David Bishop CTeach 🇬🇧🇪🇺🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
@libraryrinth
Hardest working man in teaching. Book reading, quiz teaming woke art lover. He/him. No AI. #Booksky #Edusky libraryrinth.substack.com
I'm enjoying McKee's muscular writing - but it's not as dogmatic as I'd believed it to be. His insistence on high standards (and the fact most movies are shit) is also refreshing.
I struck by the similarity between the painting and the island of St. George in the Bay of Kotor, when we visited Montenegro last year. No idea if Bocklin ever saw it.
Book 43 of 2026 #Booksky Violent, punchy and funny - and therefore right up my strasse. I've wanted to read Himes for a while, just a shame it's taken me this long. I will certainly be reading more of his work.
Missing you Mum on what would've been your birthday. Always there, always kind, always supporting me in whatever I did. Love you xxx
Book 42 of 2026 #Booksky Excellent. Not just powerfully written, but also digs into that complex overlap between science and experience. Recommended.
Book 41 of 2026 #Booksky I don't read much fantasy, but this has been on my list for a while (I loved 'Piranesi') and I was in desperate need of some escapism. It's a beast, but I'm glad I finished it.
Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness.
Book 40 of 2026 #Booksky Another Maigret ticked off. 4 down, 71 to go.
More evidence also of Orwell's peculiar vendetta against my home town. WGC also gets a (critical) mention in 'Wigan Pier'. Orwell lived for a time not far from Letchworth (the first Garden City), but I'd love to know if he ever visited Welwyn. #Booksky
Book 38 of 2026 #Booksky This was an intriguing read, if perhaps not wholly successful: a study of grief combined with a country house murder mystery. I found the last chapter desperately moving.
Book 37 of 2026 #Booksky Lots of the maths went waaaay over my head, but an invigorating read nonetheless. Especially struck by the suggestion that golden ratio and what we find beautiful might have an evolutionary basis - perhaps linked to our distant ancestors' ability to scan the environment?
Book 36 of 2026 #Booksky Pushing at an open door as far as I'm concerned, but still an important reminder of the importance of rest. Described a lot of things I'm currently grappling with, and whilst the prose was a bit too jaunty in places, a worthwhile read.
Book 35 of 2026 #Booksky This was a timely reminder of how great Orwell's writing is, and how much of a kick I get out of reading him. I also need to read more of his novels.
Book 34 of 2026 Only half-finished, but still a bunch of fun. Also made me laugh a lot. Gone too soon, Charlie. #Booksky
Book 33 of 2026 #Booksky My first Forster, and rather delightful: witty and moving in equal measure. I'll certainly return to his novels.
Book 32 of 2026 #Booksky A brilliantly unsettling story, up there with my favourites from Jackson. A disorientating tale of multiple personalities, where reality feels unstable and liable to collapse at any moment.
Book 31 of 2026 #Booksky Brilliantly written, clear-eyed survey of where we are, and what we can do about it. It starts with Klein's obsession with the other Naomi, & soon encompasses something much bigger. It's also an urgent plea for tolerance, and to move beyond damaging, online binary debate.
Book 30 of 2026 #Booksky I'm glad I read it, and some of the writing is just exquisite, but... I'd be lying if I said this wasn't a slog at times.
Book 29 of 2026 Another gallop through probably my favourite Batman story (although 'Arkham Asylum' runs it close), and the colours in this edition are just gorgeous. #Booksky
Book 28 of 2026 #Booksky Just brilliant. Whitehead's writing pulses with life and energy, like Ellroy at his best. I was also struck by how this 70s-set novel chimes so much with today.
Book 27 of 2026 Tonally, this was all over the place - which may be the point, given it describes a teenager's struggles with mental ilness and panic attacks. I found it messy. I did laugh at the bit where two 16 year olds try to buy booze, via a plan that only a teenager would think viable.
Book 26 of 2026 #Booksky 'Oxford undergraduate struggles to write essay about Shakespeare's sonnets' might not sound like a page-turner, but I though this was terrific. Surprising, funny and a supreme example of conjuring up a believable consciousness. She's fictional, but I hope Annabel does well.
Book 25 of 2026 #Booksky The first Maigret novel, and it shows. Whilst lots of the well-loved tropes are already in place - Maigret's bulky stature, the pipe, his stove - this was a bit too frenetic for my taste. A sign of a writer finding his feet.
Book 24 of 2026 #Booksky Boyne reminds me of Steinbeck: his prose is seemingly simple, but utterly unflinching. I enjoyed this very much, despite parts being a gruelling read.
I've only read the foreword, but this is excellent. #Booksky
Book 23 of 2026 #Booksky This also called to me from its library shelf, and as they have a bunch of these I'm going to commit to reading all 75 Maigret novels. And this one was a goodie: a mysterious suicide, a blood-stained suit and a past that won't stay buried. What more could you want?