iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Charlie Citrine is, was, a big literary figure but his ego, lust and lack of real awareness get him into all kinds of scrapes. Lawyers, crooks and Chicago itself are beautifully described and skewered. Clever and funny, this is Bellow at his best.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Gwn mai marw sydd yn rhaid Try y blodau pinc yn llaid. Ond gwanwyn nesaf cwrddwn ni Pan dyrr dy wawr uwchben ein tŷ. Diolch #MagnoliaWeek 🌸

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Dad's man cave, those old photos, books and just, stuff. Ask yourself, 'After I've gone, will anyone I know be happier if I save this?' Having a dump is a great relief! Here's how to do it and why we all should. Tack. #books #booksworthreading

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

A few quibbles and maybe a man of his time but he's a great American writer. Anyone want my collection of Saul Bellow? DM me! #BooksWorthReading #bookstagram

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

How do I know I exist? Well, who's asking the question?

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Effi marries well but is bored living on the Baltic coast. She has an affair, moves to Berlin but the truth catches up with her. A tragic Prussian story of C19th ideas of honour as Fontane mocks morality and societal strictures. A bit like Madame Bovary. Loved it.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Bet one in ten people don't know the real meaning of to decimate.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Seven people catch the Lilac Bus home from Dublin every Friday night. Back in Rathdoon their tales of love, duty, ambition and friendship intertwine. Something Dylanesque about the small town storytelling reflecting the changing face of Ireland in the 1980s. Sweet.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

'Your idea of secrecy seems to consist of keeping the chief of your department in the dark.' Based on a real anarchist bombing in 1894, this tale of terror, establishment collusion and moral corruption has Dickensian characters and grim descriptions of London. A classic with some resonance today.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Sofia takes her hyperchondriac mother to southern Spain for treatment. But is the doc a quack and who is the one in real need of 9help? A complex, weird story about familial bonds, duty and identity. Layered and memorable but not sure if I liked it.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Oligarchs with AK47s, rewriting history, ordinary lives and Putin's halucinogenic pecker! Part travelogue, part contemporary history, this is a roller-coaster ride through Russia and its neighbours. When the Wall fell we celebrated. Anyone laughing now? Stunning reportage.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Take three girls. UC Dublin, 1958. Family and fate play their part as the friends navigate their way to independence in the modern age. Chick lit set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Ireland. Great holiday read.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Is there a course I can take to become a philanthropist? I'd be really good at it.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Judi shares her lifetime's love of the Bard's magic, wit and lyricism as well as offering an insight into the art of acting. Readable, funny and compelling. You feel like you're sitting there having a chat with her. Delightful. #Shakespeare #BooksWorthReading

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Ar drothwy'r Ail Ryfel Byd mae dwy ferch ifanc yn diflannu ar Ynys Môn. Dyn lleol sy'n cael y bai ond oes grymoedd tywyllach ar waith? Mae DI John ar y cês. Nofel ddarllenadwy sy'n cadw'r gyfrinach tan y diwedd un.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Ignore the rights or wrongs of the operation but is anyone else uneasy at the images of Maduro being paraded on his, way to prison? Feels like old fashioned pillorying. Unnecessary, degrading and potentially morally undermining any case against him to me. Thoughts?

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Timeless novella on greed, self loathing and the redemptive spirit of Christmas. The Cratchit family celebration is delightfully described. Merry Christmas!

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Giulia, an orphan, is used to test a nobleman's virility before he can marry one of the Medicis. Guiliano marries her for the dowry but... A tale of motherhood, sacrifice and true love in the midst of a vile, powerful patriarchy. Sound familiar? #MeToo

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Tair ffrind wedi troi 60. Creisis briodasol, diffyg hunanhyder a'r cwestiwn oesol - be wi fod i neud 'da mywyd nawr wi fod yn 'rhydd?' Angst a hiwmor am yn ail. Byddwch chi eich hun!

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Strether is sent from New England to Paris to bring Chad home. But there's Madame de Vionnet and, well, freedom to think of. Humorous clash of early C20th cultures with some delicious characters. Can self realisation trump duty? Great sense of time and place but a bit long.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Pilar meets her childhood sweetheart. He's turned into a spiritual leader and takes her to Lourdes. The Virgin, Mother Earth, miracles, talking in tongues are all here. Love and vocation. It's simple and superficial but just not for me. Apparently Coelho is very popular. 🤔

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Sin, suffering and beauty. That's our lot in life and it's messy. Set against the backdrop of a changing C19th Paris, some say these often visceral poems kick started literary modernism. Why didn't they teach this stuff at school?

