Great to see 15 months of research go live yesterday. Working with the ONS and IPA, we’ve looked at practical steps to enhance data sharing across the UK public sector and beyond.
Critical to achieve mission-led government. Let’s stop admiring the problem!
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Looking forward to hearing about it at @toppingsbath.bsky.social soon.
Now it’s your turn! What were your standout reads of 2024? Are there any books you think I’ve missed or that I should add to my list for next year? I’d love to hear your recommendations!
This apocalyptic thriller intertwines two narratives: an artist grappling with a world devastated by disaster and scientists in the Arctic training a nascent AI. As the two stories converge, the tension builds, delivering a haunting reflection on humanity’s fragility and resilience.
4. Under the Blue by Oana Aristide
A gripping anthropological work that offers an unflinching look at the complexities of human smuggling along the Central American migration routes. It challenges simplistic narratives and reveals the humanity, victimhood, and complicity of those involved at every level.
3. Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling by Jason De León
An older gem, this memoir by a philosopher recounts his life with a pet wolf in the US, Ireland, and beyond during the 80s and 90s. It’s a thought-provoking meditation on wildness, humanity, and the profound lessons we can learn from unlikely companions.
2. The Philosopher and The Wolf by Mark Rowlands
This near-future science novel artfully blends the familiar speculative. Against a backdrop of accelerating polar melting and re-emerging viruses, it zooms between personal stories and existential questions. Whatever you expect when you begin reading, this delivers something entirely unexpected.
1. How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
If you’re curious about the rest, you can find my full list and review scores here: app.thestorygraph.com/books-read/g...
How I hit 71 books in a year that included an election and a house move is beyond me, but perhaps the higher proportion of fiction helped! It’s been especially challenging to pick a top three this year, so here are four highlights that stood out among many wonderful reads.
A key rule I set for myself is that at least 50% of the books must be by women or non-binary authors—this year, I managed 52% across 71 books.
Reflecting on a(nother) Year of Reading 📚
As 2024 fades into a distant memory, I’ve been reflecting on one of my favourite annual goals: reading or listening to a book a week, while exploring as diverse a range of genres and authors as possible. #books #goodreads #bookrecommendations
So apparently I’m now a rucker. My old dog won’t run with this old dog anymore. So having to switch up my base exercise. It seems just to be walking fast with weight… or am I missing something?! #fitness strava.app.link/OEO54GWRNPb
That one feels a long time ago! It was great.
Loving the 2024 summary from @thestorygraph.com today! 12,230 pages and 257.7 hours over 71 books. 47%:53% non-fiction to fiction. Average rating of 4.24 (I do research good ones!). Pleased with the relative diversity of genre and author though can always do better. Let’s go 2025! #books #reading
And that’s surely a wrap for my 2024 reads. One short last book squeezed in. And an inspiring one at that. Robin Wall Kimmerer -The Serviceberry. #books
That’s your book now on my to-read list!
Is there a corner of this lovely place yet where people are discussing English #rugby yet? Especially the Premiership and ideally Bath Rugby? Or are we not here yet?
I worry that ‘winning for journalists’ isn’t the same as ‘winning for a broad range of interests’. I use both here & threads - @bsky.app feels very echo-chambery for people with a perfectly deserved interest in current affairs. I think there’s space for a high quality micro-news site. Is this it?
I worry that ‘winning for journalists’ isn’t the same as ‘winning for a broad range of interests’. I use both and @bsky.app feels very echo-chambery for people with a perfectly deserved interest in current affairs.
A week spent moving house is a good reminder that my work is not objectively ‘harder’ than a manual worker. I’m spent. Great to be back in BA1 after a decade in the back-and-beyond of Wiltshire (3 miles east). #bathlife
A book on a lap called: Collaboration and Public Policy - Agency in the Pursuit of Public Purpose by Helen Sullivan palgrave macmillan
Looking forward to getting stuck into this book that arrived today.
@helencsullivan.bsky.social #collaboration