I recently posed the following to a voice actor I know:

Acting and medicine: What do you imagine are the overlapping aspects of our respective work?  I see it mostly in story—empathy for and holistic understanding of the full human experience, from the euphoric highs to the most sorrowful lows.  For both of us, to be truly excellent at our work, we must call forth real and sincere empathy from our own depths, which is vulnerable and courageous in a lot of ways, don’t you think?  For you, the stories are complete, and you get to interpret and bring them to life, to present them for our benefit.  I get to elicit the stories, coax them to emerge in real time, and interpret them along with my patients.  What stories do people tell about their health, their lives, their agency to influence it, and the outcomes they can/not achieve?  We get to dissect and discuss and then act on our shared interpretation.  We edit and revise together over time.  I’ve practiced 26 years now, aging and evolving alongside my patients, going through life with them.  Holy cow, what a privilege.  Your work is solitary; mine is in front of people all day long and then some (I’m on call 24/7 for my primary care patients).  People who (consume?) my work cannot help but know me, and I get immediate, real-time feedback on my effect and impact on them, good or bad (it’s mostly good 😊).  You get to choose how much we know you, and you may be totally anonymous to many, as I think most folks don’t readily identify specific audiobook narrators.  I hope (imagine) that you get enough positive feedback, validation, and reinforcement for your work! 😀  I also hope you get enough contact and connection with your colleagues.  I can always walk down the hall and consult mine on challenging cases or difficult encounters.  We are friends. My professional support network is at my elbow and fingertips; I hope yours is too!  I submit that we can always find similarities among any/all professions that involve humans interacting with humans, don’t you think?

I wrote this six weeks ago. Today I wonder: Is this how many of my colleagues, at least in primary care, see themselves? Is this how any of our patients perceive us? How much can any of us know about any others’ work, calling, and experience, just from being on the receiving end of it? Now all I want to do is convene gatherings of fellow physicians and patients to discuss!

In case you want more of what I long to discuss salon-style with my people, see excerpts below from Rainer Maria Rilke’s fourth letter to Franz Xaver Kappus. Please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments!

Now, to books of the year.

Key:
[Unfinished, not yet abandoned
[Abandoned]
Favorites
–Repeat listens –how many times
**Top 5
Romance novels are distinguished in blue on my personal document; sorry I cannot include text color here. Suffice it to say, they made the bulk of the list yet again. I needed more escape than deep thought from my book consumption this year; and I still do much better with audio than print on the initial pass. I leaned more heavily on old favorites for comfort in 2025; I have a plausible idea about why. The TBR/TBL continues to lengthen, and I happily use Audible credits to gift favorites to friends. Lots of good ones to dig into in the new year, and more reviews on the way.

Wishing all a meaningful and connecting holiday season! May your consumption in all domains be mindful and nourishing. May your most important ties tighten and strengthen while also freeing you to grow and evolve. May you hold hope ahead of cynicism and celebrate the brighter aspects of humanity loudly and colorfully when you witness them. May love light your way from within and without. May you never face adversity alone, and may you always feel secure in the unwavering support, encouragement, honesty, and accountability of those who love you most. Onward, friends. ODOMOBaaT.

