Welcome to the fortieth book review of fifty-three. As you know, I used to provide freelance book reviews to several review companies. It was a great experience that introduced me to new authors and their wonderful books. Each week this year, I’m opening my Weekend Coffee shares with a link to a review I’ve provided. Reviews are three stars or higher. The genres range from picture books to fiction and nonfiction titles.
The Zen of Joy (Let’s connect on Goodreads to share reviews: My Account.)
The author is Kenji Sora
Published in May 2025
Independently Published
Available in eBook, Hardcover, and Paperback (137 pages)
Zen Philosophy in Religion | Humanism (Books) | Zen
“The Zen of Joy” by Kenji Sora is a cute, simple read. Kenji has created a series of thirty Zen stories as gentle reminders to stop overthinking. These reminders include wisdom, like the fact that disruption isn’t always bad. You can find my full review on Goodreads.
Happy Thanksgiving!
If we were having coffee, I would share that my birthday is on Monday, so we are doing some birthday things this weekend. For example, I picked our Friday night movie. We are going to watch “The End of Oak Street.” On Sunday we are going out for a family lunch, and our Thanksgiving dinner is finger-food themed this year. I’m secretly hoping that my family is going to gift me a new book. Stay tuned . . .
If we were having coffee, I’d say October feels packed with appointments, book events, family gatherings, home construction, and seasonal prep. On top of that, there is Thanksgiving, my birthday, my wedding anniversary, and my favorite Halloween. Mention of Halloween reminds me. I started a Halloween countdown puzzle. I haven’t shared a puzzle update in months because I’m still battling my way through the 3000-piece puzzle, which is filled with false fits. Although that false-fit puzzle isn’t finished I couldn’t resist starting this countdown one.
That’s my coffee news for the week. If we were having coffee, I would remind you that Natalie (our Weekend Coffee Share host) is on a blog break. Drop your coffee share link in the comments so I can join for a virtual coffee this weekend and catch up on your coffee news.
By Shari Marshall (2026)
