When we meet for family reunions, or gather with friends, our favorite group game is Werewolf. Classrooms and corporate retreats also play Werewolf. It’s a deduction/deception game, extremely social, that is as much fun to watch as to play, so it can involve everyone. The games are exhilarating, surprising, and addictive. The only gear you need are some cards. While you can get by with an ordinary deck of cards, a set of dedicated Werewolf cards makes it much easier. After you’ve played a number of basic games, it’s easy and fun to play with variations, which are supported by this deck of Apostrophe Werewolf cards ($11). — KK

“The only thing that truly matters in public speaking is not confidence, stage presence, or smooth talking. It’s having something worth saying.” This is from Chris Anderson’s book, TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking. — MF

Decibel X is an app for the iPhone ($3.99 per month, also available on Android) that is a noise meter. It pretty accurately measures noise on a decibel scale. I use it to monitor the noise levels in restaurants and workplaces in an effort to increase quiet. When I am recording podcasts I use it to ensure there’s little background noise. It’s also entertaining and instructive to measure sound levels outside in nature and urban areas. — KK

I’m a notebook hoarder/collecter and regularly use 2-3 different notebooks a day for work, journaling, lists, brain dumps, etc. Sometimes I need to flag pages to revisit and instead of post-it notes, I’ve been using these Redi-Tag Divider Sticky Notes ($5). These are so useful for indexing your notebooks and annotating pages. I’m still spread out all over the place, but this helps me keep track of what’s important. — CD

All the time spent in the kitchen with my mother or grandmother I never once saw them measuring anything, and maybe it’s a Hispanic culture thing, but I learned even less about appropriate food portions. So now I’m working on getting better at eyeballing portion sizes so that I don’t over serve myself. This chart helps. — CD

The Instant Pot multicooker has become an internet sensation, with recipe books and YouTube videos devoted to it. I also was a fan of my Instant Pot until it died last month and I switched to a Zavor Lux 6-Quart Multicooker ($160). It’s superior to the Instant Pot on at least three counts. First, the top lid doesn’t get so hot that it will burn you if you touch it. Second, it heats much faster, which makes a huge time difference when pressure cooking a meal. Third, the silicone gasket on the lid is braced so it doesn’t sag like it does on the Instant Pot, which is a common issue and prevents the Instant Pot from achieving a high enough pressure. The Zavor costs a bit more than the Instant Pot, but it’s worth it. – MF

After you finish painting a room, pour a little of the left-over paint into one of these small BIBR touch up bottles. One for each color. The plastic bottles contain a small applicator brush inside (plus a marble to shake/stir the paint) which makes it super easy to break it out to touch-up as things happen. Gareth Branwyn suggests keeping the touchup bottle in a drawer in the room itself, making it a no-brainer to grab when needed. Touch up will never happen when the paint is at the bottom of a can in the basement. — KK

I’ve been hanging fresh Eucalyptus in our shower because it’s said to reduce sinus inflammation, which I struggle with, but mostly because it makes showering feel like a spa experience with it’s soothing scent and how it looks so pretty. I’ve tried both the Silver Dollar Eucalyptus, which Whole Foods often has in stock, and the more aromatic Baby Blue Eucalyptus, which I order on Good Eggs. Here is a good how-to article. You’ll need some natural jute twine to hang it up. This is what I ordered. — CD

Derek Sivers was the founder of CD Baby and maintains an interesting essay blog. One of his recent posts offered good advice for writers and speakers: “People only really learn when they’re surprised. If they’re not surprised, then what you told them just fits in with what they already know. No minds were changed. No new perspective. Just more information. So my main advice to anyone preparing to give a talk on stage is to cut out everything from your talk that’s not surprising.” — MF

A red-hot area in science fiction these days is China. Like many fans who enjoyed The Three Body Problem, I wanted more. So the translator of that mega hit, Ken Liu, has translated two volumes of Chinese short stories with a sci-fi/fantasy focus. The first anthology, Invisible Planets, is a sampler offering lots of magical realism, fantasy and a few hard-science pieces. The second, Broken Stars, has more speculative fiction, and feels more Chinese. As in any anthology, the quality is uneven, but a few stories are standouts and I got a solid feel for this embryonic movement. — KK

