Sarah Matthews

Remembering Anita Brookner: Hermione Lee on the Writer Behind Hotel du Lac Marking ten years since Anita Brookner’s death, Hermione Lee revisits her life, work and legacy ahead of her upcoming biography on the author.

Oh WOW! Hermione Lee is publishing a biography of Anita Brookner!! Sound the @backlisted.bsky.social klaxon!! www.penguin.co.uk/discover/art...

Publisher Not Found: A Decade of Disruption by 404 Ink — 404 Ink What really goes on behind closer doors in publishing? After ten years of running their own award-winning company, 404 Ink, McDaid and Jones-Rivera call time on their venture and invite readers into t...

Hey pals. We finished our book, Publisher Not Found, and it'll be in our hands in a couple of weeks. If you'd like a copy, you can order it now and have it first: www.404ink.com/store/p/inkl...

More soon!

Blog tour poster for book "Reaper" by Vanda Symon, showing the web addresses of reviews on the tour.

Book “Reaper” by Vanda Symon. The graffiti’d concrete supports of a bridge, seen across water. In the distance, the bright lights and skyscrapers of a distant city.

Today: joining the #blogtour for #Reaper by @vandasymon.bsky.social out this week from @orendabooks.bsky.social. Dangers abound in Auckland for #homeless ex cop Max Grimes. #crime #thriller bluebookballoon.blogspot.com/2026/03/blog... #NewZealand #CityOfShadows. Thanks @annerandomthings.bsky.social

1) A Wreath for the Enemy by Pamela Frankau 2) Life and Death of Harriett Frean by May Sinclair 3) The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence 4) The Devastating Boys by Elizabeth Taylor 5) Old New York by Edith Wharton 6) The Skin Chairs by Barbara Comyns 7) Pilgrimage 1 by Dorothy Richardson

A new blog post today on some of my favourite Virago Modern Classics
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2026/03/08/s...

Ha , me too!

Oh, that’s one I’ve not read yet so it would be fun to join in with this! 

MRS PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT by Elizabeth Taylor

Black & white portrait of Elizabeth Taylor

#NYRBWomen26 page guide for MRS PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT by Elizabeth Taylor

Starting book 3 of #NYRBWomen26 today! MRS PALFREY was listed in Robert McCrum's 2015 Guardian list as one of the one hundred best novels in English. I'll be reading one chapter a day. Anyone is welcome to join & feel free to read at whatever pace you wish. @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social 🧵 (1/3)

The Stepdaughter by Caroline Blackwood Born into an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family, Lady Caroline Blackwood was, for many years, largely known as a socialite and muse. Her marriages to the artist Lucian Freud, the pianist Israel Citkow…

New on the blog today, I've written about THE STEPDAUGHTER by Caroline Blackwood.

A short, sharp shock of a novel where the reader bears witness to a stepmother’s unravelling and the impact of this nightmare on those who are under her care. #BookSky 💙📚

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/03/08/t...

Review by sarahmatthews - The Murder on the Links Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie Read in Braille Harper CollinsPub. 1923, 272pp___I fan...

In Feb I enjoyed Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie, 1923, which brightened those dull & damp days! Here are a few thoughts on this lesser known but very entertaining early Christie 💙📚 #BookSky #BookReview https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1c75d97d-2f23-40e8-a46d-e90ee5f78fbc?redirect=true

A transcript is the only way to make video or audio content accessible to someone who is both deaf and blind. Transcripts can be converted into braille, to be read on a refreshable braille output device.

Monochrome photograph featuring a white woman riding a bicycle with feet on the handlebars moving fast, smiling

Cate Blanchett on a bike, 2004 by US photographer Annie Leibovitz #womensart

Growing up in the online world: a national consultation We are consulting on further measures to prepare children for the future in an age of rapid technological change. This includes potential age restrictions on social media and other services such as ga...

This week, the Gov launched its consultation on how we can ensure children’s experiences online are safe & enriching in an age of rapid technological change.

Read more & fill out the survey by clicking link below.

Consultation closes at 23:59 on 26 May 2026.

www.gov.uk/government/c...

White text on a dark blue background that reads: I need to be more than a lesson you learned, 25 Feb 2026- 31 Jan 2027. Below is a series of bed pans attached to a wall with colourful tourniquets

Many thanks to Caroline Butterwick for writing this excellent article in @theguardian.com about 'I need to be more than a lesson you learned', the exhibition currently on show at our online gallery dis_place.

