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Oliver Arditi

@paracyclops.bsky.social
361 followers 551 following 164 posts

Writer, librarian, worldbuilder, conlanger, lapsed musician. I like fantasy, science-fiction and horror, books, records, comics, games, cats, food, and holding inexplicable opinions.

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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The home and the human life preserved at Glasgow’s ‘Tenement House’ is just the most extraordinary window into an increasingly distant era of social history. Wonderfully preserved, interpreted and displayed. oliverarditi.com/2026/10/04/a... #museums #history #socialhistory #glasgow
oliverarditi.com
A life preserved
From the Latin verb teneō, ‘to hold’, we get the word ‘tenement’, which originally meant a land holding. How and when it came exclusively to refer to purpose-built apartment blocks is less clear (o…
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
A quick visit to the Mackintosh Tearooms is hardly enough to absorb its spectacular visual impact, which also made it hard to concentrate on the excellent tea and scone! oliverarditi.com/2026/10/03/i... #food #tea #architecture #gesamtkunstwerk
oliverarditi.com
Improbably radical
The Mackintosh Tearooms, previously ‘Mackintosh at the Willow’, and originally ‘The Willow Tearooms’ is a Glasgow landmark designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1903, and restored to his origina…
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Cartoonishly complex, full of crunchy riffs exciting melodies and preternatural virtuosity, Planet X’s ‘Universe’ is instrumental prog metal at its uncompromising best. oliverarditi.com/2026/09/30/f... #metal #rock #progmetal #progressivemetal #jazzfusion #instrumentalmetal #music #musicsky
oliverarditi.com
Full stretch on every beat
Derek Sherinian k; Tony MacAlpine g; Tom Kennedy eb; Virgil Donati d. Planet X, a short-lived band of progressive metal extremists led by keyboardist Derek Sherinian and drummer Virgil Donati, rele…
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Serendipity brought me ‘Travel Light’ by Naomi Mitchison, a wise and beautiful fable from 1952, and a clear influence on my hero Ursula K. Le Guin. oliverarditi.com/2026/09/29/r... #fantasy #fable #fiction #fantasyfiction #norsemythology #books #booksky
oliverarditi.com
Ringing true
Serendipity can bring you some wonderful writing, if you let it. This book was returned at the library where I work, and I took note of a cover blurb from Ursula K. Le Guin, saying ‘read it now’. A…
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I found Susanna Clarke’s ‘The Wood At Midwinter’, a short, illustrated fable in its own beautiful volume, both unsettling and reassuring… oliverarditi.com/2026/09/28/a... #fantasy #fantasyfiction #fable #illustration #books #booksky
oliverarditi.com
An unsettling fable
Winter’s a poem, like all the seasons. It speaks itself into us in a language of sensation and anticipated nostalgia. Returning so reliably as it does each year, it reminds us that its repetitions …
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I missed ‘Albion’ when it came out in 2005-6, but this omnibus reprint is one of the most rambunctiously entertaining (and artistically brilliant) bits of superhero revisionism I’ve read in a long time. oliverarditi.com/2026/09/27/e... #comics #britishcomics #books #booksky #comicsky
oliverarditi.com
Empire and anarchy
Alan Moore – plot; Leah Moore, John Reppion – script; Shane Oakley – pencils; George Freeman – inks; Wildstorm FX – colours; Dave Gibbons – covers; Todd Klein &#…
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I’ve been moved and enchanted by Natalia Lafourcade’s beautiful album ‘Cancionera’. Her considerable talent is filtered through a quarter century of experience to atmospheric and emotionally authentic effect. oliverarditi.com/2026/09/25/e... #music #latinmusic #musicamexicana #musicsky
oliverarditi.com
Experienced songscapes
Natalia Lafourcade started her career as a pop singer in a Mexican girl group, but somewhere on her way to a solo career she turned left into folk music, which is where I found her, and became one …
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It took me 30 years living nearby to get around to visiting Munnings Art Museum. It was worth the wait—Alfred Munnings didn’t break new ground, but he was an incredibly skilled painter and made everything look easy. oliverarditi.com/2026/09/25/p... #art #painting #portraiture #equestrian #artsky
oliverarditi.com
Pragmatism in paint
I live in a part of the country associated with painters. I’m sure that most parts of England are associated with painters, but I’m lucky to have a couple of famous ones closely linked to the area …
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
‘House of Open Wounds’ by Adrian Tchaikovsky was a tremendously entertaining read, that explored some interesting ideas in the middle of a Venn diagram between speculative fiction, military bureaucracy and religious stricture. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/cb7f... #books #fantasy #booksky
A white male hand holding a dimly-lit copy of Adrian Tchaikovsky's 'House of Open Wounds' in a domestic interior.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Hey @crackmagazine.bsky.social have you stopped making Spotify playlists? I understand if you’ve abandoned the platform for ethical reasons—I just use it to find music which I then buy direct from the artist if possible. But your playlists are very helpful for that
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Nerdy, soulful, vulnerable, and intimidatingly accomplished! Thundercat’s ‘Distracted’ continues his habit of ignoring received wisdom and going wherever his imagination takes him. www.discogs.com/master/41841... #music #rnb #musicsky
discogs.com
Thundercat - Distracted
Explore songs, recommendations, and other album details for Distracted by Thundercat. Compare different versions and buy them all on Discogs.
