I picked this up on the personal recommendation of a bookseller, who loved it, and because the author‘s novel, Death Valley, was one of my favorite reads last year. All I can say is… this will not be one of my favorite reads this year. 🙈

I suspected it might be too much (and too gross) for me after the first two essays, about consuming your own bodily secretions and working for a tantric sex nonprofit, respectively.👇🏻

We rented out the local bookstore-bar to celebrate my upcoming Big Birthday with friends this weekend. They‘ve also told me I‘m in charge of picking the Bathroom Song. This is a big responsibility, as it plays on repeat for the whole day. 😅 I think I‘m going with “Tom‘s Diner” by Suzanne Vega & DNA.

https://open.spotify.com/track/7f9sC9fvtjYSZYOLSmKJlq?si=CEYn7sEKR5eqsHj9TZeXvw

Thoughts? What would YOU choose?

📸: random bathroom selfie 😆

🎨: A Promise of Spring by Marija Stefanovic

“I was born a unicorn. I could‘ve sworn you believed in me. Then how come all the other unicorns are dead?”

sptfy.in/tofz

Peter S. Beagle asks the question above (decades before the song—a favorite—was penned) and comes up with a rather poetic answer. Based solely on said answer (no spoilers!), I should‘ve *loved* this book… but I didn‘t. I have a hard time believing in a magic that robs women of their agency. 👇🏻

The poems inside deal largely with the speaker‘s body, which is fitting because all I want to do is talk about the physical body of her book. It‘s gorgeous.

A note at the back informs the reader, “Founded in 1994 as an independent, nonprofit, literary press, Sarabande publishes poetry, short fiction, and literary nonfiction—genres increasingly neglected by commercial publishers. We are committed to producing beautiful, lasting editions…” 👇🏻

“The magic knows what it wants to do… But I never know what it knows. Not at the right time, anyway. I‘d write it a letter, if I knew where it lived.”

Following in the footsteps of @julesG

I, too, am on StoryGraph. I really only use it for tracking & reviews (not socially) but you never know; things could change!

https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/monalyisha

Lacey‘s novel makes the reader complicit. The superiority you may feel because *you* don‘t need to know the MC‘s gender, age, or race is short-lived. You‘re still demanding something of them simply by entering their orbit. You want them to open up, to talk, to remember, to bond, to escape, to find home, to find friendship, to find freedom. And, by proxy, you want things of the author, too — like narrative momentum. 👇🏻

Hmmm. I know this is a little unorthodox but I think I‘ll celebrate by…reading! 😉📚

Next year‘s a big one!

I‘m not confident about many of the microdecisions I made in 2025‘s #ReadingBracket. Truth is, I had an INCREDIBLE reading year! A bunch of the match-ups could‘ve gone either way. I think I feel pretty confident about the WINNER (though I did read it a while ago now).

Best I can *confidently* do is a Top 7 (tagged below)!

•Giving Up the Ghost
•Journal of a Solitude
•Night Swimmers
•Sleep
•Death Valley
•The Ten Year Affair
•Moominland Midwinter

Ideally, I‘d have posted this yesterday. But I worked a full day, celebrated Noon Years Eve with a bunch of littles (50 strong), & was up to my knees in confetti. Once home, I was knackered. So! Playing catch up for a bit this morn.

A strong reading month in a strong reading year. December favorites include: Love & Trouble, Will There Ever Be Another You, The Rachel Incident, & Journal of a Solitude. Apparently, I was feeling rather literary!

It feels strange that I‘m posting more than I‘m reading. An epigraph, a single poem, and a chapter page is all I‘ve managed… but what are the chances?!

I resolve, firmly, to focus on rest and on sleep in the new year. Then. Bam! Page 1: SLEEP.

So many coincidences with this match, @Billypar ! It‘s kind of freaking me out. 😅 I‘m more powerful than I knew.

#AuldLangSpine

It‘s a good omen when you crack open your first #AuldLangSpine book of the year and find an epigraph from your hometown poet.

Elizabeth Bishop is from Worcester, MA, just like me!

Fresh book of poems, fresh coffee, fresh snow, and a fresh, brand new year.

Happy 2026, everyone!

