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08.03.2026 08:37
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All the best birthday parties when I was a kid were the ones at someone’s house with no more than six of us. Pass the parcel, musical chairs, bit of music, small buffet and a birthday cake, finish at 6pm latest. Perfect for a shy introverted kid like me.
All my best wishes, I hope it goes well for you.
The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan by Domenico Starnone tr. Oonagh Stransky The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare Fireworks by Bonnie Woods Glyph by Ali Smith The Big Bang by Rose Ayling-Ellis One Big Family by Peppa Pig My Secret Unicorn Diary by Unicorn Academy Pablo and Splash: The Castle Quest by Sheena Dempsey Pia’s Pet Club: Iguana Escape by Serena Patel and Emma McCann Funny FACTopia by Christopher Lloyd, Kate Olson and Andy Smith Bunny vs Monkey: Total Chaos by Jamie Smart On the Calculation of Volume IV by Solvej Balle tr. Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell Chaos at the Chocolate Factory by Sibéal Pounder illustrated by Emily Jones Bear Rescue by Hannah Gold illustrated by Levi Penfold Unbelievable Football by Matt Oldfield illustrated by Ollie Mann Skandar and the Secret Element by A. F. Steadman Against All Odds by Nathaneal Lessore The Light Yaars by Elizabeth Jane Howard Sanchez by Esther García Llovet The Eye of the Beholder by Marc Behm The Lonely Skier by Hammond Innes Reunion by Fred Uhlman Bear Worries by Natalia Shaloshvili The Impossible Gladiator by M. G. Leonard
February reads. This looks like a lot of books, but actually a chunk of them are the World Book Day 2026 books I read one weekend.
Not yet. It was the last one I didn’t own, and I only got it a couple of days ago.
I think I’ve read six of the eleven @foundryeditions.bsky.social and so far this was my favourite (running a close second is Brandy Sour). The Duke has just been longlisted for the International Booker Prize, and that will be the one I’ll read next.
Sanchez by Esther García Llovet translated by Richard Village published by Foundry Editions
At our translated fiction book club last night, we discussed Sanchez by Esther García Llovet translated by Richard Village, who is also the founder of @foundryeditions.bsky.social, and who came along to our meeting! Had the best night discussing the book and translation
Yes, you can. We’ve got a Penguin Classics catalogue from the 1980s and every few years dig it out and have a nostalgic hour looking through it!
Me too. Felt like we had to complete our collection!
Thank you, Valarie 🙏. I would willingly share them all with you if I could!
The Black Moth, The Talisman Ring and Powder and Patch all by Georgette Heyer The Lost Traveller and The Sugar House, both by Antonia White, and The Judge by Rebecca West
Finally, the Oxfam bookshop and the Dorothy House book and record shop (really excellent charity shop if you’re in or near Bath) gave us some quality secondhand finds. Three Georgette Heyers to add to our preferred covers collection, and three Virago Modern Classics.
Thanks Lee! 🙏
Day two was Waterstones for a couple of children’s books by Holly Webb and Nat Harrison, then to Persephone where I bought three books, before going back again on day three, for another three! Day three was also as second visit to Topping & Co where I found a couple of Ginzburg’s I didn’t have.