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Reposted by Oliver Arditi
Alex Winter @alexwinter.com · 08/09/2026
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open, period.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
We went to the Garden Museum, next to Lambeth Palace, to see their exhibition about Benton End near Hadleigh, Suffolk. A beautiful insight into a lost oasis of rural Bohemia. www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserRevi... #museums #gardens #exhibitions #gardensky #museumsky
tripadvisor.com
The long summer of Suffolk's Bohemia - Review of Garden Museum, London, England - Tripadvisor
Garden Museum: The long summer of Suffolk's Bohemia - See 379 traveler reviews, 209 candid photos, and great deals for London, UK, at Tripadvisor.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
We went to Tapas Brindisa at London Bridge for some really tasty Spanish food, if quite expensive (no real fault of their own). Especially loved the stuffed courgette flower with caramelised peaches and alcoholic gazpacho. www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserRevi... #food #tapas #restaurants #foodsky
tripadvisor.com
Just like Spain - Review of Tapas Brindisa London Bridge, London, England - Tripadvisor
Tapas Brindisa London Bridge: Just like Spain - See 1,731 traveler reviews, 415 candid photos, and great deals for London, UK, at Tripadvisor.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Book 2 of Alan Moore’s ‘Long London’, ‘I Hear A New World’ is a thrilling, brilliant, lurid, febrile, comical psychogeographic fantasia of London, its underbelly, its symbols and its histories. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a398... #fantasy #occult #fiction #alanmoore #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'I Hear A New World' by Alan Moore in a messy domestic interior, while a small, black and white cat looks on from the right, unimpressed.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I’ve spent some quality time with ‘Polytropos/Of Many Turns’ by Steve Coleman and Five Elements. It’s a wonderfully absorbing essay in additive, layered improvisation, that keeps on giving however long you listen. www.discogs.com/release/3210... #music #jazz #improvisation #mbase #musicsky
discogs.com
Steve Coleman And Five Elements - PolyTropos / Of Many Turns
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2024 CD release of "PolyTropos / Of Many Turns" on Discogs.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
‘Tish’ (dir. Paul Sng) is a fascinating look at the life of the truly remarkable Tish Murtha, a brilliant documentary photographer and committed social activist. flickfocus.com/movies/tish-... #film #cinema #documentary #photography #filmsky
The movie poster for 'Tish', dir. Paul Sng.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
‘In Camera’, Naqqash Khalid’s directorial debut, is an extraordinary cinematic poem, a perceptive and ambiguous meditation on acting and self-hood, audaciously conceived and brilliantly executed. flickfocus.com/movies/in-ca... #film #cinema #filmsky
The movie poster for 'In Camera' dir. Naqqash Khalid.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I found beautiful, heartbreaking, immersive worldbuilding in Ursula Le Guin’s short work of mainstream fiction, ‘Searoad’. Still finding unsuspected gems every time I visit her back catalogue. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/3ad7... #books #shortstories #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'Searoad' by Ursula Le Guin in front of a window in a domestic interior.
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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
A brief note for Nadhim Zahawi.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
I'm honestly blown away by Raye's 'This Music May Contain Hope': erudite, sincere, technically and creatively accomplished, swimming in pain and joy. A brilliant essay in the modern redeployment of the old school. www.discogs.com/master/41767... #music #soul #musicsky
discogs.com
Raye - This Music May Contain Hope.
