Bought myself a pair of New Year slippers from Aldi (this boy knows how to party!) Got a free giant needle in the toe... (NB it was a small prick and did no damage so I won't be suing for millions) Most excitement I've had in months... #BobsNewSlippers

It's a New Year, and there will be questions.

My very British husband got confused about what bean dish we were eating on New Years (it's Hoppin' John) and referred to it as "Jumping Joe" so I hope you are all eating some Jumping Joe today to welcome the new year and bring luck.

Usherettes - August Sander, 1926–1932,

Ooh, thank you @ivory1.bsky.social for being my 7000th Bluesky friend. Well that's 2026 sorted already. Obviously all you other lovely 6999 peeps are equally special & loved. Have yourselves a good evening & a very splendid new year. Bx

I popped to Tesco. I'm now home and having a little lie-down. It was A LOT.

remember I run an author q&a series on the Big Bearded Bookseller blog, the very first author to be involved was Lisette Auton, a MG author from the NE of England bigbeardedbookseller.uk/lisette-auto...

Look, numbers mean nothing but it's New Year's Eve & I have 6993 followers & it seems rude not to mention it. If you know anyone who enjoys k-wality Bluesky posts I'd be obliged etc etc...

5000+ years old, and it still precisely captures my mood entering 2026.

Joseph Weizenbaum was present at the creation of digital computing and is a major contributor to computer science. Leaders in the industry that was built on work like his show absolutely none of his humility; in fact they scorn it as weakness.

Here’s hoping that 2026 is a year of health and positive progress for all, not just the oligarchs.

When I was living in London in my 20s I caught the train 'home' to my parents for Xmas. I stopped at a pub outside the train station to fortify myself & someone at the bar asked if I was "Robert Johnston" . Behold, it was someone I went to school with, a sporty popular boy, 'leader of the pack' 1/2

These past few weeks I've kept coming back to the spectral beauty of Jacob Alon's In Limerence – and the more I do so, the more I follow it by listening to an album from 2020 that all but seems to pave the way for it. www.patreon.com/posts/its-ha...

@davidgerard.co.uk has a pretty good run down- his conclusion seems to be “not bad enough to jump ship yet, and there’s some spin-offs that seem safe”

Sunday sorted - coffee & the Christmas jigsaw... #BobsExcitingLife

Obie's having a lazy Sunday. Checking out the RTÉ Guide for an afternoon movie... #doglife

If you pay for specific digital files as a "purchase", ideally only do so if you have the means to download, convert, and store the file however you want, wherever you want. Otherwise it's not buying, it's renting, and a rental agreement can end at any time.

Khalil used to be an accountant with an ordinary life. Now he lives in a tent and worries about the health of his anemic son.

If this got more views on YouTube than the actual show, it would make my year. youtu.be/Y54OJC0FtCs

Watching ‘Jaws’ last night and towards the end, the action pauses for an almost 4 min monologue. I’ve been reading about writing techniques lately and one commonly repeated is to cut anything that doesn’t propel the plot forward aka ‘ kill your darlings’ www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii...

And from nowhere, a sudden thought that I'll never see or talk to my Dad again. That was a gut punch I didn't see coming. I blame Fleetwood Mac for coming on the stereo. Having a little cry now. He'll be dead 10 years come March '26 which is crazy. He was a difficult man but a great Dad. #Grief

Dan bought the kittens a cat tree and it is HUGE, this thing is *taller than us*, it took us all afternoon to assemble it and now the cats are like “I can see your house from here”

God, I always forget how much I fancy Richard Dreyfuss in Jaws. #ChristmasTV

Obie is the King of Christmas Day.

Happy Christmas from the wilds of Mayo. Apparently I spent too long on the phone to Mum so Obie was forced to adopt the pheasant doorstop for company... Jess, meanwhile, is prepping their new album cover...

Christmas is hard for many. The years roll, the ghosts at the table increase. We’re haunted by the absence of voices, of laughter engines who drank and ate with us. This can be day of remembrance rituals. For what it’s worth, Hooklanders near and far are in my candles today. Be gentle on yourselves.

