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Cozy

December 31, 2025 by Suzanne

From Wednesday, Season 2: “I don’t evolve; I cocoon.” 

I feel this.

Cozy seems like a fluffy word to have as a theme for the year. But it’s essential for me, and that’s becoming more apparent the older I get. 

People say you have to get out of your comfort zone to learn. And I see the merit in this reasoning.

One question, though – what’s a comfort zone? That sounds nice. Mythical. Soothing. I bet it’s just delightful.

Do neurotypical people have places and situations in which they actually feel at ease? What’s that like?!

When I think back to the last place I felt truly comfortable – no social anxiety, no worry, no counting down all the things in my head that I had to do before it was over or I could leave – I landed on the trip I took to Cape Cod with Hope and her friend Alison. 

Easy mornings where I would drink coffee and write, read, or journal. Then we’d have brunch together and do something fun for the afternoon. Then we’d all meet up again for a long, decadent dinner – sometimes just us, sometimes with guests. 

It’s the coziest week I’ve ever spent away from my own home. It left space for spontaneity in ways that I rarely experience. And it was absolute magic for my creative process.

I don’t form habits; I have rituals, and even for my favorite ones, I sometimes need some kind of reminder. For example, on Sunday, I woke up, got a few things accomplished, and then got ready for church. On the drive there, I noticed I was feeling super scattered and grumpy. And then it hit me – I had forgotten to have coffee. Yes, you read that right. Not a typo. I – the coffee snob/addict – simply did not remember to brew a cup. I knew my executive function was wonky lately but jeez. This is why I keep a to-do list posted of how to get ready in the morning. Because on days like that, when I am extra steeped in discomfort, I don’t always remember all the steps. 

[Shout-out to coworkers who always remind me to take a break and go upstairs to get coffee at work. Y’all are the best.]

I don’t necessarily even follow ambitions, although I do have a lot of them. My most lasting successes all started in a space I felt free to think and experiment – where I felt relaxed enough to be my full creative self.

I say all of this to demonstrate that learning should follow the spirit of the “out of your comfort zone” rule rather than the literal directive. Essentially, learning requires doing something different. Neurotypical people live in a world that tends to work the way their brains do and in ways they are comfortable operating. In order for their brains to form new pathways (i.e., learn), they have to jolt themselves out of that (i.e., stepping out of that comfort). For many neurodivergent people, it’s the opposite. The world does not work the way our brains do. We are already – perpetually – out of our comfort zone. Pushing ourselves further out of it is more likely to result in burnout and shutdown rather than discovery. My learning process (and I suspect this is more often true than not for most ND folk) needs a soft space to land where my overactive brain can rest well enough to focus on the new thing I’m trying to do.

I need cozy.

And it starts at home.

Making my home cozy for myself inevitably means dampening the assault on my senses. My home right now? Chaos, which reflects my state of mind in this, the yearly Wild West Week that straddles the transition between the old and new year. The chaos in my home not only reflects but also contributes to my mental chaos, though, and I’d like to work on that this year. I can’t control most of what happens outside my home, and there are many elements of rental living that are likewise beyond my grasp. I can, however:

  • Declutter and adjust lighting and decor to make my space more visibly soothing
  • Cook amazing food and clean with non-smelly products so that my first reaction to walking in isn’t a shaking of the head and an exclaimed, “Oh! What is that smell!”
  • Marie-Kondo the textures of items in my home. Even if something is useful, if my first reaction to touching it is, “Nooooo, thank you,” I will not use (or wear) it very often, which means it’s not actually helpful to me.
  • Make playlists to mask/offset the 14,351 buzzing sounds and background noises that routinely plague apartment living. Green noise is my go-to for this purpose, but I’d like to mix it up a little this year. Maybe even compose something myself.

One thing I really like about cozy as a theme is that it has an element of preparedness to it. Yes, it’s nice to make physical and psychological spaces warm and comfortable for myself and others. That alone is valuable. But the practice of doing so also prepares the space for stressful situations. For example, making my home a cozy place was useful for times when I had to stay there longer than planned (ahem, pandemic and cancer diagnosis). Paying attention to and taking care of my body not only helps me feel more at home in it but also strengthens it for dealing with health issues and other physical challenges that arise. Working so hard on my financial stability this year really came in handy when it was suddenly time to qualify for a car loan in September. Effective therapy doesn’t just help me feel better; it helps me be better.

