Great post! I love hearing about your soccer. My group of mum friends has played soccer in a team for the first time this summer season, and we also lost every game - I can't say we came good at the end like you did, but nevertheless it was stacks of fun, and so good to get out and run around each week, and yes, *great* for kids to watch their mums enthusiastically participate in a team sport despite the outcomes!
My 8 yo daughter loved the Muddle-Headed Wombat - we found it a great read at night because it's broken up into short vignette-like sections. A book she's now enjoying is The Little Wave by Pip Harry, written in verse with each chapter being from the point of view of one of the three characters.
Enjoy your busy, conversational dinner table over the coming days!
Thank you for this cute comment. The Little Wave looks like such a cute book. Thanks for the tip. And how great that you're also on a soccer team. Lots of love from our family to yours over this festive time. xx
I am so curious what you will think of Wedding People - I did NOT like it. 🤭 You know my love for the Libby app, so it’s fun to see all the other ladies here who love audiobooks. I just finished Buckeye…omg, it might be my favorite book of 2025. To finish out the year, I’m currently reading Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane, then Talk to Your Boys by Joanna Schroeder, then Early Morning Riser by Katherine Henry, and finally one more by Dec. 31…but I need to pick it out. It was such a good year of reading, thanks in part to the recommendations we traded back and forth. 🥰
Oh no! I can't believe you didn't love Wedding People. I'm about 25 pages into it right now. (After reading Heart the Lover, I find this a bit disappointing to be honest.)
I have never even heard of Buckeye! My mum wants another trip to the bookstore before Christmas, so I'll look for it.
I love our book recommendations so much. Now let's start writing actual letters. I'm inspired by The Correspondent! xx
Great recommendations and such a comfy post with lots of good family vibes!
I'm currently reading Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin. It was recommended to me and understand why because I really enjoy it! I can definitively recommend it for a nice and easy read. It has short chapters and the chapters alternate between the story now and the main character's life story.
I loved Heart the Lover so much I read it twice (back to back!), and now I'm reading Writers and Lovers which is the in between story - after part 1 and before part 2 of Heart the Lover. Highly recommend it!
A cookbook I find myself turning to again and again (in this digital age when I most often go online for recipes) is Cook Beautiful by Athena Calderone. It's seasonal and has lovely, easy, simple but wow factor recipes which are always so well received and complimented.
As for things to watch, I am also not a big tv person but recently enjoyed House of Guinness, am finishing up And Just Like That, catching up on Bridgeton season 2 a few years late and also dipping into The summer I turned pretty for a bit of teenage escapism. Sounds like I watch a lot but it's maybe an episode or 2 a week, which is why there is catching up to do!
Our house has also become a hang out for our teenage girls and their friends and I enjoy it so much. There are always extra people around the table, studying and eating, and it's such fun.
I read Writers and Lovers a couple of years ago and enjoyed it! I should almost read it again now that I have the context of this new book of hers. Thanks for all the other tips -- so many good ones. I have seen Athena Calderone's cookbooks and always wondered if the recipes are as good as they look! Enjoy your full table of teens. How fun! xx
Thank you for the recs! Including the cookbook. I found myself recently searching for one in your substack. I am currently reading We are here thanks to that. As for series, I Liz's recommendation about The Diplomat is a yes. Also, I would say Yellowstone is a good one (though a bit tough to watch sometimes it can be deep and beautiful to watch). Congratulations on your team accomplishment! I agree, it is not so much about winning but about showing up, even more if your children are there to witness. Hope you enjoy your Christmas family time. xx
Oh we tried to watch Yellowstone and found it too unnecessarily violet! But maybe we should give it another go. Thanks for your sweet message! Happy Christmas time to you too. xx
I will say The Names is excellent on audio, maybe a good one to start with?! That and Heart the Lover were both two of my favorites of 2025 and I’ve read over 80 books! Enjoy! Hope you enjoy
Audio books changed my life! Books like the Correspondent and James had incredible narrations and my reading experience of them would have been dramatically different. Now listening to Braiding Sweetgrass and I love the author’s beautiful voice. Becoming narrated by Michelle Obama was amazing and Tom Lake by Meryl Streep, too. I could go on and on clearly!
