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Lizzie • they/them

@mudlark-s.bsky.social
252 followers 53 following 446 posts

🇬🇧 bookseller, bookshop manager here for books, dog pics, and interesting conversations. 📚 40/52 Find me on storygraph! (with an underscore)

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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Not sure why I feel so ughhhhh (it is the lack of fruit and vegetables)
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Brian Bilston @brianbilston.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Autumn poem just dropped.
[The poem has been written in the shape of a deciduous tree with letters (or ‘leaves’) missing from the text]:
 
  comm   n pr  ble    whe    writin    p   ems
in the shape of decid o   s trees
is t  at once t   ere ar   ives
the fir   t sti   rings of    he new aut   mn breeze,  
  he       oems will begi    to shake    hemselves ge   tly  
  ntil their letters loos   n like leaves,
an they d start to float down
then
 
[The missing letters from the tree have landed on the last line to form the phrase]

turntomushuponthegroun

[The final ‘d’ is floating down to complete the phrase.]
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The Booker Prizes @thebookerprizes.com · 22/09/2026
Presenting the Booker Prize 2026 shortlist. Find out more about the books and authors that make up this year's list. thebookerprizes.com/bp2026
The Booker Prize 2026 shortlist in full:

The End of Everything by M. John Harrison
The Disappearers by Marlon James
Black Bag by Luke Kennard
May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
John of John by Douglas Stuart
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The Bookseller @thebookseller.com · 18/09/2026
Breaking News: HarperCollins has dropped the backlist of children's author David Walliams, The Bookseller understands. 👇
ebx.sh
David Walliams' backlist dropped by HarperCollins
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Cooked 2 meals in the same day for the first time in aaaaages today. Polenta bake for lunch and then ham egg and mash for supper. Have been enjoying the recipes from simple too so far!
A round brown dish with roasted tomatoes in and a black oblong roasting tray with a cheesy polenta bake on it, both sitting on a hobA plate with roasted tomatoes and a pile of baked polenta
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Sooooooooooooooooooo ready to turn my brain off soon. Sunday!!! For a whole entire week!!
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The Bookseller @thebookseller.com · 07/09/2026
Children’s books and comics have dominated the upper end of the UK public library loans chart in 2026, with 70% of the Top 50 most-borrowed books coming from the sector 👇
ebx.sh
The loan stars’ state: kids’ authors rule among the library stacks
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Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Oh, it's that bandwagon I keep not getting on.
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
My phone has restarted itself on me 4 times already today sooooo I think perhaps that means new phone time
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Kashana @kashana.blacksky.app · 29/08/2026
Look, guys, the data centers really need that water to make more csam
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Garth Nix @garthnix.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
And now the UK tour details!
Blackwells Oxford 22 October Comic Con London 23rd and 24th October. Topping & Co Edinburgh 26 October. Topping & Co York 27 October. Waterstones Manchester Deansgate 28 October Mr B's Bath 29 October Waterstones Piccadilly London 30 October Fellowship Festival Brighton 31 October
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Helen McCarthy @helenmccarthy51.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Yayoi Kusama, one of the defining artists of her generation, has died aged 97. Choosing to create within an asylum because it gave her more peace and freedom than the world, she unlocked and explored universes. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist who became a global superstar, dies aged 97
From the 1950s to the 2020s, Kusama produced vivid paintings, sculptures and vast installations that often drew on her experience of hallucinations
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
view from pen y ghent!
Green countryside recedes into the distance from a high viewpoint, with a blue sky and lots of white, fluffy clouds above
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Ramen kind of day
A bowl of ramen, with a medium boiled egg, Pak choi, and other vegetables
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Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
This explainer out of Australia is genuinely useful background and analysis of what happened with the Canada-US trade deal last night. Note that it is extremely and delightfully sweary. Also there’s an appended glossary of Australian slang. ifloz.substack.com/p/king-carne...
ifloz.substack.com
KING CARNEY ACTIVATES KONG MODE WITH ZERO FUCKS
Carney Reads the Clock Like a Pro Wrestler
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Martha Wells @marthawells.com · 17/08/2026
My novelette "Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy" (which is a Hugo finalist this year, yay!) is coming out in audio on Sept 1. It's a Murderbot Diaries story about ART: libro.fm/audiobooks/9... the text version is here: reactormag.com/rapport-mart...
libro.fm
Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy Audiobook on Libro.fm
A 2026 Hugo Award Finalist for Best Novelette!Perihelion and its crew embark on a dangerous new mission at a corporate-controlled station in the throes of a hostile takeover...
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Jen the Feisty Librarian @feistywaters.com · 15/08/2026
Love it when people say you’re a librarian so you shouldn’t judge what people read and I’m like nah, I’ll fight for you to freely access whatever you want to read but I’m absolutely judging some of those choices.
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Big Bearded Spookseller @bigbeardedbookseller.com · 14/08/2026
Bloody bonus that this is Waterstones Game of the Month, bought mine as soon as it hit the floor @stonemaiergames.com Pocket Wingspan is one of my most anticipated games since it was announced #BoardGame #SoloBoardGame #Wingspan
Front view of Wingspan Pocket gameBack of Wingspan Pocket game
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
When I have been awake at 0215 it should be illegal for my body to wake me up at 0730 :((((
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Vaguely tempted to make 2027 my year of reading non fiction ™️
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Josh Michtom @rsgat.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
This is just to say I have eaten the sailors that were in the ship and which you were probably saving for Ithaca Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so Greek
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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Pleased to finally announce... Abdication, the last Southern Reach novel! "There will come the days of the watcher, the drowned woman and the shadow of a man who keeps falling apart with each step, but first comes the moment the birds appear at night from the gaps between the stars, far from home."
Publishers Marketplace Deal Report, August 6, 2026:

Jeff Vandermeer's ABDICATION, the last novel in the Southern Reach series, in which an ornithologist exiled to a remote coast stumbles on a terrifying secret,  a self-proclaimed king pursues a mystery hidden in a strange weather station, and a man who can become a cormorant is tasked with a deadly mission through a future landscape transformed by Area X, for publication in October 2027, in a significant deal, to Jenna Johnson at Farrar, Straus, by Joseph Veltre at the Gersh Agency and Alex Kohner at Yorn Levine (world).
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Sandy Ernest Allen @sandyernestallen.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Here's my Cosmo piece about how segregated bathrooms have impacted my own health www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a6...
cosmopolitan.com
Avoiding Public Bathrooms Damaged My Bladder—Now, As a Trans Man, I’m Finally Letting Go
Inside the emotional and physical toll of holding it in.
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The Bookseller @thebookseller.com · 03/08/2026
Britain’s poetry sector has had its best half-year of sales in history – boosted by Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey – and by 2026’s end the category is almost certain to obliterate its all-time high-water since accurate records began 👇
ebx.sh
A Homer run: Poetry poised to hit its all-time UK high
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 31/07/2026
1. Newer writers, just don't fucking use "AI" for anything, ever 2. How odd that being an established writer with a firm "no 'AI'" stance and ample pre-"AI" IP will become a definite competitive advantage over "new, hot, and possibly copyright compromised" deadline.com/2026/07/ai-q...
deadline.com
AI Questions Spoil Book & Movie Heat On 'Call Me, I'll Hide The Body' Novel
That screeching sound you heard from international publishers and film rights buyers was an abrupt application of the brakes after a fevered pursuit of the unpublished debut novel.
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The Booker Prizes @thebookerprizes.com · 28/07/2026
‘We are confident that our longlist of books has something for everyone’ We are delighted to reveal the Booker Prize 2026 longlist. Huge congratulations to the authors who make up this year's Booker Dozen. ➡️ Discover the full list: thebookerprizes.com/bp2026
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The Paul of the House of Usher @katamaridumassy.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Damn, I can’t believe how coarsened the political discourse has become
Dan Hodges piece from the Daily Mail (I think) in 2017 with the headline ‘Labour MUST kill vampire Jezza’ showing Jeremy Corbyn as a vampire
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Garth Nix @garthnix.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
If you're in the UK, Waterstones has 25% off for pre-orders of MASSIF! Pre-order with code SUMMER26. Pre-orders are super helpful for a book to have a chance at a good life. www.waterstones.com/book/massif/...
Pic of the cover of MASSIF, a spacesuited figure near a crashed fighter craft and above a mountain range ascending into the sky. Waterstones 25% off Books Coming Soon. Preorder with code SUMMER26, online only. 21-24 July. Selected lines only.
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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Lamentation (flipped, detail), by Gerard David, 1515-23, 📸 by Roberto Schmidt
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Came back from a week of annual leave to a very exciting stack of proofs! Thank you very much @hodderscape.bsky.social @grantabooks.bsky.social @septemberbooks.bsky.social - very excited to get dug in!
A stack of 5 books - a large copy of Doom Painting by A K Blakemore, out Sep 26, a copy of Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu, out Aug 26, and the three books of Robert Jackson Bennet's Tainted Cup series with the third, A Trade of Blood, out in August 26.
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
me in march
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Pacific Northwest Seismic Network @pnsn1.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Belgium gets the equalizer! Romelu Lukaku forces an Egypt own goal to tie the score at 1-1! #EgyptVsBelgium #EGYvsBEL #WorldCup2026 #FIFAWorldCup
White seismogram showing the shaking caused by fans after Romelu Lukaku scores Belgium's first goal of the game. Seismogram is overlaid against a photo of the field, with the colors of Egypt and Belgium's flags in the background. The score is 1-1.
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Dr James Alexander Cameron @drjacameron.stainedglassattitudes.com · 10/06/2026
And today, on the centenary of Gaudí's death (10 June 1926), the central tower is to be inaugurated (it was actually topped out on 20 Feb)
La Sagrada Família from the NW (liturgical south, facing the Nativity Facade), topped out with the cross with arms in cardinal directions. The major tower crane remains, anchored to its structure, and one to the right)
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Well it's not raining yet but the sky is decidedly greyer. Progress!
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
My latest books cartoon for @theguardian.com. Many more here: www.theguardian.com/profile/tom-gauld