Explore songs, recommendations, and other album details for This Music May Contain Hope. by Raye. Compare different versions and buy them all on Discogs.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I’ve been utterly moved and transported by Tran Anh Hung’s film ‘The Taste of Things’—I still feel as though I don’t quite know what just happened. An extended poetic meditation on food and love, a truly transformative work of art. flickfocus.com/movies/the-t... #films #movies #filmsky #moviesky
The movie poster for the film 'The Taste of Things' dir. Tran Anh Hung.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
More straightforwardly written than much of what I read, ‘The Last Blade Priest’ by W.P. Wiles is a tightly plotted fantasy thriller set in an original and colourful world, and I loved it. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/e31e... #fantasy #books #booksky @willwiles.bsky.social
A white male hand holding a copy of 'The Last Blade Priest' by W.P. Wiles in front of a fireplace lintel-beam festooned with colourful decorations.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
My first time with this record. 'Spears', the debut from Tribal Tech (1985) is flat-out virtuosic improvised jazz fusion, always bluesy, funky and accessible. Rarely has any group played as intensely or cohesively as this. www.discogs.com/master/41623... #tribaltech #jazz #music #musicsky #jazzsky
discogs.com
Scott Henderson And Tribal Tech - Spears
Explore songs, recommendations, and other album details for Spears by Scott Henderson And Tribal Tech. Compare different versions and buy them all on Discogs.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I enjoyed 'To Green Angel Tower: Storm' by Tad Williams, it was… fine. I'm not sure 'fine' justifies the extreme length of this epic fantasy monument, though. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/e63b... #fantasy #epicfantasy #memorysorrowandthorn #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'Green Angel Tower: Storm' by Tad Williams, in front of some domestic clutter.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I had a lot of fun listening to Kneecap's latest, 'Fenian'. A bit darker than their debut, and probably a lot more successful, thanks to the massive publicity boost they got from the UK government! www.discogs.com/master/42107... #music #rap #musicsky #rapsky
discogs.com
Kneecap - Fenian
Explore songs, recommendations, and other album details for Fenian by Kneecap. Compare different versions and buy them all on Discogs.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Simon Roy's 'Habitat' is an absolute gem of a generation-ship comic, a brief but visually rich tale of tribal warfare in the ruins of a collapsed technological society. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/bb60... #sf #sciencefiction #comics #books #booksky #comicsky @simonroy.bsky.social
A white male hand holding a copy of Simon Roy's 'Habitat' in front of a leaded window.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
'Conversations of Hope' by Jasper Høiby's 3 Elements is a beautiful, generous, challenging record. Probing bass, articulate drumming and expansive piano, in service of nuanced, deeply felt emotion. www.discogs.com/master/42190... #music #jazz #pianotrio #jazzsky
discogs.com
Jasper Høiby's 3 Elements - Conversations Of Hope
Explore songs, recommendations, and other album details for Conversations Of Hope by Jasper Høiby's 3 Elements. Compare different versions and buy them all on Discogs.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I’m in Manningtree Library watching Henry Patten from Manningtree playing in the Wimbledon men’s doubles final. Go Henry!!! #tennis #wimbledon #henrypatten #manningtree #localhero
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
I loved following the thematic complexities of Claire North's 'Slow Gods', a space opera that uses a big, epic plot to explore a very personal experience of difference. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/e580... #sf #sciencefiction #spaceopera #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of Claire North's 'Slow Gods' in front of some summer greenery.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
I’m not a prolific online shopper, but all this exciting stuff arrived together this morning!
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Read Winter 2024 Fantasy & Science Fiction. Fav story 'Do Not Haste To Bid Me Adieu' by Will McMahon (US New Deal, Spanish Civil War, interstellar empires); fav poem 'Vanishing Act' by Avra Margariti (stellar dynamics/body horror). #sf #sciencefiction #fantasy #shortstories #poetry #books #booksky
A white male hand holding the Winter 2024 edition of Fantasy & Science Fiction in a domestic interior.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
'Gloriana' is the apotheosis of Michael Moorcock's first 25 years of fantasy writing, a gloriously complex and perverse allegory, full of vivid characters and striking imagery. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/68eb... #fantasy #michaelmoorcock #gloriana #books #booksky
A white male hand holding up a copy of 'Gloriana, or, the unfulfill'd queen' by Michael Moorcock, in a cluttered domestic interior.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I really enjoyed 'The Skills' by Monica Galetti, which makes a lot of scary kitchen techniques accessible. I have to admit I've not put it into practice yet, though! app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/2284... #food #cooking #monicagaletti #books #booksky
A white male hand holding up a copy of 'The Skills' by Monica Galetti in a messy cottage kitchen.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
I found Italo Calvino's 'Cosmicomics' a riot of invention, poetry, humour and profundity. Short, philosophical storiettes a la Borges. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ded7... #speculativefiction #shortstories #sff #italocalvino #cosmicomics #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of the Penguin 'Complete Cosmicomics' by Italo Calvino in an overgrown garden.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
'Do Aliens Speak Physics?' is a fascinating look at the limited perspectives of science by physicist Daniel Whiteson and cartoonist Andy Warner. Wonderful ideas delivered humorously. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/29fd... #science #aliens #books @danielwhiteson.bsky.social #booksky
A white male hand holding up a copy of 'Do Aliens Speak Physics' by Daniel Whiteson and Andy Warner.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Sonny Rollins was a huge figure in improvised music from the mid 50s, played with everyone who was anyone, and radically changed the way people improvise on any instrument, but especially the sax. Go in peace brother, I’ll see you on the bridge. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/m...
