Hello Friends!
I find it fascinating to notice what aspects of social media resonate with me at any particular point. Am I looking for words of inspiration? Wanting to bury my head in the sand and watch funny reels? Political activism? Business ideas? Thought leadership?
As we come to the end of the year, what is not resonating right now is “there are only X number of days until the year ends!! Have you achieved your goals?!?” It doesn’t seem to be resonating with most of my clients either.
What is resonating? For the most part, myself and the people around me seem to be starving for two things: Rest and Connection.
So it was interesting that one of the main articles in the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper this past weekend was an article called “Everyone is so tired”.
The article went on to say that “I am tired” has become a socially acceptable way of saying, “it’s all just too much for me right now”. It’s easier to say “I’m tired” than to say “I can’t concentrate any more” or “I’d like to be alone for a bit”. And at least in Germany – and I would hesitate to say this applies to most of the developed world – more than half of the population is feeling “tired” right now.
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want this newsletter to be in any way depressing!! It is after all one of my favourite times of the year, and if you’ve been with me for a while now, you know how much I loooove creating my End of Year Best Of Lists!! I just think it’s interesting to note that this resonated with me, both personally and professionally, and I wondered if it would resonate with you too.
I also listened to an excellent episode of Adam Grant’s podcast, Re:Thinking, where he was speaking with digital anthropologist Rahaf Harfoush about “Why are people acting like everything’s fine?” In the episode, I learned a new term: hypernormalization. Talk about resonating! That was exactly the wording I had been looking for, to properly identify the feeling that I think so many people are having right now.
“Hypernormalization is that feeling where you understand that the world is changing or that the world is different, but the people around you, the institutions, the people in charge or elected officials, they seem to just be ignoring this change and they’re insisting to keep going as normal. And so there becomes this weird, almost like emotional/ mental disconnect where you’re like, I know things are really weird right now, but why are you acting like everything is fine? And it creates this like cognitive dissonance that makes you feel like you’re going crazy.”
Harfoush (coincidentally a Canadian and she will be one of the 2026 speakers at the Oslo Business Forum – so excited to see her speak!) goes on to spell out not only what hypernormalization is, but why we are feeling this way, and how it is affecting us.
We’re trying with our very primitive human brains to understand this era of disruption and exponential change while also grappling with a reality where we are connected to more sources of information than ever before. So not only are our brains trying to process all of these macro trends that are so abstract, our nervous systems are also trying to figure out how do we cope with every single day having a tiny little device that enables you to consume the entirety of joy, rage, fear, anger, apathy right into your brain, right into your nervous system, 24 hours a day. So I can understand how it would feel very destabilizing at this exact moment in time, because we are incremental beings that are being asked to navigate exponential times. emphasis mine]
Anyway, if you too are feeling a bit hypernormalized at the moment – know that you are not alone, and it’s actually a sign of pretty solid emotional intelligence to feel this way.
Just wanted to share this, in case if was as helpful to you as it was to me!
And now, on to the really fun part of the newsletter: This year’s BEST OF!! 🥳
2025 BEST OF FICTION…
It was a pretty great year for fiction! I only DNF’ed one book (The Bright Sword), and had one let down. I was quite looking forward to Florence Knapp’s The Names, a story of three possible lives for a child given different names at birth, but I found it overly bleak and dreary. {Spoiler: in none of the three stories is there real happiness.} So despite it being on multiple Best Of lists (including Goodreads), it is not on mine.
What IS on mine? Here are my Top 10 of 2025 – in no particular order other than my top 2 are the top 2. 😊
The winner is:
1. The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Runners-up:
2. Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
3. The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
4. The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn
5. Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole
6. Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon
7. By Your Side by Ruth Jones
8. The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
9. The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristen Harmel
10. It Should Have Been You by Andrea Mara
The list covers the gamut of themes, from historical fiction, through thriller, thought provoker, gentle reflection, and cosy mystery. These are the books that stayed with me – the ones I will be gifting for Christmas, and the ones that I would absolutely read again. What were your favourites of 2025? Any gems that I have missed?
2025 BEST OF NON-FICTION…
This is a slightly shorter category as I didn’t read as much non-fiction as I would have liked this year. Still working on finding the right way to integrate non-fiction reading into my regular routine!
Despite there being fewer reads, I did read a few really interesting and informative books this year. One of my benchmarks for non-fiction is: did I read it all the way to the end? I confess to finding a lot of non-fiction quite dry and repetitive, but these four were anything but!
The winner is:
1. Coach the Person not the Problem by Marcia Reynolds
Runners-up:
2. Thanks for the Feedback by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen
3. Maybe you should talk to someone by Lori Gottlieb
4. Do Pause by Robert Poynton
2025 BEST OF AUDIOBOOKS…
Of course the winner of this category absolutely has to be the latest installment of the Cormoran Strike detective series! Book 8 came out in September, and yes I did listen to all 31 hours and 7 minutes twice in a row, as I have the last 3 books! Seriously the narrator, Robert Glenister, is that good!!
I also discovered the Sheridan Holler series by TM Payne, with another wonderful narrator. I’ve listened to all four of the novels (a bit dark, to be fair) and love the characters and the stories.
The winner is:
1. The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith, read by Robert Glenister
Runners-up:
2. Thanks for the Feedback by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen
3. Maybe you should talk to someone by Lori Gottlieb
4. Do Pause by Robert Poynton
2025 BEST OF PODCASTS…
For the first time in years, I did not binge any true crime podcasts this year!! I think the hypernormalization referred to above meant I wasn’t up for listening to stories of other horrible things happening in the world. I listened to a lot more fictional crime via audiobook, where everything wrapped up nicely by the end, the guilty party was brought to justice, and order was restored. 😉
I did of course continue to listen to podcasts regularly!! Just not true crime.
And I continue to be the hugest fan of The Long and the Short of It Podcast. Always fascinating and topping my list again this year. 20 minutes of fascinating reflection and thought impulses. No ads, no sponsors, just Jen and Pete exploring thoughts together. Brilliant.
The winner is:
1. The Long and the Short of It
Runners-up:
2. How to Fail by Elizabeth Day
3. Re: Thinking with Adam Grant
4. The Fulfilled Leader with Jean Balfour
5. Aging Powerfully with Melissa Grelo
6. Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss
And that sums up my 2025 Best Of!!
I’ve tried by the way to put links to all the books that are either the author’s own website, or a review of the book so you can get the flavour for it, rather than promoting some of the big businesses that don’t really need our support. Please consider supporting small businesses if you can! 💜
What about your Best of 2025? What is on your list? I’d love for you to hit reply and share your favourites from this year – I am always looking for recommendations!
It wouldn’t be an end of year review without reflection about the year passed, and the new year ahead of course! The combination of the end of the year, my birthday being in December, and actually having time to pause and think over the holidays, lends itself perfectly to reflecting on the year and identifying goals for the coming year. My two main goals for 2025 were to deepen my coaching practice and obtain my ICF PCC certification, and to happily complete the Oxford Half Marathon with my family. I’m quite serious about my New Year’s Resolutions, and am thrilled that 2025’s have been successful. 😊 Let’s see what 2026 brings!
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Hugs,
Julia
P.S. This newsletter was entirely researched, planned, and written by me. No ghost writers and no A.I. As such, all opinions and errors are mine and mine alone.