David

This is perfection, but the alt-text is icing

We're excited to reveal that next Feb we'll be celebrating 20 yrs since @dougjohnstone.bsky.social's darkly funny, sharp #Debut #Thriller #Tombstoning with a very special anniversary edition inc. intro by @brookmyre.bsky.social

We can't wait for you to read it!

🌊 https://bit.ly/43835V7

#BookSky

[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS] 1 NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]: Hello there 2 [A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk]. DAD: Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids? 3 NT EMPLOYEE: Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail! 4 MUM: That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids? 5 NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]: Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot! 6 NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]: Listen - that's their call [Calls emanating from the landscape]: tut-tut woke-woke 7 NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]: They are extremely sensitive and fragile... But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery. 8 KIDS [pointing]: There they are! [Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure]. [Little people noises]: woke-woke tut-tut woke-woke 9 [Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]: Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house. [Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]: tut-tut woke-woke 10 MUM [pointing]: What's that one doing there? NT EMPLOYEE: Oh, that's so sweet… 11 [We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away]. NT EMPLOYEE: I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph… 12 [We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]: Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE? [ends]

If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...

Many thanks for sharing my review @wsbookclub.bsky.social @orendabooks.bsky.social @fictionfanspod.bsky.social @gnofhorror.com @annerandomthings.bsky.social @alifeinbooks.bsky.social @noveldeelights.bsky.social @fantasybooknerd.bsky.social @j-lbrbsblogs.bsky.social

the Andrew formerly known as Prince

Here here.

if knowingly starving millions of americans while he builds a gilded ballroom isn't cause for revolution then i'm not sure what is

I am starting to find these levels of Rightist ignorance actually painful. The phrase that comes to mind is “not even wrong”.

Heap Earth Upon It by Chloe Michelle Haworth: Truth will out - A Life in Books Book reviews, snippets of book news, and alerts about books outside the glare of the publicity spotlight.

Heap Earth Upon It by Chloe Michelle Haworth: Truth will out alifeinbooks.co.uk/2025/10/heap... #HeapEarthUponIt

Ten excellent novellas I highly recommend There’s something very satisfying about reading a whole book in one or two sittings on the same day, especially when time is tight. I’ve always been fond of novellas, which often offer the best of …

New on the blog today, I've written about ten excellent novellas I highly recommend.

Featuring books by Anita Brookner, William Trevor. Muriel Spark and many more! #BookSky #Novellas #NovNov 💙📚

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/10/30/t...

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. If you've looked upon my works and despaired please consider leaving a review on one of the major online retail sites.

My goal is always to be the only person in the cinema, which then makes the issue academic.

Disney’s loss. Doctor Who will be fine. If Disney wants to go chasing after weird rightwing extremists it’s welcome.

The Green Man’s Holiday by Juliet E McKenna — Runalong The Shelves I would like to thank Wizard’s Tower Press for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review Publisher - Wizard’s Tower Press Published - Out Now Price - £17 paperb...

New Review - Happy Publication Day to this great instalment in one of the best fantasy series around - The Green Man’s Holiday by @julietemckenna.bsky.social is anything but relaxing! Highly recommended and many thanks to @wtpress.bsky.social www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2025/10...

ICYMI…

David at Blue Book Balloon joins the blog tour for Black as Death today.

It is a magnificent ensemble of characters, and I hope at least some of them reappear!

Blog tour poster for book "Black as Death" by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, showing sites supporting the tour.

Joining the #RandomThingsTours #blogtour for #BlackAsDeathby @liljawriter.bsky.social, out now from @orendabooks.bsky.social. Many thanks @annerandomthings.bsky.social! An excellent end to this series, full of peril and poignancy. (And revelations). bluebookballoon.blogspot.com

Blog tour poster for book "Black as Death" by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, showing sites supporting the tour.

Joining the #RandomThingsTours #blogtour for #BlackAsDeathby @liljawriter.bsky.social, out now from @orendabooks.bsky.social. Many thanks @annerandomthings.bsky.social! An excellent end to this series, full of peril and poignancy. (And revelations). bluebookballoon.blogspot.com

That seems to be Labour’s strategy in microcosm.

I’m probably spouting nonsense.

You might extend this to Born in the USA - which originated in the same sessions - and Housman’s theme of his Shropshire Lads going off to die in colonial wars.

I’ve got an idea niggling at me that there’s a thematic correspondence between “Nebraska” and AE Housman - after all the mood of the latter is mainly “Being hanged tomorrow in Ludlow Jail”.

I think you’re right

More shops should have dogs or cats

Not far off…

I know nothing about Dr Who, but, for Londoners, the phrase "Going For Dinner With Billie Piper" is the absolute best way to remember the order of the vertical streets running east to west in Soho (Greek, Frith, Dean, Wardour, Berwick, Poland) and has saved many a late night out

England, 1939. A war is coming. And in the shadows, a secret resistance of witches is stirring.

"A fresh and powerful take on the period. Highly recommended." 5-Stars

#histfic #witchlit #WW2 #mustread #womensfiction
mybook.to/HerDarkestHour

They are switching the train off and on again

Hotel lockdowns and honeymoon hit as Britons caught up in Hurricane Melissa The powerful storm is set to be the world's strongest of the year.

Oh look, *honeymoon* and *Brits* so now it's more important

BBC News - Hotel lockdowns and honeymoon hit as Britons caught up in Hurricane Melissa
www.bbc.com/news/article...