Sarah
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sarahalba.bsky.social
Sarah
@sarahalba.bsky.social
580 followers 220 following 860 posts
Book reader. Collects random facts and scraps of knowledge. Lifts heavy things for fun. She/her
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sarahalba.bsky.social
Totally wild Saturday night.
A rumpled duvet on top of which is a book (The Lamb by Lucy Rose) and and open back of peanut M&Ms.
November 15, 2025 at 9:26 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
Every Wednesday @biggreenbooks.bsky.social does a groovy thing called #BuyAStrangerABook day. Someone kindly put money in the pot and I got Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. Thank you unnamed kind person!
A paperback copy of "Dark Matter" by Michelle Paver standing on a wooden bookshelf with the cover facing out to the viewer.
November 13, 2025 at 6:50 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
Absolutely thrilled to have been one of the lucky people to win. The print arrived today and I adore it. Now I just need to find a nice frame for it ❤️
A lovely lino cut print of a witch gathering herbs. There is a hare at her feet.
November 11, 2025 at 6:02 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
Simon has been doing this for me for a couple of years. It's always really fun and he picks great books that match my reading tastes 💙📚
A stack of books wrapped in red and gold Christmas paper. One book has been placed at the front of the stack with the number 13 on it, indicating it should be opened on the 13th. A white ceramic Christmas tree with star cutouts stands next to the stack of books.
November 2, 2025 at 12:12 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
#AScareADay Day 31 – The Path She Sings by Vanessa Fogg

This was so sad and beautiful...and also just the right amount of chilling. 🖤
When the cold mist comes with its needle-fine teeth, you must lie very, very still. You must close your eyes and silence your breath. Empty your mind of everything, save images of darkness. Think of night and rain and worms crawling through earth. The coldness of marble tombs. The breath of ancient sepulchers. Imagine yourself dead. Pretend to be dead. This is the only way to survive.
October 31, 2025 at 7:11 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
#AScareADay Day 19 – The Tarn by Hugh Walpole

Loved this one. The way the setting is described and the build up to what seems to be an inescapable conclusion.
As soon as the words were out of his lips he felt as though someone else had said them for him. He even turned half round to see whether anyone else were there. Ever since Foster's arrival on the evening before he had been conscious of this sensation. A walk? Why should he take Foster for a walk, show him his beloved country, point out those curves and lines and hollows, the broad silver shield of Ullswater, the cloudy purple hills hunched like blankets about the knees of some recumbent giant? Why? It was as though he had turned round to someone behind him and had said: "You have some further design in this."
October 19, 2025 at 9:47 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
But the blood soaked imagery of the later stanzas does invoke war. Death and violence on a huge scale
Then poets forgot their jeweled words And cut the sky with glittering swords; And innocent souls turned carrion birds To perch upon the dead. Sweet daisy fields were drenched with death, The air became a charnel breath, Pale stones were splashed with red.
October 15, 2025 at 7:39 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
#AScareADay Day 15 - The Vampire by Conrad Aiken

Our first vampire encounter in this list. However rather than a single entity preying on individuals, the vampire here seems to represent a catastrophic event. The beginning could hint at plague as much as war
She rose among us where we lay. She wept, we put our work away. She chilled our laughter, stilled our play; And spread a silence there.
October 15, 2025 at 7:39 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
#AScareADay Day 9 – The Secret Chamber by Margaret Oliphant

A Scottish castle and a generational haunting (curse?). I'm not sure how Lindores found strength to turn his back on his ancestor's apparition, but even that isn't the end of his struggles.
But Lindores felt his terrible ancestor's eyes getting once more that mesmeric mastery over him which had already almost overcome his powers. He must withdraw his own, or perish. He had a human horror of turning his back upon that watchful adversary: to face him seemed the only safety; but to face him was to be conquered. Slowly, with a pang indescribable, he tore himself from that gaze: it seemed to drag his eyes out of their sockets, his heart out of his bosom. Resolutely, with the daring of desperation, he turned round to the spot where he entered--the spot where no door was,--hearing already in anticipation the step after him--feeling the grip that would crush and smother his exhausted life--but too desperate to care.
October 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
Joy has arrived in the form of some very lovely corvid art from @gingertotty.bsky.social

Not going to lie, I coveted this the moment I saw Amelia working on it so I am beyond thrilled it now lives with me.
A miniature portrait of two magpies in a pine tree on a textured pebble gilded with gold leaf. A box decorated with two magpies who appear to be chattering under a sun with a happy face. The words "Two for joy" are above them inside a heart.
October 7, 2025 at 10:51 AM
sarahalba.bsky.social
#AScareADay Day 3 - The Sandman by ETA Hoffman. A strange tale that is sometimes hard to follow. The childhood fears and anxieties of the protagonist follow him into adulthood with disastrous consequences.

