So Goes Another Year
Behold, the Great 2025 Recap!
Happy New Year! 2026 still doesn’t sound like a real year, yet here we are. After a solid week of post-Christmas hibernation, a friend came over to ring in the new year watching the Stranger Things finale and drinking mocktails. We woke up to a fresh coat of snow.
I suppose this has always been the vibe, but more than ever I just don’t have interest in setting a bunch of goals to crush the new year.1 But I do love this slow space to look back on the old year and say goodbye. Sharing a few notes here is one little practice that helps me name the good things and look ahead.
Let’s get to the annual wrap up post, shall we?2 Notes on what worked and, of course, my favorite books, film, TV, and music of the year. It’s a long one, so if you’re reading this in your email it might cut off. Click over to the website for the whole thing.
What worked for me in 2025:
Saying yes to travel for milestone birthdays and hanging out with people IRL! I visited my sister in Florida and my pal Ashley in NC, then went to Nashville this fall for my 11th (!) in-person Hutchmoot. It was… a lot of flying for me. (Favorite airport? Providence forever. Airport I hope to never visit again? Reagan in DC, good Lord that was stressful.)
This underseat carry on bag I found at TJ Maxx after my old beloved suitcase broke. So roomy! Also, bringing the Kindle instead of a book for inflight reading. Southwest charges for checked bags now and I am resisting.
Repainting our apartment with lots of color! One experimental accent wall turned into to redoing half the rooms, and now we’ve got inky blue, meadowy spring green, oceanic blue green, and earthy burnt orange where neutrals used to be. It’s amazing.
Updating the office gallery wall was a good idea too. I love this little work space. Deleting endless scroll apps for the summer and hosting Summer Art Club here. This is not yet another Substack post telling you to get off social media. This is just me saying hey, this year felt existentially chaotic, and sometimes it feels good to slow down the input.
Learning to play Wanderhome and joining a recurring campaign with creative friends. (Think D&D but we are all woodland animals and there is no violence or math.)
Baking bread, now that I know it’s actually not the hardest thing in the world. I’ve been using the NYT Cooking no-knead recipe with good results.3
Some Favorites of the Year
(in no particular order)
Books: Turns out this year I was leaning toward novels of the lighter, fluffier, or funnier variety. I did read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow last winter, which I mostly enjoyed. But really this year belonged to books like:
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson: Found a used copy on my trip to Florida and this was an absolute delight. Loved the whimsy and the feeling of being part of a bigger world without being a series.
Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by M.J. Wassmer: A guy goes on vacation and the sun explodes, leading to the breakdown of order at a tropical resort. But it’s way funnier and weirder than that.
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers: A story about community and home, about who leaves and who stays. Cozy sci-fi doesn’t seem quite right because hard and terrible things happen in her worlds… maybe empathetic sci-fi is perfect.
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst: Normally, calling something a “Hallmark rom-com fantasy” wouldn’t grab me, but did I mention 2025 was chaotic out there? 😅 Just a really sweet little found family fantasy story, with a sprinkle of romance.
Gideon the Ninth / Harrow the Ninth by Tasmyn Muir: A fantasy reading friend recommended it to me so many times I decided to give it a shot. According to my reading journal notes: “absolutely bonkers gothic memelord horror science fantasy. I have no idea what I just read and book 2 is on hold.” It’s gross and strange and funny and goth as heck and so, so disorienting. I can’t explain it and I’m reading book 3 soon.4
Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love: Thanks to The Popcast, YES I READ A DRAMIONE FANFIC AND HAD A GOOD TIME. (It is spicy, you have been duly warned, please mind the tags and author notes.)
Also read and enjoyed: Gilded and Cursed by Melissa Meyer, the rest of the first Mistborn trilogy, Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross, and another re-read of The Lord of the Rings, in which I realized just how many iconic lines are from the movies and not the book.
Once again, I barely read any non-fiction, but here are a couple recs anyway:
I’ve Got Questions by Erin H. Moon: Many years ago, when I felt like my faith was coming apart, I found a good companion for the journey in Rachel Held Evans’ debut. I’d love to think that I’ve Got Questions could be that book for lots of people now — gentle, funny, compassionate company when you’re on a rocky spiritual journey.5
The Showings by Julian of Norwich, translated by Mirabai Starr: Hanging out with my fave medieval mystic again. Second read, new translation to me. I really love it when a contemporary spiritual translator can breathe fresh life into old texts. I’m still slowly savoring this one, with The Drawing of this Love by Robert Fruehwirth as a companion read.
