Episode 16- A Year in Review

Recap 2025 with Sara and Tessa in Checked Out’s 16th episode, A Year in Review. Our hosts talk reading goals, intentions, and their favorites of the year in books, music, and AV. Listen in to find out the five star reads you must add to your 2026 TBR! 

Interested in hearing your favorite book, topic, or genre discussed? 
Send a recommendation to ghpl@greenhillslibrary.org  

Check out the titles mentioned by Tessa and Sara here: 

https://ghs.swanlibraries.net/MyAccount/MyList/89667 

Transcript

Hello everyone. Welcome back. This is episode 16, a year in review. I'm Sarah.

I'm Tessa. And this is Checked Out with Green Hills Public Library. This is arguably going to be one of my favorite

episodes. Not to jinx it way ahead of time, but I really love a year in the

review episode. Agreed. It was so much fun to do last year and I feel like I've

streamlined my thoughts a little bit more this time. So hopefully it makes more sense. Do you want to start with

some basics? At least that makes one of us. My thoughts are never streamlined. So this will be fun. But yeah, we can

start with some basic. All right. For your 2025 reading challenge, what was your goal? So, if

you have been here long enough, you know my goal is there is no goal. It is just

one. But it's also a lie because you have a goal. I usually do have a like

internal goal that I try to reach. But on paper, it is one because I get

anxious and caught up if I'm behind, which a lot of these trackers seem to tell us. This year though, I really

didn't. I was going to say, let me just stick to like what I did last year, which was 100, 130, 120, something like

that. But I kind of went into it and I'm like, hold on, I'm reading really quick. I'm reading a lot of things I love.

Things are just kind of working out. So, one seemed to work for me. I guess I would say like maybe

175 cuz 200 is really pushing it a lot of the time. And I'm scared of 200. I

feel that if I tell people, "Oh, I read 200 books this year." They will look at me like, "Oh, so you don't have a job or

something." So, let's just go with 175. And that's like also my stretch goal,

too. Okay. My goal for the past several years had been 150, and I was pretty

consistently hitting it. This year, just for fun, I set it at 155 just to see. I

feel like this year was like, I know you agree with this too, like kind of crazy. for as much as I was consuming over what

my like usual pace was, but it didn't feel like that to me at least. I've read

162 books at the time of recording, which is December 1st. But I didn't feel

a big difference in the amount that I was consuming. If anything, I feel like I was consuming less because I really

took a, no pun intended, pause from audiobooks this year. Last year I was pretty consistently listening to them

and that just wasn't the journey that I went on this year. I don't really know why. Nothing was like staying in my

brain. So for having read at least 12 over what I was reading last year, I

feel like that is an an interesting stat for me. That's really interesting. I It's interesting that you took a step

back from audiobooks. I didn't even really notice that you had done so many audiobooks last year or that you done

had done more than maybe what is the usual for you cuz I just know you to be

such a physical reader or an e-reader. I, on the other hand, I'm an audiobook girly. And then for the total that I've

read so far this year, as of today, it's 177. And then I think I think a pretty

evenly split though between reading with my eyes and reading with my ears.

According to my story graph, they are like very similar. I think it's like maybe 48 52 or something. That's

shocking to me just because I know how much you audio book. And I mean, I guess

I know how much you like read with your eyes, too. But for the last several

months, you've been like almost exclusively an audio girly, which makes

my swap right now even crazier because I have recently I'm not audiobooking anything today, guys. It's It's really

challenging for me, actually. But I've been reading so many books physically lately and that's a huge pivot from my

usual style and something I want to continue. So that's a goal. I know we're not at our like reading goals or just

general goals yet, but I'll put it out there now that that's one of my goals for 2026 is to read physically more. And

I think it'll be doable, especially if I am reading more intentionally, which is

another one of my goals. Again, I'm really jumping the gun here and throwing out all my goals.