I’m my own boss, so I set the work dress code and it is: t-shirts. But I live on the Pacific coast in the fog where it is cool year round, so I only wear long-sleeved t-shirts. And I don’t wear logos. For many years long-sleeved t-shirts in color without logos were hard to find, but I recently got my newest batch from Amazon of all places. The Amazon Essentials long-sleeved t-shirt is heavy duty, inexpensive, and prime delivery. Perfect for my office. — KK

We have one of these collapsible trash cans (Camco Collapsible Utility Container, $13) that we use when we have barbecues – I still end up picking up beer bottles and cups the next day but not as many as I would if we didn’t have this. These are also perfect to take camping, because they take up virtually no room. — CD

My favorite street foodie is the YouTuber Mark Wiens. He is half-Chinese, lives in Bangkok, but specializes in eating street food around the world. It’s no surprise to me his channel has 5 million followers because he is enthusiastic, thrifty, do-it-yourself, and he goes to the places I would go for street food: Pakistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, China. His “tours” are more useful than say Anthony Bourdain’s or Andrew Zimmern’s, in part because he doesn’t have a crew and stays low to the ground. When I headed somewhere remote, I check his extensive archive out. — KK

This article titled “1 simple trick to be happier"is not clickbait — it’s sound advice. It suggests that because your happiness level is more dependent on the frequency of positive events, rather than the intensity, you should be creating a daisy chain of happiness-inducing events all day long. "Think of some of the small delights that bring you joy — whether it’s a certain song, a photo from a gathering with friends, or even a pen that writes like a dream — and try intentionally placing them throughout your day.” I have a running list of 100 things that bring me joy that I pull up when needed. On the top of my list is hugging my dog and cuddling (mostly bugging) my cat. — CD

Dust-to-Digital is a record label specializing in early, hard-to-find music. They have a terrific Twitter feed with videos I’ve never seen of performers like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Papa Jo Jones, Eddie Cochran, Koko Taylor. I spent an enjoyable couple of hours watching the videos. — MF

I put a Tile bluetooth tracker in my wallet and forgot about it. Last week, my wallet fell out of my pocket when I was at the movies, and I didn’t realize it until I was in the car. I went back to the theater, opened the Tile app on my phone and pressed the “Wallet” button. The tile in my wallet chirped loudly and I found it wedged between two seats. A useful little gadget! — MF

I’ve been spoiled by Kewpie mayonnaise, made in Japan. No other mayo comes close. The secret is extra egg yolk and MSG. My kids and I squeeze it on everything (especially sweet potato chunks roasted in coconut oil). Kewpie also has a U.S. made version, but Amazon sells the real Japanese version. — MF

If you read books on Kindle or iBooks you should be using Readwise. I got turned on to Readwise by Recomendo readers Chris Galtenberg and Len Edgerly almost two years ago, and it’s become an integral part of how I read and retain the words and ideas that grab me. Every passage I highlight in my Kindle is auto-imported and sent back to me in a thrice-weekly email (you can choose the frequency and number of highlights you receive). This service is free for a trial period. I pay $4.99/per month for the upgraded version that allows you to import highlights from other sources, like Medium and Twitter. And I also have it synced to my Evernote account, so that anytime new highlights are imported, my Evernote is updated immediately. Using Readwise makes me want to read more and highlight more, I’ve even started inputing the highlighted passages from my favorite paper books. You can read a random selection of my highlights at: https://readwise.io/@claudia. — CD

I’ve owned birds in the past, and I’m not in the market for one now, but my daughter showed me this fun quiz that matches you up with the perfect type of pet bird and points you to rescue centers near you so you can adopt one. The quiz result said my kind of bird is the lineolated parakeet, and I agree. — MF

Two images I find myself pulling up from time to time are 1) this chart of apple varieties lined up from most tart to most sweet, and 2) a visual guide to major types of wine grouped by flavor characteristics. I may never be able to articulate tasting aromas or textures, but at least I’ll be able to pick a delicious wine I’ll enjoy. — CD