercise. Books such as this provide that.
Rating:
Summary: White Caps on Gray Matter
Review: There seem to be several different categories of people who purchase books such as this: Those with superior intelligence who use these exercises as a kind of intellectual aerobics inorder to "stay in shape", those with above-average intelligence who are curious to know how well they can "do", and those with lesser intelligence who think that purchasing the book and completing the exercises will somehow make them brighter. (Perhaps there is another group whose members purchase the book and display it prominently but complete no exercises.) In recent years, I have purchased a number of these books and consider this one to be among the best. (Yes, thanks for asking, I completed the exercises but how well I did is not relevant to this review.) For whom do I recommend this specific book? Anyone who is curious to know what the exercises involve, how well she or he does when completing them, and (of greatest interest to me) learning WHY her or his responses are correct or incorrect. Completing exercises in several different books also reveals certain patterns of thought which stimulate the mind to approach a given problem or question from different perspectives. For example, what do the answer choices share in common? What is missing among the options offered? Over time, we develop certain mindsets. For example, we tend to see only what we expect to see. So-called "brain teasers" force us to perceive a given problem or question differently. The brain is a muscle which, like all other muscles, needs regular exercise. Books such as this provide that.
Rating: 
Summary: Intelligence or Education?
Review: This is an enjoyable book. It provides the reader with several hours of stimulating entertainment. My only complaint is that the set of questions in the CULTURE section of the book has very little to do with intelligence. Instead, these questions favor those who are "well schooled". For example, what chance would a young boy from the ghetto have of correctly answering the question regarding the proper etiquette in declining an invitation to a White House dinner?
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