Welcome to another edition of Rising Tide, the last one of the year! Rising Tide is a digest of things worth sharing. Enjoy this list of books, blog posts, podcasts, music, and more!
1. Happy last day of the year! What better way to ring in 2022 than with a little Auld Lang Syne!
2. As the last month of 2021, I have been trying to tack on a few final books to my annual count. Here are some of my favorite reads of December:
- The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Greene ★★★★★
- In the book, John choses a different topic for each chapter and reviews each on a five-star scale.
- The podcast that inspired this book is also worth checking out. Most of the episodes are chapters in the book, so you can get a feel for it by listening to an episode or two.
- Chouette by Claire Oshetsky ★★★★
- This is probably one of the most interesting reads of the year. After hearing this interview on NPR, I had to check the book out from the library. Well worth it!
- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan ★★★★★
- After randomly picking up a copy of this book at a local book store, its petite size, intriguing book blurb, and the fact that it was signed by the author made me want to buy it! It was so detailed, connecting, depressing, and endearing. If you have never heard of the Magdalene Laundries, look them up. And read this book.
- The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu ★★★★★
- This is the second book in a sci-fi trilogy that I have come to love over the last two years. While it is indeed sci-fi, there is also this very sociology and psychology spin to it that is so engrossing. Start with The Three-Body Problem; you won’t regret it! You can also look forward to the final book being mentioned at some point in one of next year’s Rising Tide blog posts.
3. You can explore my whole year in books!
4. Townscaper is a meditation. It is a creative outlet. It is a fun little world of your own making. This desktop version is a perfect distraction and/or motivation. I catch myself playing around with it for five minutes here or there when I need a little transition before projects.
5. I finally got around to writing a Thoughts From the Trail post about El Yunque, the hike we did in the Puerto Rico rainforest.
6. Here’s a confession: I drink coffee out of a dirty mug.
7. I’ve made a decent amount of progress with my “To Write” list, as outlined in my Write Something post back in September.
8. Here’s a great indie holiday mix I made this year!
9. Last but never least, here is a playlist of this month’s (non-holiday related) music!
That’s all I have for this month…and for this year! See you in 2022!
Until next time…