Content Warning:  This article discusses: Sexual assault and coercion Abuse of power Infant loss Murder and state-sanctioned violence When you hear the name Bathsheba, what comes to mind? Seductress? Adulteress?  It wasn’t until recently that I began to associate Bathsheba with terms like victim and victor. In the Bible, 2 Samuel 11 and 12 tell the story of David and Bathsheba. Bathsheba was an Israelite woman, likely of noble birth, who lived during the reign of King David.

If you’re looking for the best books of 2025, here are my top five favorites! From dark academia to fantasy to commercial fiction, this past year was a true adventure. My reading goal for 2025 was 48 books, and I surpassed that, though I don’t actually know how many I read because at some point, I stopped tracking them on Goodreads. I'll share more about that later. Here are my top five reads of 2025. Technically, there are seven books on this list, but I don't think you can

Megan did this to herself. She knew going into the holiday season that it was going to be hell on earth, but without anybody to go home to at the end of the day, staying at the nursing home and working some extra shifts seemed like the best option—at least she wouldn’t be alone. She stepped through the kitchen door and kicked her sneakers off into the basket in the entryway. Immediately, she went to the bathroom, cranked on the hot water, and stripped out of her scrubs. Worki

Jenny tried to make small talk with her mom, but no amount of compliments or observations about the nursing homes dining room brought a smile to Pearl’s face.The staff decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, and an eight- or nine-foot Christmas tree decorated in red and gold ornaments and white lights sat in the corner. Most of the tables were full, and canes and walkers cluttered the walkways. A few of the patients were pushed up to the table in their wheelchairs

It wasn’t even Thanksgiving, and all the overachievers already had their Christmas decorations up.  The Main Street holiday window display competition had become more cutthroat over the years, especially as fresh blood had been introduced to downtown. When Alex purchased The Melting Plot five years ago, she had only been twenty-four years old, the youngest business owner by far. But now, the owner of the salon couldn’t be more than three years out of high school, and the anti