Midnight Musings – A journal by Jade Walker

My immune system thinks it’s posh

January 1, 2026 / No Comments

I’ve always worn costume jewelry. It was easy to find and affordable. Plus, if I lost an earring or a necklace broke, it wasn’t the end of the world. In fact, the only “real” jewelry I own is my wedding ring, my engagement ring and my Outlander ring, all of which are made out of sterling silver.

Then, perimenopause arrived and suddenly my skin began to reject cheap adornments.

If I wore a stud or hoop made from base metals, my earlobe would redden. The skin would start to itch and I’d have to remove the earrings for fear of infection. My hands were no different. If I wore my real jewelry, all was fine. But if I donned a ring containing non-precious materials, the skin around my finger would swell and peel, like it was experiencing an allergic reaction.

And apparently, it was. After doing some research, I learned that the fluctuating estrogen levels sparked by perimenopause can increase the skin’s sensitivity to common allergens, like the nickel used in costume jewelry, and cause dermatitis. Which means from now on, I must wear sterling silver, platinum, surgical stainless steel or titanium jewelry — or nothing at all.

I expected gray hair, wrinkles and wisdom to come with old age, but who knew my skin would demand the finer things in life?
2025: The Year In Review

December 23, 2025 / 4 Comments

Each December, I take time to reflect on the ups and downs I experienced over the past year. What follows is my personal and professional review of 2025. I:

* Worked as a curator of local news for Apple News (via Magnit), wrote the 5 Things AM newsletter and weekly news quiz for CNN (via Creative Circle) and returned to HuffPost as a night news editor.

* Spent months scouring the Web for job opportunities and applied for countless positions. It was maddening.

* Continued writing A Bit Of Good News, The End Files, The Moonlight Reader Society and The Written Word.

* Started wearing an Apple Watch in an effort to improve my sleep. It worked! I’m now averaging 7 hours a day.

* Attended “An Evening with Amy Tan.”

* Attended my first death cafe.

* Was the featured guest in a “Drinks with a Doula” event via DeathReady with T.J. Ford

* Began watching the birds who live in my backyard through a video bird feeder. Also saw a lot of squirrels.

* Penned at least 25 journal entries and 2 new poems.

* Frequently posted on the social media sites: BlueSky, Threads, Ko-Fi and Substack. Begrudgingly rejoined X/Twitter for work.

* Occasionally posted to my two Instagram accounts: @thejadewalker and @catsofjade.

* Read 61 books, yet failed to complete my 2025 Goodreads reading challenge. Although I also read the first 50 pages of another two dozen books, I just couldn’t get into them and moved on.

* Held a book swap at my house with members of my book club. Participated in a special reading at the Currier Museum of Art and enjoyed the Silent Book Club’s 10th Anniversary Readathon. The Manchester, N.H. chapter was also named one of the 10 longest-running Silent Book Club chapters in the world.

* Participated in The Society of Professional Obituary Writers, the New Hampshire Writers Guild, the Authors Guild, the Writers Guild of America East and the Women’s National Book Association.

* Joined the NH Astronomical Society and Dark Sky International.

* Purchased two new computers: a desktop named Sherlock and a laptop named Poe.

* Subscribed and read numerous magazines, including Cook’s Country (RIP), Cooks Illustrated, Bake From Scratch, Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, The Saturday Evening Post, TeaTime Magazine and Baking Nation.

* Watched at least 70+ TV shows and 40+ movies, and listened to 40+ podcasts.

* Spent the weekend at The Deep Sleep Inn at Gibson, New Hampshire’s first dead and breakfast.

* Searched for our next home, but had no luck. The effort continues.

* Had my implants/crowns installed. So, for the first time in five years, my mouth contains a full set of teeth.

* Got my “you’re over 50” shingles vaccine.

* Decorated the inside of our house for Halloween and dressed up as Death (M was a plague doctor).

* Decorated our house for the holidays and mailed 40+ Christmas cards.

* Tried many recipes. New favorites include: apricot tarte tatin, chicken saltimboca, spaghetti with a lemon and marscapone sauce, spicy pepper chicken pie, snowflake brownies and a chocolate terrine.

* Became more than a little obsessed playing the Tiny Bookshop videogame.

* Worked my 35th year as a journalist.

* Celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary.

* Turned 52.

Goals for 2026

* Leave the country.

* Purchase a home with at least 5 acres of land.

* Grow the readership of my newsletters.

* Improve my baking/cooking skills.

* Learn Morse Code.

* Plant a lovely garden.

* Work on my fiction and poetry.

* Write more blog entries.

* Read at least 70 books.

* Win the lottery.
Tales from my book club

December 22, 2025 / No Comments

I read a lot of books this year, as did my friends. But we do not always read the same tomes, nor are we in competition with each other. Instead, a passion for reading keeps us close, no matter which titles — or how many — we finish.

