Author: Trish

Into reading, decluttering, budgeting, and doing jigsaw puzzles!
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Beach Huts

Beach Huts is a 1000-piece puzzle from Magnolia, and the artist is Olivia Gibbs. Gibbs is one of my favorite artists for puzzles, and I have several other puzzles that she has designed. This one was on my wish list for a while because it was a bit pricier and harder to find. I eventually found it on Fairplay Puzzles, which carries a curated selection of jigsaw puzzles celebrating diversity, equity, and inclusion. Beach Huts is sold out at the time of this post, but they do have an interesting selection of puzzles worth checking out.

The quality of this puzzle was exceptional. The fit was great, which always makes it so much easier to solve. Magnolia has a difficulty rating on their boxes, and they rated this one 3 out of 5, which I would agree with. It was a bit of a slow start but eventually got moving at a decent pace. The pieces have a matte finish, so glare is not an issue. There was a lot of puzzle dust, but that doesn’t bother me now that I have my little desktop vacuum to deal with that.

The image was just perfect for me. It didn’t have too much sky or sand, it had lovely buildings to put together, and it even had some signs with words on them, which I always enjoy. The colors were vibrant and the scene made me happy during one of the coldest weeks of winter so far.

I have one more of her puzzles on my to do shelf, so I am looking forward to that. Do you have any favorite puzzle artists?

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Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

Although Days at the Morisaki Bookshop came out in 2010, I only recently became aware of it and was drawn to the charming cover and the blurb on the back.  It is the debut novel from Japanese author Satoshi Yagisawa and was translated into English by Eric Ozawa.

I really liked this short novel. My favorite part was seeing Takako develop a love for books and for reading, but I also enjoyed seeing her settle into the community of her temporary home and make friends. I was also fond of several other characters, especially Tomo and Wada.

I wasn’t a big fan of the Aunt Momoko character, but I did come to understand her better as the story progressed.  I also found the prose to be a bit choppy at times, but I don’t know how much of that can be attributed to the translation since I can’t read it in the original language.

Have you read any Japanese literature?  What do you recommend?

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Mini Book Reviews

Here are quick reviews of the books I have read so far this month…

⭐⭐⭐

Lawyers and Lattes by Rebecca Paulinyi – I found this author during a stuff your Kindle day a year or so ago and liked the free book enough to want to get this one. This book was entertaining enough that I have added book three to my TBR.

⭐⭐

The London Flat by Juliet Gauvin – I had enjoyed the first book in this series, which I got during a stuff your Kindle day a while back, but this one fell flat for me. I didn’t find the characters’ actions believable.

⭐⭐⭐

Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison – Fun read! The action flips between the present day and the characters’ time in junior high and high school. I actually liked the chapters from the past better than the present; the author does a good job writing the younger characters. The present-day plot felt a bit childish to me, like the characters hadn’t really grown up since high school, which perhaps was the point of the story.

⭐⭐⭐

What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg – I didn’t love it, even though Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite writers. It started out good, but I just lost interest partway through.

What are you reading now?

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Dog Walkers

Dog Walkers is a 500-piece puzzle from Dowdle. I received this as a gift from a friend and did it now after using the randomizer on my puzzle app to pick my next puzzle.

Honestly, I am not a huge fan of this brand. Something about the artwork just does not appeal to me. I also encountered a lot of false fits with this puzzle, especially in the top section. The top third of the puzzle took quite a while to complete.

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The Taste of Ginger

I have read a few reviews of The Taste of Ginger, and they vary wildly in their response to the book.  I am on the positive side of the question, giving this debut novel by Mansi Shah 5 stars.

What I most appreciated about this book was following Preeti on her journey to understand more about herself and where she came from so that she can figure out who she wants to be. She is a first-generation immigrant to America from India, having been brought over by her parents as a child.

When the story begins, she is a thirty-year old lawyer just out of a failed relationship with a white American man.  She has a troubled relationship with her parents, especially her mother, but then a family emergency calls her to India and forces her to examine her beliefs and feelings about her family and the different cultures they have lived in.

As she sits on the plane taking her to India and thinks back over her life in America, she realizes, “Fitting in meant letting go of who I was and becoming someone new.” I can relate to that so much as an autistic woman.  I am always watching the behaviors and customs of those around me so that I can attempt to fit into different environments.

About halfway through, after Preeti learns something she didn’t know about her mother, we hear the sentence that contains the title of the book.  Her auntie tells her, “A monkey does not know the taste of ginger,” which is explained to mean, “you cannot appreciate that which you do not know.” She goes on to say, “One thing is certain; you don’t understand her life, and she doesn’t understand yours. Until you both start trying the ginger, you never will.”

I won’t say more about what happens other than to say this a turning point for Preeti. I can attest that, in my own life, gaining an understanding of my mother made a big difference in my relationship with her and in how I felt about myself as a person.

As you can tell, this was a very personal book for me. I focused here on Preeti’s relationship with her mother, but there are several other significant topics covered in this book, and I really enjoyed many of the characters as well as the detailed descriptions of places and events.  Highly recommend!

