Kaela
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mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Kaela
@mikaelawalker.bsky.social
120 followers 390 following 90 posts
Lover of books, arts & crafts and animals. Aspiring writer of poetry & stories. Battler of chronic physical & mental health issues.
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mikaelawalker.bsky.social
I'm reading Other Minds: The Octopus & The Evolution of Intelligent Life by Peter Godfrey-Smith. Hoping to finish it before it's due back at the library next week.
Been trying to read more non-fiction, and this is a bit different to the historical true crime books I usually pick up. 🐙
August 9, 2025 at 8:48 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
July is Disability Pride Month, so here are some non-fiction books by disabled authors and/or about living with disability. #DisabilityPrideMonth
Books shown are: Top Row Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby Against All Odds by Ellie Goldstein Middle Row To Exist As I Am: A Doctor's Notes on Recovery and Radical Acceptance by Grace Spence Green A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong Bottom Row Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Activist by Judith Heumann Mean Baby by Selma Blair Haben: The Deaf-Blind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma
July 7, 2025 at 10:53 AM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Electric Dreams: On Sex Robots & the Failed Promises of Capitalism by Heather Parry 4⭐️
This was a really thought-provoking read that starts with the topic of Sex Robots but delves so much deeper into issues such as sexuality, colonialism, misogyny, regressive feminism, capitalism & more. 1/ #books
July 5, 2025 at 6:51 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Not long back from a fab @hburghbookfest.bsky.social event promoting Liam McIlvanney's new book with fellow crime writer Neil Broadfoot.
It was great to get their insight into writing crime fiction.
I picked up each of their books, The Good Father & No Quarter Given, which they both signed for me.
July 4, 2025 at 8:19 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
5⭐️ Read
Some Body Like Me by Lucy Lapinska is a beautifully written story about identity, love & the definition of being alive. With great skill, Lapinska merges sci-fi with romance to create an emotional & impactful novel. I loved this book & it will be a permanent addition to my bookshelf. #books
June 24, 2025 at 5:08 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
A few Science-fiction & Speculative fiction books I put together for the Helensburgh Community Hub to celebrate & show our support for Pride month.

If you have any other recommendations for fantasy LGBTQIA+ books, please fire away. 🏳️‍🌈
#pridemonth
Books listed are: Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield The Long Way to a Small & Angry Planet by Becky Chambers Transcendent 3 by Various The Space Between Worlds by Micah Johnson Some Body Like Me by Lucy Lapinska The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin Ancillary Justice by Ann Lecki This How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone The City We Became by N.K. Jemesin
June 24, 2025 at 12:52 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Second batch of bookmarks made for celebrating Pride month 🏳️‍🌈 at the Book Nook in the @helensburghcommunityhub
If you missed picking one up earlier in the month, I should be dropping these off on Saturday.
Designed & made by me. #pridemonth
Heap of bookmarks with designs of a shelf of books in LGBTQIA colours. Also showing reverse side of bookmark which have stripes of rainbow colours.
June 19, 2025 at 9:54 AM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
A few Young Adult books I put together for Helensburgh Community Hub to celebrate & show our support for Pride month.

If you have any other recommendations for fantasy LGBTQIA+ books, please fire away. 🏳️‍🌈 #Pride2025
Books listed are: Sixteen Souls – Rosie Talbot Cemetery Boys – Aiden Thomas Iron Widow – Xiran Jay Zhao Felix Ever After – Kacen Callender Hell Followed With Us – Andrew Joseph White Pet – Akwaeke Emezi Infinity Son – Adam Silvera The Brightness Between Us – Eliot Schrefer Spellbound – F.T. Lukens
June 15, 2025 at 9:52 AM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
I probably shouldn't be allowed in charity shops as it seems I have no self (or is it shelf 😄) control.
Anyway, today I picked Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel, The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Shaw, End of the World & Hard-Boiled Wonderland by Murakami and finally, The Beholders by Hester Musson.
June 11, 2025 at 12:09 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson is a fast-paced sci-fi thriller that grabbed my attention from the start & kept me hooked. Amongst the action, we delves into important themes such as identity & belonging as we follow the story & struggles of Cara, a traverser of worlds. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #books
Front cover of The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. Text on front: 380 Realities, 8 Chances To Survive.
June 9, 2025 at 2:13 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
A few fantasy books I put together for Helensburgh Community Hub to celebrate & show our support for Pride month.

