Nic V
@nic-v.bsky.social
Part-time bookseller, full-time reader.
Bristolian.
When I read a book, I post a little review here.
Bristolian.
When I read a book, I post a little review here.
A literary coming-of-age / queer campus novel, with themes of loneliness and identity, honesty and self-invention.
The writing in this forthcoming debut is outstandingly good, with a sharp, dark and compelling interior voice.
New author Grace Murray is one to watch.
UK publ. 15/01/26
#books
💙📚🖋️
The writing in this forthcoming debut is outstandingly good, with a sharp, dark and compelling interior voice.
New author Grace Murray is one to watch.
UK publ. 15/01/26
#books
💙📚🖋️
November 26, 2025 at 5:36 PM
A literary coming-of-age / queer campus novel, with themes of loneliness and identity, honesty and self-invention.
The writing in this forthcoming debut is outstandingly good, with a sharp, dark and compelling interior voice.
New author Grace Murray is one to watch.
UK publ. 15/01/26
#books
💙📚🖋️
The writing in this forthcoming debut is outstandingly good, with a sharp, dark and compelling interior voice.
New author Grace Murray is one to watch.
UK publ. 15/01/26
#books
💙📚🖋️
Exciting and original sci-fi horror by @qntm.org
Antimemes cannot be remembered; they are ‘self-keeping secrets’. So how can Marie Quinn, the Head of the Antimemetics Division, protect humanity from this threat?
Sometimes confusing but always propulsive and interesting. I enjoyed this.
#books
💙📚🪐
Antimemes cannot be remembered; they are ‘self-keeping secrets’. So how can Marie Quinn, the Head of the Antimemetics Division, protect humanity from this threat?
Sometimes confusing but always propulsive and interesting. I enjoyed this.
#books
💙📚🪐
November 24, 2025 at 4:53 PM
A pretty standard locked-room whodunnit.
Except that the setting is a Zeppelin flying from Nazi Germany to Rio de Janeiro.
Set in 1933, with good characters and a plot which really takes off with a twist in the last third of the book.
A quick & fun weekend read.
#books
💙📚⚡️
Except that the setting is a Zeppelin flying from Nazi Germany to Rio de Janeiro.
Set in 1933, with good characters and a plot which really takes off with a twist in the last third of the book.
A quick & fun weekend read.
#books
💙📚⚡️
November 23, 2025 at 10:37 AM
A pretty standard locked-room whodunnit.
Except that the setting is a Zeppelin flying from Nazi Germany to Rio de Janeiro.
Set in 1933, with good characters and a plot which really takes off with a twist in the last third of the book.
A quick & fun weekend read.
#books
💙📚⚡️
Except that the setting is a Zeppelin flying from Nazi Germany to Rio de Janeiro.
Set in 1933, with good characters and a plot which really takes off with a twist in the last third of the book.
A quick & fun weekend read.
#books
💙📚⚡️
A must for fans of Jeanette Winterson.
I enjoyed this, her latest book, which does not limit itself to the opposing categories of fiction and nonfiction.
It’s about stories, and their power.
Shahrazad’s 1001 Nights has always had plenty to tell us. Let us look closely, and imagine.
#books
💙📚
I enjoyed this, her latest book, which does not limit itself to the opposing categories of fiction and nonfiction.
It’s about stories, and their power.
Shahrazad’s 1001 Nights has always had plenty to tell us. Let us look closely, and imagine.
#books
💙📚
November 21, 2025 at 3:16 PM
A must for fans of Jeanette Winterson.
I enjoyed this, her latest book, which does not limit itself to the opposing categories of fiction and nonfiction.
It’s about stories, and their power.
Shahrazad’s 1001 Nights has always had plenty to tell us. Let us look closely, and imagine.
#books
💙📚
I enjoyed this, her latest book, which does not limit itself to the opposing categories of fiction and nonfiction.
It’s about stories, and their power.
Shahrazad’s 1001 Nights has always had plenty to tell us. Let us look closely, and imagine.
#books
💙📚
Tara is still stuck in the eighteenth of November.