So this year, I am cultivating coziness in my life. And I am going to cozy up to the things that matter to me. 

Cocoons may seem unimportant on the outside (and may just seem like a big blob of mindless goo on the inside). But these cozy little spaces are what help their inhabitants turn into exactly who they need to be to fly.

Posted in Alive, Core, Health, Home, Joy, Mental Health, Resolutions | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

10 More Years!

December 30, 2025 by Suzanne

2025. The year I finished up cancer treatments (hopefully) for good. The year my dad had a stroke. The year my Aunt Gale died. The year my friend Des died. The year I bought my first new (not used, not traded with Dad to finish out his payments on the newer model in the family – actually new with 0 miles on the odometer when I took it for a test drive) car.

The year I turned 50. 

The year I celebrated turning 50 with an excessive list of resolutions to accomplish 50 things in several categories:

  • 50 home-cooked meals
  • 50 books bought from indie bookshops
  • 50 small financial goals set and met
  • 50 thousand words written (not counting blogs or any writing I did for my day job – hey, perhaps I should have counted blogs and UNT trainings/memos/manuals!)
  • 50 bucket list items to cross off by the time I’m 60

I enjoyed working toward everything on this list, but I think my favorite part was creating the bucket list. It ranges from small errands like “renew my passport” to big-deal rites of passage like “retire from UNT.” It contains goals about my career, music, writing, finances, and health. It reveals things I want to change about my home and so many things I want to learn. It includes a surprising amount of travel. I had no idea I wanted to go so many places, but looking at the list, I can’t think of anything I’d want to remove. Although admittedly, unless I win the lottery or become otherwise inexplicably wealthy, I probably won’t be able to take all the bigger trips in just 10 years’ time. I guess that leaves me something to look forward to in my 60s!

You’ll see some of these things when I post my 2026 resolutions in a couple of days. As with a couple of the other goals, I ended up with way more than 50 things for the next decade’s to-do list, and I’m hoping to knock out a lot of the small things next year so I can start taking steps to make the longer-term goals happen. At any rate, it gives me a solid picture of how much life I still have to look forward to.

I’m excited to get started!

Posted in Alive, Beauty, Fun, Getting It Together, Lists, Resolutions | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

My Financial Self – 2025 Goals

December 30, 2025 by Suzanne

Before this year, I was terrified to talk about money.

Don’t get me wrong. I was responsible. I paid my bills. I had an average credit score. And to be clear, it was only merely average because I had a lot of credit card debt and a high credit utilization ratio – i.e., the amount of credit you have vs. use (if you use a lot/max out your cards, your utilization is high). And that happens to be one of the top factors that determine credit score. All my other factors were good to exceptional, even before this year.

But I still hated talking about it. And I still felt guilty about it.

Part of that is that my family is so good at managing money, and I felt bad that I wasn’t better at it.  

A bigger part of it, though, was that I’ve often taken financial literacy courses and read financial literacy books, and most of them come overcast with a large dose of shame that I don’t already know or haven’t been able to do what they’re teaching me. The prevailing message from experts is that if you are struggling, it’s because you suck at money and it’s all your fault. Because the prevailing agenda of most people who have excelled under capitalism is to uphold capitalism as the ideal at all costs. And they can’t do that if they actually admit the system doesn’t work as well as it should for everyone.

But every system has weaknesses. Every. System. *cough*especiallyAmericancapitalism*cough*

Yet that is the system where I live. So this year, I decided to face my fear. I resolved to set and meet 50 small financial goals to point me in a better direction. I met that goal by the end of May and just kept going. By committing to small, incremental changes, I have:

  • Raised my credit score by 40+ points
  • Built an emergency fund
  • Financed a car without a cosigner
  • Had some important financial discussions with my dad that I had been avoiding
  • Stopped feeling guilty about spending according to my values. In fact, I made value spending a whole budget category 

Shameless plug time – I did this with the support of Tori Dunlap’s 100K Club. This community was the real MVP when it came to getting past my financial shame and trauma so I could even think about goals. The community is not currently open, but you can get on her email list and get a lot of the same information from the resources on her website and from her book Financial Feminist (which is actually a workbook, so get your own copy or make sure you have a journal handy to write in if you borrow it from the library). 

Another resource I like is Moving Beyond Broke by Dasha Kennedy (aka @thebrokeblackgirl). If you are new to budgeting or new to saving or nervous about saving or need regular encouragement, get this book and follow her account. 

Just as important as the practical goals I met, here are some things I learned this year that I want to pass on:

  • I’m actually really great at managing money. I was good at it before this year, and I’m even better at it now. I’ve had to be, because I have never in my adult life made what was considered a livable wage for my area. And yet, I have lived. I have always had food to eat and a home to live in and managed to pay all my bills (even if sometimes the way I had to do it was credit and then find another little temp odd job to pay it off). Turns out, I can squeeze blood from a turnip.
  • As proud as I am of what I have accomplished, I did not do it alone. I have resources I can reach out to when unexpected things happen, and I have a solid community support system. This is essential. This is non-negotiable. Get yourself in community.
  • So does anyone who is financially successful. If they try to tell you their success is 100% self-made, they are either incredibly lacking in self-awareness or they are flat out lying to you.
  • If you are struggling financially and making less than $50,000 a year in most places (more in places with a high cost of living), I guarantee your struggles are not your fault. You are working your ass off in a system that was not designed for even your survival, much less your success – a system that rewards greed and treachery instead of the actual hard work it claims to reward. Let go of your shame, and get mad instead.
  • You’re probably already mad about it. Focus that mad where it’s deserved – toward the manipulative system and the greedy assholes who blindly uphold it without question – and fight back. This anger has become excellent motivation for me. Every time I want to slack in my goals or spend money on some nonsense that I don’t really want or that doesn’t match my values, I have a little voice in my head that says, “That’s how the oppressors win.” And then I make a better choice. Works like a charm.
  • Greed is rampant in our society, but if you’re actually worried about being too greedy, you’re probably not. In fact, you’re probably settling for way less than your work is worth. And by you, I do mean I. I am settling for less than my work is worth, and the financial goals I’m currently working on are to help me remedy that.
  • When I am struggling, it is easy to fall into the trap of trying to find ways to monetize the things I do that bring me joy. It is essential for my mental health and that of my community not to do this. Most things need to remain as gifts to yourself and the world around you. Cultivate generosity and protect it.

Well, that’s more than I planned to share, but hey – I’m clearly less scared of talking about money now. So that’s a win!

Posted in Alive, Books, Core, Feminism, Getting It Together, Hope, Joy, Mental Health, Resolutions, Revolution, Work | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments »

Well Fed in 2025

December 30, 2025 by Suzanne

A month or two ago, I was discussing things we like to cook with a couple of coworkers, and I told them, “One of my goals this year was to try 50 new recipes.” But the more I thought about it, the more I second-guessed myself. Was that the goal?

So I just looked it up. And it turns out that my goal was just to cook myself at least 50 meals. Not new ones – just actually cook 50 times instead of grabbing drive-through or having a bowl of cereal while the groceries in the produce drawer went bad. 

And I did it!

It seems like most of the year, I really did think trying new recipes was the task at hand. But whether I cooked new things, tried a new spin on an old thing, or just relished a tried-and-true favorite, I am happy to have made myself 50 home-cooked meals. It feels good to be back in the kitchen again on a regular basis.

I even color-coded them (who is surprised? No one) on the spreadsheet to indicate whether I thought they were…

  • Great!
  • Good
  • Meh
  • Awful

I had mostly good ratings, which makes sense. I know what I like, and I pick it on purpose. I’m excited that I had so many great ratings. I also have about twice as many recipes in other columns that I want to try, so this experiment just keeps on giving.

Some of my favorites:

