“Vitally, the human race is dying. It’s like a great uprooted tree with its roots in the air. We must plant ourselves again in the universe.” -D.H Lawrence

Angels: we’re making a new type of human called “writers”. Sensitive, thoughtful, often shy souls God: make it so that in order to succeed they must endure constant criticism, public exposure, rejection and failure, and they need really thick skins Angels: why would you— God: I want ‘em tortured

Looking at your SO when it’s past bedtime but there’s only one episode left to stream in the series

“Lincoln in the Bardo” by George Saunders. A beautiful, weird, funny book that will make you want to hug your neighbour and/or inhabit their body. Review 👇 #books #bookreviews #booksky open.substack.com/pub/maxpuffi...

Happy Return of the Living Dead Day (my own personal horror depicted here) #booksky #film

Why you should read cyberpunk in 2026. Here in the age of eroding democracy and corporate overreach it's more prescient than ever 👇 #booksky #cyberpunk #writingcommuinity #bookreviews open.substack.com/pub/maxpuffi...

Well, this is a nightmare scenario for all you horror writers to use. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j... #horror #writingcommunity

Slept so poorly that now my phone won’t recognise my crumpled face and unlock.

More Argentine horror - it’s "Fever Dream" by Samanta Schweblin. And “fever dream” is an apt description of the experience of reading it. Anyone read it? Review 👇 #bookreviews #booksky #horror maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie...

Got so fed up that I just ordered, like, 50 phone chargers, and put 10 in every room and now there’s no way they can all go missing, right?

THINGS MY STOMACH SOUNDS LIKE (Part 2: “The lecture hall”) - An avant-garde slide trombone solo - An alarmed but heavily congested pika - The exact sound of Pac-Man dying in the classic video game Pac-Man - A balloon with a tiny leak - A balloon with a tiny leak stuck in a pool filter

KOOKABURRAS (A morning poem from Australia) Oh kookaburras, kookaburras it’s illegal, is it not to cackle at such volume before the sun is up? I’m glad you’re so enthused. But this apricot dawn is wrought with stars, so ought you nasty jesters cease pestering us desperate alarmless? [1/2]

Theodore Roosevelt’s “man in the arena” speech is a great reminder for writers and for anyone who’s putting themselves out there, striving, bravely trying, even in the face of critics. (*Just update the language to be gender neutral and remember he said it in 1910). #booksky #writingcommunity

What makes a good book review? #booksky #bookreviews maxpuffins.substack.com/p/what-makes...

THINGS MY STOMACH SOUNDS LIKE (Part 1:“The awkward meeting”) - The sad, distant howl of a lonely dog - Creaking timbers on an old boat - The whistle of cheap fireworks - Leprechaun party time! - A percolating tarpit - A percolating tarpit dramatically consuming a shrieking dinosaur

Review of @trnapper.bsky.social 's rad collection of cyberpunk stories. Full of desperate people trapped in, manipulated by, or fighting back against an oppressive, dehumanised and totally imaginable near future. maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie... #booksky #bookreviews #currentlyreading

Just some news from the onion

"Old Soul" by Susan Barker. Anyone for a horrific Canterbury Tales? Anyone else read this horror-literary fiction crossover? My review 👇 maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie... #booksky #horrorlit #writingcommunity #bookreviews

Starmer is just one in a long line of British leaders from whom the public demanded a lot. Like when Winifred here got asked what she wanted King Charles to do. #UKpol #GBpol

someone asked me: what is Max Puffins? well, it's my name. it's also the industry-standard unit specifying the maximum safe puffin load for a structure (based on load-bearing characteristics etc). Eg. if you see "Max Puffins: 30" on a lift or skybridge and you've got 31 puffins, DON'T GET ON

Hey friends, you can subscribe to my substack at this link. It's neat. You'll get cool book reviews etc. (Just click on the free subscription, don't pay any money, good grief!) That's all, and may your day be filled with curiosity and kindness. maxpuffins.substack.com/subscribe

Chestbursting aliens don’t win you the Booker Prize; nature writing from space does. It’s the 2024 Booker Prize winner, “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey. Review 👇 open.substack.com/pub/maxpuffi... #bookreview #booksky #writingcommunity

China Mieville’s new book is coming out in September. Called “The Rouse”, 1300 pages (If I get a few more followers I may be able to review an advance reader copy 🤔) #booksky #weirdlit #writingcommunity

