Very pleased to announce Rail Replacement Bus Service as support to the awesome The Orielles this Autumn - great wee band approved by Guy Garvey himself.

Happy 155th birthday to Marcel Proust, master of the 'nocturnal muse'. I'm embarrassed to tell Marcel I have not got past a couple of pages of his lyrical prose, but time is on my side. All the best Marcel: No one rocked a Parisian sofa better.

I would just love it etc etc

Bought a house at auction in the heart of Galloway. All back to brick, ruinous & grand,& this will be the view from the bedroom window. Objects left in house inc fully sealed 1991 Christmas Bells Decanter whisky, Rayburn & pristine Butler Sheffield cutlery - all consuming to step into this life.

New in store @ Gallovidia Books and true to our word @drjenniferorr.bsky.social a fresh new voice in Northern Irish writing and well worth a good few cackling minutes of your time.

Plenty of discourse re the Makerfield election elsewhere but very little about the couple of smashing wee Loud In Libraries shows showcased there inc, 7 years ago, Stealing Sheep. A classic Carnegie early 19C build, the library is well worthy of your attention - probably a Reform-free zone, too...

I'm enjoying the quite marvellous list of 'characters in alphabetical order' of Jilly Cooper's 'Rivals', particularly the descriptions 'Comely but bolshie nanny' and not forgetting ' a very beautiful, stupid PA'. Glorious Jilly - very much missed.

Carriages at midnight. Ambulances at 2am. Some party, Mr Tolkien. Source: unknown.

Tonight in Coventry Central Library - Adult DVD & Paige Kennedy. ** SOLD OUT** #

Evening Eddie. I was a huge devotee & still am of Ms Spark's work & agree with your post. As a teen I was obsessed with 'The Ballad Of Peckham Rye' amongst others & she was kind enough to respond to my fan mail. I can recommend John Lanchester's 'Mr Philips' which might fit your brief here. Pub.2000

As Doris Lessing once counselled...

It is incredibly kind & generous for the delivery driver girls in this part of South West Scotland to bring dog treats with their parcels to reward the horribly savage & humongously territorial cockapoo barking at them behind the door - I salute you. It's more than he deserves.

This looks a good telly pick next week 'Mint' BBC 1 Monday. I'm a sucker for a yearning young love love story set in Scotland so I'm hoping for 'Gregory's Girl' with gangland villains thrown in. Loyle Carner, too.

Michael Rosen has written a quite brilliant poem.

In Lancaster today for this afternoon's uber indie matinee with Getdown Services. Good to be on the spiritual home of Get It Loud In Libraries after all these years 📚❤️🎸

Got a real beauty on general sale this morning for Get It Loud In Libraries. Cardinals at Coventry Central Library - in the footsteps of Fontaines DC, Sam Fender and IDLES. Great bands with books. Get involved. www.seetickets.com/event/cardin...

Drummer joke via Threads.

Riding to the top of the Gallovidia Books' Author Signature 'Champion Of Champions' table is this delicately pretty scribble from florenceknapp.bsky.social both exquisite & evoking a simpler time in life. A thing of beauty. Damn fine novel, too. Copies available now @gallovidiabooks.bsky.social

Thinking about Rebecca Lucy Taylor slaying the day away in the West End and remembering she once posted this about our beloved @loudinlibraries.bsky.social programme to amplify the nation's libraries for the common good #libraries

Retirement goals. The same, but quieter...

Just home from a gig in a care home with my shanty singing buddies 'The Solway Bouys'. Guy on front row promptly fell asleep. Another clapped out of time with gusto misaligned with his bony frame. One woman sang Britney Spears. And another swayed in reflective bliss. A wonderfully human experience.

Very pleased to announce the immensely talented Murkage Dave for a couple of special @loudinlibraries.bsky.social library shows this July. Line Of Best Fit: 8/10 'Pop-adjacent culture as reportage' Uncut: **** On sale now: www.seetickets.com/event/murkag... www.seetickets.com/event/murkag...

Fabulous Christmas show with CSS Lancaster Library, 2011 for 'Get It Loud In Libraries'. Crowned with a rousing cover of Queen's 'We Are The Champions'. Didn't recognize a grinning Lovefoxx in jeans & backpack, dumping her stuff in the green room hours earlier. More library supporting rock stars.

Florence + The Machine played Lancaster Library for 'Loud In Libraries in Nov 2008. She was too shy to speak to me & I was too shy to speak to her so no rapport built, but she was hugely positive about libraries on stage. 'The sound’s absorbing into the books. This is lovely. Go libraries!' Pic: ?

A young upstart singer songwriter from London called Adele was a 4-song (jaw dropping) support act for this show. Two quid to see Adele. Oh, and please, never miss the support...

Best of BRITS 2026 luck tonight to Wolf Alice, Self Esteem & Sam Fender who wandered through the bookstacks of Get It Loud In Libraries SIX TIMES on their way to mainstream fame. Fine musicians, top people, lovers of libraries.

Self Esteem performing for Get It Loud In Libraries in Huddersfield Library, September 2019. Over our 20 yrs, Rebecca has probably played more than any other artist. Firstly guesting with Noah and The Whale at Lancaster Library in 2008 & then with Slow Club. Fantastic musician. Proper good lass.

Do get involved with this generator of headlines from the never happy Allister Heath.