Does love need words? 

I sit down with anthropologist and author, Danilyn Rutherford, to explore Beautiful Mystery, her memoir about raising Millie, a luminous daughter who communicates beyond speech, and the radical shift that happens when language stops being the measure of a life.

We trace her craft journey and discuss how Danilyn brings an anthropologist’s eye to family life, reckoning with the field’s history around eugenics and capacity while arguing for a social definition of personhood: we are human because we hold one another up. We are human, simply, because we are. That lens reframes speech therapy from “fixing” to curiosity. The result is a powerful invitation to meet people where they are and to see communication as more than words.
 
The conversation also moves through sudden loss-- Danilyn’s husband Craig died when their children were six and three-- and the quiet, practical ways grief reshapes a home. From there we widen the lens to advocacy: why caregiver wages, Medicaid access, and immigrant labor are the backbone of a functioning care system; how austerity and border crackdowns make families more fragile; and why investing in communication access is a justice issue. 
 
Press play for an intimate conversation about parenting, grief, ethics, and the politics of care. If the episode resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for more women’s memoirs, and leave a review with the moment that shifted your view of communication.

Listen on Apple Podcasts here!
Listen on Spotify here!

Xx, Alex

Nora Roberts returns with another atmospheric, supernatural suspense tale but this time, the hauntings feel sharper, the history runs deeper, and the danger crawling through the halls of Poole Manor is darker.

The Seven Rings picks up with Sonya MacTavish, still living in the sprawling, storm-battered Maine manor built long ago by Arthur Poole. The house is beautiful, but its legacy is brutal: seven stolen rings, seven dead brides, and a curse that has seeped into the walls like rot. Sonya has already seen more than most people could bear, ghosts whispering, spirits reliving their final moments, and an enemy in a black dress whose malevolence feels startlingly real.

Sonya, Trey, and their circle of friends aren’t just fighting a curse, they're being forced to experience the anguish of the women who came before them. Each haunting is a reenactment of the past’s violence, and each reenactment strengthens their resolve rather than breaks it. Their connection, their grief, their fury it all becomes fuel.

Sonya’s determination is the beating heart of the novel. She combs through the house room by room, not as a victim, but as a historian, a detective, and a descendant trying to stitch together a story that was ripped apart by cruelty. It’s surprisingly uplifting to watch her uncover small joys amid the tragedies, love letters, hidden treasures, remnants of laughter long buried. Roberts reminds us that even the darkest histories have light threaded through them.

But make no mistake: the witch haunting Poole Manor is one of Roberts’ most chilling antagonists. She’s fueled by fear and deceit, shifting forms and twisting illusions into physical danger. Hallucination and reality blur until the reader feels just as disoriented as Sonya which is exactly the point. This isn’t a ghost story where apparitions simply drift by; this one bites.

The climax delivers what fans want: magic, peril, legacy, and a fight that spans both the living world and the spectral one. Sonya’s battle isn’t only for the house.it’s for her autonomy, her future, her right to reclaim a place soaked in generations of sorrow and turn it into something whole.

Richly atmospheric, emotionally resonant, and threaded with both terror and hope, The Seven Rings is a satisfying, eerie, and ultimately empowering conclusion to this haunting saga!

❓️If you inherited a beautiful but cursed house, what one non-magical item would you bring with you to fight the ghosts?

This is an exclusive post for The Bibliothecary and it is a companion to the public post I made discussing the TV, movies, and video games I consumed this year. If you haven't seen it yet, go check it out. This post is covering music and podcasts that I loved in 2025.

So obviously, this can't be all of the things I listened to in 2025 but these are the standouts for the year.

MUSIC

Ethel Cain

If I had to think of one artist in particular that I discovered this year, it's Ethel Cain. I love her haunting southern gothic storytelling within her music and I have a vivid memory of the day I discovered Strangers. I was so enraptured with the song but then I found out about the story behind the song TW: disturbing.. (TLDR: Ethel Cain is a character not a person and the album is about this fictional teen that disappeared in the 1970s and her life story and this song is after she is murdered by her partner and there are theories - as well as lyrics - that imply he cannibalized her after)... and after finding that out, I was so disoriented and anxious for about a day. Which doesn't happen to me often with music but to me, that is a sign of art. It should move you and even disturb you sometimes. And now it's one of my most listened to songs of the year.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=kOR4eGcPpRM&si=MrKD0owUMUhLj7P7

