5 Quick Things #347 🚙

roadtrips, bookshops, audiobooks, & paradoxes

Dec 13, 2024

Hey there,

Earlier this week in our subscribers’ gratitude chat, someone listed “timers for the Christmas tree and lights” as something on their list, and I couldn’t agree more. Kyle knows I wake up at 5:00 am, so he set the lights on our tree to click on right when I walk into the living room. There’s something so magical in such a simple, quotidian way to read in the early dark morning hours with nothing else on but the lights on the tree (and my neck light for reading, naturally). I think I may leave the tree out without the ornaments until Candlemas this season, simply to enjoy these lights a little longer. It’s such a short season, so why not, you know?

As you read this I’m somewhere between Texas and Ohio, claiming my daughter as we roadtrip back home from her semester in college. She’s studying abroad next semester so she needed to fully move out of her dorm... Huzzah for the holiday break! And as my kids get older and older — huzzah for my people being under the same roof. I don’t take that for granted anymore.

*Home for Christmas*, by Norman Rockwell #

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. New episode of A Drink With a Friend! In this one I’m chatting with Shawn Smucker, novelist and co-owner (with his wife) of the indie bookstore Nooks. We talk about his first foray into running a bookshop, what it’s like to connect with local regulars, how to decide which books to stock, how to juggle bookshop-keeping with writing (or not), and other sundry regarding the delights and challenges of keeping the lights on in the neighborhood book nook.
2. I've always enjoyed roadtrips, but I can’t remember the last time I’ve driven this far in the car entirely by myself (I was solo on the way up to get Tate, obviously). It was a simple delight to be able to, in one day, listen to my morning Bible reading and a homily from Fr. Mike, then some holiday music, an hour of an audiobook, then the news, then more music, then a podcast, then a different audiobook, then more music, then a few more podcasts, then back to the first audiobook, then once it got dark and I needed to focus — different, peppier music on the loud side like I was 17 again. ...And my hopping around bothered nobody. What a rare treat.
3. Aside from the audiobook mentioned below, I'm currently listening to Mr. Dickens and His Carol, by Samantha Silva. You probably know that I read A Christmas Carol every year, and I like to read some sort of add-on to that beloved holiday gem — so far this audio version has been a treat! My friend Sarah chats with Samantha in this delightful episode about why Dickens’ beloved Christmas tale is so great, and why we should all read a version of it this time of year.
4. Tate and I listened to this short interview in the car yesterday and we both enjoyed it. I read Eduard Habsburg’s previous book and found it enjoyable, so I'm curious what this one is like.
5. And finally, YouTube has been telling me to watch this video for months now, so this week I finally did. Good perspective all-around (with a language warning, but at least it's in a charming Scottish accent).

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📚

The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel, by Douglas Brunt — on audiobook (thanks to a rec from a follower on X!)

Quotable 💬

“One of the essential paradoxes of Advent: that while we wait for God, we are with God all along ,that while we need to be reassured of God’s arrival, or the arrival of our homecoming, we are already at home.”

― Michelle Blake

What's the worst Christmas song? 🎶

Polls are multiple-choice questions on purpose — if I ever gave a fill-in-the-blank option I'd get literally thousands of various options, and this is definitely the case with this question. There are plenty of beautiful Advent and Christmas carols, but unfortunately, just as many absolutely awful holiday songs. As for me, the one I usually loathe the most is “Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime” — it's an instant earworm for the rest of the day and it plays incessantly in all the shops. Whhhyyyyyyyy?

Santa Baby: 27%
Christmas Shoes: 22%
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa: 16.5%
Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime: 12%
Last Christmas: 9%
Do They Know it’s Christmas?: 8%
Happy Xmas (War is Over): 5.2%

Find next week’s poll here.

2024 Commonplace Gift Guide, Continued 🎁

Time is running short for ordering from small businesses and indie shops, so prioritize those when you're shopping this week (why does the middle part of Advent always fly by?). As a reminder — if you order via my gift guide, at no extra cost you'll further support my work. Thank you again!

Popular items this past week: DIY book nook bookends, touchscreen gloves, leather crossbody bags, What Excellent Boiled Potatoes tee, the DIY cheesemaking kit, Table for Two by Amor Towles, and Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Go to the Gift Guide 🎁