But now she has met Henry, who, like her, is reliving the same day repeatedly. Could there be others?
This series just gets better and better.
Let us contemplate the purpose our lives, as Tara must.
Are we monsters, using things up?
#books
💙📚🖋️
But now she has met Henry, who, like her, is reliving the same day repeatedly. Could there be others?
This series just gets better and better.
Let us contemplate the purpose our lives, as Tara must.
Are we monsters, using things up?
#books
💙📚🖋️
November 19, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Tara is still stuck in the eighteenth of November.
But now she has met Henry, who, like her, is reliving the same day repeatedly. Could there be others?
This series just gets better and better.
Let us contemplate the purpose our lives, as Tara must.
Are we monsters, using things up?
#books
💙📚🖋️
But now she has met Henry, who, like her, is reliving the same day repeatedly. Could there be others?
This series just gets better and better.
Let us contemplate the purpose our lives, as Tara must.
Are we monsters, using things up?
#books
💙📚🖋️
It’s the eighteenth of November!
Tara’s day.
Will we ever see another day?
I hope that everyone is reading On The Calculation of Volume today.
I’m spending today reading Volume III.
Fantastic! I’m obsessed.
Strongly recommend.
@faberbooks.bsky.social
#books
💙📚🖋️
Tara’s day.
Will we ever see another day?
I hope that everyone is reading On The Calculation of Volume today.
I’m spending today reading Volume III.
Fantastic! I’m obsessed.
Strongly recommend.
@faberbooks.bsky.social
#books
💙📚🖋️
November 18, 2025 at 6:08 AM
It’s the eighteenth of November!
Tara’s day.
Will we ever see another day?
I hope that everyone is reading On The Calculation of Volume today.
I’m spending today reading Volume III.
Fantastic! I’m obsessed.
Strongly recommend.
@faberbooks.bsky.social
#books
💙📚🖋️
Tara’s day.
Will we ever see another day?
I hope that everyone is reading On The Calculation of Volume today.
I’m spending today reading Volume III.
Fantastic! I’m obsessed.
Strongly recommend.
@faberbooks.bsky.social
#books
💙📚🖋️
The narrator is living alone in an apartment in Argentina. Her relationships with friends and family are strained and distant.
A big package arrives…it’s her estranged Mum in a box!
An unsettling, otherworldly feeling keeps us unsure of what is real. Lots of symbolism.
Intriguing!
#books
💙📚🖋️
A big package arrives…it’s her estranged Mum in a box!
An unsettling, otherworldly feeling keeps us unsure of what is real. Lots of symbolism.
Intriguing!
#books
💙📚🖋️
November 17, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The narrator is living alone in an apartment in Argentina. Her relationships with friends and family are strained and distant.
A big package arrives…it’s her estranged Mum in a box!
An unsettling, otherworldly feeling keeps us unsure of what is real. Lots of symbolism.
Intriguing!
#books
💙📚🖋️
A big package arrives…it’s her estranged Mum in a box!
An unsettling, otherworldly feeling keeps us unsure of what is real. Lots of symbolism.
Intriguing!
#books
💙📚🖋️
I loved this warm and touching love story by @damianbarr.bsky.social
Bobby & Robert were Scottish artists who flourished at Glasgow School of Art in the 1930s despite class barriers. Their reimagined lives are described with a painterly eye.
A story worth telling, told beautifully.
#books
💙📚🖋️
Bobby & Robert were Scottish artists who flourished at Glasgow School of Art in the 1930s despite class barriers. Their reimagined lives are described with a painterly eye.
A story worth telling, told beautifully.
#books
💙📚🖋️
November 16, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I loved this warm and touching love story by @damianbarr.bsky.social
Bobby & Robert were Scottish artists who flourished at Glasgow School of Art in the 1930s despite class barriers. Their reimagined lives are described with a painterly eye.
A story worth telling, told beautifully.
#books
💙📚🖋️
Bobby & Robert were Scottish artists who flourished at Glasgow School of Art in the 1930s despite class barriers. Their reimagined lives are described with a painterly eye.
