Letter to you | Dec 2024

Hi there, I hope this finds you well.

I had too many slices of the Lady M Onyx Coffee Mille Crêpes, too many bags of sour strips (especially the strawberry flavor), and too much boba this month. It was the holiday season, after all. I indulged. I told you that November was very rough. December was slightly better but also worse in its own way. Hence, all the sweets.

Remember I told you that reading graphic novels is the best way to escape a reading slump? I finished reading/listening to eight books this month (albeit two are coffee table books filled with illustrations.) My favorites are The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and 老派少女購物路線 by 洪愛珠 (Yuchun Hung).

• I picked up The Righteous Mind in a thrift shop, and it was a fantastic read, especially during an election year. I'll definitely be reading more Haidt (after I finish my physical TBR!).

We're all stuck here for a while, so let's try to work it out.

• A Christmas Carol is such a classic in my mind. But I do tend to not read the books I feel like I should have read already - because I should have read it already by now. But the proverb says the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. It was a great read during the holiday season. I would like to watch an adaptation in the future (maybe this December?).
• Hung's debut book has been in my TBR for over a year. I read it in two days. It's a book that's strung together with food. But it's so much more than food. It makes me miss the food from my hometown, my childhood, and my grandma.

It snowed on Christmas Eve, and it was beautiful. It snowed the right amount - piled up enough that it felt like it snowed but not so much to turn into black/brown slushie. It wasn't exactly a white Christmas but the closest one in recent years.

It thunderstormed last night, so the plan of going to the rooftop and watching the fireworks was canceled. I had a simple dinner and read. It was still a great NYE. Happy 2025! May it fill with bursting laughs, warm soups, and mesmerizing clouds.

Yours truly :)