Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I would love ‘The End of Everything’ to win. Its portrayal of a world where something has taken over is wonderful because no one knows what’s happening or what has invaded. “Were they ‘here’ in any sense a human being could understand?” is such a brilliant concept. 011
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Very clever - for Emma’s read Emmaus and think Caravaggio. 011
Reposted by Marcus HobsonMartin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · 21/09/2026And a heads-up that @catherinechidgey.bsky.social's new novel also out in OZ early next month! www.penguin.com.au/books/the-st...penguin.com.auThe Starving Bride by Catherine Chidgey - Penguin Books Australia'A captivating reading experience.'BOOKS + PUBLISHING Provocative and utterly gripping, The Starving Bride is a razor-sharp exploration of beauty, shame, the impacts of ignoring the warning signs of c... 131
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026As a late-comer to Rachel Cusk, beginning with Outline trilogy, I have been hunting down her earlier works, so great to have your recommendations here. Thank you. 100
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Thank you Simon, I didn’t know Betjeman had written this about the city of my birth. 110
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Post a picture that should be an album cover. 110
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 22/08/2026On the left ‘Wheat fields with Reaper, Auvers’ and on the right just ‘Wheatfield’. Both amazing and seen up close last year, on different sides of the world. 120
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 15/08/2026Fantastic news about Pip Adam’s Audition. Love this book. Here was my comment from the ‘other place’ back in late 2024. 010
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 15/08/2026I don’t think this is all of them, and my daughter has stolen the Song of Achilles. 000
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 15/08/2026And being a lover of literature, there are the novels and poems that drew their inspiration from Homer and his characters. #bluesky #odyssey 100
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 15/08/2026So much talk about Homer and The Odyssey at the moment. So when I say that part of history is my favourite, I may need to back it up with proof. Translations on the left, histories on the right! #booksky #Odyssey 050
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026I first discovered Yoko Ogawa with ‘The Memory Police’ about six years ago. That made me read two or three of her books, so I’m looking forward to this one! 010
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026It’s WIT month and I already have several books on my shelves which are overdue their first reading. #witmonth #booksky 171
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026Book no38 of 2026. Salt Quilt by Airini Beautrais. Great selection of New Zealand poetry in which the poet looks back at multiple episodes in her life. She makes great use of forms such as pantoum and villanelle. Asks what has poetry has given her & how has it saved her. Very self-aware. #booksky 000
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026This one has a marbled edge. Just longlisted for the Booker prize. 000
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026Book no37 of 2026. The End of Everything by M. John Harrison. In a world where no one is quite sure if the apocalypse happened, or what it really was, one man rescues something from off the coast of Britain. The whole book is built around uncertainty. Perfect novel for our times. #booksky 110
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026Book no36 of 2026. Watching Television in the Love Motel by Haro Lee. Unexpected, untraditional and surprisingly moving. Structured like a TV day; daytime, primetime, late night and graveyard slot. The poems take in South Korea, New Zealand and the USA. At times nostalgic and also gritty. #booksky 010
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 29/07/2026It’s @thebookerprizes.com time again. Surprisingly I’ve read four of the longlist already this year. I love “The End of Everything” for being so believably weird and “The Palm House” for reminding me of riverside London pubs and office gossip. Great selection Booker people. #booksky 040
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 23/07/2026The latest Mark Bowles has reached the furthest corners of the earth…or New Zealand as we call it. Love the postcards Joseph Wright of Derby and the Jay in a vacuum. Stunning chiaroscuro. @galleybeggars.bsky.social 194
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 28/06/2026Book no35 of 2026. Galatea by Madeline Miller. A 36 page short story about Galatea, the statue that came to life after its sculptor, Pygmalion, fell it love with her. She is a virtual prisoner, since every man that sees her falls in love with her. A love story poisoned by male jealousy. #booksky 040
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 28/06/2026Book no34 of 2026. The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas. Written in 1963 this Norwegian tale of two schoolgirls is very unsettling. Brilliantly written, realistic and timeless, it captures a sudden friendship and the new girl’s subsequent disappearance and its impact on the small community. #booksky 030
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 21/06/2026Book no33 of 2026. The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout. New characters and a new setting for Strout. We watch Artie, a popular schoolteacher unravel in the face of revelations about his wife and as the Trump election looms. Great story telling and characterisation as always. #booksky 140
