Welcome to the first July blog of the year! The year really is flying by and we are into summer now. I was very fortunate to be able to visit the new Topping & Co bookshop in York in early June on their opening day. It has been an exciting wait and journey over a […]
“I’ve known you for just over two weeks, and I’ve already been in a grave with a KGB colonel, I’ve seen a tiny old woman drug a Viking, and I’ve shared a bed with the most handsome man in Kent. For three or four years in the eighties I did a lot of magic mushrooms. […]
Welcome to a unique edition of the Diary of a Young Writer blog. This month features my own photos taken on a fantastic trip to Cambridge University Press in May. I was fortunate to be invited by a staff member at the press, who I first met on my undergraduate degree and who inspired my […]
Quote- “Nature once determined how we survive. Now we determine how nature survives.”— Sir David Attenborough This month’s blog is unique in two ways. I want to celebrate the truly inspirational Sir David Attenborough on the occasion of his 100th birthday which will be on May 8th, and also list some of his extraordinary achievements. […]
“you were an awful husband, but you always knew how to tell a good story” (Osman 27) Welcome to the second Thursday Murder Club book series review. I hope you might have had a chance to read the first book following my last blog on Richard Osman’s series. As the second book opens, we learn […]
“The beginning is always today” -from The Short Stories of Mary Shelley by Mary Shelley You may remember that my January blog celebrated the opening of a new independent York bookshop. I have been fortunate enough to meet a great person called Arya Walton, who is launching her own indie press in April 2026. The press will support […]
“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger”- Wuthering Heights. As March arrives and hopefully some much needed sun and spring warmth, I felt it would be good to write this month’s blog […]
“It is Ian’s regular smoothie. A punnet of raspberries, a fistful of spinach, Icelandic yoghurt (Finnish, if they are out of Icelandic), spirulina, wheatgrass, acerola, cherry powder, chlorella, kelp, acai extract, cocoa nibs, zinc, beetroot essence, chia seeds, mango zest and ginger. It is his own invention, and he calls it Keep It Simple”- (Osman […]
Quote- “Maybe I’ll open a bookstore,” he smiled. “New and used books – so everyone has a chance to see the world through the pages of a story” -Karen Kingsbury Welcome to the first blog of 2026 and I hope it is a happy, healthy and (literature) heavy year ahead for you. I am doing […]
The Lucky Dip of Books for 2026 This blog is similar to one I did last year, and looks at the twelve new books of 2026 (for the twelve days of Christmas) that I think look intriguing. A twist on last year means I will give you the book photos, names and genre, but in […]