This past week the world lost this bright, beautiful, sassy, cat loving girl. We were lucky to have Willow for 5 years, and I‘m so glad she‘s pain free at long last. I bought this little one so many books over the years- her favorite, along with her cousins, was I Eat Poop, about a dung beetle. So, for Willow, gift or donate a book to child, read to them, treasure the memories. She shone so bright, we can still feel her warmth. 💚🎗️

Here's what I'm #CurrentlyReading today. At 966 pages, I imagine I'll be reading Alchemised for many, many moons. I'm reading my gorgeous FairyLoot edition. Hekate is from my Edelweiss backlist TBR, and Aubrey Wants to Die is an eArc because I desperately need something humorous and light.

Here's my #weeklybookreport, well, weekly-ish, as I'm including the 1st through the 10th. My only resolutions in 2026 are bookish ones, so I am trying to read more physical and my ebook arcs from Edelweiss. Still searching for my first 5 ⭐read of the year, although Only Spell Deep came pretty close.

And finally, December! The tagged book was the perfect holiday read (and fantastic on audio, if I ever get Scrooged, I demand a super hot Irish Ghost of Christmas Past to show me the errors of my way). Can‘t wait for this year‘s best books!
#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

November brought me a SciFi mystery set on a spaceship hotel with lots of characters and plot, and I ate it up.
#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

October brought my favorite read of all of 2025! Part fantasy, part dark academia, part horror, and all amazing! The audiobook was spectacular (love that Hill brought back Kate Mulgrew who narrated N0S4A2, for a small role).
#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

Playing catch up once again! September was consumed by Penpal, which I‘ve had recommended to me so many times and finally read. It‘s so unsettling, and it‘ll stay with me a long time.
#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

August‘s top read was Matchmaking For Psychopaths, which I liked even more than the author‘s first book, Love Letter‘s to a Serial Killer. It‘s weird as hell, quirky, and unhinged in the best way.
#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

Since I didn‘t end up reading this on Christmas Eve, I thought it would be fun to start today as my first physical read of the year. It works a bit like a choose your own adventure book, but instead a choose your own investigation and so far I am very much digging it!

July was just a jump to the left! I am a huge fan of RHPS and so loved this book of essays on what it‘s meant to fans from the beginning until now, and the way it continues to be a light (over at the Frankenstein place) to so many.
#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

June is my Top 2 book of the year, a whole collection full of short stories by some of my favorite authors set in the world of The Stand by Stephen King, one of my all time favorite novels. There was not a single dud , and I loved getting new stories and perspectives on a familiar world!
#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

Got behind again! May was taken by Kirstin Miller- I just love her writing and characters, and of course banned books is a subject as a bookseller I care deeply about. It‘s a lot different from The Change, but just as compelling!
#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

April belongs to The Book of Love. I‘ve loved Kelly Link‘s short stories, so I was happy to love her full length work too. This is such a weird book, but I really enjoyed it!

#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

March‘s favorite was Sunrise on the Reaping. This made for an incredible edition to the series, and I will read whatever this woman wants to teach us about the dangers of government.
#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

Catching up with February 2025. I was absolutely charmed by this book, and forgotten how much I loved it. Glad I got to include here (the top tens of the year I do for the bookstore I work at have to be published the current year). And I was absent a lot from Litsy (sorry all!)

#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

My favorite read of January was this delightful and poignant memoir. It made for a gorgeous audio listen and an even better book club discussion!

#12booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate from the not oft-seen kitty, Alabama! I hope whether you celebrate or not, that you have today off to read and relax and treat yourself to good snacks!

Thank you @Scochrane26 for my #JolabokaflodSwap gifts! Thank you for the sparkly card, my favorite chocolates, and of course, the murdery book!

Merry Jolabokaflod to all!

Thanks for being the hostess with the mostest @MaleficentBookDragon !

My package arrived yesterday for the #JolabokaflodSwap. Can‘t wait! @MaleficentBookDragon

I am getting this out a little late due to, well, life, but FedEx will deliver on the 20th. Phew! The FedEx service was so good, I may never use Priority Mail again #JolabokaflodSwap @MaleficentBookDragon

One of my favorite bookstore traditions is picking our Top Ten books published in 2025. I read a lot of excellent books, many from my backlist, but King Sorrow was the best of the best! I'll tag the other 9 in the comments.

Sadly, no #wintergames this year, but I did finish my first Christmas-themed book! This is a romance, but there is a lot of family drama- Lexie's estranged dad dies suddenly, leaves her half his company, a half-sis she barely knows, and a hot but angry business partner, Theo.

Happy Thanksgiving to the Littens who celebrate! Happy Thursday and Happy Reading to everyone!

#weeklyfavorites @Read4life 🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃 Loved this weird dark cozy sci-fi! Full of quirky characters, lots of intrigue, and a fantastic setting, this book checked all my boxes.

My current read for book club.

