Maria Slozak

Incoming Storm, Elgol, Isle of Skye #Scotland #Elgol #IsleofSkye damianshields.photoshelter.com/p/2026-calendar

Illustrated map of the fictional world of Narnia, showing notable locations such as Cair Paravel, Lantern Waste, and the Wild Lands of the North, with annotations and directional compass.

Born #OTD in 1898: C. S. Lewis, creator of Narnia!

This hand-drawn map is his own sketch, later redrafted by Pauline Baynes for Prince Caspian.

Spot Aslan’s How, Cair Paravel and Lantern Waste on the map. 🦁

Shelfmark: MS. Eng. lett. c. 220/1, fol. 160

We are looking at a Victorian lantern which is glowing a warm yellow colour. On the glass on sign writing are the words ‘Merchants’ Hall’

Happy weekend!

It is a grey and gloomy day so here we are sending some illumination (in a suitably Dickensian way) to brighten up your Saturday.

😎

Lucky you!! I've only seen Felicity Kendal on the small screen.

The theare I worked at was in one of the Nordic countries

It was heaven. A national theatre with three stages - it hardly felt like work!

Playwright Sir Tom Stoppard dies at 88 Sir Tom won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for the screenplay for Shakespeare In Love.

Every exit is an entry somewhere else. Tom Stoppard
The key to my books.
Thank you for the inspiration, Tom.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Used to work on the front side of a theater, and got to see every play for free (more than once). Arcadia was my introduction to Stoppard, and remains a top favourite. I adore his work. Will salute him with rewatches of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Shakespeare in Love...

On that note, I'd like to mention how grateful I am for the thoughtful and down-to-earth presence here of writers like you, whose work I enjoy and admire so much, and who, no matter what is going on in their own lives, conduct themselves so graciously in our shared community. Thank you, Ms Robb ❤️

'we write the best history when the specificity, the novelty, the awe-fulness, of what our sources render up bowls us over with its complexity & its significance. Our research is better when we move only cautiously to understanding...' CWB 'Wonder' AHR 1997. Thanks to @hagenilda.bsky.social

Ben Lomond, The Trossachs.

#Sharemondays2025
#Scotland
#Photography

A wonderful visit to the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh recently to see the Lewis chess pieces also included a visit to the museum shop where there was a range of products inspired by the iconic chess pieces. #medievalsky

Unusual Historicals November 2025. Graphic features book covers for Twelve Days to Win a Count by Alessandra Alma, After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian, How to Court Your Wife by Amanda McCabe, The Daring Times of Fern Adair by Cara Devlin, A Literary Liaison by Mihwa Lee, These Violet Delights by Madeleine Roux, The Cowboy's Convenient Wife by Carol Arens, Bedding the Marquess by Kelsey Swanson, When He Was a Duke by Tess Thompson, Snowbound Regency Christmas by Carla Kelly, Joanna Johnson, and Samantha Hastings, For a Viking's Heart by Laura Strickland, The Disgraced Knight's Redemption by Ella Matthews, The Hart's Rest by Sophia Nye

It's American Thanksgiving this week, so let's give thanks to another crop of Unusual Historicals! We have 13 titles making their debut this month and you can read all about 'em over at the blog wendythesuperlibrarian.blogspot.com/2025/11/givi... #RomBkBlog #Romancelandia

And this morning the Shed is a Montgolfier, rising through the gilded clouds…

Spot on!

Hah! It appears I'm overcaffeinated. You wrote cute, not cosy. Apologies!

The cosiness factor is tricky for me, too. Read a fantasy that had been enthusiastically praised as wonderfully cosy - and mainly got anxiety vibes from it. Read a cosy romance, and felt unmoved because the hero experienced no growth, being "perfect".

Thankfully, Dec. romance cosiness cheers me!

Similar feelings about current romance trends.

The Ripped Bodice rec'd Scarlett Peckham's The Rakess to me when I asked for something in the vein of Sherry Thomas & Meredith Duran. The spice tested my boundaries but it ended up my favourite historical read of 2025.

I'm always up for a vintage mystery novel and straightaway looked up Gilbert's Hazelrigg books. I'll have to dig around for a physical copy of Close Quarters. Thank you so much for your thread! (1/2)

I have been going through a romance drought lately - everything I pick up is too cute, or not cute enough, or just so meh that I can't keep reading - but I did discover the mysteries of Michael Gilbert, who seems in a very profound way to think, "okay, how can I gut-punch the reader today?"

I’ve felt a little disheartened on this platform lately. How are we finding it collectively for photography?

Here’s a previously unshared photograph of a beautiful woodland trail, where warm light leads the way into the autumnal colours.

#woodland #photography

I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.

Veiling the Holy: Textiles in Ethiopic Manuscripts “Textiles play a vibrant role in the churches of Ethiopia and Eritrea...”

Textiles play a vibrant role in the churches of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and Ethiopic literature often refers to the varied uses. Dr. Jeremy R. Brown, cataloger of Ethiopic manuscripts at HMML, shares some examples: hmml.org/stories/series-textiles-veiling-the-holy-textiles-in-ethiopic-manuscripts

Thank you Franz-Stefan Gady for your very generous review of my book:

"The Crusader States and Their Neighbours: A Military History, 1099–1187"

Published in "War, Conflict and the Military" (2025).

Link to review: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

@hoanssolo.bsky.social

A gorgeous fall afternoon in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Washington. The sun broke through the clouds only briefly to provide this nice sliver of light.

Lost in Translation: What the West Misunderstands About Byzantium - Medievalists.net From law and theology to art and diplomacy, the Byzantine Empire left a profound mark on global history that challenges Western misconceptions.

Lost in Translation: What the West Misunderstands About Byzantium www.medievalists.net/2025/08/what... #Byzantium

James Patterson and Bookshop.org Announce New Literary Prize for Debut Authors James Patterson and Bookshop.org have launched a new literary prize. The James Patterson and Bookshop.org Prize honors books written by debut authors within the last 12 months, and are selected by ind...

We’re excited to officially announce The James Patterson + Bookshop.org Prize 🏆 This award aims to uplift new literary voices, connect with booksellers, and support independent bookstores. Check out this feature in @peoplemag.bsky.social to learn more:

A photo showing the ancient ruins of Apamea

#SaveTheDate An anonymous world chronicle originally composed in 713 CE, likely by a Syriac monk from Apamea, has remained almost unknown until now. In his Gotha Manuscript Talk, Adrian Pirtea speaks about the rediscovery of the only surviving copy! Wednesday, 26 November 2025, 6:15 CET

Autumn at the Bavarian Alps
The landscape on my doorstep is transforming into a fairytale during autumn. Photography can preserve these fleeting foggy moments forever. Germany

#landscapephotography #landschaftsfotografie #autumn #fall

Agatha Christie invites you to a Netflix mystery…

Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials debuts 15 January on Netflix, starring Mia McKenna-Bruce, Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman.

A 9th- or 10th-century Gospel written in Erkatʻagir (“iron script”), includes a colophon dated 1428 CE (877 AC), noting its rebinding at the Monastery of Argelan (Van)—a tangible link to medieval Armenian scribal networks and rich Christian life in the Lake Van region. (ACC 00164)

Digitization & cataloging is complete for the manuscript collection of the #Armenian Catholicossate of Great House of Cilicia in Anṭilyās, #Lebanon. These 239 books form a comprehensive record of Armenian intellectual, artistic, & liturgical life from the 9th–19th centuries: https://bit.ly/4hSzPrA