Murmuration - by Scottish artist and printmaker, Babs Pease We loved this one so much that we have a copy hanging on our wall! More of this artist's fabulous work, here: www.babspeasedesign.com #art #printmaking #linocut #hares #birds

Yay! And So Did I (Boiler House Press, 2025) is now on the dedicated Malachi Whitaker stand at Waterstones, Bradford. Alongside The Journey Home & Other Stories (Persephone, 2017) and Benighted by JB Priestley (who went to the same Bradford school).

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Book Review - Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor whatcathyreadnext.co.uk/2026/01/19/b...

I loved Sylvia Townsend Warner's stunning, funny, richly imagined historical novel, THE CORNER THAT HELD THEM. My thoughts: readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/t...

Jake Thackray - The Unsung Writer explains his approach.

And off it goes, Mike Fox’s Personal Anthology, stooping at the bathroom sink in stripy pyjamas to wash, filling its smelly pipe with minute pinches of tobacco from a pouch in its cracked sheepskin waistcoat, going through the moor gate and following the path along the drainage dyke...

After 41 years at the Guardian, Martin Kettle has written his last column. This is it. (I have read him since I was a politics sixth-former, and his wisdom and ability to see the big picture is immense.) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Grace Gillespie, contemporary printmaker #Womensart

Happy birthday to us! Our founders – Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley – believed that nature, beauty and history were for everyone. On this day in 1895, they set up the National Trust and we're proud to continue their work today. Thank you to all those who support what we do.

Winter Moon - by Chinese contemporary woodblock printer, Shi Yi, who is celebrated for his technically stunning designs of village life and rural China. #art #woodblock #printmaking

Some thoughts on Joan O'Donovan's 1959 novel The Visited (and why she should really have picked one genre) www.stuckinabook.com/the-visited-...

A huge thanks to all who came! The campaign continues! protectthewild.substack.com/p/protest-at...

Want to help nature thrive in 2026? Here are our top 5 tips: 🐝 let dandelions grow 🐞 avoid pesticides and weedkiller 🌻 grow nectar-rich flowers 🐸 provide water 🪲 make a log pile More: littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/5-t...

Immediate pre-order this afternoon. Go go go, said the bird. @claypipemusic.bsky.social @andrewwasylyk.bsky.social @backlisted.bsky.social

(1/) Although it is pretty chilly across much of the UK at the moment, many of our resident bird species are already singing! Listen out for the loud, repeated phrases of Song Thrush, especially on sunny days. @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology

“After my fellows are done with them, these bastards will salute you by shitting their pants when you pass by.” Hired muscle, corrupt police, a boy made of good luck and more combine in Daniyal Mueenuddin's terrific novel of Pakistan's haves and have-nots: Me on This is Where the Serpent Lives:

“I wish to God you could pay more money.” I wrote about F Scott Fitzgerald’s Christmas wish, and how his difficult final year led him to produce some of his best work: the irresistible, cynical, revealing and very funny Pat Hobby stories.

Great that Sylvia Townsend Warner will be a visible presence in Dorchester. I wrote about her early life here: akennedysmith.substack.com/p/sylvia-tow...

New on the blog today, Part One of my BOOKS OF THE YEAR, 2025 - favourites from a year of reading. Featuring books by Edith Wharton, Barbara Pym, Caroline Blackwood, Vivian Gornick and more! #BookSky 💙📚 #BooksOfTheYear #Books #BOTY jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/12/16/m...

Bill Shankly invented the woggle. His sneaky plan to disassociate himself from his brainchild the better to enjoy his fame as Liverpool manager—by dropping the 'e' from his surname and faking a Scots accent—didn't fool Google's AI bloodhound.

You’re welcome @heavenalibooks.bsky.social - Stories for Lovers publishes Jan 13th! #WomenWriters #MargaretAtwood #DorothyPatker #VirginiaWoolf

This is MSP John Mason. He supports the Guga hunt (bludgeoning of Gannet chicks for tradition) as long as the population is stable or increasing. Don't be like John.

I’ve written a few thoughts on Lolly Willowes, 1926, by Sylvia Townsend Warner, a wonderful story of female empowerment in which Lolly strives to gain her independence, with surprising results! 💙📚 #BookSky #BookReview https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/90691226-b43b-4e0b-937a-ef29c90366f8

Hand-made Xmas tree decorations! Just £3 - protectthewild.shop/products/han...

