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Challenge Complete – Libro.fm

Posted in Books, Bookshops, Mental Health, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, tagged , , , , on December 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

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! 

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Friday Five – Snacks and Books

Posted in Beauty, Books, Feast, Food, Friday Five, Fun, Joy, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, tagged , , , on December 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

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!

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December 2025 TBR

Posted in Books, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Work, tagged , , , , on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

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.

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Hello, December

Posted in Beauty, Books, Church, Friday Five, Joy, Seasons, Work, tagged , on December 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I was driving back from the parents’ farm on Friday when I meant to post my last Friday Five of November. I was holding off to see if I found a fifth, but I didn’t want these four little snippets of joy to slip through my fingers. I hope you enjoy them!

  • Advent is upon us so I wanted to share (re-share? I think I’ve shared it before) Tsh Oxenreider’s succinct piece on the why and how of the season.
  • I finally watched Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris this week, and it is just as lovely and just as charming as the book (even with the H added to ‘Arris). I thought there was no way I would love it as much as the book, but I did. Leslie Manville was perfectly cast and an absolute delight. Now I want to watch the Angela Lansbury version from the 90s.
  • Ethan Hawke on Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping – “She was speaking to me in a way that made my soul feel like it mattered.” Same, Ethan Hawke. Marilynne Robinson is a treasure.
  • I supervise a staff of university students, and a frequent question I get when they are about to graduate and go out into the big, bad world is, “How do I make friends as an adult?” Outside of the structure of classes and group projects and student organizations and residence halls, all of which tend to force socialization to some extent (for better or worse), the prospect of being on their own is often daunting, especially for introverts. My answer? Book clubs. Yes, I meet people at church, but some people don’t practice a religion. Yes, I have an art community (with very wide parameters regarding what constitutes art), but that’s not necessarily a widespread phenomenon. Book clubs are easy and more universal. Even if you don’t read a lot, you can usually find a book club that discusses genre (like the ones hosted by our public library). If you can’t find a local club that meets your needs, you can always join one online. You can also start your own and post fliers at the local library (where you can probably also meet for free, if you don’t want to invite people to your house). Options abound, and book people are interesting people who make great friends.

Have a great week, friends! Happy December!

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November 2025 TBR

Posted in Alive, Books, Getting It Together, Joy, Mental Health, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Seasons, tagged , , , on November 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

There’s no way the whole list would fit in one picture. This is one of several stacks. I’m not sad about it.

This November feels weird. There are a lot of changes afoot in my life – some potential, some already in motion. So that’s a big part of it. But it feels like the year should be over already. And also that it just started. I feel like I’m in a weird loop. Time is a construct.

I’m also in the unique position of actually having already completed most of my resolutions for the year. My brain is ready to move on, but there are still two months to go and other resolutions to, well, resolve.

To that end, the November TBR is mostly a continuation of the October theme – a list of books to finish out my reading challenges. I recognize that it’s a bit unhinged in length. However, I have finished a few on the list already (on account-a already having met with two book clubs and also some of these were started as part of the TBR for previous months and I’m just now finishing them up). And my car book is not on this list at all because I’ve been waiting patiently for the audio of Cackle by Rachel Harrison to become available at the library and it finally did. Plus I’m starting off the month re-reading Legends and Lattes and Bookshops and Bonedust because I’m going to a book signing and getting Travis Baldree’s third book in the series – Brigands and Breadknives – this month!

I’m a bit all over the place. And I kinda love it. If my reading life isn’t bursting at the seams, am I even really alive?

Book Clubs

Bad Bitch Book Club Challenge

Overeducated Women With Cats Challenge

52 Book Club

Okay. This is the big one. Buckle up. This will definitely bleed into December.

Whew. That’s a lot.

The good news is that, if I manage to even read half of this list before the end of the year, I will still achieve my overall reading goal of 180 books (and then some). Yippee!

I hope you get to read as many books as you want this month.

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October 2025 TBR

Posted in 31 Days, Books, Mental Health, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, tagged , , on October 1, 2025| 2 Comments »

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

This is the first October in a while that I’m not even attempting a 31 Days project. A few days ago, I mused on what I could do, but I dismissed the thought pretty quickly. I feel like I have enough projects underway. I’m satisfied with the number of goals I’m already working toward at this point in time. I did entertain the idea of talking through the process of taking a project from idea to completion, but…I don’t wanna. At least not right now.

I have a ridiculous number of library books checked out and on hold. I console myself with the knowledge that I’m returning about the same number as I check out each time I go. I’ve been reading up a storm lately – the streak continues! I don’t know if it’s due to an actual increase in focus or if it’s comfort-seeking due to the state of the world. Either way, both are typical anxiety responses for me, so that’s where I’m at.