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The Artist’s Desk

The Artist’s Desk is a 1000-piece puzzle from Ravensburger. I picked it up at a thrift shop and was pleasantly surprised upon opening the box to find a small ziploc bag with the edge pieces separated out. It was nice to be able to jump right into puzzling!

This was a fun image to put together. I did have to shape sort for the darker areas, but it still wasn’t too hard. And, of course, the Ravensburger quality is always excellent!

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The Silo Series

I can still remember the incredible feeling of reading the first story from Wool.  Howey is masterful at unfolding the details in a way that keeps you hanging on every word.  

This is what I posted on Goodreads after reading Wool back in December 2016:

Wow, wow, wow! This blew me away! I read good things about the first story and downloaded it on my new Kindle. Once I read it, I couldn’t get the whole collection fast enough, and I am so glad I did!!

If you are a fan of dystopian fiction, you will love this set of stories. Each one is as good as the one before it and will keep you turning the pages as fast as you can to see what happens next.

Absolute must read, in my opinion!!

There are three books in the Silo series – Wool, Shift, and Dust.  Both Wool and Shift were originally released as short stories/novellas and were later gathered into books.  There is also a thriving fanfiction community writing in the Silo world.

More recently, Silo has been made into a streaming series on Apple TV.  There are currently two seasons out and two more planned.  I have watched the first season and thought they did a really good job of adapting it to the screen, although I still recommend reading the books first if you can.

Have you read or watched any of the Silo series?

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Followers Under 40

Followers Under 40: The journey away from church for Millenials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha by Rachel Gilmore and Kris Sledge

The church has a problem. We are aging, clergy are aging, and churches are in decline. So, what do we do? How do we reach younger generations? In Followers Under 40, Rachel Gilmore and Kris Sledge take a closer look at the defining qualities and characteristics of Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha while also exploring why they are leaving the church and what steps any congregation can take to begin reaching young adults today.

One thing I appreciate about this book is that the authors have both been involved in church plants aimed at growing diverse communities that include young adults and young families. Full disclosure, Kris Sledge has been my pastor for the past year and a half, and this has been a time of great personal growth for me.

The sections discussing the experiences and concerns of the younger generations are compelling and thought-provoking. As a Gen Xer myself, I can relate to some of it by recalling my own young adulthood, but there are definitely issues that are different and more complex due to the societal and technological changes that have occurred since then.

Gilmore and Sledge also spend several chapters offering suggestions as to how our churches can connect better with people under 40.  They share many great ideas, and I especially like how they give practical examples of how to implement each of them along with anecdotes of how they have used some of these strategies.

This sentence from the closing chapter seems to sum up the call to action:

We are invited to lead and embody a church that can evolve and adapt to become a place of deep hope, healing, and transformation for the new and emerging generations.

May that be a challenge we all accept!

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Completing the Puzzle – January 2025

The first puzzle I did from my four-puzzle subscription this month was Envelopes by Tania Wicks. I have wanted to try one of her puzzles for quite a while, but they are pricey and not readily available here in the state, so I was excited to get this one to do.

I absolutely loved it! The image is stunning; I love the subject matter and the colors are so rich and peaceful. The puzzle quality was really good as well, and it was a joy to solve.

My second puzzle was Copenhagen from eeBoo. I always enjoy their puzzles. I like the size and shape of their pieces, and I don’t mind that they are glossy – I have never had a problem with that.

This image is so charming with all the different buildings. I like how some of them are slanted and how they have different textures. So fun!

My third puzzle was Asian Oil Paper Umbrellas from Eurographics. It is a stunning image with lots of bold colors and lovely details. I really enjoyed doing this one. It was challenging without being frustrating, and I’m glad I got the chance to do it.

The quality was okay, but it has definitely been done many times; one of the pieces was smashed and one was missing a corner. Despite that, I had a lot of fun solving this one.

My fourth and final puzzle for this shipment was The Greatest Bookstore in the World, also from Eurographics. I love books and bookstores so was immediately drawn to this image. It started out pretty easy with a few of the larger objects and color blocks but then got tricky with all the tiny little books.

The pieces were all two in, two out, so I couldn’t shape sort. Thankfully they were all unique and I didn’t have any false fits. It was secondhand and there was one piece missing. Overall still a nice challenge.

Closing Thoughts

All four puzzles this month were 1000 pieces. I like that because it feels like I am getting my money’s worth out of the subscription. I am definitely doing one more month of the subscription, possibly two.

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Amazon First Reads – February 2025

This month, Amazon Prime members are able to pick one free book from a selection of eight from a variety of genres.

My pick:

Not Quite by the Book by Julie Hatcher – a novel about Emma Rini, a bookstore owner who needs a break and rents a crumbling manor house.  I am intrigued by this one because it was inspired by the work and life of Emily Dickinson.

Bonus:

We also were able to download a bonus short story, The Fall Risk by Abby Jiminez, about two people who get stuck together on Valentine’s Day.  It looks cute!