Lee Ward
@leewardmister.bsky.social
It's books and music all the way down.
I don’t watch Who anymore, do sea devils really look like this now? The old Ackbar-esque iteration used to scare me; this… doesn’t
December 6, 2025 at 12:22 PM
I don’t watch Who anymore, do sea devils really look like this now? The old Ackbar-esque iteration used to scare me; this… doesn’t
And how much of it morphed into the modern social justice movement slatestarcodex.com/2019/10/30/n...
December 4, 2025 at 5:14 PM
And how much of it morphed into the modern social justice movement slatestarcodex.com/2019/10/30/n...
Yeah, trouble is I remember a time when the radio was awful and I was broke. I read about The Smiths for years before I heard them.
I was perfectly happy listening to the music I owned or on the radio
December 4, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Yeah, trouble is I remember a time when the radio was awful and I was broke. I read about The Smiths for years before I heard them.
Skewed by gym time
December 3, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Skewed by gym time
I am 17 (according to wrapped)
December 3, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I am 17 (according to wrapped)
Had a very Lovecraftian dream. Went to the doctor's for dodgy mental health, they prescribe a pill that makes you sane. But I overdose and experience too much sanity - glimpses of the teeming intricate infinite machinery of the geometric pitiless universe etc etc
December 3, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Had a very Lovecraftian dream. Went to the doctor's for dodgy mental health, they prescribe a pill that makes you sane. But I overdose and experience too much sanity - glimpses of the teeming intricate infinite machinery of the geometric pitiless universe etc etc
Although Nighy's footnotes are a balm in Gilead when compared to the Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell audiobook, the footnotes of which are read by Neil Gaiman
Terrific list (have to admit, the Bill Nighy footnotes on the Pratchett's annoy the hell out of me. Just read 'footnote', don't introduce each one with a too-long cod-magical sound)
December 2, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Although Nighy's footnotes are a balm in Gilead when compared to the Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell audiobook, the footnotes of which are read by Neil Gaiman
"The more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask". RLS on not asking too many questions:
December 1, 2025 at 12:51 PM
"The more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask". RLS on not asking too many questions:
I learn from my youngest that all physical contact is banned at his school (e.g. high-fiving) because it's potentially intimidating and I feel myself radicalising in real time.
November 30, 2025 at 11:52 AM
I learn from my youngest that all physical contact is banned at his school (e.g. high-fiving) because it's potentially intimidating and I feel myself radicalising in real time.
RIP
Books I read this year: Arcadia - Tom Stoppard. Imperishable. I half read this, and half listened to the BBC dramatisation, available on Spotify.
November 29, 2025 at 5:28 PM
RIP
Reposted by Lee Ward
🚨GIVEAWAY time!🚨
To celebrate #nationalillustrationday @caspargeon.bsky.social / @tomtoner.bsky.social has 1 author-illustrated copy of THE IMMEASURABLE HEAVEN to giveaway.
Open to entrants anywhere in the world. Like, repost, follow & drop a 🌠 in the comments to enter. Ends 23:59 GMT 1st Dec 25.
To celebrate #nationalillustrationday @caspargeon.bsky.social / @tomtoner.bsky.social has 1 author-illustrated copy of THE IMMEASURABLE HEAVEN to giveaway.
Open to entrants anywhere in the world. Like, repost, follow & drop a 🌠 in the comments to enter. Ends 23:59 GMT 1st Dec 25.
November 28, 2025 at 2:45 PM
🚨GIVEAWAY time!🚨
To celebrate #nationalillustrationday @caspargeon.bsky.social / @tomtoner.bsky.social has 1 author-illustrated copy of THE IMMEASURABLE HEAVEN to giveaway.
Open to entrants anywhere in the world. Like, repost, follow & drop a 🌠 in the comments to enter. Ends 23:59 GMT 1st Dec 25.
To celebrate #nationalillustrationday @caspargeon.bsky.social / @tomtoner.bsky.social has 1 author-illustrated copy of THE IMMEASURABLE HEAVEN to giveaway.
Open to entrants anywhere in the world. Like, repost, follow & drop a 🌠 in the comments to enter. Ends 23:59 GMT 1st Dec 25.