Do you want to do goals first? I think we can just do goals. Okay, great. Perfect. Um, but yeah, another one of my

goals is to read more intentionally. And I think that I did a little bit of that this year and that's why I had such

fantastic like books. I had so many fivest star reads this year and it made picking out books to talk about today

and to recommend today so easy because I loved so many of them. But that's another one of my goals. So, two of my

goals, Tessa, what are your goals for 2026? I do have a pretty solid goal, and

that is for me to catch up and continue series that I've started instead of

constantly starting new series. The problem with that though is I want to

read new releases. So, when I'm reading new releases, I end up starting a trillion series. But this last month, I

would say this year in general, I've been pretty good at at least a two book in a series situation. But I did some

calculating. And the amount of series that I've read or that I've started this year that I'm

not caught up with is like 65. That was a way larger number than I was

expecting. But I know that you live in the fantasy realm. Yeah. Ex. And so new

releases for you in fantasy, most of them are going to be part of a series. So it does make sense. But wow,

it's a shocking number for sure. No, it definitely is. Another goal I have that um kind of goes

along with series, fantasy, whatever. I want to be keeping a better record of

the stories that I'm consuming. Specifically with series, I often when I

go back to them, this is why I don't continue them often. I read so many books that by the time I get to a sequel

of something that I read as a new release, it's been at least a year, sometimes two, sometimes more. And I

don't I don't know what's going on anymore. Like I've read 1,800 Other Worlds and done 100 other things. And um

there is a website that I use, but it's also subject to availability. Not

everything I read is going to have it. It's called Recaptains and it is um it

is like crowdsourced like you can submit um summaries and stuff to them and they're usually very good but I just

need to do that like for myself. I need to like not necessarily take notes while

reading it or maybe just like my no I I just need to summarize it when I'm done

with it in a way that I know the important stuff that was in my brain will be there. And I think that that

will contribute to helping me with my goals of continuing series. I like that. And I kind of have a

similar goal that along with reading more intentionally and like what I'm reading and choosing to read, also how

I'm reading it. And then the review that I leave at the end, I tend to gravitate

a lot to reviews that highlight tropes in the books that I'm reading or character traits or giving a short

summary of the book. And I really want to get into that habit because I would

love to look back at my like long review or details of this book to help me

re-evaluate how I feel about it. Cuz I tend to do that a lot where I'll read something, I'll rate it, write my little

cute punny review, and have it out there for my friends, but then months later

I'll go back and I'll be like, "Wait, hold on. How did I like actually feel about this book?" And so I want to put

more thought into the reviews that I'm writing even if I'm not posting them on Goodreads or other book platforms just

record for myself. And along with that because I'm in this anxious state right

now where I'm worried that good readads is going to close and I'm going to lose all my reviews which I understand. I

could just download my data. I did that guys. Okay. But I want to also come back

to having my own personal record of these books that I've read and ratings and character traits and things that I

loved and things that I didn't like about these books just so that I always have them and I know that they're always

going to be in my possession. That's one of my goals for 2026. So, we'll see how that how that fares. Yeah, I I agree. My

reviews on Goodreads tend to be very like reactionary and give little to no

substance on like what worked, what didn't work, what happened. And I know that they have like book journals and

stuff, but like I don't know, maybe I'll get one. Maybe I'll try it. Maybe I'll just do it on my own. But yeah, I think

I think that's what needs to happen with how many things I consume. Sometimes when I go to talk about books on the

podcast, I'm like, but actually what even happened in that? like when I have to go to pitch something, I'm like, um,

their parents are dead. There's magic. That's about all I got. And I want to

definitely be better about that. I'm glad we'll be able to keep each other accountable for that then in 2026.

Moving on from our goals, let's talk about some of our favorites for this

year. I know that we have a few books, movies, and TV shows, songs, and

artists. So, I think we should get into it with books. Okay. So, I have I have a caveat to

mine. Two of my already starting. Two of mine on this list are

simply a full series. But if you wanted me to separate it out into like the

books, I don't think that that is the same to me, especially because both

series, we've talked about them before. We're talking about them again. I read them back to back to back to back.

