•REG OPENS: Sun., Nov. 24 @ 6pm (EST)•

#AuldLangSpine is an annual reading event, which technically begins January 1 but there‘s a lot of lead-up. 🙃 Space is limited.

When sign-ups go live, you‘ll fill out a Google Form including a list of 7-20 of your favorite reads from the past year. I play matchmaker & very intentionally pair you with another Litten (based on genre preferences, etc). You begin the New Year by reading from your match‘s list.

Should‘ve named our dog Chanandler Bong.

A quaint little epistolary novel, in which a nun from a tiny English village writes letters about her daily life to another nun abroad.

I told myself that one of these was quite enough…and then an unexpected marriage (not to Christ!) was hinted at in the third act. I‘m such a sucker. I bought the sequel immediately, which I‘m reading now.

One of my closest friends (pictured) received news that his mother has terminal cancer. He‘s amazing & so is she.

She had him when she was 16. She worked to give him & his 4 younger brothers a full life. She‘s 54-years-old, & a hospice nurse. She lost her mom young & volunteers with kids who know that same loss. She teaches yoga. She goes zip-lining. She dances freely & grows beautiful flowers.

There‘s a GoFundMe to help with medical bills.👇🏻

“Our hands are tied today by Washington‘s special interests…our economy is more important than ecology; conservation is mocked by capitalism; what we consume matters more than what we contemplate. When it comes to wilderness, “the open space of democracy” drowns in the wake of greed.”

I‘m now making a small monthly donation to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Other ideas for how to help are welcome!

https://www.nrdc.org

I woke up at 6am and read a bunch of essays about climate change penned around the last time that Trump was elected.

After that, I needed to settle in to my reading chair with something as bright, as comfy, and as colorful as humanly possible.

In the wake of finishing Gailey‘s “Just Like Home,” I, like Vera (the MC) am brought right back to my (early 90‘s) childhood. The lyrics from one of Ferngully‘s undeniably catchy jams wormed their way right into my brain:

“Oil and grime, poison sludge,
diesel clouds & noxious muck.
Slime beneath me, slime up above,
…Ah-ah-ah…
Toxic love.”

I can‘t say it better than Tim Curry! Toxic love is at the heart(h) of this tragic & intimate horror novel.

Too true. 🖤

You‘ve been blessed by Rainbow Crown Jetty! 🌈

He sends his benediction from inside the glow cast by our window prism, and would like to share that his human (that‘s me) has begun thinking about #AuldLangSpine.

Future posts will include more details (such as answers to questions like, “What‘s #AuldLangSpine?”).

But for now, I want to ask repeat participants: how would registration opening on Sunday, November 24th at 6:00 PM (EST) work for you?

Went to the library (one I don‘t work at 😅) in search of peace & quiet. Remarkably, I found it! This is the stack of books that asked to come home with me.

I have the day off and would love to spend it reading…but every book I pick up feels wrong for the moment.

What I *want* to be reading is tagged. Unsurprisingly, for how my (and every sane person‘s) luck is going right now, I can‘t find it at any bookstores or libraries near me. I can‘t even buy it on Amazon. ?

It‘s described as “a short, brittle book" & "an oddly satisfying jumble" featuring several of Jansson's recurring tropes…??

I LOVED the first half of this, which was a welcome surprise because mysteries typically aren‘t my thing. Then, the election happened and I was suddenly less invested. That‘s also around when the mystery picked up. Your guess is as good as mine about whether my flagging enthusiasm was due to a change in the book or in the world.

What I can say, with certainty, is that C.M. Waggoner is incredibly funny. I‘ll definitely be reading more of her work!

This morning‘s Storytime will be my first since the election news. My goal is to create a soft space for families to land. I‘m introducing a new call & response song, which has been stuck on a loop in my head. It‘s been strangely soothing. I hope the kids like it!

If you have littles at home, I highly recommend trying this one out. It‘s called “Tall Trees.”

https://youtu.be/Dh4jfMPct-k

I read this for the first time several years ago & loved it. I picked it up again to prepare for the author‘s residency at my library. Honestly, I didn‘t need to read it for a second time — and I much prefer it in print (the fact that Laws doesn‘t narrate his own audiobook is a shame). I *am* glad that I was reintroduced to the story of the 12th century bishop who coveted the relic rumored to be Mary Magdalene‘s arm so much that he bit it, though.

My rating may be generous. Parts of this book are cute but the ending, in which Gemma narrates everything that we *just read,* unintentionally mimicking the repetition of the relived time loop the characters are stuck in, was the least of the book‘s problems. Some quotes:

“He softly laughed” (76)
“Jack quietly laughed” (86)
“He gently laughed” (95)
“Jack quietly laughed” (134)
“Patrick quietly laughed” (169)
“She quietly laughed” (272)

Etc.

