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Simon Thomas

@stuckinabook.bsky.social

Stuckinabook.com, Tea or Books? podcast Books, cats, Jesus, Neighbours

1758 Posts2327 Follower220 Folgt
Holly Gramazio@hollygramazio.bsky.social · 3d ago

I have an essay I keep not finishing on how there were loads in the (19)20s and 30s + how it's weird that they're everywhere again 100 years on - @stuckinabook.bsky.social's DPhil thesis is great on that 20s/30s flurry, he uses the term "the domestic fantastic" www.stuckinabook.com/do-you-want-...

Do you want to read my DPhil thesis?

Any regular reader of Stuck in a Book between 2009 and 2013 will know that I was busy doing a DPhil in English literature, but I can never remember how much I wrote about it here. That’s part…

stuckinabook.com

Charco Press@charcopress.com · 4d ago

Throughout Women in Translation Month, we'll be celebrating the brilliant translators behind Charco Press books, sharing their thoughts on translation, the books they love and why bringing stories across languages matters. Our series begins with Alison, co-translator of I'm Still Here.

Simon Thomas@stuckinabook.bsky.social · last wk.

In the latest ep of 'Tea or Books?', we compare the Booker-longlisted The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout with Willa Cather's The Professor's House - and discuss whether we prefer reading about women's professional lives or homelives.

#152: Novels about women’s home life vs work life, and The Professor’s House by Willa Cather vs The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout, Willa Cather, and women’s lives – welcome to episode 152! In the first half, Rachel and Simon discuss whether we prefer reading novels about women’s professional…

stuckinabook.com

Simon Thomas@stuckinabook.bsky.social · last wk.

In an unusual move for me, I've read one of the Booker longlist! And, indeed, later today there will be a new ep of 'Tea or Books?' in which we discuss The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout.

John Self@john-self.bsky.social · last wk.

‘It has reached the stage where an effective modern curse might be “May you appear in a Rachel Cusk book”.’ I wrote about writers who put real people in their novels - and get in trouble.

That’s me in your novel! The perils of writers who borrow from real life

Author Rachel Cusk has caused a fuss for her portrayal of an actress uncannily similar to her friend Natalie Portman. She’s part of a long and inglorious literary tradition

thetimes.com

JacquiWine@jacquiwine.bsky.social · 2w ago

New on the blog this week, a mid-year round-up featuring my favourite books from Jan to June 2026 - highlights from 6 months of reading. Including books by Shirley Jackson, Leonardo Sciascia, Lalla Romano, Elizabeth Jane Howard & more! #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/07/24/m...

My favourite books from Jan – June 2026

Now that we’re well into July, I thought it might be interesting to put together a mid-year review, summarising my reading highlights from January to June. I seem to say this every year, but 2026 i…

jacquiwine.wordpress.com

Simon Thomas@stuckinabook.bsky.social · 2w ago

Won't surprise anyone, but... Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf O, The Brave Music by Dorothy Evelyn Smith It's Too Late Now by A.A. Milne and I should throw in the Bible too!

JacquiWine@jacquiwine.bsky.social · 2w ago

What are the books you yammer on about to anyone who'll listen? CASSANDRA AT THE WEDDING, Dorothy Baker MRS PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT, Elizabeth Taylor THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, Edith Wharton THE BEGINNING OF SPRING, Penelope Fitzgerald IN A LONELY PLACE, Dorothy B. Hughes BALKAN TRILOGY, Manning 💙📚

Simon Thomas@stuckinabook.bsky.social · 3w ago

I recently read one of those achingly mediocre 400pp-novels for my book club. You know the type - every bit of distinctive writing and character winnowed out to make it 'accessible'. Supposedly a gothic thriller, but really just paint-by-numbers schlock. With a stupid supernatural twist...

Rachel Malik@rachelmalik.bsky.social · 3w ago

Haven’t yet decided on what I’ll read for women in translation month in August, but here are some recommendations Fleur Jaggy, Anna Seghers, Tove Ditlevsen, Colette, Shahrnush Parsipur, OlgaTokarczuk, Lalla Romano Titles, translators and original languages in alt text. #WITMonth

Photo of the covers of seven books on a rug. They are: Fleur Jaggy, I am the Brother of XX, translated from the Italian by Gini Alhadeff, Anna Seghers, The Dead Girls’ School Trip: Selected Stories, translated from the German by Margot Bettauer, Tove Ditlevsen, Childhood, translated from the Danish by Tiina Nunnally, Colette, Break Of Day, translated from the French by Enid McCleod, Shahrnush Parsipur, Women Without Men, translated from the Persian by Faridoun Farrokh, Olga Tokarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, translated from the Polish by Antonia Lloyd Jones, Lalla Romano, A Silence Shared, translated from the Italian by Brian Robert Moore.
JacquiWine@jacquiwine.bsky.social · 3w ago

New on the blog today, I've written about THE SPRING HOUSE by Cynthia Asquith. Part war-torn love story, part character study, part portrayal of a woman’s life on the home front, there's a wonderful sense of character development in this absorbing novel. 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/07/14/t...

The Spring House by Cynthia Asquith

Part war-torn love story, part character study, part portrayal of a young woman’s life on the home front, The Spring House is another brilliant entry in the British Library Women Writers seri…

jacquiwine.wordpress.com

Simon Thomas@stuckinabook.bsky.social · 4w ago

I've read three or four Elizabeth Strout books now, and I've liked them but not loved them - but The Things We Never Say has changed my mind! Maybe listening on audio helped, but I finally see what the fuss is about. (Though what a poorly generic title, like an Ayckbourn play.)

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JacquiWine@jacquiwine.bsky.social · 4w ago

New on the blog today, I've written about THE PUMPKIN EATER by Penelope Mortimer. A superb novel about a married woman's descent into an inescapable abyss. Raw, unflinching and razor-sharp, it's the best book I've read so far this year. #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/07/07/t...

The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer

Raw, unflinching and razor-sharp are just some of the descriptions that come to mind when I think of Penelope Mortimer’s fiction. Mortimer has an innate ability to portray how easy it is for an int…

jacquiwine.wordpress.com

Ali Hope 📚📚@heavenalibooks.bsky.social · last mo.

A good month of reading in June, highlights were The Correspodent and Smallie. Both 5 stars and highly recommended, but everything I read was good this month. (Full list in alt text) what good things did you read in July? 💙📚

Collage of book covers. This Bed Thy Centre by Pamela Hansford Johnson Days of Light by Megan Hunter Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh The Correspodent by Virginia Evans The Spring House by Cynthia Asquith Will o' the Wisp by Patricia Wentworth Smallie by Eden McKenzie-Goddard.