@Billypar I brewed the good coffee this morning in your honor. A medium roast from Borealis Coffee, our local coffee co, with “notes of brown sugar and molasses” and “just a whisper of berry on the finish.” Garfield approves.

#AuldLangSpine

Happy New Year, #AuldLangSpine-rs!

I almost, *almost* made it to midnight. I‘ll see you in the morning, @Billypar & crew, with a coffee toast and a fat stack! 📚

Thanks for reading with me this year, and for being here!

As I tried to finish the tagged, my final read of 2025, I fell asleep with my head on my book. My husband asked, “Did you drool?” (I did… but not on my “pillow”). This anecdote is a placeholder for the whole year. I‘ve been exhausted. In 2026, I want to rest more. I want to focus on sleep, on getting that Good Sleep, so I can be more awake.

Reading goals: read about sleep.
Doing goals: sleep, dream, wake.

👇🏻

I unexpectedly loved this!

Rachel‘s a 20-something Irish college student & bookstore employee, who makes the best friend of her life… & a big ol‘ mess. Seeing how these characters change & evolve, while drifting & maintaining loyalty, is a somehow a profound & genuine salve during our era of disconnectedness. I‘m thrilled with how this ends.

The author thanks Dolly Alderton in the acknowledgements & YES; the connection became immediately clear.

Because I don‘t come from a family of readers, I‘m not gifted books for Christmas unless I explicitly ask for them. These, I asked for.

I stumbled upon book 4 as a kid, and it quickly became one of my treasured, favorite books. Sadly, there was nobody around to tell me that it was part of a series! I‘ve been planning to right that wrong for a long time. 2026 is finally the year.

The author of my book looks like a combination between Taylor Swift and Kirstie Alley.

Am I right or am I right?

The dog, as I got ready to go to work.

Hope your Christmas Eve morning is as cozy as Jett‘s! 🎄 Next year, I‘m asking Santa to make me a dog…

Last and… very possibly least (🙈): the haul of books I bought for my stepdad. These are a joint Christmas & retirement gift.

This past week, he worked his last day as a homicide detective. About a year ago, he read his first book since… probably middle school! It was a James Patterson, which he enjoyed but he complained about the formula. So, I got him Suspect by Robert Crais, about an LAPD officer & his K-9 partner; he told me HE CRIED!👇🏻

Books for moms!

Bite by Bite is going to both my mom & my MIL this Christmas.

My mom recently told me that she finally started Wintering, which I think I gifted her two years ago, and she can‘t put it down! Not to pat myself on the back but… okay, okay. I‘m patting myself on the back. She doesn‘t often make time for reading, so I‘m thrilled. I hope this one‘s a win, too!🤞🏻

More books for tiny tots!

My nephews, 2 & 4, are getting (mostly) bug books. If I can‘t fully conquer my own fear, I can at least inoculate the next generation. 😅

Books are being paired with some Lakeshore Learning toys, including an updated version of one of those old school viewmasters! They can click between 35 different photos of insects and spiders. 🕷️🐛🦋

Which books did you buy as gifts this holiday season?

I went with a witchy theme for my 5-year-old niece. The inspiration was a Witch‘s Apothecary Potion Kit that I found on Etsy; it incorporates STEM, sensory play, and social emotional learning. It comes with rhyming spell cards (for things like kindness & courage), and a slew of special, bottled ingredients. I also got us “matching” hagstone/fairy-stone necklaces.

Wrapped & ready! ✨🎄🔮

Whether I'm drinking wine by the fire, cocktails on the porch, beer on a boat, coffee on the couch, or piña coladas at Trader Vic's, I love to consume! Tastes & flavors are one way to experience the world. Some of my favorite beverages (alcoholic & non) are listed below. @Billypar, I'd be happy to take a cup of kindness with you for #AuldLangSpine!

coffee (a splash of milk, no sugar)
seltzer (esp. Polar)
red wine
tequila
mezcal
cider
... & more!

