Alex Johnson

Liza Tarbuck's Saturday evening Radio 2 show was properly eclectic, a marvellous mix of Tony Blackburn and Desmond Carrington. With its passing, I suspect we'll hear even less light music and anything pre-1950 which will be a shame.

This was such an interesting and important read - do find it. NB I've just been torn off a strip by someone for expressing a "disobliging opinion". And yet, I'm not paid to be their PR.

Can we try and get British Library Publishing up to 1,000 followers by the end of the day, please? They are the VERY best, they published my discovery, POSSESSED.

@blpublishing.bsky.social

PY Rare Books' Viktoria Malik on AI, Old Believers Manuscripts, and the first ABC Printed in Russia Our Bright Young Booksellers series continues today with Viktoria Malik of PY Rare Books in London and New York:How did you get started in rare books?

PY Rare Books' Viktoria Malik on AI, Old Believers Manuscripts, and the first ABC Printed in Russia
www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...

All to play for going into the colours, a very familiar story.

Some great reads there.

The British Library Publishing stand at London Book Fair 2026. Shelves of books 2 tables, 6 chairs & a filing cabinet.

We are at #LondonBookFair26 ! Find us at stand 2A71. We have many treasures in store…

Almost 10,000 authors have come together to publish an empty book protesting the theft of books by tech companies to train AI models.

Titled Don’t Steal This Book, it is empty of text except the names of the authors involved.. 🧵

I love amateur snooker. At the European Championships there were two matches ending just about 30 minutes apart. The score of the final frame of one of them was 87-84, the score of the decider of the other one was 35-4.

You’ll want some port with that. Also, a good book by that Crompton chappie.

Rare Charles Dickens Clothing Goes on Show Some of the very few surviving pieces of clothing belonging to Charles Dickens will go on show later this week in a new display at the Charles Dickens Museum in London.Among the items on show from Mar...

Rare Charles Dickens Clothing Goes on Show
www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...

Madness

I’m thinking about starting a British version of the NYT connections puzzle designed to be unsolvable by Americans. Sample row: England players who missed a penalty.

Mine is quite fancy. It has little wings on either side to give your knees something to lean against.

Working at my parents’ house today on the same bit of board I used to do my homework on 50 years ago.

@gpwigglesworth.bsky.social am in Chelmsford Waterstones

Hello Bluesky! I am looking for anyone who cares about/writes about/thinks about Rebecca West.

I've been on a 10 year mission to get her a blue plaque in London and am finally allowed to re-apply after it was last turned down.

I'd welcome help building a strong application.

Thank you 💙🙏

the academy of the overrated YouTube video by fedoraxy

It's the Academy of the Overrated www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOyw...

Full disclosure, we use bobble hats. Slightly worrying what they are doing to our heads under normal useage.

This is perhaps not up to my normal Pulitzer level of cutting edge journalistic reporting, but a tea cosy really keeps a pot piping hot doesn't it?

Entries Open for Tenth and Final Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize Honey & Wax Booksellers is now welcoming entries for its 10th annual book collecting prize for women and announced that this will be its last year of operation.A cash award of $1,000 will be made for ...

Entries Open for Tenth and Final Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize
www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...

This argues that we should not give away our creative industries' output to US tech companies.

It seems obvious when you say it, doesn't it.

2026 Saturday - 3.30pm Alex Johnson Find out what happens when an Englishman from the Welsh Marches decides to read a book from or about Wales every week for a year.

I'm going to be talking at the always excellent Montgomery Literary Festival on June 13 about my book My Year of Reading Welshly with the marvellous Mike Parker. montylitfest.com?page_id=9077

A girl and a boy rush excitedly towards the river. It is a cloudy day, but the sun is shining.

That Friday feeling

Artist: Martin Aitchison (1964)

TEFAF Maastricht 2026 Preview TEFAF Maastricht returns later this month running March 14–19 and showcasing rare books and manuscripts from dealers around the world.Highlights from Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books include:

TEFAF Maastricht 2026 Preview
www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-n...

If you've not read this yet - first published by @blpublishing.bsky.social back in 2017 but still very much in print - then I think you'll enjoy it for World Book Day today. A Book of Book Lists was my fourth book and marked the point where I felt this was the work path I wanted to take.

I no longer have children young enough to dress up for World Book Day but have fond memories of the year I made the youngest dress up as one of my books, Bookshelf.

Something nasty on the bookshelf: my review of @tanyakirk.bsky.social's collection of stories about books and libraries for @blpublishing.bsky.social, ‘The Haunted Library’ drfrancisyoung.com/2026/03/04/s... 📚👻

autograph pests

www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot...