iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This immediately made be think of the glorious way Benedict Cumberbatch completely fails to say penguin. youtube.com/shorts/GflW9...

youtube.com

Benedict Mispronouncing Penguin Has Us Weak😭 #Shorts

YouTube video by The Graham Norton Show

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It’s great. It won the two big children’s book prizes in NZ. And was short listed for the Young Quills historical fiction prize here.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

One of my favourite books of last year was Stacy Gregg’s ‘Nine Girls’. Cracking good story - but also a beautiful exploration of Māori identity and issues of indigenous land rights in 1970s/1980s NZ, pitched just right for middle grade readers.

Front cover of a novel in deep blues, gold and green, showing the small figure of a young girl, the sweeping form of a giant river eel, and in the distance the meeting house of a Māori marae.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Arthur’s Tractor is one of my all time favourite picture books - very funny & clever. Delicious upending of the classic princess-prince-dragon dynamic, plus perfect example of the text & illustrations telling parallel stories.

Front cover of a picture book showing an illustration of a farmer on a big red tractor ploughing a field. Title reads: Arthur’s Tractor. A fairytale with mechanical parts!

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Durham, Manchester & Ripon cathedrals are all still free. Durham has free public toilets. Also Tewksbury Abbey. In Newcastle the Laing Art Gallery, the Great North Museum: Hancock, and the Discovery museum are all free. And in Gateshead the Baltic Art Gallery.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

For #ShowYourStripes Day - the Climate Stripes for Newcastle upon Tyne.

Graphic using stripes in varying shades of blue and red to highlight climate change since the 1850. Newcastle’s stripes are almost entirely red (one lone blue stripe) since 2020 showing rising temperatures.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Even on a dull grey day the extravagant exuberance of the summer garden makes me happy. 🌱

Blowsy pale apricot English roses nestled amongst riot of lush green perennials, including dark crimson astrantia (masterwort) and ornamental thistles.

A purple foxglove stands tall, amongst pale apricot roses and dark crimson thistles, in the distant background is a patio table and chairs, and a fence with pale yellow climbing roses.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Really enjoyed this museum based guessing game. Beautiful objects and an opportunity to reflect on global history. Anthropeum.com · Jun 15 2026 🟩🟩🟨🟩🟩🟦🟨🟩🟥🟩 70,771 · top 11% of players today! #museums #medievalsky #history

anthropeum.com

Anthropeum

A daily game that challenges our understanding of human cultures. Ten objects. 5,000 years of human history. Guess where and when each artifact was made. See how you rank.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Philip Ardargh’s Eddie Dickens books seem to be out of print.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

There were wetas living in the pohutukawa tree in our garden when I was growing up - we loved them as kids. Deliciously scary looking.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

A giant weta! They look terrifying but are actually harmless - which is quite funny.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Anthony Trollope’s The Warden - if I’m remembering correctly Septimus Harding first reads about himself in the press in a local bookseller.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

What is the collective noun for alliums in flower… An explosion of alliums? An abundance of alliums? #TinyJoys 🌱 🌸 💕

A flower bed full of round purple allium flowers - like little purple exploding fireworks. With lime green foliage in the background.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Are you interested in pastoral care of post-grads too or just undergrads? My other half has only taught post-grads for the last few years -but lots of pastoral responsibility & experience.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Great evening out with Three Acres & A Cow last night - 1000 years of history, social justice & communal singing. What more could you want? If you haven’t seen the show yet, get yourselves along to see it!

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Thank you - that’s a really useful list.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Hello #KidLit hivemind. I’m looking for examples of Middle Grade dual point of view narratives. Mostly finding US examples. Can anyone suggestion UK MG books written in dual point of view (first or third is fine)? Wondering if this is a cultural/publishing industry difference? #UKKidLit #KidLitUK

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

After the dark months of winter, every spring I am reminded just how much I love my garden. 🌱 #Springflowers

Hellebore flowers with layers of dark crimson petals and soft yellow stamen.

Wild primroses, with soft yellow petals backlit in the spring sunshine.