Books 2025

1. [The Fourth Turning, William Strauss/Neil Howe
2. [Outlive, Peter Attia
3. [The Art of Quiet Influence, Jocelyn Davis
4. [Born Liars, Ian Leslie
5. [Connie: A Memoir, Connie Chung
6. [Want: Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous, Gillian Anderson
7. Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond
8. The Will to Live and Other Mysteries, Rachel Naomi Remen
9. [Possible, William Ury
10. [Lust for Life, Irving Stone
11. [The Left Hand of God, Paul Hoffman]
12. [The Biology of Desire, Marc Lewis
13. The Librarian and the Orc, Finley Fenn
14. Dear Love, Grant Gosch–1
15. I Never Thought of It That Way, Mónica Guzmán
16. Throne of the Fallen, Kerrie Maniscalco
17. —Dr. Off Limits, Louise Bay
18. –Rory in a Kilt, Anna Durand–3
19. –Sanguine, Sierra Simone – 11
20. Trust: America’s Best Chance, Pete Buttigieg
21. The Reluctant Billionaire, Sara Madderson
22. –Duke of Depravity, Scarlett Scott
23. Once the Skies Fade, Vanessa Rasanen
24. This Woman, Jodi Ellen Malpas
25. Happily Ever Aftered, Lili Valente & Pippa Grant
26. Food For Thought, Alton Brown
27. Viscount of Villainy, Scarlet Scott
28. **The State of Affairs, Esther Perel
29. Duke of Pryde, Mariah Stone
30. –Wicked Conjuring, Sarah Piper
31. [True Love, Robert Fulghum
32. –Wicked Awakening, Sarah Piper
33. –Sweet Liar, Laurelin Paige
34. –Sweet Fate, Laurelin Paige
35. –Wicked Devouring, Sarah Piper
36. [Come As You Are, Jess K Hardy]
37. –Wicked Ascending, Sarah Piper
38. [The Witch’s Monsters Complete Series, Sarah Piper]
39. Hosed, Lili Valente & Pippa Grant
40. [Hammered, Lili Valente & Pippa Grant]
41. –Duke of Rath, Mariah Stone
42. –When the Duke Bought a Wife, Mariah Stone
43. –All Duke and Bothered, Mariah Stone
44. –Her Rake Fiancé, Mariah Stone
45. –Project Duke, Mariah Stone
46. –Betting Against the Scoundrel, Mariah Stone
47. The Wolf King, Lauren Palphreyman
48. The Moral Equivalent of War, William James
49. –Baby Proposal, Evie Rose
50. Devour the Dark, Nikki St. Crowe
51. Rising Sun, Donna Grant
52. Dark Heart, Donna Grant
53. How Minds Change, David McRaney
54. [North Woods, Daniel Mason]
55. Storm Wood, Donna Grant
56. The Night Prince, Lauren Palphreyman
57. –Cocktail, Lauren Smith
58. The Muse, Lauren Blakely
59. Broken Sword: The Complete Excalibur Duet, Kim Loraine
60. **Never the Roses, Jennifer K Lambert–1
61. Revenge of the Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
62. My Next Breath, Jeremy Renner
63. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman
64. Unholy Obsession, Stasia Black
65. Obsession: Mate Games Book 1, K Loraine & Meg Anne
66. –The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek
67. –For Love of Magic, Simon R Green
68. Crush, Ada Calhoune
69. A Sinful Gift, Emma Castle
70. In His Silks, Patricia D Eddy
71. Christmas Silks, Patricia D Eddy
72. A Knight in Shining Armor, Jude Deveraux
73. Polysecure, Jessica Fern
74. Coming Up Short, Robert Reich
75. Honor, Kristen Proby
76. Who Is Mr. Satoshi?, Jonathan Lee
77. Why We Love, Helen Fisher
78. What a Duke Dares, Anna Campbell
79. The Well at the World’s End, AJ Mackinnon
80. How to Change, Katy Milkman
81. [Moral Ambition, Rutger Bregman
82. Set Piece, Lana Schwartz
83. The Anatomy Lesson, Nina Siegal
84. A Scoundrel by Moonlight, Anna Campbell
85. The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel van der Kolk, MD
86. [Existential Kink, Carolyn Elliott, PhD
87. –The Punishment of Ivy Leavold, Sierra Simone
88. –Supplicant, Sierra Simone
89. Throne of Secrets, Kerri Maniscalco
90. [The Messengers of Magic, Jessica Dodge]
91. [Romancing the Shadow, Dr. Connie Zweig & Dr. Steve Wolf
92. One More Gift, Holly June Smith—print then audio
93. All Fours, Miranda July
94. –Cheeky Royal, Nana Malone
95. –Cheeky King, Nana Malone
96. [Embers In the Snow, Anna Carven
97. [Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams
98. [An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir]
99. Last First Kiss, Carrie Ann Ryan
100. **North Queen, Nicola Tyche—1
101. **Shadow Queen, Nicola Tyche–1
102. **War Queen, Nicola Tyche–1
103. [Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, translation by MD Herter Norton
104. The Resurrectionist of Caligo, Wendy Trimboli & Alicia Zaloga
105. Oops Baby for the Mafia Boss, Evie Rose
106. The Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam
107.  Hello Darling, Kayley Loring
108. Dangerous, Nora Ash
109. The Moon and His Tides, Giana Darling
110. Reign of a King, Rina Kent
111. The Secrets We Hide, Berlin Wick
112. [Hathor and the Prince, JJ McAvoy

Worpswede, near Bremen,
16th July, 1903.

Here, where a mighty land is about me, here I feel that no human being can answer for you those questions and feelings which have a life of their own in the depth of your heart, for even the best use words wrongly when they want to give them the most delicate and almost inexpressible meaning…

If you attach yourself to Nature, to the simple and small in her, which hardly anyone sees, but which can so unexpectedly turn into the great and the immeasurable, if you have this love for what is slight and try quite simply as a servant to win the confidence of what appears to you poor, then everything will become easier for you, more uniform and somehow more reconciling, not perhaps in the understanding, which holds back in amazement, but in your innermost consciousness, watchfulness and knowledge. You are so young, all beginning is so far in front of you, and I should like to beg you earnestly to have patience with all unsolved problems in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms, or books that are written in a foreign tongue. Do not search now for the answers, which cannot be given you, because you could not live them. That is the point, to live everything. Now you must live your problems. And perhaps gradually, without noticing it, you will live your way into the answer some distant day. Perhaps you actually have in you the possibility of moulding and shaping, as a particularly blessed and pure form of life; train yourself in it—but take what comes in complete trust, and, as long as it comes from your own will, from some need or other of your inner self, then take it for itself and hate nothing…

…Rejoice in your growth, into which you can take no one with you, and be good to those who remain behind. Be assured and peaceful in their presence, do not torture them with your doubts and do not frighten them with your confidence or your joy, which they could not comprehend. Seek some kind of simple, true communion with them, which need not change as you yourself become ever different…

But your loneliness will be a support and a home to you in the midst of unsympathetic surroundings, and out of it you will find all the ways of your life. All my good wishes are ready to accompany you, and my confidence is with you.

Yours,
RAINER MARIA RILKE.
Translated by K.W. Maurer

Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
Rilke, Rainer Maria. Letters to a Young Poet. Trans. K.W. Maurer. London: Langley & Sons. The Euston Press, N.W.I., 1943 (public domain)

Bibliography