mathewlyons.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

'Sometimes my mind gives me a flash of road I'll never see again, sometimes a face that's gone, gone. Moments like grains of sand but the beach is empty. Millions of moments in forty-five years. Letters in boxes, photos in drawers.'

submitted 7 hours ago • 2 comments

Cistercians preferred seals! A high proportion (63%) of the C12/13th manuscripts from the monastery at Clairvaux were bound in sealskin, mostly harbor & harp seals from Scandinavia, Scotland, Iceland & Greenland, perhaps chosen to match their white habits. www.arch.cam.ac.uk/news/medieva...

submitted 5 hours ago • 2 comments

I’ve heard so many good things about this. Really looking forward to getting hold of a copy!

submitted 8 hours ago • 2 comments

Eight books to look out for in June. Picks from @vintagebooks.bsky.social, @yalebooks.bsky.social, @faberbooks.bsky.social, @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social, @cambridgeup.bsky.social, @reaktionbooks.bsky.social, @littlebrown.bsky.social, @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social

submitted 13 hours ago • 0 comments

In May I read 30 books, among them a Holocaust memoir, a neglected Gothic classic, a collection of afterlife visions, several books on the Middle Ages, a saga, a very strange ghost story and a late masterpiece by C. S. Lewis. Today I’m sharing my favorites:

submitted 1 day ago • 3 comments

Anyone watching Who Do You Think You Are with Will Young and wanting to find out more about his ancestor Hugh Despenser, @helencarr.bsky.social has a new book for you!

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

@iammilliam.bsky.social Hi Andy. Just to say I hope things aren’t too grim and you’re not being dragged in to the Unbound situation. Take care of yourself, anyway.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Bookish people of West Yorkshire, this will be lots of fun!

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

'A trilingual Hebrew dictionary co-created by monks & Jewish scholars'!!

submitted 1 day ago • 3 comments

One of the most preposterous things I’ve seen in a very long time.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Came across a story yesterday that will be great for Months Past in @historytoday.com. Unfortunately I can’t use it until next July… 😞

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Now over 1000 Goodreads reviews! 🍾 You can buy the book here, and all of the cash will go to indie businesses, and none to Jeff Bezos🤌🏻 bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

WOOHOO!!! I'm elated that Totally Chaotic History: Roman Britain Gets Rowdy has been nominated for Best Children's Audiobook at The Week Junior Book Awards 2025!!! I had such fun narrating this with my expert co-author @emmasouthon.bsky.social! www.theweekjuniorbookawards.co.uk/2025/childre...

submitted 2 days ago • 6 comments

Last night, the House of Lords defeated the Government for a fourth time by passing an amendment establishing meaningful transparency measures for the use of rightsholders’ works in AI systems, many of which are being used without recognition, permission or remuneration. (1/3)

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

New on the Writer’s Bookshelf: eight questions about writers, books, and reading with the brilliant @peterfrankopan.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/mathewly...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

A terrific piece, and holds special affection for me because my mom was such fan of Dorothy Sayers' writing. But it is so curious to me — when I read such stories as 'the first Oxford University graduation ceremony to award degrees to women' — in 1920 — why this was so many centuries late.

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Obviously Unbound is a special case because there were no advances to earn out, but is it normal publishing practice to ringfence royalty monies?

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Great interview with @daisydunn.bsky.social about writing about women in antiquity

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

If you’ve read about the Unbound/Boundless scandal, you’ll know that quite a few authors are owed significant amounts of money. If you want to support them in a small way, it would be brilliant if you signed up to their newsletters/blogs etc, or bought any of their non-Unbound books. 1/n

submitted 3 days ago • 3 comments

The T. S. Eliot Foundation is delighted to announce the judges for the T. S. Eliot Prize 2025. Michael Hofmann will chair and will be joined on the panel by fellow poets Patience Agbabi and Niall Campbell. Read more now: tseliot.com/prize/catego...

submitted 22 days ago • 1 comment

The lovely people looking after John have set up a small page to collect photos and memories from people who knew him, should they wish to share them publicly. They are also taking donations for the Air Ambulance. ❤️

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

New on the Writer’s Bookshelf: eight questions about writers, books, and reading with the brilliant @peterfrankopan.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/mathewly...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

📢FAO UEA Students We are pleased to offer a new studentship in Maritime History for a student to study MA Early Modern History, MA Cultural Heritage & Museum Studies or MA Modern History in @ueahistory.bsky.social in 2025 Value = £10k - if of interest, get in touch! www.uea.ac.uk/study/fees-a...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

FAO @bcdreyer.social and everyone else. There was no-one – and I mean no-one – like Kenneth Williams. Here he is reading Norman Hunter’s short story The Dribblesome Teapots on Jackanory. youtu.be/KeRUZGftZkg

submitted 4 days ago • 5 comments

I wrote about the first Oxford University graduation ceremony to award degrees to women, which took place on 14 October 1920. 27-year-old Dorothy L. Sayers was among the fifty celebrants that day, and she never forgot it.

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

Now watching The Children Act. Oof. But probably not in a good way. Has anyone read the book?

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment