The Year of the Lego: My Top LEGO Sets Built in 2025 – Blogmas 2025

December 5, 2025 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

One of the things I have discovered in 2025 is that building LEGO keeps me from losing my ever-loving mind. I’m not even kidding, when I’m stressing out, I grab a LEGO set and start building and things just get calm.

Over the course of this year, I’ve built a major assortment of LEGO, from small little sets to decorate my desk to LEGO sets that are still unbelievable to me. Some are themed to major entertainment properties, some are from the Ideas line, some are beautiful botanicals… and of course there are some things that just are off the wall.

These are just some of my favorite sets I’ve built this year, in no real particular order (besides the last one, which is my out and out favorite).

Italy Postcard

Let’s start with one that no one was expecting this year. The Postcard series has been one that I have loved, as they are small but heavily detailed sets based on different major locations in the world. The newest entry to the collection, Italy, continues the trend of being beautiful. I’ve loved building this little series. I can’t wait to see if this series is going to continue again.

Disney Pixar Luxo Jr.

As soon as the classic Pixar Lamp was announced, I made it clear to my family I was getting it day one, full stop. It took a few weeks longer (thanks to having to wait for payday, whoops!) but it was worth it. The set is full of little references to Pixar properties, and the Lamp itself looks almost like it could work. I loved building this one.

Polaroid OneStep SX-70 Camera

I’ve grown up hearing all about Polaroid cameras. Apparently, my grandfather sold them for awhile, and loved them, passing that love to my mother, and her to me. Having a LEGO version has been amazing, to the point that it has a place of pride in my room. At least for now.

World Dioramas (Tropical Rainforest, Africa Savanna, Coral Reef, and Northern Lights)

A Gift With Purchase series, the World Dioramas that were released this year are some of the most creative sets I have ever seen. Each biome picked was interest, with the Northern Lights surprising me the most in how the sky is portrayed. I ended up getting half of this set on Mercari once I discovered it, because it was something I just had to have in my collection.

Creator 3-in-1 Retro Telephone, Record Player with Flowers, and Typewriter with Flowers

The Creator 3-in-1 sets are always some of my favorites, because you have three options to make. These three stand out for me because they are just ones that are fun and cute. The simplified designed based on real items are just well done and cute.

Sherlock Holmes: Book Nook

If memory serves me, three book nooks were released this year. The Lord of the Rings one felt uninspired, or rather incomplete. I’m not touching the Harry Potter one with a 33 1/2 pole. But the Sherlock Holmes one? With Baker Street and so many classic characters? Absolutely yes. It looks amazing, the build was amazing, and it remains one of my absolute favorites this year.

The Botanicals Collection: Happy Plants, Hibiscus, Japanese Red Maple Bonsai Tree, Mini Orchid, Lucky Bamboo

The Botanical Collection has a very wonderful place in my heart. Each set is wonderfully created with techniques that I rarely have seen before. One set uses pink frogs for leaves! They always come out as beautiful and a highlight of my collection. They are also the sets most likely to remain on the living room shelves, as my mom loves to look at them too!

Animal Crossing: Able Sisters Clothing Shot, Leif’s Caravan & Garden Shop, Blather’s Museum Collection, and Creative Houses

2025 continued the Animal Crossing series in LEGO for with a bunch of new sets and new characters added. (My dear Carmen still isn’t made her appearance, but I can only hope that will change in the future!) With each set, my island is getting closer to complete, though it’s not currently set up due to space issues. I particularly love Blather’s Museum, as I am so happy to have it!

Nintendo Gameboy and SEGA Genesis Controller

Two sets based off of gaming systems came out this year, and now I want everything. The SEGA Genesis Controller looks amazing on my shelf, and I am perfectly in love with the Gameboy, which was a birthday present to myself. It brought back a bunch of memories of borrowing one of my old Girl Scout friend’s Gameboy, because I went right off into the Game Boy Light era, missing the brick entirely. (Ha, brick, not intended, but so perfect.)

Minifigure Vending Machine

And finally, my favorite set by far in 2025. The Minifigure Vending Machine is probably one of the coolest sets ever created by LEGO, and the thought that went into it shows. It was a great build that didn’t feel overly repetitive, and the Minifigure representation was almost on point (I did get a little sick of the astronaut Minifigs, but that’s allowed). I’m so happy it is finally mine, finally built, and hopefully will be in full use next year for reading challenge things.

And there you have it, a bunch of my favorite sets of 2025. Of course, this doesn’t count the set I picked up before writing this (The LEGO Ideas Mineral Display), as well as any/all LEGO sets I’m getting for Christmas, but that’s allowed. There’s always next year’s list!

Until then, build on!

Reading Challenges I Took Part In This Year – Blogmas 2025

December 4, 2025 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Let’s continue on with the book theme, now shall we?

Here’s a fun little tidbit. Towards the end of 2024, I hit a reading slump. Nothing was catching my eye, nothing was piquing my interest. Manga I’d enjoyed earlier that year bored me. Novels I’d waited all year for were set aside.

I was a right mess.

And then… I discovered a reading challenge.

Okay, now let’s be fair. I’ve been doing the Goodreads Challenge for years now. Set a goal, read that goal, bask in the glory of finishing that goal before the end of the year. But just reading x number of books in a year because a chore, a task to do. There was nothing interesting about it.

Until there was.

Throughout the year, Goodreads has been setting little reading challenge. Read a book off of a specific list, and get a fabulous prize! Also known as stroking your ego and boosting your reading goal by reading books that are probably outside your preferred genre and comfort zone. The challenges had to be completed within a specific timeframe, usually two months or so.

Thanks to this challenge, I have read award winning books, books by marginalized authors, Queer positive stories that have been in genres I would normally touched… The Goodreads Reading Challenges have very much opened up many doors for me.

But that’s not the only official reading challenge I’ve done this year. I discovered that Barnes and Nobel has their own, which isn’t very well advertised. And actually, they did two.

Barnes and Noble’s Reading Challenge presented 52 prompts around the year, meant to be weekly, though you could easily read ahead if wanted. The prompts were for the most part one word challenges, such as “prequel” or “relaxing, “avoided” or “memoir”. A kind soul over on Storygraph made a reading challenge page for it, which has made keeping up with the challenge much more manageable.

On top of this, Barnes and Noble also did a 14 week Summer Reading Challenge, with the fourteen prompts being common summer themes, from “hot dogs” and “forests” to “shark week” and “campfire stories”. I was the one who set up the challenge over on Storygraph (which has been a lifesaver this year), and it went well, I think.

Because of these reading challenges, and my own personal goal to attempt to not overlap book picks all that much if possible, my reading goal for this year when from high and probably insane to very much possible, with added manga to the mix.

Here’s hoping that next year brings more reading challenges that are fun and inventive, but also allow for readers’ choice.

Happy reading!

My Rise and (Tiny) Fall from Book Clubs – Blogmas 2025

December 3, 2025 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

If someone told me that in late 2023 or early 2024 I would be a part of a bunch of book clubs, and that by the end of 2025 I’d be down to just a few, I’d laugh at them.

Okay, maybe not laugh, but I wouldn’t believe them all that much. And honestly, I have personal history to back that up.

For the vast majority of my life, I have detested being told what to read or when to discuss it, how to read something in a particular way and how to “engage with the text.” Even though I have an English degree and love reading, it’s always been difficult for me to read assigned books. Sure, some ended up becoming books I liked or loved or fought for, but in the end, that was like four out of fifty.

I also don’t particularly like discussing books down to the most minute detail. When I read, I want to enjoy books, not analyze them.

But then… well… the pandemic finally eased and I needed to get out of the house.

Without going through the entire history, I ended up joining book clubs at two different used bookstores and through my local library. Each one had a different mix of choices and types of discussions and in general everything seemed to be working out great.

I have read books that were so out of my comfort zone that it was unbelievable, and yet I ended up liking several of them. (Even the one that still gives me the occasional nightmare because it was so well written and vivid.) I’ve also read books that I thought I would enjoy, and discovered that I didn’t. I’ve found new auto-buy authors and whole genres I’ll give a second shot.

Over the past few months, things have changed a bit. I’ve made the decision to cut out all but two of the book clubs. Past of the reason is that I didn’t feel heard anymore. My suggestions weren’t being taken seriously. My points were being ignored in conversations, or were being somewhat manipulated to mean something else. It felt like anything I had to contribute was just… a waste of my time. But more over, it was becoming a waste of anyone else’s time but the core group.

So, I cut down from five or six book clubs (there was one that we only held sporadically) to just firmly two. One is fiction that feels very open to all conversation (and suggestions and picks are welcomed with open arms) and the other is queer, with subjects and genres galore.

Technically there is one more within that store, I just don’t go to it, as the theme just doesn’t click with me (and that’s fine!). I also have an open invitation to book clubs at any of the other locations, as well as one of the Barnes and Noble locations near me (though they have cancelled the YA Book Club, but that’s a conversation for another day).

As for now, i have two book clubs in two weeks in December, reading Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (for this coming Saturday) and The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch (on the following Sunday). I’m slightly behind in my reading, so I’m off to jump in.

Happy reading!

Oh How I Love Advent Calendars – Blogmas 2025

December 2, 2025December 1, 2025 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

I have always loved Advent Calendars. From the beautiful one that has always graced my family’s wall each year to the newer ones bought each year, I have come to appreciate them.

This year, I’m doing several. Some that are advertised as Advent calendars, and others that… well, okay, it’s more like a series. But it counts!

Lego Star Wars 2025 Advent Calendar

For the past few years, I have made it a point to do a Lego Advent calendar. In 2023, it was the Lego City calendar, and last year was the Lego Star Wars one (mostly because it included a minikit! I couldn’t pass that up!)

This year I had been planning on returning to the Lego City calendar, but it has been sold out since mid October, I swear. So, instead, I’m “settling” with the Lego Star Wars one, as the other themes don’t do it for me and I’m too lazy to come up with something for myself, at least like this.

Each day comes with either a Minifigure to put together or a little set that is Star Wars themed. They are very adorable to look at and the Christmas theme, while not exactly Star Wars appropriate (as besides several Lego Star Wars movies, Christmas doesn’t exist in Star Wars to my knowledge…).

A Heart For Christmas by Sophie Jomain (A Advent Romance)

Thanks to the magic of random internet browsing, I happened upon a novel designed to be read as a chapter a day. Of course, being myself, I didn’t bother to read the reviews (not exactly great…) and instead just bought it and have been impatiently waiting to read it.

From the first chapter, I’ve met the main female character of this romantic (apparently young-adult) story, who is eighteen and spending the Christmas holidays in the Alps with her father, two years after a heart attack left her with a donor heart. I’m curious to see if the story takes off into unexpected directions or if I’ll be reading the same old tale again… We shall see.

Disney’s Twisted Tales Advent

Ever since I saw the first book in Disney’s Twisted Tales series, I’ve been wanting to get into them and enjoy all that is within the pages. Of course, every time I think “this is it”, something comes up and I never crack open that book.

This summer, I happened upon an official Advent Calendar for the Twisted Tales, originally released in 2023. I scooped it up… and then promptly forgot about it until yesterday, when I was starting to set up for Christmas and found it again. So I decided I would do a tale a day… until discovering that there were only ten actual short stories, and the rest were diaries, coloring pages, and other random things. And THEN (I promise this will be the last one, I swear), I found out that a second Twisted Tales Advent was released in the UK in October. So that will get here when it gets here, and until then I’m doing two. The short stories are spread out enough to accomidate that, or so I hope.

This might be the only one that I’m behind on come the end of December.

A Manga a Day…

And finally, my own kind of Advent calendar, based entirely on my feelings for that day.

Over the past few years, my manga collect has massively expanded. I’m reading series that I would have never though to touch before (including a horror series, and I hate horror! And I love that series!). There’s long ongoing series, short ones that I have collected complete, a few that I’m in the middle of because of printing issues (In/Spectre, why are volumes 5 and 6 still the only ones out of print?!)… All over the map at this point.

Because I have so many unread volumes due to life and other obligations, I decided that each day in December, I’m going to read at least a volume a day. It doesn’t have to be from the same series (for example, on December first I finished Aria the Masterpiece and then volume 13 of Otherside Picnic, two wildly different manga). My reason for this is two-fold. I have so much left to read… and I desperately want to pad my Goodreads total for personal reasons. Yeah, that’s happening.

And Of Course, The Classic

The final Advent calendar is the one that hasn’t actually been put up yet, because this year we’re behind in our decorating.

Many years ago, I think before I was born or the year that it happened, my parents were gifted a beautiful Advent calendar from my aunt. Yes, I think it was from a catalogue, and yes, it’s old, but we hang it every year and fight where to place all but a few of the pieces (certain ones have their own special place, because I said so).

No matter what happens, no matter if we have ten Advent calendars or one, this will always be that one. And that’s what makes it all that more special.

Once the month draws to a close, I’ll rate and discuss which one were worth the money, and which ones weren’t (hint, it’s probably the book, based on the reviews alone, from people I trust, haha).

Until then!

It’s a Holiday Surprise! I’m Back for Blogmas – Blogmas 2025

December 1, 2025 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a long time coming.

No, really. I’ve been wanting to sit back done and return to this blog, but it’s been hard. There’s a lot that has stopped me, both in my life and mentally. But I decided today that it was time. A habit takes, what, thirty days? And though I only really want to blog once or twice a week, let’s just go full throttle throughout December to Christmas, because why not.

There’s a lot to talk about. I’m going to make the time to do so.

The basics: I’m 35 now. Spent my last birthday celebrating at Disneyland, staying at the Disneyland Hotel (thanks Mom!), having the time of my life. I still have my job that I don’t talk about, been there now three years. Even though each day is taxing, I know what I’m doing is helping people, and that’s what my main goal is.

I’m basically out of the writing and fandom scene. I don’t really write much anymore, completely burnt out thanks to the BS of the last fandom I was in. I’m toying with some things that I may put to paper, but it’ll be a long time coming before anyone sees a glimpse of anything. As for fandoms, I watch stuff, I read more, but I don’t engage. After the fiasco of The Old Guard 2‘s release (yes it came out, yes we’re gonna talk about it), I’ve firmly stepped back. Primarily to protect myself, secondary because I just don’t feel like fighting strangers on the internet.

I’ve joined a bunch of book clubs, and left most of them, mostly due to interpersonal drama and/or clashing personalities. I just don’t see the point of taking part when all opinions can’t be heard or discussed without being told “nah, this is the only thing.” The ones I’m still in are great, fine, calm, and the people there are sweet.

Still reading, still with my insane reading goals. The full thing will be a post on it’s own, but I’ve been doing two reading challenges this year, and I’m about to complete them both. It’s satisfying.

Still gaming, completely in love with Disney Dreamlight Valley, and about to restart Animal Crossing New Horizons because of the surprise 3.0 update coming in January.

And really? Just living. Just getting up every day, doing my job, slowly breaking out of the shell I forced myself into the past couple years when everything seemed to be crumbling around me. It’s going to take some more time, more exploration of myself, before I’m the “me” I can be fully happy with, but it’s a journey. I’m on that path, and it’s healing.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Taking an Official Long Term Hiatus

February 15, 2023 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Well. This wasn’t how I wanted to start 2023.

As can be clearly seen, I’m taking an official hiatus from a lot of things right now. I stepped away from this blog unexpectedly in December and just never got back to it. Then I started stepping back all together.

I made the decision to go on a near total social media hiatus as of February 13th, 2023 (or 14th on Twitter, because I forgot to upload the TwitLonger until after midnight). The reasons for this are many, but basically circle back to my mental health. I’ve been in a bit of a spiral for almost a year now, with many aspects of my life feeling out of my control. With issues cropping up in my personal, professional, and social parts of my life, something needed to give.

As of the 13th, I am taking a break from posting or actively interacting on most social media sites, including Tiktok, Twitter, and Reddit. I’ve unfollowed and blocked anyone or anything that was causing me distress or harm. Tumblr and Discord will follow at the end of the month, once Febuwhump 2023 wraps up and I finally, officially, end all commitments to the 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star fandoms.

Let me be clear here, I’m not saying that only one group or fandom or reason has caused my stepping back. There’s a lot of reasons compounded together. But I’m also aware that I was unconsciously seeking out the same things that were causing me issues on all sides. By stepping away and cutting as many ties as possible, I’m hoping to heal and move forward in a more positive manner.

I plan to take my time away and use it in a productive manner. I had a personal goal for 2023 to move every post from this blog over to another and use this one as a host for my fanfic should I decide to remove them from AO3 (which, if that happens, would be far in the future). I’m slowly going to be doing that, starting with the earliest posts. Once I get a few up, I’ll update this post with a quick link to direct you there. This post will stay up until everything is moved and/or I return from hiatus and post something different. Beyond this goal, I am also getting back to my love of reading and hoping to work on some projects that I’ve been putting off.

This isn’t a permanent hiatus. I will be back in the future. I have plans for when I return. I just don’t know when that will be just yet. Taking this time away is important.

I’ll see you soon. <3

It’s a Holding Post, Charlie Brown!

December 22, 2022 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Well folks, I did it again. It’s late in the day and I haven’t finished Thursday’s post. I’ll have it and Friday’s posted tomorrow (hopefully, if time allows).

This is what happens when you are just very very tired. Is it my three day weekend yet?

An Adventure for a Book – Blogmas 2022

December 21, 2022 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Today was not the best of days by a long shot, but it topped off in a hilarious fashion that I never could have expected.

Earlier this afternoon, Barnes and Noble announced on their social media that they were releasing the highly anticipated novella Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman early. The novella, part of the Heartstopper universe, has an official release date of January 2, 2023. However, B&N put on a promotion to release it in stores today, with a limited quantity of enamel pins.

So, like any fan of good quality media, I decided that as soon as I finished my day at work, I took off for the bookstore. I was only about to brave a store if I had a very good reason. And honestly, for this? Yep, good reason.

I got to my local Barnes and Noble and began the search. And if you’ve been keeping up at home, you can see where this is going. I walked the entire store, checked all around, couldn’t find it. I knew what the cover looked like, I knew about how big it was. Two of Oseman’s other books were on the shelves, but not this one. It wasn’t on an endcap or on one of the display tables. I looked everywhere.

I should also point out that it was incredibly crowded with people making their last minute purchases. Booksellers had people all around them asking questions about books. Even the help desk was backed up, though the two women were incredibly helpful.

When I finally was able to get to the help desk, I did my best to be kind as they looked so very stressed. I just said, “Excuse me, you’ve probably been getting this question all day, but I was wondering if you still had any copies of Nick and Charlie?”

One of the workers shook her head and told me about the street date, which would mean that it wasn’t available. I quickly flipped through my instagram to the official Barnes and Noble account and turned it around. “Oh, that contradicts what the official B&N account says,” I had said, or something along those lines. I didn’t raise my voice, but I was polite.

To their credit, they decided to check it instead of just sending me off like a child. And boom, there it was. One worker went three sheets paler. The other looked as though she’d seen a ghost. I actually felt bad for about 30 seconds.

Less than five minutes later, I was in live for checkout, Nick and Charlie and pin in hand.

The reason why this was an adventure? I am so beyond not comfortable speaking up when I need to. But I was able to when I needed to. And it actually heled out, as while I was standing in the checkout line, I had three different people ask me where I found the book.

