Susan Reed
@susanreed.bsky.social
British Library German collections curator. Tiny translation sideline. Reader, bellringer, Wagner & Archers fan. Comprehensive educated & proud. Views my own.
I was looking at this for something I’m working on at the moment. 40 years ago I was looking at it to find out about degree courses. And the latter exercise has effectively led to the present one.
November 21, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I was looking at this for something I’m working on at the moment. 40 years ago I was looking at it to find out about degree courses. And the latter exercise has effectively led to the present one.
I’m surprised they hadn’t thought of this before, but here it is. (Shortly after I took this photo in Waterstones I saw the book in my local library so of course borrowed it.)
October 18, 2025 at 12:36 PM
I’m surprised they hadn’t thought of this before, but here it is. (Shortly after I took this photo in Waterstones I saw the book in my local library so of course borrowed it.)
Saw this portrait in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille and can’t help thinking he has something of Michael Caine about him.
October 9, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Saw this portrait in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille and can’t help thinking he has something of Michael Caine about him.
Sad news indeed, but also a classic example of a sentence that absolutely calls for the Oxford comma.
October 3, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Sad news indeed, but also a classic example of a sentence that absolutely calls for the Oxford comma.
Saw this in the Radio Times and misread it as ‘Jerry & Margo Go Large’ so obviously thought that it was a weird spinoff from ‘The Good Life’. Alas, it is not.
September 5, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Saw this in the Radio Times and misread it as ‘Jerry & Margo Go Large’ so obviously thought that it was a weird spinoff from ‘The Good Life’. Alas, it is not.
Picked up this YA dystopian fantasy novel on spec at station book swap last week & it’s had me absorbed all weekend & left me longing for the sequel. If you like that sort of thing I would highly recommend. (But it’s going back to the book swap where an actual young adult might benefit from it.)
August 31, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Picked up this YA dystopian fantasy novel on spec at station book swap last week & it’s had me absorbed all weekend & left me longing for the sequel. If you like that sort of thing I would highly recommend. (But it’s going back to the book swap where an actual young adult might benefit from it.)
In a similar vein, this had me sniggering in an undignified manner in Lidl today.
June 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
In a similar vein, this had me sniggering in an undignified manner in Lidl today.
Intrigued and a bit baffled by this and several similar displays of romance novels at the Leipzig Book Fair. They’re all German translations but the titles are all in English. One even claims to be translated into German from Italian but the title’s in English! What’s going on?!
March 28, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Intrigued and a bit baffled by this and several similar displays of romance novels at the Leipzig Book Fair. They’re all German translations but the titles are all in English. One even claims to be translated into German from Italian but the title’s in English! What’s going on?!
Someone has published a Thomas Mann crime novel and I have to admit I’m tempted…
March 27, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Someone has published a Thomas Mann crime novel and I have to admit I’m tempted…
Looking for something else in the basements at work and serendipitously came across this nice bit of fore-edge painting on an Icelandic Psalter of 1589.
February 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Looking for something else in the basements at work and serendipitously came across this nice bit of fore-edge painting on an Icelandic Psalter of 1589.
If you see this post, apparently you have to quote with a bridge from your gallery. Here’s le pont d’Avignon. I wasn’t dancing
January 23, 2025 at 10:15 PM
If you see this post, apparently you have to quote with a bridge from your gallery. Here’s le pont d’Avignon. I wasn’t dancing
Just finished this by @tsjphillips.bsky.social - a wonderful and informative read, full of Cold War stories and their legacies that I knew nothing of. A true education, with a closing paragraph that could not be more apposite.
January 21, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Just finished this by @tsjphillips.bsky.social - a wonderful and informative read, full of Cold War stories and their legacies that I knew nothing of. A true education, with a closing paragraph that could not be more apposite.
First winner of 2025’s ‘book that made me miss my stop on the tube’ awards.
January 4, 2025 at 4:08 PM
First winner of 2025’s ‘book that made me miss my stop on the tube’ awards.
Yesterday a friend gave me this bespoke handmade dachshund-themed soap dish (my second fab dachshund-themed gift of the day as it happened!) and I couldn’t be more delighted.
December 21, 2024 at 10:52 AM
Yesterday a friend gave me this bespoke handmade dachshund-themed soap dish (my second fab dachshund-themed gift of the day as it happened!) and I couldn’t be more delighted.
Revisited some of the BL’s splendid German expressionist illustrated books for a session with students yesterday. I always enjoy a chance to get these out and show them off!
November 20, 2024 at 10:14 AM
Revisited some of the BL’s splendid German expressionist illustrated books for a session with students yesterday. I always enjoy a chance to get these out and show them off!
From an Observer article about a forthcoming book of Tolkien’s poems, this is an absolute gem of an anecdote. (I have no time for those who skipped the poems in Hobbit & LotR. When I dislocated my knee aged 16, reciting ‘Earendil was a mariner’ kept me ignoring the pain until the ambulance arrived)
August 25, 2024 at 1:42 PM
From an Observer article about a forthcoming book of Tolkien’s poems, this is an absolute gem of an anecdote. (I have no time for those who skipped the poems in Hobbit & LotR. When I dislocated my knee aged 16, reciting ‘Earendil was a mariner’ kept me ignoring the pain until the ambulance arrived)
This one from Paris really takes the biscuit
August 15, 2024 at 7:41 PM
This one from Paris really takes the biscuit
‘Let’s name our cafe after a famous revolutionary!’
‘Great! How about that guy Guevara? But I can’t remember his first name.’
‘It was something short. Er…Bob?’
‘Yeah, that was it. Bob Guevara.’
‘Great! How about that guy Guevara? But I can’t remember his first name.’
‘It was something short. Er…Bob?’
‘Yeah, that was it. Bob Guevara.’
April 14, 2024 at 6:12 PM
‘Let’s name our cafe after a famous revolutionary!’
‘Great! How about that guy Guevara? But I can’t remember his first name.’
‘It was something short. Er…Bob?’
‘Yeah, that was it. Bob Guevara.’
‘Great! How about that guy Guevara? But I can’t remember his first name.’
‘It was something short. Er…Bob?’
‘Yeah, that was it. Bob Guevara.’
I think I’ll have to try eating here while I’m in Augsburg. I’ll enjoy the challenge of trying to find their ‘elusive’ atmosphere.
April 14, 2024 at 6:14 AM
I think I’ll have to try eating here while I’m in Augsburg. I’ll enjoy the challenge of trying to find their ‘elusive’ atmosphere.
Guerilla Baden-Württemberg tourist office staff at work on Putney Bridge
April 7, 2024 at 10:49 AM
Guerilla Baden-Württemberg tourist office staff at work on Putney Bridge
A colleague sent me a link to this very jolly St Matthew (from MS Boulogne-sur-Mer BM 0008 if you were wondering) and it has been delighting me all day.
March 28, 2024 at 9:12 PM
A colleague sent me a link to this very jolly St Matthew (from MS Boulogne-sur-Mer BM 0008 if you were wondering) and it has been delighting me all day.
The book itself is a slightly odd concept as it’s specifically designed for learning while getting dressed in the morning!
March 22, 2024 at 3:23 PM
The book itself is a slightly odd concept as it’s specifically designed for learning while getting dressed in the morning!
Some phrases deemed handy for young ladies, from an Austrian teach-yourself-English book of 1840…
March 22, 2024 at 3:20 PM
Some phrases deemed handy for young ladies, from an Austrian teach-yourself-English book of 1840…
I’ve been devouring this on my commute this week (it came close to the ‘missed my stop’ award). Highly recommended, though read the equally excellent ‘The City we Became’ first as this is the sequel.
March 1, 2024 at 8:49 PM
I’ve been devouring this on my commute this week (it came close to the ‘missed my stop’ award). Highly recommended, though read the equally excellent ‘The City we Became’ first as this is the sequel.
OK, Swedish Duolingo, I’m sure I’ll need this phrase a lot 🙄
February 12, 2024 at 8:55 PM
OK, Swedish Duolingo, I’m sure I’ll need this phrase a lot 🙄