  • Sundried tomato alfredo on pasta with spinach and steak (pictured above) – I am going to say something controversial. Alfredo is not my favorite. I know – it seems like it would be. Cream sauce? Delicious. Cheese? Literally the best food. But almost every time I have alfredo, I am disappointed. Not this time. Turns out, I just need to dress it up a bit. This sauce came out kinda like those “marry me” sauces (i.e., marry me chicken, or the vegetarian version, marry me chickpeas), which 100% live up to the hype. Everything else fell right into place after that. 
  • Ramen stir fry or buttered cabbage and noodles – I’m combining these two because they’re the same basic concept. Forget ramen as a soup. It’s now forever a stir fry ingredient to me. This kicks fried rice’s ass. Stir fry some veggies (in oil or if it’s cabbage, replace half the oil with butter – you won’t be sorry). Garlic, onion, ginger, etc. Soy sauce or your favorite stir-fry sauce. Then toss the cooked noodles in at the last minute and you’re done.
  • Cranberry waffles – make basic waffles and throw dried cranberries (or blueberries…cherries would be nice, too) in the batter. Happy.
  • Matthew Bound’s shortcut chicken and dumplings – almost as good as my low-and-slow ones. And it really only takes 30 minutes.
  • Orzotto (or any of my pasta skillet meals, but with orzo) – make it just like risotto but with orzo. Amazing. 
  • The easiest tomato soup – I have long struggled to find a creamy tomato soup recipe that I not only loved but didn’t make me want to lie down afterward on account-a the immense amount of dairy in it. Well, here it is. A can of diced tomatoes, a bucket of cottage cheese, onion soup packet, oregano, thyme, basil, and as much water as you need to make it the consistency you want. All of these ingredients were measured with love (i.e., to taste/preference). I used my immersion blender to smooth it out, but I think it would have worked better in the big blender/bullet. Next time. And there will definitely be a next time.
  • Swamp potatoes – gross name, delicious meal. And super easy. I made mine in the crockpot but it would be just as easy (and maybe better if you crisped up the sausage a bit) on the stove. It smelled so good that one of my staff members followed me to my office to demand to know how to make it when I took the leftovers to work. It tastes as good as it smells.

There were a lot of other good meals this year, but those were the ones I will be making on a regular basis from now on. I’m pretty happy I misunderstood my own goal for so long. 

Did you discover new recipes you liked this year? Share, please!

Posted in Food, Nourish, Resolutions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Bookshops of 2025

December 29, 2025 by Suzanne

I cut most of my ties with Amazon last year. I still occasionally have to order something at work from them, and every time I tried to export my Goodreads data to StoryGraph, it crashed it, so I’m still trying to figure out how to make that work without losing that information. But I canceled Audible and Prime, and to celebrate, I wanted to spend 2025 focusing my book shopping on indie bookshops. Since this was the year I turned 50, the goal I set was to buy 50 books from independently owned bookstores. 

That’s a lot of books. Even for me. Yet I prevailed. 

I already knew 24 of them were in the bag, because I get a book a month from each of my subscriptions from Nowhere Bookshop in San Antonio. I had hoped this year to actually visit them in person (and also to see my friend Hope) but then Dad got sick, my reliable car became not so reliable, etc. The final straw that told me this year was not the time was when the weekend I wanted to go the most was the same weekend as UNT Fall Preview. Of course, it was. So I settled for supporting them from afar. But I think 2026 is our year, Nowhere! I can feel it!

Part of my plan was to also hit several of my favorite bookstores I’ve visited before on the way to or from San Antonio:

But while I still ordered a few books from Deep Vellum, actually visiting these places didn’t happen either. 

I also had plans to go to Neighbor Books in McKinney, a relatively new bookshop in their cute downtown area that looks amazing online. But we went on a Monday, and I didn’t think to check if the bookstore would be open then. It wasn’t. Womp, womp.

So where did I go? I’m so glad you asked.

  • The Plot Twist Book Bar – Denton’s romance shop where I rounded out a fairytale retelling series and my Rebel Blue Ranch collection
  • Patchouli Joe’s – a popular Denton indie where I bought several books on my birthday and then ended up later in the year joining their new fantasy book club. 
  • Magic City – took my new car for its first road trip up to Tulsa to see Travis Baldree read from his new book Brigands and Breadknives and then proceeded to buy several more books.
  • Green Feather – a little side quest in Norman on my way home from Magic City. I will definitely be going back, because it was fantastic and also there are other Norman bookshops I want to visit. It’s close enough it could probably even be a day trip.
  • The Larry McMurtry Literary Center (formerly known as Booked Up) – While I missed wandering the whole labyrinth of the building, I still found a couple of treasures and got to talk to one of the folks in charge about what they’re doing with the space. 

With a little re-routing of my original plan, it was still a successful year supporting small businesses and bookish projects. And I got a lot of really great books out of the deal, too!