This was the 300th edition of the project, which means that the archive website now presents over 3,500 individual short story recommendations! And who's been picked the most times? I hear you ask.

What a load of crap

I've updated the apersonalanthology.com website with @john-self.bsky.social's selection – his pick of and introduction to a dozen favourite stories that, in his words, "feel like they’re *mine*." Check them out! (Featuring a Personal Anthology debut for Brian Friel, so congrats to him!)

From the archive for Sylvia Townsend Warner, #BornOnThisDay in 1893, my thoughts on the excellent LOLLY WILLOWES. A magical novel in more ways than one! #BookSky #nyrbwomen25 #BOTD #books #archiveday #backlisted 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2018/10/16/l...

Here is my Personal Anthology of twelve short stories, including Bruce calling from Mulholland, a daughter leaving for Rhodesia, a washed-up hack in Hollywood (by a washed-up hack in Hollywood) and a story from the Dubliners of 20C Jewish-American life. Ta @jonathangibbs.bsky.social for asking me.

From the archive for Alexander Baron, #BornOnThisDay in 1917, my thoughts on THE LOWLIFE, a wonderful evocation of post-war London life. If, like me, you love novels featuring boarding houses, you'll want this in your collection! (Now in print w/ Faber) 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2023/04/10/t...

Here’s my review of The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley, 1953, a wonderful novel about class, memory and the loss of youthful innocence, with a dash of magic! 💙📚 #BookSky #BookReview #Braille https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/0160c5fb-2919-4971-ab84-7f037475dfbd

A very happy 10th birthday to @backlisted.bsky.social. Love listening to all the new shows & catching up on the back catalogue - even though you have cost me a hell of a lot of money in adding to my never diminishing TBR pile!

And here's my own tribute to Beryl Bainbridge (and her 1973 novel The Dressmaker in particular). She should have won the Booker "three or four times," said her friend Paul Bailey* after her death. "Hers were better than the junk that did win." *they used to watch Corrie and compare notes by phone

Here’s my contribution to #NovellasInNovember - Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark, 1981, a wonderfully clever story where life imitates art in the literary world 💙📚 #NovNov25 #BookReview #BookSky #audiobook https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/3a9743bc-7c35-4d09-8fca-498307955f20?redirect=true

URGENT: Stop Barclays from trapping birds in netting

Oak trees have been revered for centuries, symbolizing power and ancient wisdom. They can live for hundreds of years – and provide food and homes for hundreds of different wildlife species, including birds, mammals, and insects. More native trees to grow: littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/Tre...

Reason #3583 we love Chris Packham! Town says no to Boxing Day hunt! www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11...

Autumn Woodland - by painter and printmaker, Carry Akroyd More of this artist's gorgeous artwork, here: carryakroyd.co.uk #art #printmaking #autumn

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"Beginners always win, & they always react the same. They get wildly elated. They fill with conceit & all of a sudden you can't tell them anything. There floods into them the feeling that they are at home here, that they're enjoying themselves, & like kids they want to show that they're big boys."

"O'Connor once spoke about how, when giving a talk, she was asked 'Why do you write?' and replied, 'Because I’m good at it'. She 'at once felt a considerable disapproval in the atmosphere' — but she was spot on." Me on three story collections by Cynan Jones, Tim MacGabhann and Flannery O'Connor:

This is Richard Smith of the South Durham Hunt and he thinks it’s ok to hit a horse over the head. Make this ‘man’ famous. Filmed by North East Hunt Monitors on 08/11/25

So another series of ‘I’m a Celeb’ is about to start. Another year of senseless animal cruelty for ‘entertainment’ no doubt. We definitely won’t be watching! Who’s with us?

New on the blog today, I've written about CROOKED CROSS by Sally Carson. A brilliant, terrifying novel about the rise of Nazism, the falling apart of a country’s codes of decency & the moral fortitude required to oppose persecution. Frighteningly timely. 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/09/c...

A message to NatureScot, STOP THIS! Sign the petition: protectthewild.org.uk/gannet-petit...

🚨 REVEALED THROUGH FOI FROM PROTECT THE WILD - PLEASE READ Nature Scot should be utterly ashamed of themselves for allowing the slaughter of hundreds of Gannet chicks to continue this sick tradition.

Can you beat this for a news story "A top FBI official with 27 years standing has reportedly been fired by the bureau after its director, Kash Patel, became enraged by press stories revealing he had used a government jet to travel to see his girlfriend sing the national anthem at a wrestling match."