Officially pausing my reading of this, with apologies to @Christine 💓. I *loved* the little bit that I listened to… but I‘ve been taken over entirely by birthday playlist mania. It‘s *impossible* to winnow down 4 decades of music into 3 hours. But do it, I must. For now, I‘ll be painstakingly trying to decide which Beck tracks to cut (can‘t I keep them all?). Eventually, I do plan to get back to this! Quadragenarian‘s honor. ✌🏻

Sweet story about 3 very different half-sisters who shared their summers with their dad, a quixotic vagabond with a curio shop, who excelled at creating magic wherever he went — & wooing women. When he dies, the estranged adult sisters come together to fulfill his final wishes, including the reinstatement of the town‘s solstice festival. Everyone grows closer & grows up. It‘s a feel-good story, perfect for this time of year.

*Caveats below…👇🏻

No thanks, Penguin! 😂

I‘m ending my time hosting our kids‘ fantasy book club at the library & this was the final selection. I‘m happy to report that my favorite attendee — who‘d previously had ZERO time for books not written by Rick Riordan — *loved* it. I dug it, too.

Inspired by Russian folklore. Prevalent themes: respect for nature, found family, strength in community, power of stories. Baba Yaga‘s house was hands-down (chicken-feet-down) my favorite character.

The “go-between“ performs a service, setting up meetings between the living and the dead. The dead must wait for someone to request them; they can agree to or deny the meeting - and they can only see one living person for the length of a full-moon night before they disappear. The living can only see one person who has passed - ever. Once their chance is used, it's gone. The go-between we meet is, unexpectedly, a teenage boy. 👇🏻

I loved Foster. And I‘ve been waiting so long to read this one, (rightly) advised that its spirit would be most effective near Christmas… but I think I had too much time to build it up. And I think I lack the essential background knowledge of the greater Christmas text tradition that it joins.

It reminds me of Thoreau‘s, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” The MC refuses to regret forever his quiet inaction. He leaves his warm house. 👇🏻

“The big question…is how to hope and what to hope *for.* We are citizens of a corrupt country, of a corrupt vision. There is such a sense of death and of being buried under the weight…How to… get hold of the essential… and above all, how to recognize the essential.”

From my reading this morning. I‘m checking in. There was a shooting at Brown University last night. My husband‘s charity cover show in PVD was canceled. He made it home safely. ❤️‍🩹

“I was holding more hands than I had.”

Maybe this is a sign that the vignette-y, trippy nonsense of this book has crawled its way into my skull and settled there…but the above statement feels like THE way to live your life. It‘s more than a wacky sentence; it‘s a whole ethos.

Ever feel like you needed 4 more hands? Reach out and grab some.

Despite loving Lockwood‘s memoir, Priestdaddy (one of my favorite books), I was wildly unprepared for this “novel.” I had no idea what it was! And you should absolutely know before committing yourself. Or you might end up committing yourself. 🫠

It‘s pure, stream-of-consciousness auto”fiction,” written from within the author‘s fevered brain as she suffers from Long Covid. Sometimes, she‘s also on mushrooms. It‘s as disorienting as it sounds!👇🏻

“…[She] pulls [his] hands away from his face so that the shame can run out of him and rejoin the natural blushes of the world: sunrise, sunset, fruit, flowers. No shame, no shame, I said to myself, pink peaches.”

Finally got our tree up today! The dog is clearly bothered by the change in his environment. He‘s so high-strung.

Apparently, I have a thing for second books in fantasy novella series that (purportedly…barely) feature vampires. I was quickly reminded of the second book in Seanan McGuire‘s Wayward Children series, Down Among the Sticks & Bones. I liked that one better than the series opener, Every Heart a Doorway, & I liked this one better than the first in this duology, Silver in the Wood. I think this may be an unpopular opinion but it‘s one I stand by! 👇🏻

I don‘t know how many of you saw the moon earlier, but WOW! It had me texting my friends, “Beauty emergency!” a la Maggie Smith. One of them responded, “The moon was beautiful last night, too.” I don‘t know if she meant it to be an enthusiastic confirmation of my awe or flippant disinterest — but it reminded me of this quote by Anthony Doerr, which I love.

Anyway, the moon. 🌖 Hope some of you caught it!

What. A. Long. Day.