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Unboxing The Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026 longlist YouTube video by Eric Karl Anderson

This is a great summary of the Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist as always from Eric Karl Anderson 💙📚 #BookSky #WomensPrize
https://youtu.be/vkJPxwYL3ng?si=9lzg24l2QigBzKBl

Just been catching up on the #WomensPrize for Fiction 2026 longlist and for the first time ever I’ve actually already read 2 of the books - Heart the Lover by Lilly King and Audition by Katie Kitamura. Looking forward to reading some more from this year’s list! 💙📚 #BookSky

" Promotional graphic for the upcoming workshop "Large Print Books for Your Tablet." The heading reads, "Turn your tablet into a custom reading tool." To the left of the photo, a list explains users can learn to customize Font Size & Styles, High Contrast Modes, and Free E-Book Access. A blue rounded box on the right provides event details for Tuesday, March 10, from 10:00–11:00 AM PT held Online. A blue button at the bottom includes the registration link: www.brailleinstitute.org.

Love to read but need text that works better for your eyes?

This free workshop will show you how to turn your tablet into a fully customizable reading tool. We'll help you make books work for your vision, not against it.

Date: Tuesday, March 10
Time: 10:00–11:00 AM PT

Register now: bit.ly/3KoxtEF

Two scientists look at a monitor attached to a large apparatus consisting of pipes, tanks, vessels and hoses. The first scientist says "I don't get it. The reaction is running perfectly, but we can't account for 7% of the heat." The other says "Have you Asked the Professor?" The first replies "We're not supposed To disturb him when He's in his office." On the other side of the apparatus, one of the pipes goes through a wall into another room where it warms the water for a hot tub in which the professor relaxes.

My cartoon for this week’s @newscientist.com

The Intricate World of Literary Jumble Sales Bring Out Your Jumble, and your Literary Jumble Sales  Now here’s a post that’s been long-promised and a long-time-coming. Given that we d...

Of course one day we were going to do literary jumble sales on Clothes in Books. And the day has come. From Barbara Pym to Mapp and Lucia, with a surprise teaser from Graham Greene. With pictures. Please add your own favourites and mentions.... clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-...

The American Way of Death (1963) by Jessica Mitford I remember being fascinated by The American Way of Death when I had my Mitfordmania in 2008. Eagerly reading everything I could about this extraordinary family, it seemed so strange and unexpected …

Who'd have thought an exposé of the mid-century, American funeral industry would be this funny and this compelling?

A lilac water bottle with colourful cartoon unicorns and clouds, stars and rainbows

Just had my water bottle choice mocked for being "childish".

Why wouldn't you want a bit of whimsy and joy where you can get it? Being an adult is rubbish.

The Painter's Mother Reading Freud's portraits of his mother, Lucie, unsentimental yet sensitive, belong to the artistic canon of portraits of mothers from Rembrandt to van Gogh. Freud's sitters are sometimes depicted reading and in The Painter's Mother Reading, although the pages are blank, the book she is reading is believed to be the Geschichte gyptens. This illustrated volume had been important to Freud since he was given it around 1939 and from which he was later to make a series of portraits. His mother, who had studied philology at university, would have had her own interest in this book. Oil on canvas, 1975 Private Collection

Reflection (Self-portrait) The way you paint yourself, you've got to try and paint yourself as another person. Freud was in his early sixties when he painted this self-portrait. Around the same time he was making portraits of his ageing mother. In the tradition of artists returning to portraits of themselves in moments of introspection, the painting could be interpreted as a reflection on his own mortality. Painted under harsh overhead lights, the artist's head casts a dramatic shadow on his chest. Oil on canvas, 1985 Private Collection

Caroline Blackwood The writer and Guinness heiress, Caroline Blackwood, was a recurring model for Freud during their short-lived marriage in the early 1950s. Girl in Bed is an example of the meticulously painted portraits of single figures he made at the time. As with other portraits of Blackwood, it demonstrates both a tenderness towards her and a suggestion of discomfort on her part. The setting for this and Hotel Bedroom is the Hotel La Louisiane on the Rue de Seine in Paris, where the couple lived for a while. The technique of high scrutiny was later described by the artist as being responsible for the occasional involuntary magnification' of the sitter's features, as seen here in Blackwood's disconcertingly large eyes. The double portrait, Hotel Bedroom, was painted two years later. Blackwood is in the foreground while Freud stands at the window. The couple appear to be entirely separate from each other. Blackwood later reflected that although these portraits were regarded as violent at the time, in retrospect, they are thought of as Freud's most romantic. Right Girl in Bed (Caroline Blackwood) Oil on canvas, 1952 Private Collection courtesy of Ordovas Far right Hotel Bedroom Oil on canvas, 1954 Collection of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Canada. Gift of The Second Beaverbrook Foundation.

