Katherine Brown
@kabrown4.bsky.social
(she/her) Writer, feminist, historian, and a dork addicted to fantasy, sci-fi, crochet, knitting, embroidery and books 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (Ally)
I have had a rubbish couple of days, but I was reminded this morning that the smallest of things can bring you just a little bit of joy. This morning it was the Chatter of Parakeets in a tree on my way to work. #birding
October 23, 2025 at 10:22 AM
I have had a rubbish couple of days, but I was reminded this morning that the smallest of things can bring you just a little bit of joy. This morning it was the Chatter of Parakeets in a tree on my way to work. #birding
Who needs jigsaws when you can just sit and tessellate 76 hexagonal nuts?
October 21, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Who needs jigsaws when you can just sit and tessellate 76 hexagonal nuts?
The third Death in Paradise book by Robert Thorogood ‘Death Knocks Twice’ - two chapters in and I have a lovely locked room murder mystery to be solved by DI Poole
October 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
The third Death in Paradise book by Robert Thorogood ‘Death Knocks Twice’ - two chapters in and I have a lovely locked room murder mystery to be solved by DI Poole
My July 2025 reads (technically read): bit late I know but I was away on vacation over the beginning of the month and didn’t take a photo of the one book on the July pile before I left. Mainly because I had hoped I would maybe read another while I was away. I didn’t.
August 7, 2025 at 10:20 AM
My July 2025 reads (technically read): bit late I know but I was away on vacation over the beginning of the month and didn’t take a photo of the one book on the July pile before I left. Mainly because I had hoped I would maybe read another while I was away. I didn’t.
My June 2025 reads: it was a slow start to the month. I still have a couple of non-fiction books on the go from May which sort of stalled me a bit but then essentially I picked up a series of books all of which I pretty much read in one or two sittings.
July 3, 2025 at 6:14 PM
My June 2025 reads: it was a slow start to the month. I still have a couple of non-fiction books on the go from May which sort of stalled me a bit but then essentially I picked up a series of books all of which I pretty much read in one or two sittings.
It is an incredibly pretty book, with gentle poems about nature, with a beautiful conclusion about the Davidia involucrata tree, more commonly known as the Handkerchief Tree. We have one in Newcastle. I love seeing it in bloom and I loved even more seeing the one in Heligan in bloom when I visited
June 15, 2025 at 5:06 PM
It is an incredibly pretty book, with gentle poems about nature, with a beautiful conclusion about the Davidia involucrata tree, more commonly known as the Handkerchief Tree. We have one in Newcastle. I love seeing it in bloom and I loved even more seeing the one in Heligan in bloom when I visited
Dwell by Simon Armitage - I’m not massively familiar with Armitage’s work. I’ve read a few of his poems and I have a copy of Paper Aeroplane in my poetry collection but I knew as soon as I heard about this one that this was a one I would love.
June 15, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Dwell by Simon Armitage - I’m not massively familiar with Armitage’s work. I’ve read a few of his poems and I have a copy of Paper Aeroplane in my poetry collection but I knew as soon as I heard about this one that this was a one I would love.
Why is this a Question? by Paul Anthony Jones. This is my second book this year by this writer, the first being the beautiful entomology collection The Winter Dictionary. Why is this a question? was even better.
June 12, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Why is this a Question? by Paul Anthony Jones. This is my second book this year by this writer, the first being the beautiful entomology collection The Winter Dictionary. Why is this a question? was even better.
Liquid by Mark Miodownik. This book has been on my non-fiction pile for years. Several times it has been at risk of being culled when I’ve been sorting my books because I thought it would just be one of those books I’d never read.
June 9, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Liquid by Mark Miodownik. This book has been on my non-fiction pile for years. Several times it has been at risk of being culled when I’ve been sorting my books because I thought it would just be one of those books I’d never read.
You don’t really need to know chess to read this thriller. Yes I read it alongside my copy of Begin Chess by David Pritchard but that was for my own enjoyment.
June 6, 2025 at 5:52 PM
You don’t really need to know chess to read this thriller. Yes I read it alongside my copy of Begin Chess by David Pritchard but that was for my own enjoyment.
The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis (and Begin Chess by David Pritchard) This was one of the books I started in April and finished in May after owning it for years. I had to wait before I picked up this book because I have seen the adaptation (also highly recommended)
June 6, 2025 at 5:52 PM
The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis (and Begin Chess by David Pritchard) This was one of the books I started in April and finished in May after owning it for years. I had to wait before I picked up this book because I have seen the adaptation (also highly recommended)
My May 2025 reads: I have been on a bit of a non-fiction kick recently. The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis and Dwell by Simon Armitage are the only non non-fiction books in my pile this month.
June 1, 2025 at 3:45 PM
My May 2025 reads: I have been on a bit of a non-fiction kick recently. The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis and Dwell by Simon Armitage are the only non non-fiction books in my pile this month.
My April 2025 reads: reading has continued to be a struggle and by the inclusion of Paul McKenna’s ‘I Can Make You Thin’ you can probably guess my mental health is not in a great state (no need to worry, I’m mostly fine and very well supported by my husband and parents).
May 1, 2025 at 7:10 PM
My April 2025 reads: reading has continued to be a struggle and by the inclusion of Paul McKenna’s ‘I Can Make You Thin’ you can probably guess my mental health is not in a great state (no need to worry, I’m mostly fine and very well supported by my husband and parents).
