I love a good microhistory! This one was funny and engaging, and I’m glad I picked it up. Clare gives a little history and current game info with lots of interesting tidbits along the way.

Quotes abound in this book. Often to the point of weighing the read down. Felt like the multitude of quotes was the priority of the author and the surrounding text were fillers.

With that said, I did like learning of a game’s origins and the controversy as to who deserves credit. Until this book, I hadn’t considered games can transcend different cultures and time periods.

#AcrosstheBoard #NetGalley

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Abrams Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, such a good idea. I fell in love with the cover and the board game pun, but fell even harder for the book. I am a board game lover, but not necessarily an obsessive enthusiast. I was worried this book would be too detailed or not relatable to me. But this book put words to feelings I’ve had playing board games. The descriptions of why humans play games were so intriguing, and I knew maybe 5% of the facts and stories beforehand. I kept stopping reading to tell my husband a cool fact about dice or some of the first games. A fascinating book on a topic that everyone can connect with.