happy 2026 and a note from rumi

my homemade vegan apple cheesecake

I know that at this time of year most bookish people consume loads of "favorites" list and "goals/plans" content.

I'll just say...

It doesn't matter what you read this year or didn't read... you did amazingly.

There's been a real call to arms to slow down and I don't know if it's performative or not, but my INJ soul has to live slowly lest I die. 

I'll post this week (starting tomorrow) all about books I loved this year, reading plans for next year, etc, but for now listen to the wise words of Rumi and let this help you as you plan 2026 if you choose.

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there." - Rumi

 

It doesn't matter what you think is wrong or right about how you have read and lived this year. You're doing the best you can, and that's enough.

My recovery from burnout (still recovering) has truly shown me that slowing down is the best medicine for an overactive mind.

I hope to meet you in the field where whatever we read, and whatever we do, we're fine.

Happy reading and thank you for spending some of your finite time in my bookish world. ☕️

28: voltaire and complete quiet (researched voltaire- dnf)

 

my macmillian collector's library edition

update a day later: researched a bit about voltaire and found some heinous things! I will not finish candide and will toss this gorgeous copy. 

Source: Crush the Despicable! Voltaire’s Enlightened Racism

"Voltaire’s arguments sat at the extreme end of the spectrum of Enlightenment attitudes towards race."

The year is coming to a close and I can feel the weight of things undone... stories unfinished...

I realized that this weight comes from watching so many "best books of 2025" videos. I do love those honestly, but it's been a bit exhausting to consume so many in such a short amount of time.

I love every book that I am currently still in the middle of, I am grateful for every book I dnf'ed, I love it all.

It's all a part of a reading life, and yes I am adding new titles to my collection and to my reading list. I am not bogged down with bookish community conventions like "finishing all books by the end of the month", or "reading Goodreads reviews before picking up a book."

Nothing is wrong at all with either of those things, but I simply don't do them. I am content to live the great works and share about the books (yes), but more so the process of being a dedicated reader. 

As this year winds down and I start thinking about 2026, I have oh so many quiet plans that I intend to share in the coming days.

If you need a reminder here it is: quiet is where peace lives. Grab a book (or 6) of your choosing, settle down and let complete silence envelope you.

When you emerge from the pages of the book, reflect on how it felt to sit and be with one thing at a time. 

Happy reading ☕️ 

22: poetry pause : the new dawn's business :: thomas hardy

breakfast & poetry

The New Dawn's Business

What are you doing outside my walls,

O Dawn of another day?

I have not called you over the edge

Of the heathy ledge,

So why do you come this way,

With your furtive footstep without sound here,

And your face so deedily gray?

‘I show a light for killing the man

Who lives not far from you,

And for bringing to birth the lady’s child,

Nigh domiciled,

And for earthing a corpse or two,

And for several other such odd jobs round here

That Time to-day must do.

‘But you he leaves alone (although,

As you have often said,

You are always ready to pay the debt

You don’t forget

You owe for board and bed):

The truth is, when men willing are found here

He takes those loth instead.’

-Thomas Hardy 

21: hardy's winter words, late nights of reading, frozen toes

Thomas Hardy Winter Words on audio

Ahhh Thomas Hardy. He just never disappoints.

I haven't really listened to poetry on audio, but Hoopla recommended this collection to me, and I really loved it!

Hardy was such a talented writer and these poems that were published posthumously, are a true testament to his ability as a poet.

What I've realized while listening to this poetry collection while baking and cooking for the holidays, is that I may attempt to listen to more poetry.

I don't do well with audiobooks because I am such a visual person, but on 1.0-1.2x maximum, I do love listening to books I have already read. Now, I will expand that to poetry and nonfiction in 2026. 

I highly suggest if you've been looking to get into Victorian poetry, Hardy is a great entry point. See if your library has a copy and there's no harm in you checking out and giving it a try!

Happy Hardy Reading! ☕️ 

20: stack of hardbacks, tree lights, reading several books at a time

my book stack

I love a good stack of books. 

Something so wonderful to just look at them.

Truth is: I am a reader who can dip into and out of books over and over and keep going. I am capable of keeping the threads of the story together and I really love.

I do not enjoy finishing books that I love. As weird as that may seem, I love reading them, not finishing them.

That may be why I struggled a bit with being on BookTube (though in 2026 I am coming back ;-)

I have several bookshelves. They aren't huge ones and I am sure I could use one or two more, but they are filled with novels I have read or am very excited to read.

I am not a book collector. Sure, I have several editions of my favorite novels, but I generally keep books that I am desperate to read and then I pass them on in one way or another. 

Reading several books at a time allows me to keep pace with my internal heart that longs for great literature. I use books to help me live a fulfilled life and while I do demand a lot from the literature I read, I wouldn't have it any other way.

I have zero judgment for anyone. It seems fashionable now to judge people for what they read, how much they do or don't read, and elitism runs deep within the book community.

I, on the other hand, can truly see the value in every reading style. For me? there is a certain complexity I demand from my literature and from the stories I consume. 

Every time I try to read more contemporary or lighter literature, I personally feel like I've eaten a lot of cake. It starts off great, but 1/2 way through I am sick to my stomach. I am longing for mashed potatoes and lentil stew. This was a horrendous analogy, but you get my point!

Now I'm off to organize these stacks of books and put together all of the books I bought myself this holiday season. 

