I cannot overstate enough how much I love this book. An astronomer falls in love with a woman who is in love with someone else and 30 years of pining and love letters ensue.

Another novel of a girl on the cusp of womanhood, this time a story of a relationship between father and daughter, that slips and slides between tenses and PoV. A slim but beautiful and powerful book. Thanks @mayatalih for the recommendation. Proleterka by Fleur Jaeggy

This was the most heart-warming read until the end when it utterly broke my heart. This was the most heart-warming read until it utterly broke my heart.

This was nothing like what I expected but so great. I have a real soft spot for books about mother-daughter relationships and queer books and this was both.

The very talented @lauramulkerne of @lauramulkernephotography snapped these of me at Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai on my visit. She was only slightly horrified that instead of looking at the 14th century Buddhist temple, I took photos of orchids and birds.

Just because there's not been much chicken content lately... Me with the chickens back in the autumn 2025, trying to get kisses from Perseus and getting his tail feathers instead. My life goals are pretty much reading in my garden surrounded by chickens.

Mrs S by K. Patrick (@k_.patrick) is probably my favourite read of the year so far. It's so engrossing and very sexy and the prose is just beautiful. Not to mention how much I identified with the protagonist: an Australian out of water in a very sloshy England and in a very English school.

I've been in love with Isabel Allende ever since I read House of Spirits. In the Midst of Winter is rather different, set in the US but exploring the plight of two women from Guatemala and Chile.

I recently took a group of sixth form students @thecentreforcomputinghistory and was really pleased to see some Jacquard loom punch cards! These would have been the punch cards that inspired Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine and Ada Lovelace's Note G in her translation of Menabrea's paper on it.

I haven't had a book hangover in a really long time but this book definitely caused one. It's just beautiful. I got completely lost in the world it creates, the descriptions of the remote island, and the people who find themselves there, and was actually devastated when it ended.

Little JiabJiab dude contemplating his existence in a JiabJiab (จيبจيب) machine in a mall in Chiang Mai. I was a bit shocked at the amount of plastic in use in Thailand, although I do wonder whether it's no different here in the UK it's just hidden from us so that we don't have to think about it

Written in the style of the lesbian pulp that it takes its title from, this was so much fun. And funny.

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin was the first of my holiday reads and I finished it before I even got off the plane! It was so, so funny and sexy but also rather touching and sad. Which I feel is the best combination of things to be. Highly recommend.

These cabbage bowls were part of the 'Lineage & Legacy: Porcelain portraits from 100 years of Wing on Wo' at the Museum of Makers in Chiang Mai @kalm_village

Late to the party but I really enjoyed this! I admire writers who can construct a whole novel out of many points of view and to write chapters that could stand alone yet build to a cohesive narrative. There were so many characters in here that I admire and would willingly spend much longer with.

As weird and wonderful as I expected Schweblin's story collection to be. I loved Fever Dream so much and this was as equally disturbing. More than any other writer she makes me feel unstable and uncomfortable in the best possible way.

One of my holiday reads and holy moly can Mary Gaitskill construct a sentence! And the way she handles time is so enviable, across decades in a single sentence. The story is utterly revolting in so many ways but it was such a powerful read.

Loved this book. Loved the relationship between mother & daughter: strained & bitter & full of so many unsaid things. Every chapter felt like a perfectly crafted short story. Full of such despair and strangeness and disappointment and love. Highly recommend.

I am still in the throes of a redraft but have learned so much in the last few months about myself & writing that I wanted to share some thoughts. Last Christmas I decided that I would just embrace being alone & do everything I normally did but just for myself.

Tomorrow night! 8pm GMT Anthony Etherin discusses some of the new constraints employed in his latest book, The Robots of Babylon (Penteract Press) as well as his techniques for creating new literary restrictions. Sign up here: forms.gle/rv92K5LJi8Jf... #constraintcreativity #oulipo

Constraint Creativity talk Tue 7th Nov 8PM GMT Beyond Scrabblegrams presented by David Cohen New constraints, new collaborations, and a deluxe assortment of entries made by the greater wordplay community! Sign up here: tr.ee/8NR_dD_zcH

Sigh. If anyone has seen my cup of tea, please let me know.

Very much looking forward to running my FINE TUNE YOUR WORDS #editing #workshop at @retreatwest.bsky.social in January 2024. Link open for booking! There are other fab ones listed, so take a look. #amwriting #writingcommunity

Um… I do not write stories about chickens for kids. I do write stories. And I do have chickens. Ambivalent about children, though.

First post! I started writing during the pandemic and my whole community was on the bird app and it's been devastating to see it slowly erode. I would love to find other writers in here in the #writingcommunity #writerscommunity. I'll do an intro post as well (because no threads?)