Posted in Books, Bookshops, Fun, Resolutions, Revolution | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

2025 Resolved – Reading and Writing

December 29, 2025 by Suzanne

Here we are, in the final, feral week of 2025. A week for doing whatever I want (I mean, more so than usual). A week of no morning alarms. A week of drinking a disturbing amount of great coffee and eating an excessive amount of cheese. A week of hyper-focused cleaning (I hope) and uninterrupted hours of reading (I guarantee). 

A week to reflect. To accept. To transition. And to begin.

During the first half of the week, I’m going to be posting about my 2025 resolutions and how they went. Then, in the second half of the week, you’ll hear about the unhinged volume of my ambitions for 2026. 

I did pretty well this year overall. There was only one goal I made for my year that I didn’t reach – writing 50,000 words. Remember when I could write 50,000 words in just a month? Good times. That is not a reasonable expectation these days, but I thought for sure I could reach that benchmark in a whole year. I did do quite a bit of writing, though, and I submitted my work to more places than in the previous five years combined, so that’s something. 

This first post is, of course, about books. 

My goals were simple(ish):

  • Read 180 books
  • Read broadly across all the genres on my TBR
  • Follow/finish a few reading challenges

I surpassed my reading goal of 180 books. My Goodreads and StoryGraph counts don’t match, but I didn’t feel the need to skim through and see which ones got missed. There were probably a few missed on both. If a book showed up in a search on either one, it got counted in some way. By the end of today, my Goodreads count will be 186, and my StoryGraph will be 181, and I expect there will be even more by the time the new year rolls in. 

I stopped keeping track of my genres at some point this fall, but the numbers were pretty well spread out, so I am satisfied with how that effort played out. I definitely read something from each category at least twice.

Finally, the reading challenges. I thought that by only counting a book toward one of the challenges I participated in, it would make them a little more difficult to finish, and…it sure did! I looked back through my unfinished prompts this afternoon, and I definitely would have finished two more if I had counted books on multiple challenges. So I’m going back to that next year. Because a prompt met is a prompt met (also because with the number of challenges I’m participating in next year, I would have to almost double my overall reading goal to finish them otherwise). But hey – I officially finished one!

For the last few days of the year, I’m reading through some cozy romance and fantasy books, as well as some books I’ve had checked out at the library for a while. Another new practice I want to put in place going forward is keeping the number of books I have checked out below 20. There’s just no reason to have more than that out at a time, even as much as I read. I get why it happens. It’s usually one of two things. Either I get excited about an author and put everything the library has that they’ve written on hold, or I put things on hold that are on my monthly TBR and then they don’t become available until after the month has passed and I have moved on. So I end up stockpiling a lot of things I wanted (and still want) to read. I’m officially entering my more liberal use of the “for later” function and less hoarding era. You’re welcome, fellow readers of Denton.

I finally met that 180 goal I’ve had for three years in a row, and even better, I’ve gotten to talk nerdy with a lot of other readers through book clubs and events. I think I’m happy with my reading choices this year. 

Posted in Books, Denton, NaNoWriMo, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Friday Five – “HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!” she sings maniacally…

December 12, 2025 by Suzanne

I’m feeling very festive-song-in-minor-key today. It’s been a good week, but a busy one, and the busy isn’t really over until Sunday at noon-ish. My body is giving me small warning signs, so I figure I have about 5 days before it absolutely crashes unless I get some slow-down soon. Noted. My planner on Sunday afternoon reads “NOTHING NOT A DAMN THING.” So that’s where we’re at.

  • The correct Advent greeting. I love it every time Rev. Joseph Yoo shows up in my feed.
  • If someone rich wants advice on what to do with their money, Bryan Fuller and the cast of Pushing Daisies are ready to give us more antics at the Pie Hole! I NEED SEASON THREE!
  • Busy seasons have me sitting at the keyboard more often than usual. I just play through my theory books or some Bach variations – predictable, methodic, simple. Instrumental and ambient music are great stress relievers, which this piece explores beautifully.
  • Speaking of ambient music, I’m playing in the Joan of Bark Fest tomorrow with Wenepa. It will not be the same without Des, but I know we’ll still make some beautiful sounds together. Come see us if you’re local!
  • The James Garfield Miracle is one of my favorite things that happens every year, and I want y’all to know about it.

And an extra bonus at the end of this busy, busy week. Because The Great Unfuckening is nigh, and I feel like mine is going to be a doozy. My brain is so tired, and my stockpile of fucks-to-give is quickly dwindling.

