Me | 
#AuldLangSpine
About Me
1. I‘m Alyisha. My name is a mash-up of my grandmother‘s name, Alice, & my mom‘s name, Patricia. There‘s no accounting for the strange spelling.
2. I live in Rhode Island, the Ocean State. Aside from the whole winter thing (brrr), it‘s perfect for me because I love the sea. I can jump on my bike & be at the beach in about 20 minutes.
3. I work as a Children‘s Librarian in an historical library with actual gargoyles.👇🏻
pickElton John. What a talent, what a terrific human. I love so many of his songs (with Bernie! Will read his story next) A life force and a reminder that fame and fortune do not make a life; embrace the love in your corner of this utterly confusing confounding world. 🌎
#July2025 Book66
📸 Myrtle Spurge
Elton will be joining me to and from work this next few weeks and I couldn‘t be more excited!
pickWOW. I feel strangely that it's crucial and at the same time the wrong moment to explain that while I grew up listening to his most popular songs, I can't say I'm overly familiar with Elton John's discography, or life. That seems a necessary preface to me absolutely GUSHING about this autobiography. 1/?
pickI loved this! A bold look into a bold life. Taron Egerton does the most incredible job with the narration! Making it feel like Elton John is there in the room with you, making him constantly raw, vulnerable and likable even when describing his most egregious acts. I can‘t say if the print writing has the same magic without Taron to make it sparkle, but I know that the bonus chapter read by Elton himself didn‘t come through half so clearly.
#TuesdayTunes @TieDyeDude
I‘ve been listening to Me all week, so this has pretty much been my playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/285EOSTB2SmIT1whQmMy8B?si=kucfv8AAQK2HM9wrK4Sd...
pickI enjoyed this book following Elton John from his start growing up as a boy named Reginald Dwight to his transformation into a successful musician. He goes into detail about his struggles with drug addiction and how he was able to get sober and find happiness with his husband and 2 sons. He is quite funny at times and drops just enough celebrity gossip to keep things fun without turning into gratuitous name-dropping.
so-soMusic biographies are usually nice sequels to liner notes, telling the story of the time and music. You don‘t get that feeling reading this book and that was a disappointment. There are plenty of other tales of debauchery and drugs that allowed this reader to get a sense of what celebrity can do to a person. Frankly, I‘m happy to be a nobody and we‘re all lucky to have lived at the same time as Sir Elton.
#WondrousWednesday
1. Finished the tagged book on audio today.
2. I tried The Wordy Traveler a while ago and wasn‘t impressed but I will be keeping an eye on other‘s suggestions.
3. I, too, have a basket of books for all ages at Christmas. My latest favorite is Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson. My two new books for this year are The Way Past Winter and Fifty Words for Snow.
Book Mail! Really excited to read this. Thanks, MacMillan Publishing.
Late in the day #pridebookrec #nonfiction week
Today's pick is a fascinating memoir from one of the most famous Gays out there. The man behind my absolute favorite song Tiny Dancer. Me takes you through John's childhood and all the way through him becoming a parent himself. He talks about the music and the destruction fame can bring about. This is very well done.
August stats! I‘m SO FRICKIN EXCITED I found three 5-star reads last month: ONE LAST STOP by Casey McQuiston, ROLE MODEL, by Rachel Reid, and the tagged book, which was the BEST surprise of the summer.
And hey, look at that TBR reduction! I‘m only nine books away from my 20-or-less goal. I might not hit it in September, seeing as how I‘ve got some rereads and library books in the pipeline, but it‘s definitely gonna happen in October.
pickHOLY CRAP, friends. I picked this up more or less at random and it blew. me. away. I knew Elton John threw a lot of tantrums and spent a lot of money. I had no idea he was so entertaining, genuine, and ready to own his mistakes. This book was a giant pile of fun with real emotion liberally mixed in. It‘s my surprise hit of the summer.