I think I know the two series. Go ahead. That you're talking about. Go ahead. And I'll give this to you for sure. And

I think it's I don't know what the series is called. It's the city of gods and monsters and then the book of Azriel

one. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And I I have favorites within the

series, but like the actual series themselves, like the whole throughine

story is what I would consider to be favorites. So, we'll get those out of

the way. I have it separated into other things, too. But, we've we've talked about them.

And you know what? I think that that's okay because series like the whole story

arc takes place over multiple books. So, exactly. It's one story at the end of the day.

Yeah. And I'm going to say something controversial yet brave. If I had not read all of the books that were out at

the time for those series so close together, I don't really think any of

them would have been on the top. Like if I had just read the first book of both of them or the first two, I don't think

it would really put me at the top. I think that what makes it so high up for

me and such a favorite for me is the entire story. So I broke the rules, but

it was with good good intentions. It's allowed this time for me in no

particular order, folks. Yeah, agree. I just had to get those out of the way before you yelled at me for them. wasn't

going to yell, but um in no particular order, the first one I have on my list is It's Different This Time by Joss

Richard, which I'm not sure if I've talked about on the podcast yet. I love this book. I

rave about this book all the time online and in the library. I think that for a

debut, which I have quite a few debuts on here, it's so well written. So, there

are these two friends that are living together for a period of time in New York, and they both have feelings for

each other, but neither one is really disclosing those feelings or acting on them. And then things kind of come to a

head, and our female character moves away. And then years later, she returns

to New York, and it turns out that the apartment that she lived in with her friend is now in her and his name. And

so they must live together again to determine what they want to do with the home. And those feelings are kind of

coming back up to the surface. I really enjoyed it. I enjoy a second chance romance so much and most of these books

on here are second chance romance. I also just love that it takes place in

New York in the fall. The setting is a major character in the book. You were in

fact a second chance romance girl this year. I think you really learned that about yourself.

Yeah. Yeah, I did. I'm gonna throw out one that we've talked about before for sure and it's

something that we've both read, but Sunrise on the Reaping that's on my list, too.

It's so good. So good. And there is something uncanny valley about the trailer of the movie, the teaser,

whatever. There is something that is slightly off, and I I can't pinpoint it, but yeah. And I think I think it's the way the games

look, but I think in the moment when you're actually watching the movie, it won't feel that way because if you

really think about it, like the uncanny valley happens with the catching fire arena, too. So, I'm going to give it its

best shot. I think the casting of Hey Mitch, we did really good there. Um,

it's just so good and I think about it a lot and I'm sad. I do too. I think about

it often and I'm really excited for the movie to be coming out in this time next year. So, catch us not here. We're going

to be at the theater. I'm just kidding. No, we will be. Um, so I also have Sunrise on the

Reaping on my list. I will cross that one off. My next one is another second

chance romance and another debut. It is You Between the Lines by Katie Neon. And

I have raved about this many times on the podcast. I cannot believe that that

was this year. It was like this year feels like it was a blink of an eye, but that feels like you read that so long

ago. It released in February and I think I read it in January.

That's crazy. Yeah, it feels like it was at least I don't even know. Whatever. Doesn't

matter. Yeah. But I I really loved it. It took me back to my roots of being in a

writing program and feeling imposter syndrome which is something I feel all

the time and this is not a therapy session and so yeah so you Between the Lines really enjoyed it. Katie Neon is

coming out with something else for 2026 and I'm hopeful that I will love that just as much as I loved this. Is there

like a title cover any There's a title and a blurb.

Okay. I don't know off the top of my head. Well, yeah. Do you know like what trope or anything?

I want to say like friends to lovers, but also like second chance. They play a

game of like truth or dare, like choose life things for each other every New Year's.

Interesting. I think Friends to Lovers is boring. Okay.

