‘In the fruit stand next door piles of bananas and mangos spilled out onto the pavement. And next to that a pork butcher. Skinned carcasses, suspended hoof-down, formed a flesh-colored grotto with a vague, dark recess from which the white point of a clock face sparkled like an eye.’ ♥️ these reviews

#JanuaryinJapan: Underdogs and Warlords findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2026/01/21/j...

Pleased that my review of Gabriele Tergit’s masterpiece Effingers ran in this weekend’s @wsj.com www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

For anyone on @marinasofia.bsky.social's zoom event this eve with the wonderful @annmorgan.bsky.social about her new book #RelearningToRead, embracing the not-knowing and nudging us out of our comfort zones, this is the TripFiction article with the Greenland book Ann mentioned, amongst others! 💙📚 🇬🇱

Check out RJL'sreading project for #JanuaryinJapan 2026. 31 days of free-to-read short stories or excerpts from novels, encompassing a short history of modern Japanese fiction. I'll post a new short story every day, and you're welcome to read along!

If the idea of spending a week immersed in literary translation appeals, then you will be warmly welcomed at Oxford Translates! I’ll be leading the Russian workshops, and for 2026 there is a wide choice of languages plus a multilingual-into-English option.

How I finally found a home for my books... findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2026/01/19/b...

brilliant article about dispersed, displaced, lost and destroyed collections and the strange combination of emotional, affective, technical and administrative language used to describe them

Flat landscapes can be beautiful too... #Berlin

Should be resolving books or preparing for my trip to Romania or... you know, working. But couldn't resist an invitation for a hike along the Havel. Let's hope they were right about some sunshine today! (Photobfrom tourism board, not my own)

Julian Barnes's departure: his cancer, his deaf dog, Martin Amis's last email to him, and why he's stopping writing novels so that he doesn't die in the middle of one and have some other bastard finish it for him. Me on Barnes's final book:

This photo was taken in 1911 using glass plate technology by Herbert Ponting who was part of Scott's Antarctic expedition, The composition and detail are exquisite with the band of white snow/ice creating a perfect frame around the two people and the ship in the distance Iconic imo

A very warm welcome to Louisa Bello whose debut novel, Where The Shadows End, will be published in May 2026. Delighted to be working with Louisa and you can read more about her on our website: www.epoquepress.com/louisa-bello #epoquepress #epoquepressauthors #books

Pol Guasch’s outstanding novel Napalm in the Heart, tr from Catalan by Mara Faye Lethem, has been nominated for @dublinlitaward.bsky.social. Here’s my @theguardian.com review: www.theguardian.com/books/articl...

It's the centenary of the wonderful Agnes Owens' birth this year. Her books are being reissued & a satellite archive has officially opened within the Alasdair Gray archive. I spoke to her son, John, & wrote about this "most unfairly neglected of Scottish authors" in the @heraldscotland.bsky.social.

This blog entry by @jennycolgan.bsky.social is an interesting piece on book blurbing. My favourite bit is about the evolving hierarchy of blurbers. open.substack.com/pub/thatwrit...

bookjotter.com/2026/01/17/winding-up-the-week-456/ #Booklovers #AmReading #Books #BookReview #Reading #ToveTrove #ToveJansson #ReadIndies6 @kaggsy59.bsky.social @bookmunch.bsky.social @debutiful.bsky.social

The good news is there's a small amount of space left for more Japanese and Korean books (unless they are lurking somewhere on the wrong shelves)

Some witterings about my recently completed read the world project #readingtheworld #readtheworld

#FridayFun: Last Set of Shelves findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/f...

Scratch A4 Summer ‘25 opens today! Send us a fantastic <1000 word story before 26th April! More info on judges and submitting here: www.scratch-books.co.uk/scratcha4com...

Want to read for an established, highly-rated, BOLD and WEIRD literary magazine? Yes, we're talking about Okay Donkey! The donkey, known as Sad Jack, would transform into monocle-wearing "Happy" Jack if you joined us! Learn more and apply by Jan. 31st at forms.gle/kAQyzPW3oR8Y.... 🫏

I finally received this Chekhov volume in the mail today! I have a translation in it, among a lot of others, ranging from prominent Chekhov scholars to undergrad students. Excited it's finally out in the world! www.academicstudiespress.com/9798887198095/

I'm so looking forward to hosting @annmorgan.bsky.social on Tue 20 Jan. Her Relearning to Read book is absolutely fabulous and fun, and her interactive workshop is bound to be too! Register for free here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Huge congrats to Tatiana Țîbuleac and Monica Cure. What a beautiful review. "Like a literary origamist, the author intricately folds in plot details so that each new revelation forces you to reconsider the shape of the whole narrative." - Ben Libman for the New York Times

Once more for the evening crowd, whether you want to read or listen ⬇️

Kasper-approved bookcases! Now to fill them...