5 stars
I thought the moonblush tomatoes I made last night would be great in scones, so I did some early #audiobaking. I was right. These are incredible.
As is this book. I borrowed it mostly because it was available and I‘m trying to offset the large number of American-authored books left on La TBR, but it‘s blown me away. I‘m obsessed with it. Elton John‘s a lot more than a temper tantrum machine, which is how young me always saw him.
Thank you so much @Mrs_B for this lovely coffee table book! I am super excited to read it but.. I think my husband is even more excited to read it! You are so thoughtful!!!
pickThe book was peppered with a lot of name dropping of celebrities and that part didn't interest me. BUT. I did like the parts about who Elton John/ Reg Dwight really was, his upbringing, relationships, and struggle with cocaine and alcohol addiction. The book really turns a corner when he starts talking about his recovery and AIDS Foundation work. I found myself really enjoying it and I was never really a pop fan.
pickThis book does not shy away from showing John in a less than flattering light. From his temper to his eating disorder to his drug abuse. I also appreciate John acknowledging the roots of the music he became famous for. He celebrates Black artists he played with and looked up to. Many stories about rock and pop music conveniently don‘t talk about Black people who pioneered the genre. Hearing John talk about Black pioneers in music was refreshing.
"You can't travel" -they said, "I traveled to 50 different places" - I said. Goodbye 2020, you weren't that bad after all
It surprised me how much I enjoyed this self-deprecating memoir from Elton John.
#12Booksof2020 @Andrew65
Giving this book another go & I'm following along nicely, really enjoying it this time. I think I was in a different state of mind when I began it a few months ago & felt confused a 3rd way in.
Anyway, loving it right now, it's engaging & funny & the perfect accompaniment to driving to my jobs, which have picked up recently. It makes me want to play his music as he is talking about when he was writing a lot of the songs we all now know so well.
I had to get a bit creative with #silver! #12coloursofdecember #merryreaders #wintergames2020 10+1=11pts
Not a big celebrity memoir fan but this one ain‘t bad. #TodayILearned that the singer that singularly blew Elton away when he first heard him as a kid was Elvis Presley. His mom brought the record home. #NFN2020. @rsteve388 @Clwojick
It‘s open day!! #litsylovefallswap this is one of the best swaps I have ever received! 🙌🏼 @CaliforniaCay those coasters are amazing. I‘ve also been wanting to get a book sleeve. Let‘s not forget both Elton John and Jessica Simpson‘s books! Love, Love, Love!!
#3books with one word titles
I'm so behind my 3 books posts! And I loved these prompts.
Me was an absolutely delightful sparkling read! Great companion read to Rocketman which was one of my favourite movies.
Queenie was a harrowing, and also ultimately hopeful book and I loved its emphasis on female friendship.
David Nicholls is one of my favourite writers! Us was a lot more melancholy than his other books.
Great audiobook of Elton John's life, narrated by Taron Edgerton (who played him in the biopic, “Rocketman“. #litsyAtoZchallenge for 2020, letter “J“. @bookishmarginalia
pickLoads of info packed into this autobiography, but I wouldn‘t expect less from someone who‘s one of the biggest musicians of all time. I felt this was very candid, and Elton doesn‘t hold back with some of his opinions of other celebrities. He‘s certainly experienced a lot, both good and bad.
pick#ReadYourSign prompt:
♌ Character that is proud, bold or ambitious. If that doesn't scream EJ, I don't know what does
I really wanted the #audiobook for this because, well who doesn't want Taron Egerton talking to you for hours on end 😍. I wasn't disappointed. Elton John has to be one of the most interesting people in the world and I loved this in-depth look into his life.
I want to watch Rocketman now
@Clwojick @Meaw_catlady
A funny thing....
I was walking back to the car after school drop off this morning, reading Me by Elton John when Tiny Dancer began playing on the school loud speakers.
Nice!
pickI laughed and cried in equal measures. A very honest autobiography that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to. Elton clearly has a wicked sense of humour - my favourite parts were when he was playing pranks on Rod Stewart.
