Chris Fosten
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alphaood.bsky.social
Chris Fosten
@alphaood.bsky.social
Reader, poet, writer, listener | 1/3 of The Ood Cast (http://theoodcast.com/)
New read: a slightly more trusted source for a festive read - hopefully Mrs Bradley will be just the tonic!
#newread #deathcomesatchristmas #gladysmitchell #mrsbradleymysteries #festivereads
December 14, 2025 at 5:40 PM
For years I've been listening to a ragged, 10th-hand recording of The Killing Season by R.D.Wingfield every Dec. I've tidied up my copy, never imagining it would be repeated from deep in the archives. But what a great surprise amongst the listings in the festive Radio Times!
December 13, 2025 at 1:04 PM
New read: another festive adventure that I hadn't read before and had high hopes for because the premise is great, but... sigh. Maybe it's because I wasn't familiar with their other books or their style, but I was not a fan. Mercifully, it was both cheery and quite short.
#newread #festiveread
December 12, 2025 at 7:28 PM
New read: A festive tale I'd never heard of, by a writer I've never read anything by... but rather enjoyed. Enjoyably just as romantic towards the train itself as the storyline between the main characters.
#newread #festiveread #thechristmastrain #davidbaldacci
December 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
New read: starting the festive reading with something short but warm and the friendly side of grim...
#newread #festivereads #ahighlandchristmas #mcbeaton #hamishmacbeth
December 3, 2025 at 5:05 PM
New reads: two Target novelisations found in a charity shop - one of those rare times when I've found some I didnt already have in the wild!
#newread #doctorwho #targetnovelisations #destinyofthedaleks #fourtodoomsday #terrancedicks
November 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM
New read: before I move on to other things for a while, a few more - lighter - ghostly tales, this time from a writer I remember well from childhood and used to seek out in the school library (when I wasn't looking for Tintin or cricket books!)
#newread #whosafraidandotherstories #philippapearce
November 27, 2025 at 6:01 PM
New read: An excellent new anthology of ghost stories from the British Library's Tales of the Weird series. Plenty were new to me, with some old familiars thrown in too - fun!
#newread #thehauntedlibrary #britishlibrary #talesoftheweird #spookyreads #tanyakirk
November 27, 2025 at 9:50 AM
New read: a Susan Hill ghost story I knew nothing about until I stumbled across it in the local library, but it sounds both comforting and unsettling at once. #newread #thesmallhand #susanhill #ghoststory
November 17, 2025 at 5:58 PM
What perfect album came out the year you were 16?
November 17, 2025 at 5:08 PM
New read: the next stop on my slow chronological readthrough of one of my favourite writers - this is one I never came across as a kid. A little less on the ghostly side, but a gentle joy, nonetheless.
#newread #penelopelively #thehouseinnorhamgardens
November 17, 2025 at 8:17 AM
New read: I remember watching two Robert Westall TV adaptations as a child - The Machine Gunners and The Watch House, moments from both have stuck with me ever since. And this was a novel I saw more than once in the visiting book stalls at school and shops and wanted to read.
November 6, 2025 at 7:07 PM
New read: catching up a little with some spookier reads as the weather has made a turn for the colder... This one I picked up at a second-hand stall at Petts Wood May Day Fair when I was about 9, so has travelled quite a distance with me! I've read it several times, but fun to return to.
November 6, 2025 at 12:35 PM
New read: a book I've had on my list for several years, and was a birthday gift from my brother this year - thanks Paul! Really enjoyable black comedy thriller which I whipped through in a couple of days.
#newread #themanwhodied #anttituomainen #thriller
November 5, 2025 at 12:24 PM
New read: there was one last dramatic read before heading back home yesterday - a classic.
#newread #samuelbeckett #waitingforgodot #halftermreads
November 3, 2025 at 8:08 AM
New read: ended Halloween with Hamlet, as it starts with a pretty strong ghost game. I've chosen to read along with a great BBC Radio version too.
#newread #williamshakespeare #hamlet #bbcradio
November 1, 2025 at 12:34 PM
New read: forgot entirely to bring any ghost stories on our half term break, so popped into a local indie book shop yesterday to see what I could find. This was appropriately the closest I got, given that we're in Cornwall.
#newread #thebirdsandotherstories #daphnedumaurier #spookyreads #cornwall
October 30, 2025 at 12:36 PM
New read: a really good half term adventure. I would have raced through it but for a few days when sleep was rather elusive, but I couldnt resist a story combining time travel and ancient Egypt.
#newread #huntforthegoldenscarab #timekeys #mgleonard
October 30, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Reposted by Chris Fosten
This - in spades.
Nationalism is a shibboleth. The challenges we face are daunting. But we are not going to overcome them by hunkering down behind of imaginary lines scrawled on a map by medieval warlords. Our problems are transnational, and the solutions are too.
October 24, 2025 at 3:15 PM
New reads: starting some spookier reads for Halloween on a trip up to London with a lost classic and an enjoyable retelling of Beowulf. Both enjoyable in rather different ways.
#newread #theloststradivarius #jmeadefalkner #beowulfdragonslayer #rosemarysutcliff #spookyreads
October 23, 2025 at 4:22 PM
New read: having enjoyed the last book a little less than hoped because it cut a bit too close to the bone at the moment (racism in small towns/villages), I went for this interesting little one as a bit of a firebreak.
#newread #doctorwho #wearefallingthroughspace #jdavidreed
October 20, 2025 at 12:32 PM
I had put a cheery little Lego set aside for a day that I found difficult. That day arrived recently - and now I have a couple of little desk buddies to keep me company. Feels like a win...
#selfcare #lego
October 15, 2025 at 3:29 PM
New read: facing some chillier weather with some cosy crime to start off with...
#newread #simonbrett #thefetheringmysteries #thekillingatthecafe #guiltatthegarage
October 15, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Finally got round to watching Rye Lane. I know, I'm a couple of years behind, but it's fantastic: funny, moving, charming and sharp, authentic in all the right ways and satisfying as they come.
It's under 90 minutes but it feels effortless and like it has all the time in the world.
#ryelane
October 14, 2025 at 3:24 PM
New read: Another battered old Holmes Puffin Classics collection, but lovely to revisit some favourites through it.
#newread #theextraordinarycasesofsherlockholmes #sirarthurconandoyle #puffinclassics
October 9, 2025 at 2:01 PM