Woohoo!

I always wonder if I've forgotten getting a face-full of shrapnel.

Spoiler: I did not buy the book.

Eventually found small snippets of copy in the front pages hidden among the praise. In the same formatting so looked like an endorsement.

Is this an experiment? Someone's testing a theory that if someone goes hunting through pages they're more likely to buy the book?

#Booksky, can someone please explain why publishers are deciding not to put blurbs (as in about-the-book, not endorsements) on the backs of some paperbacks? Why?? I've picked up and put down at least three books lately because I couldn't figure out what on earth they were about.

Calls to clean up England’s ‘toxic air’ as GP visits for asthma attacks rise 45% Exclusive: Doctors say clean air zones need expanding, after 45,458 visits in first half of this year – up from 31,376 last year

While I'm all in favour of cleaner air, this is a pretty bad use of stats; we haven't had a massive increase in air pollution over the course of a year.

On the flip side, we saw a lot of pollen this year, probably from warmer weather due to climate change.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

The American Library Association praises servic of Dr. Carla Hayden, decries 'unjust dismissal' of Librarian of Congress. [Image of Dr. Carla Hayden standing in the stacks in a library]

NEW: ALA salutes Dr Carla Hayden for her exceptional service to the nation as the Librarian of Congress. We are deeply disappointed in Dr Hayden's abrupt & unjust dismissal last night, an insult to the scope & breadth of her work.

Read ALA Pres. Cindy Hohl's statement: www.ala.org/news/2025/05...

Carla Hayden deserved better.

A laminated sign attached to an old wooden church door reads 'Please close this door behind you, to keep the pigeon out!'

There is apparently (according to this sign) a single troublesome pigeon at my church. They left the door open during Palm Sunday service yesterday, and guess who paid a visit?

Revealed: Thames Water diverted ‘cash for clean-ups’ to help pay bonuses Exclusive: UK’s biggest water company assessed risks before cutting back on cost of environmental work, investigation shows Thames Water intentionally diverted millions of pounds pledged for environmental clean-ups towards other costs including bonuses…

Revealed: Thames Water diverted ‘cash for clean-ups’ to help pay bonuses

DK, isn't it? From memory, about a 4mm, which makes sense at that gauge.

Holiday wreath made of crinkled aged book pages.

Made eight wreaths from dying books for the library. Each one used a wooden wreath form and about half an average paperback. Should last for years!

#ChristmasCrafting #recycling

Today's dog-walk read is Buried Deep and other stories by @naominovik.bsky.social , one of my birthday list books. Looking forward to starting this one!

Not just rural. Young men and boys being influenced by T*te and the like are spreading these worldviews to their friends and girlfriends. Misogyny among teens is reaching a crisis point.

Saw a Tibetan Spaniel on the Underground, while I, without my Tibetan Spaniel, sat next to them. Unspoken rule of the underground is that you can't speak to strangers on the Underground, so instead, I just had to sit there, staring, and probably making someone think I was about to steal their dog.