I can’t wait until Christmas morning to actually read it! It’s going under the christmas tree as a gift from my uncle (he’s not the best at buying gifts, so usually Mom and I will by for him and he just wraps and labels.

Until next time!

Reading Goals for 2023 – Blogmas 2022

December 20, 2022December 21, 2022 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

I’ll be the first to admit that my reading goal for 2022 was a little… unobtainable, especially once my luck with the job market happened.

It wasn’t the total amount of books that was the problem. No, I’ve done that before and more. It was the fact that I was reading the same type of book over and over again. It just got… tiresome? I guess? You could also say exhausting. Or just… very one note. Basically, reading only one type of book made me not want to read, because if I wasn’t reading a book from my challenge, then I felt like I wasn’t reading the right thing.

For 2023, I’m going to try to broaden my palette, as it were. I still have my “reading challenge,” but I have a few others that will let me read basically anything I want. Let me explain.

Owlcrate’s 2023 Reading Planner Goals

Every year, my favorite book box Owlcrate sends out a reading planner with their November box. This year, the planner included a small list of 14 prompts as a way to encourage people to read something they wouldn’t normally.

For example, one of the prompts is to “read a collection of poetry or short stories.” Another is “an epistolary novel.” There’s also a prompt for “a book set in a library or a bookstore.” Two personal favorites of mine are “a book from a country that you’d love to visit this year” and “a recommendation from a friend with reading tastes different to yours.”

I’ve already come up with a few books that might fit some of these prompts, though I won’t start actually reading until January 1st. But I’m okay with that. Mentally planning is important.

The Nest’s 3 Degrees of Difficulty Annual Reading Challenge

Hilariously, this is also Owlcrate. They just launched The Nest, which is an app to connect with other booklovers in a safe and welcoming space (#notasponser). One of the things I like is that they are hosting their own reading challenge, with three levels. To make it slightly more challenging, each level features 25 prompts.

Level one is pretty simple. It has the normal prompts, such as “YA Historical Fiction,” “A Library Book,” or “A Classic High Fantasy.” Pretty much every prompt is one that can be found on another list someone else. It’s meant to be an easy list to fill.

Level two gets a bit more difficult. There are some more specific prompts, such as “set in the 1920s.” “More than 500 pages” sticks out because most prompt lists don’t have a prompt like that. “Portal Fantasy” is something I’ve never heard of as of writing this post. There’s also a “contemporary duology” and a “super serious sci-fi,” which means I’ll be scouring the internet for those and others.

I’ll admit, Level three is the one I’m not sure I’ll finish. Most of the prompts are ones that I wouldn’t normally pick up, and even if I did, I probably wouldn’t enjoy it. “African Magical Realism” is something I’ve never even thought of (though I am intrigued). “Healthcare Worker POV?” No offense, but I avoided that line of work for a reason, I’m not looking forward to that one. And I’ll be honest, unless I get lucky, I’m probably to have trouble with the “2022 Hugo Nominee” as I’m usually not a fan of their choices… Oh wait, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir? Okay, that one might be okay.

But Wait! What About Your Reading Challenge?

I’m still going to do it! I’m midway through the Trials of Apollo, which is the last major pentalogy in the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles. I still have the two spinoff trilogies (The Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard) as well as the companion books.

I also would love to work my way through The Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger, which was already in the challenge. Considering the size difference between KotLC and the other complete series in the challenge (The Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare), the former is at least obtainable.

One important things is that this challenge won’t be my main goal. I’d love to complete more than just the CHBC portion (which will get done next year if I have anything to say about it). I’m just going to prioritize reading for the other challenges more than just this. It will probably help with my anxiety as well.

Wrap Up

I’m hoping that having what amounts to nearly 100 prompts, I’ll get a lot of reading done on my offtimes. I do have some grand plans for reading, some ideas I’ve already jotted down, though of course nothing is set in stone just yet. We shall see what 2023 shall bring in the form of reading!

Until next time!