I mean, as long as you don't say it about second chance romance, then we're good. No, I I know one of the ones that

is going to come up on this list and I of of yours and I have thoughts and

opinions on that one too. I want to talk about a book that I just finished last

week, but really like 20 pages in I was like five star. absolutely finished it

and was just so pleased with myself for putting it off for so long because it

was originally indie published, then it got trad published, then it got trad

published as a hard cover and the second book has just been like in the ether until they're all they've run through

all of those things and now the second book comes out I think in March. So, I really timed this very well for myself

and it is When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker. I have seen online some

people there's a lot of people that love it. There's some people that don't vibe with it. They are mad that there's a

glossery that's like several pages long. I don't know. Don't don't read it.

I actually would love to have a glossery in a fantasy. It's so good because I feel like that would also help

me ease into the world with just something I have trouble with. Yeah. No, it's so good. It's not

confusing. I think that people see how long the glossery is and are like, "Wow,

this must be like very," and don't get me wrong, it is a very fantasy forward fantasy romance. But I would say that

the plot and the romance progress in similar pacing, so it feels very even.

Um, it is about our main character, Rave, and she is

I don't want to say no, she is. She's an assassin, but don't look at me like that. It's not thrown of glass. Okay.

Thank you. I didn't say anything. She lives in this world where she's

taken it upon herself to like join the rebels and she takes out unsavory people

in their community, mostly men. And she's really closed herself off to everyone. She gets caught up in

something right at the beginning. Someone sees her do what she's doing. You think it's fine. It's not fine. And

then everything that you think you know about what the book is about changes from there. So, I'll leave it there. Some important things to know, dragons.

We love a dragon. Another thing, the dragons, they're all dead for the most part. And they are, hence the title,

when the moon hatched. When dragons are dying, they calcify when they fly up in

the sky. So, their moons are quite literally dragons. and as different things with magic and their world um and

politics and everything that happens, dragons can fall. It's such an interesting premise. It's a way I've

never seen dragons done. And there's like a plot twist that like come on, you

can see I don't really think that she was coming out here to be like this is the craziest plot twist of all time.

I've seen people be very shocked about it was not a shocking event for me, but

it was just it was so good. It's what I wish more fantasy romance was doing in

making their world super unique. I'm so glad that you liked that. I knew that you would. When you started reading it,

I was like, "Oh my god, I know so many people that love this." And so, I'm really glad that you enjoyed it. It is

on my TBR, but I know she's really long. I know that, like you said, she's kind of fantasy forward, but the way that you

just explained the whole situation with the dragons is really calling to me right now. I have seen people say that

listening to the audio book helped them understand things more. So maybe like an immersive read with that. And like it's

long, but I mean it's I think it's sub 600 pages. Like it Okay. It's not super long. I mean it's longer

than your romance books usually are. But you've you've read long things. Yeah.

Helmet is not short. No. And you read that in like two days. Yeah. It's just it's just about being

read it on your Kindle. I'm pretty sure it's still on Kindle Unlimited, but read it on your Kindle and you won't ever know how long it is.

Okay. Yeah, it's about like I don't know, psyching myself out sometimes, but I think maybe an immersive read for

fantasy would be good for me. So, I'll try that. Also, read it and if you're confused,

ask me. Yeah, that's helpful, too. Yeah, cuz I always need to talk things out with someone.

Yeah, you do. But it it's good for me. It exercises my memory. So,

it's a win-win. Yeah. Um, my next book, and I think you have some words to say

about this, but this is the book that you know how people say, "Oh, you need to go and touch grass." I say, "Oh, you

need to read The Exow by Jessica Joyce." because this book

really truly just changed the way that I think about a lot of romance books that

I read and has set the bar so incredibly high for my five stars that this is like

a six-st star read for me. This is my favorite book of the year, by the way, if you haven't caught on yet. It's taken

some convincing from me for her to actually say those words. I did something crazy and I read a

contemporary romance willingly. I couldn't keep living in a world where

you like make me read the quotes and like watch you cry about it and not know

the full context. I was worried that it wouldn't carry as much weight because I do know a lot of

the quotes. Wrong. read it. The whole thing on a flight was like quite

literally that book is a mess. I was like folding

pages in. I was like screaming, crying, throwing up. The plane is landing and

they're like, "Gather your belongings." And I'm like, "No, I have three pages left. We're It was a situation. It's so

good. It's so good. It reads so real.