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 21/06/2026Book no32 of 2026. The Way to Colonos by Kay Cicellis. First published in 1961 but as fresh today as they were then. Three retelling of plays by Sophocles. The characters don’t always keep their original names. They retain the drama of the originals and retell in modern settings. #booksky 030
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 12/06/2026Farewell David Hockney - love those colours of the year… 030
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 11/06/2026Thanks John, I’m waiting for my copy of The End of Everything to reach me here at the end of the world in New Zealand. Even more impatient after your review! 000
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 07/06/2026Not exactly reading this; just marvelling at the pictures! 010
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 07/06/2026Book no31 of 2026. The old Fire by Elisa Shua Dusapin. Her forth novel (love them all) for the first time set in her native France. Two sisters return to their childhood home to clear their dead father’s possessions. Thoughtful and poetic, with the constriction of one character being mute. #booksky 010
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 05/06/2026Book no30 of 2026. Repetition by Vigdis Hjorth. A writer thinks back to herself at 16 and the deceit of her parents as she finds excuses to drink alcohol and meet boys. Yet again this family feels very like the author’s own and the controversy with her earlier book Will & Testament. #booksky 031
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 01/06/2026OK #booksky lots of books have piled up over the past few months while I’ve been busy with other projects. Thoughts on which I should read next? 010
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 01/06/2026May’s reading pile. Unusually weighted with non-fiction for me, but loving the classical themes. Two are hard emotional memoirs, made possible by brilliant writing (Erin Vincent & Siobhan Harvey). #booksky 020
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 31/05/2026This is the entire cover - the phone shape is rough - like the texture of stone. 000
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 31/05/2026Book no29 of 2026. Talking Classics by Mary Beard. A book length discussion of why classics matters, and why Beard, one of the UK’s leading authorities, has made it her life-time study. Love one observation- “it teaches you to read difficult things”. Very engaging. #booksky 020
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 31/05/2026Book no28 of 2026. 14 Ways of Looking by Erin Vincent. At the age of 14 Vincent lost both her parents in a car crash. This short book is a series of facts & literary coincidences about the number 14, the date, the page, etc. Interspersed with her own memories. Incredible. Honest and moving. #booksky 010
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 31/05/2026Book no27 of 2026. What we Remember, What we Forget by Siobhan Harvey. Not an easy read. Childhood cruelty is brilliantly handled, but the difficulty of raising her own neurodiverse child is even more confronting. Moving and compulsive non-fiction leaves you asking why this had to happen. #booksky 010
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 31/05/2026Book no26 of 2026. Transcription by Ben Lerner. A writer travels to his college town to interview his old mentor. He drops his phone in the sink & cannot record the meeting. This did not hit the spot for me, even if the cover is excellent. Too difficult to intuit the meaning or relevance. #booksky 120
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Happy to say that some of my words about Sam’s book, ‘How to Paint a Nude’ are reproduced at the end of this article. Keep resisting Mr Mahon! 000
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Book no25 of 2026. The Palm House by Gwendoline’s Riley. Laura and Edmund discuss the job he has lost after decades at a London magazine. Laura talks about her childhood. Not much happens but there are great characters and dialogue. Plenty of humour. Laura & her mum echo Riley’s last book. #bluesky 000
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Bookno24 of 2026. The Lost Voices of Pompeii by Jess Venner. The story of the last hours of Pompeii told by seven quite different people, all of whom existed. A slave, a politician, a businesswoman, a priest of Isis, etc. Each brings their story to life, what they did, how they lived. #booksky 030
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 20/05/2026Wonderful book - some passages were profoundly moving, such as the description of the woman’s day and her evening walks which left me speechless. 110
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 19/05/2026Really enjoying your novella a day series - thank you! How hard is it getting to keep fitting in a whole book a day? Perhaps at the end you will reflect on the whole experience? 110
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 18/05/202620 day book challenge Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 28/20 - I’ll stop there! #booksky #20books20days #bookchallenge #20daybookchallenge 020
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 16/05/202620 day book challenge Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 27/20 (going beyond the boundary) #booksky #20books20days #bookchallenge #20daybookchallenge 030
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 15/05/202620 day book challenge Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 26/20 (going beyond the boundary) #booksky #20books20days #bookchallenge #20daybookchallenge 020
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 14/05/202620 day book challenge Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 25/20 (going beyond the boundary) #booksky #20books20days #bookchallenge #20daybookchallenge 040
Marcus Hobson @marcushobson.bsky.social · 13/05/202620 day book challenge Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. 24/20 (going beyond the boundary) #booksky #20books20days #bookchallenge #20daybookchallenge 020