Hello December 2025 + November Book Summary

Sorry to dip out in November. I had a draft started in mid-November with book reviews and knitting pictures that never got published, but I decided to just dump that and start December fresh.

I am happy to share that we are all finally starting to feel better. There’s still a nasty cough in the house but our energy levels are getting higher, we’ve resumed our walks most days, and we’re all a (little) less grumpy. Our Thanksgiving was quiet and lovely: the food was SO delicious and we’re still living on leftovers. We’ve played countless games of Clue (my favorite), I’ve been working on jigsaw puzzles (recently finished & just started), and we’re putting pen to paper for a Christmas menu and presents. It is insane to think that December has arrived and 2026 is just around the corner!

Today’s post is a quick update on where I stand with my personal curriculum, a summary of my current knitting projects, and some graphics to help visualize the books I read in November.

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I have kept up my very early morning wakeup time throughout November. My goal is to be at my desk by 4:30 and that’s become the most important part of my day – time with candles, coffee, notebooks, and books. And thanks to a nearly 7am sunrise time*, the kids and I have managed (along with Dawsey) to be outside to greet the sun almost every single morning for the last few weeks, which is an amazing thing to experience every day. This picture is actually a pre-sunrise shot, which is sometimes even more beautiful than the actual sunrise!

Personal Curriculum

I have been chugging along on my personal curriculum. I’ve reached the 1900s and – whew. It’s been a journey. Just as a reminder, I’m reading with a special eye towards how people vote against their own interests and how that intersects with race. The answer has been obvious so far: the people in power want to stay in power and the best way for them to do that is to make sure we won’t band together and demand better. The numbers are against them. But my most recent chapter in These Truths was about mass delusion… and that about sums it up.

Anyway, it’s fascinating and I’m still enjoying this project a lot. Despite being in the 1900s, I’m only halfway through my three major texts so I’ll be continuing this into 2026, which is just fine with me. This quiet time will be harder to capture in the spring/summer because of sleeping schedules so I’ll probably take a break then. But I’m already dreaming up curricula for next fall. Part of me wants to stick with the colonial period and read 400 Souls, The Hemingses of Monticello, and Toussaint Louverture: A Revolutionary Life. But I also want to zoom forward to the late 1800s and read the writings of Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, and study the Grimke sisters. And even further ahead, I want to read more Hannah Arendt and study authoritarianism. And hello?! I also want to study ancient civilizations like Mesopotamia, the Roman Empire, and Ancient Greece. My Latin practice has completely fallen off my radar! And of course, there are all of the ancient philosophers to explore.

SO. Time will tell. I feel like an unfillable cup lately and just want to read and understand more and more and more. But friends, I am limited by time and brain capacity. But just know, if I could find a way to spend hours everyday, nestled into my cozy burrow in the basement with candles lit and my books spread all around me, then I’d be doing just that at any given moment.

One thing I’d like to add in 2026 would be more time writing. Just putting that out into the universe!

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Knitting:

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I was hoping to have Lettuce Mint finished for Thanksgiving but I’m not quite there yet. My new goal is Christmas which seems doable as long as I can keep my interest piqued (which is debatable). Can I be honest about the best part of this project? It smells like my favorite lotion (Mountain Lodge by Tuft Woolens) and I love taking it out of my bag, holding it up to my nose, and taking a big whiff. Mountain Lodge is my favorite scent and I’m worried that it’s going to go away so I buy 2-3 lotions every year to make sure I have a small stock. They’re tucked away in all of my bags!

ANYWAY – the project. It kinda has a funny shape to it. The body is shorter than I’d typically like and the sleeves are a little puffy, but those things are by design. The mosaic knitting means this will grow quite a bit after it’s been soaked and dried. I’m worried about the length of the sleeves – I have short arms and I tend to prefer sleeves that stop before my wrist so that it’s easier to quickly wash dishes and clean. I’m not knitting them as long as the pattern called for and I’m still worried they might be too long and baggy. So I’ve been looking into how to sew elastic into the sleeves to make them more snug and stay where I want them, just in case. Because I really want this sweater to work out!

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And Bronwyn’s hat is coming along! I might run out of the yarn I’m using but I’m pretty sure I have leftovers in my stash that will be just fine for finishing. And if not, I’m ready to unravel the socks I knit with this originally. I am 100% okay with one less pair of handknit socks!

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Reading:

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I didn’t read as many books as I’d hoped to read in November but they were all so good!! I am completely enamored by the On the Calculation of Volume series. I read the second two books in the series and am now waiting for the fourth to be published in April. I’m not planning to write blog posts covering the books I read in the second half of the month, so just let me know if you have any questions about any of them and I’m happy to respond with my thoughts.

In October, I started borrowing Mary’s layout for tracking my reading and I actually managed to take a picture of November’s effort:

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This has been such a fun and satisfying practice. And it’s a great way to visualize my reading and to think about what books I want to actually finish. I start A LOT of books and then let some of them linger and feel guilty about not finishing, but life is short. And I don’t need to read every single popular book that others seem to love. I keep reminding myself that! So looking over this look, I think I’m going to officially close the page on:

• The Wilderness
• The House of Leaves
• The Remembered Soldier
• The Salt Stones

3/4 of them live on my bookshelf and I can always revisit them. The fourth is at my library and I can always borrow again or request an interlibrary loan. So it’s okay to move on.

This is where this quarter’s TBR stands for now:

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Obviously, I’m not going to get to all of them before the end of the year… but I will try!!

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And I’ve been working on this blog post for three days and it’s time to just stop. I hope you all have a lovely week and a wonderful December. Take good care!

*today’s sunrise is actually 7am on the nose! But the sun takes a couple of extra minutes to get up over the hills blocking our view of the horizon, so I’m learning patience by following this process!