Another wonderful #buyastrangerabook day offer for you. Having done a seasonal re-read of Small Things Like These over Christmas, @helenliz.bsky.social would like to buy one lucky person a book by its author Claire Keegan. Here's a selection. If there's one you'd like, get in touch. UK only

n a p

I may regret this, but for every like, I'll give a fact about the "Hunt for Gollum" story from the text.

This scene is my favourite Tolkien-related media

You know what the new year means, right? A new round of album anniversaries and January's chock full of 'em! 34 years this week, Tori shook off the shackles of Y Kant Tori read and released her debut solo album, Little Earthquakes and the rest, as they say, is history!

Hel has frozen over. (The seaside town near Gdańsk).

John Horgan, I'm real sorry you're dead and I respect that you were the BC premier but you are wrong

Catwings then (Orchard Books, 1988) and now (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2023). (There may be a cat hair or two on the background surface; in this instance that seems appropriate.)

Four Quartets

Canterbury’s cast-iron streetlights — many bearing the original Canterbury City Corporation crest — are being condemned and replaced with generic, mass-produced steel columns by Kent County Council. Sign the petition www.canterburysociety.org.uk/save-canterb...

That back-to-work feeling in full:

Earlier this year, I did an in-store interview about The Golden Age Of Children's TV with Andy Miller for Dead Ink Books in Liverpool - ask your local bookshop if you want me to do one there! - anyway it was great fun and here it is... timworthington.org/2025/04/10/d...

Poor Stephen, he was so excited about being a traitor and it’s all been a nightmare #TheTraitors

Oh chuck Hugo out. Bore bore bore bore bore #TheTraitors

Happy birthday Tolkien and happy birthday DS9. And happy birthday for yesterday Blake’s 7.

Frog and Toad looked into a mirror. “We look brave,” said Frog. “Yes, but are we?” asked Toad.

Today is J.R.R. #tolkien's 134th birthday. Let's raise a glass to the professor! #TolkienBirthdayToast

"You don’t need to write what you (already) know, because with research and hard work and pure will and a willingness to blunder and bomb as you write, you can make yourself know a great deal."

Happy birthday J.R.R. Tolkien! Here’s my latest tribute to “On Fairy-stories” and the way it shaped the thinking (and writing!) of later fantasy authors. dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/in-tolkien... @tolkiensociety.org @uofgfantasy.bsky.social @uofgartshums.bsky.social

Happy birthday JRR Tolkien! On this day, January 3 of 1892, the author of The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit was born! I am so thankful for his lifelong devotion to storytelling and world-building, and I am inspired everyday to pursue beauty, goodness, and truth because of him.

At the current show on Le Guin's life and work in Portland, visitors can try out her old typewriter. She bought it used in 1966, after she sold her 2nd novel, Planet of Exile. She typed A Wizard of Earthsea on it, Left Hand of Darkness, Lathe of Heaven, The Dispossessed...

Call for submissions! We'd like to expand the diversity of our Archive authors, and are looking for proposals for any available story from anyone meeting the criteria of being disabled or a person of colour. obversebooks.co.uk/blackarchive... Closing date for subs 30/06/26 Please share! #booksky

Details:

We're calling for submissions to the Black Archive from disabled authors and authors of colour, who we know have been underrepresented in the range. Please spread this as widely as you can, as we want it to reach as many eligible authors as possible. Thank you. obversebooks.co.uk/blackarchive...

You are free, Tenar. You were taught to be a slave, but you have broken free.

Six seasons into Esme being a judge on Sewing Bee and she casually drops into conversation that she collects skulls 😍 💀

Julie is the best!

I’m a screenwriter for comics, live action, and animated TV. Algorithm gods please connect me with kindred spirits: - Sci-Fi / Fantasy fans - Disney Enthusiasts - Film & TV nerds - Artists - Comic Book geeks - Writers - Producers - Mixologists - Project Managers - Forgotten Women in History buffs

For former LJ pals

There are more than the usual number of chipper psychopaths this year; good vibe #TheTraitors

Well I like the secret Traitor thing; mixes it all up a bit #TheTraitor

This reveal was not a surprise to those of us watching with subtitles #TheTraitors

Happy New Year, everyone! The second audio instalment of me reading my book on Time went out this morning - take a listen to my musings on January-the-first-ness... and what Time is or might be! (Link to catch up on part 1 from yesterday is in the post) taniahershman.substack.com/p/its-time-a...

What you see is the clear warm light of April. And it means that we can begin a whole new year together, Toad.

Quote with a GIF that depicts the energy you're going into 2026 with.

May your year be blessed with accepts subject to minor corrections.

In composing the cue “Spock” for The Wrath of Khan, James Horner employed a glass harmonica to sound suitably strange and alien; but the harmonica was invented by Benjamin Franklin - the only American invention in the orchestra for that film.

Last nap of the year 👍 💤

Important thread

What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?

VERY niche book rec request: I'd like to read a non fic about private military contractors in the late 20th/early 21st century. Also one on private government contractors who are rubbish, a la G4S. (Or one on both, rubbish private military contractors also welcome!)

"What was your biggest impact on the Internet?" I drew the original of this. (I storyboarded and assistant directed on this episode.) (Fry, "Shut up and take my money")

In the other place, I used to post images of my #Tolkien collection, decided to set myself a challenge and post one image a day of an item from my Tolkien collection for each day of 2025 on bSky, 365 in total, starting January 1st 😰

365 days of #Tolkien delights achieved!

Toad took his clothes out of the closet and put them on. Then he crossed out: Get Dressed.

My biweekly chapter-by-chapter reread of The Lord of the Rings gets into the book proper this week with a discussion of "A Long-Expected Party". Click through to learn how J.R.R. Tolkien is (and is not) like Jane Austen. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...

We’ve been marathoning The Great British Sewing Bee over the holiday and I’m not sure I’m going to cope with Joe Lycett leaving 😭