A story worth telling, told beautifully.
#books
💙📚🖋️
We’re in era of information crisis.
@naomialderman.bsky.social , in this excellent new short nonfiction book, examines what this means for us as individuals, and for humanity.
Well-informed, important, lucid & highly relevant.
Overwhelmed & unsettled by the internet age? Read this!
#books
💙📚💡
@naomialderman.bsky.social , in this excellent new short nonfiction book, examines what this means for us as individuals, and for humanity.
Well-informed, important, lucid & highly relevant.
Overwhelmed & unsettled by the internet age? Read this!
#books
💙📚💡
November 14, 2025 at 1:32 PM
We’re in era of information crisis.
@naomialderman.bsky.social , in this excellent new short nonfiction book, examines what this means for us as individuals, and for humanity.
Well-informed, important, lucid & highly relevant.
Overwhelmed & unsettled by the internet age? Read this!
#books
💙📚💡
@naomialderman.bsky.social , in this excellent new short nonfiction book, examines what this means for us as individuals, and for humanity.
Well-informed, important, lucid & highly relevant.
Overwhelmed & unsettled by the internet age? Read this!
#books
💙📚💡
Sean is a miserable misanthropic bookseller living in LA and trying to write a novel.
By turns annoying and hilarious, every time I began to lose patience he would hit me with a biting & funny observation.
Themes of gentrification, self-loathing & the frustrations of customer service.
#books
💙📚🖋️
By turns annoying and hilarious, every time I began to lose patience he would hit me with a biting & funny observation.
Themes of gentrification, self-loathing & the frustrations of customer service.
#books
💙📚🖋️
November 12, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Sean is a miserable misanthropic bookseller living in LA and trying to write a novel.
By turns annoying and hilarious, every time I began to lose patience he would hit me with a biting & funny observation.
Themes of gentrification, self-loathing & the frustrations of customer service.
#books
💙📚🖋️
By turns annoying and hilarious, every time I began to lose patience he would hit me with a biting & funny observation.
Themes of gentrification, self-loathing & the frustrations of customer service.
#books
💙📚🖋️
There’s a lot of really great journalism on this shortlist.
Really proud to have been shortlisted for best investigation for the Write To EVAW Awards - second year in a row!!
www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/write-to-end...
The shortlisted article is my piece on Enough - the anti rape campaign targeting university students
www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/write-to-end...
The shortlisted article is my piece on Enough - the anti rape campaign targeting university students
Write to End Violence Against Women Awards 2025: Shortlist released | End Violence Against Women
Leading women’s rights organisation the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) has today published the shortlist for its 2025 Write to End Violence Against Women Awards, which recognise excellenc...
www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk
November 12, 2025 at 6:21 AM
There’s a lot of really great journalism on this shortlist.
It’s really interesting that this prize includes different genres, including novels, poetry and memoir.
I’ve only read Han Kang’s We Do Not Part so far, which is an excellent book.
I most want to read Désirée Congo next (if I can find it).
💙📚🖋️
I’ve only read Han Kang’s We Do Not Part so far, which is an excellent book.
I most want to read Désirée Congo next (if I can find it).
💙📚🖋️
We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation in 2025! "Each of these books arrives in English in expert and accessible translations that honour the art and voice of their original authors."
tinyurl.com/f9sccz4v
tinyurl.com/f9sccz4v
November 11, 2025 at 4:05 PM
It’s really interesting that this prize includes different genres, including novels, poetry and memoir.
I’ve only read Han Kang’s We Do Not Part so far, which is an excellent book.
I most want to read Désirée Congo next (if I can find it).
💙📚🖋️
I’ve only read Han Kang’s We Do Not Part so far, which is an excellent book.
I most want to read Désirée Congo next (if I can find it).
💙📚🖋️
Well that’s the first year in ages that I haven’t read the full Booker Prize shortlist, and of course the only one I’m missing is the winner!
Not sure how it passed me by.
I think my lesson is not to judge a book by its title.
I’m off to the bookshop in the morning.
