december favorites

everything i loved in december

It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that 2025 is already over. If you’ve read any of my essays on writing/querying over the past year (the latest of which is over here), it probably won’t surprise you to hear that this year had its fair share of challenges. I don’t have a literary agent. I haven’t finished my new first draft. I feel very much stuck in the same place I started 2025, in this strange holding pattern, this period of perpetual waiting. And yet, when I actually look back on the past year, I can see all the shifts, both large and small, that make me feel a million miles away from the person I was last December. I finished my first novel in 2025, which at one point felt like an impossibility. I traveled more, made so many new, wonderful friends, ate a lot of great food, saw a lot of beautiful art. I might not have a laundry list of accomplishments to air out in a neat, Instagram wrap-up, but I do have a life I’m very excited to keep living, a life that continues to get better with every passing year. I have a lot to be grateful for, and that is what I will be taking with me into the new year. Here’s everything I loved this past month <3

Books:

On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle - One thing about me is that I love a Groundhog Day plot. Seeing the character trapped in the time-loop descend into apathy, or madness, watching the way they begin to memorize the world around them, then grow bored with it, then somehow find meaning in it again. However, even the best iterations of this plot don’t tend to dwell on the minutiae of what it would actually feel like, living the same day over and over again. Balle does that, and does it with such exacting grace, it feels more like watching a ballet than reading a book. A story as much about getting older as it is about staying in the same place. Very excited to continue the series.

The Carrying by Ada Limón - My final read of 2025. While this collection contains some of my favorite pieces by Limón, I’d never actually sat down and read the whole thing cover to cover. I love how accessible poetry is these days, how you can find snippets of it on social media, or on the Subway, but I am also a huge advocate for always reading poems in the context of collections, to see the broader story they are a part of. In this collection, Limón grapples with grief on all levels, from the personal to the national, but she is not ever begging to be understood. Rather, she assumes you are already there with her, weary in different ways, perhaps, but carrying a weight of your own all the same. If you want to read more poetry in the new year, start here.

Movies:

Wake Up Dead Man (dir. Rian Johnson) - Save me, Josh O’Connor as a hot priest, save me. This movie turns religious symbolism into a big, sparkly, golden crucifix and then whacks you over the head with it repeatedly, but fuck if I didn’t have a fantastic time. And for all the camp, there is a genuinely powerful message at the core of this film which is delivered beautifully, particularly in O’Connor’s performance. Also, a Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat needle-drop.

The Ballad of Wallis Island (dir. James Griffiths) - A completely charming, hidden gem of a movie, about a man who uses his lottery winnings to reunite his favorite folk duo for a private concert on a remote island. Despite being made this year, it has the same sort of magic as those quirky, mid-2010s indie releases, back when all every film seemed to have was a really good cable knit sweater and a dream. I loved every minute of it.

Music:

• Star by Pretty Sick - Sort of like if a 90s garage band got really into Charli XCX.

• The Flood by Ye Vagabonds - Modern Irish folk at its best.

• Heaven Has No Wings by Dove Ellis - A track off the first album from one of my favorite sing-songwriters to come out of 2025. Andrew Bird by way of early Sufjan Stevens.

• 41 by smush - A short, punchy, distortion pop track from a group I’m very excited to keep watching.

Misc.:

A trip to Glasgow - Popped over with some friends for pretty much the sole purpose of eating and had a lovely time revisiting my consistent favorites. Pictured below is some delicious quince porridge from Outlier and some life-changing white wine and mussel pasta from Gloriosa.

Christmas in Fife - A friend and I spent Christmas on the Fife coast in a little cottage, plodding through fields and drinking a lot of wine. It was the perfect way to spend the holiday, and as usual, I was completely blown away by just how beautiful Scotland is, and how many cool places there are quite literally in the middle of nowhere. I highly recommend checking out Futtle at the Bowhouse if you’re in the area.

Heated Rivalry - If you have not let your life become consumed by the gay hockey show like the rest of the world, you are missing out to such a degree that it hurts my soul. I love this show. I love these boys. I love how watching them inexplicably makes me feel like it’s 2016 again, pre-election, when I had hope. Gay hockey will save the world.

Thanks for reading, particularly if you’ve been reading all these silly little favorite posts over the past year! I’m not sure what form they’ll take in 2026, but I hope you stick around <3 Happy Near Year!