Here are the Silent Book Club – Manchester chapter’s favorite books of the year:

There’s probably a local chapter of the Silent Book Club near you. If you’re interested in joining one, click here.
Quote of the day

December 17, 2025 / No Comments

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” –“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
My top 10 favs of 2025: A year spent reading, watching and listening to stories

December 14, 2025 / 1 Comment

Ok, my friends. It’s time to share my annual list of pop culture wonders. Over the past year, I consumed 60+ books, 70+ TV shows, 40+ movies and 40+ podcasts. These were my favorites.

(Note: Not all were released during the past 365 days.)

MY FAVORITE BOOKS – FICTION

1. “Never Flinch” by Stephen King

2. “Dreams and Shadows” by C. Robert Cargill

3. “Any Lich Way” by Michael La Ronn

4. “On the Run” by Kerry J. Donovan

5. “Blood and Treasure” by Ryan Pote

6. “On the Rocks” by Kerry J. Donovan

7. “The Book of Purrs: Everyday Thoughts from Your Feline Friends” by Luis Coelho

8. “Departure 37” by Scott Carson

9. “The Man of Legends” by Kenneth Johnson

10. “The Night Guest” by Hildur Knútsdóttir

(Honorable mentions: “The Blonde Identity” by Ally Carter, “The Society of Unknowable Objects” by Gareth Brown, “A Drop of Corruption” by Robert Jackson Bennett, “When the Moon Hits Your Eye” by John Scalzi, “Too Old For This” by Samantha Downing and “Killers of a Certain Age” by Deanna Raybourn)

MY FAVORITE BOOKS – NONFICTION

1. “Memorial Days” by Geraldine Brooks

2. “Standoff: Race, Policing, and a Deadly Assault That Gripped a Nation by Jamie Thompson

3. “New Hampshire Trivia” by Rebecca Rule

4. “Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection” by John Green

5. “Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way into Our Hearts” by Jeremy Egner

6. “The Carpool Detectives: A True Story of Four Moms, Two Bodies and One Mysterious Cold Case” by Chuck Hogan

7. “18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics” by Bruce Goldfarb

8. “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich

9. “Things to Look Forward To: 52 Large and Small Joys for Today and Every Day by Sophie Blackall

10. “The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story” by Pagan Kennedy

(Honorable mentions: “Life on the Line: Young Doctors Come of Age in a Pandemic” by Emma Goldberg, “The Reporter Who Knew Too Much: The Mysterious Death of What’s My Line TV Star and Media Icon Dorothy Kilgallen” by Mark Shaw, “My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me” by Caleb Carr, “Lay Them to Rest: On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless” by Laurah Norton, “A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune” by Noliwe Rooks, “Still Life at Eighty: The Next Interesting Thing” by Abigail Thomas, “Homer’s Odyssey” by Gwen Cooper, “Bringing Up Beaver: Two Orphaned Beaver Kits, Their Humans, and Our Journey Back to the Wild” by John Aberth and “Joyride: A Memoir” by Susan Orlean)

Overall reading ratio: I read 19,000+ pages. Books were split 53% fiction to 47% nonfiction and 39% female authors to 61% male authors.

MY FAVORITE TV SHOWS

1. The Great British Baking Show

2. The Great British Baking Show: Holidays

3. Ambulance UK

4. The Diplomat

5. Escape to the Country

6. The Repair Shop

7. Stranger Things

8. The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy

9. Celebrity Escape to the Country

10. Critical: Between Life and Death

(Honorable mentions: Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office, Mid-Century Modern, Attack on London: Hunting The 7/7 Bombers, Homicide Hunter: Joe Kenda, Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders, See No Evil, Murder in the 21st, Somebody Feed Phil, Last Week With John Oliver, Man on the Inside, The Daily Show, Gardener’s World, Reacher, Ghosts, Elsbeth, Karin Pirie, Lynley, Murderbot and Paradise)

MY FAVORITE MOVIES

1. Sinners

2. The Last Observers

3. Nonnas

4. Flow

5. The Wild Robot

6. Katrina: Come Hell and High Water

7. Grenfell: Uncovered

8. Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror

9. The Twister: Caught in the Storm

10. John Candy: I Like Me

(Honorable mentions: The Lie: The Murder of Grace Millane, Heads of State, The Gorge, The Thursday Murder Club, Deep Cover, The Accountant 2, Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life, The Accountant, Brett Goldstein: The Second Best Night of Your Life and Roy Wood Jr.: Lonely Flowers and Conclave)

MY FAVORITE PODCASTS

1. Backstage at the Vinyl Cafe

2. Small Town Dicks

3. Break in the Case

4. Aftermath: Hunt for the Anthrax Killer

5. Cold Case Files

6. Bear Brook

7. Dear Hank & John

8. Eating Out With Eric & Steve

9. Sea of Lies from Uncover

10. Casefile

(Honorable mentions: Law & Order: Criminal Justice System, Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Naked Lunch, Criminal, Smartless, Paul Giamatti’s Chinwag with Stephen Asma, Something Wild, Homegrown NH, New England Legends, American Homicide, The West Wing Weekly, Fresh Air, Radiolab, 99% Invisible, Sidedoor and BBC Woman’s Hour)