Lani Cox's Blog

Well, hello. Just like that, it’s November, and 2025 is almost in the books. This year has been a significant one so far. I’ve made impactful decisions such as serializing my memoir on Substack and, you know, reinventing my life. Both of which, I’m still in the process of crafting and creating. 🤔 I went […]

Welcome to the new year, everyone! I hope its been a pleasant holiday season. While I can’t say I’m looking forward to getting back to work, I am looking forward to 2025’s gifts and adventures. In fact, my words for the year are PLAY and WONDER. But on NYE I decided to do Yoga with […]

My words for 2024 were JOY and EXPANSION, and I’m feeling all of it. I started the beginning of the year returning to a previous teaching job, and after adjusting to the big changes that had occurred, I feel like I’ve hit my stride. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m coasting, but…

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since we relocated from Lampang, Thailand back to Siem Reap, Cambodia. In many ways, it’s like catching up with an old friend to discover how much the both of you have changed. The first three months were the hardest, from the startup costs, to the…

Happy Summer! 🌞 June was all about Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, all 1243 pages of it, and taking a break from writing. The Pillars of the Earth was an absolute saga published in 1989, set in 12th century England. It became a mini-series and even a video game. It’s history, cathedral building,…

The Three Body Problem is an award winning sci-fi novel written by Chinese computer engineer and writer Liu Cixin. I was in the middle of reading it when I came across comments around the internet from folks who confessed that they couldn’t finish the book. As a result, I feel pretty smug and satisfied that…

I’ve been blogging since 2009 and Substacking since January 2024, so I’m not sure if this is a fair comparison. But ever since MailerLite and TinyLetter closed its doors, I needed to find a new newsletter platform, and Substack has been on my radar for some time. My newsletter, No Girl is an Island, which…

After such a great reading start to the year, I just couldn’t find THE NEXT ONE — but I got there, eventually. As I mentioned last month, I started Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries with low expectations, and try as I might, I couldn’t get into it. I’m not sure if it is considered YA,…

“Don’t try to be different. Just be good. To be good is different enough.” – Arthur Freed I’ve got two fantastic historical fiction novel recommendations for you this month. First up, Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. I absolutely love these retellings of Greek myths. And since I’m a big fan of Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles,…

I’ve got books for you, and a review of how my Substack is doing so far… I’ve decided I like nonfiction adventure stories, and I say this because even though I have been reading this genre, it hasn’t been something that I’ve consciously recognized — or appreciated. Some notables that come to mind are: //…