Aah, I discovered Sebastian Barry through Old God’s Time being long-listed for the Booker a few years back, and so thankful for that! What a wonderful book, what a tremendous writer.

Two hooded figures with lamps approach a moonlit, isolated cottage. A woman answers the door. We have come for the child, says the hooded figure So soon? she asks It is time, says the hooded figure. The woman is distraught. We should never have got him a library card! What is done cannot be undone, says the hooded figure We couldn’t see the harm! We just wanted him to enjoy reading! For most, it ends there, says the hooded figure, turning away and walking into the wilderness Oh lord, What have I done! says the woman, the child walks past her and out into the darkness with them. Do not cry mother. I am a writer now.

my latest books cartoon for @theguardian.com

Extremely normal and fine for a company to put this in a public statement

This. They're moving toward antivirals that kill multiple viruses with mRNA. Cancer cures. And they don't have to poison my neighbors to do any of that.

Presumably a pea under the bottom one, a portable princess status validator …?

Petition: Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership Hold a binding national referendum on whether the water industry should be returned to public ownership. Water is a basic human necessity; we believe our privatised system has failed, so the public sh...

Please consider signing this petition about returning the privatised water industry into public ownership, after it's diabolical history of wrecking our waters —

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...

Petition: Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership Hold a binding national referendum on whether the water industry should be returned to public ownership. Water is a basic human necessity; we believe our privatised system has failed, so the public sh...

Please consider signing this petition about returning the privatised water industry into public ownership, after it's diabolical history of wrecking our waters —

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...

Impossible to disagree with a single word that Ben Rhodes (Obama era NSC official) is saying here:

I wrote a novel using AI. Writers must accept artificial intelligence -but we are as valuable as ever| Stephen Marche The Guardian The, GuardianOpinions

You wrote a novel using AI? Cool. It's like that time I ran a marathon using a Ford Focus.

Really bleak stuff here. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/w...

Yeah, sure, new books are great, but do you ever read old books? Have you ever read American Pastoral by Philip Roth?

Yeah, sure, new books are great, but do you ever read old books?

Have you ever read ‘American Pastoral’ by Philip Roth?

It's his brilliant disembowelling of America in the 20th Century, and all its hopes of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss.

drbslibrary.com/americanpast...

Dr B's Library: American Pastoral, by Philip Roth Have you ever read … Philip Roth's brilliant disembowelling of America in the 20th Century, and all its hopes of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss?

But, no for this book, not for you Philip Roth, those rules don't apply here.
One of the most seminal works of fiction ever starts with a sentence that's not even a sentence.

drbslibrary.com/americanpast...

When I was at school, I was taught that sentences in English work a certain way.

→ Subject-Verb-Object.
→ The verb has to match the subject.

Those were the rules.

Oh, because you're a Pulitzer Prize winning author, that's how. But still ...

WHAT?

Dr B's Library: American Pastoral, by Philip Roth Have you ever read … Philip Roth's brilliant disembowelling of America in the 20th Century, and all its hopes of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss?

What? WHAT?

How can you do that, Mr Roth?

drbslibrary.com/americanpast...

What a novel. What a way to start.

“The Swede.”

Yeah, sure, new books are great, but do you ever read old books? Have you ever read American Pastoral by Philip Roth?

Yeah, sure, new books are great, but do you ever read old books?

Have you ever read ‘American Pastoral’ by Philip Roth?

It's his brilliant disembowelling of America in the 20th Century, and all its hopes of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss.

drbslibrary.com/americanpast...

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-...

Why bother reading books when you can write your own?

Iran War Puts Global Energy Markets on the Brink of a Worst-Case Scenario One expert says that the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz would be not recessionary, but depressionary.

Extremely worried about the economic (and then wider societal) consequences if the situation in Iran continues. If it goes on - for scale, it could mean a reduction in oil and gas availability equivalent to the fall in use at the start of the COVID pandemic -

www.wired.com/story/iran-w...

Chatting to friends/family (who drive) about this over the weekend - and it doesn't seem like there's any level of understanding re how bad this could get and the consequences to their lives day to day e.g. if there just isn't petrol available (even if some understanding prices will go up)

“… Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.”

Very much related to this, Neil Postman, in 'Amusing Ourselves To Death' compares Orwell's 1984 with Huxley's Brave New World —

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one …

The second part of the questions asked in P1 are the most potent, I think — with reading on the decline, what does this mean for our ability to think?

I've spent the week ruminating on this question … and trying to stop myself from spiralling!

It's on BBC Sounds, or your favourite podcast app.

BBC Radio 4 - Understand, How Reading Made Us, 1. How Reading Made Our Brains Did learning to read rewire your brain? With James Marriott.

I implore you this weekend to listen to 'How Reading Made Us', a 3-part series by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social for BBC Radio 4 — the story of how reading made us and what might happen if we stop

Part 1: How Reading Made Our Brains — did reading rewire our brains and change the way we live today?

“… Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.”

Very much related to this, Neil Postman, in 'Amusing Ourselves To Death' compares Orwell's 1984 with Huxley's Brave New World —

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one …

Narrative Figuration after Ricoeur | Figurational Narrative figuration after Ricoeur — how stories work and how they affect us

Part 2 is also available: How Reading Made Our Feelings.

Did reading make us lonely, set us free, and even end torture?

On this, I wish I'd been able to talk with James about my PhD on Paul Ricoeur (lots of which is online at figuration.al) — how stories help us with the hard, irresolvable stuff.

The second part of the questions asked in P1 are the most potent, I think — with reading on the decline, what does this mean for our ability to think?

I've spent the week ruminating on this question … and trying to stop myself from spiralling!

It's on BBC Sounds, or your favourite podcast app.

BBC Radio 4 - Understand, How Reading Made Us, 1. How Reading Made Our Brains Did learning to read rewire your brain? With James Marriott.

I implore you this weekend to listen to 'How Reading Made Us', a 3-part series by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social for BBC Radio 4 — the story of how reading made us and what might happen if we stop

Part 1: How Reading Made Our Brains — did reading rewire our brains and change the way we live today?