Not book-related (aside from the tag) but too cute not to share. 🤍🐕‍🦺🖤

The emoji in the center of the flower says it all. The choice between And the Birds Rained Down and My Broken Language was painful!

Ultimately, I went with the title I did because it does *a lot* in few words. My Broken Language could be a bit rambly (but I‘d happily drown in her tidal wave of language forever).

#ReadingBracket2024
#2024ReadingBracket
Template by: @CSeydel

Sort-of a mixed bag for me. I think Harrow did the “sentient house” bit exactly right. I loved the message about how dreaming seems like a luxury but is, in fact, a necessity. The characters are loyal & self-sacrificing to a heartbreaking degree; it‘s almost painful to watch them finally start to trust & nourish themselves. However, the story is overlong. The romance, which isn‘t silly, is sometimes made silly by Harrow‘s choice of language.👇🏻

Peter Laws is just as funny and kind as he comes off in his book.

Just spent nearly 3 hours drinking cocktails & shooting the shit in downtown Providence. He‘s so charmed by New England, which is super refreshing during a time when it‘s so easy to feel disenchanted.

Re-reading The Frighteners because I somehow magicked this event into existence. 🤯 Peter Laws is the current Writer-in-Residence at my library right now (in Easton, MA). He‘s visiting us all the way from England!

If you‘re anywhere nearby, join us this Tuesday night!

https://amesfreelibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/the-thrill-of-fear-why-s...

I‘d imagine it‘s difficult to maintain a tight organizational principle and condense your thoughts when your book hinges on an epiphany about how everything is interconnected. But imagine?! Berry would‘ve been unstoppable! As it is, her concept is phenomenal and there are some deeply thoughtful passages and beautiful sentences. If you like nature writing, and you‘re a patient reader (or listener)…👇🏻

“To love anyone, anything, means accepting the limits of your own control.”

“We inherit our biological families and decide how close to keep them. We have chosen families only if we try.”

Pictured 📸:
Chosen family (who deserve more of my time & attention).

It took some effort to hunt this slim novel-in-translation down. Nominated for a bunch of Canadian awards & adapted to (French) film in 2019, it was trickier to find in MA. Well worth it! In my Top 3 reads this year.

A trio of elderly men build off-grid cabins in the forest, so they can live & die on their own terms. Enter two women: one a young(ish) photographer, the other an aged woman recently sprung from a psychiatric institution. 👇🏻

Went down a rabbit hole. 🐇

I was reading and thinking, “This is such a pretty book. If I ever write a book, I‘d want it to be on this kind of paper. And the font! 🤩”

I flipped to the back and learned that I know quality when I see it! Ronaldson is the very first American metal typeface (1884), and it was printed with vegetable ink on acid-free paper made from second-growth forests, the pages gathered by hand.

I felt clever when I realized that O Caledonia is like a twisted & tragic “I Capture the Castle,” as seen through a funhouse mirror, with Wednesday Addams as the protagonist. Then, I read Maggie O‘Farrell‘s introduction, which I saved for last to avoid spoilers, and saw that she made the same literary comparison. Despite its short length, I didn‘t find this a fast read. It is, however, witty & darkly atmospheric with a keen attention to language.

“To understand an animal exists neither to kill you nor cuddle you is to untangle your ego from its life.”

“We all carried fear. But like one of those scarves you can twist and knot in twenty-something variations, we all wore it differently. Swaddled in our own, it was easy to miss the way it looked on others.”

“The wonderful words were almost enough to make Janet believe in God. At Christmas, too, the starry sky and the beauty of language and music caused a great surge of mystic yearning in her; then Mr. McConochie would harangue them, remind them of their unworthiness and guilt, the innocent babe born to die on their behalf. “Sighing, crying, / Bleeding, dying”…they sang, and the glory faded to heartbreak and desolation, the bleak light of afternoon.”

Elsy‘s fiancé leaves her weeks before their wedding. On the surface, she handles the fallout. She cancels the vendors, recovers as much money as she can, continues to perform her job with excellence. But she stops dreaming except between the pages of her favorite romance novels. She finds herself traveling to enjoy what was previously an annual group vacation on her own. She‘s waylaid in the cutest — & most curiously familiar — of small towns.??

Ashley Poston needs a better editor. The first page of her newest romance has a glaring typo (two prepositions next to one another instead of just choosing the one that works best), and she‘s mentioned AI-generated English papers twice in the span of 3 pages.

I‘m available. 👋🏻 Just sayin‘.