Next week’s schedule is much calmer. It’s still busy and social – just not every day. There are real pockets of rest on the horizon, and I am excited about that.

Posted in Church, Friday Five, Joy, Mental Health, Music, Quiet, Seasons, TV | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

Challenge Complete – Libro.fm

December 11, 2025 by Suzanne

Prime audiobook reading view

While I will definitely exceed my overall reading goal of 180, I may not complete many of my reading challenges this year. Part of the reason for this is that I added the extra challenge of only counting a book once (i.e., not allowing it to count for prompts on different challenges). But also, I have been more of a mood reader this year, which, while delightful and amazing in its own right, doesn’t lend itself easily to meeting more structured challenges.

I finished the Libro.fm challenge, though. 

I think this is the easiest one for me because I go into it knowing it has clear limits. Most of the time that I spend listening to audiobooks is in the car (although a few of these got finished at home when I just couldn’t wait until the next commute to hear the rest), so I’m mostly confined to the hours I spend driving. Knowing I have a smaller window of time to work toward the goal makes me more intentional with this challenge. I typically only check out or buy audiobooks that fit the prompts, especially during the first half of each year. Also, at 24 books, it’s one of the shorter challenges. As long as I finish two a month, success is a given.

I’m going to list all the books I read, but I’ll also comment on some that stood out.

  • Read a bookseller-recommended audiobook – Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry, narrated by Julia Whelan. I love Emily Henry, and Julia Whelan is one of my favorite narrators, so this was almost guaranteed to be a winner for me. It turned out to be one of my favorite books I’ve read from this author overall. It is not just a romance; there are also elements of mystery, family relationships, and mental health issues scattered throughout. The dynamic of struggling with ambition, competence, and competition was also really well written.
  • Listen to an audiobook by an indigenous author – Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. I read this with one of my book clubs a year or two ago, and I much prefer the written copy. I had to rewind a lot with the audio.
  • Listen to an audiobook mentioned on the Libro.fm podcast – Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
  • Listen to an audiobook by an LGBTQIA+ author – Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune. I have loved everything by TJ Klune I have read, and this was no exception. One critic referred to it as “A Man Called Ove meets The Good Place,” and I concur. It is a gentle, beautiful imagining of the afterlife and found family, and I adored it.
  • Read an audiobook published before you were born – The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Listen to an audiobook by a disabled author – Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young. Sweet rom-com with really lovable characters.
  • Listen to an audiobook by an author of Asian and/or Pacific Island descent – Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
  • Read an audiobook about a historical figure and/or event – The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
  • Listen to an audiobook by a Black author – I’m so (Not) Over You by Kosoko Jackson. The dialogue in this book was great. Charming and fun.
  • Read an audiobook from your Libro.fm wishlist – The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen
  • Listen to an audiobook by a South West Asian and/or North African author – The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali. This beautiful and heart-wrenching story of friendship and how it changes, specifically within the cultural shifts of Iran across decades, was one of my favorite books I’ve read overall (audio or otherwise) this year. I thought Kamali couldn’t top The Stationery Shop, but I think this one did.
  • Read an audiobook adapted into a TV series or movie – It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
  • Read a winning audiobook from our 2024 Bookseller Choice Awards – The Third Gilmore Girl, written and narrated by Kelly Bishop (Ha! The first draft of this post, I typed her first name as Emily. Glad I caught that.). What a grand life she has led! I loved every moment of this book. 
  • Read at least 10 minutes of an audiobook every day for a week – The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
  • Listen to an anthology or short story collection – Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
  • Listen to an audiobook by a Latine author – Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. I laughed and cried so hard throughout this book. The cadence of Acevedo’s prose is perfect. 
  • Listen to an audiobook from an independent press – The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter. I don’t know who told me it was body horror year (I picked it, so I have no one to blame but myself, but still), but I think I need a break from this genre. It was good, but…whew.
  • Listen to an audiobook by a transgender author – Nevada by Imogen Binnie
  • Listen to a genre outside your comfort zone (i.e., true crime) – The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
  • Read an audiobook about caring for mental health – Awestruck: How Embracing Wonder Can Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Connected by Jonah Paquette
  • Listen to a banned book – Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Melinda Lo. This book explores the intersection of Chinese immigrant culture and a young girl coming out and coming of age in the 1950s (during the McCarthy-era red scare). The character development was solid, and I enjoyed it a lot.
  • Reread an old favorite on audio – The Little Prince (abridged) – by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, read by Richard Gere and Haley Joel Osment. My last Audible purchase. I just couldn’t resist hearing those two read one of my favorite stories. 
  • Preorder an audiobook and start it on release day – Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd
  • Share Libro.fm with a friend or family member – Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang. This was the first selection of a new fantasy book club at my local bookstore. The discussion was lively and fun, and I think I’m really going to like this group. The book was phenomenal – worth every single bit of the hype. The world-building was seamless without extraneous exposition, and the characters were nuanced and realistic. It explored colonization, racism, caste systems, social justice, misogyny, religious dogma, etc, No spoilers, but I loved the ending.

