Happy 531st birthday to the University to Aberdeen, and cheers to the Borgia Pope who gave it it's foundation, and to James IV and Bishop Elphinstone, and the ladies at the bakers and all the rest.

News email from my local council tells me about nurseries celebrating Dolly Parton's 80th birthday (all 2-5s get a free book every month); that they're building more walking and cycling routes; and where residents can get advice about money, education and more. Not everything is broken

There is no political discourse as magnificent as the Scottish political discourse.

Tune in to @backlisted.bsky.social tomorrow everyone, the decade finale is magnificent.

Apparently, we've had 34,001 streams of The Bert's Books podcast. No idea if that's good or not. Let's add a few more - the latest episode featuring spoiler-free reviews of The Barbecue at No 9 and Mistborn is winging its way to wherever you listen to your podcasts right now.

Unable to attend or tune into the livestream on Wednesday 4th March? You can still pre-order a Signed & Dedication Edition of The Cromarty Library Circle for collection or delivery: www.theportobellobookshop.com/978152944549...

Reading the bestseller list in yesterday's Times in a grainy grey light, I briefly misread Richard Osman's latest as, 'The Impossible Fortrose', which I can only assume stems from him having attempted to negotiate the aisles of the local co-op, or get a booking at my own preferred eatery.

We laugh about the time my then 7 y.o. hastily scribbled, 'And then he blew up.' to end a story he was writing. l've just read 3 stories in '100 World's Greatest Short Stories', - Hans Christian Andersen, Kate Chopin & Checkov, and every one of them finishes with the protagonist suddenly dying.

Thank you to whoever suggested reading Sigrid Undsett's Kristin Lavransdatter when I asked for Nordic/Scandinavian suggestions. An incredibly immersive portrait of life in C14th Norway. 1124 pages - took me 4 weeks and my sympathies were constantly shifting, but held me throughout.

Very nice to see The Cromarty Library Circle on the somewhat daunting shortlist for Bookmark Book Festival's 2026 Book of the year.

Someone is posing as me and carrying on extensive pen pal correspondences with people they have approached.

Today, Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon, is further eviscerating the Washington Post, & getting rid of its book pages. Thank you to independent booksellers, like this one⬇️ who care for their staff & communities and go out of their way to support writers, instead of trying to make a fast buck out of them.

Book launch: The Cromarty Library Circle 25 Feb, Dunkeld: £5 @shonamaclean.bsky.social launches her latest novel, THE CROMARTY LIBRARY CIRCLE: a Scottish town on the cusp of change & the townspeople whose lives will be irrevocably altered over one tumultuous year www.culturepk.org.uk/event/an-eve...

Was just telling my husband that I wish it could be like when the kids were little and all still lived at home and I'd be making Sunday lunch for the 6 of us. Apparently though, "I wish it could be like this forever" was not the vibe I was giving off at the time.

Ridiculous advert on TV (half-time in Liverpool match) for some sort of AI assisted cooking, of all things. The voice-over obviously isn't even by a real person. Nobody loathes looking more than I do, but my family will eat raw for the rest of their lives before I succumb to this garbage.

They are burning up the planet to 'mine' utterly useless bitcoins www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

The wonderful @shonamaclean.bsky.social is visiting Linlithgow! She's joining us in March to discuss her new historical novel The Cromarty Library Circle, which tells the stories of a disparate group of people over the course of a particularly extraordinary year. Tickets: tinyurl.com/FFTMCSGMaclean

Blue sky.

Americans: there are more of you, than there are of them

Thei wante us talkinge alone on our phones to a demon thei created, and not goinge places and being wyth each othir yn art and joy and communitye. Thei want cinemas to shut downe, and broadwaye to go darke. Thei want wryteres to stop writinge. Thei want to give us hell and have us pay for it.

