
I’ll be honest folks; I’m tired. I miss the sun and being warm and am very much in need of a vacation. So this is gonna be a relaxed post featuring, unsurprisingly, resolutions. This year, I’m taking it easy with my aspirations. I’m making my goals small, simple, and (hopefully) achievable. Also, crucially, my list of resolutions is short. I’m not looking to revamp my whole self within a measly 12 months, but I am looking to build further on who I already am and improve my habits.
Which, coincidentally, is quite similar to what we’ve done with our reading challenge! The broad strokes are the same—read a certain type of book a month—but the prompts are different and, most excitingly, we are now offering a prize!
That’s right, if you take on the challenge and submit the log by email or in-person, you’ll be entered into the Grand Prize Draw: your choice of a private cooking session at VMC in the VSES Teaching Kitchen, or a guided maker session with one of our Creation Specialists at Pierre Berton Resource Library or Civic Centre Resource Library!
And actually, that ties into resolution #1: to read 12 books this year.
The twist is, they have to be books I own. Why? Because my personal library is 90% books I’ve never gotten around to reading. (Disclaimer: I got most of them for free, so I don’t feel too guilty about it.) And I do want to read them, but because I own them, there’s no sense of urgency to actually do so. Nobody’s waiting to borrow them and there are no due dates. Therefore, I’ve put it off and put it off. So here are three books I own that I’d like to read in 2025!
Ithaca by Claire North
Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom. Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door.
No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus’ empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war.
I like myth and as a kid I went through a whole Greco-Roman (and then Egyptian and Norse) mythology phase. I also like retellings and pretty covers, so this should be right up my alley.
The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid by Colin Meloy
It is an ordinary Tuesday morning in April when bored, lonely Charlie Fisher witnesses a group of pickpockets pulls off an amazing robbery. As the young bandits appear to melt into the crowd, Charlie realizes with a start that he himself was one of their marks. Yet Charlie is less alarmed than intrigued. This is the most thrilling thing that’s happened to him since he came to France with his father, an American diplomat.
So instead of reporting the thieves, Charlie defends one of their cannons, Amir, to the police, under one condition: he teach Charlie the tricks of the trade. What starts off as a lesson on pinches, kicks, and chumps soon turns into an invitation for Charlie to join the secret world of the whiz mob, an international band of child thieves who trained at the mysterious School of Seven Bells. The whiz mob are are everything Charlie yearns to be, but what at first seems like a (relatively) harmless new pastime draws him into a dangerous adventure with global stakes greater than he could have ever imagined.
This seems like a fun middle-grade adventure book, and I’ve liked stories about thieves ever since I was first introduced to Robin Hood. Plus, the title’s a delight.
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
The winter isn’t ending. Nobody knows why. And Odd has run away from home, even though he can barely walk and has to use a crutch. Out in the forest he encounters a bear, a fox, and an eagle—three creatures with a strange story to tell. Now Odd is faced with a stranger journey than he had ever imagined. A journey to save Asgard, City of the Norse Gods, from the Frost Giants who have invaded it. It’s going to take a very special kind of boy to defeat the most dangerous of all the Frost Giants and rescue the mighty Gods. Someone cheerful and infuriating and clever. Someone just like Odd…
The edition I have is illustrated by Chris Riddell, who’s one of my favourite illustrators and may be better known for his work on The Edge Chronicles by Paul Steward (which I must recommend for fans of Discworld). Alas, we don’t have the series in our catalogue, but you could always drop a purchase request for them!
Resolution #2 is to be a little more physically active. I love biking, long walks, and swimming, but since my knee injury, I’ve been less mobile than I used to be. I did recently learn there is such a thing as physiotherapy-based pilates, which has the double bonus of being covered by my insurance and ensuring I have a trainer who’ll guide me through movements that strengthen me without further injuring me, which is something I’m always anxious about.
I’m also not a gym person and live in a basement apartment, but thankfully there’s Wall Pilates, which I think will help me improve my strength and flexibility without requiring machinery, equipment, or loads of space, and which I can use to supplement my physio appointments.
Resolution #3 is to be better at saving money.
I’m hoping Own Your Money by Michella Allocca will be a helpful guide to me. Allocca is a Financial Analyst and entrepreneur specializing in Gen Z and Millennial money management. She focuses on instilling sustainable and intentional spending, saving, and budgeting practices into your life so you can reach your 6-figure savings goals. My financial goals are to pay off my car, firstly, and then to spend way less on eating out, since I like cooking and my own food, 9 times out of 10. It would also be really nice to go on another large trip…I’m thinking Turkey or Malaysia, but right now those are just dreams, not goals! Still, having savings set aside for something like that would be great, instead of putting it on my credit card and spending the rest of 2025 paying it off.

Resolution #4 is to write (and update my writing site) more consistently. To that end, I’m stealing my friend and coworker Daniel’s plan and aiming to share 12 pieces of writing this year, one per month. And to help me with that (even though it should be easy, considering how many writing projects I have ‘in progress’), I’m going to use prompts! I refuse to use ChatGPT for my writing (or any other AI software), but there are plenty of prompt generators online that can help me, if I find myself paralyzed by the blank page.
Even better, though, is the Writer’s Room (which Daniel actually runs). Scheduling and attention span allowing, I’m hoping I’ll be able to attend at least one of the meetings, either in person or on zoom. Having a writing community is, I’ve found, the best way to get me to write. I suppose this is technically resolution 4.5…but eh, who’s counting?
Anyway, that’s pretty much it for my 2025 resolutions! Happy new year everybody, and I wish you the best of luck in achieving your goals!