Best of 2024

Season after Epiphany 2025

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2025! I don’t know about your household, but we have found it hard to get back into our routines after winter break.

Before moving into a new series, I wanted to share some of my favorite things from 2024, all of which I recommend.

Best Books I Read:
I only read twelve books in 2024. As some of you may remember, I sustained my fourth concussion in October 2023 and recovery has been slow. I love to read, however, and so much of this year I sat down with my book and a timer for fifteen minutes. If I read much longer than that in one sitting, I developed a headache, nausea, and brain fog. Frequently, each year, there is a series that I re-read and these books make up about one-third of the total books I read that year. This year, I re-read most of “The Throne of Glass” series. Among the new-to-me books that I read, three stand out:

1. “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus. If you like main characters who are strong, independent, intelligent women, then this book is for you. I also appreciated the observations of all the subtle ways sexism exists in our culture, such as women changing their last name when they get married.

2. “Finding Meaning” by David Kessler. This book I read for my position at the VA. Whether you are struggling with grief or looking to counsel someone else, this volume contains many helpful insights and suggestions. David Kessler worked with Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (who developed the theory of the five stages of grief) and now builds on their work, positing meaning-making as the sixth stage.

3. “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. I read through this book last spring, completing the exercises and Morning Pages (three pages, longhand, stream of consciousness, first thing in the morning), which I continued even after finishing the twelve weeks. Personally, I agree with Julia Cameron that we are all artists and all called to be creative and share our creativity with the world.

Best New Movies I Saw:

1. “Inside Out 2” by Disney. This movie is great and lives up to the first one. Riley, the main character from the first movie, has hit puberty and has a whole new set of emotions to grapple with and manage.

2. “The Wild Robot” by Universal Pictures. This movie inspired a whole post: https://heatherwilletolson.substack.com/p/kindness-is-a-survival-skill

Best New-to-me Substacks:

1. “No Trifling Matter” by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes at

1. I first came across her work through Duke Divinity School, where we both earned our M.Div. degrees. She is a psychologist and womanist theologian who “writes for people ready to be healed.”

2. “Footnotes by Dr. Jemar Tisby at

2. He is a historian with a focus on racial justice. I’d love to hear him in conversation with another historian, Heather Cox Richardson, whose Substack I also read regularly.

3. “Fresh Start Fridays: Nourish and Flourish” by Heather Clark at

3. Heather is an old friend who combines her Christian faith, her M.D. (she’s an ED doc), and her coaching practice into insights she shares weekly, starting in 2024.

4. “Embodied Resistance” by Sara Robb-Scott at

4. Sara is a chaplain friend who renamed her blog last year, as you can read in the inset. She explores what contributes to feeling at home in yourself, body, mind, and spirit, as well as in your context.

I’d love to hear any of your favorite books, movies, Substacks, or other things you enjoyed in 2024. Drop them in the comments!