I was particularly struck by the image of a heap of spectacles laid on a table becoming eyes
And he continued to produce more and more spectacles from his pockets until the table began to gleam and flash all over. Thousands of eyes were looking and blinking convulsively, and staring up at Nathanael; he could not avert his gaze from the table.
October 3, 2025 at 6:15 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
Delightful nonsense, lovely art and cards for every occasion. I love my shark pebble and I have another lovely piece coming that I am very excited about.
A happy shark with big eyes painted on a pebble. The shark is surrounded by pink hearts and yellow dots. The words "oh hai" are painted above the shark.
October 3, 2025 at 12:38 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
It's late and Marigold, the cosmic moth of destiny has alighted on my book shelves. She must be tired after travelling all this way @jeremycshipp.bsky.social ...I should get her some cheese.
Marigold is resting on a wooden bookshelf shelf in front of a collection of British Library Tales of the Weird books. Marigold is a black moth with a grey face. She has big, wonderful red eyes and a smile with sharp teeth. Her body and wings are covered with stars embroidered in various colours and she has big red and yellow spots on the top and bottom of her wings. She has majestic antenna which are also covered in little white stars.
August 28, 2025 at 11:01 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
All the books read in June. I am 100% a mood reader and this month the mood was 'mystery' apparently 🕵‍♀️
A Storygraph cover collage of all the books read in June. The Haunting of Heatherhurst Hall by Sebastian Nothwell Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo Some must Watch by Ethel Lina White Mr Warren's Profession by Sebastian Nothwell Countess by Suzan Palumbo The Ones Who Got Away by Stephen Graham Jones The Taking of Annie Thorne by C.J. Tudor A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle Saint Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters The Other People by C.J. Tudor Storygraph stats page - 10 books read, 3185 pages read
July 1, 2025 at 5:14 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
Wednesday is #BuyAStrangerABook day and it is a delight

@ceejay.bsky.social very kindly gifted me a copy of The Last Murder at the End of the World last Wednesday 💙📚
A copy of The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton is standing upright on a bookshelf with the cover facing out to the viewer.
June 25, 2025 at 4:33 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
Thank you @nendo2.bsky.social and @biggreenbooks.bsky.social for my #BuyAStrangerABook delivery 💙📚
Mias & Elle Vol. 4 by Jenny Clements. The cover shows a dark haired man and a blonde haired woman who appear to be dancing in a circle of blue fire.
May 10, 2025 at 6:15 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
9. The Black Spider by Jeremias Gotthelf [Translated by H.M. Waidson]
10. Until the World Falls Down by Jordan Lynde
An info graphic showing some reading stats for April 2025. 10 books read, 2996 pages Average book length: 265 pages Average time to finish: 3 days First middle and last books: The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve; House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias; Until the World Falls Down by Jordan Lynde
May 6, 2025 at 8:01 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
A massive thank you to @sarahfoxspeaker.bsky.social who gifted me with a copy of "The Earl Meets His Match" as part of #BuyAStrangerABook day organised by @biggreenbooks.bsky.social

💙📚
A paperback copy of The Earl Meets His Match by TJ Alexander is standing on a wooden bookshelf withthe cover facing out to the viewer. The cover background is bright pink, with yellow and white writing, and a peacock on the left. Two men are standing clasping hands. One is pale with blond hair, the other is darker-skinned with brown hair. They're dressed in regency-esque clothing.
April 15, 2025 at 3:23 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
And some stats for the numbers fans.
An info graphic showing some reading stats for March 2025. 13 books read, 3207 pages Average book length: 275 pages Average time to finish: 4 days First middle and last books: Portrait of a Man with Red Hair by Hugh Walpole; Murder During the Hundred Year War: The Curious Case of Sir William Cantilupe by Melissa Julian-Jones; The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole There is a line graph along the bottom showing the number of pages read in each day with the high points coinciding with weekend days, unsurprisingly.
April 2, 2025 at 5:52 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
This feels right 🤣
A screenshot of the gif in the Merriam-Webster post. The post says "Take a screenshot of this GIF, and whichever new word you land on is YOUR word for 2025." My word is rampage.
January 1, 2025 at 4:03 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
Some Christmas spooks from @kentcoastghosts.bsky.social helping me through the last working day of 2024 👻
A small white ghost with a little evergreen tree is next to a larger red ghost with gold markings on it's body. There's a small green plant between the two in a grey pot.
December 20, 2024 at 3:41 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
My festive book swap from @biggreenbooks.bsky.social has arrived. Simon has chosen @asussexlady.bsky.social to be my book buddy - hello! This is very exciting.
A parcel wrapped in brown Christmas paper with a pattern of trees and reindeer in white. A single Pukka peppermint and licorice tea back and a bar of Green and Blacks milk chocolate are posed on top of the parcel. The parcel is most definitely a book.
December 16, 2024 at 5:33 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
I absolutely adore this Christmas mug I got from Emily. Santa on a dinosaur. Majestic!

www.instagram.com/emz_crafts_?...

@emanemz.bsky.social
A white mug with a picture of Sant riding a red, fierce looking t-rex type of dinosaur. The dinosaur is also wearing a Santa hat. There is a Christmas tree behind Santa and the dinosaur.
December 13, 2024 at 10:06 AM
sarahalba.bsky.social
Well that was some excellent work by my feed here:
Two posts that have appeared next to each other in the feed, looking like they are in conversation with each other. The top post is from the account Effin' Birds and shows a painting of a bird beside the text "I see it, I just don't fucking believe it" The post below, by Emma Thane of Cawdor, asks the question "How is it only Thursday? What fuckery is this?"
December 12, 2024 at 5:02 PM
sarahalba.bsky.social
A few years ago I emailed @biggreenbooks.bsky.social with a request - a bespoke 12 book advent calendar. Once again Simon has obliged me. Here it is, all ready to go tomorrow. From the wrapping alone I can see the effort put in and I am really excited to see what he's picked 💙📚
A stack of books individually wrapped in red festive paper. One of the wrapped books is propped in front of the stack. The paper is red, patterned with trees and holly, and large baubles bearing the words "merry Christmas". This book has a number 13 stuck to it, indicating it should be opened on December 13th. There is a white ceramic tree ornament next to the book stack. The stack of unread books behind the tree ornament we will just quietly ignore.
December 12, 2024 at 12:19 PM