So that’s my audio-reading year! 

Posted in Books, Bookshops, Mental Health, Reading Challenges, Resolutions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Friday Five – Snacks and Books

December 5, 2025 by Suzanne

One holiday week (almost) down, four to go. I can do this.

  • I love this perspective in these trying times. Times have been trying before, and they will be trying again. Community is how we make it through. And you know I love a book list. This piece has it all.
  • These are so freaking cute. If I get myself together, they may make an appearance at a holiday party. Or I may take fudge. Fudge is good (and also easy). Or this (but why is it called Jezebel sauce? Good and misunderstood? Bad, but also an understandable and totally acceptable course of action, given the full view of the circumstances? Has it been sacrificed to idols? Did someone die a gruesome death from eating it? I’m so curious.).
  • I’m looking at the reading challenges I want to attempt in the new year, and it’s really gonna be something. Buckle up – my reading life is fully reflecting my internal chaos, and there is no stopping it at this point. This is an interesting one that I’m considering – the Anti Brain Rot Reading Challenge. I really love the way this challenge is organized. I ABSOLUTELY ADORE the idea of having a personal curriculum for each season where I double down on a particular topic. And there is a Discord community. This would be an especially good challenge for people who either want to establish a daily reading practice or intentionally read outside their personal experience zone, and who would like social support in doing so. You know what? I say I’m “considering” it, but I think we all know I’m in. I’m so in.
  • I love reading books that friends recommend. When I finish, it’s like an automatic mini-book club. This interview with Kate Mosesso on What Should I Read Next is lovely and charming. Bonus that I particularly like about this podcast – transcript and a book list. 
  • A post no one ever wants to write, but Nadia Bolz-Weber does it beautifully. I’m so glad she’s OK.

Have a great weekend, friends!

Posted in Beauty, Books, Feast, Food, Friday Five, Fun, Joy, Reading Challenges, Resolutions | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

December 2025 TBR

December 4, 2025 by Suzanne

It totally feels like December outside this week! It’s supposed to warm up later, but I don’t care – I’m counting it. It got cold for a minute, and I love it.

December is always a busy month, and this one is no exception. In addition to the added festivities of the holidays, we’re finishing the semester and transitioning to closedown and/or winter housing at work. Thank goodness I have a healthy book list to help me wind down at the end of the day. We’re a few days into the month, so I’ve finished a couple of these already, but I’m looking forward to a good mix of reads to end out the year.

Book Clubs

Two of my in-person book clubs have holiday/planning-the-TBR-for-next-year parties in lieu of reading a specific book together for December, and my library book club held its last meeting of the year this past Saturday, so there are only two meetings that I’m reading for this month.

  • The Briar Club by Kate Quinn (audio) – so good! It started slowly for me, but once it picked up, it flew by. If you have trouble keeping the characters separate, try the audiobook. The narrator distinguishes the voices well.
  • Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang (new-to-me fantasy/sci-fi book club at my local bookstore!)

Holiday Reading

In true December fashion, the name of the game this month is comfort and joy. I still have prompts on my reading challenges left, and I’ll probably continue on those I haven’t finished, because I’m still excited about reading everything I’ve chosen for the prompts. I also have a lot of books I’ve been putting off in order to work on said reading challenges. Not this month, though. Advent may be the season of waiting and anticipation, but I will not be delaying gratification in my reading life.

And, of course, whatever else I feel like reading at any given time. I have also got some beta reading to do this month. Hopefully, once the semester actually ends and things slow down at work I’ll have the headspace to tackle that for a few evenings.

I hope your week is going well. I hope the weather is just the way you like it. I hope something wonderful happens to you today.

Posted in Books, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Work | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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