I was very moved by this excellent and original novel set in a California day centre for disabled adults. We hear from different staff and clients, including Walter who is autistic and non-speaking, like the author. The characters and setting are vivid and unforgettable. Highly recommend! 💙📚🖋️

A popular novel by a bestselling author, about lesbian astronauts in training at NASA in the 1980s. It felt more like a Hollywood movie than a novel, in both the plot structure and the characters. I read this for book club; I’ll be interested to hear what everyone else thinks about it. 💙📚

I quite enjoyed this above-average whodunnit set on an isolated island off SW England. Xavier invites some acquaintances to join him and his father for Christmas, to examine the medieval art collection. They are soon cut off by a storm, and all the mobiles disappear… UK publication 30 July 💙📚⚡️

Let us think about making the world a better place. Idealism need not be the enemy of success. Bullshit jobs are (obviously) a waste of time, effort and potential. @rutgerbregman.com provides a very readable introduction to ethical thinking. What is the good life? I like “radical compassion” 💙📚💡

The writing in this new novel is outstanding. The coastal landscape is brought to life, and all of the characters are impeccably drawn. 10-year-old Ruth sees a woman disappear into the river; years later, 6-yr-old Ori is found alone on an island. Themes of motherhood & belonging. Beautiful. 💙📚🖋️

It was a pleasure to read @laylamccay.bsky.social ‘s guide to LGBTQ+ literature. The perfect balance between evoking nostalgia for books I read years ago; nodding knowingly as titles I’m familiar with are mentioned; and introducing me to plenty more to go on my list. I’ll return to this often 💙📚🌈📚

Ursula has grown up in care in Thatcher’s Britain; now 16, she lives in a creepy squat, makes art, and longs for friendship and belonging. Vivid, gripping and sometimes unsettling, this haunting novel swings between realism and gothic horror very effectively. I was enthralled. Very good. 💙📚🖋️

THREAD. A collection of excellent scarecrows I have met on walks in the countryside. You will find the all-important caption to each photo in the alt text.

Very funny novel about serious human stuff by @seamas.bsky.social In Derry, a famous US actor arrives to star in a new TV drama about the Troubles. She goes missing; we hear from various local people, great characters all. The writing is excellent; sharp, perceptive, often hilarious, moving. 💙📚

Interesting and very readable personal account of her time working at Facebook. Packed with fascinating details, which combine to paint a picture of people wielding power without responsibility. It’s most satisfying that attempts to silence her inevitably result in increased sales. 💙📚💡

I enjoyed this original and inventive epistolary novel set in 1557 Florence. When a painter is murdered, Cosimo de’ Medici demands answers. With a wide cast of characters including nuns, revolutionaries, artists and the Queen of France, there are power plays and scheming galore. Entertaining! 💙📚⏳

Jack Parlabane is back! And I’m thrilled to encounter him again, in this super new murder mystery by @brookmyre.bsky.social. A brisk & clever plot (character names a bit tricky). I loved the up-to-the-minute themes of hard right social media, billionaire businessmen and Russian influence. Fun! 💙📚⚡️

The #WomensPrizes are announced tomorrow. I have read all of the Fiction shortlist (and most of the longlist). My top two are Flashlight and Dominion; I would be happy for either of them to win. I have read 3 of the 6 on the Nonfiction shortlist; my favourite is Arundhati Roy’s excellent memoir 📚💙

Natalie is a horrible Christian Trad Wife influencer. One day she wakes up in what seems to be the actual olden days! All the characters are unlikeable, but I couldn’t look away and had to keep on turning the pages for the good twist ending. Themes of inauthenticity and surveillance. Timely. 📚💙

Excellent, powerful and profound novel set on an island in Bengal populated by impoverished women who have been trafficked to do sex work. When Kusum arrives she challenges Amma and the status quo. Narrated by the women’s children, interspersed with back stories. Great! Highly recommend! 💙📚🖋️

Best head to the BOOKSHOP. Research beckons. ❤️

“Money is global, but politics is local” explains @oliverbullough.bsky.social in his eye-opening new book about money laundering. Tackling financial crime is crucial, but a Sisyphean task. This book is important for understanding dirty money and its operations. Very informative and thorough. 💙📚💡