So maybe maybe I am like you. Maybe a second chance romance is what does it

for me because there is so much at stake with their history. It was a fivestar

contemporary romance read. And so I think with both of us saying

this, you you should try her. You should read it. Yeah, I would I would say more, but I

really I don't have anything left in me. I read the quotes again last night and cried. So, like, let's be real here. I

I'll pitch it. I think you need a minute. I do. So, the

premise of the expouse is we have Georgia and Eli. They obviously it's

second chance. They were together for a long time. They have mutual friends and

they have pretty much convinced their friends that they are amicable. But then their friend is getting married and they

are both the best people of the wedding and they're expected to like work

together to do this. Georgia doesn't let him. Eli is a workaholic. They're a

mess. But then they are forced to have to solve all these issues because it is

truly a wedding disaster going on. And I

couldn't find a problem with them. Like, yeah, they broke up. The reason for their breakup is real and is something

that people like go through, but I couldn't like find it in me to be mad at either of them. And like they really

couldn't either. Like they were both each other's issues to a certain extent. And she had think she could have

communicated, he could have done like he could have shown up better. Love them. Just love them. And I think that that's

what makes it so good is that it is so real and realistic. And with second

chance romances, I think it's kind of hard to root for two characters to be together again when it didn't work out

the first time. But in this instance, you see the way that it doesn't work

out. And you see that that's such a real thing that happens and doesn't mean that there's no love anymore between those

two people. It just means that it's different. And so it was very easy to root for them to be together. And the

paper rings. And the paper rings. I listen. I have seen those quotes so many

times. Why didn't it click in my little brain? I was just as shocked as she was. It's

good. It's really good. The last one that I want to go into more detail about before we just rapid fire

some that we really enjoyed this year is The Night and the Moth by Rachel Gillig.

This could in fact be my favorite book of the year. Hard to say. If you ask me on a

different day, I might say something completely different. But this is by the author of One Dark Window and Two Tisted Crowns. I really, really enjoyed those.

But I feel like you could tell how much Rachel Gillig as an author grew when she was writing The Night in the Moth. She's

a seer in this, it's like a nunnery convent kind of a thing where they drown

her and she sees different omens. Um, and they drown like a king comes there

to know if he's going to be a good ruler and she drowns and sees these omens and

there's a gargoyle, not a gargoyle romance. Thank you for the clarification.

Truly, he is like a stone gargoyle that moves. Um, his name is Bartholomew. He

is so good. It will be a duogy. Love that she does duogies and doesn't try to drag things out longer than they need to

be. And I just thought that this world and these characters were so much more fleshed out than when Dark Window was.

And the cover is good. And if you've seen the cover, that is a real photo.

It's not art. They like actually did that photo shoot, which is crazy. The

cover is very good. That's also one that's on my TBR.

That would be very easy for you to get into and it's not one. I like that. I like that a lot. I love

to hear that. All right, rapid fire. You start us off. All right, starting us off. I have The

Favorites by Elaine Fargo, Chef's Kiss. Love them. I have The Night and Gale by Kristen and

Hannah. It's a curveball, but it's worth it. Next for me is Saga the Compendium.

Everything that's out for the Saga series by Brian Kvon. Absolutely loved

this. I have not read a comic that is so gripping the way that this had a

chokeold on me. Uh I'm going to go with The Wolf King. I read this right before it was announced that it was getting

traditionally published. It's one of the fastest reading uh fantasy romance that

I read this year. And it's fun. It's nothing too serious. I just got a copy of that, so I'm glad

to hear that it was good. The next one I have is Caught Up by Liz Tom 40. Classic

single dad sports romance. Of course, it's going to be on there. I'm going to go rogue here. This is a non-fiction. I

don't read non-fiction. When I read it, I don't rate it, but I had to with this one. And it's Everything I Know About

