Wooo! Look what OH got for Xmas from me 🤶 @benjaminmyers76.bsky.social Jesus Christ Kinski. Best time of the year for gifting this one. #JesusChristKinski #TBR #Blueskybooks

2026 yule book haul. Strong performance by @benjaminmyers76.bsky.social

Christmas is of course all about Jesus Christ (Kinski) Can’t wait to get stuck into the latest @benjaminmyers76.bsky.social

Just dropped some Madrigal, yo. youtu.be/8RUbxZB_Y0o?...

If Russell Brand goes to prison, who’s going to baptise Walliams?

I doubt Tom Cruise, Barack Obama or Jacko from Brush Strokes would get stopped by as many strangers in the street as Sandy did today (15 times in 2 hours).

Be nice to your postie at Christmas, they are doing a job you would probably find too difficult. 🙏

And that's all I have to say on the matter.

Dec 21st. We're over the hump, just like our ancestors before us. (Photo: winter solstice at Newgrange, County Meath. And Sandy.)

I call this one 'The Modern Entitled White Male In Trump's America: A Metaphor'. Or 'The Internet vs Reality'. Or 'Manifestation Is Bullshit'. Or...

Just saw a business called 1'st Choice, so there's my weekend ruined.

To everyone on Bluesky finding out about Walliams and despairing at the fact that "I read those books to my kids" I just want to reassure them that it's OK. He didn't write them.

Perhaps my favourite daft show of the year. (Hollywood loves lampooning Hollywood.)

A timely reminder that my book would make the most marvellous Xmas gift for the exasperated woman/bewildered man in your life. 10% off with the code FAZAKERLEY if bought direct from www.michelehowarth.com. Happy to include sweary dedications if that’s your thing. Gift wrapping an option - just ask.

See also: HS2. We're promised modernised transport connections up north. It never happens.

Forget stale Britpop and whack-pop for the 6Music Dads.... The singles I enjoyed most in 2025 were almost all recent rap and trap - Mazza L20, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Yachty, EsDeeKid, Ski Mask The Slump God, Chase & Status feat. Stormzy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtog...

The Spire by William Golding. Foreword by Benjamin Myers. Published by Penguin Classics (US), March 3rd 2026.

Boxing is going to come under much scrutiny this week when Anthony Joshua punches Jake Paul's head into the Atlantic. "How was this allowed?" people will say, forgetting that America is the land of grifters, loudmouths, entitled white bro's and spectacle.

Long story short: 1428 sausages.

Budding writers: we'll soon be announcing details of how to enter the Finchale Prize for Short Fiction 2026. It's for anyone living or working in the North of England, and we've got a couple of smashing judges lined up. £1000 and a rosey glow to the winner. newwritingnorth.com/northern-wri...

12.38pm. Nearly bed time.

This is my cyclical reminder that there's really only one consistently reliable source of info in the public record that isn't owned by right wing billionaires, who really want to put an end to it. Please give at least the $2.75 minimum they request if you can. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Personally, I'd replace The Stone Tape (a great concept, but way too loud) with Lost Hearts (1978), but a fine selection nonetheless. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Often music should be joyous. youtu.be/_zkRjrGmTl4?...

Trump has committed a rookie business error: he has made everyone hate his product ('the USA').

Every week I receive offers of work, for little or no payment.

On this week's Book Club podcast, Ben Myers joins Sam Leith to discuss his book Jesus Christ Kinski, which he describes as a ‘novel about a film about a performance about Jesus’. @questingvole www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/benj...

Thank you @galleybeggars.bsky.social samj.substack.com/p/three-books

Rob Reiner either made your favorite movie, or made somebody you know’s favorite movie. If you’re a Californian, he’s also part of the reason you or your friends can get married. He has changed more lives for the better than this asshole commenting on him ever did.

Looking for a Christmas present for the literature lover in your life? The finest fiction of 2025! Browse some of the most talked about novels of the year. https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/page/75F86F1B-6330-4CA7-809D-290FB91D9126?ingress=0&visitId=a0bf979c-f02b-4c1b-815d-274639184263

Dr @adellestripe.bsky.social visited this afternoon, and kept things formal in a sequinned gown with shoulder pads. Let it be known that a standard has been set, should any of you be planning to pop by.

RIP Rob Reiner, who made a perfect film on more than one occasion.

Featuring @adellestripe.bsky.social @jennashworth.bsky.social Jim Ghedi, Wendy Erskine (@wednesdayerskin.bsky.social), me and Bill Drummond.

The little book publishing house that I pretend to run has some wares on offer. They fit into stockings. And suspenders. www.alimentation.cc/ration-books/

Santa Claus is coming to town. Unless it's via DPD, in which case forget it.

The Observer once asked me what I was reading so I replied honestly: a biography about The Krankies. I've never been invited to partake in one of these again. observer.co.uk/culture/book...

It's an honour to have written a foreword for a new edition of perhaps my favourite novel (or is it a novella?), A Month In The Country by JL Carr. It's published by Quince Tree Press, now run by the Carr family. Do investigate their other wonderful wares. www.quincetreepress.co.uk

Long story short: 1428 sausages.

It's an honour to have written a foreword for a new edition of perhaps my favourite novel (or is it a novella?), A Month In The Country by JL Carr. It's published by Quince Tree Press, now run by the Carr family. Do investigate their other wonderful wares. www.quincetreepress.co.uk

We announced our books and records of 2025 earlier this week, in no particular order, but now we're proud to reveal our #1 picks: Jesus Christ Kinski by @benjaminmyers76.bsky.social, and Liminal, by Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe. Sending thanks and love to all authors and artists on the lists!

Proof you don't need a big budget to make one of the greatest British films of all time.

Whoah!

‘By summer’s end I had an entire housing estate of avian abodes, a metropolis of miniscule mansions for our feathered friends.’ This year, @benjaminmyers76.bsky.social built more bird boxes than he could ever possibly have purpose for www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/12/shad...

"Strap in and jump on the mad actor’s back, but, for fuck’s sake, don’t let go..." www.thecrackmagazine.com/view-editori...

All these minor celebs who announce they're moving to Dubai because you can't say or do anything in Britain #thesedays are in for quite the surprise.

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10 years ago I abandoned my car in a storm, had a power cut, nearly chopped my finger off, went to hospital, then wrote this. drownedinsound.com/in_depth/414...

Intolerable working conditions