Just finished reading Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh. Loved the writing. After a long day I'm struggling to figure out how to describe the book. - a compliment! I will add thoughts tomorrow, after some time to process. #booksky

Great video on last week's climate national emergency briefing, because TV news & papers sure as hell aren't talking about it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sa7...

Is anyone on here in the hardware industry with some insight into DDR prices? I can't find 32GB of DDR5 in stock now for less than £330 - is it going to get worse? Buy now with gritted teeth or wait a few weeks?

Just finished reading This Way Up (when maps go wrong & why it matters) by @markcooperjones.bsky.social & @jayforeman.bsky.social I love maps, so this book was a lot of fun & very interesting. If you really hate maps, probably choose another book. Vol 2 soon please! #booksky

Just finished reading The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. It's a simple story about the terrible conflict in Cyprus & the love between Greek & Turkish teenagers, told over three time periods with part of the narrative coming from a fig tree. It was profoundly moving. #booksky 1/2

Someone with access to industrial quantities of glyphosate with an axe to grind 🤯 WTAF? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

@labouruk.bsky.social @chazelgrovemp.bsky.social We can't keep kicking the can (pun intended) down the road. Easy win, provided you don't let the corporate tail wag the dog.

Please sign this petition for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics. I don't care if you're left or right, Reform or Corbynite - we can't allow a hostile foreign nation to run riot in our political ecosystem. Sign and share. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

Just finished reading The Place of Tides by @herdyshepherd.bsky.social I went in completely cold having enjoyed English Pastoral so much, but this is a very different book, focusing primarily on Eider duck farming (feels like the wrong word) in Norway. #booksky 1/3

Just finished reading The Colour Purple by Alice Walker. A very well crafted & moving novel. It's amazing how many tropes are dodged & how authentic it feels. Also, it covers so much ground: poverty, racism, colonialism, sexuality, forgiveness. The last few pages was a lot. #booksky

Further note: if you work in conservation, climate action, sustainability, etc & want a great (& very funny) lesson in getting stuff done, borrow or buy this book and read pages 94-97.

Just finished reading Bringing Back the Beavers by Derek Gow. By far the book that's made me laugh the most this year. Derek is a legend, an inspiration & a great writer. His knowledge & love of rewilding radiates throughout. It's almost a manifesto for conservation action. #booksky 1/2

Love to @jayforeman.bsky.social & @markcooperjones.bsky.social for shitting on Kensington & Chelsea cycling infrastructure in the Map Men Map Men Map Map Map Men Men book 👌

Just finished reading Boy Parts by Eliza Clark. A brilliantly written, but increasingly uncomfortable book. It's hard to really clarify who's a victim, who's exploited or exploiting, what's real, What's a distortion, a bad memory or fiction. #booksky 1/2

Just finished reading Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier. I don't think I'd have read this ten years ago, but I genuinely really enjoyed this. The atmosphere & the tension were great. Mary was a genuinely interesting & strong character. Full of surprises. #booksky

Very kind of Cloudflare to topple the web services house of cards just as UK pubs are opening 👍 Can't even check Down Detector as it use's CF's captcha service 😅

A community regeneration fund needs to fund equipment to clean up packaging manufactured & sold by highly profitable international corporations. Multiply this across the country.

I should also add: the cover design of this edition is a travesty.

Just finished To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Another classic lit book I skipped in my youth, but I wish I'd read it long ago. Loved every moment of how this story unfolded. Captivating writing & a fascinating cast of characters that creates something really special. But... #booksky 1/3

Hey @philsturgeon.com A change may gonna come!

My birthday is imminent, so I need to avoid eating interesting things I find at the back of the cupboards & fridge, unlike last year.

Just finished reading Trust Exercise by Susan Choi. I looked at reviews after reading this & could see it's a bit of a love it or hate it book. I thought this book was incredible. Susan's prose is remarkable. The structure was critical to the narrative. #booksky 1/3

This is basically every climate conversation on Twitter right now www.youtube.com/shorts/vLDwl...

Just finished reading Death and the Penguin Andrey Kurkov. A satire about post-Soviet Ukraine in the 90s, about a writer creating obituaries for the not yet dead. I wanted to like it, but I found it a bit flat & empty. I felt like I was missing some absent context. #booksky

Why is my willow branch grey? An infection? Closer look: giant willow aphids! The wasps seemed very interested in them.

