Monthly Miscellany: January Edition

Recent Reads & Favorite Things

If you’re new here, welcome! This is my monthly recap of things that I love, whether it’s a book, podcast, song, or nail polish color. If I love it, you’re going to hear about it! I love hearing what you’re enjoying as well, so please feel free to leave a comment or hit reply to this email and share your faves with me!

Recent Reads

Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

My reading goal for 2025 is 36 books, and I read 5 books in January¹. I decided to do the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge², and for January you’re supposed to read a book for kids. I decided to read Deenie³ by Judy Blume since that is one the challenge creator said she was planning to read. However, Deenie is decidedly NOT for kids. Young adults, yes. But kids? No.

Other books I read this month, with my star ratings in parentheses:

• The Sequel (****). This book is—you guessed it—a sequel to the novel The Plot, which I read last year. I don’t typically like sequels better than the first book, but in this case, I did. The main character is not likable but is fascinating, and I didn’t anticipate how the book would end.

• Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (***). This is a heavy read based on the Ted Bundy murders at Florida State. It’s well-written and engrossing, but if you have a weak stomach about serial killers, steer clear.

• The poetry collection In Which I Try to Save the World (****) by the lovely ladies at Part-Time Poets.

Favorite Music

1. There has been a lot of fun music released this month. Of great interest to me is the album by Drew & Ellie Holcomb called Memory Bank. Stephen and I are going to see them in concert in Birmingham the weekend of Valentine’s Day, and I can’t wait!

2. Ben Rector & Wilder Woods both released EPs, and they are getting frequent play as well. I would love to see Ben Rector in concert too.

3. “Let Them Fall” by Anchor Hymns. “All of our plans/ The works of our hands/ We’ve cradled and worshiped too long./ Let our eyes be fixed on you alone/ And our hearts be filled with your great love…/ Everything else, everything else will fall.”

4. “The Better Thing” by Eliza King. “Learning just to enjoy You/ To delight in Your presence/ Untether my heart from/ All my busy religion.”

5. “O God of Mercy, Hear Our Plea” by Sovereign Grace Music. I have played this so many times over the past few weeks. It’s a wonderful song of lament. “When will You comfort our distress?/ How long until the promised rest?/ We cry to You from deepest need/ O God of mercy, hear our plea.”

6. “Fight of My Life” by Rend Collective. This song also just came out, and the lyrics perfectly describe my current situation. “I need you to be my joy/ This is the fight of my life/ Gotta keep looking for the light./ I’m in a war for my mind.”

7. “Happily Hidden” by Pat Barrett with John Mark McMillan. I love all the lyrics to this song.

Favorite Podcasts

• Coffee & Crumbs has launched a new podcast series called Making a Mother, and it’s so well done. Each week’s episode tells the story of one woman’s journey to motherhood, and almost all of them have moved me to tears!

• I also started listening to The Happiest Saddest People, and it is one of my favorite podcasts EVER (although it’s basically a serialized memoir and not a podcast). The storytelling is top-notch, and I look forward to listening to each episode every week.

Listen to The Happiest Saddest People NOW

Favorite Finds Around the Web

• I appreciated this list of celestial events taking place in each month of 2025. Ava got a telescope for Christmas, and I hope we’ll be getting a lot of good use out of it.

• My whole family is now on the Owala bandwagon, and it makes me happy. Those who didn’t already have them received them for Christmas. (Charlotte has this one and loves it.)

  

  See? So cute!

• I think I’ve shared this before, but if you don’t have an electric candle lighter, why not? It’s the best!

• At the beginning of January, I decided to make a few simple goals that I would work toward each week: 1) read the Bible every day, 2) read for at least 20 minutes five times a week, and 3) wash my face every night.⁴ I wanted a simple way to log my progress with these goals and found the Habit Tracker app. You set up your list of goals, and then you can quickly mark them off each day that you achieve them. A fun little burst of confetti even appears if you reach a goal. If you need an easy way to track goals, this app is very user-friendly. (I think there is a paid version, but I have not used that.)

---

Postscript

Yesterday marked six months since my friend Bethany died. It’s funny how time works; in one sense it feels like her death happened only last week, and in another sense it seems like I have lived a lifetime without her. I went to visit her grave on Tuesday, and the headstone was there, bearing her name and her title as wife and mother, and the Scripture reference Matthew 25:21, which says, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” Bethany was good and faithful as a Christian, as a wife and mother, and as a friend. I miss her every day. It’s only within the last few weeks I’ve stopped picking up my phone to text her. I am so thankful to know that she is happy and whole and rejoicing in her Savior, but I am still so sad for all the loved ones left here missing her. But I carry the example of her life with me and pray that I too will be found faithful.

---

That’s it for this month’s miscellany. What are you reading, listening to, or watching lately? Please tell me all the good stuff.

1. I’m not even mentioning the 5th book I read because it was terrible and I hated it.

2. I’m reading one book a month that’s based on a theme from the challenge, and the book selected has to be one that was mentioned in Gilmore Girls.

3. All Amazon links are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you purchase through my link. Thank you for your support!

4. Why is this so hard??