Mahjong Tiles is a photographic book that details each mahjong tile. Aimed at beginners to the game of mahjong, the book offers tips to identify and remember each tile in an Asian mahjong set. This version includes Cantonese subtitles under each tile for those that want to get deeper into the language behind the Hong Kong style of mahjong. This book does not offer an overview of mahjong or how to play the game. It instead concentrates solely on the first step to learning how to play: tile recognition.
The book features the photography of Mona Remedios Stickley, a disability artist and multiple brain injury survivor. Mona was introduced to the Hong Kong style of mahjong at the age of 3. Through the years she played mahjong with people from many different cultural backgrounds, generations, experience levels, and languages. She taught mahjong to many people of varying skill levels. When her disability became severe, she had to relearn how to walk, read, and speak. Struggling to find any skills she retained, she found she made progress by using mahjong and the Cantonese mahjong terms as a memory tool, then she slowly increased function by interacting with others at the mahjong table. With help from numerous people and organizations, she eventually began to find other areas she could function in. She is now working on bringing mahjong to others and is developing online courses to show beginners how to play the game.