Just finished reading Black Rain by Masuji Ibuse - a novel based on factual accounts of the bombing of Hiroshima. An incredible piece of work, but it broke me. Anyone who advocates for nuclear weapons should read this. #booksky

There’s a Buddhist ritual called mushi kuyō - a mass for dead insects - an atonement for those killed in farming. It’s a gesture of respect for the ecosystems we depend on, from the belief that every living thing has a spirit. Our relationship with nature might benefit from that reverence.

Don't have a will? Get one done professionally, save money & the solicitors waive their fee if you donate to charity! Will Aid runs throughout November & you can book your appointment here: www.willaid.org.uk

Just finished reading Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by @emilyraustin.bsky.social I connected with this book in ways I never expected. It was warm, funny & had an unusual heart to it. It was an amazing portrayal of anxiety, depression & chronic people pleasing. #booksky 1/2

Just finished reading English Pastoral by @herdyshepherd.bsky.social An absolute must read for anyone managing land or involved in ecology in the UK. I was blown away by the honesty & pragmatism in this book. #booksky 1/3

11am on Sunday & I receive this from the Homework app the school insists that we use - a regular occurrence & added stress, anxiety & noise for parents & students. It can get in the sea as far as I'm concerned. #enshittification

Just finished reading There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak. A tremendous book, following three main narratives linking water (physically, culturally & metaphorically) with the deep history of Mesopotamia & the Yazidi people of that area. #booksky 1/3

My daughter just put the Christmas tree up.

Just finished reading Vermilion Sands by JG Ballard. A collection of short stories based in a future desert community. I enjoyed the writing & some of the futurism, but the wealthy, privileged characters & the plots left me cold. #booksky

The last paragraph. I don't really care if he doesn't have a title in a celebrity family anymore, but I do care that he isn't facing criminal charges. RIP Virginia Giuffre.

A Bristol Labour councillor defecting to the Green Party is pretty significant, given the difficult relationship since the Greens ousted Labour as the dominant party here. This now gives the Greens 35/70 seats in Bristol.

Unions thrive on diversity. People like Vance seek to divide & diminish, because that's how the powerful maintain their power. Our differences are our strengths, if we choose empathy, inclusion & connection to work together. This thread is a must-read.

At a popular farm shop/cafe today for a family birthday lunch. Nothing on the menu was vegan except for the an all-day veggie breakfast adaptation, so I asked if I was missing anything. I was told "Obviously because we support British farming, it's difficult for us to offer vegan options" 😅

Just finished reading Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute. Another rec from the folks (they're big fans). Very very much of its age. I enjoyed it for what it is, but Shute seems uninterested in the big character development opportunities & female characters. #booksky 1/2

Just finished reading James by Percival Everett. I absolutely love Percival's writing, but I was hesitant about a book reimagining Huckleberry Finn from Jim's perspective. I needn't have been, because this was just perfect. I loved The Trees more, but this came very close. #booksky 1/2

Just finished reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. A loan from my sister. The plot was predictable, but I enjoyed the journey. Nora was an interesting & likable character. It was an easy & fun read. #booksky

The previous owner of this JG Ballard book had opinions.

Just finished reading Big Swiss by Jen Beagin. Loved this. Really funny, but with huge depth. Greta is a transcriber for a sex therapist, but things turn unprofessional pretty quickly, but this is the vehicle for some amazing exploration of love, trauma, jealousy, needs... #booksky 1/2

This page is being served by a webserver running on a disposable vape! ewaste.fka.wtf We've become so wasteful as a culture, that we make & throw away highly complex hardware & resources, just for a short nicotine high.

Is this the reason why so many right-wing folk have been turning on the ECHR of late?

Just finished reading The Immortalisation Commission by John Gray - a book about the folk who tried to conquer death following the decline of religion It was a pretty wild ride & left me with a much lower opinion of humans. People are very weird & complicated. #booksky

Just finished reading Threads From The Refugee Crisis by @cartoonkate.bsky.social A 160 page graphic account of her volunteering at The Jungle in Calais in 2015/16 A harrowing, uplifting, frank & humanising tale of the people, the conditions & the lives of the refugees there. 1/2 #booksky

It's almost like the people of the UK have been patiently waiting for a democratic socialist party to promise us a bit of what the Scandinavians have been thriving on. 💚

I don't understand why this shouldn't be treated as an equal crime to if the human harm was caused by direct physical violence. Corps seems to have a very high threshold for prosecution, which is probably why they don't have the checks in place to stop something like this from happening.