journaling like it's 2005

-my coworkers and I are all going out for dinner tonight, paid for by the friends of the library
-Calvin and I are going to Longwood Gardens with his grandmas. We've always wanted to go and this will be our first time. Apparently they have a whole holiday display so that should be nice!
-we're going to cut down our Christmas tree which we do every year
-we're going to our pregnancy loss support group which is probably an unusual thing to look forward to but it's comforting to be able to socialize with other people that understand where you're at
-I'm getting a new tattoo next week
-Calvin and I are getting a much-needed couple's massage
-I'm leading a silent book club at work which I always look forward to
-We're going to my parents' friends' Christmas party which is always crazy and a lot of fun
-I have a long weekend for Christmas and I'm excited to rest and see my family

Are you a one book at a time kind of person or are you, like me, always in the middle of like 10 different books?
I work in a library so of course I always have too many books checked out.
My Storygraph says I'm currently reading 49 books (50 would be ridiculous, of course, but 49 is a totally normal amount!!) But lately I've been focused on just a handful.
My husband and I have been reading The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins together and it is buckwild! I'm a little over halfway into it and it's gone so off the rails I truly couldn't even begin to guess how it'll end. I'm really enjoying it...well maybe "enjoying it" isn't quite accurate since I feel like it's putting me through the emotional wringer but, it's quite good!
It's been really fun reading with him. I was complaining to him that I want to join a book club or make more friends with people that read because it's fun to talk about books but I feel like I don't really have any friends to talk to about what I'm reading. He's never been much of a reader but he just kinda volunteered to start a little book club, just the two of us. He's been listening to audiobooks and that's been helpful for him since he has a hard time focusing on regular books.
This is the second book we've started reading together, our last one was Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos by Nash Jenkins and my feelings on that are a little more complicated. I really wanted to like it, and at times I really did. But I came out of it just kind of drained and I just didn't really love it like I thought I was going to. I couldn't put my finger on what it was that wasn't working for me until I saw a review that talked about how the characters in the book - all rich, white teens at an elite New England boarding school - never really just had fun. They were all so tortured and like, yeah, I get that, but they're also teens and they never really had moments where they felt like they were just kids having fun.
(Foster Dade was my pick, Mount Char was his, so I think the lesson is that he may have better taste than me...)
I've also been a little obsessed with Monster High lately. Honestly the obsession kinda came out of nowhere. I was never really into them as a kid - I think they first came out when I was little too old for them and I wasn't really a doll kid anyway. (I was an only child and I just felt like I was talking to myself when I tried to play with dolls. Maybe I just don't have a very good imagination.)
But I have truly grown obsessed in the last like year or so! I just love the style and fashion and, even though I wasn't a fan as a kid, they still feel quite nostalgic to me as well.
So I've started reading the new comic series that's coming out and I realized that there's a book that happened before the canon of the comics so I just started that, too. There's also a book series that came out in like 2011 that I'm reading too and that one is sooo nostalgic. I mean, I literally graduated high school in 2011!
A few other things I would say I'm currently reading:
I'm reading Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs with my mom. I don't feel like I'm far enough into it to have a firm opinion, but it's pretty good so far. It took me a bit to get into it.
I'm almost done with Flesh & Blood by N. West Moss which is a memoir about the author's medically necessary hysterectomy and her reckoning with infertility, grief, and legacy. While it's not very similar to my own situation, I am finding a lot of relatable emotion and Moss' writing is just so lovely.
And I'm also almost halfway through The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman. This is my second book by her (my first was Arcadia Falls) and I think she'll become one of my favorite authors. I love the sort of gothic academia vibes that both have, as well as a slightly pulpy kind of vibe that reminds me of V.C. Andrews. It's all just right up my alley.
What is everyone else reading?