december 5x5

goodnight 2025

As written from my childhood bedroom surrounded by all my laundry and Christmas presents.

5 things to read

Red City by Marie Lu

This is like if Romeo and Juliet were alchemists from rival organizations. I burned through this in a day and it is absolutely fantastic. If you enjoy cool magic systems and awesome characters, you should definitely pick this up.

House of the Beast by Michelle Wong

This book is written by one of the animators for The Legend of Korra, and it slaps. Really sick world building done here and cute little doodles on the pages to add to the story. Plot is a little predictable but I enjoyed it all the same.

Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher

Picked this up not knowing its the first book in a series of interconnected standalone romances (I thought it was just a fantasy), and really ended up enjoying it for what it was! The characters are a little older than the average romance which is refreshing (I have very little patience for 20 year olds in books these days), and this ended up being remarkably funny too.

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

This dude has been sitting on my shelf for an extremely long time, and I’m so glad I finally got to it. The story jumps around a fair bit in time, but I never found myself confused, nor particularly disappointed to be switching between POVs (aside from one section near the beginning, but I’ll forgive it this time). I’ve loved Danforth’s book The Miseducation of Cameron Post for a long time, I’m equally happy that this book didn’t disappoint me either.

An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister

Obligatory romance recommendation… two people who were rivals throughout their entire academic careers decide to take advantage of a universities spousal hiring clause to get them both jobs. I really enjoyed both characters, and the glimpse into later academic life. Very cute, quick read.

5 things to hear

Lips by Baxter Drury

The Heated Rivalry obsession has remained strong for me… basically all these songs are from the show lol.

Cannock Chase by Labi Siffre

Winter hymnal (NOT from the show).

C’est toi by Satine

From the show.

All of the Time by Wilmah

Not from the show (but gave me the right vibes, so it was lowkey part of it to me).

I’ll Believe in Anything by Wolf Parade

From the show, obviously.

5 things that are in

Long, healthy hair

Not to sound 6 years old, but I’ve been really into brushing my hair for a long time lately. It gets all silky and shiny, and my goal for this year is to grow my hair as long as possible because it’s so chic when its so healthy and long.

Sweat suits

Got one for Christmas, and I’ve living in it since. Not looking forward to having to work and being forced out of it.

At home self care

I got a gel manicure kit for Christmas, and I’m obsessed. I feel like now though I want to try and graduate to other things at home, like false lashes. However, I may just be bored.

Crafting

My favourite days are when I can spend the whole time disappearing into a lengthy craft (I have a quilt on the go which I am so eager to get back to Montreal to finish). You just gotta go full tilt into an insane craft sometimes.

World Juniors Hockey

My family watches this every year, but every year I find it the most entertaining hockey of the year to watch. There’s something about those 17-20 year olds not really knowing perfect hockey yet that makes it the most interesting sport to watch.

5 things that are out

Packing home from a trip

I went to Saskatoon with only a carry-on backpack and a tote bag. I received/purchased 13 books here. I am afraid for my spine on the way back.

Using unfamiliar appliances

This is stupid but I miss the stove in my apartment. I keep burning things here.

Emails that need to be sent

I owe like 5 people a really long email when the holidays are over… I would rather scoop out an eye than compose them.

Reasonable sleep schedules

Apparently I am someone who goes to bed at 2 and wakes up at 11 now. What happened Christmas-ly to my sleep schedule is going to be the death of me next week.

Piercings that won’t heal

I got this thing in like May. Why does it still feel like that.

5 things that made me laugh on twitter

That’s all from me this year. Be well.