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Most people love the idea of being regulars at their favorite restaurants or cafes, thinking that their frequent visits earn them special treatment or at the very least, a familiar greeting or free dessert. However, with the help of computerized reservation systems, we know a lot more about you than you’d probably hope, and we have it all recorded.
 
We know how many times a month you come to our restaurant, and which table (or glass of wine or waiter) is your favorite. All of this helps us keep our good customers happy. But we also know if you’ve ever been late, if you always show up late or worse yet, if you have no-showed one too many times, in which case you are definitely not one of our favorites, no matter how much you pride yourself on being a “good” customer.
 
We remember if you tip well (or not), or if you are a “whale,” someone who spends a lot of money. If you are a really big whale, your late arrivals might be forgiven, at least a few times. If you are a whale who makes us laugh (or more likely, makes us laugh at you) you might get a nickname next to your real name on the reservation list. For years, we referred to one whale of a customer solely as The Guy Who Thinks Tanaka Is Chinese, because he repeatedly presumed that Tanaka, a thoroughly Japanese sommelier, was Chinese. Even Tanaka played along, and thanked him for wishing him a Happy Chinese New Year.

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The last thing I would ever admit is that puzzles are educational. Yes, yes, there are a great many people running around saying that puzzle-solving is a fine way to keep your faculties sharp. There are suddenly any number of “brain training” products and Web sites out there. Old age homes teem with residents solving sudoku and crosswords.

But, jeez, keep all that beneficial stuff on a low volume, would you? I’m working over here, trying to get kids to solve puzzles. I don’t want them equating puzzle-solving with broccoli.

These days I’m puzzling kids mostly through my two books: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen and its brand-new sequel, The Potato Chip Puzzles. (May I mention that they’ve been compared to the Encyclopedia Brown books and also that great puzzle mystery, The Westing Game? Thanks. I’m done plugging now.) I also go to schools and libraries to puzzle the kids face-to-face.

But there is no reason you can’t puzzle your kids yourself, even if you’ve never created a puzzle in your life. Let me show you how.

The next time your child has a birthday, don’t just hand over the present. Make your kid work for it! Create a puzzle hunt that runs through your house, with the present as the treasure waiting at the end.

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Berkley/NAL Achieves Three #1 New York Times Bestsellers in Two Weeks and Penguin Group (USA) Has Four Simultaneous #1 Bestsellers for the Week of April 26th

In the past two weeks, three books published by Berkley/NAL have hit the #1 slot on The New York Times bestseller lists. For the week of April 26th, Turn Coat by Jim Butcher (Roc) debuts at #1 on the hardcover fiction list, and Tribute by Nora Roberts (Jove) hits #1 on the mass market paperback list. Last week, From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris (Ace) debuted at #1, also on the mass market paperback list.

Turn Coat, the 11th installment of Jim Butcher's urban noir fantasy series, the Dresden Files, marks the first #1 New York Times bestseller for both Butcher and Roc. The book will also be #1 on the Publishers Weekly hardcover fiction list next week. With crowds of 350 fans at his book store appearances, Jim embarked on his extremely successful seven-city tour last week, which ended Thursday night in his hometown, Kansas City.

With three new debuts, Berkley/NAL also dominates The New York Times mass market bestseller list, occupying six of twenty slots. In addition to Tribute and From Dead to Worse, who hold the #1 and #3 slots respectively, Curse of the Dawn by Karen Chance (Onyx) debuts at #7, Winter Study by Nevada Barr (Berkley) hits at #11; Hold Tight by Harlan Coben (Signet) is at #13 in its sixth week on the list, and The Secret Wedding by Jo Beverley (Signet) appears at #14.

It was a stellar week on The New York Times bestseller list overall for Penguin Group (USA), holding four #1 slots: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin) is #1 in its 115th week on the nonfiction paperback list, while Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth (Dial) holds at #1 on the children's picture books list.

View our feature on Turn Coat to find out what the Chicago public really thinks about wizard Harry Dresden.