The rest of October's reading, rounded up: a perfect balance between realistic and imaginative. ellethinks.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/oct…

Does this advert melt my stony heart? Yes. Does it also make me want to shout "BRITAIN DOES NOT HAVE A NATIVE RACCOON POPULATION"? Hell yes.

NOOO LET HIM ON THE TEAAAM

Rereading Francis Spufford's rich and immersive novel Golden Hill, about which I still can't think of anything bad to say: ellethinks.wordpress.com/2023/11/04/the…

Book recommendations needed, please! I fancy reading a few collections of letters. Any period is fine, any kind of person, they just need to have been an entertaining correspondent. What are your top picks for letter collections, Book Twitter?

Nonfic November AND #NovNov23! ellethinks.wordpress.com/2023/11/11/nov…

I have come back on here with the news that OxfordBrookesEnglish is under a huge threat of redundancies - 40% of staff will be culled from English and Creative Writing by January. Please spread the news. We are fighting for our livelihoods #SaveBrookesEnglish

Thoughts on The Last of the Mohicans (1826), and specifically, what often seems to happen in fiction when a force like racist ideology comes into conflict with the instincts of a creator: ellethinks.wordpress.com/2023/11/16/the…

If you've been assuming that STEM subjects are definitely safe from the rampant stripping-to-the-bone current in UK academia, think again.

Finished #HiddenBooksGame! Absolutely enraged that the romance shelf one wasn't The Five Love Languages, and I reckon the lion clue isn't strictly playing fair...

Natasha's right, as always—this is probably her best book, and contains all the stuff you love in her other work, like m/m yearning, tenderness, and obliviousness. There's even an octopus, amazingly.

Help me pick a reading project for next year! ellethinks.wordpress.com/2023/11/22/thi…

Once there was a Tabby Cat who ran a bookshop by Canterbury Cathedral. It was a marvellous place, with treasures on every shelf & free buttered toast & hot tea for all who visited. At Christmas, it glittered with lights & its window was a wonder of the city.

Nailed the prediction, nailed the jumpsuit, had a grand old time at the Booker Prize

November's library reads: only two this month, but both great and wildly different, from imperial Rome to the Somme to the Cold War #loveyourlibrary ellethinks.wordpress.com/2023/11/27/lov…

Just added them all up and I'm somehow doing 8 carol services this December. This is not a complaint post.

HURRAH—In Ascension was a hands-down Top 10 favourite book of this year for me. A very well-deserved accolade indeed.

November reading: what I made of the rest of it, including my first Barbara Trapido and Mary Renault novels, an ethically-sourced trip back to my childhood in the form of the first Harry Potter book, and a terrific forgotten classic in the Dickens vein ellethinks.wordpress.com/2023/11/30/nov…

I'm on Bluesky now! It's eleanorfranzen there, as here.

Not mad about this longlist at all. I've read Enlightenment, Orbital, and James (latter 2 my picks to win so far), have copies of Playground and Headshot (can't wait to get to both), and want to get hold of Stone Yard Devotional. There's variety here. Booker's done far worse.