I recently received a review copy of the book “TV Housewives Reality Check: Fun & Games with TV's Most Popular Homemakers,” by Dale Ratermann, a puzzle editor and author from Carmel.
The nine chapters include general information about popular TV housewives (and their shows) and various crossword; sudokus; cryptic quotes; word searches and scrambles; fill-in-the blank puzzles; anagrams; matching puzzles and a tantalizing trivia quiz that sums up that chapter's topic.
Chapters 1-3 focus on TV eras and the housewives who defined them (i.e., 1950s and 1960s TV Housewives; 1970s and 1980s TV Housewives; and 1990s and 2000s TV Housewives). From Donna Stone to Debra Barone, Ratermann focuses on memorable characters and their contribution to TV.
Chapter 4 focuses on Animated TV Housewives, while Chapters 5-9 focus on reality housewives, devoting a chapter each to the various cities from which they hail (Orange County, New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey and Beverly Hills).
By including all types of puzzles and quizzes about the subject matter, Ratermann takes an interesting subject, to me anyway, and makes it interactive. The puzzles and quizzes are easy to read and fun to do. They reinforce what you've read earlier in that chapter.
The 127-page book is published by Blue River Press 2012, and distributed by Cardinal Publishers Group ( www.cardinalpub.com).