I also really enjoy Inbred, mostly because I heard it mashed up with Strangers once and then became obsessed with it as well.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=vZaDlWQJzNo&si=u3wBVmET4C2N-isb

Medieval Core

This was definitely the year of a medieval revival and I am no exception. This showed up mostly in replaying Golden Brown by The Stranglers over and over, which is a song that took that internet by storm and is the background music for many an aesthetic video. If you haven't heard it, you've been living under a rock.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=UZJFFStQemI&si=rRzM_n402z23K2R8

Enya

I could have put her under medieval core but honestly, she deserves her own category. I've loved Enya since I was a child (does anyone remember radio stations doing remixes of Only Time to actual sound footage from the twin towers being hit?? because my local station definitely did that) but she really had a comeback for me this year and I was listening to her alllll the time. So many nostalgic favorites. I truly just want to be a woman in the 90s in a Natural Wonders store touching the crystals and maybe buying a night sky projector lamp (if you don't know that reference please look it up because it's a whole vibe). Some of my favorites by Enya:

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=T5vdZKGiDiE&si=VIxNns-jShVubqc0

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lkd29-4mxg&si=O7Ootbajv5fVsslN

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=8LLKcyz8yIE&si=bVMEVPnV40NxvmQb

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mvwysPNdthM&si=cxbtQ8nhT91v66gc

Folk Music

So I do love Irish folk music beyond this but I would be lying if I didn't say this was one of the only ones I listened to on repeat: Rocky Road to Dublin. And specifically the one from Sinners.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=dYcUz4vv5NU&si=76nGg1hWuyOuxvPy

I also discovered Loreena McKennitt this year, who I know is pretty popular in Canada but I just found out about her from a playlist this year and I love her.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=9z5p6EkTtfc&si=w2HfPUs530FEHDHF

Those are probably the biggest highlights of the year. Now podcasts.

PODCASTS

Southern Bramble

This was my favorite witchcraft podcast of the year. It feels more intermediate than a lot of them out there and it's two practitioners discussing craft. They also have some great guests. I highly recommend the episode with Matthew Venus, who I saw speak at Mystic South this year and he's fantastic.

Ologies

I've mentioned this before but it remains my favorite science podcast of all time and I return to it every time, even if I skip a few episodes.

I Could Never

I've listened to a few non-monogamy podcasts and in additional to Multiamory, which is a podcast that I think is great for any relationship style, I love I Could Never. It's hosted by a poly couple who has been together over a decade and they interview other non-monogamous people in all different kinds of relationship configurations talking about their ups and downs with non-monogamy and making it work. I find it incredibly grounding and optimistic, as they don't just talk to people who were previously monogamously married for example and then opened up - which is an audience that a lot of this kind of content is aimed at. Instead there's a wide variety of stories and I appreciate hearing from all of them.

Those were the additional highlights of my year! Let me know which podcasts and music you loved in 2025.

There are seasons (like this one, frankly) when it feels like the world is unraveling faster than I can make sense of it. Maybe you're feeling that way this week, too?

The news is heavy. There's no getting around it. Conversations may feel sharper. And then holidays show up with their lights and music and expectations. On one side, I feel comforted by the holiday spirit, but on the other side, I won't lie to you. That spirit can make the hard things feel louder. Grief, loneliness, exhaustion, it's all magnified this time of year.

So as I try to write video scripts for the tea room and find myself saying, “Just have hope,” I can't help but get frustrated with myself and that message. What does hope even look like right now? What does hope even mean?

One thing I am confident in as I exhaust this search, is that hope isn’t pretending things are fine. And it isn’t optimism for optimism’s sake. Does that make sense?

What I'm finding is that hope is something we practice, especially when things are dark. And that practice doesn’t start with positive thinking, despite what the gurus tell you. It starts with helping our overwhelmed brains feel just a little safer.

When everything feels like it’s crashing, your brain is doing what it was built to do. It's scanning for danger, bracing for impact, trying to protect you. That survival mode makes it very hard to imagine a future that feels good or even tolerable, right?

So instead of asking ourselves to “feel hopeful,” what if we focused on helping our nervous system find its footing again?

