The Slice: Alicia Loh

A Londoner on bookstore dreams + making reading a habit

For The Slice this week, I checked in with Alicia Loh, the author of the great new-ish Book substack —

Reads With Alicia

. I first came across Alicia’s page when I read and resonated with her piece “I want to read Intermezzo, but I don’t want to have to read Intermezzo.” She nailed it!

A self described “bookworm in London with a corporate job by day to fuel my reading habits,” Alicia writes terrific book reviews, sharing her thoughts with personal notes, including how these books came to her or affected her at different points in her life.

Alicia has also written extensively about disability, and you may have seen her beautiful modern love column in the New York Times back in 2023. It’s worth a read. Okay, will let her take it from here!

Alicia Loh

What is your favorite book you read last year?

I loved Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, and it was actually my inspiration to start Reads With Alicia —I talked about it with everyone for months, until I eventually figured I might as well write about it! I love its depiction of all sorts of love and human complexities.

Do you have a go-to book recommendation for getting out of a slump?

I theoretically recommend a short book that’s a safe read. It doesn’t have to be exciting or particularly intellectually stimulating as long as it gets you back in the habit. In practice, I’ve tended to focus on the length and forget to read the description properly, which means my last two ‘palate cleansers’ were quite dark dystopian books—I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman and Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang.¹

If I were to recommend books to get someone out of a reading slump, I would suggest a Thursday Murder Club book by Richard Osman or Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt, albeit those aren’t very short.²

Tell us more about your bookshop dreams!

My perennial dream is to open a bookshop / café that can serve as a community centre. I love both sharing my love for books and bringing people together. As for Bloomsbury, it is steeped in such literary history, with Virginia Woolf, E. M. Foster, and others living in the area. It is also such a lovely part of London, and I’d be very happy pottering about my bookshop there.

One of Alicia’s favorite bookstores, Hatchards Piccadilly in London

You read SO many books! How do you manage it?

We all read at our own pace! I’m always a little conscious sharing how many books I read as I never want anyone to feel pressured. I rarely read for large chunks of time in one go, though I love doing this and would like to more. Instead, I squeeze in bits of time whenever I can. A few minutes at lunch, a few (or more…) before bed, a quick read before I head out the door. It really helps to make it part of your life, to make reading as instinctive as so many others things we do, including checking our phones.

What's a book you wanted to love but feel "meh" about?

The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li. It’s stayed with me for a couple of months, which is a sign for me of a good book, but it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. Another book I feel ‘meh’ about is one I’m almost scared to admit—Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. I will share my thoughts on it in a review soon.

How do you choose your next book?

It’s sometimes simply dictated by what library hold has come in for me, especially as some of my libraries (yes, I have multiple) don’t allow renewals. When I can choose, it depends very much on how I’m feeling or if there’s a particular topic I want to read more about, like friendship or immigration. I think I will return to the immigration theme soon.

Have you always loved reading this much?

One word: yes!

a community space Alicia adores in London called Loom Club, which has “the most chill vibes and aesthetic lighting.”

Huge thanks to Alicia for being so generous with her answers! Be sure to follow her wonderful newsletter

Reads With Alicia

for more. ✨

Do you have a book lover I should interview? Send me an email and I’ll be in touch! 💌

📚 On my shelf

• I just started Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, and wow. Absolutely gutting so far.

• I’d like to finally pick up Remains of the Day next week! We shall see.

📚 Links and things

• I saw The Brutalist in a jam-packed theater on Tuesday, and it was such a fun experience. Adrian Brody has the most expressive face, and I loved his performance. More long movies should have intermissions, tbh!!

• This baby name tracker is SO much fun. Allison really peaked in the 90’s. h/t

  Platonic Love
  !

• New Yorker: How the capybara won my heart — and almost everyone else’s 🥺

• So excited Liz Moore’s book Long Bright River is being adapted into a show! Amanda Seyfried is also an excellent choice.

Happy reading! 💛

XOX

Alli

1. I really want to read Land of Milk and Honey! I read Zhang’s first book How Much of These Hills Is Gold back in 2020, and while it was challenging, it was totally worth it. Her newer book has gotten more mainstream recognition, and I loooove novels about food.

2. I also adore Remarkably Bright Creatures. I almost included it in my cozy book roundup earlier this year.