Just another little bird treat for you. Check out this rainbow bee eater I saw at the Sunshine Coast in Queensland 😍 #Birds

Review of 2025 Booker Prize winner, Flesh, by David Szalay. To use the novel’s style: "How was it?" "OK." "OK?" "Yeah." (It was actually better than OK - it’s pretty excellent) maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie... #booksky #bookreview #reading

Name a song inspired by books or writers 4. 1984 by David Bowie youtu.be/x2xfpMMQIJ8 #booksky #books #writing #music #bowie

Dostoevsky, forever full of beautiful and deep thoughts. “…to be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart — that’s what life is all about…” #booksky #books #writinglife

George Saunders’ new book, Vigil. The return of mind-inhabiting ghosts, but this time with a climate change flavour. maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie... #booksky #currentlyreading #bookd

Most of the way through this collection of cyberpunk stories by @trnapper.bsky.social and it’s a ripper. Shows us the dark, desperate, oligarchical future we need to fight to avoid. Looking forward to reviewing the full book shortly. #currentlyreading #booksky #cyberpunk

“Girl, Woman, Other” has a character map more complex than the London Underground, gives a masterclass in writing intersectionality, and is a worthy Booker Prize winner. Fantastic. Anyone else have thoughts on it? maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie... #booksky #currentlyreading #writingcommunity

Yes, come on courts, please help save us.

Post a song inspired by reading or books 3. Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush youtu.be/Fk-4lXLM34g?... #booksky #writingcommunity #music

Literature inspires us to think and to love creativity, and it's inspired these musicians too. Here are 6 (old school) songs inspired by books and writers. maxpuffins.substack.com/p/6-old-scho... #booksky #writingcommunity #music

The middle aged guy sitting next to me on the plane: rough-looking, shorts, thongs, tats, and diligently reading his book checked out from the Brisbane City Council Library, “Be the Parent You Want to Be”. Seems like there’s a very human story there. #writinglife #writingcommunity

Alright, a special treat. Check out this bird I saw (a red backed fairy wren, endemic to Australia). That is all. #birds

Post a song about a writer, writing life or reading. 2. “Killing an Arab” by The Cure (about The Stranger by Camus) youtu.be/RFIwEQkH7sg #writingcommunity #music #writinglife #booksky

Post a song about a writer, writing life, or reading. 🖊️ 🤝 🎧 1. “The Cult of Ray” by Frank Black (homage to sci-fi author Ray Bradbury) youtu.be/0d4q60aTE7k?... #writingcommunity #writinglife #booksky #music

Writing advice from the great Ray Bradbury: “Throw up in your typewriter every morning. Clean up every noon.” Get those drafts out! #writing #writingcommunity #writinglife

Truth

“Literature is a place where you can take the sanctity of something and make a mess with it.” Mariana Enriquez maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie... #Booksky #currentlyreading #books

A review of these short horror stories set in contemporary and still-haunted Argentina, from Mariana Enriquez. maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie... #booksky #currentlyreading #horror #books

Watched it for five minutes and it did NOTHING.

“Menu” was an insipid and derivative read - 1 star. Would be cool if airlines followed through on their “literature” promise and included books in these plane seatbacks. Airplane “little sky libraries”? These are good ideas. #booksky #books

Post a non-religious picture you think of as holy Hubble’s view of Wolf-Rayet 124

My Top Five Favourite Subgenres 1) Cyberpunk 2) Grimdark Fantasy 3) Hardboiled Crime 4) Students booing boomers who praise AI during commencement speeches 5) Time Travel

Book Review: “The Last Days of New Paris” by China Mieville. Just another story about manifested surrealist artworks fighting Nazis. maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie... #booksky #currentlyreading #books #weird

Whoah, Amazon, I ordered this classic cyberpunk book I’d been meaning to read, new (apparently) and what arrived was a photocopy of the cover with a few tattered pages of footnotes sticky-taped inside! I got cyberpunk’d! #booksky #currentlyreading #books #cyberpunk #fiction #writingcommunity

I remember when open sesame was enough. Now it’s all like Open_seSAme*71?#

Another in my series of “books to think twice about reading on the bus” maxpuffins.substack.com/p/book-revie... #booksky #currentlyreading #books #feminism

Bluesky friends, genuine question: do people on Bluesky want to read book reviews? (I ask because I’m writing book reviews. I mean, I’ll keep writing them anyway, but good to know). #booksky #currentlyreading #books