If this article had existed in late April 2019, when I was asked a "why?" question I didn't have the knowledge to answer, perhaps I'd have been able to make a difference. Seeing through the Eyes of the Alienated Child open.substack.com/pub/shorteni...

I love editing ancient history, but good grief 😲 Cassander was a nasty piece of work. Looking forward to having my lunch break away from all the machinations and murder!

Take 2 mins to demand that Meta stop targeting you with creepy personalised ads and content! goodlaw.social/gk0i

'Drawing from extensive research and filled with jaw-dropping revelation' Read the full @waterstones.bsky.social blog piece by @shaunwalker7.bsky.social on his process of writing #TheIllegals here: tinyurl.com/5ue62u8d

Save the date boys and girls! I was given a little sneak peak into some of the authors speaking at this year's @marlboroughlitfest.bsky.social last night and OMG I am excited! You definitely want to make sure you can be there #booksky ❤️

I finished reading this proof 10 days ago & have had 🤞 since then that @kitdewaal.bsky.social would be available to come to Marlborough LitFest. Sadly she isn't, but now I can say how much I LOVE this book & exhort anyone who enjoys excellent, compassionate fiction to read it. Out on 10 April.

At 2 mins 50 seconds. Heartbreaking. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXS...

👇 if only

We're so excited to announce our first headliner for this year's LitFest: #AlanHollinghurst @panmacmillan.bsky.social will be our 2025 #GoldingSpeaker With thanks to event sponsor @williamgolding.bsky.social Save the date for our 16th festival: 25-28 September! More info: bit.ly/4g8gW1e #MLF2025

"Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world." ~ John Milton

👇🙏💓

Back to work today, editing a fascinating book on the cultural history of apocalyptic movements. It's months since I worked on a history title and I've missed them, but now I have two weeks of history to look forward to 🙂.

It’s likely that you’ll have some bits of card or paper knocking about after Christmas, and here’s a great way to use up some of it: simply trim a piece to the right size and stick it on your screen to block out Google’s “AI Overview” results

For anyone who is being hard on themselves right now.

👇👍

❤️

@bexbookaholic.bsky.social 😁

Upon my sickle I catch the sun And by my power I cast it on Across the sky The light to bring To rouse the gods To send the spring #WinterSolstice #Solstice #Midwinter #PlaymobilInfestation

Happy Winter Solstice to all in the northern hemisphere. The turn of the year's tide, a pivot-point, a day of hope—when the dark stops rising & after which the Sun begins its slow climb back. A day I celebrate more than Christmas or New Year. Fiat lux! 📷 by @annieworsley.bsky.social

One thing many people don’t realize about Antarctica: just how HUGE it is! Compare the mainland USA, for example. Find out about our work there by following @swais2c.bsky.social 🧪 🎨 by me #Antarctica #SWAIS2C

Coldplay and Dick van Dyke All My Love ❤️ youtube.com/watch?v=o4Ol...

100% this 👇 "Don't throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehension." www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Great minds don’t think alike. They challenge each other to think differently. The people who teach you the most are the ones who share your principles but not your thought processes. Converging values draw you to similar questions. Diverging views introduce you to new answers.

Not leaving the house today! ☔🌧️🌧️ Staying in and making Christmas marmalade instead, filling the house with the smell of oranges, and listening to Heart 80s' Band Aid 40th-anniversary programme 🙂.

Hey. There's zero percent chance of your brain falling out if you choose to have open-ended, philosophical discussions that don't conform to rigid categories & institutionally provided parameters. In fact, stretching the mind regularly will make your best & brightest synapses even stronger. 🧠

Happy birthday Hanif Kureishi! In this first biography of the author, @ruvaniranasinha.bsky.social sheds new light on how his life animates his work, and offers a vivid portrait of a major talent who has inspired a new generation of writers: manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526147394/ #OnThisDay

US artist Sue Beatrice who creates steampunk sculptures and jewellery out of old watch parts

Will be very interested to see how the restoration of the Eagle & Child progresses.

Brilliant to see that theweek.com have chosen @marlboroughlitfest.bsky.social as one of the best UK literary festivals 🎉🎉 theweek.com/culture-life...

An ancient bowl with human feet to bring a smile to your face this weekend! It tips slightly forwards as if offering its contents! Predynastic Egypt, Naqada period c. 3700-3450 BC. At the Met: www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... 📷 by me #Archaeology

For anyone in the UK, If you text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258 when you are in a dark place or suicidal, a trained crisis volunteer will text you back. This is great If you find talking on the phone challenging. It’s completely free 24/7. Please Repost, you never know who might need this support

"Those who do not move, do not notice their chains." - Rosa Luxemburg

So if you're a writer think about why you write, and why you want to publish (if you do!). Know that real, talented human beings exist who can help you on your way (whatever it may be) if you want them to.

This is why I am going to show you how we make a book. It’s a process, it’s a lot of work, it’s done by humans!! It’s incredibly rewarding wonderful work. Follow my daily journey as I show you how it’s done every step of the way.

What's interesting about this trend for book marketing AI companies—who secure £Xmil in seed funding, get a write-up in the Bookseller, and will now wither away, leaving only a slime trail of AI generated goop across the surface of culture—is mainly what it says about capital’s engagement with books

1/ 🚨 Conspiracy theories about the 2024 election miss the bigger picture. The truth? It wasn’t one night, one hack, or one fraud. It was a system rigged in plain sight – right in front of us. The playbook was out in the open for years. But hardly anyone paid attention. Here’s how they did it... 🧵

It's more than a bit windy out there, but just look how clean the UK electricity grid is right now with all that wind energy flowing in (graphics source: grid.iamkate.com/)

There IS a left-wing agenda, and it’s to prioritize compassion over greed. Kindness isn't a limited resource.

“A reliable way to make people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth. Authoritarian institutions and marketers have always known this fact.” - Daniel Kahneman

Everyone who buys a ticket to a @marlboroughlitfest.bsky.social event is helping us to bring our programme of free events to children and the elderly in Marlborough and the surrounding area. Thank you! And hopefully see you in 2025 (25-28 September).

📺 Every weekday, I’ll post a Conundrum ahead of Countdown (2.10pm, Mon to Fri, Channel 4) ❓You are looking for a famous person, first and second name. ⛔️ Please don’t reply with answer! No spoilers! Or I’ll turn off replies 😂 🗓️ I’ll post answer tomorrow, along with new one. Number 1: Actor (6,7)

Great to see @uksnowmap.com has moved over to Bluesky. From your BlueSky posts it populates the #UKSnow map. Just post the hashtag #UKSnow followed by the first part of your postcode and rate the snowfall out of 10 eg. 3/10 👏👏👏 thanks @benmarsh.com

Good morning from Istanbul everyone. I send out a newsletter called Journeys Beyond Borders every Monday and Wednesday via Substack. The dispatches are a little like my books so if you like those, please sign up and join in here: carolineeden.substack.com

@bertsbooks.bsky.social has made my day! I rarely win anything - the last thing I remember winning was a box of Terry's All Gold from the tombola at Potterne Church Fete in the 1980s and I was over the moon about that prize 😁 - but this surpasses that by a million miles! THANK YOU Bert! 🙏

Make it your mission to reach out to someone today, a family member you haven't seen in a while, maybe a old friend, or someone you've fallen out with. Perhaps a stranger that needs support or that person who really went out of their way to help. Reaching out is good for you ❤

Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, The Three Perfumes, 1912, Glasgow School artist

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.