Nadezhda

A person stands on stage addressing a large crowd gathered in Trafalgar Square for Diwali on the Square. Colourful tents and festival stalls fill the area behind the crowd, with the National Gallery visible in the background.

This is what one of the biggest Diwali celebrations outside of India looks like.

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate light overcoming darkness, hope overcoming hardship, and unity in our diversity.

I'm shocked she said she was a senior crown prosecuter.

I know its the season for but its truly scary times 😭

#SundayBrunch

Oh Natalie.... 😭
Letting water run over you is Not washing.

Imagine dirty dishes, running water over them with out using a cloth or soap and then saying they're clean for the next use.

🤢
Disgusting!

Building Bookshelves

As part of celebrating Bookshop Day, Bert’s is donating £100 worth of books to 12 schools across Swindon.

Literacy levels in Swindon have fallen behind the national average, so we’re making a commitment to do this every year – but it will take us seven years to make sure every school benefits.

Alt text: Two images. 1. A headline. The leader of the Conservative party saying, "We need to curb students taking rip off degrees such as English." 2. A bar of chocolate they gave away at the Tory Party conference that says, "When Labour negotiates Britain loses." Britain is spelt B-R-I-T-I-A-N.

“I’ll put it bluntly, Robert is wrong… it’s actually a very integrated place... Not the definition of a slum.”

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands 2017-24, responds to Robert Jenrick's comments on Handsworth.

#Newsnight

Andy Street is spot on. Birmingham is a brilliant city. Vibrant, diverse, wonderful.

Everything is horrible, and politics is nothing but a cauldron of despair, but even within this Robert Jenrick sticks out for his unrelenting vileness.

Robert Jenrick complained of ‘not seeing another white face’ in Birmingham neighbourhood Shadow justice secretary criticised for suggesting he could tell how integrated Handsworth was based on short visit

This is shocking racism from Jenrick and Badenoch should sack him immediately.

No further comment necessary.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Hmmmm...
Nobody seems fit to run the country 😭
Concerning times!

#Peston

She appears to be extremely tone deaf.

An illustrator drawing of 2 lovebirds for a tattoo.

#digitalart #lovebirds #islandsky

We’re creeping closer to my latest Novel Surgery Course. For all novelists with min. 5000 words. Designed to stress-test your work in progress - and to ask the right questions. Oct 26 for 5 wks. Online. For writers anywhere in the world. Earlybird discount ends Sept 30. Email: leoneross@mac.com

Friends, please repost 🔥

“She has the poet’s eye for linguistic detail combined with the novelist’s understanding of narrative.” - Patience Agbabi

THE NOVEL SURGERY, 4-6pm UK time. Oct 26 - Nov 30.

Contact leoneross@mac.com for an application form

💯

The storyline has no substance, its awful. Not sure what the writers are thinking

Exactly this 👆🏽

Women's Prize partners with Hachette UK 'to support writer development'

ICYMI: The Women’s Prize Trust is set to partner with Hachette UK "to support writer development". The support on offer will include a mentoring scheme for aspiring non-fiction writers and the first ever Discoveries Day 👇 #BookSky

August Reads 🤓 #booksky

A picture of 5 books, spines up. From left to right the books ate as follows: 1. Katabasis by Rebecca Kuang 2. The Day I Fell off the Island by Yvonne Bailey-Smith 3. All the Blood is Red by Leone Ross 4. Eighteen by Alice Loxton 5. The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden

I'm in #reading deficit having purchased more than I've read in #August so let's lead with some of the additions to my bookshelf (see alt).

2 #books read in August:
📖 Chinaman by Shehan Karunatilaka 👌🏽
📖 Unravelling by Preethi Nair

Currently reading: 📚 Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson

Soul Revolution with Trevor Nelson, the songs tha soundtracked history.

The story that music can tell 👌🏽
#Proms #Bbc2 #SoulRevolution

BBC2 now Soul at the #Proms
Introduced by #TrevorNelson

😆 honestly! it sounds great; free books and write a review for something I'll probably chat about anyway, but no no, when it's transactional I feel obliged and start sweating which would hamper the enjoyment and do the book an injustice. 😭

Just purchased Anne:Bermuda.

Good luck with Izzy's Story 📖

I don't want to be an ARC reader, (can't take the pressure 😫 lol) but 10th October '25 release date I'll look out for it because this looks interesting.

#books

Top says: Izzy's Story: Bermuda, The Bitch Captain and The Lady. Parchment paper background with an overlay of "Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray". Both young ladies are dressed in 17th century gowns, and as equals. Tropes: Time travel (Renaissance), Black girl magic, bold FMCs, interracial love story (BW/WM), fast burn romance, slow burn spice, high seas adventure, first person POV, fish out of water, family secrets, open door spice, magical realism

Currently seeking ARC readers for Izzy's Story: Bermuda our historical romantic fantasy! Sign-ups close September 5th 🤗
forms.gle/je8LYNcj8yt4...

#Booksky
#BlackBookSky
#TimeTravel
#QueerCharacters

This author 👌🏽 I love that she spans across different genres so it's a treat to read her work. Never know what you're going to get

Books on Podcasts: Rebecca Kuang and her latest fantastical novel

Books discussed this week in Books on Podcasts cover everything from the fantastical depths of the Underworld to the Pennine slopes and Edwardian England 👇 #BookSky

By the time the mainstream media are done, nobody will need to read Nicola Sturgeon's book.
They're dissecting to leave nothing new for the reader.... I wonder if the publisher is screaming.

#BBCBreakfast #ItvNews

I like Naga but sometimes she doesn't get it.
It seems she's pushing for pushing sake. That said, at least viewers will understand what's happening.

#BbcBreakfast

From left to right: 🎧 Concrete Rose (audio) by Angie Thomas narrated by Dion Graham. 3/5 📖 Meet Me in Mumbai by Sabina Khan. 3.5/5 📖Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James 4/5 🎧Black Leopard, Red Wolf (audio) by Marlon James narrated by Dion Graham. 4/5 📖 Queen Macbeth by val McDermid. 3/5

It's wrap-up time... July has passed so here we go:

I consumed 5 books (details in alt). I explored the vivid & intricate world mapped out by Marlon James.
The emotional roller coaster (and frustration) Sabina Khan took me on and the voices, of women, not witches.

#wrapup #Booksky #Books #Read