Films: If I make any resolution for 2026, maybe it’ll be related to watching more movies? I dunno. But here are some I’m still thinking about:
Wake Up Dead Man: A new Knives Out whodunnit is always a good time, but wow, there’s so much to chew on here. There’s still comedy in skewering the ridiculous ensemble cast of suspects, but the centering the story on Fr. Jud gives the film a compassionate, complicated heart.
Superman: I’ve never quite been able to get into Superman movies, but maybe it’s because most the reboots of my generation have been dark, moody and gritty? James Gunn’s new version is so full of life, color, humor, and kindness that I couldn’t help but love it.
Hamnet: Gorgeous and devastating and powerful. I may never recover from that final scene.
Frankenstein: A glorious adaptation. Visually stunning, true to the original vibe of the book, but a surprising and satisfying approach to the ending. (appreciation to my sister quietly whispering “nope” during the creature assembly scene lol)
Kpop Demon Hunters: A highlight of the summer was getting Korean takeout and long distance watching this with my sister and texting commentary back and forth.
TV: I didn’t watch a lot of shows, but there were some standouts.
Shrinking: I laughed so much and felt so much.
Silo: The post-apocalyptic mystery thickens.
Stranger Things 5: I have heard the grumblings about acting and plot holes, but I don’t care. The final episode wrapped the character arcs in such a satisfying way.
Andor: Not the escapist goofy Star Wars we want, but the antifascist Star Wars political thriller we need.
Music: Okay, now we’re in the longest section, because this was a year of wide exploration for me. Some albums that stood out and are worth revisiting:
Andy Squyres - Miracle Service & Sacred Vows: Two little EPs that can carry the weight of albums triple their length. Hype for part 3 to come out this year.
Djo - The Crux: Friend rec! (Thanks Hannah!) I didn’t have Stranger Things Steve making one of my favorite records of the year on my bingo card but here we are.
Bon Iver - SABLE, fABLE: Justin Vernon embraces joy and sheds the sad boy making weird music image and it’s wonderful.
Tyson Motsenbocker - Modern Worries: Feels like a singer-songwriter album for all of us late 30s-40s people who are tired and over it. There’s a song on here called “I Don’t Want to be on the Internet Anymore,” so that’s the mood.
AMXNRADIO - The Profound Foolishness Of~ : For anyone who kind of wants a take on modern worship that’s moody and ambient and weird.
Jensen McRae - I Don’t Know How But They Found Me! A lyrically dense singer-songwriter pop breakup album for fans of Phoebe Bridgers and vintage Taylor Swift.
Oklou - choke enough: Arty Y2K electronic vibes that I keep coming back to for the quiet nostalgia and cool sounds. (HT: New Bands for Old Heads, a Substack that sometimes helps me find new things when I’m stuck.)
Some honorable mentions: Jacob Collier’s spare yet intricate The Light For Days. Fielder’s self-titled folky duo debut. Hayley Williams’ sprawling and edgy Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party. Lady Gaga’s return to dance floor bangers in MAYHEM. Mumford & Sons’ return with Rushmere. Sam Fender’s People Watching to scratch the part of my brain that loves big rock n’ roll energy. And though I didn’t listen to the whole album much, there was a moment this summer when I was super into “Old Tape” by Lucius.
This year’s music log playlist is 4 and a half hours long, which is absolutely ridiculous. There’s pop and rock and electronic and folk and indie CCM and worship all in here. If you want to sift through the chaos, have at it and see if you find something you like.
Though did I order a planner that will totally change my life? Of course, it just arrived today.
With appreciation to Chris, who got a Dutch oven after almost a year of me saying no, we don’t need one, I have good enough pots. Turns out Dutch ovens are excellent bread baking vessels.
Friendly reminder to use your library so you can try weird stuff you aren’t sure about!
(drink)
Lovely round up of the year! That reading list leans heavy into the comforting fantasy vibe and I'm totally here for it. I finsihed the Mistborn trilogy last year too and there's something about how Sanderson wraps up those character arcs that just sticks with you long after closing the book. Tress of the Emerald Sea was such a pleasant surpirse for me, felt like a story that knew exactly what it wanted to be without needing to setup a whole series commitment.