Prescient and poignant, especially regarding corporate greed & climate change. This was my first Octavia Butler. The pace picked up for me as soon as Lauren leaves home (“a tree cannot grow in its parents‘ shadows”). There are some powerful lessons conveyed about community and the dynamic nature of gender. What I didn‘t find particularly dynamic, however, was the tone. For this reason, it won‘t ever become one of my favorites. Still, I respect it.

I despise working the late shift…but I can‘t be mad about slow mornings.

God of the Woods wins September!

I‘m feeling pretty certain that whichever book advances after October won‘t stand a chance against My Broken Language, though…

#ReadingBracket2024
#2024ReadingBracket

I‘m trying to remember when I first encountered the phrase “The truth is in the tension.” I think it might‘ve been when I was learning about the divine in high school — how Jesus was both man and God; how God was both three AND one. Regardless, the phrase perfectly describes this book. Philpott writes about how she once took a personality test that “claimed to be able to rate a person‘s most prevalent traits.” She says, 👇🏻

It‘s not NOT how I would use them…🔮

Sarah Beth Durst says she wrote this book intending for it to “read like drinking hot chocolate…or eating really good raspberry jam. Or a fresh-baked pastry, with hot chocolate and maybe some raspberry jam on the side.” She says, “We‘ve all been through a lot over the past few years. This book is my gift to anyone who wants to escape and sink into a world filled with kindness and enchantment.” 👇🏻

“The sun fell through the leaves, filtered through the green, reminding Kiela of the North Reading Room in the Great Library with its stained-glass windows that cast patterns on the tables. The forest was hushed just like the library…the hush of focused attention, not of sleepiness…a heightened silence that flooded everything.”

📸: Neile Cooper‘s Glass Cabin (NJ)

This book about a Scottish & Zimbabwean high school dropout who can talk to ghosts, solving the mystery of one missing child & another resurfacing drained of his youth, toes the line between YA & Adult Fic. Is New Adult still a term people are using? I‘m not sure how much I would‘ve enjoyed this in print but I‘ll likely continue the series based on Tinashe Warikandwa‘s performance alone. 👇🏻

This is and is NOT the type of thing I normally read…which made for a winning combination. In-depth character development? Yes. Dysfunctional family? Yes. Coming-of-age story? A critique of class & gender inequality? Yes, yes, & yes. A missing child (children) and a serial killer on the loose? HELL NO. Some were disappointed that this wasn‘t more of a thriller. I was relieved. 😅 I hated putting it down & thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience.

Not even mad that I had to put my book down to do this. 🩵

I recently told @JamieArc & @TheKidUpstairs that I‘d pick this up soon. Not even I knew that “soon” meant “before the day is done.”

Ah, the life of a mood reader. 😉

This book about an immigrant family from Ghana & the subsequent losses they suffer in America is not a light read. Heavier topics range from addiction, depression, racism, & loss — to neuroscience. However, it‘s smoothly and sensitively written. Complex without being too heady. I never felt bogged down by the telling. If I were in college, I‘d write a paper contrasting it with Judy Blume‘s “Are You There, God? It‘s Me, Margaret” in a *heartbeat.*

We have a new family member!

He‘s 3-and-a-half with brown, soulful eyes and salt & pepper fur. He actually looks a lot like my husband. I guess I have a “type.” 😅

He goes by Jett. His official namesake is Joan Jett but he also answers to Jetty Lee, Jetty Spaghetti, Jetty Confetti, and Jetty the Yeti.

I can‘t wait to learn more about his favorite authors!

I seem to have a talent for choosing strange books to start with when it comes to new-to-me authors. Annie Dillard wrote this slim text, 66 pages, over the course of 3 days when a young girl went down in a plane crash on the Washington island where she was living. She writes about a child‘s face literally burning off…but in the style of Mary Oliver. On hallucinogens (which she was falsely accused of using while penning the book). It‘s a lot.👇🏻

Pup-date:

Saturn was incredibly sweet and she is going to make some family VERY happy (and soon, I‘m sure!). But I don‘t think it‘s going to be us. Officially, we are sleeping on it. My husband would have taken her home immediately. This is hard!

We have a meet & greet appointment with an adoptable dog tomorrow. Her name is Saturn and she‘s adorable. She‘s described as “a two-year-old wiggle butt with a calm, graceful presence who radiates warmth” and “the queen of laid-back vibes.” She‘s great on a leash, sits on command, loves belly rubs, and is happiest when she‘s near you.

I‘m so nervous! This would be such a big change from the past decade spent with Moxie. ❤️‍🩹🐇

Wish us luck!

August was a stellar reading month. Both My Broken Language and The Bear were knockouts!

#ReadingBracket2024
#2024ReadingBracket

“A third of their household had dropped away; so many of the tiny beloved disruptions that Sam had come to rely on…were absent.”