Chris Fosten

A paperback book, "Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers" by Grant Naylor, the cover of which shows a space scene with a road sign in the foreground that has been damaged by something that has shot past, leaving a trail behind it.

New read: Amongst all the torrential rain, I'm returning to the comfort zone on the Dwarf.
#newread #reddwarf #infinitywelcomescarefuldrivers #grantnaylor

A hardback library book, "Once Upon a Time in the West Country" by Tony Hawks, the cover of whih shows a photo of the author on a bike facing two small pigs in the foreground.

New read: I went to the library for something, spotted this on a shelf and sat to have a quick read. A short while later and I found myself at the end of the first chapter, having smiled throughout. So here I am.
#newread #onceuponatineinthewestcountry #tonyhawks

A library paperback cooy of "Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Promise" by David Stuart Davies, the cover of which shows the silhouette of the great detective holding a pipe and a coin with a pentagram design against a green background.

New read: I am always a little wary of more modern Holmes stories, but found this one intriguing enough to try. #newread #sherlockholmes #thedevilspromise #davidstuartdavies

A library paperback copy of "The Mystery Mile" by Margery Allingham, which shows an image of a red chess piece - a knight - on a black background.

New read: Campion is pretty dependably enjoyable, so glad to find this in the local library.
#newread #TheMysteryMile #MargeryAllingham #crimefiction

The Beiderbecke Affair - We Call it the White Economy (20th January 1985). Today's episode mainly concerns smashed greenhouses, supergrasses and Helen of Tadcaster.

Two paperback books, the first - "Finn Family Moomintroll" by Tove Jansson - is light blue and features a pair of moomins sitting on clouds, and the second - "The Exploits of Moominpappa" by Tove Jansson - is light green and shows a moomin standing on a mountain top holding a sheaf of papers and a walking stick with a flying submarine craft in the sky behind him.

New reads: Escaping the horrendous outside world with a trip back in time to revisit the sweet and silly wisdom of the Moomins. Will be re-reading more of these in the next few months, I think.
#newreads #FinnFamilyMoomintroll #TheExploitsofMoominpappa #ToveJansson

A paperback book - "The Man Who Died Twice" by Richard Osman, the cover of which is dominated by the author name and title, but had a trotting fox in the centre.

New read: Catching up with the Coopers Chase gang again - each revisit is a lovely reminder of how good these books are.
#newreads #themanwhodiedtwice #richardosman #rereads

You honestly don't have to show me what Twitter's saying. That's why I'm here and not there.

Two old paperback books - "Winnie-The-Pooh" and "The House at Pooh Corner" by A..A. Milne - the cover of one showing a small bear looking thoughtfully at some bees and the other showing the same thoughtful bear in a red jumper with a small piglet wearing a green outfit and a young boy dressed in a blue raincoat and hat.

New reads: Kicking off a new year of reading with a gentle wander through the Hundred Acre Wood with these nice second-hand copies I got years ago to preserve the ones I remember reading as a child!
#newreads #WinniethePooh #TheHouseatPoohCorner #AAMilne

A paperback book - "The Thursday Murder Club" by Richard Osman - the cover showing mostly the title and author name, with a silhouette of a fox in the centre.

New reads: Seeing in the new year with some older friends - just the first couple of chapters last night felt like a settling into a favourite armchair. Happy new year, everyone.
#newreads #newyearread #thethursdaymurderclub #richardosman

A paperback book on a bookshelf - "The Thin Man" by Dashiell Hammett - the cover of which shows a pair of feet in formal shoes walking across a wet street.

New read: well, an old favourite, really - and a perfect post Christmas caper, especially if you want to feel a bit better about your own alcohol consumption...
#newread #dashiellhammett #thethinman

A paperback book - "The Box of Delights" adapted for the stage by Piers Torday. The cover shows a wooden box releasing shards of light, creating images of a Mr Punch puppet, a stag and a wolf in the starry sky, while two wolves approach through the snow.

A paperback book - "Ben Baker's Christmas Box" by Ben Baker - the cover of which shows the neon outline of a television set, with the title on the screen.

A hardback book - "Opening the Box of Delights" by Philip W Errington. The cover shows an open small wooden box, with images of the writer John Masefield and Patrick Troughton as Cole Hawlings behind.

New reads: My reading over Christmas week, with a definite theme... first, the stage adaptation of a favourite, then an entertaining book about Christmas telly and then a deep dive into John Masefield and the Box of Delights.

A paperback book - "Death Comes at Christmas" by Gladys Mitchell - the cover of which shows an English village street in thick snow.

New read: a slightly more trusted source for a festive read - hopefully Mrs Bradley will be just the tonic!
#newread #deathcomesatchristmas #gladysmitchell #mrsbradleymysteries #festivereads

For years I've been listening to a ragged, 10th-hand recording of The Killing Season by R.D.Wingfield every Dec. I've tidied up my copy, never imagining it would be repeated from deep in the archives. But what a great surprise amongst the listings in the festive Radio Times!

A small green paperback book - "The Christmas Thief" by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark. The cover shows a close-up of the branches of a Christmas tree with a bauble decorated with an image of a man in a red jumper dragging away a Christmas tree in the snow.

