The Bibliothecary

Hello friends! I hope the beginning of your year is going better than mine - I have now been sick back to back for the majority of January. Just one week of not being sick before I got sick again. So I am over here struggling and not feeling very refreshed and ready for the newness that Imbolc brings (for the northern hemisphere - southern hemisphere, don't worry, we'll talk shortly!)

In case you missed it, go check out my earlier post about how this year's reading challenge is going to go.

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE: IMBOLC

For this season, starting February 1st, in the northern hemisphere we have Imbolc (which also goes by a number of other names and celebrations but for the sake of brevity, let's not get lost in the weeds). This is the very very beginning of Spring. At Yule, we celebrated the very start of the light coming back and the days getting longer. Now, we are really starting to feel it if we are paying attention. I know I am - I count down to the day when the clock jumps forward again and the days are longer! Depending on where you are in the world, the very first of the plant life may be coming back as well. Here in Chicago, there is a layer of snow on the ground and there will be for a few months to come, but some of you may be seeing early season plants like snowdrops. During this season is usually when I start to see crocuses, one of my favorite flowers, start to emerge and then I really know spring is coming.

For this season, extending from February 1st until the Spring Equinox, the focus is not quite yet on the rebirth (which comes at the equinox) but rather the slow and gentle building of light. We are still focusing on the hearth and home, and feeling cozy. There is lots of imagery around this time of the womb or seeds. Think of this time as nursing and growing the potential for the rest of the year.

Reading wise, for both fiction and non-fiction (often these prompts will be different each season but this is so similar), I prompt you to read something foundational. Something that was the origin or inspiration for many other things. For fiction, maybe turn to some classics that inspired your favorites. Or if you love mythology retellings, now is a time to go back and read the original myths. For non-fiction, read a formative work in the subject you are interested in. I'd still recommend it be something recent enough that it hasn't been completely debunked. I don't recommend going back to read Freud if you are studying psychology for example, but maybe Carl Jung instead!

Outside of reading, the focus is still staying cozy at home. Continue to envelope yourself in the things that nurture and ground you. But start to think of those seeds you want to plant for the spring and beyond, and if there's anything small you can do now to light the candle of inspiration.

As mentioned, I've been sick so I have not been able to give this my full attention, but I have done a few things to set myself up for the spring. I contacted my local community garden and asked to be put on the waiting list to have a plot this year, as I'd like to grow some medicinal herbs and maybe a few veggies. I also have been slowly planning a few business changes for my full time job that will launch likely in March.

I'd love to hear either here in the comments or on Discord what you are planting this season.

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE: LAMMAS

For my southern hemisphere friends, you are entering the season of Lammas, which is the beginning of the harvest season. The summer and long days are winding down. Lammas is traditionally a wheat festival - all the breads! It is also associated with the Celtic sun god Lugh, who is a god of games. He is a god that dies and is reborn in the spring, so we see the connections to things slowly starting to wind down.

For this season's reading, I recommend fiction books that have to do with some kind of tournament or game to symbolize Lugh. There are books aplenty with this theme! The games can be seen as a celebration of vitality before we really have to start turning more inward in the coming seasons. For non-fiction reading, I recommend something about baking, bread, or harvesting in general. It doesn't have to be how to's on any of that; you can get creative. The history of bread, studies of the fungus in bread that may have caused more hysteria with the witch trials, there's even some history around the French revolution involving bread!

In daily life, the focus is on absorbing the last of the light before we really start getting into full harvest season. Enjoy the last remains of summer. Stay outside and soak up the sun if you can. Bake bread with friends. Make the first of your plans for how you are going to hunker down for winter.

I'd love to hear either here in the comments or on Discord how you are celebrating the start of the harvest season.

Next prompt will be released on the Equinox! Enjoy the season :)

February 1: Wheel of the Year Reading Challenge

Samantha

The Bibliothecary

Feb 1

I'm doing a low buy in 2026

In which I discuss my low buy for this year... ♡ Join THE BIBLIOTHECARY: patreon.com/thoughtsontomes or https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ ►► Bibliothecary members get perks such as early access to videos, written posts, podcast-like ramblings, witchcraft book reviews and sharing about my personal craft, a year long interactive reading challenge, seasonal readalongs, and more! ★ Reading spreadsheet I use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twhrdlRfnRs&t=626s ► End screen song: Magic Forest - Kevin MacLeod ★ FREELANCE EDITING SERVICES: https://tinyurl.com/editing-services -- I'm currently accepting clients for developmental editing and manuscript evaluation (I'm full for first half of 2026 - booking now for late summer 2026). I am still accepting book coaching clients for all of 2026. I'm interested in working with adult fantasy and scifi, especially Hades and Persephone retellings, stories involving polyamory, and mental health rep. I offer free editing samples of your first 1,000 words to make sure we are a good fit. ➝ DISCLAIMER: This video is not sponsored. All opinions are my own. WHERE TO FIND ME ► BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/thoughtsontomes.bsky.social ► Storygraph (alternative to goodreads): https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thoughtsontomes ► Instagram: @thoughtsontomes ► Tiktok: @thoughtsontomes_ MORE THAN BOOKS? ★ Check out The Bibliothecary! I used to discuss witchcraft and other topics on my other channel but that content has all moved to The Bibliothecary: https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ REVIEW/BUSINESS INQUIRES ➝ Email: thoughtsontomes@gmail.com ➝ Review Policy: https://thoughtsontomes.tumblr.com/reviewpolicy -- due to the volume of email requests I get, I do not accept review requests from indie or self-published authors at this time

