Vicky MacKenzie

Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands to boycott Eurovision 2026 as Israel cleared to compete Decision not to hold vote on Israel’s participation comes in spite of several broadcasters calling for its exclusion

Bollocks to Eurovision.

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller? Set in the West Country in the winter of 1962-3. ❄️

UPDATE: Trump Jr.-backed startup receives $620 million Pentagon loan In October, Popular Information reported that the Pentagon awarded a contract to Unusual Machines, an obscure drone company that President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., joined as an advisor in Novemb...

This is a million times worse than anything Hunter Biden was accused of doing in even the most fevered right-wing conspiracy dream

That's wonderful! To think of it now pumping in so many other people's veins! You're a genuine lifesaver 🥰

Happy Birthday! And yay for donating blood❣️

"They've been so respectful and so understanding of the decision, but profoundly sad," she said. "I spoke to one 80-year-old woman who has been in our organisation for decades, who said it was one of the greatest experiences of her life, and the only place in her 80 years where she's been treated as a woman with respect."

Stuck on this gutting sentence on the Women’s Institute decision. For young people it’s watching the world close to them before they’ve had a shot at life, for older women it’s watching half a century of progress vanish. Either way it’s grossly, unbearably cruel.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

With Christmas fast approaching, I thought I would share some of the non-fiction books I have read/re-read this year which I would recommend if people are still looking for presents, the ones which seem somewhat....relevant to the current state of things, rather than necessarily "fun" reads 👇1/

Life-Giving, Imaginative and Underfunded: Small Press Publishers in Crisis A recent letter co-written and signed by small press publishers has highlighted the significant pressures they face, threatening them with closure and potentially damaging the literary ecosystem ir…

Small press publishers in the UK discuss the challenge and necessity of independent publishing: “I feel a growing sense of urgency to raise awareness of the practical realities, and to be transparent about the fight for survival that many of us are facing.”

Girl Guides of Canada Inclusion makes Girl Guides of Canada stronger. It ensures that girls and youth have a place to build confidence, develop the skills to thrive and connect with a community that sees them for who they truly are. Girl Guides of Canada welcomes all girls - cisgender and transgender - as well as non-binary people who are comfortable in spaces that focus on and are driven by the experience of girls. Learn more about our commitment to inclusivity and accessibility at girlguides.ca/inclusivity

Girl Guides logo with a trans flag ribbon in one corner.

Girl Guides of Canada has made a statement, likely in response to the cowardly decisions of Girlguiding UK. 🏳️‍⚧️

kind of obsessed with this custom binding for Moby dick by Susan and Chaim Ebanks at Exeter Bookbinders

Fred Hampton speaks

On Dec. 4, 1969, Chicago Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were assassinated by Chicago Police and the FBI

A fascinating story inspired by real life events in medieval Aberdeen! 📚✒️

Brilliant news, congratulations @ebbastrutzenbladh.bsky.social !

I see Andrew McNeillie, archipelagean esq., has a new collection with Carcanet, published in January, with the appropriate title for anyone who spent a career in literary editing, ‘A Wild Goose Chase.’

Elizabeth McCracken, Olga Tokarczuk, Olivia Nuzzi, and more: 22 new books out today! December marks the winding down of the year’s releases, but there’s still a lot to be excited by. Elizabeth McCracken has released a craft memoir, a gift to anyone who isn’t lucky enoug…

The 22 new books out today include titles by Elizabeth McCracken, Olga Tokarczuk, Olivia Nuzzi, and more!

2 in 3 of Nigel Farage’s current and former partners do not speak English as their first language.

A brilliant and moving post by poet and memoir writer @wendypratt.bsky.social on Substack today. I urge you all to subscribe!

For the second year now, we've asked our bookselling partners at 4,000+ stores across the globe to vote on their favorite audiobooks of the year...and they did not let us down!

The winners of our 2025 Bookseller Choice Awards are...⤵️

Here’s my Spotify Wrapped 🎵✨

writing a novel actually quite a challenge was anyone aware of this

Young Skins
Dance Move
Amongst Women
Light a Penny Candle (oh, how I loved her!)
The Testament of Mary

It's a brilliant idea isn't it! @leerandall.bsky.social just bought me a short story collection (OPEN UP by Thomas Morris) so I was keen to do my bit in turn. Hurray for @biggreenbooks.bsky.social for organising it all! 😍📚💪

Snapped up already! 🐢

☺️📚🐢😍

Yes! Delighted to buy it for you @sallyhinkley.bsky.social. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I read this book for the first time this year and loved it. I'd love to buy it for someone - don't be shy! 🐢📚😍

I have another #buyastrangerabook offer to share with you.

@vickymackenzie.bsky.social is offering to buy one lucky person a copy of The Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban.

It sounds wonderful.
If you'd like it, get in touch.

UK only

Vintage Christmas card, A Merry Christmas, illustration of two prawns sat at a table drinking tea, window behind.

🎄#GothicAdvent

The best Irish books of 2025

'a strikingly beautiful nod to the lasting echoes of a friendship'

Thanks to @laurenmurphyjourno.bsky.social for including @jesstraynor.bsky.social's fourth poetry collection New Arcana in this RTÉ Culture Irish books of the year feature. #RTÉCulture
www.rte.ie/culture/2025...

E.S. Wight | On Hunger Strike Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Jon Cink, T Hoxha and Kamran Ahmed are on hunger strike. All are on remand in...

‘None of the six hunger strikers is charged with terrorism offences: all, however, have been subject to arbitrary and demeaning treatment since the Palestine Action ban.’

E.S. Wight on the largest co-ordinated hunger strike in British prisons since 1981, from the blog.
www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...