I love the fancy sprayed edges on Katabasis! Alice and Peter are postgrads studying analytic magick. They journey into the Underworld in pursuit of their professor. I enjoyed the references to various mythologies. Lots of adventure, also philosophy and a love story. Original and long. 💙📚🪐

Set in 1960s/70s Bradford, this debut novel is shortlisted for the #WomensPrize for Fiction. Mercy is the middle child in an overcrowded, sometimes violent, sometimes religious household, with parents who immigrated from Jamaica. She narrates her story starting as a foetus to age 11. 💙📚🖋️

Enjoyable, fast-paced road-trip thriller set in Finland. Ilmari agrees to transport an antique sofa to the far north for a big cash payment, but he is soon being chased by two sets of gangsters. Dark humour, also moving friendships, with a filmic quality that reminded me of Fargo. 💙📚⚡️

Oh, I really liked this novel, we read it last year in my book club. Actually this whole shortlist was good. 📚💙

Terrifyingly plausible near-future novel set in Margate. As a child, Chance and her impoverished family were relocated out of London. Now struggling to survive as a teenage thief, she falls in love with a girl as sea levels and temperatures rise, and extremist politicians act. I recommend! 💙📚🪐

Paul Singer - the US billionaire, Trump donor, and owner of Waterstones, Foyles, Blackwell’s, Hatchards, Barnes & Noble, and Hodges Figgis - is poised to become even richer if he succeeds in taking over Thames Water. Yet another reason to support indie bookshops! www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Pleased to receive my book mail from Bristol Radical History Group today. Can’t wait to learn more about the General Strike in the 100th anniversary year. I ordered the set of eight pamphlets from their website last week. Thanks @brisradhis.bsky.social 💙📚💡

I’m really excited about this author event in Bristol on Thursday. I loved both A Family Matter and A Room Above A Shop. Great writing, great characters, great stories! I heartily recommend both novels. And if you have the good fortune to be in Bristol, a few tickets are still available! 💙📚🖋️

I loved Honey, an original and darkly comic campus satire. It’s sure to be the hot read of the summer! The first man that Yrsa kills is almost an accident. But she soon needs that feeling again, and there are plenty of racist, sexist bad men out there… Modern, sexy, twisted and addictive 💙📚🖋️

I loved Honey, an original and darkly comic campus satire. It’s sure to be the hot read of the summer! The first man that Yrsa kills is almost an accident. But she soon needs that feeling again, and there are plenty of racist, sexist bad men out there… Modern, sexy, twisted and addictive 💙📚🖋️

Very interesting approach to examining global trade trends over the last 50 years. Tracking the various incarnations of one particular vessel illuminates many issues inc. the Offshore, oil extraction, commodities trading, carceral capitalism, international law etc. Authoritative & accessible 💙📚💡

Shortlisted for the Climate Fiction Prize, this novel, set in a future flooded San Francisco, was not what I was expecting. Artist Bo is grieving and isolated when she starts working as a caregiver for 130-year-old Mia. Their relationship is the best part of the book. 💙📚🖋️

Meet the book clubs shadowing the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction 📚 As part of our Readers’ Room programme, these book clubs from across the UK have been selected to review one of the six shortlisted books and share their thoughts with Chair of Judges. Learn more here: womensprize.com/meet-the-202...

I’m looking forward to this event on Thursday in Bristol. The authors @ellenjones.bsky.social and Elizabeth Lovatt in conversation about their excellent books and Queer Histories. 💙📚🌈

To mark the centenary of the 1926 General Strike and miners’ lockout, BRHG is commemorating the strike in Bristol & surrounding area. BRHG has released a series of 8 pamphlets, covering aspects of the strike in Somerset, Bristol & Gloucestershire: www.brh.org.uk/site/2026/04...

