Max Cairnduff
@maxcairnduff.bsky.social
Repairer of Reputations.
Pinned
2026 reading 🧵
‘Dr Weiss, at 40, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.’
My first Brookner of the year (I plan around one a quarter), and her first too. Beautifully observed, superbly written, often very funny, and absolutely tragic. Extraordinary for a debut novel.
‘Dr Weiss, at 40, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.’
My first Brookner of the year (I plan around one a quarter), and her first too. Beautifully observed, superbly written, often very funny, and absolutely tragic. Extraordinary for a debut novel.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
'Alice Underground' by Gail Brodholt
gailbrodholt.com
gailbrodholt.com
January 8, 2026 at 7:29 AM
'Alice Underground' by Gail Brodholt
gailbrodholt.com
gailbrodholt.com
@john-self.bsky.social looking at your Times’ review that This is Where the Serpent Loves book doesn’t sound too terrible.
In Other Rooms (“one of the best I’ve read”) going swiftly onto my to-buy list.
In Other Rooms (“one of the best I’ve read”) going swiftly onto my to-buy list.
January 6, 2026 at 5:45 PM
@john-self.bsky.social looking at your Times’ review that This is Where the Serpent Loves book doesn’t sound too terrible.
In Other Rooms (“one of the best I’ve read”) going swiftly onto my to-buy list.
In Other Rooms (“one of the best I’ve read”) going swiftly onto my to-buy list.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Lee Sangsoo | South Korea, b. 1983
Siamese Cat, undated
Resin sculpture
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Siamese Cat, undated
Resin sculpture
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
January 4, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Lee Sangsoo | South Korea, b. 1983
Siamese Cat, undated
Resin sculpture
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Siamese Cat, undated
Resin sculpture
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Winter Moon at Toyamagahara, 1931
Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883–1957)
woodblock print
38.5 x 25.7 cm (15 3/16 x 10 1/8 in.)
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt #HappyNewYear
Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883–1957)
woodblock print
38.5 x 25.7 cm (15 3/16 x 10 1/8 in.)
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt #HappyNewYear
January 1, 2026 at 11:37 AM
Winter Moon at Toyamagahara, 1931
Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883–1957)
woodblock print
38.5 x 25.7 cm (15 3/16 x 10 1/8 in.)
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt #HappyNewYear
Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883–1957)
woodblock print
38.5 x 25.7 cm (15 3/16 x 10 1/8 in.)
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt #HappyNewYear
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Listened to this today because I saw Jay’s post and also because I wanted to completely confound the algorithm and it’s sensationally good. Sinatra is on form, the band is next level, the quality of the sound is almost unbelievable…do yourselves a favour
I’ve long regarded Sinatra at the Sands to be one of the greatest live jazz recordings: The Count Basie Orchestra MD’d by a young Quincy Jones with Frank at the peak of his powers. This podcast from the Open Studio guys is a brilliantly nerdy listen and deep dive.
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/y...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/y...
"Sinatra at the Sands" — Frank…–You'll Hear It – Apple Podcasts
Podcast Episode · You'll Hear It · 15/12/2025 · 1h 5m
podcasts.apple.com
December 30, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Listened to this today because I saw Jay’s post and also because I wanted to completely confound the algorithm and it’s sensationally good. Sinatra is on form, the band is next level, the quality of the sound is almost unbelievable…do yourselves a favour
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
This is a wonderful memoir, by turns funny, absurd, bleak and terrifying, capturing Teffi's harrowing journey from Moscow to the Black Sea, immediately after the Russian Revolution.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/m...
#NYRBWomen25 @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/m...
#NYRBWomen25 @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
December 29, 2025 at 2:19 PM
This is a wonderful memoir, by turns funny, absurd, bleak and terrifying, capturing Teffi's harrowing journey from Moscow to the Black Sea, immediately after the Russian Revolution.
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/m...
#NYRBWomen25 @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
readersretreat2017.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/m...
#NYRBWomen25 @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
He ys ridinge a horse
He ys emerald and svelte
He will get reallye weirde
If you lie about beltes
The Greene Knighte
Ys Cominge
To Toun
He ys emerald and svelte
He will get reallye weirde
If you lie about beltes
The Greene Knighte
Ys Cominge
To Toun
December 25, 2025 at 9:08 PM
He ys ridinge a horse
He ys emerald and svelte
He will get reallye weirde
If you lie about beltes
The Greene Knighte
Ys Cominge
To Toun
He ys emerald and svelte
He will get reallye weirde
If you lie about beltes
The Greene Knighte
Ys Cominge
To Toun
Of all the celebrities we’ve lost over the years, I think the one I most regret remains Kirsty McColl. Such a talent. So much left to offer.
December 23, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Of all the celebrities we’ve lost over the years, I think the one I most regret remains Kirsty McColl. Such a talent. So much left to offer.
I finished Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled. Please nobody ask me to summarise what it was about…
Great book though.
Great book though.
