Posts

Posted on

Wilder on the Prairie Podcast

I recently heard about the Wilder on the Prairie podcast, which was started in 2021 by Annie Kontor. Each episode is just a few minutes long and covers one chapter from the Little House book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I have listened to a bunch of the episodes so far and they are fascinating. Annie does research into things that are mentioned in the books that she wants to know more about and shares that info with the listeners. This includes food items, farming terms or equipment, songs mentioned in the books, or anything else that catches her attention.

The podcast is still being made and is currently up to The Long Winter, which is the sixth book in the series. I am in Farmer Boy, the second book, so I have a ways to go to catch up!

If you are a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan like me, I encourage you to check out this podcast.

Posted on

What I’m Reading – September 2025

What I’m Reading Now

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare – The Infernal Devices #2 – I was encouraged to read this series by a good friend who loves fantasy books. I used to read a lot of fantasy years ago but have gotten away from it in the last couple of decades. It’s well written and an interesting story.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – I have seen this around for a while and was intrigued enough to check it out. The main character seems to be autistic-coded, which is interesting.

What I Recently Finished

Fiction

  • The Bride Test by Helen Hoang – The Kiss Quotient #2
  • The Emma Project by Sonali Dev – The Rajes #4
  • The Sandy Page Bookshop by Hannah McKinnon
  • Every Time You Go Away by Beth Harbison
  • The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
  • Wedding at Bella Beach by Kate Wentworth – Bella Beach #7
  • Smells Like Tween Spirit by Laurie Gelman – Class Mom #4
  • A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – Time Quintet #1

Nonfiction

  • The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins by Peter Enns

What I Added to my TBR

  • The Storytellers by Sue Heath
  • Something to Look Forward To: Fictions by Fannie Flagg
  • The Road to Cardinal Valley by Earlene Fowler – Ruby McGavin #2
  • The Incredible Kindness of Paper by Evelyn Skye
  • Confessions of the Other Sister by Paige Harbison
  • Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan
  • If I Could Turn Back Time by Beth Harbison
  • Christmas Wedding at Bella Beach by Kate Wentworth
  • Butterfly Inn by Kate Wentworth – Butterfly Lane #1
  • Once and Again by Rebecca Serle

TBR Stats/Updates

  • I currently have 163 books on my TBR. Of those, 10 are nonfiction and 153 are fiction.
  • At the end of June, I created a focused reading list of 25 books I would like to read by the end of the year. So far, I have read 11 of those books.
  • I have read 89 books this year (my goal was 75).
  • My nonfiction goal is 1 per month, which I have met so far with a total of 9.
  • Here are some more stats from StoryGraph:

Feel free to add me as a friend on Goodreads or StoryGraph. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

Posted on

Toy Stamps

Toy Stamps is a 1000 piece puzzle from Ceaco, and the artist is Barbara Behr. I picked this up at 2nd & Charles when I visited their new location to check it out. This one stood out to me as being fun and whimsical.

It was a lot of fun to put together. I enjoy collages, especially stamps, and the subject matter of this one was especially appealing. I stayed up way too late so I could finish it in one sitting. I had to sort by shape when I was about 75% done, so it was a good challenge.

Posted on

Reading Habits

When do you read? 

The answer to this question has changed over time for me. For most of my life, I simply read all the time (meaning at any moment that I could sneak in even a few minutes.) 

While my son was growing up, my time to read did lessen somewhat, but I still read way more than most people do. These days I tend to finish 10-12 books a month, with one of those usually being nonfiction.

The most common time you will see me reading now is during mealtime. From childhood, I always had the urge to grab a book while I was eating. I had to suppress that during family dinner time, but now that I am single with an adult child, I almost always read when I eat.

Outside of that, my reading times are pretty random. I do read in the evenings or on weekends, but I also watch TV or movies and put together jigsaw puzzles, so I’m not as single-minded about reading as in the past.

I’m interested to know what other people’s reading habits are and how they have changed over time, and I would love it if you left me a comment with your thoughts on this.

