Checking Up
Currently reading:
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele
An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston [audiobook——and, I know, finally]
Books finished this week: 2
★★★★★
Where this book came from: Libro.fm,thanks to a credit for a free audiobook from my pal, Kate (hi, Kate!).
Why this book: I asked for audiobook recommendations from friends on Instagram (more on that below), and a few people suggested trying nonfiction first. This one has been on my to-read list for a few months, so it felt like a good (if tough) place to start.
Thoughts: Part memoir, part current events/recent history, part social commentary, and entirely moving and absorbing and powerful. I understand that reading a book should not——and cannot——be the extent of my or anyone’s activism, but this was a deeply personal book, and a moving examination of the genocide in Palestine. If you aren’t moved to do something, to help, to at least speak up and try, after reading this book, then there is no hope.
★★★★☆
Where this book came from: Purchased at the grand opening of Love & Legends.
Why this book: I think the only other V.E. Schwab I’ve read so far is A Darker Shade of Magic, and that was years ago. But this cover was beautiful, and the book was about vampires, so I really couldn’t resist.
Thoughts: This was my New Year’s Eve read, the book I planned to stay up all night with. And I gladly would have, if my double pasta dinner and the manhattans I made myself hadn’t hit me like a ton of bricks. The language is gorgeous, and though it’s a book about creatures of the night (the roses planted in the midnight soil, if you will), it lingers far more on the characters, delving into their histories and their psychologies, rather than the nitty-gritty of blood-sucking and life after death. Which is always fine by me——I love a plot-driven romp, but I love sinking into a character in very particular moments. I knocked off one star because I did lose some reading momentum after the first 200ish pages.
Library updates:
Balance feels important right now. Staying informed, staying vigilant, not letting yourself become complacent, but also taking care of yourself. I had a couple of doctors’ appointments this week, just annual check-ups to make sure I’m still doing well (physically, if not mentally and emotionally), and while that’s not usual what I think of as “self-care,” it felt like a good way to remind myself that I’m still here and still capable, that I can be well and still do something.
It’s taken these first two and a half-ish weeks of the new year to figure this out, but I think my main 2026 resolution is just to feel fulfilled and more connected, but to also acknowledge my limits and make sure I prioritize the important stuff. “Important stuff,” for me, is everything from making time to write to listening to or reading the news in the morning. I still want——need——to do better about helping and volunteering, because I didn’t do the research I promised myself I would last week, but I’m also trying not to be too hard on myself about that.
My streak for writing 100 words every day remains intact, and I’m hoping I can make it all the way to December 31 (and beyond). I’ve been reading more, too, especially with the official start of my audiobook journey. My dad used to borrow a ton of audiobooks from our local library when I was a kid, huge plastic boxes with seemingly dozens of CDs in them, mostly Jim Butcher novels. I used to make fun of him for it, especially when I got in his car for him to drive me somewhere after he’d driven home from work and some (in my mind) overly excited narrator started blaring through the speakers. I’ve used a free credit or two in the past to download random audiobooks——actually, now that I think of it, I think it was two, and I think they were both narrated by Rosamund Pike, so perhaps it’s clear why I downloaded them.
Anyway, I had never finished listening to an audiobook until finishing One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, which is really all thanks to Kate (hi again, Kate!) and a bunch of kind friends and followers on Instagram. I asked for audiobook suggestions on my account a week or two ago and got a ton of excellent recommendations and helpful hints, especially the suggestion to try nonfiction, so it feels like listening to a podcast, as a way to ease in. And when it came time to dive in, I remembered that Kate had sent me Libro.fm credits literally years ago as a gift, so I got my first three books for free. It feels like a whole new world has opened up for me, and I enjoy listening to my books while I cook, clean, and commute, either to learn something new or to escape the world for a bit.
Globally, nationally, things are shit. Personally, I’m feeling okay right now, and that makes me eager to fix the shit.
Closing thoughts:
Find a way to help and do it. (I’m still working on this myself.)