Not sure how it passed me by.
I think my lesson is not to judge a book by its title.
I’m off to the bookshop in the morning.
November 10, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Well that’s the first year in ages that I haven’t read the full Booker Prize shortlist, and of course the only one I’m missing is the winner!
Not sure how it passed me by.
I think my lesson is not to judge a book by its title.
I’m off to the bookshop in the morning.
Not sure how it passed me by.
I think my lesson is not to judge a book by its title.
I’m off to the bookshop in the morning.
The #BookerPrize2025 winner will be announced this evening.
I’ve read five of the six shortlisted books (I was not tempted by Flesh).
My favourite is Flashlight by Susan Choi. I was immersed in this brilliant novel from the very beginning.
I very much hope she wins the prize.
💙📚🖋️
🧵1/3
I’ve read five of the six shortlisted books (I was not tempted by Flesh).
My favourite is Flashlight by Susan Choi. I was immersed in this brilliant novel from the very beginning.
I very much hope she wins the prize.
💙📚🖋️
🧵1/3
November 10, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The #BookerPrize2025 winner will be announced this evening.
I’ve read five of the six shortlisted books (I was not tempted by Flesh).
My favourite is Flashlight by Susan Choi. I was immersed in this brilliant novel from the very beginning.
I very much hope she wins the prize.
💙📚🖋️
🧵1/3
I’ve read five of the six shortlisted books (I was not tempted by Flesh).
My favourite is Flashlight by Susan Choi. I was immersed in this brilliant novel from the very beginning.
I very much hope she wins the prize.
💙📚🖋️
🧵1/3
I loved this epic literary novel from the very first pages.
A well-written, immersive narrative which informs about geopolitical issues through characters I really cared about.
From post-WW2 Koreans in Japan, through the late C20th US immigrant experience, to today.
#BookerPrize2025
#books
💙📚🖋️
A well-written, immersive narrative which informs about geopolitical issues through characters I really cared about.
From post-WW2 Koreans in Japan, through the late C20th US immigrant experience, to today.
#BookerPrize2025
#books
💙📚🖋️
November 10, 2025 at 3:41 PM
I loved this epic literary novel from the very first pages.
A well-written, immersive narrative which informs about geopolitical issues through characters I really cared about.
From post-WW2 Koreans in Japan, through the late C20th US immigrant experience, to today.
#BookerPrize2025
#books
💙📚🖋️
A well-written, immersive narrative which informs about geopolitical issues through characters I really cared about.
From post-WW2 Koreans in Japan, through the late C20th US immigrant experience, to today.
#BookerPrize2025
#books
💙📚🖋️
An engaging and sometimes humorous nonfiction book about looking for a father figure.
The 31-year-old author, who never had a dad, looks for candidates for that role by placing “dadverts” in various publications.
An interesting premise, well told, with an original voice.
#books
💙📚💡
The 31-year-old author, who never had a dad, looks for candidates for that role by placing “dadverts” in various publications.
An interesting premise, well told, with an original voice.
#books
💙📚💡
November 8, 2025 at 3:46 PM
An engaging and sometimes humorous nonfiction book about looking for a father figure.
The 31-year-old author, who never had a dad, looks for candidates for that role by placing “dadverts” in various publications.
An interesting premise, well told, with an original voice.
#books
💙📚💡
The 31-year-old author, who never had a dad, looks for candidates for that role by placing “dadverts” in various publications.
An interesting premise, well told, with an original voice.
#books
💙📚💡
A very American literary novel, shortlisted for the
#BookerPrize2025
Tom is having a midlife crisis, and health problems.
Like a male All Fours, except with sport instead of sex, and he actually goes on the road trip. Similarly annoying privileged characters.
Didn’t love it, sorry.
#books
💙📚🖋️
#BookerPrize2025
Tom is having a midlife crisis, and health problems.
Like a male All Fours, except with sport instead of sex, and he actually goes on the road trip. Similarly annoying privileged characters.
Didn’t love it, sorry.
