Book jockeyhttps://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mvq2yxbtqc2nNaomi Alderman’s The Strangers should - if there’s justice - supplant The Power as the book she is most famous for. It goes straight into my book of the year contenders. My excitable review: https://www.thetimes.com/article/5a2ba7fe-433a-428e-855f-a6bacd13f5a4?shareToken=c1b9d6587bbe8c895e64498c3451b52b17 Sep 2026 16:26 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvq2yxbtqc2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mvp2mkw56s2qHelen Garner on the cons and pros of being a writer. (From ‘On Turning Fifty’, from True Stories: Collected Short Non-Fiction)17 Sep 2026 06:46 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvp2mkw56s2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mvnli6kw6c22Disappointed when I realised this photo of Louise Kennedy does *not* show her flaunting a cigarette holder.16 Sep 2026 16:43 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvnli6kw6c22https://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mvn44atwnc2mGross insult to the late Tim Curry in today's Connections - which is only one of three factors in its being the worst one in memory. #stupidgame Connections Puzzle #1193 🟪🟩🟦🟨 🟩🟨🟨🟨 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪16 Sep 2026 12:07 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvn44atwnc2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mvlawzrs3s2hI think you’ll find the technical term is conjunctivitis.15 Sep 2026 18:29 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvlawzrs3s2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mvk5oubmos2sGuy at the gym just looked over at me, then over at my friend … then asked my friend to spot him on a heavy bench press.15 Sep 2026 07:58 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvk5oubmos2shttps://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mviy6hk7xs2nKeats and Chapman, Belfast's biggest (I think) second-hand bookshop, is to close. https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/death-of-belfast-bookshops-continues-with-beloved-city-centre-store-set-to-pull-shutters-down-for-good-K3YMPH45UBBVFLXVKHPUTS7MOQ/14 Sep 2026 20:46 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mviy6hk7xs2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mvixkcg7l222Fun thread, esp the graph in tweet 6 [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 Sep 2026 20:35 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvixkcg7l222https://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mvbdcblcqk2aFiction is “the time-honoured resource of the ill-at-ease”, Edith Hope observes in Hotel du Lac. But which Anita Brookner novel should the ill-at-ease try first? My guide to her some of her best books, for @thebookerprizes.com: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/where-to-start-with-anita-brookner-a-guide-to-her-best-books11 Sep 2026 19:44 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvbdcblcqk2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mvbdcblcqk2aFiction is “the time-honoured resource of the ill-at-ease”, Edith Hope observes in Hotel du Lac. But which Anita Brookner novel should the ill-at-ease try first? My guide to her some of her best books, for @thebookerprizes.com: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/where-to-start-with-anita-brookner-a-guide-to-her-best-books11 Sep 2026 19:44 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvbdcblcqk2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mvaaigpb3c22Jay McInerney and Bret Easton Ellis meet on the afternoon of 9/11.11 Sep 2026 09:21 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvaaigpb3c22https://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mva2c3qvos22 [contains quote post or other embedded content]11 Sep 2026 07:30 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mva2c3qvos22https://bsky.app/profile/john-self.bsky.social/post/3mva23p3phs22Giddy with shock after sleeping through the night last night. (Being middle-aged is adopting the achievements of an infant as your own.)11 Sep 2026 07:27 +0000at://did:plc:2cadvbwpkxtuvmv2gpy5laml/app.bsky.feed.post/3mva23p3phs22