Seems like a good day to read about women fighting for social justice and the future of Ireland 🇮🇪 #BooksAndBooze

Poetry can give a unique insight into other cultures, and that's the case with this anthology. A lot of the poems are quite dark, with some disturbing imagery, which perhaps isn't surprising, given Czechia's history in the 20th century. An interesting and powerful collection.

This just felt a bit all over the place. "Here's an essay about the colour blue. Now here's an essay about my great grandmother. Now here's an essay about a film I nearly made and my friend who sadly died." I feel bad for not liking it, but it just didn't hold my interest at all.

Post holiday reading. It's been a lovely couple of weeks. #BooksAndBooze

Ohhhh this book is so beautiful and whimsical and adorable. Zuzana might be my favourite character in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, and it's lovely for Mik and here's story to take centre stage. The illustrations are gorgeous, as are the descriptions of Prague as the setting for their adventure. I loved this.

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Could only walk past the bookshop around the corner from out hotel so many times without popping in. I hate to reinforce gender stereotypes but it is all too obvious which book is mine and which is my husband's. (I might borrow it, who doesn't enjoy reading about Nazis being killed?)

The Sistine Chapel for book lovers. It smelled amazing.

When you accidentally stumble on a bar named after the book you're reading

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This is a very enjoyable account of what sounds like an absolute mad time in the writer's life. She describes, with charm and good humour, her attempts to build a new life in Prague; working for a eccentric (to put it politely) hotel owner; making friends in the expat and synagogue communities; briefly being something of a literary star....

Pre-holiday reading. Nothing better than #BooksAndBooze on a Monday afternoon. Shout out to the lovely staff at Oldham Library who were very helpful when I couldn't find the reservation shelf and couldn't remember my PIN to check the book out. #lovelibraries📚

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Oof, there is a LOT going on here. So much so that I'm glad I listened to the Nerdy Book Club podcast's review, because there were a couple of things I missed. It's really dark and heavy for YA. It's gripping, though, and I'm going to be jumping straight into the next book in the trilogy.

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This is an interesting, and curious, read. I have to admit, there were bits that felt self-indulgent, which is probably unfair given how honest and open the author is being about her vulnerabilities and darkest thoughts. It's a great insight into her therapy journey, and often relatable.

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This is a great book. SFF and YA paranormal romance isn't usually my thing, but this is beautifully well written and the protagonist, Karou, is a really engaging character.

Next up. Haven't listened to audiobooks on Spotify before, looking forward to giving it a go and having another audiobook source.

This is very enjoyable (and perfect pre-holiday reading). A really thorough and engaging exploration of Prague's fascinating and tumultuous history.

Seems like appropriate further reading

This is a fascinating insight into Pádraig O'Callaghan's extraordinary life. He paints a vivid picture of his childhood - which sounds incredibly tough to a 21st century reader, but which he reflects on with stoicism - and his role in the fight for Irish independence, and his tireless work to promote the Irish language. I wonder what he would have made of Kneecap? If you're interested in Irish history, this is a brilliant first-hand account.

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This is a lovely, very enjoyable book. Suzi Ruffell's reflections on her experiences of anxiety are very relatable, and helpful to anyone with similar experiences. Her description of struggling with coming out is eye-opening - I wrongly assumed that anyone my age or younger growing up in Britain wouldn't feel any need to stay in the closet, and it's a reminder that we haven't achieved equality and it does matter.

Sunday afternoon reading #BooksAndBooze

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Ooer. This is pretty explosive. Facebook doesn't sound like a great place to work if you didn't go to Harvard, especially if you're a woman. Their operations in Myanmar and China sound particularly sinister, as does using their users' data to target advertising (eg targetting teenage girls with adverts for beauty products and weight loss pills when they delete selfies). A fascinating, eye-opening book.

This is strange, bleak, but often - perhaps surprisingly for a novel about grief, depression, and an incredibly dysfunctional approach to dealing with these - darkly funny. Some of the characters - the artist Ping Xi, Dr Tuttle - are comically ridiculous.

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Haven't done much reading at all the last few weeks. Done a lot of writing though. Wrote a piece for the Wembley programme for yesterday's National League play off final, in which Oldham Athletic came from behind twice to win 3-2 and win promotion back to the Football League. So that was two dreams come true in one day. 💙

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What an odd, unsettling, sad, strangely moving story. What would you do if you woke up as a giant insect? What would you do if your brother/son suddenly changed physical form in such a way that he changed from being the breadwinner to being something of a burden?

Hmmmm. This is an.....interesting account, written at a certain time from a certain perspective, but what Butterworth sees as a noble quest, a great adventure and unselfish service to humanity and the glory of God looks a lot, to woke eyes in 2025, like egotistical foolishness and colonial greed.

Ah, I love it when all my library holds come in at once.

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Oof. What a devastating, brilliant book. If you found Adolescence gripping, you should definitely read this. It's so well written, the characters are so vividly well drawn. As Jamie's attempt to escape his reclusive life spirals out of control, you can feel the rising panic of both him and his maw. I usually prefer to read novels in print, but, with the dialect and alternating voices, this works really well on audiobook.

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Another brilliant collection of anecdotes, stories and reflections on life and the world in general. I've seen some people say that her 'TMI style' is off putting but I like how much she overshares. And pretty much all of the people she calls a c**t deserve it.

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Next up. Thanks to @julesG for the recommendation.

This was really interesting. It isn't just a self help book - there's a lot on the science of introversion, and how research suggests that it's hard-wired into people's brains, and telling introverts to 'just be more sociable' is unhelpful and damaging.

Bit woo-woo, just wasn't holding my interest.

We're looking at going to Prague this autumn, can anyone recommend books about/set im Prague? Obviously this place is top of my sightseeing list.

My great-great-grandad was from the Philippines, and in researching our family history, my brother found that there's a concentration of his surname (Ungui) in Mactan, so I like to say that my ancestors killed Magellan. So Andy got me this for my birthday. 🇵🇭

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This was really good fun. You won't agree with Miriam Margolyes about everything, but you have to admire her forthright honesty, and she has a lifetime of brilliant stories to tell. And she is absolutely world class at swearing. I'm not sure anyone gives as good 'c**tface' as her.

This is a hell of an intense book. The protagonist, Nila - as she likes to be known, not by her full first name, Nilab - is grieving her mother and uncomfortable with her Afghan identity in a city where racist attacks and neo-Nazis are on the rise, and she seeks solace/oblivion in the hedonism of the Berlin techno scene.

#BooksAndBrews

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