Love by Dolly Alderton. Shout out to Sarah on that one. She did make me read it, and it was absolutely worth it. read

the audio book if you enjoy an audio book because she reads it herself. Yeah, that one is so good. Um, next up I

have Can't Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan. This just was a beautiful closure to the

Skyland series. All three of those books are fantastic and honestly, might as well just throw all three of them on

here as a whole series. Pull a Tessa on us. I I loved them so much. I devoured

them within like two weeks. I'm gonna go with Alchemize by Sen Lux. For me, it's a collection of short

stories by Rachel Harrison. Bad dolls. So good. This is my favorite. Yeah, this is my

favorite thing that Rachel Harrison has ever written. I really You've read them all.

I've read all of her things except her debut, the thriller, the return. Yeah.

Terror at the Gates by Scarlett Sinclair. I know you didn't love her, but I did. My last one is one that

is on this list and one that is probably going to be on this list when I finish it and it is Savor it by Tara Dit. And

the one that will be on this list is the second book in this interconnected series and that's Left of Forever.

Currently reading it right now and I do believe it will be one of my favorites this year. My last one is in fact a

similar situation. I'm currently reading the sequel to The Will of the Many. It's called The Strength of the Few by James

Eington. I can't imagine this being anything less than a five star. I'm 250

pages in. Every word I've read so far has been five stars. Woohoo. Next, we're

going to rapid fire. Some of our 2026 most anticipated reads. Tessa, why don't

you start us off? Um, I'm going to just say two right off the bat cuz I've already talked about it. Ballad of

Falling Dragons, which is a sequel to When the Moon Hatched, and The Nave and the Moon, which is the sequel to The Night and the Mock. For me, it's Unbound

by Payton Karen, which is the third book in the Undone series. This is probably my most anticipated of 2026

across everything that's coming out. I'm very pumped for that. And then, No

Matter What by Carib Stone. This is a second chance marriage in turmoil

situation that I'm very excited for. Deadbeat by Lee Bardugo. Third in the

9inth House series. Oh yeah. Right. Yes. Yeah. Starside by Alex Aster.

She's the author of Lightark, but Starside is an adult like her adult debut fantasy romance. Very excited

about that. That's on my list, too. I also have a Liz Tom 40. This is in her

own league. It follows a romance that was kind of hinted at in her Windy City

series. And so I'm excited to kind of get these two characters love story. This one is kind of a curveball, but

Half his age by Janette Mccertie. I really enjoyed her memoir and I'm very excited to see what she can do in like

the fiction space. For me, it's going to be And now Back to You by BK Boris. This

is her second book in the Heartstrings series, and I'm so excited. I have it sitting in my Kindle right now, and I

really want to start it, but I'm gonna wait closer to release date. Um, do you want to go movies and TV

shows? We've discussed that we don't have enough to separate these out. I've got three here, people. Okay. I

don't remember movies and TV the way that I do my books. Another goal for 2026 is being more aware of what I'm

watching. Okay, so I've got Dancing with the Stars. It's a really good season. The Pit. It comes out again in January,

season two. And if you haven't watched season one, you guys got to get on it. It's so good. One of my favorite medical

dramas. And of course, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives because I love reality

TV and drama that's not my own. My movies.

K-pop Demon Hunters. I can't not mention it. Yes. Wait. And soon. So good. It's so good. I love them.

Yeah. I'm so glad we had the There's something that happens within the first like 20 minutes of that movie and we had

the exact same reaction. Like I had sent a text to my sister-in-law that Sarah

sent the exact same text to me when she was watching it. If you haven't seen it, don't be silly. Companion. That was like

a weird thriller psychological with like a weird sci-fi element to it.

It has Sophie Thatcher, who is the young gnat in Yellow Jackets. Another

honorable mention is Yellow Jackets. We really lose the plot after the first season, but that's okay. And then my

last one is I was deathly ill with some food poisoning or something and I

watched an obscene amount of The Walking Dead. And when I say obscene, like I'm talking like season and a half a day.

