Time To Get Smarter

You’re listless. Tired of television, tired of four walls, and ready to break away. Which means that you’re also ready to become a bona fide smarty-pants with these great books…

Impress your kids – and a lot of adults – with your extensive knowledge of ancient creatures by starting with “Spinosaur Tales: The Biology and Ecology of the Spinosaurs” by David Hone & Mark P. Witton (Bloomsbury Sigma, $28).

You know the creatures in question; you saw them in the movies, but what’s Hollywood hooey and what’s the truth about those duck-like creatures with the cool spikey frills? What separates a spinosaur from other dinosaurs that share similar features? Find out in a book that’s all true, but not so over-your-head scientific that you can’t easily grasp what you’re reading. Bonus: lots of full-color photos!

Who doesn’t need to know how to do things more easily? Yep, you’ll feel pretty accomplished when you read “Everyday Genius: Hacks to Boost Your Memory, Focus, Problem-Solving, and Much More” by Nelson Dellis (Abrams Press, $28.99).

How can you easily level up your creativity in order to solve problems in fun ways? How can you learn to do advanced math in your head? Without a calendar, how can you determine any date for any year? How can you open up your brain to learn more easily and remember things more securely? The instructions are inside this book, along with mini biographies of geniuses and wise people who used their noggins for work and benefit. This is a fun book if you really want to make life easier and wow everybody around you.

So you say you love your tunes. Why not learn more about music by reading “The Madman’s Orchestra” by Edward Brooke-Hitching (Chronicle Books, $35)? It’s a book about those things that are rarely taught in music class – orchestral disasters, weird musical terms, even weirder musical instruments, and more. This book is perhaps best for someone who prefers classical music or for a serious musician, but anyone who likes a different kind of book will also find something interesting to read inside. Out April 7, so keep your eyes open.

And finally, you can’t go wrong with a book about books, and “Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books” by Hwang Bo-Reum (Bloomsbury, $27.99) is intriguing. Who’s your favorite author? Where do you get your reading material? What makes a great spot to read? Do you write inside your books, underline pages, or would you absolutely never? Bookmarks or dog-ears? Gasp! Along with essays about All Things Literacy, this book asks you to think about why you love to read, and that’s pure gold for someone like you.

If these books aren’t enough to make you smarter, faster, more efficient, or more learned, then head to your favorite bookstore or library and ask any smarty-pants on the staff for help. There, you’ll find books to make you wiser, cooler, more impressive, and happily wide-open-minded.