Quote of the Week – December 19, 2025

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Maya Angelou

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Sunday Night Music- Medicine Man

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Quote of the Week – December 12, 2025

“Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Sunday Night Music- Minstrel Boy

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#HRCYED Progress Update

It’s been five months since I started working on the Hardest Reading Challenge You’ll Ever Do (HERCYED) 2.0. 

While I’ve been putting up reading lists for each prompt, I might not always read exactly as planned. Part of the challenge for myself is trying to do as many of these prompts as possible using the books that I already have on hand. This is my round up of what progress I’ve made so far: 

Completed Prompt: Subgenres of Choice (in August)

Completed Prompt: 24 Hour Readathon (in September)

Completed Prompt: Non-Fiction (in October – Traded out Thick for Why I Hate Everything by Maggie Weber)

In Progress: 

  • By the Hundreds: 4/7
  • Series Staircase: 6/10
  • The Last 10 Years: 3/10 or 11 if you want to earn +5 points
  • Adaptations: 7/8
  • Around the World: 3/7
  • Spooky Creatures: 3/8
  • Become the Avatar: 1/4
  • Animals: 3/5
  • Queer Alphabet: 2/9
  • BIPOC Authors: 3/10
  • New Releases: 4/12
  • Challenge Yourself: 3/??
  • Readathon Challenge: 4/25
  • Make a Quote: 0/6
  • The Even Bigger Rainbow: 7/13 (6 replaceable)
  • Translation Challenge: 1/5 (All replaceable)
  • Heritage Months: 2/12
  • Disability Challenge: 0/5
  • TBR Game Challenge: 0/6
  • Award Season: 1/7
  • HRCYED 1: 3/3 (All replaceable)

I’m still very much enjoying this. It’s forced me to actually read some of the stacks of books that are in the house. And I’ve been putting off finishing some series for years now. Over 14 years in one case. As of November, there was only one book left to read and it’s part of the series staircase, so it’ll be done during this reading challenge. I’ve discovered at least one new favorite author. And I know now that I was missing a whole bunch of books from another author because they were only released in England. (I got them via eBay. Yes, that costs. And no, I don’t want to think about what I’ve spent on books over the years. The library says that I’ve saved over 3K by taking books out from the library this year as opposed to buying them. That’s sort of terrifying. 

Anyway, if you’d like to learn more about HRCYED, and join the madness, you can find the announcement here: 

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Quote of the Week – December 5, 2025

I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.

Oscar Wilde

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Sunday Night Music- Killing Loneliness

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Books to Read- November 2025

  • The Best New True Crime Stories – Mitzi Szereto
  • The Lessons of History – Will & Ariel Durant
  • When Women Rules the World – Kara Cooney
  • Surprised by Joy – CS Lewis
  • Deviant – Harold Schechter
  • The Demon Next Door – Bryan Burrough
  • The Perfect Kill – Robert B Baer
  • Road Trip Elegies: Montreal to New York – Rufus Wainwright
  • Ghost in the Wind – EJ Copperman
  • Night Magick – Suri Rosen

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Quote of the Week – November 28, 2025

He who dares not offend cannot be honest.
Thomas Paine

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Books Read – November 2025

Fiction

Hard Day’s Knight – Simon R Green

Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost – Donald Niedekker, Trans. Jonathan Reeder 

Short Stories

The Nightmare Box and Other Stories – Cynthia Gomez

Non- Fiction

How to manage Your Home without Losing Your Mind– Dana K White

Why I Hate Everything – Maggie Weber

This is Your Mind on Plants – Michael Pollan


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