Welcome to the newsletter, each one will be slightly different than the last, but they will all come to you on the first(ish) of the month. November was an odd one. It felt like it went by quickly, but that isn't that unique since I feel that way about the entire year. Here are some recaps and what I've been up to lately/watching/reading. I'm really putting canva to work for the few short weeks I'm still on it (I have been informed that I can do basically the same stuff on procreate so I will be migrating there.) Pls appreciate my graphics they may completely disappear next month, who knows.

I'd also like to yap about some media, art, and small things that have been getting me through these cold months. Hope you enjoy and happy reading!

Book Corner

I realize complaining about the cold as a Californian sounds ridiculous to people who are not from here but this past month (and honestly just the last week alone) has been bone chilling and I have been miserable about it. My solution has been to stayed bundled up under several blankets and being completely engrossed in the hoopla app's comic suggestions. I found quite a lot that were not on my radar, jumped right back into Saga (a comic series that continues to be one of the best I've ever read) and read a ton of Martha Wells.

It's been a good reading month, I believe it was 15 books and comics in total. I'll probably do a wrap up on tiktok with my thoughts on some of these. A few that stood out were: Witch Hazel: Variety Hour and Moonshot. So glad I found them this month. As for my reads, the best of the month was definitely The King Must Die by Kemi-Ashing Giwa. What an absolute delight that was. Unfortunately one of my most anticipated of the year did let me down. You can watch my reasons for that on tikok.

Media Corner

I haven't watched a lot of new stuff this year, mainly comfort shows and movies to get me through the cold months. But spooky month was an exception. In the last 2 years I have been adding one new spooky movie into the rotation from the late 80s or 90s. Unfortunately much of the media I liked as a kid has been ruined for me by the god awful people that made them (looking at JK Rowling, Niel Gaiman, and Tim Burton to name a few). So I'm slowly watching some older movies I never got around to seeing. This year, it was a toss up between The Craft and Death Becomes Her (my choice was heavily affected by watching the broadway show when I was in New York). I ended up going with The Craft and I was shocked at how much I loved it, it fully sent me down a rabbit hole after on Fairuza Balk because wow what a performance. I had a great time. Here's a glance at a few others I was watching:

Not shown above (because I lowkey forgot to include them) are Twitches 1 and 2, all 4 Halloweentown movies, and Monster House which I watch every year. I have always loved witch, vampires, werewolf, monster media and I always will. Practical Magic and Bewitched are a must for me and I haven't watched either in a couple years so that has been added right back into the rotation. As for scifi, yes I am watching Star Trek New Generation and honestly it may be fixing my attention span. That show is alll longing stares, pauses, and gestures that mean a lot by the end of an episode. I'm quite enjoying it. The other scifi show I watched recently was Murderbot which was fantastic. The books are absolutely better but it was a solid adaptation. Alexander Skarsgård's voice wasn't quite what I expected for the bot but I liked his performance overall. The only new movie I saw was Frankenstein which surprised me. I liked Mia Goth in it and Jacob Elordi was a good monster. But other than that I didn't have strong opinions about it. I just started watching Mighty Nien, a Critical Role series. I have no familiarity with CR but I am a sucker for good animation and found family in a fantasy setting, so I'm hooked. The first 2 episodes were a bit slow, but episode 3 was interesting. I will definitely continue with it.

Life Corner

My main "favorite" this fall was reconnecting with and doing things I love just for the sake of it. My favorite fall activities absolutely include a pumpkin patch, old bookshops, cafe hoping to descover interesting flavored hot drinks, seeing lit up streets/decorated houses, and dressing up in fun outfits to catch some whimsy in my life. I recently went to the renfair for the first time and that was a 9/10 whimsy experience. The 1 point off was due to the heat in the middle of October. It was terrible. Here are a few pics of these very fall activities in a collage I spent way too long on.

I told you I was going to go hard with canva. I must say, my discovery of earl gray hot chocolate has lead directly to my face breaking out (no regrets). Sourdough starter. apple cider. persimmons and wayyyy too much soup. That has been what's kept me going. Another favorite has been this Palestinian-owned home apothecary brand that makes the most delightful wooden wick candles. You can check them out at avenoir co.

Art Corner

Here are some artists' work I've been loving lately:

This first slide from Heather Buchanan:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRkGDAWEZf7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

This recent piece from Palestinian artist Nada Esmaeel:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DPo9TnWDtQL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
you can check out her etsy here.

That's all I've got for you today ! These short newsletters are fluffy and not full of any real deep dives or reflections, this is mainly a space to get me to actually post something and stick to a schedule. I have a hard time with deadlines but this is genuinely enjoyable to make. I used to really only make art and write things to make me happy and I've really missed that active creative process. So this is a work in progress for me. I hope this was interesting to some, and if there are any books or comics you would like me to talk about, let me know. I did film a short November reading blog that will be up on youtube and here very soon. I'll catch you up to more things in next month's post. That one will be full of sketchbook pages, pictures of travels in much colder places than this one, and updates for 2026. I hope you have a safe holiday season. Bye !