It was a sad, sad day on the croft when there was no soup in the freezer 😔

#FindsFriday 🥰 Steadily being drawn back into the votive lakes of Wales... 📷 The extraordinary early Iron Age cauldron from Llyn Fawr, Rhigos, south Wales - on display in St Fagans Museum, Cardiff 😮🧙

The brilliant @shonamaclean.bsky.social, author of The Bookseller of Inverness, is visiting Linlithgow! Shona's coming to discuss her new historical novel The Cromarty Library Circle - the incredible story of one extraordinary year in a bustling Scottish town. Tickets: tinyurl.com/FFTMCSGMaclean

Upcoming book tour, where I'll be talking about the book (obvs.), the decision to step away, for this one at least, from my established genre of historical crime fiction, and why I'm publishing it under my own name - Shona - rather than 'S.G.' Amongst other things ...

British MP Ed Davey (leader of the Liberal Democrats): “He is a bully. He thinks he can grab whatever he wants using force. He’s corrupt. The most corrupt President the US has ever seen.”

Capital of the Highlands aglow tonight:):)

Innerpeffray Library- the oldest lending library in Scotland #AlphabetChallenge #WeekBforBooks #Booksky

On my way to the supermarket 3 miles away, and taking my 1100 page book in case the car breaks down on the way.

If you do not already love Lucy Worsley ...

I don’t want to worry anyone but Digging for Britain has just said that the largest UK archaeological dig is currently taking place a stone’s throw from where MR James set A Warning to the Curious.

It's hilarious tonight on Bluesky reading down the #Traitors comments in reverse. Everyone at the end: Harriet is a deranged psychopath. Everyone at start: Harriet is the Grand Master and must win. Surely, though, Harriet's cackle on finding she was right must win a Bafta?

I'm really looking forward to talking about my new novel, The Cromarty Library Circle, in Linlithgow, afternoon Wed 4th March. The book is actually being published under my own name, Shona. It's not a thriller maybe more of a social drama (is that a thing?)I mean, I'm not saying nobody dies ... .

Glow-in-the-dark George and a bit of early morning Gaelic. Hailing from Poolewe, George is a native speaker, which may explain why he has such a selective understanding of English.

Books are like buses, and 2026 is definitely front-loaded for me. First up, THIS. I feel so honoured that these people have chosen to share their stories with me. Strap in for a real life, warts and all account of what REALLY happens when people walk away from the day job to pursue their passion.

Update: due to the "situation ", I was forced to go to Leakey's. There was a slim copy of a David Lodge play, and I bought that and a printed primary source book I wanted. I checked the price of the source book but not the play, which was surprisingly pricey. Have just opened it, and it is SIGNED.

I am on the train and have forgotten my book. Can I please have a moment's reflective solidarity from all right-thinking people.

Husband wakens dog, trying to persuade him down from the sofa and off to bed. Dog looks from one to the other of us in astonished perplexity. 'No speak English. I from Barcelona,'

January2026. He started out with such hopes for the world. Alas.

I think most of us could probably usefully do what Ia Genberg has done in her novel (?) The Details. Not for publication but for ourselves, to try to remember and account for our relationships with people who have been in our lives for a while but, for one reason or another, aren't any longer.

“Winter is cold-hearted:” (Christina Rossetti) 🎨 Florence Harrison #wintersky

It has become increasingly clear that X - a platform now actively producing explicit and abusive material against women and children - is not an appropriate platform to be using for our comms. I will keep pushing for action from the govt & relevant authorities in this area.

An elderly lady contacted me after reading The Bookseller of Inverness, to tell me about the 1920s film her uncle was in where the redcoats were played by soldiers from Ft. George & the Jacobites by Inverness locals. The battle scene had to be shot twice, because 1st time round, the Jacobites won.

Quiet house. Coffee. Watching the shift between twilight phases over the neighbor's barn. This world. Such monstrousness. My phone tried to autocorrect that to 'monstrous nessuno' which makes no sense but still feels true (monstrous nobody).

Honey Jack Daniels is delicious, and I fear I am about to tell complete strangers that I love them. (It is still New Year in Scotland, btw.)

If my bike was a person, I think it would probably pick today to leave me.

Finally tried watching the Traitors. So many people have told me how great it is, how addictive once you start. I've tried, but it's like an over-hyped variation on The Apprentice. Grown adults running about being ridiculous. I think I preferred 'It's a Knockout', tbh.

Great Hogmanay show from BBC Scotland tonight. Brilliant performance of Whole of the Moon. 10/10.

Funny how a baked Camenbert can make people lose ALL decorum.