Weekend Reading - picture taken with help from Youngest Years of Reading and I realised that’s a lot of blue! Am currently reading #Sleep by #HonorJones and chose #ThreeDaysInJune by #AnneTyler plus #ThisIsWhyWeCantHaveNiceThings by #NaomiWood I hope you are reading something fabulous today too!

I completely loved #MySalingerYear by @joannarakoff.bsky.social If you read the book, you’ll see why I chose these others too! It’s a book about life, growing up, and loving books and reading with all your heart. If you love books as much as me, #MySalingerYear should be on your reading list.

Not sure what day it is, but I do know that #SelfPortraitWithBoy by Rachel Lyon has me hooked, and is the perfect read after #HoldStill by Sally Mann. Photographer Lu accidentally captures her neighbour’s son falling to his death, and is faced with a moral dilemma as to what to do with the picture.

Sneaking in some of my Christmas reading before the chaos starts! FYI #InJudgementofOthers by @eanstruther.bsky.social is out in February, and it’s so so good - I know lots of you would love this one!

Nothing like realising your library book is due back on Saturday and you can’t renew it! Fortunately #TheEchoes by #EvieWyld is a brilliant read so I won’t be getting a fine this time! (I also feel like I am cheating on the other book I’m reading to finish this one…)

Brat summer is a distant memory, its battleaxe winter: season of boilers, dragons & fearsome maiden aunts. Get in girls, we’re wearing our most moth eaten fur coats & rocking up in a fug of Embassy & Yardley with a box of York Fruits & a bottle of Harvey’s Bristol Cream & shit’s about to get real

No, I’ve no idea why I woke up with back ache this morning…

Weekend reading has arrived! Thank you to @matineegirl1.bsky.social and @mslisahighton.bsky.social for keeping me informed about its publication, and now I have my copy of #TheCliffs by #JCourtneySullivan to lose myself in! It’s out now from Abacus if you fancy adding it to your reading list..

Beloved readers and writers of all things, I present a tv show all about reading and writing. Guests Inc Elif Shafak, Jackie Kay, @colsonwhitehead.com @naomialderman.bsky.social & shelves more. It’s on BBC. It’s called the Big Scottish Book Club. Enjoy! 📖 📺 ❤️ www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

It took me a while to get there, but am so glad I read #TheFellowshipofPuzzlemakers by @samuelburr.bsky.social and here’s my review. If you are looking for a book to lose yourself in, here it is. Thank you so much to @orionbooks.bsky.social for my copy. www.instagram.com/p/DC3mbTHg1u...

Finally time to read this evening, so Jasper and I enjoyed the peace and quiet! I picked up #WomenandChildrenFirst by #AlinaGrabowski and I am really enjoying it. It’s out now from The Indigo Press, and is a novel told through the eyes of ten women after a young woman dies at a party.

Guys - I could really use your help. Somebody I Used to Love is just inches away from breaking into the top 100 Kindle reads. I’d really appreciate any shares or downloads. This twisty, dark romance is currently on a 99p offer! I will reward you with virtual hugs x geni.us/SIUTL

New on my blog today: Five More Irish Novels I’ve Read alifeinbooks.co.uk/2024/11/five... 📚 💙 #BookSky #IrishFiction

Many Thanks to Ellie as my copy of #FamousLastWords by @gillianmauthor.bsky.social arrived on Friday. As always, with Gillian’s novels, I naively thought I would read just a chapter. Two hundred pages on, and I haven’t stopped reading all weekend. It’s just brilliant and I know you will love it.

On the 1st of January, the #Curae prize for writer-carers opens for a second time. The demise of twitter is making it harder to get the word out, so do share! thecuraeprize.uk There are around 7 million unpaid carers in the UK alone & Curae shines a light on the role & much more. #carers #writing

Having a very peaceful birthday, and am very grateful this year that I’m happy and healthy. Here’s hoping that my 54th year is filled with even more fabulous reading. Thank you to all of you for being so kind - it’s been lovely to meet you and of course I had some books (and possibly cake too!)!

When you are sat in Jasper’s space on the sofa..

Hi Bluesky! We're new here and looking for 28 thousand of our closest friends from the other place 👀 We're Comma Press - an #indiepublisher of #shortfiction from the UK and in #translation. 🌍📚 We also run lots of #publishing & #writing events in the North Find us at commapress.co.uk

Being the organised book blogger that I am, I can’t remember where I heard about #TheUndercurrent by Sarah Sawyer. I treated myself to a copy and know so many of you would love it! It’s one of those novels that has you hooked from the first page, and won’t let you go til the end..

“I’ve noticed I’m not in your starter pack. Any particular reason for that?”

#bookbloggers of Bluesky, I have a database you can sign up for! I work on a real mix of titles & I'm always on the lookout for bloggers to receive proofs, special packs & to help with secret squirrel reveals. ✨ UK only, sign up here: forms.gle/hYkfpoUdgBmw...