Panel 1
A small girl and boy are reading on the floor. A father appears at the door and says:
"This is so nice to see! I heard that kids these days weren't reading." 
One of the children says "Ugh, reading? So lame!"

Panel 2
She continues "It's called Booksmaxxing now, Dad!"
He replies as he is leaving "'m just happy you're enjoying it."

Panel 3
The boy says "Booksmaxxing?"
The girl says "I like to mess with him."
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Goals for summer Learn how to make a (good, easy) flatbread Spend lots of time outside Read lots of books Buy some citronella candles
A plate of slices of flatbread on a plate next to a white dip, with a small glass jar of oil and balsamic vinegar next to it. In the background a sun lounger and grass
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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Quick note to anyone thinking of buying my books: please purchase the new Swift Press versions, NOT the relatively small number of Unbound versions still knocking about, & being sold by OOINYA. Unbound stopped paying me for my work early in 2024 and I will never see a penny for these books.
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Sharpie @sharpinsky.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Btw fuck Streeting for doing this right at the time when the media might actually start taking an interest in Nigel Farage’s financial affairs.
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Oliver Skånberg-Tippen @oskanberg.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Frustrated with the election pundits talking as if votes only 'swing' from one party to another. I did some analysis of the results, and my modelling (based on votes only, not polls) suggests that the largest movement since 2024 local elections (by a long way) is from 'Did Not Vote' -> Reform
A Sankey diagram, titled "Voter flows, UK local elections 2024 to 2026"
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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
The Persistence of Memory, by Salvador Dalí, 1931, 📸 by David Ramos
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Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Today is #NationalPenguinDay so we're remembering that time we made a Penguin out of Penguin Books. It's a Penguin Penguin. 🐧
A penguin made of Penguin books
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Naomi Novik @naominovik.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
A new edition of SPINNING SILVER is now available in paperback, with gorgeous new cover art!⁣ AND brand new bonus short story called 'Hoodwinked' Designed to match the cover art of THE SUMMER WAR & updated UPROOTED. (And fans of the original cover art - don't worry! It is still available in HC)
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Txnewsprincess @txnewsprincess.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I thought this point Eric made about how libraries are early introductions to a social contract was really interesting, too:
“And what I think is so amazing about that is not only do you start to feel like you you are welcome in and belong in this place, the public library, but also you start to learn what it means to be part of a community. Because, let’s say you love Curious Georgebooks and you take out a Curious George book. You get the generosity of your society because it’s like “Here, take this Curious George book home, it’s free. Just bring it back and keep it in good shape. Don’t tear out the pages. Don’t write in it.” And you learn that you want to do that—not only because they tell you—but also because when you return it, you want to get the next Curious George book. And you realize that if the other kids in the community don’t return the book, or don’t take care of their books, you won’t be able to take it out. So, you learn mutual obligation and reciprocity from an early stage.”
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Lizzie • they/them @mudlark-s.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I have!! made progress!! on the house!! under sink cabinets sorted, hand towel + ring for downstairs loo sorted, toilet roll holders sorted woke up today and decided I was Over having toiletries etc all piled up on the floor and I Would Find Something, Anything but think what I did get is perfect!
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Joel Cunningham @joelevard.com · 16/04/2026
guys, this is how you lose the time war
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
From democracyforsale.substack.com/p/orbans-brits
democracyforsale.substack.com
What happens to Britain's radical right if Orbán loses?
Inside the money, power and patronage connecting Hungary and the British right
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Phil Brickell MP @philbrickellmp.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
So when Reform accepts £4 million from this man, are they sure of where this money actually coming from? A man convicted of running a platform deliberately designed to hide the origins of money is now pouring cash into British politics. Red flag, red flag, red flag.
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 08/04/2026
The more you love ProPublica, the more reason to not visit their site today.
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Garth Marenghi's Catbus @catbus.phd · 21/03/2026
Our Lady of Perpetually Online
devotional statue of Mary Magdalen in a cubicle completely covered in monitors, keyboards, circuit boards, cables and assorted other computer paraphernalia
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Ali Trotta @alwayscoffee.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
For anyone who needs a gift link on "Shy Girl," allow me: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/b...
nytimes.com
Horror Novel ‘Shy Girl’ Canceled Over Suspected A.I. Use
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