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.