The Fate of Mary Rose is brilliant if you are looking for a book that twists in ways you could never predict…

Sometimes deciding what to read next is the greatest puzzle of all, and when you finally work it out, there is no better feeling. I know I am really late to the appreciation society, but oh my goodness #TheFellowshipofPuzzleMakers by @samuelburr.bsky.social is just wonderful isn’t it?

Just a girl searching for all of her THRILLER BOOK friends on a new platform… WHERE ARE YOU MY LOVES?? 🖤🖤 #booksky

@joellawriting.bsky.social Hi Ethan! Lovely to see you here!

Hello to all the new followers! I'm a startup indie publisher - a small fish in a huge publishing pond - and so I'm always looking for interesting ways to shine a spotlight on our books. I'm so proud to have published this mini stack, but I'm so excited about our new titles too📚 manderleypress.com

I’m not going to leave X just yet - I hate that sense of being driven away from a place I used to love. But after one day on here, I already know how much prefer it. So if you see this and would be kind enough to share it to let people find me, that would be hugely appreciated. Thank you.

@tillylovesbooks.bsky.social Hello lovely! How are you doing? Xx

Over 60? Writer? This is for you

For the remainder of 2024, I am going rogue and reading whatever I want! This weekend is all about Someone In The Attic by @andreamara.bsky.social and I can’t wait. I’ve shown you my weekend read, now let’s see yours.. #WeekendReads

So, how does a Crime Writing Festival go about picking up followers in this place, eh? Any idea?

Thank you very much to Fern Press my copy of #Audition by Katie Kitamura which is out in April next year. I love Katie’s writing (Intimacies is one of my favourite novels I read this year), and can’t wait to read this one too, which has already had incredible praise.

Thank you very much to Marigold and @dauntbookspub.bsky.social for my copy of #TheOddWomanandTheCity by #VivianGornick which is out in January. I love books set in New York, and this is all about Vivian’s experiences there - and it looks fabulous!

Morning…

To celebrate 2,000 BlueSky followers, I'm going to do a little giveaway. Repost and follow and I'll pick one lucky person at random to win a 12-month Gift Subscription at Bert's Books worth OVER £100. You have until noon on Sunday 17th November

Crikey that was a bit of a shock to see so many notifications when I logged in! Hello to my new followers- it’s lovely to meet you all, I hope you are all reading something fabulous, and hope you are ready for lots of chat about books and reading..

Has anyone else completely lost their reading mojo recently? I can’t stick with any books at the moment and have tried the usual tricks - back to an old favourite, short stories and poetry and nothing is working. Years of Reading Selfishly is becoming a Year of Finding Reading Hard!

Most days I handle being an unpaid carer. Then some days it’s really hard and it’s too much. Reading Tender by Penny Wincer is like someone reading my thoughts and helping me understand that it’s ok to feel like I do. If you are a carer, do make sure this one is on your list.

Well, this was my weekend reading and it was brilliant! Trust me, what is inside The Force of Such Beauty by Barbara Bourland is just as fabulous as the cover! A novel about identity, history, royalty and the commodification of women, I can’t recommend it enough! www.instagram.com/p/CzUC_UrLiP...

Getting up early was made a lot better by having #UnspeakableActsOfZinaP by @elenikwriter.bsky.social to keep me company! It’s a brilliant novel about women, identity, family and the power of language, and I can’t stop reading it! Thank you to Head Of Zeus books and Aries Fiction for my copy.

New #review - Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson, a collection of stories out now from Doubleday, to whom I'm grateful for a copy via Netgalley. bluebookballoon.blogspot.com/2023/10/revi...

This is a lovely blog post from Hayley at greetings card business Dotty About Braille showing just what reading Braille has meant to her mum over the years ♿️ ##Disability https://www.dottyaboutbraille.com/dotty-about-braille-blog/guest-blog-post-why-i-love-braille

Just in, today’s weather forecast.

I’ve just finished #TheOtherProfile by #IreneGraziosi tr. by Lucy Rand from Europa Editions (U.K.) and it’s brilliant. If you love complicated characters, and incisive commentary about the ethics and complexities of social media - you need this. Thank you so much to Daniela Petracco for my copy.

Jasper looking impressed(!) that I’ve finished #WentToLondonTooktheDog by Nina Stibbe. This book is just like chatting with your best friend and I adored it. If it’s not on your reading list, it should be. Review to follow. Thank you so much to Camilla Elworthy and Picador Books for my copy.

Happy Publication Day to Matt Hill for #Lamb from @deadinkbooks.bsky.social I read and loved it, and my review is now up on Instagram to tell you why. Thank you so much to Nate Ashley and Harriet Hirshman for my copy. instagram.com/p/CyStoiNrvxk/…

Excited to share my review of A Stroke of the Pen, the new collection of stories by Sir Terry Pratchett which is out TODAY. Very grateful to Doubleday for an advance copy to read and review. bluebookballoon.blogspot.com/2023/10/revi...

Everything they say about me is wrong.