mikeevans1991.bsky.social

Books of 2025 - 30

Long Island - Colm Toibin

20 years after Eilis turned her back on Enniscorthy and Jim Farrell, she returns from New York, shaken by a revelation from her husband. She finds herself being drawn back in by a romance from her youth, whilst attempting to navigate her future.

Books of 2025 - 29

The Pianist - Wladyslaw Szpilman

The incredible story of Wladyslaw Szpilman's survival during the Nazi occupation. The prose is all the more powerful for the detached manner in which the horrors of the ghetto, the "human hunts", and the desperation are told. Profoundly moving.

High hopes they'll set out exactly how many black faces are going to be allowed on TV in any one evening.

Books of 2025 - 28

A Little History of Economics - Niall Kishtainy

A breezy romp through the history of economics. Easy to read, informative, and entertaining (as much as economics can be).

Books of 2025 - 27

The Great Believers - Rebecca Makkai

Chicago 1985. Yale has just been to the funeral of another friend.
Paris 2015. Fiona lands to try and find her daughter.
A devastating tale of love and loss, and the devastation of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s. Gripping and devastating.

A thread of inspirational quotes from two of my idols: Kemi Badenoch and Ange Postecoglou

(uh-oh, I may have gotten some mixed up... or have I??)

🧵

Books of 2025 - 26

Pies and Prejudice - Stuart Maconie

Stuart Maconie travels around the North, doing his best Bill Bryson. Tries to claim Nottingham's own 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' for the North. Published in 2007, so a weird time capsule of pre-crash regional optimism.

I’m old enough to remember when Conservative Party leaders believed in law and order.

Books of 2025 - 25

Shy - Max Porter

Shy sneaks out from his school for troubled boys one night, with his mind swimming but with a clear intention. Set over a night, but to the channel hopping beat of a teen's mind. an enthralling plunge into and out from despair.

oh just FUCK off

Books of 2025 - 24

Yellowface - Rebecca F Kuang

When struggling writer June's rival Athena dies in a shock accident, June decides to finish off her latest novel. And so opens a world of wild success and not so wild accusations of plagiarism. Can understand its popularity, but not for me

We don’t yet know who killed Kirk or why. Not that you’d know it from the endless numbers of accounts on X with huge follower numbers, including British politicians, making as yet unknowable claims about the motivations behind the murder.

Exhibit A. Extraordinary stuff.

The UK hasn't achieved a sustained period of net emigration since the 1970s. This is not a phenomenon associated with a successful country.

Books of 2025 - 23

Anglo Republic - Simon Carswell

A riveting account as to how a single bank racked brought an entire nation to the brink. A fascinating insight into the reality behind the Celtic Tiger, and how hubris blinded those in power to the delusions underpinning the growth.

Books of 2025 - 22

Heaven - Meiko Kawakami

Our unnamed protagonist is being bullied at school. Friendless, until the equally persecuted Kojima starts leaving him notes. Somewhat misery porn, taking great pleasure in describing the beatings meted out in forensic detail. Not for me.

Books of 2025 - 21

Brooklyn - Colm Toibin

After her sister puts her in contact with Father Flood, Eilis leaves Enniscorthy for Brooklyn. As she finds work, an education, and Tony, tragedy brings her back to Ireland, and to make the choice between the life she's found, and the one she's left behind

The Labour govt has been incredibly disappointing so far in general, obviously, but the trans stuff is the real area where it has tipped into actively and maliciously making things worse for people for no reason other than ideological derangement

Those are such depressing paragraphs

JK Rowling tweeting got a boycott of M&S, stretching facts to the breaking point, and making the world a worse place for absolutely everyone.

The employee asked the girl and her mother if they needed help shopping. That’s it. That’s all. The misinformation, the insinuations (because the facts are inconveniently benign) are EXACTLY what was done to lesbians in the 80s. This is the product of hate and fear, not reality.

Books of 2025 - 20

Lost Boys - James Bloodworth

An alarming yet essential dive into a toxic world of self-help gurus, social media algorithms, and violent misogyny. James Bloodworth has written an essential explainer for a dangerous facet of modern life.

Books of 2025 - 18

Too Big to Fail - Andrew Ross Sorkin

A gripping account of the weeks, days, and hours spent in boardrooms and government offices in the run up and aftermath of Lehman Brothers' collapse. Immensely readable, with pacing and dialogue akin to a thriller.

American money advice: invest in cheap trackers monthly. Don’t try and time the market.
British money advice: switch energy provider every quarter, run your washing machine at odd hours to get free electricity and here’s a great trick to get more nectar points.

Police participation in Pride held unlawful | 11KBW In a claim raising issues described by the Judge as “important, current, controversial and of public interest”, the High Court has ruled that participation by…

www.11kbw.com/knowledge-ev... I'm honestly surprised that I keep being surprised

In an effort that will no doubt torch my follower base, I have laid out some basic numbers around our fiscal situation. Obvious, but still a little sobering for me.

freethinkecon.wordpress.com/2025/07/15/t...

So, to be clear: trans women have been using these facilities without a problem and the membership have voted to have them there. But a group of zealots are now going to launch a legal challenge to force them to discriminate.

www.thetimes.com/uk/law/artic...

It would be nice to, among other things, get an answer from the UK government about why they still feel comfortable using this as one of their primary communication channels

What’s the odds on “a major social network has an antisemitic AI built into it” being raised by lobby with PM’s spokesperson today? A special DCMS committee? Ofcom launching an emergency investigation? Seems it’s so hard to comprehend that people will just focus on more manageable screaming at BBC.

Books of 2025 - 17

All Down Darkness Wide - Sean Hewitt

A memoir detailing first loves, and the helplessness of seeing someone you love slide into depression. The story is entwined with verses from 19th century closeted poets, connecting the struggles of being comfortable with who we are.

A bittersweet day for Norman Tebbit's son, who no longer has to marry his dad to avoid inheritance tax.

Labour-run council faces legal action over trans pedestrian crossing Camden resident plans to sue over blue, pink and white crossing in Bloomsbury, calling it ‘unlawful political messaging’

Helen Joyce, the director of advocacy at human rights charity Sex Matters, said there was no “conceivable justification” for the crossings to be in place after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.

Apparently the Supreme Court ruling means councils have to dig up existing pedestrian crossings painted in the trans Pride colours. I must have missed that part of the judgement.