Sundays with Jenny by Jenny Bienemann is a luminous collection of haikus, thoughtfully paired with photographs and distinctive haiku art. Featuring nearly 150 poems, over 100 images, and close to three dozen pieces of haiku-inspired artwork, the book offers a multi-sensory experience. While most haikus follow the traditional three-line form, others unfold across multiple verses, inviting deeper reflection. The themes span a wide emotional and philosophical spectrum, love, resilience, serenity, hope, transformation, compassion, and the subtle nuances of human connection.

Reading this book felt like stepping into a quiet, contemplative space. I was especially drawn to its unique structure, which organizes the content by time of day, from the stillness of dawn to the hush of night. Each section carries a mood, allowing the reader to move through emotional and visual shifts as naturally as the progression of sunlight. The creative use of varying font styles throughout the book added a layer of visual interest, making each page feel curated and intentional.

What stood out most were the moments when text and image merged seamlessly. Instead of simply placing haikus next to photos, Bienemann sometimes integrates the verse directly into the visual composition. One poignant example: a haiku beginning with “Open up your door” appears written on the very surface of a door left slightly ajar, light streaming through the narrow opening, evocative and metaphorically rich.

Bienemann has a keen eye for everyday wonder. A basket of laundry, a pair of reading glasses, even a plate of strawberries, each becomes poetic under her lens. She elevates the ordinary, revealing hidden beauty in small, often overlooked details: a heart-shaped leaf on a sidewalk, a natural heart embedded in a tree stump. The vibrancy of some photographs, particularly those rich in color, is breathtaking. One personal favorite is the city skyline rendered in hues of purple and blue, the first image in the Dawn section. It set the tone with quiet grandeur.

The haiku art adds a unique and creative dimension to the book, with many pieces, particularly the watercolor-inspired ones, resonating deeply and beautifully enhancing the accompanying verses. While some artworks leaned into a more abstract or minimalist style, offering space for personal interpretation, others stood out more subtly, inviting the viewer to pause and reflect. This variety in artistic approach contributes to the book’s eclectic charm, even if a few pieces felt more understated compared to the vividness of the photographs.

Sundays with Jenny is a meditative and visually engaging collection. It invites the reader to slow down, notice more, and find poetry in the everyday.

Pages: 212 | ISBN 978-0-1234-6578-8

Sundays with Jenny, a collection of haiku and photographs by Jenny Bienemann, invites readers into a quiet, contemplative day filtered through the tender, unhurried gaze of a Sunday. The book unfolds in six thematic sections: Rejoyce, Rise, Renew, Reflect, Restore, and Rejuvenate. Each part marks a distinct time of day, tracing a gentle arc from dawn’s hush to the stillness of midnight. Along the way, it highlights the small, familiar rhythms of daily life.

The haiku, in true minimalist form, are concise yet resonant. Each one distills presence, healing, and wonder into just a few lines. There’s an emotional clarity in Bienemann’s verse, personal yet uncannily universal. Her images are spare but precise, offering a world that feels both intimate and expansive.

Reading Sundays with Jenny is like pausing at the top of a hill, letting out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. Bienemann captures the ephemeral, the half-thoughts and half-feelings we often brush aside, and honors them. Some haiku wrap around you like warmth on a cold morning. Others, such as “doubt magnifies faith, / asking the kinds of questions / only faith answers,” halt you mid-thought and hold you in silence.

One of the book’s quiet triumphs is its structure. The emotional progression echoes a soul’s gentle unfolding. With each chapter, readers drift from light and hope into self-reflection and eventual calm. The transitions are subtle but powerful, forming a seamless narrative of emotion rather than action.

Perhaps the most arresting quality is the immediacy it brings. These haiku do not merely observe, they awaken. Bienemann has a rare ability to locate grace in the unnoticed and pour reverence into the mundane. This book could be read in a single sitting, yet its resonance lingers. It’s especially evocative in autumn, when trees shed both leaves and memory, but its comfort endures in any season.

For those in search of stillness, or simply a companion for the quieter corners of life, Sundays with Jenny offers both presence and poetry in equal measure.

Pages: 212 | ISBN 978-0-1234-6578-8