#books
💙📚🖋️
November 7, 2025 at 11:22 AM
A very American literary novel, shortlisted for the
#BookerPrize2025
Tom is having a midlife crisis, and health problems.
Like a male All Fours, except with sport instead of sex, and he actually goes on the road trip. Similarly annoying privileged characters.
Didn’t love it, sorry.
#books
💙📚🖋️
#BookerPrize2025
Tom is having a midlife crisis, and health problems.
Like a male All Fours, except with sport instead of sex, and he actually goes on the road trip. Similarly annoying privileged characters.
Didn’t love it, sorry.
#books
💙📚🖋️
Set in 1970s Italy in the world of film-making, this literary novel fictionalises real events around the life and death of Pasolini.
A queer love story with an air of menace. Themes of power, artifice and the underlying threat of fascism.
I’m glad I read her essay (Guardian 1/11) first
#books
💙📚🖋️
A queer love story with an air of menace. Themes of power, artifice and the underlying threat of fascism.
I’m glad I read her essay (Guardian 1/11) first
#books
💙📚🖋️
November 5, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Set in 1970s Italy in the world of film-making, this literary novel fictionalises real events around the life and death of Pasolini.
A queer love story with an air of menace. Themes of power, artifice and the underlying threat of fascism.
I’m glad I read her essay (Guardian 1/11) first
#books
💙📚🖋️
A queer love story with an air of menace. Themes of power, artifice and the underlying threat of fascism.
I’m glad I read her essay (Guardian 1/11) first
#books
💙📚🖋️
A queer, gothic, Latin American vampire tale.
Two women in Buenos Aires, one in the 1860s & one in the present day, are linked when the one who’s a vampire is awakened by the other.
Well-written and atmospheric, with themes of desire, loneliness, grief and mortality.
#books
💙📚🖋️📚🩸
Two women in Buenos Aires, one in the 1860s & one in the present day, are linked when the one who’s a vampire is awakened by the other.
Well-written and atmospheric, with themes of desire, loneliness, grief and mortality.
#books
💙📚🖋️📚🩸
November 3, 2025 at 2:34 PM
A queer, gothic, Latin American vampire tale.
Two women in Buenos Aires, one in the 1860s & one in the present day, are linked when the one who’s a vampire is awakened by the other.
Well-written and atmospheric, with themes of desire, loneliness, grief and mortality.
#books
💙📚🖋️📚🩸
Two women in Buenos Aires, one in the 1860s & one in the present day, are linked when the one who’s a vampire is awakened by the other.
Well-written and atmospheric, with themes of desire, loneliness, grief and mortality.
#books
💙📚🖋️📚🩸
An enjoyable and engrossing historical crime thriller.
Set in Calcutta towards the end of British Empire rule, with plenty of atmospheric detail and political awareness.
Banerjee and Wyndham are reunited when Suren’s cousin disappears and Sam investigates a murder.
pub.13 Nov
#books
💙📚⚡️
1/2…
Set in Calcutta towards the end of British Empire rule, with plenty of atmospheric detail and political awareness.
Banerjee and Wyndham are reunited when Suren’s cousin disappears and Sam investigates a murder.
pub.13 Nov
#books
💙📚⚡️
1/2…
November 1, 2025 at 2:20 PM
An enjoyable and engrossing historical crime thriller.
Set in Calcutta towards the end of British Empire rule, with plenty of atmospheric detail and political awareness.
Banerjee and Wyndham are reunited when Suren’s cousin disappears and Sam investigates a murder.
pub.13 Nov
#books
💙📚⚡️
1/2…
Set in Calcutta towards the end of British Empire rule, with plenty of atmospheric detail and political awareness.
Banerjee and Wyndham are reunited when Suren’s cousin disappears and Sam investigates a murder.
pub.13 Nov
#books
💙📚⚡️
1/2…
A literary horror thriller; a compelling mystery spanning countries & decades.
When strangers Jake and Mariko meet in an airport, they discover a gruesome coincidence of lost loved ones.
Horror is not a genre I prefer, but I enjoyed this because of its engaging plot and pacy writing.