A dazzling essay from a young American writer, on why Hume is better than Marx at explaining the landholder/stockholder divide and why Right and Left don't always neatly align with class. Read it. Share it. It will change the way you think. aeon.co/essays/why-h...

Our film podcast The Cineskinny is BACK – and our first episode of 2026 covers Marty Supreme, Hamnet, a tribute to Rob Reiner and a round-up of what we've been watching over the Holidays 📽️ Get it where you get your podcasts!

I said I'd share the link when the The Guardian posted my review of Elizabeth McCracken's whipsmart writing manual, A Long Game: How to Write Fiction. (Following their publication of an extract.) So, here it is - www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...

Shawn Breathes Books presents the Besties & Worsties of 2025 youtu.be/DP_fkiHrdVI

Granite Noir X 2026 Tuesday 17 to Sunday 22 February 2026 @GraniteNoirFest @APArachel Next month, Aberdeen celebrates a special milestone. It’s the 10th Anniversary of Granite Noir, Aberdeen’s crime writing festival, and I’m pleased to say it’s bigger and better than ever before! Marking a decade…

Books Across Borders invites booksellers and librarians to join them for a New Year in Translation Book Buzz! Get the 411 on the seasons' most exciting translations from indie presses, and share space with fellow translation lovers. Sign up today! 1/21, 8 pm ET: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Join me for 3 events in Bucharest this week: THU w/ Mircea Cǎrtǎrescu & Lidia Bodea of Humanitas @ Cişmigiu; FRI Frame10 series w/Monica Cure & Vlad Niculescu @ Rezidența9; SAT l book launch for Tatiana Țîbuleac’s The Summer My Mother Had Green Eyes w/ Monica Cure & Paula Erizanu @ Cartureşti Verona

Next week there's a rare, free chance to sample my incomprehension workshop for curious readers as part of a virtual event hosted by @marinasofia.bsky.social Join us at 7.30pm GMT on Tuesday 20 January. Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

New on the blog today, I've written about CHRISTMAS PUDDING by Nancy Mitford. A delightful farce which satirises the idiosyncrasies of Britain’s upper classes and Bright Young Things while also having fun with the country house novel! #BookSky 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/c...

I didn’t know anything about Jake Thackray before listening to this, but it was a very good introduction & I enjoyed it! Thanks gang x

#ThreeTwoOne quickfire questions with Apple Gidley #author of Annie’s Day | #historicalfiction | @expatapple @VineLeavesPress From @portybelle.bsky.social

I ran out of time earlier this week, but these recordings might be of interest to #JaneAusten fans with access to BBC Sounds. #BookSky 💙📚 First up, an unabridged reading of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, which has been keeping me company for the past few days: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

My great item of bookish news is that my bookshelves will finally arrive and be built by the end of this week 🤞🤞#devonbookhour

⚖️ Ein intelligent inszenierter Gerichtsfilm, der bei der Frage nach der Wahrheit ein Familiendrama offenbart. „Anatomie eines Falls“ (2023) gibt's bis 26.03. in der ARD-Mediathek: https://shelfd.com/videos/anatomie-eines-falls

Tonight's film with a Berlin setting is a DDR gem from the 1950s about young rebels: 'Berlin, Ecke Schönhauser Allee', a place which is now completely gentrified

Special introductory offer on Kobo for first book in a trilogy: #BlackStorms by @teresasolanawriter.bsky.social set in Barcelona, #Broken by Jon Atli Jonasson set in Reykjavik www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/... www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/...

This weekend, January 17, 18 and 19, I’ll again run my “Rebels & Exiles” walking tour for @slowberlin.bsky.social. Starts 2 pm each day. www.slowtravelberlin.com/tours/rebels...

I'm using a Substack to post ephemera and occasionals, like tonight's birthday letter from Tokyo. It will always be free-- subscribe here: Cloud Studies from A.V. Marraccini avmarraccini.substack.com/subscribe?pa...

Pourquoi la langue française est-elle si difficile, avec homophones, lettres muettes et exceptions absconses? Cela vient de la longue histoire de sa mise par écrit, explique Gabriella Parussa au micro du podcast autour de son livre. Bonne écoute et bonne semaine ! parolesdhistoire.fr/index.php/20...

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak clairemcalpine.com/2026/01/12/1...

Short but very sweet... or should that be invigorating? New story by @graskeggur.bsky.social to start the year

The ghost of the Cambridge classical scholar Jane Harrison haunts the pages of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One's Own (1929). Here's my post on the layers of connections, for over 30 years, these two writers shared.

There's No Turning Back* margot-kin-berg.com/2026/01/10/t...