Hercules by Tom Vaughan The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry Bath Tangle by Georgette Heyer Killing the Nerve by Anna Pazos Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker Sisters by a River by Barbara Comyns A Girl’s Guide to Spying by Holly Webb The Girl Who Raced the World by Nat Harrison The Road to the City by Natalia Ginzburg The City and the House by Natalia Ginzburg Minnie’s Room by Mollie Panther Downes The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes Lady Rose and Mrs Memmary by Ruby Ferguson Hop, Step and Jump by Winnifred Watson The Woman Novelist and other stories by Diana Gardner The Village by Marghanita Laski
Now onto the books bought in Bath (part 1). Our first stop was Topping & Co, where I bought the Barbara Comyns, Anna Pazos (@foundryeditions.bsky.social), Kylie Lee Baker and the Georgette Heyer. Next was Mr B’s for the Kevin Barry and Tom Vaughan books. That was day one …
My lovely friend Janet gave me a gift card for Herob Books so I hot-footed it up there and got myself The Horse by Willy Vlautin and The Owl Service and The Voice that Thunders by Alan Garner, as well as picking up my orders of Something to Answer For by P. H. Newby for the Backlisted Patreon Booker Prize book club, and The Impossible Gladiator by M. G. Leonard. I also stopped by Max Minerva’s and found Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy, then onto Gloucester Road Books where I chose She Who Remains by Rene Karabash and The Blockbusters by Frank Cottrell-Boyce
My retirement/birthday books. Plus Lizzie at Heron Books made me a pistachio cheesecake so good I forgot to take a picture and gave me a book buddy from Persephone Books to keep my books safe in my bag. My lovely friend @janets.bsky.social gave me a gift card which bought three of the books
We also made it to Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights again, as well as Waterstones (which has changed layout so that the fiction section is in the basement?), plus the Oxfam bookshop and the Dorothy House book and record shop
The new (at least new to me) Topping & Co in the Friends Meeting House wit a Palladian frontage and three floors of books an a maze of rooms. Readers, expect to get lost for at least a day in here!
We managed to get to four bookshops and a really good charity shop while we were in Bath. The excellent, new and improved Topping & Co shop, was incredible. It needed two visits and I’m not sure we even covered half of it properly.
Reader, we didn’t make it to all the bookshops, but we did manage a lot! The Persephone shop was the icing on the cake though, and I made two visits to bolster my Persephone shelf. I’ll post the books I bought later, but the shop is an oasis of calm and a soothing balm for the soul. Heaven.
The exterior of the Persephone Books shop in Bath. It’s painted in the same blue/grey colour as their book covers in a classically Georgian Bath terrace house. They have a display table in the window with books, a vase of flowers, mugs and other vintage styling, next to a dressmakers dummy and some paintings in front of them. The window also has curtains drawn back to make it look more like a homely room than a shop front.
Back from a few days in Bath and I finally got to visit the new Persephone shop! I did visit the London shop before they relocated, but lockdown and shielding has meant I couldn’t go, so after I retired last week, we decided to have a few days in Bath so we could visit all the bookshops.
I’m absolutely gutted I can’t make this date. I hope it’s a great success.
Cover of The Lonely Skier by Hammond Innes
Hot on the tails of The Eye of the Beholder, I read a post war thriller called The Lonely Skier by Hammond Innes. It was a cracking story with Nazis, deserters, intelligence officers and treasure! I really enjoyed it.
I agree. I don’t read much fiction like this and it was a whirlwind to read.
Thanks to @quantick.bsky.social for bringing it to the podcast. I’m off to listen to his chat with @iammilliam.bsky.social and @unamccormack.bsky.social again today.
I read @backlisted.bsky.social featured book The Eye of the Beholder by Marc Behm yesterday and it was so gripping I found it hard to put down. It starts really strongly and the tension just keeps building and building and doesn’t let you go. Fantastic book www.backlisted.fm/episodes/248...
Surely his motivation is making a living from reading books, not setting reading goals. Thank god I read what I want, when I want and enjoy it (except maybe the odd Backlisted book that is not for me!)
They did make one up. Didn’t you see the ski mountaineering? Ski uphill, take your skis off, put them on your back and run up some steps, skis back on to ski uphill a bit more, the take the grippy covers off your skis and do a downhill ski course. Completely mad.
Book display with paperback edition of Keshed by Stu Hennigan
Saw Keshed out in the wild today @stuhennigan.bsky.social! They have it on the back of the front window display case where they keep all their recommended books in Gloucester Road Books in Bristol
You should put a fictional quote on it from Joan dated 16th June 2076 saying a friend bought it for her from the charity shop as they thought she might enjoy it and she did.
Square 500 jigsaw puzzle of choirboys singing around a Christmas tree in front of a church. Puzzle by Wentworth Puzzles, expensive but highly recommended if you can afford it!
I now have time to catch up with my Christmas presents. Did this lovely wooden puzzle (comes in a cardboard box with a drawstring fabric bag containing the puzzle pieces, so no plastic!) this morning while listening to The Importance of Being Interested by @robinince.bsky.social. Both were excellent
Thanks Sarah x