My mum listened to The Correspondent as an audio and said it was good. And how wonderful to listen to the Robin Wall Kimmerer read Braiding Sweetgrass! Gosh, so many good recommendations -- thank you! xx
I added several books to my library holds, thank you! I realized recently my library list is mostly full of recommendations from writers on Substack. Who better to get recs from??
For author-narrated audiobooks, I loved both of Stanley Tucci’s books :)
I am an absolute convert to audiobooks. I always thought that listening to a book was just cheating and you couldn't say you'd actually read it, but no longer! I find I get more from it than I do reading where I have a tendency to skim read, get distracted, skip pages etc. I pop in my ear buds and turn on a book at any opportunity - while I cook, take the dog for a walk, do the housework, steam the new stock in my shop - I love them. I live in New Zealand and get them from an app called Borrowbox which is affiliated to libraries. You can probably do the same in Australia. I'm hooked!
My cleaner, Suzy, has a library audio app too and raves about it. She even sometimes has to reserve an audiobook when it's not available -- just like an actual library! Haha. I should really get onto that. xx
That's exactly how it works, just like a library, and you're borrowing for a limited time. But you have about three weeks to listen, and you can renew if no-one else wants it. Honestly, it's so great. I always listen to the sample though and if I don't like the narrator's voice, I don't borrow it!
Great post! I love hearing about your soccer. My group of mum friends has played soccer in a team for the first time this summer season, and we also lost every game - I can't say we came good at the end like you did, but nevertheless it was stacks of fun, and so good to get out and run around each week, and yes, *great* for kids to watch their mums enthusiastically participate in a team sport despite the outcomes!
My 8 yo daughter loved the Muddle-Headed Wombat - we found it a great read at night because it's broken up into short vignette-like sections. A book she's now enjoying is The Little Wave by Pip Harry, written in verse with each chapter being from the point of view of one of the three characters.
Enjoy your busy, conversational dinner table over the coming days!
Thank you for this cute comment. The Little Wave looks like such a cute book. Thanks for the tip. And how great that you're also on a soccer team. Lots of love from our family to yours over this festive time. xx
I am so curious what you will think of Wedding People - I did NOT like it. 🤭 You know my love for the Libby app, so it’s fun to see all the other ladies here who love audiobooks. I just finished Buckeye…omg, it might be my favorite book of 2025. To finish out the year, I’m currently reading Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane, then Talk to Your Boys by Joanna Schroeder, then Early Morning Riser by Katherine Henry, and finally one more by Dec. 31…but I need to pick it out. It was such a good year of reading, thanks in part to the recommendations we traded back and forth. 🥰
Oh no! I can't believe you didn't love Wedding People. I'm about 25 pages into it right now. (After reading Heart the Lover, I find this a bit disappointing to be honest.)
I have never even heard of Buckeye! My mum wants another trip to the bookstore before Christmas, so I'll look for it.
I love our book recommendations so much. Now let's start writing actual letters. I'm inspired by The Correspondent! xx
Great recommendations and such a comfy post with lots of good family vibes!
I'm currently reading Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin. It was recommended to me and understand why because I really enjoy it! I can definitively recommend it for a nice and easy read. It has short chapters and the chapters alternate between the story now and the main character's life story.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Oh it sounds beautiful! Thanks for the recommendation. xx
I loved Heart the Lover so much I read it twice (back to back!), and now I'm reading Writers and Lovers which is the in between story - after part 1 and before part 2 of Heart the Lover. Highly recommend it!
A cookbook I find myself turning to again and again (in this digital age when I most often go online for recipes) is Cook Beautiful by Athena Calderone. It's seasonal and has lovely, easy, simple but wow factor recipes which are always so well received and complimented.