December 23, 2025 at 1:33 PM
I finished Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled. Please nobody ask me to summarise what it was about…
Great book though.
Great book though.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
He's making a list,
He's nailing it high,
Indulgences,
No longer apply,
Martin Luther's coming to town
He's nailing it high,
Indulgences,
No longer apply,
Martin Luther's coming to town
December 21, 2025 at 7:19 PM
He's making a list,
He's nailing it high,
Indulgences,
No longer apply,
Martin Luther's coming to town
He's nailing it high,
Indulgences,
No longer apply,
Martin Luther's coming to town
Tremendous book, distinctly underrated.
My last commission of the year just disappeared with a pop, so to console myself I'm rereading this.
Aside from anything else, this is the best cover from all Amis's novels when they rejacketed them in a series look about 20 years ago. It's just perfect.
Aside from anything else, this is the best cover from all Amis's novels when they rejacketed them in a series look about 20 years ago. It's just perfect.
December 18, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Tremendous book, distinctly underrated.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Clay letters from ancient Mesopotamia are alive with idiom, sayings, and everyday language that I love.
Here are just a few random ones so you can enjoy them too.
Here are just a few random ones so you can enjoy them too.
December 17, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Clay letters from ancient Mesopotamia are alive with idiom, sayings, and everyday language that I love.
Here are just a few random ones so you can enjoy them too.
Here are just a few random ones so you can enjoy them too.
I’ve started reading The Unconsoled. Ten pages in and I can already say it’s aptly titled. I blame @backlisted.bsky.social and @iammilliam.bsky.social!
December 16, 2025 at 2:58 AM
I’ve started reading The Unconsoled. Ten pages in and I can already say it’s aptly titled. I blame @backlisted.bsky.social and @iammilliam.bsky.social!
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
2025 reading 🧵
My fourth Matsumoto. This is one of his procedurals, with dogged police work to the fore. Perhaps too many coincidences though? Happily, Inspector Imanishi himself is a gem, conscientious, happily married, prone to overbuying bonsai for his home.
My fourth Matsumoto. This is one of his procedurals, with dogged police work to the fore. Perhaps too many coincidences though? Happily, Inspector Imanishi himself is a gem, conscientious, happily married, prone to overbuying bonsai for his home.
December 6, 2025 at 11:09 PM
2025 reading 🧵
My fourth Matsumoto. This is one of his procedurals, with dogged police work to the fore. Perhaps too many coincidences though? Happily, Inspector Imanishi himself is a gem, conscientious, happily married, prone to overbuying bonsai for his home.
My fourth Matsumoto. This is one of his procedurals, with dogged police work to the fore. Perhaps too many coincidences though? Happily, Inspector Imanishi himself is a gem, conscientious, happily married, prone to overbuying bonsai for his home.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
New on the blog today, I've written about THE COUNTRY OF THE POINTED FIRS by Sarah Orne Jewett
Through evocative vignettes, Jewett conveys a rich picture of everyday life in small-town Maine. Highly recommended for fans of Elizabeth Strout & Willa Cather! 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/12/07/t...
Through evocative vignettes, Jewett conveys a rich picture of everyday life in small-town Maine. Highly recommended for fans of Elizabeth Strout & Willa Cather! 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/12/07/t...
The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
Born in Maine, New England in 1849, the American writer Sarah Orne Jewett is known for her works of literary regionalism, a genre of writing in which the local setting, landscape, history, communit…
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
December 7, 2025 at 7:11 AM
New on the blog today, I've written about THE COUNTRY OF THE POINTED FIRS by Sarah Orne Jewett
Through evocative vignettes, Jewett conveys a rich picture of everyday life in small-town Maine. Highly recommended for fans of Elizabeth Strout & Willa Cather! 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/12/07/t...
Through evocative vignettes, Jewett conveys a rich picture of everyday life in small-town Maine. Highly recommended for fans of Elizabeth Strout & Willa Cather! 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/12/07/t...
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Thomas Mann’s books fall out of copyright (UK/EU) next month, which means - new editions and translations!
Here are two from Pushkin Press: Death in Venice, and three stories (Tonio Kröger, Disorder and Early Sorrow, and Mario and the Magician). All translated by Lesley Chamberlain.
Here are two from Pushkin Press: Death in Venice, and three stories (Tonio Kröger, Disorder and Early Sorrow, and Mario and the Magician). All translated by Lesley Chamberlain.
December 6, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Thomas Mann’s books fall out of copyright (UK/EU) next month, which means - new editions and translations!
Here are two from Pushkin Press: Death in Venice, and three stories (Tonio Kröger, Disorder and Early Sorrow, and Mario and the Magician). All translated by Lesley Chamberlain.
Here are two from Pushkin Press: Death in Venice, and three stories (Tonio Kröger, Disorder and Early Sorrow, and Mario and the Magician). All translated by Lesley Chamberlain.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Painting is Edgar-Quinet Boulevard (1950) by Japanese-French artist Tsuguharu Foujita.