Samantha

The Bibliothecary

Jan 29

2026 reading goals

In which I discuss my reading goals for 2026... ♡ Join THE BIBLIOTHECARY: patreon.com/thoughtsontomes or https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ ►► Bibliothecary members get perks such as early access to videos, written posts, podcast-like ramblings, witchcraft book reviews and sharing about my personal craft, a year long interactive reading challenge, seasonal readalongs, and more! ★ Reading spreadsheet I use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twhrdlRfnRs&t=626s ► End screen song: Magic Forest - Kevin MacLeod ★ FREELANCE EDITING SERVICES: https://tinyurl.com/editing-services -- I'm currently accepting clients for developmental editing and manuscript evaluation (I'm full for first half of 2026 - booking now for August 2026). I'm interested in working with adult fantasy and scifi, especially Hades and Persephone retellings, stories involving polyamory, and mental health rep. I offer free editing samples of your first 1,000 words to make sure we are a good fit. ➝ DISCLAIMER: This video is not sponsored. All opinions are my own. WHERE TO FIND ME ► BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/thoughtsontomes.bsky.social ► Storygraph (alternative to goodreads): https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thoughtsontomes ► Instagram: @thoughtsontomes ► Tiktok: @thoughtsontomes_ MORE THAN BOOKS? ★ Check out The Bibliothecary! I used to discuss witchcraft and other topics on my other channel but that content has all moved to The Bibliothecary: https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ REVIEW/BUSINESS INQUIRES ➝ Email: thoughtsontomes@gmail.com ➝ Review Policy: https://thoughtsontomes.tumblr.com/reviewpolicy -- due to the volume of email requests I get, I do not accept review requests from indie or self-published authors at this time

Samantha

The Bibliothecary

Jan 21

Hi all! I've been thinking about what book we should read together this year. Last year, we read Psychic Witch and it took almost the whole year due to the exercises and density of the book. It is also a well known witchcraft book that a lot of people were interested in. For this year, I'm less able to pinpoint a witchcraft book that has as wide of appeal. A lot of the books I'm interested in reading personally are much more niche so they work less well for a buddy read. So I was thinking of pivoting a bit and reading another type of non-fiction book that is still witch-y adjacent in some ways (think Braiding Sweetgrass). With that, I have a few in mind that may work so please vote in the poll for what you are most interested in! I'm thinking we will read a few books together this year, instead of just the one, but we will base that on the pacing for everyone.

Bibliothecary Readalong

Samantha

The Bibliothecary

Jan 20

the internet used to be a place

Samantha

The Bibliothecary

Jan 20

2025 reading goals wrap up + stats

In which I discuss my reading goals and stats for 2025 and how they went... ♡ Join THE BIBLIOTHECARY: patreon.com/thoughtsontomes or https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ ►► Bibliothecary members get perks such as early access to videos, written posts, podcast-like ramblings, witchcraft book reviews and sharing about my personal craft, a year long interactive reading challenge, seasonal readalongs, and more! ★ Reading spreadsheet I use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twhrdlRfnRs&t=626s ► End screen song: Magic Forest - Kevin MacLeod ★ FREELANCE EDITING SERVICES: https://tinyurl.com/editing-services -- I'm currently accepting clients for developmental editing and manuscript evaluation (I'm full for 2025 - booking now for 2026). I'm interested in working with adult fantasy and scifi, especially Hades and Persephone retellings, stories involving polyamory, and mental health rep. I offer free editing samples of your first 1,000 words to make sure we are a good fit. ➝ DISCLAIMER: This video is not sponsored. All opinions are my own. WHERE TO FIND ME ► BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/thoughtsontomes.bsky.social ► Storygraph (alternative to goodreads): https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thoughtsontomes ► Instagram: @thoughtsontomes ► Tiktok: @thoughtsontomes_ MORE THAN BOOKS? ★ Check out The Bibliothecary! I used to discuss witchcraft and other topics on my other channel but that content has all moved to The Bibliothecary: https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ REVIEW/BUSINESS INQUIRES ➝ Email: thoughtsontomes@gmail.com ➝ Review Policy: https://thoughtsontomes.tumblr.com/reviewpolicy -- due to the volume of email requests I get, I do not accept review requests from indie or self-published authors at this time

Samantha

The Bibliothecary

Jan 8

Hey everyone! As previously discussed, I will be hosting a readalong for The Witchlands Series by Susan Dennard, where we will be reading a book from the series each month from now until May. Discussions for the books for those that want to chat as they are reading will be posted on the Discord - please be sure to use spoiler tags and label the spoiler with the chapter it is from since the channels will be for each book. Looking forward to chatting with you all about this series!