I didn‘t particularly think of myself as an Elton John fan - but will be listening to his music now with a new appreciation.
#bookreport
Well, that‘s almost unheard of, for me.... only 1 book (tagged) finished this week. I loved it though!
I have been a little bit slumpy this week and I think that there was even one day where I didn‘t read a single word - just watched telly...However, I‘ve also made further inroads into the chunkster that is The Eighth Life, and read exactly 50% of the other chunkster that is The Mirror and the Light.
pickI finally finished this audiobook, thanks to #audiopuzzling . I had to find a way to get audio time in because I haven‘t been driving (I went at least a month before getting gas today) and walking (due to weather). I‘ve never been a fan of Elton John, but this book is very interesting. I wanted to read it because he is an iconic musician, & i thought his life had to be full of adventure. I enjoyed the humor & heartfelt stories.
pickI'm really glad I read this book. I've always been a fan of Elton John's music but on a personal level thought him something of a twat. This book shows that he will be the first to admit that his behaviour at times has been unacceptable and explores the reasons why without relinquishing responsibility. This book is raw, honest and respectful and the ghostwriter (Alexis Petridis) did a beautiful job of telling Elton John's story.
pickI grew up listening to Elton John. He was one of my dad‘s favorites. I have fond memories of hearing the “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” album blaring through our house and out the windows of our Philadelphia row home. I was luckily enough to see Elton John in I his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour which occurred, oddly enough, not long after my dad passed. In his autobiography, Elton is eccentric as always and very candid about his life.
pickI've always been fond of Elton John's music growing up as a kid, but never really knew who was was except for what was always on the tabloids. After watching his amazing biopic, Rocketman I thought I knew enough. Well, when I saw the audio book was available, I had to pick it up. It was just as good and really goes into detail of the biopic and even further in his life. I highly recommend given the audio book a listen too. 4 out of 5.
pickI was completely entranced by this book. Elton‘s words with Taron‘s narration was the perfect mix. What an outrageous and wonderful life he has had as well as the lives he has touched with his music.
pickWOW 🤩 What a man and what a life he has lived until now.
This book had my crying which to be honest doesn‘t take much. More importantly it had me laughing at loud on more than one occasion and that hardly happens, and I don‘t think I could name a handful of books that has had me laughing.
This is a book I will remember
I love Elton John‘s writing and the way he sees himself
For the encore, Bob had made me a Donald Duck costume. It was a fantastic idea in theory, but the practicalities of it left a little to be desired. First of all, I couldn‘t get the bloody thing on properly. I was backstage, with one arm through the leg hole and my leg through the arm, crying with laughter […] When I eventually got onstage it struck me that I should probably have had some kind of dress rehearsal to see how the outfit might work.
Elton John certainly knows how to make new friends 😉
Apparently we have completely different shopping budgets
I guess it‘s important to see things in the right perspective
pickSpanning the full life of the rock legend up to 2019, this autobiography starts off slow, but soon falls into a good rhythm with lots of acerbic wit, great humor, & extremely candid storytelling. A great view into both his professional & private lives, including both highs & lows. Interesting, entertaining, eye opening, amazing, & wonderful. Also at times gut wrenching & heartbreaking. A very full & eventful life told in the perfect voice.
5. We adopted our dog, Jett (named after Joan Jett), a little over a year ago. His ears are nearly as soft as a rabbit‘s and he is the absolute BEST snuggler. 3w
7. I‘m a Capricorn (sun), Aries (moon), Sagittarius (rising)…and exactly *none* of that feels right to me. 😅 3w
9. I wish I could eat Indian food for every meal— with either hermits or tiramisu for dessert.
10. Speaking of hermits, I‘m an introvert in an extroverted job. I do ebullient goofiness pretty well…but I crave silence and solitude in a big way (which is part of why I think I love being in and under the water so much). 3w