December 1, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Painting is Edgar-Quinet Boulevard (1950) by Japanese-French artist Tsuguharu Foujita.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
The illustrations are same cover artwork as for the French editions. The photograph is a crop from a picture by the great Belgian photographer Harry Gruyaert. The Cat, new translation just out from Penguin, has yet another style of cover design.
December 1, 2025 at 9:08 PM
The illustrations are same cover artwork as for the French editions. The photograph is a crop from a picture by the great Belgian photographer Harry Gruyaert. The Cat, new translation just out from Penguin, has yet another style of cover design.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
For UK Audible users there are some monthly deals on my books: Service Model, Children of Memory and Doors of Eden are all £3.99 for December.
December 1, 2025 at 8:59 PM
For UK Audible users there are some monthly deals on my books: Service Model, Children of Memory and Doors of Eden are all £3.99 for December.
Introduce yourself with five animals you’ve seen in the wild:
Cat
Dog
Rat
Fox
Pigeon
I am a Londoner, why do you ask?
If you won’t allow cat and dog I’ll replace them with:
Tube mouse
Parakeet
Cat
Dog
Rat
Fox
Pigeon
I am a Londoner, why do you ask?
If you won’t allow cat and dog I’ll replace them with:
Tube mouse
Parakeet
Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild:
Moose
Beaver
Skunk
Raccoon (but as I live in Toronto, I don't need to go to the wild for them)
Pademelon (in Australia)
Moose
Beaver
Skunk
Raccoon (but as I live in Toronto, I don't need to go to the wild for them)
Pademelon (in Australia)
Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild:
Skunk
Moose
Humpback Whale
Bald Eagle
Orca
Skunk
Moose
Humpback Whale
Bald Eagle
Orca
November 28, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Introduce yourself with five animals you’ve seen in the wild:
Cat
Dog
Rat
Fox
Pigeon
I am a Londoner, why do you ask?
If you won’t allow cat and dog I’ll replace them with:
Tube mouse
Parakeet
Cat
Dog
Rat
Fox
Pigeon
I am a Londoner, why do you ask?
If you won’t allow cat and dog I’ll replace them with:
Tube mouse
Parakeet
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
Marian Dioguardi (American, b.1954)
"Mocha Espresso," n.d.
Oil on panel
24 x 24 in
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
"Mocha Espresso," n.d.
Oil on panel
24 x 24 in
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
November 28, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Marian Dioguardi (American, b.1954)
"Mocha Espresso," n.d.
Oil on panel
24 x 24 in
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
"Mocha Espresso," n.d.
Oil on panel
24 x 24 in
#art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
'The staging had to be perfect and the meal delicious, and now it’s time for her to spruce herself up. That’s what Étienne really expects, of course: “Go and have a shower, it’ll do you good” meant “Make yourself presentable, dress up, match the décor.” ' 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/j...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/j...
Just a Little Dinner by Cécile Tlili (tr. Katherine Gregor)
Established in 2023, Foundry Editions are still relatively new on the UK publishing scene, but I’ve already noticed their books in several outlets in London, largely due to the striking blue-and-wh…
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:05 PM
'The staging had to be perfect and the meal delicious, and now it’s time for her to spruce herself up. That’s what Étienne really expects, of course: “Go and have a shower, it’ll do you good” meant “Make yourself presentable, dress up, match the décor.” ' 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/j...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/27/j...
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
I've just updated the available cats page, we have some REALLY special kitties in and some of them have been waiting ages. Their forever home might be on your timeline, please share? 🥰
Moggies looking for homes
After hearing 50,000 times that we should put the available cats on the website, we’ve made a page! Hooray! However, it is still just me doing most of the work in the shelter. So there’…
hollysmerrymoggies.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:42 PM
I've just updated the available cats page, we have some REALLY special kitties in and some of them have been waiting ages. Their forever home might be on your timeline, please share? 🥰
Last and First Men! @backlisted.bsky.social is doing Last and First Men!
I quite like Last and First Men.
I quite like Last and First Men.
November 25, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Last and First Men! @backlisted.bsky.social is doing Last and First Men!
I quite like Last and First Men.
I quite like Last and First Men.
Reposted by Max Cairnduff
“But we are émigrés, and for émigrés all countries are dangerous. Lots of ministers make speeches against us and no one wants to have us in their country, even though we’re not at all harmful and in fact just like other people." #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/c...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/c...
Child of All Nations by Irmgard Keun (tr. Michael Hofmann)
Born in Berlin in 1905, the German writer Irmgard Keun rose to prominence in the early 1930s with her striking novels Gilgi, One of Us (1931) and The Artificial Silk Girl (1932), both of which I lo…
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:04 AM
“But we are émigrés, and for émigrés all countries are dangerous. Lots of ministers make speeches against us and no one wants to have us in their country, even though we’re not at all harmful and in fact just like other people." #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/c...
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/11/18/c...