First Chapter Puzzles

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First Chapter Puzzles

Classics Imagined. Premium, beautifully crafted double-sided literary jigsaw puzzles that bring beloved novels to life. Mission-driven.

Connecting us to the stories we cherish and the people we love. 🧩📖✨ Woman-owned.

05/22/2026

🎉 We have a winner! 🎉

I’m excited to announce that is the winner of my April From My Shelf to Yours Giveaway.

Congratulations, Evelyn!

I’m so excited to send you The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, winner of the 2005 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

I’d had Didion on my TBR for ages, but originally intended to read Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Somewhere along the way, I picked up her memoir instead and read it in 2024. So far, it is the first and only Didion I’ve read.

I remember being captivated by her unique voice. I was especially fascinated by the detached, analytical way she described something so intimate and deeply personal. Right after finishing the memoir, I watched the documentary The Center Will Not Hold and came away feeling that it offered a very authentic representation of how Didion saw and approached the world around her.

If you enjoy memoir, I think you’ll find this well worth the read.

I’ll be eager to hear what you think once you get the chance to read it.

Thank you to everyone following along on my reading adventures and taking part in my monthly-ish From My Shelf to Yours Giveaway. I’ll announce the May/June book soon!

05/21/2026

✨ We have a winner! ✨

I’m delighted to announce the winner of this month’s Classic Book Giveaway! Congratulations to Jamie V. — this lovely Collector Edition of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is on its way to you. I hope it becomes a meaningful part of your library.

This edition gathers several of Stevenson’s lesser-known gothic and supernatural tales alongside this famous novella, including:

• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde • The Body Snatcher. • The Bottle Imp. • Markheim. • The Weir of Hermiston

I am especially excited about the inclusion of The Weir of Hermiston, Stevenson’s final and unfinished novel, which he was writing at the time of his sudden death in 1894 at just 44 years old. Many scholars believe it might have become one of his greatest works had he lived to complete it. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my TBR!

I’ll also take this moment to announce that I’ve been digging into one of Stevenson’s other beloved works lately. I’m currently working with a talented artist to develop the scene for my next First Chapter Puzzle:

⚓ Treasure Island ⚓

I look forward to sharing more in future posts.

If you’re new here, the Classic Book Giveaway happens every month or so over on my website. It’s my small way of participating in the great conversation of literature — choosing books that have shaped not only my own reading life, but also generations of readers. These are stories that have guided, challenged, and illuminated the human experience, and I love passing them forward.

To enter, just head to the link in my profile or type www.firstchapterpuzzles.com into your browser. Once you sign up, you’ll automatically be entered in all future giveaways. One winner is chosen at random at the end of each month.

Wishing you all a beautiful start to the summer season — may it be full of meaningful stories and memorable traditions. 📚💛

05/07/2026

Want to browse with me?

I’m going through pictures from my trip to Philadelphia, and this is me browsing the classics shelf at one of the used bookstores my son and I visited.

I always go straight to the classics section. I never get tired of seeing the same books over and over again.

Are you like that too?

It was fun to spot several editions from the Narnia series, including a couple of covers I don’t specifically remember seeing before. They were all fairly beat up, so even though the prices were great, I decided to leave them for someone else to discover.

I was also excited to come across a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. I don’t run across that one very often in, so it definitely caught my eye.

C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy is on my 2026 TBR, so I’m still kind of regretting my brain-dead moment of not picking up a very clean copy of Out of the Silent Planet while I was there.

I’ll chalk it up to it being the end of the trip, only moments before catching an Uber to the airport, and not wanting to cram one more book into my suitcase. 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you are ever in Philly you have to check out this shop! It’s the Friends of the Free Library bookstore, filled with thousands of titles for under $3.

Oh, and if you happen to ever see Pencil the bookshop cat 🐈, let me know!

04/27/2026

Hey, friends. It’s been a little while since I’ve checked in here… this time of year always seems to fill up quickly. 🌿

Wherever you are, I hope you’re enjoying the arrival of spring and finding a few quiet moments to read in the midst of it all. I’m still making my way through East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

Recently, I was in Philadelphia helping one of my sons find an apartment, and of course… we turned it into a bookish adventure. All four of my kids are readers, and exploring bookstores and libraries together has become one of my favorite things we share.

In between apartment tours, we made time to explore the used bookstore scene (more on that soon!) and visit the main branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. It was awesome.

I’m a sucker for a grand, historic library. It feels almost sacred… like it gives proper homage to books, to knowledge, and to their place in the human story.

To stand among shelves filled with philosophy, history, science, literature, poetry, so many voices across time gathered in one place, it just feels magnificent.