New read: another festive adventure that I hadn't read before and had high hopes for because the premise is great, but... sigh. Maybe it's because I wasn't familiar with their other books or their style, but I was not a fan. Mercifully, it was both cheery and quite short.
#newread #festiveread

The cover of a paperback books - "The Christmas Train" by David Baldacci - which shows a snowglobe with a steam engine inside.

New read: A festive tale I'd never heard of, by a writer I've never read anything by... but rather enjoyed. Enjoyably just as romantic towards the train itself as the storyline between the main characters.
#newread #festiveread #thechristmastrain #davidbaldacci

Would love to see Listen Outside back in some form - not only did i read the posts, I built my own playlist from what I found there!

A light purple paperback book - "A Highland Christmas" by M.C. Beaton. The cover is dominated by the title, but also features a Christmas tree with presents round the base and a fireplace.

New read: starting the festive reading with something short but warm and the friendly side of grim...
#newread #festivereads #ahighlandchristmas #mcbeaton #hamishmacbeth

Two small paperbacks next to each other, both Doctor Who Target novelisations by Terrance Dicks: "The Destiny of the Daleks," which shows a man with a mop of curly hair and a scarf looking thoughtful surrounded by daleks; and "Four to Doomsday" which shows a man in edwardian cricketing garbage in front of an alien humanoid creature sitting on a throne-like chair.

New reads: two Target novelisations found in a charity shop - one of those rare times when I've found some I didnt already have in the wild!
#newread #doctorwho #targetnovelisations #destinyofthedaleks #fourtodoomsday #terrancedicks

A slightly battered old paperback book - "Who's Afraid? and other strange stories" by Philippa Pearce. The cover show several images related to the stories within: a startled boy, a dog, a teddy bear with stern-looking eyes and a gentleman playing a violin.

New read: before I move on to other things for a while, a few more - lighter - ghostly tales, this time from a writer I remember well from childhood and used to seek out in the school library (when I wasn't looking for Tintin or cricket books!)
#newread #whosafraidandotherstories #philippapearce

The cover of a paperback book - "The Haunted Library: Tales of cursed books and forbidden shelves" edited by Tanya Kirk. The cover shows an illustration of a woman in a hat entering a library holding a candle to see some ghoulish figures in front of the shelves.

New read: An excellent new anthology of ghost stories from the British Library's Tales of the Weird series. Plenty were new to me, with some old familiars thrown in too - fun!
#newread #thehauntedlibrary #britishlibrary #talesoftheweird #spookyreads #tanyakirk

A small hardback book - "The Small Hand" by Susan Hill - the cover of which shows a flowery carved pattern with the shadow of a small boy in the centre.

New read: a Susan Hill ghost story I knew nothing about until I stumbled across it in the local library, but it sounds both comforting and unsettling at once. #newread #thesmallhand #susanhill #ghoststory

What perfect album came out the year you were 16?

The cover of a small 1980s paperback - "The House in Norham Gardens" by Penelope Lively, which shows a teenage girl holding a ceremonial tribal shield standing in front of a victorian house.

New read: the next stop on my slow chronological readthrough of one of my favourite writers - this is one I never came across as a kid. A little less on the ghostly side, but a gentle joy, nonetheless.
#newread #penelopelively #thehouseinnorhamgardens

The cover of a small 1980s paperback - "The Watch House" by Robert Westell, which shows a skill on a dusty floor.

New read: I remember watching two Robert Westall TV adaptations as a child - The Machine Gunners and The Watch House, moments from both have stuck with me ever since. And this was a novel I saw more than once in the visiting book stalls at school and shops and wanted to read.

A small blue paperback book - "Haunted Houses" by Aidan Chambers. The cover shows a large, apparently abandoned, old house, with gate falling from its hinges and smashed windows, but with lights in windows of the top floor and a couple of bats flying in the foreground.

New read: catching up a little with some spookier reads as the weather has made a turn for the colder... This one I picked up at a second-hand stall at Petts Wood May Day Fair when I was about 9, so has travelled quite a distance with me! I've read it several times, but fun to return to.

The cover of "The Man Who Died" by Antti Tuomainen, which shows the title interweaved through a picture of a human body's nervous system.

New read: a book I've had on my list for several years, and was a birthday gift from my brother this year - thanks Paul! Really enjoyable black comedy thriller which I whipped through in a couple of days.
#newread #themanwhodied #anttituomainen #thriller

An old copy of "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett, which shows a man with a whip holding a rope around another, stooped man, a tree and two men watching, surrounded by a geometric frame of yellow, green, olive and white.

New read: there was one last dramatic read before heading back home yesterday - a classic.
#newread #samuelbeckett #waitingforgodot #halftermreads

An old paperback copy of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", which features a bird standing on top of a skull

The cover artwork for the BBC Radio production of Hamlet, which is made up of a collage of cast names and the title.

New read: ended Halloween with Hamlet, as it starts with a pretty strong ghost game. I've chosen to read along with a great BBC Radio version too.
#newread #williamshakespeare #hamlet #bbcradio

A paperback book, "The Birds and Other Stories" by Daphne du Maurier, on a granite worktop. The cover shows a number of bird shapes, with five of them making the shapes of the word 'Birds'

New read: forgot entirely to bring any ghost stories on our half term break, so popped into a local indie book shop yesterday to see what I could find. This was appropriately the closest I got, given that we're in Cornwall.
#newread #thebirdsandotherstories #daphnedumaurier #spookyreads #cornwall