Look I already spend far too much here at Book Hero thanks to the never ending TBR and all the customers who come in and share their favourite reads. My wishlist is over 400. It's actually ridiculous, and multiple staff members have suggested I need an intervention (they are probably not wrong!).
Frustratingly my book money is now in competition with puzzle money. Puzzles?!?!? The thought is inconceivable and yet thanks to Amelia stocking us with the most beautiful puzzles I have ever seen in my life I now have a puzzle wishlist that competes with my book wishlist and it's not okay (well it's glorious, but also - not okay). In an effort to share my frustration as I know others will relate, I needed to share some of the things that are currently cutting into my book allowance and some of the things on my puzzle wishlist.Β
Puzzles and Books
The things I love about reading and puzzles alike are the escapism and the moment of reprieve from my daily life and a chance to be somewhere else for a moment - ideally somewhere beautiful and whimsical where nothing bad is happening and no terrible men are in positions of power. I also love the forced analog time that both reading and puzzling give my often rather frazzled, multi-tasking brain. The moment of rest and focus where there's one thing before me to do, and little doses of dopamine as I do it - whether it's putting a puzzle piece in or reaching the next chapter in a book.
The combination of the most beautifully designed puzzles arriving in stock, along with team members like Amelia and Theresa chatting about puzzling, and our lunch time tradition of now having a team puzzle on the go, have all worn me down and chipped away at my already fragile sense of self-control. This is a dangerous place.
I love that puzzles feel like a moment of self-care. Of choosing to do something that isn't inherently going to make me money (quite the opposite in fact), isn't going to get me validation for getting something done for someone else - it's just choosing to rest in the delight of putting something beautiful together piece by piece.Β
The mini puzzles that broke the camel's back
When we first had mini-puzzles arrive I thought they were a waste of hard-earned book money. I thought 1000 piece puzzles were for grown ups and anything less for children (I'm sorry everyone, I know now how ignorant I was). What I now have learned is that a mini puzzle is cheaper than therapy and often just as effective in giving my self-esteem a little boost and helping me feel like I've achieved one thing even if everything else has gone to custard. Being able to sit down and complete a puzzle in one sitting is a delight. Sometimes things don't need to be impossibly difficult, and we can just relax with a small, manageable puzzle that won't dominate our entire dining table for weeks.
All that to say, one day I was buying my books (as usual) and Amelia just happened to have brought our a new range of beautiful mini puzzles and somehow I slipped and took two home. I'm not sure what else to tell you.
Bookish Puzzles for Bookish People
I'm obsessed with books about bookshops (I wrote aΒ whole blog on it), so of course I'd also become obsessed with puzzles about bookshops. My puzzle wishlist is currently dominated by them and with brands like Pieces & Peace my book budget is in serious trouble (my food budget too unfortunately for my whΔnau). The thing I love about a lot of these new brands like Pieces & Peace and the stunning Reverie puzzles are that they are not only excellent quality puzzles, all the way from France, but also illustrated with human-made images of the most wonderfully whimsical and bookish scenes. I'm just obsessed. Check out some of the ones below to see why.
One day I'll complete my Rolife kit (and then buy many more)
I have a wonderful friend with a beautiful bookshelf, and hidden in amongst all of her favourite books are Rolife kits, little illuminated pockets of cozy wonder that I LUST after. I started the Rolife Bookshop about 7 months ago and am about 40% done. I want to have heaps of them but I also lose pieces, get distracted, put it away, forget where I put it, and then lost interest. I've made a rule for myself that I am NOT allowed to buy more Rolife kits until I complete this one single one that should have been done in a weekend. So once I one day complete this kit that is testing the limits of my ability to follow instructions and put things together carefully, I will be ready to spend ALL my money on some of the absolutely breathtaking new ones that have arrived. I want/need/will sell my soul for them all. Although I may get something a little smaller so that I finish it within a reasonable timeframe. Suggestions are welcome, but below are the ones I adore the look of.