Miniature daffodils with rich egg-yolk yellow trumpets, and tiny bright blue flowers of brunnera.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

I received a happy bookshop type email this morning to say my copy in the post.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Wassailing to bless orchards, it’s usually in weeks around 12th night.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

A bit of book treasure under the Christmas tree for me. 📚🎄 #IAmReading #BookSky

The front cover of ‘A History of England in 25 Poems’ by Catherine Clarke, with a Christmas tree in the background.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

In my first few weeks of work at my previous employer I… 1) handled a manuscript once handled by Bede 2) found a canon ball in a desk drawer 3) had to call the ‘bat ambulance’ to rescue a downed juvenile bat from the resident protected bat colony. Soon discovered that was just a normal working week.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Loved the book. And your presentation at the Leaf conference. 😊

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Shout out for ‘The Things We Leave Behind’ by @clarefurniss.bsky.social - brilliantly thought provoking and disturbing.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Yes - so many battles. I struggled to finish Anna Karenina - she was just so annoying. It’s funny which books we connect with isn’t it - I’ve tried & failed to read Middlemarch multiple times, and can’t read Dickens, though I’ll happily watch TV adaptations.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

I love a long novel - I’ve read War and Peace twice. Favourites of mine are Anthony Trollope’s The Way We Live Now, Gaskell’s North and South, and Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Last roses of the summer in the garden. 🌱

Apricot pink rose, with petals beginning to unfurl, seems to glow in the gentle afternoon light. The flower is a cabbage style rose and round like a pompom.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

I was given the Reader’s Digest edition of David Attenborough’s ‘Life on Earth’ to accompany the TV series for my birthday when I was about 7. I struggled to read the text, but spent hours & hours looking at that book.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

App on my phone says Koelreuteria paniculata - Goldenrain tree.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

I just asked my 21 year old for their favourite childhood comfort read and without hesitation they said Rooftoppers.

Front cover of Katherine Rundell’s novel Rooftoppers. The illustration shows the roof tops of Paris in grey against a pale yellow sky with two children leaping between the roof tops. Above them a huge flock of pigeons rises into the sky.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

One of the great classics of NZ literature - and I think I’m right in saying, it remains the most translated work by any New Zealand writer.

Front cover of ‘The Whale Rider’ by Whiti Ihimaera. The illustration shows the back view of a young girl with dark hair and a pink dress standing on a lush green hill looking out over a bay. The colours are muted evening light, the sea a pale lavender, the sky a pale apricot. Filling the sky above her head is the shape of a whale formed from wispy clouds, and decorated with traditional Māori patterns.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Kevin van Whye ‘Date me Bryson Keller’ and Mason Deaver ‘I wish you all the best’ are both good. If she enjoys Jane Austen she might enjoy Georgette Heyer? Arabella, The Grand Sophie, Frederica are some of my favourites.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

We were there too - wasn’t it wonderful. It’s my husband’s absolute favourite, but I’d never heard the whole symphony before and it was brilliant. Last night we were at my favourite, Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, which was so beautiful it made me cry.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

I was feeling adventurous. Olive oil ice cream and 80% dark chocolate sorbet. Delicious.

Small paper cup containing very dark brown sorbet and creamy white ice cream, with a chocolate star and little spoon stuck in the top.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Glorious night out at the Proms to hear one of my most favourite pieces of music - Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.

The Royal Albert Hall all lit up against a dark night sky.

On the left an orchestra are arriving on stage & starting to tune their instruments. On the right a sea of people fill the Royal Albert Hall.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Done - hope it helps! We are a family of dual citizens (my children are entitled to 3 different passports, and my immediate extended family includes 5 nationalities) so I sympathise hugely with your situation.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Yes agree - that lovely frothy whiteness.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Northumberland is gorgeous - beaches, wildlife, hill walks, heritage sites. And very few people.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Those lovely delicate little flowers are definitely not a hawthorn - I think it’s a myrtle.

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Dr Janet Gunning @jangunning.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Yes I think the carving has been identified as 14th century, but it’s possible these might be later additions to an earlier font.

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