The library took part in our town‘s Holiday Festival today. I led two “Ring-a-Ling Read-Aloud” storytimes (with a jingle bell jam sesh at each) and then stayed after the library closed (upon request) to do an interactive read-aloud of The Night Before Christmas (which I 100% kept calling The Nightmare Before Christmas 💀), prior to other staff reading A Christmas Carol. There were scavenger hunts & spiced cider. I‘m knackered!

I love Claire Dederer. She‘s cool but open, and therefore vulnerable: eminently likable and unlikable at the same time, needing to be seen and validated. Even when she‘s not like you (see: her entire edgy adolescence), that need and that combination of liking her and not liking her at the same time is so familiar; it‘s very much how you feel about yourself — or how *I* feel about *myself,* anyway — which makes her likable all over again. 👇🏻

#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.👇🏻

My eyes are always bigger than my free time for #AuldLangSpine. There‘s *no way* I‘ll get to all of these…but hey, girl can dream.

Mrs. Dalloway would be a reread. 60 Songs will be my audiobook. @Billypar did you listen to his podcast? I‘m wondering how much of the content is repeated. My favorite episode was probably the one about Mazzy Star & slowcore. So dreamy!

My plan is to put all of these on hold and then mood read at will. ✨ Perfection.

I just tagged my previous post as #ReadingBracket2025, even though it contained nary a hint of a reading bracket. Ummm… more coffee required?

Anyway, back on track here! The Ten Year Affair snagged the November spot. Unless something comes crashing into my life in December with unbridled love (which Journal of a Solitude may do!), it‘s likely to be a Fiction vs. Nonfiction showdown at the end of the year (Giving Up the Ghost v. Death Valley).

I had a great reading month! Two of these made my #AuldLangSpine list (Women & Other Monsters, which most of my IRL book club was disappointed in, so…caution), & The Ten Year Affair. Thematically, 10 Year & All 4s are very similar…but I preferred 10 Year, which is far less experimental (which I suppose makes it more “boring”), but still very funny!

If I‘d had room, I would‘ve added The Ghost Orchard to my list, too. So good.

My fabulous #AuldLangSpine list from @Billypar — submitted mostly without comment for the time being. Obviously, I love it! I‘ve read a few…but many weren‘t even on my radar (which is exactly how I like it). I‘ll post about my pretty little plans sometime soon.

Thanks, Vinny! I‘m looking forward to January! 🖤

One (?) more Muppets-related post…

ALL #AuldLangSpine2026 lists have hopped, crawled, meandered, and/or flown their way to their intended recipients. Check your email! 🙃

That‘s it. The end. I knew I‘d catch up!

All matches have been posted — the lovers, the dreamers, & me. It‘s time for me to get some beauty sleep. Admit it: I‘ve looked better.

Thanks for following along and for all of the kind comments! I‘ve been passing them on to Dave (my sweet friend behind the camera) & they‘ve been filling *my* heart, too.

Lists will begin arriving tomorrow afternoon. 🌈📝

Happy #AuldLangSpine2026!

Hi, @Billypar !
You‘ve been matched…with me! 🥳

Your official reading list will be hopping into your inbox within the next 48 hours.

You can start tracking those books down so soon!

Please note:
All reading for this event should begin on January 1st, 2025.

Thanks for participating!

📸: David Taberner (aka my bff)
Instagram: @ decent_nature_photography

#AuldLangSpine
#AuldLangSpine2025
#ALSpine2025

Congratulations, @BarbaraJean & @PurpleyPumpkin ! You‘ve been matched! 🥳

Your official reading list will be winging its way to you via email within the next 48 hours.

You can start tracking those books down so soon!

Please note:
All reading for this event should begin on January 1st, 2026.

Thanks for participating!

📸: David Taberner (aka my bff)
Instagram: @ decent_nature_photography

#AuldLangSpine
#AuldLangSpine2026
#ALSpine2026

Congratulations, @Jerdencon & @Librarybelle ! You‘ve been matched! 🥳

Your official reading list will be winging its way to you via email within the next 48 hours.

You can start tracking those books down so soon!

Please note:
All reading for this event should begin on January 1st, 2026.

Thanks for participating!

📸: David Taberner (aka my bff)
Instagram: @ decent_nature_photography

#AuldLangSpine
#AuldLangSpine2026
#ALSpine2026