Yeah, I’m a romance reader, and I like romance because it’s a bit like being on a roller coaster: you know where it’s going, but you’re gonna have fun on the ride.

I say this often but it bears repeating: if you make your money from creating art then you NEED to find an art or craft where you just do it for fun and don't try to be perfect or make any money from it, and when anyone tells you to monetise it you say 'No', because otherwise your soul will die.

Very excited for the £70 order of Bird and Blend tea I've just placed to arrive 😋

I am of the opinion that all Boxing Day meals should include tomato chutney

We have designated today a day of reading I've gone around the house and collected a small pile of books I think I could reasonably finish before 2026 and would like to finish one of them, and N is committing himself to reading the entirety of This Way Up, having started it this morning 📚💙

Onto the 4th colour of the Pocketful of Posy blanket by Purl Soho that I'm making for a friend 🥰🎄🧶

To my fellow booksellers also working the Christmas Eve shift tomorrow: may your Gardners arrive early and your card machines never fail 🫡

“The last-minute christmas rush at the bookshop.” - my latest cartoon for @theguardian.com books

So far this morning I have woken up 30 minutes late, broken the bottle of my favourite perfume, and spilt my entire mug of tea on the bus 😭

Thank you all, the update than we can barely believe we get to make. To everyone who supported us through this last month, we couldn’t have even come close to this outcome without you all. Have a peaceful festive period, we’ll see you in the bookshop soon 🧡

Now that the kilt socks are out of the way, my only #WIP is this brioche blanket for my friend. I've never done brioche before and tension is testing my patience, but I am loving the squishy fabric it's making! 🧶

Folks I did it! I completed the kilt socks! If I were to make then again (which I will not be doing) I would definitely do things a little differently, but mainly I'm just proud of them. And my partner loves them! 🧶

My sister's Christmas #MusselburghHat is finished, blocked, and ready to wrap! So happy with how this turned out, and will definitely be casting on one for myself 🧶

Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.

Edinburgh folk, please sign & share: Reject Waterstones' bid to undermine Argonaut Books c.org/bvrC4cRBX7

Idk I think it's fine if people work back from popular culture to learn more about folklore roots, culture, heritage, etc. People have to start somewhere.

77% of people who don’t call themselves readers read every week. Britain doesn’t have a shortage of readers. We have a shortage of people who feel like readers. It’s time to #RedefineReading. 👉 Explore the new State of the Nation report here: bit.ly/46ItklZ

If you want kids to read: -Reopen the closed libraries -Give them free books -Sponsor author visits in schools with high % pupil premium or FSM students -Work on adult literacy Then Y8s will have a chance of passing this test www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

#WIPWednesday and it's Musselburgh hat time 🧶 Approaching the halfway point I reckon, and still loving this Ginger Twist hand dyed Masham Mayham yarn 🥰

Arguably, one company should not be responsible for 33% of online services

PSA: don’t do that weird thumb licky page turn thing in a bookstore

I am seeing so many announcements of crime books by celebrities and can't help but feel that, just as with children's fiction, publishers are showing a huge disregard for the genre

Because we all know tests are what make kids really enjoy subjects 🙄

I've only got eyes for one #Socktober project at the moment 🧶 The kilt sock chronicles continue; calf shaping almost done! #WIPWednesday

Frogging was definitely the right choice, I managed to close up those ladders! 🧶

After approximately 3000 attempts at casting on, my very first #MusselburghHat is underway! 🧶

I'm seeing a lot of this in the romantasy space! there are books with minimal story apart from the romance, so you end up with an iterative structure where the leads go to a series of locations or make a series of small advances on their MacGuffin quest, as set dressing for their escalating intimacy

Storm Amy is giving me the perfect excuse (not that I needed one) to cosy up and make some serious kilt sock progress 🧶

This is my Lokifesto #KidsConf #UKkidlit #edusky lokibooks.com/lokifesto/

I have ventured south of the border. Must be #KidsConf day!

A quote for #ShowMeYourKnits Care Week: "We are hungry for things that have touched human hands." Sometimes I knit for myself. Sometimes for someone I love. Sometimes I donate my knits to someone I’ll never meet. Handmade things carry the kind of love and care we all need as humans. 🧶❤️🧵

I successfully located the 5th DPN so it's official: the 2nd kilt sock is underway 🧶🧦 #WIP #Knitsky #WIPWednesday

Happy Bi visibility day 💖 Sending love to anyone new to being open about their Bi identity, to those who have been out for ages, and to those unable to be openly Bi. You are all part of our beautiful community 💕

With every drop of chlorophyll which leaves a leaf, I become stronger

It's the final stages of the Peace By Piece blanket 🎉🎉 2 out of 4 mitred borders done, then it's just a case of blocking and *maybe* adding a backing. #ShowMeYourKnits #KnitSky 🧶

Learning to sew - including how to repair or remake clothing you currently own - is a deeply radical act in the current capitalist hell-scape. Pass it on.

Hey #knitsky I could use some help! My friend bought me a skein of Gusto Wool Echoes in the 1512 colourway (gustowool.com/products/ech...) I'm not keen on the colours, especially when knit as a basic sock. What can I make with this that will break up the colours a bit more?

Behold! A kilt sock! I wanted to cast on the second sock immediately but a sock needle has fallen victim to the project and I can't find it...so I guess I'll just have to take a different knitting project on holiday 😌🧶

Love this quote from a recent interview with Wayne Rooney.

I wrote about the decision myself and other authors took to withdraw from the longlist of the Polari Book Prizes for LGBTQ+ writers www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I am one of the 14 authors who chose to leave the Polari Prize, and I find myself frustrated and saddened at the way this entire story has been represented. 1/

Slowly but surely Ruby Tandoh's #AllConsumingBook is dragging me out of one of the biggest reading slumps I've experienced and actually making me believe in the enjoyment of books again 🩷💚❤️ Thank you @serpents-tail.bsky.social for the early copy!

Some brilliant recommendations in this thread, including many books I'd not heard about at all! #UkKidlit

Distribution issues have led to a 'summer of discontent for booksellers' as 'big books sunk without trace' following delayed deliveries caused by disruptions at HarperCollins’ new warehouse and The Book Service 👇

Word on the street is that #TheEndingWritesItself by Evelyn Clarke is set to be the big book of 2026 👀 Can't quite believe I'm reading a book that's only out in April next year but I love a locked room mystery and the intrigue has got me hooked 🕵🏻‍♀️ 💙📚

How's it going in the bookselling world I hear you ask?

Today's only plan: finish #Katabasis 💫

This Prime Day (& every day): ➡️ Support the small businesses making a positive difference ➡️ Get book recs from people who actually read—not algorithms ➡️ Visit your indie, immerse yourself in books, maybe chat with real people, & leave feeling happy ➡️ Support your indie with audiobook purchases

Folks, I finished it and I loved it 🥰

I spent months on this investigation and gathered docs from the UK courts, Land Registry and a French local authority, to show that Raynor and Moth Winn's story is not as they claim. @tortoisemedia.bsky.social @observeruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/nationa...