Witchlands Readalong

5 titles featured

Samantha

The Bibliothecary

Jan 6

Hi all! It is time for a new reading challenge for 2026! In past years, we've had bingo board, character creations, and choose your own adventures. This year is going to be a little different. We're going to slow down a bit and do things more seasonally. As such, I'm going to be using the Wheel of the Year to be the guide for our prompts for the year. The Wheel of the Year is broken into seasons, each one lasting about 6 weeks. And don't worry southern hemisphere friends - I will also be including the seasons for both the northern and southern hemisphere :)

But it won't just be about reading either! Each season will include ways to be more aligned with the themes of that season in multiple ways. I'll include prompts for both fiction and non-fiction ideas, as well as other ways that you can live more seasonally.

Because this is seasonal, we actually won't be starting right here at the beginning of January because that's not when the beginning of the year starts from a seasonal perspective. Per the Wheel of the Year, we are right now in the middle of the Yule/Winter Solstice season for the northern hemisphere and Litha/Summer Solstice season for the southern hemisphere. So instead of starting you with a prompt now, what I will be asking you to do is planning - likely things that you are already doing around this time of year anyway. What are your intentions for this year, reading and otherwise? What are you going to be doing now to set yourself up for success once those other seasons come around? How can you harvest the energy of each season? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments or come chat over on Discord!

Our first official prompt will be February 1st :) I'm very excited for this slower, more intentional way of doing the reading challenge this year and hope you all are too!

P.S. If you are a free member, you can upgrade your membership for access to the prompts throughout the year as well as access to the Discord for chatting about the prompts.

2026 Wheel of the Year Reading Challenge

Samantha

The Bibliothecary

Jan 3

favorite books of 2025

In which I discuss my favorite books of 2025... ♡ Join THE BIBLIOTHECARY: patreon.com/thoughtsontomes or https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ ►► Bibliothecary members get perks such as early access to videos, written posts, podcast-like ramblings, witchcraft book reviews and sharing about my personal craft, a year long interactive reading challenge, seasonal readalongs, and more! ★ Reading spreadsheet I use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twhrdlRfnRs&t=626s ► End screen song: Magic Forest - Kevin MacLeod ★ FREELANCE EDITING SERVICES: https://tinyurl.com/editing-services -- I'm currently accepting clients for developmental editing and manuscript evaluation (I'm full for 2025 - booking now for 2026). I'm interested in working with adult fantasy and scifi, especially Hades and Persephone retellings, stories involving polyamory, and mental health rep. I offer free editing samples of your first 1,000 words to make sure we are a good fit. ➝ DISCLAIMER: This video is not sponsored. All opinions are my own. WHERE TO FIND ME ► BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/thoughtsontomes.bsky.social ► Storygraph (alternative to goodreads): https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thoughtsontomes ► Instagram: @thoughtsontomes ► Tiktok: @thoughtsontomes_ MORE THAN BOOKS? ★ Check out The Bibliothecary! I used to discuss witchcraft and other topics on my other channel but that content has all moved to The Bibliothecary: https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ REVIEW/BUSINESS INQUIRES ➝ Email: thoughtsontomes@gmail.com ➝ Review Policy: https://thoughtsontomes.tumblr.com/reviewpolicy -- due to the volume of email requests I get, I do not accept review requests from indie or self-published authors at this time

13 titles featured

Samantha

The Bibliothecary

Dec 23, 2025

The Burning Kingdoms Series | REVIEW

In which I discuss my spoiler free thoughts on The Burning Kingdoms series by Tasha Suri... ♡ Join THE BIBLIOTHECARY: patreon.com/thoughtsontomes or https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ ►► Bibliothecary members get perks such as early access to videos, written posts, podcast-like ramblings, witchcraft book reviews and sharing about my personal craft, a year long interactive reading challenge, seasonal readalongs, and more! ★ Reading spreadsheet I use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twhrdlRfnRs&t=626s ► End screen song: Magic Forest - Kevin MacLeod ★ FREELANCE EDITING SERVICES: https://tinyurl.com/editing-services -- I'm currently accepting clients for developmental editing and manuscript evaluation (I'm full for 2025 - booking now for 2026). I'm interested in working with adult fantasy and scifi, especially Hades and Persephone retellings, stories involving polyamory, and mental health rep. I offer free editing samples of your first 1,000 words to make sure we are a good fit. ➝ DISCLAIMER: This video is not sponsored. All opinions are my own. WHERE TO FIND ME ► BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/thoughtsontomes.bsky.social ► Storygraph (alternative to goodreads): https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/thoughtsontomes ► Instagram: @thoughtsontomes ► Tiktok: @thoughtsontomes_ MORE THAN BOOKS? ★ Check out The Bibliothecary! I used to discuss witchcraft and other topics on my other channel but that content has all moved to The Bibliothecary: https://bibliothecarybooks.binderybooks.com/ REVIEW/BUSINESS INQUIRES ➝ Email: thoughtsontomes@gmail.com ➝ Review Policy: https://thoughtsontomes.tumblr.com/reviewpolicy -- due to the volume of email requests I get, I do not accept review requests from indie or self-published authors at this time

3 titles featured

Samantha

The Bibliothecary

Dec 23, 2025