Posted on

London Cafe

London Cafe is a 1000-piece puzzle from Pieces & Peace, and the artist is Miranda Sofroniou. This was my first experience with the Pieces & Peace brand, and I absolutely loved it! I was so happy to open the box and see grid cut pieces, which are my favorite, and the pieces had a great feel and fit.

The image was amazing as well. It was challenging but not frustrating, if you know what I mean. I definitely want to do more from this brand!

P.S. One of my friends on Facebook asked what grid cut was, and this is what I told him.

It means the pieces are cut in rows rather than random shapes and they have an assortment of in and outs. Ribbon cut is when the pieces are in rows but all of them have two ins and two outs. Ribbon cut puzzles are more likely to have false fits, where a piece seems to fit somewhere that it doesn’t actually go. With grid cut you can sort by shape (meaning the different arrangement of prongs) if you get stuck and then look for the shape you need to make it easier to find the piece you need. I did that for the floor in this puzzle.

Posted on

Every Time You Go Away

Every Time You Go Away by Beth Harbison

Willa Bennett’s husband Ben passed away three years ago while he was up at their beach house to do some work on it. She has not really been living her life since, including not being very present for her teenage son, Jamie. Now she is heading to the beach house to get it ready to sell, hoping it will help her to move on. Once she arrives, she is surprised to encounter her husband’s ghost.

When it turns out there is a lot of work to do before she can sell, she summons her son Jamie, her best friend Kristin, and Kristin’s daughter Kelsey to come for the summer. Even with their company, she continues to see Ben and is even able to talk with him, reminiscing about their life together and how she is dealing with being on her own.

I enjoyed this book so much. The writing was engaging and emotional, with well-developed, relatable characters. The touch of the supernatural was handled very well–I loved the interactions between Willa and Ben. For me, it was a satisfying story about moving through grief and finding healing.

Posted on

Two More Repeats for a Puzzle Challenge

I redid two more puzzles for a challenge I am doing in a Facebook group I belong to. These were the last two clues for the event, so this one is done now.

Clue #9 was an umbrella, so I redid Town Park, which is a 300-piece puzzle from Ceaco. It was illustrated by Olivia Gibbs and features patio umbrellas above the tables outside one of the shops.

Clue #10 was bathtub. For that one, I redid The Alchemist’s Home, which is a 1000-piece puzzle from eeBoo. The artist is Vasilisa Romanenko. Ironically, I had done a different puzzle with a house cross section that included a bathtub just before the ten-week challenge and had thought about holding onto it just in case, but then I decided to take it apart.

I really enjoyed this puzzle challenge and am looking forward to the next one!

Posted on

The Sandy Page Bookshop

The Sandy Page Bookshop by Hannah McKinnon

Leah is fresh out of a job and an engagement, so she moves back to her Cape Cod hometown. Once there, she impulsively decides to rent and renovate a historic home so that she can open a bookshop. A cast of characters forms around her, some of whom we get to know quite well as there are chapters told from their point of view. 

There’s Lucy, a teenager whose older sister has been severely injured in a car accident; Eudora, a widow who has become afraid to leave her home; and Luke, a local woodworker who knew Leah in high school. 

I enjoyed this book very much. The characters are likable and the bookstore is a charming setting. I would definitely recommend this when you are looking for a lighthearted, feel-good read.

Posted on

Mr. Swallowbark

Mr. Swallowbark is a 300-piece puzzle from Buffalo Games, and the artist is Charles Wysocki. Between the thrift store one weekend and a puzzle swap the next, I ended up with two copies of this puzzle – oops!

This was so much fun to put together. I love the red barn, and I am especially fond of the row of brooms hanging on display.

Posted on

The Emma Project

The Emma Project by Sonali Dev – The Rajes #4

There was a lot to like about this book, which was the conclusion to The Rajes series by Sonali Dev. I liked how she used the theme from Emma but updated it for a modern audience with a plot about two people who do good works for society in different ways. I also liked the gender reversal of the Emma and Knightley characters, much like she did in the first book with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. And I was glad that Esha got some screen time, so to speak, although I find her whole situation to be quite odd.

If you are a fan of Austen adaptations, I would definitely recommend giving this whole series a try. I do think it’s best to read them in order because the cast of characters grows with each book, and it is helpful to know what has happened with the other characters in previous books.