Mathilde

Swifts have declined 70% since 1994.

They fly from Africa to breed here, only to find we've blocked their nest sites.

A £35 swift brick nest box was proposed for all new buildings.

The construction industry lobbied Labour to block it.

Biodiversity sustains life. Labour sustains economic power.

Please save this, read it, feel it.

Shame on all those who do not see our children!!

A shot from above of a red-ish drink in a wine glass sitting next to a red-ish book (poyums, by Len Pennie) on a round beige wooden table. The drink's a negroni sbagliato but with double the prosecco, if you care to know.

Always a good day when my drink matches my book 🥂
@canongate.co.uk #booksky

As the predictable calls for “restraint by both sides” are rolled out by Western politicians and officials, let us be clear that Israel’s latest attack against Iran could not, and would not, have happened without the support that those same politicians.

OPINION by Ibrahim Hewitt

The Bread & Roses Award longlist has been launched to mark the start of Independent Bookshop Week!

The award for political writing is presented by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, so celebrate both by popping into your local indie for one of these beauts:
lighthousebookshop.com/posts/bread-...

The paperback edition of "The White Book" by Han Kang, laid on a crumpled white duvet.

Latest read: a scintillating collection of interwoven meditations on life, death, and white things.
#booksky

A hand holds a hardback copy of "Invitation to a banquet; The history of Chinese food" by Fuchsia Dunlop in front of a blooming magnolia tree. The book has a bright yellow cover with a drawing of a white and blue porcelain bowl from which a white cloud of steam arises. Published by Particular Books.

If, like me, you've only ever eaten Chinese food in the West, this book will blow your mind. Fuchsia Dunlop does a brilliant job of explaining the exquisite intricacy of Chinese cuisine and its infinite declinations. An instant favourite, chuffed I could borrow this from my local library.
#booksky

Black and white photo of one of the lamassus at the British Museum - huge stone sculptures of a mythical creature with a human head, the body of a bull or a lion, and bird wings. A sign hanging from the ceiling reads "The royal palaces: Ancient Assyria".

Another lamassu in black and white. This one has lion feet.

Obviously the first thing I did after finishing the book was to go brave the crowds at the British Museum to see the lamassu. Worth it.

Black and white e-book cover of "There Are Rivers in the Sky" by Elif Shafak, laid flat on some dark red/brown fabric. (I've had to type this caption twice and both times I misspelled "rivers" as "rovers", which would be a very different type of book 😂)

OMG this book 😭

#booksky

Promotional graphic for a free ebook from Pluto Press. The image features the book cover of Trans Femme Futures: Abolitionist Ethics for Transfeminist Worlds by Nat Raha and Mijke van der Drift, which has a gradient background of orange, pink, and purple. To the right of the book cover, large white text reads “FREE EBOOK,” with the Pluto Press logo and name beneath it. The background is a solid mauve color.

💥FREE EBOOK!💥

This book is a transfeminist call for collective liberation.

Because there's no liberation without trans liberation

Download your copy here: www.plutobooks.com/978074534941...

The UK Supreme Court basically declared all cis women are essentially just our uteruses today and the foolish bigots who are celebrating this are so far removed from reality that they don’t realise how this will be weaponised against us all.

“When people say this business of ‘she’s the voice of the voiceless’, it makes me crazy. I say, there’s no voiceless, there’s only the deliberately silenced, you know, or the purposely unheard." - Arundhati Roy

The book "Friends of Israel: The Backlash against Palestine Solidarity" by Hil Aked held by a white woman's hand with a pink blooming tree and blue skies in the background

"The Book of Disappearance" by Ibtisam Azem and translated by Sinan Antoon, held by a white woman's hand with the same pink blooming tree and blue skies in the background.

Currently reading & just finished. Both excellent.
#booksky #freepalestine
@versobooks.bsky.social @andotherstories.bsky.social

From top left, clockwise: Burnout, by Emily and Amelia Nagoski; Feu Mange Forêt, by Clémentine Pons; The Bright Side, bu Sumit Paul-Choudhuri; and Bright Fear, by Mary Jean Chan.

Unintended theme in the last 4 books I read: (too) bright things #booksky
@faberbooks.bsky.social @canongate.co.uk

This is Labour’s poll tax. Its tuition fees. It is - as Iraq was for Blair - the moral stain that will mark Starmer’s government and the party for years to come. Severely disabled people are going to be starved, isolated and degraded. No Labour MP who backs this will be forgiven.