Reposted by Lee Ward
Books read on one day in November in 2025, but not *that* day: On the Calculation of Volume, Solvej Balle. How can this slim novel in which nothing much keeps happening be so magical? First volume of *seven*! Can't wait to get back aboard the quotidian merry-go-round
November 28, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Books read on one day in November in 2025, but not *that* day: On the Calculation of Volume, Solvej Balle. How can this slim novel in which nothing much keeps happening be so magical? First volume of *seven*! Can't wait to get back aboard the quotidian merry-go-round
Which is one reason I'm nervous to read his Drake book – I'm sure the *facts* stand up, but he doesn't seem to actually *enjoy* music all that much
If you’ve ever longed for super-rare ££££ LPs I suggest you follow Galactic Ramble on Instagram where the writer Richard Morton Jack shows off his super-hard-to-find vinyl and gives the impression that none of it brings him any joy. A curious enterprise and all seemingly done without humour.
November 27, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Which is one reason I'm nervous to read his Drake book – I'm sure the *facts* stand up, but he doesn't seem to actually *enjoy* music all that much
I listen to Cranes again for the first time in 30-odd years, with increased admiration for their *sound*, and an utterly unshifted opinion about the outright unlistenability of the singing.
November 25, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I listen to Cranes again for the first time in 30-odd years, with increased admiration for their *sound*, and an utterly unshifted opinion about the outright unlistenability of the singing.
Better than I thought it'd be (I thought it would be tremendous)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIol...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIol...
Geese - Getting Killed | From The Basement
YouTube video by From The Basement
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Better than I thought it'd be (I thought it would be tremendous)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIol...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIol...
The Rosalia album really does deserve every hosanna
November 20, 2025 at 9:07 PM
The Rosalia album really does deserve every hosanna
Reposted by Lee Ward
Spotify has announced more in-depth song credits and a "SongDNA" feature powered by Whosampled, which they recently acquired
Spotify Announces Updated Song Credits Feature
It has not been the most flattering PR year for Spotify. Since last spring, popular bands like Deerhoof, Massive Attack, Sylvan Esso, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, Hotline TNT, and countless mor...
stereogum.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Spotify has announced more in-depth song credits and a "SongDNA" feature powered by Whosampled, which they recently acquired
That thing where, if you can't find the book you *want* to read (in this case, Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald) anywhere in the house, then all the other books just feel *wrong*
November 19, 2025 at 10:58 PM
That thing where, if you can't find the book you *want* to read (in this case, Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald) anywhere in the house, then all the other books just feel *wrong*
SNOW! A lot of it! OK, stop now.
November 19, 2025 at 9:03 AM
SNOW! A lot of it! OK, stop now.
I hope people realise AI isn't going away if the AI bubble bursts, any more than the internet went away when the dotcom bubble burst.
November 18, 2025 at 10:56 AM
I hope people realise AI isn't going away if the AI bubble bursts, any more than the internet went away when the dotcom bubble burst.
Been looking forward all year to Chris Thile at the London Jazz Festival at the Barbican! Can't wait!
Oh, it was last night.
Oh, it was last night.
November 16, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Been looking forward all year to Chris Thile at the London Jazz Festival at the Barbican! Can't wait!
Oh, it was last night.
Oh, it was last night.
Only now, some 40 years on, do I connect the writer of that short story with the author of Mythago Wood. Wow.
I could recommend "A Personal Anthology" every week but this week's, by @iancritchley.bsky.social , is a particular treat. How could you not love a selection that includes the short story that was printed in the manual of the 1984 space trading game "Elite"?
open.substack.com/pub/apersona...
open.substack.com/pub/apersona...
A Personal Anthology, by Ian Critchley
I recently stopped reviewing books.
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Only now, some 40 years on, do I connect the writer of that short story with the author of Mythago Wood. Wow.
Reading a book that feels like it's set in the uncanny valley. It's meant to be contemporary, but a 20yo girl will keep lighting a silk cut and saying "Of course I'm not happy! I don't even exist! I made a bargain with God and I lost!"
November 12, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Reading a book that feels like it's set in the uncanny valley. It's meant to be contemporary, but a 20yo girl will keep lighting a silk cut and saying "Of course I'm not happy! I don't even exist! I made a bargain with God and I lost!"
Is the Prescott Report in the public domain yet? I.e. is there a way to read it without having to sign up to the Telegraph.
November 10, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Is the Prescott Report in the public domain yet? I.e. is there a way to read it without having to sign up to the Telegraph.
I realise audiobooks have made me a better reader: I now more clearly hear a voice when reading. And you can cast your own narrator in your minds ear: what would this sound like if Alex Jennings were reading it? Or Lydia Leonard. And so on
November 9, 2025 at 10:32 AM
I realise audiobooks have made me a better reader: I now more clearly hear a voice when reading. And you can cast your own narrator in your minds ear: what would this sound like if Alex Jennings were reading it? Or Lydia Leonard. And so on