took a break from blocking people on social media to write a post about some places in Jewish London that I love: open.substack.com/pub/naomiald... just because you know. it is nice to think about some lovely parts of my culture and heritage.

Wasn’t expecting to cry while reading Patricia Routledge’s obituary but here we are. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/o...

ICYMI: Bookshop.org has launched a new e-book platform, enabling indie bookshops to access the growing e-book market in the UK 👇 #BookSky

Man, I miss this. Autumn in the UK is just dark and soggy. DC fall is the BEST.

Wait what did I miss about Bluesky? Is it dying?

On October 3rd, I’m asking you to register to vote. zohranfornyc.com/register

Mid-Atlantic writers, we are returning to American U on 4/18 for our annual Conversations & Connections conference. More details, full lineup, and registration coming soon.

US friends! FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL DIRECTOR (by me, as Hazel Graves) is 99c in ebook all month! It's Freaky Friday x Six Feet Under x Legally Blonde and probably the funniest thing I've written :) 💍 🪦 🥀 ⚰️ www.amazon.com/dp/0008770476 #booksky #romancelandia

100% this. I used to buy a coffee out maybe once a week at most. Now it's more like monthly... Happy to report my 17yo takes (my) thermos of instant to school. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Who called it a hot flush when they could have gone with Peri-peri menopause?

I hear *someone* is having a sale next week. I guess they have to try and recoup some of that $2.5 billion they’re forking over for *checks notes* being deceptive? Who would’ve thought? Feels like Oct 7 & 8 will be prime days to support independent bookstores. 😌

The other remedy, of course, is actually doing Labour things that will improve people’s lives in such a noticeable way that they will want them to continue in government, but he doesn’t seem to want to do that either 🤷🏻‍♀️

I hope there will come a day soon where it dawns on someone in Starmer’s team that their strategy of communicating “Nigel Farage is right about everything but please vote for us instead” is fuelling these disastrous figures rather than mitigating them, but today is not that day

Starmer really will bring in any old policy at all rather than simply *taxing the rich*, won’t he?

OBAMA: It's fair to say that 80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on who are afraid of death and insignificance, and they won't let go. They build pyramids, and they put their names on everything. They get very anxious about it.

Andy Burnham gets it. Bring it on. #andyburnham4pm www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I'm no expert on UK politics, but winning an election and then doing approximately nothing in the face of what seem like serious issues doesn't seem like a good strategy. They've got several years before they have to face the voters; why aren't they trying to do something? Nothing isn't working.

A sweet New Year to everyone celebrating Rosh Hashanah today.

It just straightforwardly *insane* how much political chatter in the United Kingdom is about the next general election, an event that is a long way in the future, and how basically none of it is about 'uh, this policy agenda doesn't look adequate to the scale of the inherited problem'.

Even though it is broken down, I don’t this I would be able to say this … but I love the idea that a word exists to describe the sound of the wind through trees or rustling leaves 🍁 🍂🍁

The Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC) urgent appealing to children’s authors, writers and publishers to donate stories to its new bedtime stories app. The charity relies on stories in the public domain but are running out of books. Anyone willing to donate should contact [email protected].

Happy West Wing Day to all who celebrate!

do we think it's good that entire economy is based on the same entities passing money back and forth on speculative investment without anyone making anything that someone outside the loop is buying

At EB, we love discovering new reads — and podcasts are a great way to do that. We’d love to hear what your favourite is. Bonus points if it regularly covers books published by independent presses!

I've just added a couple of Maureen Duffy books to my wish list. I knew her name but hadn't read her - yet.

Whatever you do, please don’t stop reading. Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own. Just. Keep. Reading.

Very amused that Disney+ are going hard at advertising to UK audiences on Facebook. Do they think we don’t have the internet over here and don’t know what’s going on?!

DC friends, ICYMI: These are inexpensive and really fun! Community and accountability, without the intensity (and sometimes drama) of a workshop. ❤️ www.eventbrite.com/e/write-now-...

Now this is how you do social media. Oh, and policy, too.

this is tomorrow! join us if you’re in DC!

Sneak peek at our Publisher Mitch’s wish list! At Extraordinary Books, we don’t let traditional constraints dictate what we choose to put out in the world. We publish all genres — and beyond genre.

On days like today, it’s important to remember the words of the wonderful Jonathan Miller when challenging the dog-whistling of those who wish to divide us for political or financial gain.

"How Are the Very Rich Feeling About New York’s Next Mayor?" A Dramatic Reading of The Recent New York Times Dispatch from the Hamptons. Presented by The Gilded Age's Morgan Spector.

Happy World Ampersand Day to all who celebrate!

DC friends: Last chance to register! Come hang with me and Amber Sparks tomorrow night! www.oldtownbooks.com/events/30770...

The Children's Book Project has today launched a "bold drive" to gift one million books to children living in book poverty across the UK during the 2025-26 academic year 👇 #BookSky

Come on, @writersguildgb.bsky.social and @societyofauthors.bsky.social — please can we start suing these companies too?? apnews.com/article/anth...

So sad and angry for all my D.C. bookseller friends and ex-colleagues. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

FFS Keir Starmer. Bring ME onto staff. It’s so not-rocket-science that even I could solve your ratings problem.

Tax the rich, and see how quickly that changes.

The correct answer to this is ‘Oh, I’ve got one somewhere from the last Olympics, and I’ve a lovely Emma Bridgewater Union Jack mug. But, you know, the amount of flags in someone’s home isn’t a reflection of their loyalty to the country, or their patriotism.’

“I think all this adds up to absolutely nothing, until Keir Starmer decides what he stands for, and what he stands against”. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Bullies like Farage don’t back down when you give in to them. They demand more and more and more. And Labour is just letting him walk all over them.

How hard is it to say ‘We need to fix the immigration system, but we aren’t going to demonise and endanger people in need’. Why not go to a hostel and speak to refugees. Show the press they aren’t living the high life. Push back on the stupid flag stories. Show some bloody backbone, FGS.

"I will not tolerate people risking their lives to get to safety but I will tolerate racists threatening them" - Keir Starmer.

Furious about this Labour government. Furious!!

He’s got a massive majority! A huge mandate! He could do so many bold, inventive or even boring but very helpful things and people would see the difference he’s made and vote for him again. But no, instead he’s pandering to racists because he’s scared of losing their vote which he won’t get anyway!

Uh oh what have I missed

New books for September — UK edition. Run For The Hills is a delight — I highly recommend it. You can get it and all of these at @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social uk.bookshop.org/lists/new-bo...?