Here’s what’s up next. I’ve started a lot of these already, so I should be able to complete quite a chunk of this list this month. 

Book Clubs

Two of my book clubs are reading books that I read with other clubs previously, so it will be fun to hear what a different group of folks has to say about each one. Ah, the joy of multiple book clubs!

  • The Women by Kristin Hannah – probably won’t re-read but excited to talk about it with this book club!
  • James by Percival Everett – ditto on the probably not re-reading it (although the audio was pretty great – maybe I will give it another listen at some point), but I’m also excited to talk about it again
  • Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado – fulfills both the choose-your-own-adventure spooky selection for book club and a Libro.fm prompt (see below)
  • Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell – this month’s theme is colorful covers!
  • On Our Best Behavior by Elise Loehnen – reading with my financial literacy community – fantastic so far, although some of the chapters are more heavily focused on women with children than I expected. I may not be the primary audience, but I’m still learning valuable things from it.

The end of the year is nigh, and I’ve got some reading challenges to finish up! There are so, so many prompts left to finish, but hope springs eternal. This month, my goal is to at least make an impressive dent in what I have left of Nowhere’s Book Bingo (including bonuses) and the Libro.fm Listening Challenge. 

Nowhere

Libro.fm

  • Listen to an audiobook by an indigenous author – Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
  • Read an audiobook about a historical figure and/or event – Kingmaker by Sonia Purnell
  • Listen to an anthology or a short story collection – Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
  • Listen to an audiobook from an independent press – The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter
  • Listen to an audiobook by a transgender author – Nevada by Imogen Binnie
  • Listen to a banned book – A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

I recognize that I’m probably not going to make it through all of these this month (unless some generous benefactor wants to pay me to read so I can quit my job and devote my whole life to it – I’m open to that), but I enjoy having a plan mapped out, even if it blatantly ignores all semblance of reality and the sticky construct of time.

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September 2025 TBR

Posted in Books, Home, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Wonder, Writing, tagged , , , on September 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Hello, and happy September! I read more in August than I read in June and July combined. I think this “I do what I want” approach is helping me get out of my mini-slump. So I’ll be continuing my list from last month and adding a few more.

Book Clubs

Rise and Shine’s prompt for this month is “Reader’s Choice,” and I have a lot of great books I read last month to choose from. 

Other Reading

These are mostly books I’ve checked out from the library. Some of them fulfill prompts from my reading challenges (and at least one of them will do quite nicely for 52 Book Club’s prompt “read in a “-ber” month), but most of them are just books I put on hold because someone said, “Hey, I bet you’d enjoy this.” I am happy to continue another month of reading for enjoyment. Here are more books I’ve added to the library pile:

I am excited to tuck into all of these. What are you excited to read next?

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Friday Five – Some Rest From Labor

Posted in Alive, Books, Friday Five, Revolution, Spiderweb, TV, tagged , , on August 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Happy Friday! I’m looking forward to some fun friend hangs over the next few days, as I enjoy a long weekend. Otherwise, I’ll be hunkered down with some good books and rewatching Scandal. Good times.

  • I really love Katie Chalcraft’s piece on grief and wonder and dying and relief and loss. 
  • Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower was one of my book clubs’ selections this month. More and more, when I read dystopian fiction (and this book in particular seems less fiction than prediction, which is upsetting), I find myself thinking, “No, thanks.” I’m not sure I’d want to survive. Like, I’d like to think I’d want to. I’d like to think that I would use all these things I know to rough it and get my apocalypse on and rebuild society, but realistically? I’m so tired. I mean, I would do my best and help as much as I could before I shuffled off this mortal coil. But I don’t even particularly enjoy taking walks outside (I mean, it’s alright. Just not my first choice. Even exercising is better inside.). Why would I want to live there, or how committed am I to learning how to build a house (which I would eventually have to do if I ever wanted to not live outside)? And if I had to clean my own water, or do without indoor plumbing or A/C? It’s just so much. If others want to make this grand effort to save the species, that’s fine. I get it. Good for them, I guess. But if most of the people I love are dead and the best I have to hope for is living off the land, it just seems like a lot of work for a life I wouldn’t want. 
  • Speaking of things that are just so much trouble – Your First Date is a Reconnaissance Mission by Jennie Young.
  • I enjoy that this article on why Gen Z loves Gilmore Girls is full of not only unabashed adoration but also common critiques of the show. 
  • I like a good pairing. Cheese and wine. Boots and leggings. Coffee and…anything. I am intrigued by Modern Mrs. Darcy’s recommendations on which nonfiction and fiction books to read in tandem. I ordered Philosophy for Polar Explorers, as The Ministry of Time is on my TBR in a couple of months.