You did love The Walking Dead and I haven't touched it since. But what I loved at the time, she was good.

Moving on to music and musicians,

it's very similar from last year. Agreed. For me, it's going to be Noah Khan,

Taylor Swift, Hosier, and we added a new one this year, Olivia Dean. Love, love,

love her songs. You do love her. Um, mine, Noah Khan, actually. Maybe mine

slightly changed. I don't remember what I said. I know Noah was there. He will be there till the day I die. Uh Jensen

McCrae, saw her open for Noah Khan last year. Her album, I don't know how, but

they found me came out this year. So good. Highly recommend it. Um went into

like a Fleetwood Mac hole. I do that every few years. So I got to I got to shout them

out. And then I think my last one would be Young Bloodood. He's like an honorary love of mine.

He is my wife's favorite artist and so by proxy I

listen to him a lot and his album that came out this year, Idols, is truly some of his best work. As far as songs,

um, I loved Slide by Doi. So good. Party for you, Charlie XCX.

Repeat in your car for months. I love that song. Um, 30 for 30 by Siza.

That is just so good. Um, you are who she loves by Mount Joy. That one is

linked to the XV valves for me, so it's of course it's on here. This one was a

little crazy. And it's Yukon by Justin Bieber. I just feel that I only like the sped up

version of it that's on Tik Tok. Really? Yeah. Okay. I mean, I listen to the other one. Don't be wrong. But that's the one that

like scratches the itch in my brain. For me, I just can have it on the background on replay while I'm reading

cuz you're doing that with Yukon. That's insane. No, cuz it's like it's quiet.

Okay. like it just is like an ambiance of music.

And then Someone New by Hosier. I really liked. Oh, and a couple minutes by

Olivia Dean. That song is so amazing and I love it. That's it. I can go on. My top song of the year would have to be

Mother Wound by Jensen McCrae. Everywhere Everything, she deserves a shout out every day that I'm alive. Love

her. This is crazy. And you're not Am I going to say I am? There's this song he

The one man is a country artist. The other one is just like simply a screo

band. Hold my hand. Okay. It's called Demon or Ghost. She's so good.

I can keep spitfiring. Do you know what lives on my on repeat? Rentree. Accidentally in Love by The

Counting Crows. Love that song. So good. A song that I couldn't stop listening to. Wouldn't say it's a favorite.

Happened to Me by Russell Dickerson. I know. You know. I do know that one. It's good. I do know that one. For me,

it's Father Figure by Taylor Swift. That was on a lot. It was That's really true.

Little White Lies by One Direction. She researched for me. Oh, the goodie.

There was a lot of this year with planning a wedding. There was a lot of

listen to this song to see if we want it to play at the reception. Listen to this slowed down instrumental version of this

popular song for the dinner playlist. So, my Spotify rap is going to be strange is what I know. But just know

that if you take anything away from what I'm saying here, listen to Jensen McCrae. For me, it's listen to Olivia Dean, but

don't buy her concert tickets cuz it was really hard for me to get some. But you got them, so they can buy them now. I did. So, you guys can buy them now.

It's fine. And I think we just quickly wanted to talk about hobbies. Both of us, I think,

were on a journey this year with finding hobbies that are not just reading. Yeah. And some of us are still on that

journey. Okay. So am I. My top one, we've talked about it. Legos. Love a Lego.

For me, I really got into puzzles, which is kind of crazy cuz I wasn't really

doing them and then I started and now I always have one going and they're they

change with the season, everyone. So, they're very cute. Another one for me is diamond painting. Really been doing that

a lot recently. It's a hobby that you can do without needing any skill. You have to focus enough that you're not

like thinking about other things. But I can also listen to an audiobook while I do it. I can listen to music. I can

watch a movie or a TV show. Still be like doing my hobby and not feeling like I'm missing anything from either of

them. If you want to be crafty, but you have no like

painting, drawing talent on that front, try diamond painting. Yeah, I thought that that was what Legos were going to

be for me, but it wasn't. I didn't really like Legos, but then I went to a book bedazzling event and now I get it.

