Life Lately

My plan this fall was to re-read through the Harry Potter books. I thought I would do this somewhat slowly, savoring-ly, interspersed with other books and library holds as they came up.

People, this is not how it went. It’s been a solid decade since I last read through the entire series and I forgot just how all-consuming they are. I could not devour the last three books fast enough. (Or I should say from the last third of book five on, because the bulk of book five with Harry yelling at everyone is the only one that gets even a little bit tedious.)

I finished book seven on Wednesday, spending the majority of the day doing just curled up in a corner of the couch, because I forgot just how un-putdownable they are.

At the risk of using the most cliche of cliches, these books are, simply put, magical.

I closed book seven, teary-eyed, the very last sentence sending me over the edge (All was well and maybe now I need a tattoo of those words?) and looked at the clock and was filled with nothing but a sense of what on earth do I do with my life now? I wandered around for the last half hour before the kids arrived home from school like a Hogwarts ghost, unable to do much of anything tangible. I felt an enormous sense of loss, almost grief, at arriving at the end. I’d been so immersed in the HP universe that real-life paled in comparison. I messaged a friend and told her I was absolutely ruined for all other books now. How can I read any other book now? It’s like after a breakup, but instead of a transitional boyfriend, I need a transitional book.

It’s not exactly that I want the books to keep going. No, I would rather end with this feeling than to be several more books in and think, well, that should have ended three books ago.

I’ve started listening to the Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast, am re-watching The Deathly Hallows Part I and Part II, and have even ventured into Harry Potter TikTok. I need these things to help bring me down from this adrenaline high, but mostly, to keep the magic alive. I’m strongly tempted to immediately read book seven again. (For the record, book four is my favorite, but seven is an incredibly close second.)

All that to say, I wrote on Instagram last weekend that I’ve basically turned into a Harry Potter fan account now. You’ve been warned. It was one of my most-liked posts ever so I know I’m not the only one with HP fever. Please come alongside me in my affliction and talk to me about all things to do with the wizarding world.

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Action Item

A friend of mine got in touch with me about collecting items for Afghan refugees who are being resettled here in Minnesota. They expect to be working with up to 500 families over the next several months and the need is enormous. If you’d like to donate, you can view their Amazon Wish List or send me a donation via Venmo @Shannon-Williams-291. I will put any money that comes in towards the highest priority needs.

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Around the Internet

• I don’t even know how to sum this one up. On being a woman and the ways we are trapped and running with wolves.

• What We Ask of Mothers

• I love the Ellyn Satter idea of mealtime “division of labor” between parents and kids, and also resonate strongly with this piece.

• “As schools have reopened this fall, and unemployment has run out, many of us are now trying to find a way back to work. And I wonder how many other mothers are feeling the same way I am: afraid to go back to jobs that left little room for anything else, but also afraid that if we don’t get back on track, we’ll never catch up.”

• In case you’ve noticed all the book blob covers going around, too.

• “I don't have a problem with kids working to earn things. But that's not how this ever shakes out. When opportunities are only frictionless for kids from families with money, those kids are the only ones who get opportunity. The kids who get the opportunity are overwhelmingly white and middle to upper-class. This isn't a problem of work. It's a problem of systemic inequality.”

• And here’s one of those Harry Potter TikToks that amused me more than it probably should. :)

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Eating

• I’ve been making these pumpkin cream cheese muffins as mini-muffins and YUM. I get three-dozen+ from this recipe when I make them as minis.

• I mean, this newsletter just made me want to eat buckets of popcorn. I’ve been big into making my own kettle corn but this made me want to up my savory seasonings game. For kettle corn: heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large, heavy-bottom pot. Add 1/2 cup popcorn kernels and somewhere between 1/4-1/2 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want it). Shake the pot around, removing from heat when there are 2-3 seconds between pops. Pour in a bowl and sprinkle with sea salt. This makes enough for a family-sized serving; cut in 1/2 for 1-2 people.

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Fun Things

• This is an enormous fun thing, but we finally got a sectional from Joybird for our basement and I LOVE it. I’ve been eyeing Joybird pieces for literal years and couldn’t be happier. All the reviews were right: it’s comfortable and my new favorite thing in our whole entire house. (Pro tip: We paid far less than the current list price, so wait for a sale if you’re in the market for anything.)

• If a sofa isn’t in your needs or budget can I recommend to you this mug? I will be drinking out of it for the foreseeable future as my own private little protest against the fact that paid family leave has been completely removed from the domestic policy package.

• Caden and Brooklyn have been really into playing Rummikub lately. I remember Tyson and me having some epic matches before the kids came along. We might need to revive those again. Highly recommend. (Affiliate link.)

• Fall farms and pumpkin patches forever.

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It’s almost November and the colors have peaked, sweaters are in a near-daily rotation, and pumpkin and apple treats are still going strong. All is well.

Books to (Re)Read This Fall

Hello, my name is Shannon. (Hi, Shannon!) I am a serial re-reader of books. I come by this honestly. I was the type of kid who devoured stacks of books at a time. There was no way my parents could keep up with the number of library runs or the sheer amount of cash it would have taken to keep me in a steady supply of Scholastic orders. While I read anything I could get my hands on (magazines, the newspaper, cereal boxes, etc.), having an actual book in my hands often meant re-reading from my own bookshelf. I have distinct memories of sitting cuddled in “my” corner of our brown living room couch, reading the last page of a book, and then immediately flipping it around to the front cover to start all over again.

My love of re-reading hasn’t left me. If anything, it’s grown stronger over the past year and a half of the pandemic. There’s something comforting in visiting familiar characters who feel like friends in book form. When there’s so much beyond our control, it’s soothing to visit an old favorite and know exactly what I’ll find there. There’s no risk (I already know it’s a book I love), it’s fun to revisit favorite pieces of dialogue and turns-of-phrase, and I almost always find something new, even in a book I’ve read half a dozen times.

If you’d like to join me in my cult of re-reading this fall, here’s a round-up of cozy, familiar, comforting (re)reads. These are books I think pair best with a blanket, soft pants, and something warm in a mug, even if you only have five minutes to sneak in as children swarm around you.

(See the (re)reads at the top of my list by clicking over to Twin Cities Mom Collective!