If you have any other recommendations for fantasy LGBTQIA+ books, please fire away. 🏳️‍🌈 #pride2025
Books listed are: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske The Unbroken by C.L. Clarke The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
June 5, 2025 at 9:57 AM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
On at the Helensburgh Community Hub - everyone is welcome to come along to enjoy our events & show their support for our LGBTQIA+ Community.
#Helensburgh #argyllandbute #Pride2025 #lomond #PrideScotland
Pride at Helensburgh Community Hub. Friday 27th June Everyone is welcome to help us celebrate! 4pm: Pride themed storytime and crafting. 5pm: Line dancing taster. 6pm: Singalong session with Sounds Good community singing group (and featuring a bit of Dolly Parton, we hope…) 7pm: Pride Quiz (BYOB) and showcasing Pride authors and novels in the Book Nook along with LGBTQ+ information throughout June.
June 2, 2025 at 12:30 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
That's the Book Nook at the Helensburgh Community Hub sorted for Pride month 🏳️‍🌈 We want everyone to feel welcome.
I found a great resource explaining terms from York LGBT Forum, which we've displayed to help educate people. Amnesty International also provided resources & bunting.
May 31, 2025 at 4:04 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Very apt reading for sitting along the seafront on the West Coast of Scotland - 'Scottish Folk Tales of Coast and Sea' by Tom Muir 🌊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #scottishbooks
May 22, 2025 at 9:47 AM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due - an easy 5⭐️ read. A beautifully written, heart-wrenching and engaging poignant historical fiction with supernatural elements.
In short I loved this book and would highly recommend it. #books
Book - The Reformatory by American Award Winning Author, Tananarive Due.
May 21, 2025 at 6:19 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
I've been having a run of great books lately, with the most recent being Crow Moon by Suzy Aspley - 5⭐️
This was an enthralling crime fiction with a hint of the dark and supernatural.
Would highly recommend to those who enjoy crime fiction or stories with supernatural/folkloric vibes. #books
Front cover of Crow Moon by Suzy Aspley. Cover has a greyscale picture of an hour glass with a kirk on the dark sand on the top. At the bottom the sand transforms into crows flying. On top of this is the font for the title & author in a bright pinkish-red. Underneath this is the tagline: When the Crow Moon rises, the darkness is unleashed... Additionally is text which reads: Shortlisted for the McDermid Debut Award and Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year. Quotes: "Dark, gothic, and dripping with dread, this spellbinding debut is a triumph" from C.J. Cooke "An extraordinary debut: intriguing, unsettling, heavy with the atmosphere and with a formidable leading lady...Suzy Aspley is one to watch" from Mari Hannah
May 7, 2025 at 10:26 AM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
The Monsters We Deserve by Marcus Sedgwick
5⭐️
I borrowed this book from the library on a whim & I'm so glad I did, I absolutely loved it.
This book won't be for everyone, but it is definitely for me. (So much so that I've bought myself my own copy.) #books
Front cover of The Monsters We Deserve by Marcus Sedgwick. The cover has a white background, and in the middle is the black silhouette of a man-like figure with antlers & branch like arms reaching down. Merged with the figure is the outline of a triangle, in black, pointing downwards. Words in black on the back cover, which is white. The words read: Do monsters always stay in the book where they were born? Are they content to live out their lives on paper, and never step foot into the real world?
April 29, 2025 at 7:54 AM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Crow Moon by Suzy Aspley.
April 28, 2025 at 7:39 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
The poem came to me as I was typing on my laptop... #poetry
You’re always wanting to start again. Wanting me to drop everything so you can take up my time to patch yourself up as though this time you’ll improve. Most times, I can’t see the changes that you’ve made and if I do, I’ll wonder what they all were for. And they’ll be more things I will have to learn to live with or try to ignore. But if I refuse to start over? Let things go on as they are? You’ll harass me to frustration, inundate me with your needs, or hold me back until I agree… ...to press the button and install the f@#king updates!
April 23, 2025 at 1:33 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
New book arrived today - a Waterstones signed edition of The Buffalo Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones.
Going to read this before the author's (online) appearance at the Cymera Festival.
April 18, 2025 at 4:24 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Got myself in the local paper in connection with the @hburghbookfest.bsky.social
It was a fantastic event & I'm very much looking forward to start planning for next year's festival. #Helensburgh #bookfestival
April 12, 2025 at 5:58 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Spring has definitely sprung. The pond at the local park was teeming with tadpoles & the odd newt popped up for a snack. Had to get my camera out & take a few snaps.
Photograph - Looking into a pond. On the right hand side is a fallen bright pink camelia floating on the water. On the left are several tadpoles swimming about.
April 7, 2025 at 4:29 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Decided to pick up SF Caledonia & an issue of Shoreline of Infinity to read & examine more short stories between returning back to writing some of my own. #shortstories #sciencefiction #scottishwriters #fantasyfiction #speculativefiction
April 7, 2025 at 10:30 AM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Back to the theatre, this time for An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley at the King's Theatre. #theatre #glasgow
April 5, 2025 at 1:12 PM
mikaelawalker.bsky.social
Did I write poem inspired by building an IKEA desk this week? Yes, yes I did. Did it also come to me at 11 o'clock at night whilst I was trying to sleep? Yep, because that's how my brain works apparently 😄 #poetry
IKEA FURNITURE You came to me in pieces and I had to sift through them to find what was needed. With each step together I built you up a little bit more and when we reached our climax I was spent and sore but at least, you were complete.
April 4, 2025 at 10:08 AM