Happy Solstice! Sunday Post – 12/21/2025

December 21, 2025 Sunday Post 7

The Sunday Post is hosted by the wonderful Kimberly, the Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week, take a look ahead, and showcase our new treasures—I mean books!

This week I’m also participating in The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz, and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Happy Solstice! Photograph of winter sunrise through the stones of Stonehenge.

The Past Week

In real life: Last Sunday, Dad and I attended the baptism of my cousin’s third grandchild. In the afternoon, Robin and I popped into a yarn shop. I grabbed some chunky alpaca yarn and whipped up a toasty warm hat for Dad’s Christmas present, since I haven’t had time to finish his vest. For my stepmom, I had made a scrumptiously soft and thick chenille scarf/wrap. They were both delighted.

On Monday, we left early for the drive to New Mexico. It was an uneventful drive for the most part. We did pass a pickup truck upside-down in a ditch as twilight was falling. Several people had already stopped to help, and it was a curvy, one-lane-each-way road with very little shoulder. We judged that if we stopped, we and our car would be more likely to be in the way or even cause another accident, so we kept going and said a prayer for whoever was in the pickup. (The guys who had stopped to help had already called it in.)

Tuesday and Friday nights we had dinner at my mom and stepdad’s house. Robin, Mom, and I had choir practice Wednesday. I spent the rest of the week trying to finish up my Christmas knitting and shopping, wrapping presents, and hanging out with Mr. Bookwyrm and whichever family members were available. We played games over at my sister’s house yesterday.

I received the sad news that my dear mentor, choral director, and friend J passed away on Tuesday. I know she is singing with the heavenly chorus (and maybe even directing now and then), but I am grieving, for her family as well as for myself and Robin, who studied violin with J. I’ve known her for over 30 years, and I will miss her deeply. I know she will live on in the music and memories of all those with whom she shared her deep love of music through at least 50 years as a gifted music teacher and director.

5 Good Things:

  1. Music, especially making music, always comforts me. Choir rehearsal on Wednesday helped ease a little of the pain of J’s death. I will think of her as we sing today, and as Robin plays violin.
  2. Mr. Bookwyrm has been so loving and supportive. And it has been comforting to have my family around me.
  3. My Christmas shopping is done. Phew! And my Christmas knitting is almost done: one more hat to finish.
  4. I’m looking forward to the Christmas Eve service, and a half-hour of carols and choir pieces before it. I need that music this year, and I know it will lift my heart.
  5. I’m also excited for all our Christmas festivities and traditions. I love this time of year, and this year in particular I need the comfort, warmth, and inspiration of both our family traditions and the celebration of Christ’s birth with my family’s church community here.

Recent Posts (Past Two Weeks)

Looking Ahead

  • COYER 2026: Out to Lunch Again! – challenge sign-up
  • Books I Hope To Find Under the Tree – Top 10 Tuesday (tentative)
  • other reviews TBD
  • News & Notes – 12/27/2025 (tentative)
  • Sunday Post – 12/28/2025

What I’ve Been Reading/Watching

Reading: I tried to go back to The Late-Night Witches by Auralee Wallace, but I’m still struggling with it. The main character isn’t really working for me, and I usually only enjoy vampires when they are sympathetic, not when they’re villains. I also picked up In Other Lands by Sara Rees Brennan again. (It’s one of the books in my Robin’s Recs challenge.) It’s fun, but I’m still not quite in the right mood. So then I started Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett (ARC), one of the top books on my 2025-26 Winter TBR list—though I haven’t gotten far yet.

After I heard about J’s death, I put all those aside and began rereading Madeleine L’Engle’s A Circle of Quiet, a memoir that combines stories from her life, thoughts on writing, and her personal faith. It’s a book I have read a number of times, beginning in my early 20s, and I always find it both inspiring and deeply comforting. I am also reading Alchemical Reactions, an “extra” (freebie) which Celia Lake offered early to her patrons on Patreon. (If you’re a fan, it will be available through her website in a month or so.)

Listening to: Ruby Fever (Ilona Andrews)

Watching: The Mummy (for the first time. It’s fun, but I hope I don’t have nightmares about the scarabs!)

Playing: Wingspan and Project L at my sister’s house. Wordle, Connections, Strands, Spelling Bee, and Sudoku (all from the NYT), and Pokémon Go.

Added to the Hoard

(Click title for Goodreads page or my review.)

Purchased (Kindle, print, or audio)

Kindle: Sale or low price: Hidden Nature; Irish Rose; A Gathering of Crones; Game of Crones; Crone Unleashed; Rise of the Crones

Free: Alchemical Reactions (currently available only through the author’s Patreon; will be available to the public on her website in mid-January)

Ten Years Ago I Was Reading…

I saw this idea on Lisa Loves Literature, who got it from Musings of a Bookish Kitty (who I also follow.) I thought I would give it a try! These are the reviews I published 10 years ago between December 15 and December 21, 2015.

Stay kind, hopeful, and steadfast… and may your books bring you joy this week!

Related Posts

7 Responses to “Happy Solstice! Sunday Post – 12/21/2025”

  5. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz

    I’m sorry for the loss of your friend. I’m glad that you are able to find consolation in music and in a good book. I should write down that title—A Circle of Quiet. I don’t think I’ve read much of L’Engle except Wrinkle in Time, and I should look for that one.

    I have always wanted to play Wingspan. I should put it on hold at the library.
    Deb Nance at Readerbuzz recently posted…The Sunday Salon: Last-Minute ShoppingMy Profile

    Reply

Leave a Reply

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.