What I Loved This Week (87)
I'm all about comic book thrillers, an excellent adaptation of an impossible book to adapt, and swearing off resolutions in January.
Things that Make me Happy! Is a newsletter with recommendations and links for the cozy introvert. If you liked this issue, click on the heart button! That’s the biggest praise you can give me. You can also buy me coffee if you’d like.
Instructions to best enjoy this note: Grab a beverage of choice, sit somewhere cozy, blanket highly suggested, and enjoy!
Hi friends, I’m back. I'm recharged and ready for 2025! I hope it’s a good one for us. For my readers in California, I hope you are safe and find a little respite in this note.
📚What I Read and Loved
Alter Ego: I read a blurb in the New York Times about this book and immediately added it to my cart. A comic book mystery-thriller with great reviews from critics and readers alike? I was sold! Reader, it did not disappoint. What a thrilling ride! I loved every minute of it. It’s marketed as a #2 in a series, but I didn’t read #1, and I didn’t need to (but for sure will now).
Annie Bustamante is a cultural force like none other: an acclaimed filmmaker, an author, and a comic book artist known for one of the all-time best superhero comics in recent memory. But she’s never been able to tackle her longtime favorite superhero, the Lethal Lynx. Only known to the most die-hard comics fans and long out of print, the rights were never available—until now.
But Annie is skeptical of who is making the offer: Bert Carlyle's father started Triumph Comics, and has long claimed ownership of the Lynx. When she starts getting anonymous messages urging her not to trust anyone, Annie’s inner alarms go off. Even worse? Carlyle wants to pair her with a disgraced filmmaker for a desperate media play.
Annie, who has been called a genius, a sell-out, a visionary, a hack, and everything else under the sun, is sick of the money grab. For the first time since she started reading a tattered copy of The Legendary Lynx #1 as a kid, she feels a pure, creative spark. The chance to tell a story her way. She's not about to let that go. Even if it means uncovering the dark truth about the character she loves.
📺 What I Watched and Loved
100 Years of Solitude: This is based on my FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME, and it didn’t disappoint. What a wonderful production! I was concerned about how they would adapt this impossible-to-adopt novel, but they did well and made Garcia Marquez proud. A must-watch. (Netflix)
Missing You: A Harlan Coben limited series is just what the doctor ordered to shut the brain off and enjoy with some yummy takeout in a bowl. This is the kind of show that’s perfect to binge in a day. That’s what I did after the new year and the story (albeit unrealistic and a bit soapy) didn’t disappoint. (Netflix)
💕 Micro-Joy
Starting 2025 resolutions late! The holidays are a very stressful time, especially for mothers out there; putting my body into shock mode with healthy habits and other resolutions after the December turmoil sounds like actual hell. I’m doing a do-nothing-be-cozy January and will start my year and intentions in the next few weeks or even Feb 1st, I haven’t decided.
✅ To-do List
Excited about this list of anticipated books for 2025
Same for shows! So many good ones
🐰 Rabbit Holes I Went Into
All the 2024 Pulitzer price stories are taking most of my time
The rebirth of the capsule wardrobe
Dudes are having a cultural moment with Ayahuasca, and it’s cringe
How to maximize your PTO this year
🧜🏼♀️ Articles and Bits I loved
Queuing for stuff became as important as buying it
5 book trends to watch out for this year - Do we agree?
- ‘s idea is better than resolutions IMHO
And please don’t try to do too much all at once. All counts via
And, of course, I drink up every influencer's favourite topic: a No-buy or underconsumption year spiel- I’m sorry, Karen, some people don’t have 1000 lip balms hoarded (and bought unnecessarily) and actually need to buy stuff.
😄 Free Happiness
Me, last week all week
👋🏼 Classifieds
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Do nothing be cozy January sounds divine. My birthday is in February and I always count that as the start of my new year.
Can’t wait to watch 100 Years Of Solitude! 😍
Now I want take-out in a bowl too!! Loved your links too!