#books
💙📚🩸
When strangers Jake and Mariko meet in an airport, they discover a gruesome coincidence of lost loved ones.
Horror is not a genre I prefer, but I enjoyed this because of its engaging plot and pacy writing.
#books
💙📚🩸
October 31, 2025 at 6:26 PM
A literary horror thriller; a compelling mystery spanning countries & decades.
When strangers Jake and Mariko meet in an airport, they discover a gruesome coincidence of lost loved ones.
Horror is not a genre I prefer, but I enjoyed this because of its engaging plot and pacy writing.
#books
💙📚🩸
When strangers Jake and Mariko meet in an airport, they discover a gruesome coincidence of lost loved ones.
Horror is not a genre I prefer, but I enjoyed this because of its engaging plot and pacy writing.
#books
💙📚🩸
A powerful takedown of the “Western Civilisation” brand by a knowledgeable science historian/museum curator.
She includes some personal memoir along with well-researched information.
Particularly strong on ‘race science’ and its impact historically.
Accessible and relevant.
#books
💙📚💡
She includes some personal memoir along with well-researched information.
Particularly strong on ‘race science’ and its impact historically.
Accessible and relevant.
#books
💙📚💡
October 29, 2025 at 3:18 PM
A powerful takedown of the “Western Civilisation” brand by a knowledgeable science historian/museum curator.
She includes some personal memoir along with well-researched information.
Particularly strong on ‘race science’ and its impact historically.
Accessible and relevant.
#books
💙📚💡
She includes some personal memoir along with well-researched information.
Particularly strong on ‘race science’ and its impact historically.
Accessible and relevant.
#books
💙📚💡
I loved this fascinating piece of speculative fiction, somewhere between a novel and a collection of linked stories.
In the distant future, there are few humans left on Earth.
Themes of cloning, AI, evolution, community and the nature of humanity.
Meditative, sometimes unsettling
#books
💙📚🪐
In the distant future, there are few humans left on Earth.
Themes of cloning, AI, evolution, community and the nature of humanity.
Meditative, sometimes unsettling
#books
💙📚🪐
October 27, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I loved this fascinating piece of speculative fiction, somewhere between a novel and a collection of linked stories.
In the distant future, there are few humans left on Earth.
Themes of cloning, AI, evolution, community and the nature of humanity.
Meditative, sometimes unsettling
#books
💙📚🪐
In the distant future, there are few humans left on Earth.
Themes of cloning, AI, evolution, community and the nature of humanity.
Meditative, sometimes unsettling
#books
💙📚🪐
Fun NYT Connections puzzle this morning!
Finally, the respect due to Only Connect and @vcorenmitchell.bsky.social
Finally, the respect due to Only Connect and @vcorenmitchell.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Fun NYT Connections puzzle this morning!
Finally, the respect due to Only Connect and @vcorenmitchell.bsky.social
Finally, the respect due to Only Connect and @vcorenmitchell.bsky.social
A richly detailed literary epic.
Set in late 20th century India, New York and beyond. Sonia and Sunny are separately trying to find their way in the world.
I felt a fundamental sadness, frustration and dissatisfaction within all the characters.
It’s very long.
#BookerPrize2025
#books
💙📚🖋️
Set in late 20th century India, New York and beyond. Sonia and Sunny are separately trying to find their way in the world.
I felt a fundamental sadness, frustration and dissatisfaction within all the characters.
It’s very long.
#BookerPrize2025
#books
💙📚🖋️
October 25, 2025 at 4:10 PM
A richly detailed literary epic.
Set in late 20th century India, New York and beyond. Sonia and Sunny are separately trying to find their way in the world.
I felt a fundamental sadness, frustration and dissatisfaction within all the characters.
It’s very long.
#BookerPrize2025
#books
💙📚🖋️
Set in late 20th century India, New York and beyond. Sonia and Sunny are separately trying to find their way in the world.
I felt a fundamental sadness, frustration and dissatisfaction within all the characters.
It’s very long.
#BookerPrize2025
#books
💙📚🖋️