Working on my 2026 Anticipated Book Releases, and here's what I have so far!
#2026BookReleases
What are you looking forward to?

A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James 1.20.26 Penguin
Half His Age by Jenette McCurdy 01.20.26 Penguin
Only Spell Deep by Ava Morgan 03.17.26 MacMillan
A Widow's Charm by Caitlyn Paxson 03.31.26 Penguin
(Continues in comments)

#weeklyfavorites @Read4Life
🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂 I love Kirsten Miller‘s books, although The Change probably remains my all time favorite. The history of the witch family, the revenge fulfillment of feminine rage, and the ties to some familiar faces made this a 5 ⭐️ read and my fav of the week!

Participating in my first #hyggehour! I started this today and it‘s just a lovely story of helping spirits move on so they can reincarnate. It‘s an arc, so it‘s coming in Jan 2026. Maybe have something sweet on hand while you read!

I quite enjoyed this horror novel with a feminist twist! Could I do without some of the more unsettling eldritch horror imagery, like teeth growing on tongues? I mean, sure. But overall, this held my interest, kept me entertained, and made me question if the eldritch gods would choose me or not. I'm guessing not. #edelweissTBR #horror

Maybe not my best decision to start this on the day I start to have a sore throat (the Hubs got ill on Monday), but so far this has got me intrigued (and slightly grosses out). #edelweissTBR

#weeklyforecast @Read4Life
🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁
I really loved this horror thriller set in a retirement community, especially the characters.

It‘s #JolabokaflodSwap time! This is my absolute favorite swap of the year bc it‘s simple and lovely and now a yearly tradition. Check out @MaleficentBookDragon for sign up details. 💗

First #NovemberRead is something I‘ve had in my audible tbr for a while. Loved that it was narrated by Jonathan Groff, whose Mindhunters character is based on the author. I really wish Netflix had kept going, but this is decent read if you‘re interested in the work John Douglas was doing.

I‘m hoping to do some #OctoberBookRecs this month, and Penpal is up first! This is a slow, creepy tale of childhood terrors only fully seen now that the narrator is grown. I absolutely loved it, and it was genuinely unsettling. 🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

The Hubs and I celebrated 23 years of marriage magic, and attended the 10th anniversary of Queen City‘s Mischief & Magic festival. Yesterday it rained all day, but we still enjoyed all the events, and today we stopped by Book Dragon for some shopping and more festival magic. We loaded up on some sweet cupcakes and left for home!

A great thriller for your Fall reading plans with tons of twists! I don‘t read as much YA as I once did, but I‘m here for this author.

The Hubs and I woke up and went to the park downtown to welcome the first sunrise of the New Year, and I think we just started a new tradition. It was lovely! Maybe we‘ll catch the first sunset too!

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks

Stick a fork in me, I'm done! Now I just need to stay up a little longer to ring in the new year! I love this challenge and look forward to it every year, just wish I had more time to do allllll the things!

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts: 1065

My last read of 2024! A romance between two former foster care kids, both pulling their resources together to help keep their younger siblings out of the system. Not sure I'll read the next book in the series, as the epilogue gives it away.

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts: 2555

This was so fun! It kind of made me want to re-watch Dead Like Me...

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts: 5100

I loved everything about this, from the friendships, to the hotel, to the romance, and of course, the book club.

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts: 900

This was a re-read, which I liked even more this year. It definitely could have used more focus on Krampus, but I enjoyed it and really need to read more from the author.

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts: 2420

Krampus and witches and other Christmas creatures, oh my! I really love reading about other countries traditions and learning about the origins of them.

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts: 795

Ugh, this was a miss for me... the world building was a let down, the love triangle was beyond annoying, and of the 5 characters, I only really liked 1 of them. It's also ridiculous to believe that a couple of teens “run“ the town. It's a lot of tell and very little show, and don't even get me started on the magical weapons and coconuts.

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts: 645

I didn't just read Christmas books! I made time for some TBR reads too. This is my first book written by the Brown sisters, and I enjoyed it even if the main character drove me crazy sometimes.

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts: 3280

I had a total blast with this Christmas horror! I can't wait to read the sequel next year (Santa brought it, like he brought this one last year).

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts: 3270

Another holiday win! There were so many books I planned to read this month, but as always, there's just not enough time for all the Christmasy books I want to read. I'm so glad I made time for this one though.

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts 5090

I did like this entry into the series, but it was a bit heavy on the sad guy vibes. Still, the strippers are back and there's some fun, sexy times.

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts: 3240

I read this as part of a readalong on Facebook where we read a chapter a day like an advent calendar, and it was mostly a fun, creepy read. The ending was a bit of a let down, but I still had a blast.

#WinterGames24 #HolidayBookDragons @LiseWorks Total Pts 690

I quite enjoyed this, although I was hoping it was set more in the past (based on the fun feel of the cover, I thought it might be 1930-1950 Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn type rom com).