Like book bedazzling and diamond painting, I think, are kind of similar. Yeah, it's almost the same thing.

Yeah. And so I have bedazzled two books so far and was

able to watch some TV shows as I did it. Yeah. I think you should try like I've

been doing coasters. I think you should try diamond painting coasters cuz it's small. You can like sit and do it in one

episode of a show. And then it also has a use. You don't just have like a bunch of things sitting around.

Yeah, that's what I need. I think I am also trying to get in the habit of making little clay things. Shout out to

Tessa for supporting that. You know the little jelly cats? I want to make clay jelly. I saw someone online do it and

I'm enamored with them. I love it. My last one, well, I have

two, but one's not really a hobby. My last one would be coloring with alcohol markers. They're so fun because

it's it's gets so even. There's no like streaks, but I also get irritated cuz I

go outside the line sometimes. So, and then my last thing was wedding prep. It

was really stressful, but also really fun. In the moment, I was like, "This is

a lot." But now that it's over, what do I do? I also really want to get into coloring

with alcohol markers, and that is something for 2026. But my last one, which I don't know if

this is a hobby or not, but I've been cooking so much recently and like

actually going through recipes I have saved on my Pinterest or like my Tik Tok

saves or like even my cookbooks and making them. And I don't know,

I think it's a hobby. Yeah, it is. But like I don't know if I like it. I think I just do it right now

because I need food to survive. Yeah, but it it takes up your time and you don't hate it. So, I I think it's a

hobby. I think it's really fun for me to see my finished product and it actually tastes good. True.

Which is really nice. Well, that wraps up our 2025 and review.

But before we go, we did want to talk about our latest book talk book, which was I'm Medusa by Ayanna Gray. And I

know that we both have some thoughts on it. Tessa, why don't you start us off? Off the jump. It was a three star for

me. I think Sarah and I's thoughts are pretty pretty similar on it. It was a super strong start. Obviously from the

title, I'm sure you've gathered it is a retelling question mark slash just

telling of the story of Medusa through Greek mythology.

It starts very strong for the first 100 or so pages. I was there. I was with

her. And then it just it slowed down in the middle. The ending didn't feel worth

it. felt a little rushed for me. But overall, I would say like if you enjoy

Greek mythology, if you enjoy those kinds of books, go for it. I think that

the messaging of Medusa's story was there. I think that the callbacks and

things to like the original Greek myth, I think it worked for what it was trying

to do. I just wanted something more from it. No, that's totally fair. And like you mentioned before you started, we are

pretty similar on our thoughts on it. And for me, same thing. It slowed down a

lot in the middle and I really had to like think about picking it up instead of just wanting it and feeling drawn to

it. And the ending was rushed. I wanted us to sit a little bit more in it. I think it could have used maybe a

coupleund 150 pages more to really flesh out the story and those characters. It read YA

at times for me, which is fair because this is the author's first adult debut

and I can understand why it would be placed in adult since it deals with a lot of adult themes since it deals with a lot of like darker themes. So, I can

understand that can get a little graphic at times. There are a few trigger warnings there, so make sure that you

read through those before you pick up the book. But overall, it was pretty middle of the road for me, even though I

rated it four stars. Yep, I agree. Our next book talk is

going to be on Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. And this is a reread for both Tessa and I that we just wanted to do

just to dive back into this world. The Twilight movies are some of my favorite movies. Agreed. We've talked about them

at length on this podcast. And it's what, the 20th anniversary? Yeah, this year was the 20th

anniversary. They came out with the special editions that we bought. Yeah, we did. So yeah, we've already

started on the journey, but we're going to do a reread, give you our full thoughts, something

light for the holiday season. Yeah, and we will catch you in 2026.

As always, feel free to email us your recommendations or thoughts or books that you want us to check out at

ghplhill library.org. Thank you guys so much for listening. This has been episode 16, a

year in review. I'm Tessa. I'm Sarah and we're checked out.