Incidentally was looking into Raymond Briggs of why he made the ending of The Snowman so brutal and this quote tickled me

Happy Christmas Blueskyers. It's a lovely frosty quiet start to the day here in Mayo. Obie & Jess have been. working on their album cover. I'm wondering if it's too early to start cooking dinner... (It's a nut roast so doesn't take as long as a turkey).

A wonderful festive postman thread. First job of the new year? Make a sign with our house name on... #posties

As it’s Christmas, I thought I’d share with you a painting by the Low Countries painter Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c1525-1569) who painted one of the most atmospheric artworks in 1565; The Hunters in the Snow. I’ve used software editing to bring the image back to how it might have originally looked.

Right, house is clean, I am clean, and I've got olives & a cosmopolitan ready for my Xmas Eve telly - first up is @richardosman1.bsky.social 's House Of Games, which makes me very happy. Here's me 'hanging' with Richard in my bookshop days... #BooksellerBob

Picked out this gem for family movie night

Cleaning the house, turning the mattress & putting on clean bedding for Christmas with the help of Karen & Richard... #ChristmasEve #TheCarpenters

Magnificent thread.

That’s because Musk is a serial liar and DOGE was never intended to save a penny. It was intended to smash the administrative state, kill corruption watchdogs, and give Musk access to massive troves of data.

Professional Editor of Spiritual Fiction/Nonfiction #amwriting #authorsoftwitter #writingcommunity #Spirituality #amediting inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Asss you may know I’m chilled re Farage & Reform..😉 However them planning to cut adult services in Kent impacting 19,000 vulnerable elderly, disabled, sick ppl And now hearing days before Xmas Reform Derbyshire council plans to shut Eight care homes, taking 200 jobs, throwing elderly ppl out 😤🤬

Poem of mine published in the latest Christmas / winter anthology from @blackboughpoetry.bsky.social www.blackboughpoetry.com/news

#ArtAdventCalendar 24/24 Merry Christmas lights

YES IT IS BRILLIANT

Starting Christmas the right way - with Judy admiring our festive lights... Lions and tigers and bears oh my! #TheWizardOfOz

Massive thanks to the kind independent bookshops who went out of their way to support me this year after my ex-publishers imploded (taking my earnings & my readers' money with them). It made a big difference. And thanks if you used a purchase of one of my books to support an independent business.

Here it is, my big #EastEnders catch-up thread for people who only see it when they go home for Christmas with the family. Allow me to get you all caught up on the goings-on in Albert Square in its most explosive week of the year! KEEP THIS BY YOUR SIDE AT ALL TIMES.

Really enjoying this Alternative Irish Christmas anthology from @tramppress.bsky.social which I bought at the launch @dublinbookfest.bsky.social 🎄 📚

How I’m turning up to the Bluesky Christmas Party.

How insane have book promotion scammers got? Louisa May Alcott recently reached out from beyond the grave to recommend her marketing team to me.

My love letter to Dublin the 5th most-read article in 2025 on UK's best food & drinks publisher! Mostly down to @davidsquires.bsky.social's illustrations, & all the people who gave their time to talk to me, @lisagrimm.com @stephenclinch.bsky.social @gerrytastic.bsky.social @braciatrix.bsky.social

A timely reminder: The terrifying rise of racism in modern Britain The defeat of fascism was our nation’s triumph, so what has caused such a drastic shift in the modern era? @leftwithnoparty.bsky.social @sussexbylines.co.uk

Tonight Gáttaþefur (Doorway Sniffer), the 11th of Iceland's 13 Yule Lads, comes down from the mountains. He has a very long nose and a keen sense of smell, which he uses to find laufabrauð. Children leave their shoes out in the window, he gives the good ones a small gift, the bad ones get a potato.

I've been having fun with my new Glowcose, a small lamp which glows different colours according to my blood glucose. The ideal is green, like a Borg cube, to match the cyborg devices we wear. It's a little crashy and slow to update, but the dev is working on that. The UK distributor is lovely too.