theguardian.com
Sonny Rollins, colossus of jazz saxophone, dies aged 95
One of the last stars of the bebop generation, Rollins was an genius of melodic invention and improvisation, working with Davis, Monk, Coltrane and others
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Alex Cochran @cannotbegrouped.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Okay. Given the current #hot #weather. Where can a guy or girl get their hands on a functioning #stillsuit? 🌡️☀️☀️🏜️
static.klipy.com
Zendaya as Chani in Dune
ALT: Zendaya as Chani in Dune
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Another fast-paced, rip-roaring instalment in the Expanse series, James S.A. Corey's 'Nemesis Games' has strong characters, intense pacing, and nice worldbuilding. Nothing fancy, but a very entertaining read. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/887e... #sf #sciencefiction #theexpanse #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'Nemesis Games' by James S.A. Corey in a domestic setting.
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British Fantasy Society @britfantasysoc.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
👀 Who's made the next stage of the British Fantasy Awards? Stay tuned: the shortlists will be announced at lunchtime tomorrow, Friday 22 May...
A black background with a splash of hot pink ink in the corner
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
I’ve just read volume 3 of the relaunched, English-language ’Metal Hurlant’. Wonderful art throughout, although the reprints can have pretty weak scripts, and their sexual attitudes aren’t great. Fav story was Ryan Heshka’s retro-weird ‘Do Not Disturb’ #comics #fantasy #sf #horror #sff #sffh
A white male hand holding a copy of ‘Metal Hurlant: the Monster Within’ in a domestic interior.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Wisdom and love are deep in every thread of the tapestry that is Ursula K. Le Guin's 1987 anthology 'Buffalo Gals and other animal presences' Come for the beautiful writing, stay for the non-human subjectivities app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/6795... #fantasy #sf #sff #ursulakleguin #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'Buffalo Gals and other animal presences' by Ursula K. Le Guin in a domestic interior.
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
I hope this isn’t true. There are times when it’s more important to put country before party. This is one of them. Burnham’s longstanding commitment to a fairer voting system could transform our democracy & counter the dire threat of a Reform UK government elected on a minority of the vote
theguardian.com
Greens suggest they will properly contest byelection in blow to Burnham
Statement follows speculation party would not field candidate in Makerfield or barely fight seat
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
I’m very behind with all my anthology periodicals, but I’ve finally read BFS Horizons #17 from 2024. I especially enjoyed ‘Order of Service’ by Joe Durham, and the poem ‘Shadows and Dust’ by G.O. Clark. #sciencefiction #fantasy #horror #sff #sffh #poetry #shortstories #books #booksky
A white male hand holding BFS Horizons #17 in a domestic setting.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
'Under the Eye of the Big Bird' by Hiromi Kawakami trans Asa Yoneda is a beautifully written dreamscape of a mysterious far-future. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/0f1d... #sciencefiction #sf #hiromikawakami #asayoneda #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of Hiromi Kawakami's 'Under The Eye of the Big Bird' translated by Asa Yoneda in a domestic interior.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Had to level the cat this morning.
A cat on a footstool, tilted.A cat on a footstool, level.
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Steve Roud is a giant figure in folklore studies, and his 'Folk Song in England' is a wonderful, rigorous guide to traditional music, and the history of its study. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/699f... #folk #folklore #folksong #folkmusic #music #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'Folk Song in England' by Steve Roud in a cluttered domestic space
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
A British Fantasy Awards ‘I’ve voted’ sticker
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Oliver Arditi @paracyclops.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Rarely do books get added to my list of all-time favourites. Alex Pheby's baroque philosophical fantasy-of-ideas 'Waterblack' is one of them. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/4e76... #fantasy #books #booksky #alexpheby #waterblack #citiesoftheweft @galleybeggars.bsky.social
A white male hand holding a copy of 'Waterblack' by Alex Pheby, in front of a bookcase and some sheet music.
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E.M. Faulds / Beth or Taxes / Not em faulds @emfaulds.com · 18/04/2026
Some indy research that I'll be sharing results of for everyone to see / use! This survey is on short fiction anthologies. You can take it even if you never read them, as there are Qs about that, too. The aim is to help anthologies shine, so please share it! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
Fiction Anthology Purchasing Factors
This survey is designed to help clarify how people decide on buying and reading short fiction anthologies. For the purposes of this survey, I am defining "anthology" to mean a book of multiple short...
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