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What I’m Reading – September 2026

What I’m Reading Now

A Bookshop Christmas by Rachel Burton – I am about halfway through this sweet holiday romance.

What I Recently Finished

Fiction

  • The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory (The Wedding Date #1)
  • Common Goal by Rachel Reid (Game Changers #4)
  • Role Model by Rachel Reid (Game Changers #5)
  • The Long Game by Rachel Reid (Game Changers #6)
  • A Good Indian Girl by Mansi Shah
  • Season’s Change by Cait Nary (Trade Season #1)
  • The Year of What If by Phaedra Patrick
  • We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

Nonfiction

  • How I Changed My Mind About Evolution: Evangelicals Reflect on Faith and Science, edited by Kathryn Applegate and J.B. Stump
  • The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

What I Added to my TBR

  • The Little Shop of Merry and Bright by Jenny Bayliss
  • Tales from the Territory by Travis Baldree
  • Emily Wilde’s History of Dark Faerie by Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde #4)

TBR Stats/Goal Updates

  • I currently have 167 books on my TBR. Of these, 160 are fiction and 7 are nonfiction.
  • I have read 59 books so far in 2026. I had reset my goal for the year from 100 to 50, so I have met my goal!
  • I have finished 3 nonfiction books so far this year. My goal is 6.
  • Here are some more stats from StoryGraph:
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Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today marks 10 years since I started posting on this blog. I actually started blogging back in 2008 and have had a few different ones over the years, but this one has been going for a decade now!

I primarily blog as a sort of journal for myself to look back over and see what I have been interested in or thought worthwhile to document over the years. I am really thankful to have a small group of readers and commentors, though, as it adds so much to the experience to share it with other people.

Here’s to many more years of sharing whatever I get up to on this blog!

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BBQ Roadhouse & Crepes

I have long been a fan of the food truck puzzles by Stephanie Peterson Jones. I find her artwork very appealing, and the puzzles are a nice, easy build. I recently got a four pack of them and have done two of them in the last week – BBQ Roadhouse and Crepes. They are each 500 pieces and are done by Ceaco.

Of the two, Crepes is my favorite. I like the art exhibit and the cool cat with the jaunty beret. I also really enjoy text in puzzles, so both of these are great for that.

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A Good Indian Girl

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

A Good Indian Girl by Mansi Shah

Enjoyable story of a recently divorced Indian American woman finding herself again. I appreciated how she took time to look back over her life and her choices and decide how she wanted to live her life going forward. While the story does deal with the lingering remnants of her failed marriage, it spends more time on the relationships with her best friend and her mother, exploring how they got to where they are and how they could be improved. The main character is also a chef, and I enjoyed the inclusion of food and cooking in the story.

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Holiday Postcards (Repeat)

Holiday Postcards is a 1000-piece puzzle from Trefl, and it is an Adobe stock image. I have done this one before and redid it because I needed a puzzle with a key for a Facebook challenge. I enjoyed it the second time around as well.

I do have to say the box for this puzzle is the largest I have seen for a 1000-piece puzzle – there is so much extra space! The only benefit is that the image on the box is easy to see, which is nice because it does not come with a poster.

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Sunday Rain

Sunday Rain is a 500-piece puzzle from Reverie, and the artist is Maxine Vee. This cozy puzzle was a complete joy to put together. The colors are lovely with the warm glow from the lamps contrasting with the rainy scene outside. There are so many charming details as well. My favorite part is the little dragons with their hand-knit sweaters!

The quality of Reverie puzzles is top notch. The pieces are a beautiful matte finish and fit together perfectly with no false fits. They are a bit pricey, even more so because of the current tariffs, but are well worth it in my opinion.

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Mid-August Catch Up

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately.

I had purchased a new dresser from Amazon for Michael and had been procrastinating putting it together. I finally asked my friend Suzanne to help me with it. It ended up taking us two evenings, but we got it done! I think I have learned my lesson and won’t be buying any more furniture that has to be assembled!

I have been under the weather for a few days with a really bad cold, so that has not been fun. I am at the coughing stage now. I am thankful that I haven’t gotten sick much in the last few years, but am hoping this one passes quickly.

I didn’t puzzle at all this week until Saturday night. I have been reading a bit more instead. I keep thinking my to read list will get smaller, but I keep finding new books to add to the list, so it is staying about the same!

I did buy some puzzles, however. Puzzledly had preorders for the new Reverie puzzles, and I ordered 4 of them. They are really expensive, but I used their 20% off promo plus a $20 rewards coupon plus got free shipping so it wasn’t too bad in the end. I also made a trip to Target to check out Buffalo Games’ new Happy Piece line. They didn’t have a lot of them, but I did pick up one that I really liked. The 1000 piece puzzles are in boxes, but the 500 piece ones come in canisters, which is an interesting choice.

It just looks so colorful and fun!

I hope everyone is having a good month so far!

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Welcome Home & The Poet

Welcome Home and The Poet are each 260-piece puzzles from Magnolia, and the artist is Kat Fedora. They are actually part of a set of 4 by this artist. I had done another set by her earlier this year and recently did these two when I had just a short amount of time to puzzle.

I love the bookish element in these, and I think there is something so magical and ethereal about her illustrations. I will say that I am glad to have these smaller versions because they would be quite daunting in a larger piece count given how dark they are!

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Pure Happiness

Pure Happiness is a 500-piece puzzle from Eurographics, and the artist is Gwen van Knippenberg. When I first saw this puzzle on Instagram, I immediately went to purchase it because I was so drawn to the artwork. I love the title because nothing makes me happier than curling up with a good book.

I love all of the details, from the contrasting fabrics to the maroon set of drawers to the black and white cat enjoying the fresh air. It feels so light and airy while also being cozy. And did you notice the little puppet theater on the table – so cute!

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Bird Bath Garden

Bird Bath Garden is a 1000-piece puzzle from Kodak, and the artist is Lars Stewart. This explosion of color was a gift from some friends for watching their cats for a few days.

It was fairly challenging since the colors are spread out over the puzzle. I do think it is probably the brightest puzzle I have ever done!