Rooted in memory, place, and music, the essays move between childhood, family, loss, the changing seasons, and growing up in Northern Ireland by Tom Shiels @itstomshiels.bsky.social storiessongsseasons.substack.com/p/stories-so...

Stories. Songs. Seasons.

Stories.

storiessongsseasons.substack.com

It’s been a while since I posted here - am trying to decide the best place to post about books (posting about books on Twitter (refuse to call it x) is like shouting into the void now!). So hello, and hope you are reading something brilliant!

Weekend Reading - picture taken with help from Youngest Years of Reading and I realised that’s a lot of blue! Am currently reading #Sleep by #HonorJones and chose #ThreeDaysInJune by #AnneTyler plus #ThisIsWhyWeCantHaveNiceThings by #NaomiWood I hope you are reading something fabulous today too!

I completely loved #MySalingerYear by @joannarakoff.bsky.social If you read the book, you’ll see why I chose these others too! It’s a book about life, growing up, and loving books and reading with all your heart. If you love books as much as me, #MySalingerYear should be on your reading list.

Not sure what day it is, but I do know that #SelfPortraitWithBoy by Rachel Lyon has me hooked, and is the perfect read after #HoldStill by Sally Mann. Photographer Lu accidentally captures her neighbour’s son falling to his death, and is faced with a moral dilemma as to what to do with the picture.

Sneaking in some of my Christmas reading before the chaos starts! FYI #InJudgementofOthers by @eanstruther.bsky.social is out in February, and it’s so so good - I know lots of you would love this one!

Nothing like realising your library book is due back on Saturday and you can’t renew it! Fortunately #TheEchoes by #EvieWyld is a brilliant read so I won’t be getting a fine this time! (I also feel like I am cheating on the other book I’m reading to finish this one…)

Brat summer is a distant memory, its battleaxe winter: season of boilers, dragons & fearsome maiden aunts. Get in girls, we’re wearing our most moth eaten fur coats & rocking up in a fug of Embassy & Yardley with a box of York Fruits & a bottle of Harvey’s Bristol Cream & shit’s about to get real

No, I’ve no idea why I woke up with back ache this morning…

Weekend reading has arrived! Thank you to @matineegirl1.bsky.social and @mslisahighton.bsky.social for keeping me informed about its publication, and now I have my copy of #TheCliffs by #JCourtneySullivan to lose myself in! It’s out now from Abacus if you fancy adding it to your reading list..

Beloved readers and writers of all things, I present a tv show all about reading and writing. Guests Inc Elif Shafak, Jackie Kay, @colsonwhitehead.com @naomialderman.bsky.social & shelves more. It’s on BBC. It’s called the Big Scottish Book Club. Enjoy! 📖 📺 ❤️ www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Scotland - The Big Scottish Book Club

Damian Barr interviews some of the biggest names in fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

bbc.co.uk

It took me a while to get there, but am so glad I read #TheFellowshipofPuzzlemakers by @samuelburr.bsky.social and here’s my review. If you are looking for a book to lose yourself in, here it is. Thank you so much to @orionbooks.bsky.social for my copy. www.instagram.com/p/DC3mbTHg1u...

Finally time to read this evening, so Jasper and I enjoyed the peace and quiet! I picked up #WomenandChildrenFirst by #AlinaGrabowski and I am really enjoying it. It’s out now from The Indigo Press, and is a novel told through the eyes of ten women after a young woman dies at a party.

Guys - I could really use your help. Somebody I Used to Love is just inches away from breaking into the top 100 Kindle reads. I’d really appreciate any shares or downloads. This twisty, dark romance is currently on a 99p offer! I will reward you with virtual hugs x geni.us/SIUTL

New on my blog today: Five More Irish Novels I’ve Read alifeinbooks.co.uk/2024/11/five... 📚 💙 #BookSky #IrishFiction

Five More Irish Novels I’ve Read - A life in books

Book reviews, snippets of book news, and alerts about books outside the glare of the publicity spotlight.

alifeinbooks.co.uk

Many Thanks to Ellie as my copy of #FamousLastWords by @gillianmauthor.bsky.social arrived on Friday. As always, with Gillian’s novels, I naively thought I would read just a chapter. Two hundred pages on, and I haven’t stopped reading all weekend. It’s just brilliant and I know you will love it.

On the 1st of January, the #Curae prize for writer-carers opens for a second time. The demise of twitter is making it harder to get the word out, so do share! thecuraeprize.uk There are around 7 million unpaid carers in the UK alone & Curae shines a light on the role & much more. #carers #writing

Having a very peaceful birthday, and am very grateful this year that I’m happy and healthy. Here’s hoping that my 54th year is filled with even more fabulous reading. Thank you to all of you for being so kind - it’s been lovely to meet you and of course I had some books (and possibly cake too!)!

When you are sat in Jasper’s space on the sofa..

Hi Bluesky! We're new here and looking for 28 thousand of our closest friends from the other place 👀 We're Comma Press - an #indiepublisher of #shortfiction from the UK and in #translation. 🌍📚 We also run lots of #publishing & #writing events in the North Find us at commapress.co.uk

Being the organised book blogger that I am, I can’t remember where I heard about #TheUndercurrent by Sarah Sawyer. I treated myself to a copy and know so many of you would love it! It’s one of those novels that has you hooked from the first page, and won’t let you go til the end..

“I’ve noticed I’m not in your starter pack. Any particular reason for that?”

#bookbloggers of Bluesky, I have a database you can sign up for! I work on a real mix of titles & I'm always on the lookout for bloggers to receive proofs, special packs & to help with secret squirrel reveals. ✨ UK only, sign up here: forms.gle/hYkfpoUdgBmw...

a black cat wearing glasses is laying on an open book on a table

ALT: a black cat wearing glasses is laying on an open book on a table

media.tenor.com

#BookSky💙📚

Eleanor Anstruther@eanstruther.bsky.social · 2y ago

A dark comedy about psychosis in the Home Counties. Out January. Preorder now with link in bio. Here's what the wonderful @damianbarr.bsky.social has to say,“Eleanor Anstruther writes with the barely suppressed anger and particular concision of Elizabeth Taylor.” And you can't say fairer than that.

The Fate of Mary Rose is brilliant if you are looking for a book that twists in ways you could never predict…

Celeste Ward-Best@celestewb.bsky.social · 2y ago

Great to see The Fate of Mary Rose by Caroline Blackwood in the Guardian’s crime and thriller round-up. It’s a new addition to the Virago Modern Classics list and the most *unnerving* thing I’ve read in a long time! amp.theguardian.com/books/2024/n...

Sometimes deciding what to read next is the greatest puzzle of all, and when you finally work it out, there is no better feeling. I know I am really late to the appreciation society, but oh my goodness #TheFellowshipofPuzzleMakers by @samuelburr.bsky.social is just wonderful isn’t it?

Just a girl searching for all of her THRILLER BOOK friends on a new platform… WHERE ARE YOU MY LOVES?? 🖤🖤 #booksky

@joellawriting.bsky.social Hi Ethan! Lovely to see you here!