Two poetry books by Mary Jean Chan propped up on a grey/green linen fabric. The one at the front is "Bright Fear", with the author's name in blue and the title in orange on a pale yellow background. The one at the back is "Flèche", with the author's name in yellow and the title in white on a mid-blue background.

Two poetry books propped up on a grey/green linen fabric background. The one on the left is "The tattoo collector" by Tim Tim Cheng, the cover is a drawing of two arms with the hands touching, overlaid by tattoo-like patterns, on a light pink background. The other book is "Blackbird singing at dusk" by Wendy Pratt and the cover is a black, yellow and white lino print of a blackbird singing in a cherry tree.

Recent #poetry #bookpost 😍
#booksky @ninearchespress.bsky.social @faberbooks.bsky.social

Drastic cuts to PIP will affect as many as 1 million disabled and ill people, pushing them into severe hardship, worsening physical and mental health, and isolation. There is no credible argument for pulling help from people shouldering the high costs of disability. Cruelty dressed up as reform.

Labour MPs saying “the clue is in the name” to justify benefit cuts is wildly disingenuous. It co-opts Labour’s history to imply all those that cannot physically labour are somehow excluded from the cause. Being pro-worker does not require being anti-unemployed or anti-disabled. It never did.

Palestine is a feminist issue. None of us is free until all of us are free.

Israel has chosen to mark the first days of Ramadan by blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Still, our government refuses to implement sanctions and defend international law.

There is no other way of putting it: this is a resumption of genocide — and our government is complicit.

Oh, right, the virtual TBR pile... I guess I *do* have a lot of unread books at home, then 😂

It's not the longest-waiting book on my shelves - I've had Cedric Robinson's Black Marxism (Penguin Modern Classics edition) for longer but in that case I've been put off by the bad printing (awfully tiny font and slightly smudged letters - not a good combo), which makes me very sad.

Paperback cover of "Artificial Islands: Adventures in the Dominions" by Owen Hatherley

So in this spirit I've just started reading Owen Hatherley's Artificial Islands (@repeaterbooks.bsky.social), received as part of the @lighthousebks.bsky.social Beacon (current affairs) subscription in... August 2022 😅
#booksky

I believe there's a time and mood for every book and while I don't tend to have dozens of unread books at home, I also don't feel bad about leaving some unread for a while, waiting for me to be in the right mood for them.
#booksky

“This is a bookshop.
Crossroads of civilisation,
refuge of all the arts against the ravages of time, armoury of fearless truth against whispering rumour,incessant trumpet of trade. From this place words may fly abroad...
Friend, you stand on sacred ground."

#BooksellingIsNotACrime solidarity always

To Be Delicious: A Cultural Context of MSG in the UK — Lecker We live in an era where food ingredients and additives have never been more discussed - and more contested. There’s room for a healthy, informed discussion about transparency and good practice within ...

🎧 Catching up on the new series of the Lecker #podcast: To Be Delicious, hosted and produced by @annasulan.bsky.social and co-produced by Lucy Dearlove. I love the mix of research, interviews, and the gorgeous soundscapes that are unique to Lecker. Highly recommended!

A poem of mine is in the antho BRING ME GOLD: 50 POEMS FOR PALESTINE, now avail for pre-order. 100% of the proceeds from this book will go to Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Pls consider buying it, wld make a great early Eid gift. 🙏🏼 🤍#DisabilityJustice

www.dahliapublishing.co.uk/product/poem...

The photo shows the poetry book "The Adoption Papers" by Jackie Kay, held in front of a bookshelf at a public library.

I just started reading this in ebook format yesterday and found a physical copy while browsing at my local library today. Love the coincidence :)
@bloodaxebooks.bsky.social
#booksky #poetry

Keir Starmer pledges to close loophole that let Gazan family settle in UK The family won an appeal to come to the UK, after originally applying through a scheme for Ukrainians.

just want to emphasise how vile this is www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

We are alarmed and shocked by the arrest and detainment of our author and colleague Mahmoud Muna, along with his nephew Ahmad Muna, owners and booksellers of Jerusalem’s Educational Bookshop.

Please share our statement below widely.