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Phone hacking, intimidation, cover up and criminality. This detailed expose shames not only the Murdochs but also the police, politics and regulators. Beware the concentration of media power and influence. Shocking stuff. And I fear it's still going on.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

ICYMI. As the West struggles with sluggish growth, Central Asia is enjoying something of a boom. #Kazakhstan has to balance relations with Russia and China. But what price continued growth? My report is at 16'40 in. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

bbc.co.uk

From Our Own Correspondent - Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Party fightback - BBC Sounds

Victory in NYC's mayoral election has sparked debate about the Democrats' future direction

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

#Kazakhstan's economy is on the up, forging closer ties with China. I returned there after two decades as I followed the #Wales football team and consider how the country has changed. My report on @BBCRadio4 From our own Correspondent is at 1130 today.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Once allies, a Labour MP and Conservative minister are forced to face their murky past. A tale of power and ambition. Lobbyists, big business and the media are all skewered in this gripping political thriller. Can friendship, loyalty and love survive Westminster?

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Just for fun. Some of my portraits down the years Nagyw bywyd yn braf?

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

Ever heard of the 50 page rule? A librarian has suggested that for books, if you're 50 or under, you read 50 pages and give yourself permission, at that point, to stop reading if you're not enjoying it. Yes!

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

A group of brilliant students kill a man in a pseudo dionysian frenzy. Do they care? Will Bunny talk? Part coming of age tale, this gothic horror page turner takes us to the heart of darkness. Superbly icky and I'm still asking myself why?

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

The innocence of children, nature and me. Often profound, is it sometimes twee? God in Man and Man in God. Not being Christian you may find it odd. Forgive not forget! Whatever your take. On balance I think, like me you'll like Blake.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

A fatal ballooning accident brings a religious, pathological nutcase into the lives of Joe and Clarissa. He thinks he and Joe are in love and it goes horribly wrong for all three. Is rationality v belief always the best answer? Some great twists of plot if you stick with it.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Josef K faces trial for an unspecified crime. The torturous legal process demonstrates the absurdity of a bureaucracy which internalises guilt. I think it's about totalitarianism or maybe God. Who knows? An unsettling read but I preferred his 'Amerika.'

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Ambition, ego, money and sex motivate these television rivals as the 80s franchise bidding war begins in rural England. Gloriously vulgar, riddled with snobbery and with characters you hate to love. What a romp. There. You're holiday reading is sorted!

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

A Victorian orientalist, a Yazidi seer, a C21 water scientist and King Ashurbaneepal. The enduring secrets and conflict of Mesapotamia run through the centuries. Exquisite story telling by rounded characters. What an epic journey this book is.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Today's room with a view Ah the glamour of the #Edinburgh Festival.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

A Californian rich kid defies her family and survives as a nurse in the Vietnam war. But Frankie's ghosts follow her home. The USA in the 70s is wracked with prejudice and sexism and is at war with itself. Great evocation of the period and of a generation in motion. Diolch Helen am hon. #books

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

A dysfunctional family leaves London for Margate, but for young Chance love and loyalty are sorely tested. She's just one more victim in this futuristic, apocalyptic vision of Britain. Too near the truth to be fiction? Brilliant writing and characters.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

A talking cat who badmouths your guests, an ox in the morning room. Tricks, pranks and bonkers house parties. Ladies, generals bishops and butlers. Saki satirises Edwardian England, its manners and propriety in these laugh out loud stories. (I wonder if Wodehouse read him.)

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

An amoeba in love, a paean to Ceredigion, death in Gaza, President Trump and short nosed elephants in Aberaeron. This eclectic, quirky, Milliganesque collection of poems every so often delivers a punch of sorrow or truth. Da iawn.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Sourdough. Is it really worth it? £4-50 for a single loaf. Nightmare to cut and you lose a tooth chewing it. #firstworldproblems

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

While apartheid South Africa was banned from international sport, football remained a big deal in Robben Island prison. Between beatings and hard labour the game flourished with its own FA, clubs, refs, even player poaching. A remarkable story of so much more than a game. #football #southafrica

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Reposted by Tim Hartley

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 19/06/2025

Sayed Naser served as a U.S. military interpreter in Afghanistan. Now he’s being deported. The Taliban assassinated his brother and kidnapped his father. All because he helped us. Why are the feds trying to deport him, even though his asylum case is still pending? Not justice, it’s a betrayal.

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, says Tehran must stop "bombing civilian targets in Israel immediately". Where have you been?!

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Tim Hartley @timhhartley.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

6 year old Mary survives the tortures of an Irish orphanage. Hoping married life in Cardiff will be better she and her husband arrive during the city's race riots. Evocative pictures of the daily struggles of early C20th life down the docks. But there is beauty amid the drudge.

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