As for things to watch, I am also not a big tv person but recently enjoyed House of Guinness, am finishing up And Just Like That, catching up on Bridgeton season 2 a few years late and also dipping into The summer I turned pretty for a bit of teenage escapism. Sounds like I watch a lot but it's maybe an episode or 2 a week, which is why there is catching up to do!
Our house has also become a hang out for our teenage girls and their friends and I enjoy it so much. There are always extra people around the table, studying and eating, and it's such fun.
I read Writers and Lovers a couple of years ago and enjoyed it! I should almost read it again now that I have the context of this new book of hers. Thanks for all the other tips -- so many good ones. I have seen Athena Calderone's cookbooks and always wondered if the recipes are as good as they look! Enjoy your full table of teens. How fun! xx
Thank you for the recs! Including the cookbook. I found myself recently searching for one in your substack. I am currently reading We are here thanks to that. As for series, I Liz's recommendation about The Diplomat is a yes. Also, I would say Yellowstone is a good one (though a bit tough to watch sometimes it can be deep and beautiful to watch). Congratulations on your team accomplishment! I agree, it is not so much about winning but about showing up, even more if your children are there to witness. Hope you enjoy your Christmas family time. xx
Oh we tried to watch Yellowstone and found it too unnecessarily violet! But maybe we should give it another go. Thanks for your sweet message! Happy Christmas time to you too. xx
I will say The Names is excellent on audio, maybe a good one to start with?! That and Heart the Lover were both two of my favorites of 2025 and I’ve read over 80 books! Enjoy! Hope you enjoy
Oh thanks for the tip! (I'm so happy to hear you liked The Names. I was nervous after hearing Jodi didn't love it.) x
Audio books changed my life! Books like the Correspondent and James had incredible narrations and my reading experience of them would have been dramatically different. Now listening to Braiding Sweetgrass and I love the author’s beautiful voice. Becoming narrated by Michelle Obama was amazing and Tom Lake by Meryl Streep, too. I could go on and on clearly!
My mum listened to The Correspondent as an audio and said it was good. And how wonderful to listen to the Robin Wall Kimmerer read Braiding Sweetgrass! Gosh, so many good recommendations -- thank you! xx
I added several books to my library holds, thank you! I realized recently my library list is mostly full of recommendations from writers on Substack. Who better to get recs from??
For author-narrated audiobooks, I loved both of Stanley Tucci’s books :)
Oh I've heard Stanley Tucci's book is good. I bet even better as an audio book! x
I am an absolute convert to audiobooks. I always thought that listening to a book was just cheating and you couldn't say you'd actually read it, but no longer! I find I get more from it than I do reading where I have a tendency to skim read, get distracted, skip pages etc. I pop in my ear buds and turn on a book at any opportunity - while I cook, take the dog for a walk, do the housework, steam the new stock in my shop - I love them. I live in New Zealand and get them from an app called Borrowbox which is affiliated to libraries. You can probably do the same in Australia. I'm hooked!
My cleaner, Suzy, has a library audio app too and raves about it. She even sometimes has to reserve an audiobook when it's not available -- just like an actual library! Haha. I should really get onto that. xx
That's exactly how it works, just like a library, and you're borrowing for a limited time. But you have about three weeks to listen, and you can renew if no-one else wants it. Honestly, it's so great. I always listen to the sample though and if I don't like the narrator's voice, I don't borrow it!
Oh good tip! That's what we've done with audio books for the kids, so I get that. xx
As for TV recs, I’d definitely say The Diplomat. I wasn’t sold after the first episode, but after the second I was hooked!
Oooh good tip! I see that pop up on Netflix every time I open it up but we have never watched it. x
Ha! I'm quite vocal about my dislike of that book. It's lovely to know you've got everyone home for Christmas x
Haha! I hope you don't mind that I shared that. I'm now a bit nervous to read it. xx
Hello, so happy to connect with you 🤍 I just subscribed to your content, and I hope you feel like subscribing to mine too 💌 xx