How is it already December?

I swear I blinked and suddenly an entire month had passed. November was a whirlwind of rocky mental health days, juggling family events, and trying my damn best to get some reading in so that I didn’t go completely insane. The holiday season still remains one of my favorites for a lot of reasons, but 2025 has been such a hard year overall. It’s no surprise to me at all that this particular holiday season feels like a slog rather than something to celebrate. I am burnt out.

On a happy note, I’m on track to hit my reading goal for the year. I don’t take this nearly as seriously as I used to. Once upon a time I shot for 150+ books a year, and freaked out when I fell behind. It quickly made me realize that I wasn’t even remembering half of what I read, and that broke my heart. So a few years ago I set my reading goal down to one book a week. Sometimes I read more than that, sometimes less, but it’s a pretty achievable goal for the entire year. It gives me time to savor my reads, and zero guilt about DNFing them when necessary.

I’ve also given up on planning my reading for the most part and just let my brain gravitate towards what it wants next. Sometimes I’ll have to read a book sooner because it’s a library hold or because I’m borrowing it from a friend. But for the most part I’ve kind of just been going with the flow. Honestly? It’s been so nice. My average star rating for books has actually gone up, because I’m enjoying myself again. The blogger part of me knows I need to get back into writing reviews again, but also I’m smart enough to know that’ll come. We’re healing. And healing has setbacks and takes time.

I’m rambling I know, but I just wanted to pop my head back in here and let you all know where I’ve been. Taking a step back from things I think I HAVE to do has been one of the hardest things for me to learn over the last few years, but also one of the most important. So if I disappear again down the line, fear not. I always make my way back here.