The perils of recommending books to a screenwriter

One of my very favourite recent traditions…picking our books of the year over a coffee. Happy New Year everyone

This is a lie. There are many criticisms you might sensibly and truthfully make of the Sentencing Council and the Sentencing Guidelines. I’ve been making them for years. But this is an outright lie. Pure fabrication. A fraud on the public.

Honestly, we ARE working

Our full analysis is published here. www.health.org.uk/features-and... and covered by @hsj.co.uk here www.hsj.co.uk/quality-and-...

Representing @nationalvoices.bsky.social members today @commonshealth.bsky.social on NHSE abolishment’s and ICB cuts - real opp to refocus on patient exp in restructure - bringing back PE directorate& PE accountability at ICB board level, using national patient surveys to drive improvement 1/2

This is a deeply depressing article. Change and innovation thrive in a culture which gives people the tools they need to do the job & supports positive risk-taking. If your hospital is inefficient because the ceiling is falling in or the IT is ancient, cutting the tariff won't drive improvements.

@sharonbrennan.bsky.social tells @commonshealth.bsky.social "we urgently need to know what the transition plan is" for the abolishment of NHS England, to reduce the risk of disrupting care. Sharon also called for the return of dedicated patient experience directorate as part of the restructure

@sharonbrennan.bsky.social of @nationalvoices.bsky.social just now on the Health and Social Care committee describing how NHS England abolishment could impact on patients - the disruption is already being felt by some charities. From 9.30ish parliamentlive.tv/event/index/...

This government is exhibiting some ugly behaviours you wouldn’t normally associate with a “labour” party. If a company was folding or moving its business overseas, with 10,000 people set to lose their jobs, they wouldn’t sound so gleeful about it or keen to paint those workers as useless.

There might be a good case for this, but please spare us the cruel DOGE-like bravado and starting treating the staff affected with some dignity and respect. They're not all 'blockers,' they're just doing the job they have been given for a cause and an institution they genuinely love and believe in.

If you're wondering how far abolishing NHS England will go to filling the NHS's £6.5bn funding gap for the year ahead, the answer is: not very. NHSE spent a total £1.8bn on staff last year, of which £400m was on staff working for local NHS orgs. Many of these posts will need to continue in DHSC

The first great #cycling #springclassic of the season, #StradeBianche, is on Sunday and sadly I won't be seeing it. #Eurosport has been closed and absorbed into #TNT sports meaning the cost of watching cycling has gone from £6.99 to £31.99/month. Real shame for fans in the UK. #pricegouging

I truly loved and was inspired by #DavidLynch ‘s work, but possibly more than any other artist I was influenced and amazed by the way he talked about his process. Scene by Scene was a great show from a different age of programming and this is one of the best youtube.com/watch?v=MIlm...

“Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it. Don't wait for it. Just let it happen” Here’s my present: youtube.com/watch?v=wKiI...

Does anyone know if BlueSky has a setting so I still get notified if someone follows me unless they happen to be young, glamorous/barely dressed, improbably good-looking women with little or no posting history?

Following a refreshing two-week festive break I've just spent five minutes checking out the news on social media and am now absolutely exhausted

Meanwhile in the other place insanity continues to rule

…meanwhile I bumped into James Joyce at the barbers, and while I thanked him for his contribution to modern dance, I completely forgot to mention his books

Belatedly conducted our end of year ritual with my wife, where we pick our favourite books we’ve read. Another strong year… we are SO good at books @sharonbrennan.bsky.social

Time magazine may have named Trump Person of the Year, but we all know 2024 belongs to this incredible woman:

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 20. Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 19. Sue Townsend, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 18. Shakespeare, Macbeth

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 17. Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 16. John Berryman, The Dream Songs

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 15. Kakfa, Metamorphosis and other stories

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 14. T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land and other poems

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 13. Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 12. David Foster Wallace, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

Absolute stunner - more people should read this 👇

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 11. Aeschylus, The Oresteia (tr. Robert Fagles)

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 10. Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 9. Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

Mind blowing that I was almost two years old before they ever did this transplant and now I’m only allow because of one (double lung, no heart). My surgeon was trained by Yacoub himself #miracle #NHS #organdonation

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 8. Geoff Dyer, Zona

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 7. Roald Dahl, The Witches

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 6. Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 4. Elephant by Raymond Carver

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 4. Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith

Really important points and crucial research questions too: are privately-purchased wearables driving up publicly-funded healthcare costs (inc on unnecessary diagnosis and treatment) and further skewing expenditure away from those most in need?

Maybe because middle class women of a certain age are in a position to call out this shit without fear of losing a salary they need. And can do it on behalf of young women starting out in their careers who are just as sick of this shit but can’t say anything because they need to earn a living.

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 3. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

I see someone in a hole got a sweet Black Friday deal on a JCB. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

The best Plato anecdote. In Alice Swift Riginos, Platonica (Brill, 1976), 152

Very much this 👇 (Absolute masterpiece)

Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 2. The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson

I mean...I am obviously going to do this... Choose twenty books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for twenty days, in no particular order. No explanation, no reviews, just covers. #BookSky #books #bookchallenge 1. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

This reminds me of something