Happy multi-book reading ☕️ 
 

17: the ritual of coffee and reading

my morning pour over with an angel company

I love coffee. 

That's not a revelation, but I really do. 

In the morning (particularly these freezing, dark mornings of winter), I find myself waking with the ritual already set in my hands. I move methodologically towards the kitchen.

I grab the glass jar that houses my freshly ground light roast, set the kettle to boil, and the ritual begins.

I listen to philosophy or classical music, or my own thoughts as my central nervous system prepares itself for the day.

The older I get, the more people tell me how bad coffee is for you. I don't completely disagree with the science on it, but I won't let it go.

Is this an addiction? Me and coffee? 

Perhaps, but I love it. 

Everything I love about my morning coffee

1. The stillness of it
2. The ordinary magic
3. The 10-15 minute process of grinding, brewing, sipping
4. The quiet time I make for myself to do it

We know that books and coffee go together like beans and rice. Even if you aren't a coffee lover, you can at least hopefully see the appeal of it. 

What I feel when reading and drinking coffee

The truth is that my life is and has been very heavy.

When I sit with a coffee and a book, something in my soul really remembers how to slow down. Much more so than with any other activity. 

I'm of now to enjoy my freshly brewed light roast + soy milk café au lait.

Wishing you a coffee-filled, novel heavy day of peace.

Happy reading ☕️ 

11: pedro páramo : juan rulfo:

the paper in this edition is top notch. under my green light

Never have I ever struggled to understand a story, but love every word -- since Clarice Lispector. 

This novel took me two weeks to get through, because like Proust you have to slowly digest it. Actually, it's unlike Proust in the sense that Proust mandates you stop and pause, and leaves you with meandering feelings of loss and longing.

Clarice Lispector is an author who gives you these really undigestible bites of story that you feel before you understand. It's soooo amazing to experience.

Here are a few quotes from this incredible story...

But he shouldn't have told me that. Life beats you down all on its own. The only thing that keeps a person going is he hope you'll end up someplace different after you die, but when one door slams in your face and the only other one takes you straight to Hell, it would've been better never to have been born... For me, Juan Preciado, Heaven is right here where I am now.

I've broken free of its obsessive need for remorse. It turned bitter what little food I was able to eat, and it made my nights unbearable by filling them with terrifying visions of the damned and that sort of thing. When I sat down to die, it begged me to get back up to keep dragging out my life, as if it still hoped for some miracle that might cleanse my sins. 

She died full of sorrow. And sorrow ... You once told us something about sorrow that I. no longer remember. It was that type of sorrow that took her life. She died all twisted up, choking on her own blood. I can still see the expression on her face, one of the most miserable faces a human being has ever made.

 

Juan Rulfo- Source: The Nation

Author Info

Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo, was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer.

Born: May 16, 1917, Apulco, Mexico

Died: January 7, 1986 (age 68 years), Mexico City, Mexico

10: poetry: shakespeare :: that time of year thou mayst in me behold :: pause

I am always looking for small, easily digestible ways to engage with Shakepeare's work. One of my favorite ways is to watch his plays done by theater company that have been uploaded to YouTube, listening to audio dramas, and reading and re-reading his sonnets.

I love this sonnet for the end of the year.  

stockphoto 

Sonnet 73: That time of year thou mayst in me behold

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire,
Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

-William Shakespeare

07: authors i'm always reading :: currently forever reading list

That wasn't a typo. There are authors whose work I never want to be without. 

I have multiple copies, editions, and formats of their novels. This isn't due to a "collector's mindset", but rather I enjoy filling their works in my "free" time. 

Let me explain...

I am a caregiver and am always honestly more busy than I like to admit. I am not one of those people who values being busy or loves saying, "Oh I just have so much to do".  I am embracing this season of life and what it demands of me. With that said, I keep kindles in my caregiving medical bag, in my purse and on on my phone.

I don't purchase from Amazon anymore, but I did not get rid of my kindles. I bought a kobo, but it mainly stays at home. Until I get a case, it will live on my bedside table.

There are authors whose works I read and re-read from start to finish over and over, and those same authors have works that I just open and read a few chapters from while waiting for appointment times or to fill anxious space.

I never tire of these authors, or of these works and this isn't about collecting a total number of books read or re-read; it's only about living inside of these novels and being shaped by them.

my planner and favorite candle

Authors and Novels I Never Tire of...

I wanted to post a ton of photos, but I will make a list and keep it simple (with a few photos :)

1. Fyodor Dostoevsky
1. The Brothers K
2. The Idiot
2. James Baldwin
1. Giovanni's Room
3. Jane Austen
1. Persuasion
2. Pride and Prejudice
4. Clarice Lispector
1. Near to the Wild Heart
2. The Apprenticeship
5. Leo Tolstoy
1. Anna K- always
6. The Brontës
1. Jane Eyre
2. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
3. Wuthering Heights
4. Agnes Grey (not a typo)
7. Anita Brookner
1. Every single novel
8. Thomas Hardy 
1. Far From the Madding Crowd
2. Two on a Tower
9. Vladimir Nabokov
1. Lolita

Of course there are others, but these novels I return to over and over and over again. I don't ever want to be done reading these. I want to always be reading these. 

Happy re-reading ☕️ 

06: poetry pause : the peace of wild things :: wendell berry

This poem speaks to deeply to what this time of year stirs up in my heart and soul. I read and re-read it constantly. 

stockphoto sourced online

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

-Wendell Berry