I've done some research and found a few things I'm currently putting into practice to ensure that my hope stays lit this season:

1. Make the future feel smaller

When things feel hopeless, it’s often because the future feels enormous. There are too many unknowns and worries. For me, I feel pressure to figure it all out. Hope starts to come back when the future feels "winnable" again.

So, instead of asking, “How do I fix everything?” I'm asking this:

• What’s one small thing I can do in the next 24 hours?

• What would make today just a little gentler?

This could be something very simple like lighting a candle while you make dinner (one of my favorite little resets). You could step outside for five minutes of fresh, cool air. You could try making your coffee or tea routine a ritual, adding in some silence and intention as you pour and sip.

It's really just an invitation for stillness. Like reminding your brain that you can handle this moment. Sometimes that proof that we can handle one moment leads to us believing we can then take on the next moment. That is literally HOPE.

2. Look for mini moments of goodness

When the world feels heavy, our brains get really good at noticing what’s wrong (at least mine does). That doesn’t mean you’re negative. It means you’re human. But hope grows when we encourage our brains to shift what we notice.

Something I'm trying: At the end of the day, I jot down three small, good things I saw or felt. Not forced gratitude or silver linings. Just something sweet, simple, or relieving.

For example, last night I noticed someone holding a door for someone that needed it. I also had a friend's pet choose to sit by me (heaven). And to top it off, I got to take off my heeled boots. There is nothing that brings on a dramatic sigh of relief more than the feeling of removing heels.

No, this doesn’t erase the hard stuff I experienced or noticed throughout the day. It just keeps the hard stuff from being the only thing my brain recorded. Tiny sliver of hope restored.

3. Hope thrives in community

This one matters more than we admit. My friend, you were not meant to carry everything by yourself, especially during the holidays.

Being around calm, kind energy can help our own nervous systems settle. Maybe you find that regulation by calling an old friend or family member to check in. Maybe it's playing with your pet or curling up with a loved one to rewatch a comfort show you already know ends ok. It could be spending some time with our cozy community, attending one of Discord events and enjoying a low-pressure night with friends.

The point is to intentionally place yourself near something that feels steady. Borrowed hope not only counts. In my opinion, it's the secret to maintaining hope, full stop.

Something to remember: hope doesn’t require certainty. It doesn’t ask you to believe everything will turn out perfectly, thankfully. That's honestly too much for me to believe today.

What I'm finding is that hope acts as a beacon, a reminder that small moments of warmth have more impact that I realize. That my nervous system can soften, even a little. That today doesn’t get to decide the rest of my life or the rest of the world's trajectory. In it's way, hope is a radical form of taking back some control, even if it's a tiny bit. That's encouraging to me.

Hope may look quieter than we expect, and I kind of like that about it. If everything feels dark right now, let hope be small enough to carry. If you can keep it in your pocket, warm and protected, that's enough for now.

When it's time for it to sprout and grow, it will. That's what spring is for, after all.

Let the winter keep it safe and sound. Carry it slow. Carry it with ease. And share it as often as you can with others.

That’s how I believe hope survives.

xx, Meg

I know I left y'all hanging & I apologize 😅
Here are the rest of the books I got with the birthday giftcards my friends gave me:

A Man for Mrs. Claus by Rebekah Weatherspoon
I love her books & when I saw the cover of this 1 on her IG, I knew I had to get it!

New Worlds, Old Ways: Speculative Fiction Tales From The Caribbean edited by Karen Lord
I found this book when I was helping a student w/ research.

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
Another book inspired by that research appointment. I also love stories with a multiverse.

The Chainbreakers by Julian Randall
Julian Randall is one of my autobuy authors.

Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis
I've been waiting to get this book for a while! I'm all in on Black vampire stories.

They Thought They Buried Us by Nonieqa Ramos
This book has been on my TBR for a while as I'm always trying to find more books by Puerto Rican & queer authors.

We Will Rise Again: Speculative Stories and Essays on Protest, Resistance, & Hope edited by Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, & Malka Older
Okay, so I'm on a Karen Lord spree 😂 but y'all know I LOVE speculative fiction soo whatever!

This Is The Only Kingdom by Jaquira Díaz
More Puerto Rican Fiction 😍

Are any of these books on your TBR?