Romance is not a genre I usually read; however I was intrigued by this first adult offering from @ellemcnicoll.bsky.social because of the autistic protagonist. Raina is a podcaster in London; Tom is a journalist. Can he be trusted? The representation of an autistic young woman is done well. 💙📚🌶️

Rich literary debut novel, which rewards slow reading to appreciate the poetic language. In 1961, 19-yr-old Lucinda travels from Barbados to London, following the father of her son. 50 years later, she is threatened with deportation. Can her children prove her legal status? Resonant & moving 💙📚🖋️

Excited to read an advance copy of @radiomukhers.bsky.social new thriller, set in a luxury high-rise in Mumbai. Washed-up US actor George wakes to find his wife, Bollywood star Sweety, murdered 😱 Fast-paced and entertaining UK publication 18 June: preorder from your local independent bookshop 💙📚⚡️

Today I learnt not to judge a book by its title. I thoroughly enjoyed Gunk, a fresh and thoughtful debut novel set in Brighton. Jules and Nim are flawed characters who I couldn’t help but root for. The writing is sharp, funny and original; here is unconventional love in all its humanity. 🧵1/2 💙📚🖋️

An American heterosexual romance novel, shortlisted for the #WomensPrize for Fiction 2026. The first half is set in the senior year of college, the second half many years later when the narrator is a successful writer & married with children. It didn’t take too long to read. #books 💙📚🖋️

This book considers what is really meant by wilderness, or ‘wild’. Using her archeological expertise, the author describes nature in the British Isles from prehistory, through Roman times, the medieval period and to the modern age. Interactions of people, landscape, plants and animals. #books 💙📚💡

I was often confused by this “existential farce” set in the contemporary austerity of London. Lewis and Korine are two tall men who look alike and sort of swap lives. They are actors, acting, but seem trapped by their actions. Melancholy, surreal, absurd, layered and tragicomic. 💙📚🖋️

The quiet wisdom and profound insight of Elizabeth Strout is the antidote to doomscrolling. I feel better having spent a few hours in the company of the characters in her new novel. Loneliness & lies, fathers & sons, free will and the goodness of people. We all struggle to make sense of life. 💙📚🖋️

Dark saga exploring cross-generational trauma, with magical realism elements. 25-yr-old Chinese-American Qianze is unsettled when her father reappears after a long absence. Gradually he reveals the family’s past in the Cultural Revolution and Japanese occupation. A tough read; worth it #books 💙📚🖋️

A charming, moving and witty novel told in a series of letters. Sybil is a retired lawyer in the USA. Her lifelong habit of writing letters to friends, relatives and authors of books she has read, reveals to us her character. A quick read Shortlisted for the #WomensPrize for fiction #books 💙📚🖋️

“All across the world, patriarchies are rising with the rising heat” I enjoyed this important and accessible new book by @natashawalter.bsky.social A thorough takedown of Individualist feminism - an attempt by capitalism to co-opt and neutralise women’s liberation - is followed by 🧵1/2 #books 💙📚💡

Went to see Rose of Nevada at @wshed.bsky.social this afternoon - fantastic! Amazing to look at, great performances, and very thought provoking. I watched Enys Men, also by Mark Jenkins, on Channel 4 this weekend, to make a fulfilling double bill. Recommend for all fans of Cornish cinema.

Debut novel, shortlisted for the #WomensPrize for fiction. A man becomes infatuated with his colleague, the Poet. Themes of death, desire and relationships. I loved the excellent writing, but I didn’t care for the main character. I look forward to reading what Rozie Kelly writes next #books 💙📚🖋️

Meet our Bristol Walk Fest 2026 launch speakers - Friday 1 May, Hamilton House. Four voices exploring art, culture and walking: Sheila Hannon, Anita Karla Kelly, Hana Sutch and Dr Subitha Baghirathan. Tickets from £5. Book now: www.eventbookings.com/b/event/bris... #bristolwalkfest #bristolarts

Dark & sharp debut novel that draws you in from the first moment and doesn’t let you go. A British couple on holiday in Turkey encounter an old acquaintance, who may be a threat, or just an annoyance. Flashbacks to their time at university suggest a murder- are they guilty psychopaths? #books 💙📚⚡️

The man who rescues books from rubble: Omar Hamad opens Phoenix library in Gaza www.channel4.com/news/the-man...

A detailed and lengthy history of Afghanistan from the 1970s to the present, centred on the experiences of people working in the luxury Inter-Continental hotel. The characters are well drawn and the descriptions are vivid. Shortlisted for the #WomensPrize for Nonfiction. #books 💙📚💡

Intriguing literary novel set in 21st century Albania. Bekiya becomes a sworn virgin to avoid an arranged marriage; the Kanun rules a blood feud. The non-linear structure gradually reveals events with sometimes dreamlike prose. Shortlisted for the #InternationalBooker2026 #books 💙📚🖋️