I hope you have a good day and a fun weekend!

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August (and probably most of September) 2025 TBR

Posted in Books, Food, Getting It Together, Hope, Mental Health, Quiet, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Revolution, Shelfies, What I'm Into, Wonder, Work, tagged , , , on August 5, 2025| 2 Comments »

I’m sad today. My friend Des died. He was a gentle, kind person, and the world is worse without him in it. 

So much of my own grief and general sadness processing is so internal that it is a challenge for me to understand those who work these things out socially. Understanding is not necessary for acceptance, though, so I’m leaving this here as a reminder to myself not to isolate too much, for their sakes.

There’s a lot going on otherwise, too. Work and life and the world are all pretty overwhelming right now. 

One of the things I love about reading is that it’s not just a pastime. It’s a comfort, a balm, an inspiration, an excitement, a focus.  

Any month is a good mood-reading month, but reading exactly what I need at the time I need it is especially essential right now. There are a lot on this list, so this will likely extend into September. 

Book Clubs

Talking about books with other people is one of my favorite things.

Recommendations

I love when someone lends me a book they think I’ll like. I automatically feel closer to them when I read it. And then I get to see them and bond over what we liked about it when I give it back to them.

New Books

Ah, the excitement of a new release! I enjoy being among a book’s first readers (even if that group is in the millions). It’s a specific part of the larger global-ish book community that I particularly enjoy. It inspires me to keep working so that I may be able to experience it as an author someday. 

Also, I need to get these back to the library so folks in my larger local-ish book community who have them on hold can read them, too.

Series

When an author develops their characters well (or builds a fascinating world, or tells a great story), I will read (and sometimes re-read) every book in the series. I just can’t get enough.

Romance(ish)

When I need something lighthearted where everything works out in the end or at least a reminder that sometimes things do work out. If we can subvert some tired expectations and/or gender roles, throw some sunshine into a grump’s life, or redeem a villain – even better!

Comfort Reads

A bit of a catch-all category for anything homey, whimsical, charming, cozy, or quirky, these are tea and a warm blanket in book form. The characters are lovable, the storylines are typically low-risk/high-reward, and there is a general sweetness to all of it that is particularly useful when I feel like that sweetness is lacking everywhere else. Or there’s just really good food involved/promised.

Suspense/Mystery/Hardship/Oh My

When I need a reminder that things could always be worse and the stakes could always be higher (and historically/currently are for others). 

Inspiration/Motivation/Reflection

When I don’t just want to be reminded that things could be worse but also want to know more about what I can do about it.

As always, I reserve the right to read every book or no book on this list. Wherever the wind takes me.

Lots of love to you and your people, friends.

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July 2025 TBR

Posted in Books, Church, Getting It Together, Home, Mental Health, Reading Challenges, Resolutions, Revolution, tagged , , , , on July 2, 2025| 3 Comments »

First, in case anyone’s forgotten where I stand on things like welcoming the stranger and protecting the most vulnerable and not making money into an idol by screwing over everyone else to give tax breaks to the least vulnerable (otherwise known as generally following Jesus, not just the shallow husk of a god capitalist Americans have created in their image), there’s nothing beautiful about this bill – call your House representatives today and tell them to vote no and also to feel free to publicly shame their colleagues who are voting in favor of it. Loudly. With pointing.

*deep breath*

Now on to the books.

This month, I’m saying goodbye to Everand (formerly just Scribd). It has changed in the last year, and I’m not enjoying the new way they offer the service. It took me a couple of months to even figure out the new structure, and I still find it clunky.

It sucks a little that, with the cancellation, I’m losing titles that I’ve paid for. But the only unlocked title I still have on it that I am interested in and haven’t finished is Words Are My Matter, and I’m going to end up buying a printed copy of that one anyway. So I let it go. As just another subscription (especially one where the unused unlocks expire at the end of the month with no refund), it’s not something I’m interested in anymore. 

Speaking of lack of interest, I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately, which is unusual for me in summer. I think between the worry about my car issues, my budget changes, this country’s nonsense, and my parents’ health, I’ve just been blank and unmotivated in general for anything else. I’m going to carve out a little time this weekend to see if I can find something that holds my scrambled attention span long enough to finish it. 

Maybe something from a previous TBR this year? Maybe a book off my shelves at home that I haven’t read yet? Maybe some of these?

Book clubs:

Other books I’m looking forward to/need to take back to the library:

What are you reading these days?

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