I learned that the Free Library of Philadelphia opened its central building along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in 1927 and has long served as one of the largest public library systems in the country. I love a library like this. It makes beauty (the architecture!!) and knowledge (the books!!) accessible to all.

I wish every library felt like this one.

I thought I’d share a few of my pictures. If you are ever in Philly, it’s well worth the stop!

And if I get the chance, I’ll follow up with another post highlighting some of the wonderful used bookstores we discovered along the way. 📚

04/15/2026

Turns out I will likely forever associate Catherine Amesbury and Mr. Edwards with this gritty hotel lobby where I sit and read with a (very necessary) cup of coffee this morning.

Swipe to see some photos from yesterday as I explored Philly with my son for the first time. Headed out for day 2.

Hoping to see today and take home a souvenir of my travels.

04/07/2026

THIS NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNING MEMOIR COULD BE YOURS!!

Just follow and comment for a chance to win!

It’s time for my March/April From My Shelf to Yours Giveaway.

I’m returning to memoir and giving away a copy of The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.

I read this book in late 2024 and was completely captivated. Strangely, even though Joan Didion’s name had long been familiar to me, I had never actually read any of her work before picking up this memoir. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but the experience of reading it stayed with me.

This is not a memoir that you’ll walk away from feeling that Joan is your new bestie. Didion’s style is strikingly cool, analytical, and almost detached, which makes it somewhat disorienting considering the depth and intimacy of the subject: the sudden death of her husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, after decades of marriage and partnership.

As I read, I became fascinated not only with the story itself but also with the way she approached grief. She examines her own thoughts like a reporter observing events. Later, when I learned more about her career as a journalist and essayist, that style made sense. I think she truly viewed life through a journalistic eye.

It’s a remarkable and thought-provoking memoir, and I’m excited to pass a copy along to one of you.
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The mission of my small business, First Chapter Puzzles, and this accompanying Instagram account is to inspire a love and appreciation of meaningful, enduring books. Every post and giveaway is part of my hope to keep great stories circulating, passing from one reader to another.

If you’d be willing to help me with that goal, I’d be so grateful if you’d share this post with a fellow book-loving friend who might enjoy being part of this conversation too.

📖 How to Enter:
1️⃣ Follow (that’s all it takes!)

But I’d also be grateful if you would:
2️⃣ Like this post
3️⃣ Tag a fellow reader you’d love to pass this book along to
4️⃣ ✈️ Share this post with a friend who might enjoy this book

The winner will be announced at the beginning of May.

Good luck — and happy reading 📚💛

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04/04/2026

If you’re headed out to a late lunch or dinner in downtown Westfield, stop by and visit me at the Next Stop Shop in the funky bus parked in Grand Junction Plaza. I’ll be there tonight from 3 to 7 pm.

I am so excited to have my puzzles available in this eclectic shop, featuring so many talented local artists and creators.

These local vendors are part of a growing group of Westfield creatives gathering together as part of .collective to support, collaborate, and grow the creative and entrepreneurial community in Westfield.

I’m also fulfilling, in a tiny way, a lifelong fantasy of having a used bookstore. At the bus, you will find a small, curated selection of books available for sale at a price to justify picking out one or two to take home and read.

PS. If you are looking for a restaurant recommendation in the heart of Westfield, may I suggest 🍕. I had their Steak Piadina last week when I stopped in for the first time with some friends to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Next Stop Shop and I seriously have not stopped thinking about it since. I’m making my husband take me there tonight after I close up the shop!

04/01/2026

Grand Opening Today! 🎉

Stop by the Next Stop Shop today between 4-7 as we launch the Grand Opening of a unique and eclectic shopping experience right here in the heart of Westfield.

Swipe through the photos for a peek inside the funky bus.

You’ll find original art, pottery, jewelry, leather handbags, books and comics by local authors, vintage finds, literary jigsaw puzzles, greeting cards and more. All locally created and curated!

Come celebrate with us! Meet the makers behind this collaborative effort to support the arts and entrepreneurship in Westfield, and see their beautiful work up close.

Just head on down to Westfield’s Grand Junction Plaza and look for the funky bus.  That’s us!

Featured artists include:

comics
NO NONSENSE Tallow Care

These local vendors are part of a growing group of Westfield creatives gathering together as part of .collective to support, collaborate and grow the creative and entrepreneurial community in Westfield.

Next Stop Shop is a unique retail pop-up experience made possible through the collaborative efforts of and

03/28/2026

I'm so excited to be a part of this talented group of local artists, makers and entrepreneurs. For all my friends in central Indiana, consider this a personal invitation to check out the Next Stop Shop in Westfield. We'll be open throughout April. Be sure to check it out.

Address

4221 W 166th Street
Westfield, IN
46074

Opening Hours

Monday

9am - 5am

Website

http://www.firstchapterpuzzles.com/

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