Max Cairnduff
maxcairnduff.bsky.social
Max Cairnduff
@maxcairnduff.bsky.social
Repairer of Reputations.
Pinned
2025 reading 🧵
A charming and influential 1896 American pastoral classic, though not without some bite if you pay attention. Henry James was a fan and I can see why. Lovely little Penguin edition too.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
It's here. Our 2026 Bundle.

Nine incredible titles - including new novels from faves Claudia Piñeiro and Ana Paula Maia, sci-fi from Puerto Rico, short stories and Oscar-winning inspirations. Direct to your door, throughout the year, ahead of publication.

charcopress.com/bookstore/20...
November 12, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Fascinating thread.
It is genuinely hard for most people to grasp how poor the past was.
November 10, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
New on the blog today, I've written about CROOKED CROSS by Sally Carson.

A brilliant, terrifying novel about the rise of Nazism, the falling apart of a country’s codes of decency & the moral fortitude required to oppose persecution. Frighteningly timely. 💙📚

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/09/c...
Crooked Cross by Sally Carson
For a novel first published in 1934, Sally Carson’s Crooked Cross feels remarkably timely, charting, as it does, the rise of Nazism in the early 1930s, the falling apart of a country’s fundamental …
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
November 5, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Hats off to the BBC for restoring Peter Watkins' The War Game to the iPlayer. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
The War Game
Controversial drama depicting the consequences of a nuclear attack on Britain. The film was made in 1965 but not televised until 1985 as the BBC judged it 'too horrifying'.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
If you've ever wanted to see a 1970s Spanish TV dance troupe do a choreographed routine to Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express, now's your chance
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbmU...
Ballet Giorgio - Trans Europe Express (Kraftwerk)
YouTube video by javibal
www.youtube.com
October 28, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Shall we talk about ebooks?

It might be a bit of a weird thing for a physical bookshop to do, but bear with me. There's a reason.

Take a seat for a short thread. 1/?
a woman in a suit and tie is smiling with #schitts creek written on the bottom
Alt: a woman in a suit and tie is smiling with #schitts creek written on the bottom
media.tenor.com
October 26, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
My new blog post on Sally Carson's superb, prescient novel, CROOKED CROSS. Another excellent title from Persephone.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/10/23/c...
Crooked Cross – Sally Carson
I’ve read such wonderful books from Persephone this year such as Diana Tutton’s Guard Your Daughters, Elizabeth Jenkins’ Harriet, and Frances Towers’ Tea with Mr Rochester, and now I’ll happily add…
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
I would laugh if this wasn't so true 😭
October 19, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
My short story ‘The Unspoken’ online @grantamag.bsky.social granta.com/the-unspoken/
October 18, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
All the London food groups.
October 19, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
"How could a weak, perverse woman like me, someone who dreams of a knife in her hand, be the mother and wife of those two individuals? What was I going to do? I burrowed deeper into the ground, hiding my body." #BookSky 💙📚 #DieMyLove #TranslationThurs

jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/10/16/d...
Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz (tr. Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff)
First published in Spanish in 2012 and then in English in 2017, Die, My Love was one of the first books issued by the innovative, independent publisher Charco Press, which remains committed to brin…
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
October 16, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Here’s the Women Writers series looking glorious at Frankfurt Book Fair! @stuckinabook.bsky.social
October 16, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
I’m thrilled to be able to share this with you! My fourth collection, Devotions, will be published next April 23rd. If you would like a proof copy please contact @faberbooks.bsky.social
October 16, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Does anyone know when Austen’s “any body” becomes our “anybody”? Later 19th Century? Did it progress regionally?
October 12, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Overlooked female modernist artist Marthe Donas dazzles in Belgium - thanks @jenniferrankin.bsky.social for drawing the attention of a UK audience to her work
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
October 4, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
TERFs are trying to bully a beloved London public swimming space into throwing out their longstanding traditions/policies in order to force trans people out of using the space.

Please consider voicing your support for inclusivity here hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds.commonplace.is/en-GB/propos...
Public Consultation on Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds | Commonplace
hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds.commonplace.is
October 2, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
My Substack post for October is live! The usual soul-baring stuff from me, including what I did in the Moomin Museum... Also some book chat and details about my forthcoming workshops for the poetry-haters!
open.substack.com/pub/victoria...
Rejections, Spinsters and Hating Poetry (joke!)
Things I'm writing, things I'm reading, things I'm teaching...
open.substack.com
October 2, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Best Irish Books of 2025: your Culture Night (and Christmas) guide to children’s literature www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
Best Irish Books of 2025: your Culture Night (and Christmas) guide to children’s literature
Elaina Ryan of Children’s Books Ireland on its latest guide to the best of Irish writing
www.irishtimes.com
September 18, 2025 at 7:16 PM
@stephenkb.bsky.social hey there, saw your bit on Polish Jazz and will give January a listen. My impression is Poland has a strong jazz scene for decades now, do you think that’s fair?
September 16, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
In the Nuns' Garden
Sarah Robertson
1933
September 14, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Pet parrots which typically live alone (whilst those in the wild live in large flocks) were given the technology to call each other. They would use it for up to three hours a day, and developed favourite friends 💔
on.ft.com/3K05vhS
September 12, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Love the sign in this Cambridge crime bookshop window.
September 9, 2025 at 8:58 AM