Recs #74: My favorite reads of 2024, bookish goals, and the excitement of a new planner
“Receiving Downtime is the highlight of my week!” “I’ve been a longtime reader for years and finally decided to upgrade my subscription.” Join in! Paid subscribers unlock exclusive content, gain access to reader chats, the full archives, giveaways, and more—and your support directly helps grow the newsletter (and pay our editors, designers, and collaborators!). Subscriptions are $5/month or $4/month if paid annually. Recs #74: My favorite reads of 2024, bookish goals, and the excitement of a new plannerWhat counts as a "five-star" read?Hi! It’s been a while since I last wrote! I hope you had the loveliest, coziest holiday and enjoyed all the baked goods and rewatches of The Holiday. No one warned me about just how, erm, challenging, for lack of a better word, the period between Christmas and New Year’s would be with a toddler and no childcare. Let’s just say our screen time rules went out the window by the end of it all and our daughter now asks for “Elmo” when she sees the remote. 🫠 In today’s newsletter, I’m sharing my favorite books I read in 2024, some reading goals for 2025, and all the fun links that were open in my tabs this week (including a link to my favorite planner). Enjoy! —Alisha My top 10 favorite reads of 2024, ranked. I read somewhere between 40 to 50 books this year. For me, a rather slow reader, this was a fantastic reading year, not only in the amount of books I read but also the quality of them. The reading didn’t just happen, though. I made an intentional decision in the back half of the year to spend less time on my phone (setting an app limit for Instagram helped some; deleting it sometimes helped a lot) and more time reading. Most of my reading time happened after my daughter’s bedtime routine, on the couch, and right before bed. This year, I also made it a personal goal of mine to read books more deeply and closely (namely, writing lots of annotations in the margins and highlighting favorite lines), ultimately making reading a much more fulfilling activity for me. With that said, here are my favorite books, ranked…
As an aside, what counts as a “five-star” book for you?Leave a comment - I’d love to hear. Here’s *my* rubric for what counts as a “favorite” read…
My readings goals for 2025
Fun LinksWhat’s in my open tabs this week…
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Coming up next: some housekeeping notes on what to expect from Downtime this year, and an author interview. —Alisha You’re currently a free subscriber to Downtime. If you’ve been enjoying it, please consider upgrading! For $4/month, you’ll unlock exclusive content, access to our subscriber chat, the full archives, giveaways, and more. Plus, your subscription directly supports everything that goes into this newsletter each week—writing, editing, interviewing, graphic design, and beyond. Either way, thanks for reading and supporting my work. This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click something and buy it, I may earn a small cut of the purchase at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my work; I only recommend things I truly love and/or have vetted. If you enjoyed this post, please click the like ❤️ button below—it helps others discover Downtime and is a totally free way to show your appreciation. You can also forward it to a friend who’d love it, or screenshot your favorite part and share it on Instagram (tag me @alisharamos so I can repost!). |
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12 Small Joys From the Week
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Including the magic of not overthinking. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Lessons I Learned From a Just-Okay Year
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Sharing a few things I'm taking into 2025. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Bookmarked with Nikki May
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
“I've been known to go to bed at 7 pm just to dive into a good book.” ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Your Toughest Gifting Questions, Answered
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Ideas for your hard to shop for dad and your fancy boss who already has everything. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Your Gifting Questions, Answered—Part Two
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Ideas for overwhelmed new parents and for friends who don't want more stuff. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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