Self-portrait Fragment Although Self-portrait Fragment appears unfinished, as the traces of the charcoal underdrawing remain, Freud exhibited it several times in his lifetime, which suggests he believed it had a life of its own. The painting gives us an understanding of the way the portrait was made - the composition emanates out from the eyes, forehead and nose. The artist appears to emerge from the canvas, the tips of his fingers meeting his face. Oil on canvas, about 1956 The Lewis Collection

Loved the LUCIAN FREUD exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery today. So many fascinating artworks to see. #Art #ArtSky #LucianFreud

Review by sarahmatthews - Perfection Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico Tr. Sophie Roberts Read on audioNarrator: Sophie HughesFitzc...

I’ve written a few thoughts on Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, 2022, tr. Sophie Roberts. A brilliant critique of the Instagram generation, it’s endlessly quotable, I loved it! 💙📚 #BookSky #BookReview #ReadIndies https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1e5bf325-0a66-4eae-b4d0-c74bc6eedc03

Review by sarahmatthews - Perfection Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico Tr. Sophie Roberts Read on audioNarrator: Sophie HughesFitzc...

I’ve written a few thoughts on Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, 2022, tr. Sophie Roberts. A brilliant critique of the Instagram generation, it’s endlessly quotable, I loved it! 💙📚 #BookSky #BookReview #ReadIndies https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1e5bf325-0a66-4eae-b4d0-c74bc6eedc03

Tea on Sunday by Lettice Cooper While the British novelist and campaigner Lettice Cooper is probably best known for her literary novels, such as National Provincial (1938) and The New House (1936), both in print with Persephone B…

New on the blog today for #ReadIndies, I've written about TEA ON SUNDAY by Lettice Cooper.

A very enjoyable 'closed circle' style whodunnit in which an elderly woman is bumped off in the run-up to her tea party on Sunday afternoon. #BookSky 💙📚 #CrimeFiction

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/02/26/t...

Greyhound – Joanna Pocock Joanna Pocock’s ‘Greyhound’ is a wonderful work of hybrid literature that artfully combines memoir, travel writing, reportage, and social commentary seen through the prism of her Greyhound bus journey...

"I was curious to see what it would look like today to cross the US without the machismo, the individualism and the car. The communal aspect of travelling by Greyhound is crucial to seeing a side of 'America' that very few people want to acknowledge and even fewer actually inhabit, even fleetingly."

Official Team GB Paralympic photo, with the the crests and everything, and a professional headshot, but it's for "Pickle, A Very Good Girl", who is a black labrador, with a hi-viz harness and a red collar.

Some of you like dogs, in which case you may appreciate that guide dogs of Team GB for the Paralympics get official photos

Oh yes, it was the inspiration for a whole project of screenprinted photo collages of old and new photos mixed together, with colour an drawings thrown in too, I had so much fun with that! Thanks for the jumping off point! I imagine you did lots of research for the novel

Sounds great, I can concur that his fiction is excellent as I was obsessed with The Director’s Cut when I was at uni and it lead me to researching the history of old cinema buildings across London!

“I love a dedicated second-hand bookshop as much as the next collector.” #parisfantastique #readindies Confingo Publishing is an indie press based in Manchester, and they have an intriguing list of titles on their books. They’ve appeared on the Ramblings before as they issue Dave Haslam’…

On the Ramblings today for #ReadIndies, a stunning short story collection by @nicholasroyle.bsky.social from @confingopublishing.bsky.social "Paris Fantastique" - so good! More here: kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2026/02/25/i...

International Booker Prize Longlist 2026 My International Booker Prize predictions were among the most accurate of recent years, correctly guessing three of the thirteen titles (The Director, The Wax Child and The Deserters), mentioning a…

My initial thoughts on the International Booker Prize long list:
1streading.wordpress.com/2026/02/24/i...