My March 2025 reads: I’m still reading a fantasy tome I started in February but my non-fiction and poetry reading have been also on the go. (1/11)
April 2, 2025 at 1:32 PM
My March 2025 reads: I’m still reading a fantasy tome I started in February but my non-fiction and poetry reading have been also on the go. (1/11)
Experiment in Dorset Button Making: I have been wanting to play around with with making a two tone Dorset Button for a while now, but I wanted the casting and the spokes to match, but I also wanted the casting to be multi-coloured. #DorsetButton 1/5
March 16, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Experiment in Dorset Button Making: I have been wanting to play around with with making a two tone Dorset Button for a while now, but I wanted the casting and the spokes to match, but I also wanted the casting to be multi-coloured. #DorsetButton 1/5
My February 2025 reads: I know it is the middle of March, normally I do this end of the month or the beginning of the next but I just couldn’t. I’ve been really reducing my social media and at the time I just wasn’t on it at all, and I preferred it that way. 1/7
March 16, 2025 at 10:14 AM
My February 2025 reads: I know it is the middle of March, normally I do this end of the month or the beginning of the next but I just couldn’t. I’ve been really reducing my social media and at the time I just wasn’t on it at all, and I preferred it that way. 1/7
Book I read in January 2025: There has been a lot of hype about The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey and I’ll be honest normally I would avoid a book like that because I’m contrary and I avoid popular things. (🧵1/8)
February 10, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Book I read in January 2025: There has been a lot of hype about The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey and I’ll be honest normally I would avoid a book like that because I’m contrary and I avoid popular things. (🧵1/8)
Well I fancied doing a bit of bird watching in my back garden again this weekend. Turned out just to be the one bird though, all the regulars had cleared off.
Not surprising given the one bird was an Eurasian Sparrohawk having a rest on our fence. (1/2)
Not surprising given the one bird was an Eurasian Sparrohawk having a rest on our fence. (1/2)
February 8, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Well I fancied doing a bit of bird watching in my back garden again this weekend. Turned out just to be the one bird though, all the regulars had cleared off.
Not surprising given the one bird was an Eurasian Sparrohawk having a rest on our fence. (1/2)
Not surprising given the one bird was an Eurasian Sparrohawk having a rest on our fence. (1/2)
Reading Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree this weekend. I’d worked out the Bookshop part of the title. Just got to the bonedust part and well…look I am not much of a horror person and I’m struggling to work out how to read this with my eyes closed 😣
February 8, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reading Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree this weekend. I’d worked out the Bookshop part of the title. Just got to the bonedust part and well…look I am not much of a horror person and I’m struggling to work out how to read this with my eyes closed 😣
Conclave by Robert Harris: One of the best books I read in Jan 2025 and it really surprised me just how much I enjoyed it, as it isn’t my normal sort of choice. I saw the film adaptation first and really loved it (but I have soft spot for Stanley Tucci so it was always likely I’d like the film) 🧵1/5
February 6, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Conclave by Robert Harris: One of the best books I read in Jan 2025 and it really surprised me just how much I enjoyed it, as it isn’t my normal sort of choice. I saw the film adaptation first and really loved it (but I have soft spot for Stanley Tucci so it was always likely I’d like the film) 🧵1/5
I read the following two books in January 2025 ‘Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops’ and ‘More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops’ both by Jen Campbell, and I love I re-read them. They are books I must have first read about ten years ago. 1/4
February 3, 2025 at 1:54 PM
I read the following two books in January 2025 ‘Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops’ and ‘More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops’ both by Jen Campbell, and I love I re-read them. They are books I must have first read about ten years ago. 1/4
Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen.
I liked it instantly on opening it to discover a floor plan of the mansion and a Danish glossary
I liked it instantly on opening it to discover a floor plan of the mansion and a Danish glossary
February 1, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen.
I liked it instantly on opening it to discover a floor plan of the mansion and a Danish glossary
I liked it instantly on opening it to discover a floor plan of the mansion and a Danish glossary
My January 2025 reads: if anyone had told me when I started the month by re-reading Cuddy by Benjamin Myers (my favourite book of 2024) that I would have read 14 by the end of the month I would have laughed/crumpled under the pressure that it was possible. 🧵 (1/9)
February 1, 2025 at 2:05 PM
My January 2025 reads: if anyone had told me when I started the month by re-reading Cuddy by Benjamin Myers (my favourite book of 2024) that I would have read 14 by the end of the month I would have laughed/crumpled under the pressure that it was possible. 🧵 (1/9)
One fiction, one nonfiction: Agatha Christie’s Sad Cypress. I don’t believe I’ve read it before but I’ve seen an adaptation and it’s a great story
The nonfiction is Monsters: What Do We Do With Great Art by Bad People by Claire Dederer
I need to read a slowed down (not SM) commentary on this subject
The nonfiction is Monsters: What Do We Do With Great Art by Bad People by Claire Dederer
I need to read a slowed down (not SM) commentary on this subject
January 25, 2025 at 11:14 AM
One fiction, one nonfiction: Agatha Christie’s Sad Cypress. I don’t believe I’ve read it before but I’ve seen an adaptation and it’s a great story
The nonfiction is Monsters: What Do We Do With Great Art by Bad People by Claire Dederer
I need to read a slowed down (not SM) commentary on this subject
The nonfiction is Monsters: What Do We Do With Great Art by Bad People by Claire Dederer
I need to read a slowed down (not SM) commentary on this subject
Still reading Night Trains by Andrew Martin, but I reached the Orient Express chapter and saved it for the weekend. Also The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey: it’s good & I understand why it’s popular but I’m still trying to decide if I like it. It isn’t the sort of book I normally read
January 18, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Still reading Night Trains by Andrew Martin, but I reached the Orient Express chapter and saved it for the weekend. Also The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey: it’s good & I understand why it’s popular but I’m still trying to decide if I like it. It isn’t the sort of book I normally read