Ian 🇪🇺
@theyannster.bsky.social
Reader,golfer, loves dogs and music (people not so much)
A difficult one. I love Anne Tyler generally, but this is re-working of The Taming of the Shrew has inherent issues in its basic premise and storyline. She does ok with it, though her Kate is pretty hapless rather than feisty. A strong epilogue almost saves it, but still just ok, not great. #BookSky
December 13, 2025 at 8:21 PM
A difficult one. I love Anne Tyler generally, but this is re-working of The Taming of the Shrew has inherent issues in its basic premise and storyline. She does ok with it, though her Kate is pretty hapless rather than feisty. A strong epilogue almost saves it, but still just ok, not great. #BookSky
Book 41 of ‘25. More of the same from Richard Osman, which is no bad thing as it’s warm and cosy and familiar. Sometimes I just want to not be challenged by a book but to be gently entertained and this series is my go to for that. #BookSky
December 8, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Book 41 of ‘25. More of the same from Richard Osman, which is no bad thing as it’s warm and cosy and familiar. Sometimes I just want to not be challenged by a book but to be gently entertained and this series is my go to for that. #BookSky
3 names, 3 lives, one person. Abused Cora names her son and the choice she makes sets in motion a chain of events which affects the lives of many people. Bear/Julian/Gordon and his many relationships viewed at 7 year intervals in a book which is heartbreaking, lovely and brilliant. #BookSky
November 27, 2025 at 9:32 AM
3 names, 3 lives, one person. Abused Cora names her son and the choice she makes sets in motion a chain of events which affects the lives of many people. Bear/Julian/Gordon and his many relationships viewed at 7 year intervals in a book which is heartbreaking, lovely and brilliant. #BookSky
I love Everett. This one is darker with fewer jokes, but then it has dual strands of a married couple coping with the terminal diagnosis of their pre-teen only child, and modern slavery in modern America. Heart-breaking, devastating and tense, with enough humour to make it a joy to read. #BookSky
November 20, 2025 at 2:27 PM
I love Everett. This one is darker with fewer jokes, but then it has dual strands of a married couple coping with the terminal diagnosis of their pre-teen only child, and modern slavery in modern America. Heart-breaking, devastating and tense, with enough humour to make it a joy to read. #BookSky
Terminally ill Tom agrees to meet penpal Oliver in out of the way seaside town that has seen better days. In a beautifully drawn shabby hotel, with shabbier staff and even worse clientele, a draw takes place with life-changing prize. Explores guilt, death, and the soul. #BookSky
November 14, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Terminally ill Tom agrees to meet penpal Oliver in out of the way seaside town that has seen better days. In a beautifully drawn shabby hotel, with shabbier staff and even worse clientele, a draw takes place with life-changing prize. Explores guilt, death, and the soul. #BookSky
Last and longest of the 2025 Booker list. Lovely if over-long tale of lovers and their missteps. There is humour, pathos, mysticism and gorgeous lyrical prose. Wouldn't be surprised if it lifted the big prize, but lack of judicious editing left it in 3rd place for me - but a wonderful book. #BookSky
November 9, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Last and longest of the 2025 Booker list. Lovely if over-long tale of lovers and their missteps. There is humour, pathos, mysticism and gorgeous lyrical prose. Wouldn't be surprised if it lifted the big prize, but lack of judicious editing left it in 3rd place for me - but a wonderful book. #BookSky
Book 12 of the Booker list. Emotional family epic sprawling across East Asia and the US. Full of loss and longing, hope and despair. A satisfying if sad denouement completing a broken circle of broken people made slightly more whole. Loved it. #BookSky
October 15, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Book 12 of the Booker list. Emotional family epic sprawling across East Asia and the US. Full of loss and longing, hope and despair. A satisfying if sad denouement completing a broken circle of broken people made slightly more whole. Loved it. #BookSky
Wordle 1,576 2/6*
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2 2s in 2 days
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2 2s in 2 days
October 12, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Wordle 1,576 2/6*
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2 2s in 2 days
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2 2s in 2 days
Wordle 1,575 2/6*
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Today is going to be a great day
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Today is going to be a great day
October 11, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Wordle 1,575 2/6*
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Today is going to be a great day
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Today is going to be a great day
Booker list 11. Certainly in the top 2 or 3 so far. Winter of ‘62/‘63. Neighbours with very different problems find their issues exposed in the claustrophobic atmosphere of cold, snow, blizzards. I liked it very much. #BookSky
October 5, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Booker list 11. Certainly in the top 2 or 3 so far. Winter of ‘62/‘63. Neighbours with very different problems find their issues exposed in the claustrophobic atmosphere of cold, snow, blizzards. I liked it very much. #BookSky
Book 20 of the Booker list. Didn’t make the shortlist. An examination of late-stage capitalism and populism through the prism of journalism and the life of an anti-woke journalist. As irritating in fiction as in real life, the views expressed just make me want to hold my head in my hands. #BookSky
September 24, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Book 20 of the Booker list. Didn’t make the shortlist. An examination of late-stage capitalism and populism through the prism of journalism and the life of an anti-woke journalist. As irritating in fiction as in real life, the views expressed just make me want to hold my head in my hands. #BookSky
Booker list 9. Plays with structure enough to interest without diverting too much from narrative. War in Ukraine vividly brought to life through eyes of oddballs on edge of society. Topic alone may make it a contender. #BookSky
September 21, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Booker list 9. Plays with structure enough to interest without diverting too much from narrative. War in Ukraine vividly brought to life through eyes of oddballs on edge of society. Topic alone may make it a contender. #BookSky
Business idea. Bib-shorts for tradesmen.
Having endured a morning of the dreaded “crack” from the electrician in my house. I figured that some sort of bib-short would cover a multitude of sins.
Having endured a morning of the dreaded “crack” from the electrician in my house. I figured that some sort of bib-short would cover a multitude of sins.
September 8, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Business idea. Bib-shorts for tradesmen.
Having endured a morning of the dreaded “crack” from the electrician in my house. I figured that some sort of bib-short would cover a multitude of sins.
Having endured a morning of the dreaded “crack” from the electrician in my house. I figured that some sort of bib-short would cover a multitude of sins.
Booker list 8. This one messed with my head. Part one pretty straightforward, then part 2 continues the narrative with different relationships and goes on to question each character’s role. Not sure what it was trying to tell me, but it told it beautifully. #BookSky
September 8, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Booker list 8. This one messed with my head. Part one pretty straightforward, then part 2 continues the narrative with different relationships and goes on to question each character’s role. Not sure what it was trying to tell me, but it told it beautifully. #BookSky
Booker list 7. Sort of coming of age tale of Jay as his family goes south to visit inherited farm and he meets Chuan. Little happens and maybe the subtlety was lost on me. Change of narration from 1st person to 3rd and back jarred a little. Sorry, not for me. #BookSky
September 3, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Booker list 7. Sort of coming of age tale of Jay as his family goes south to visit inherited farm and he meets Chuan. Little happens and maybe the subtlety was lost on me. Change of narration from 1st person to 3rd and back jarred a little. Sorry, not for me. #BookSky
Book 30 of '25 and Booker list 6. The life of a man told in sparse prose and sparser dialogue, "okay", "sure"! Yet fully realised and utterly compelling - definitely a contender for the big prize. #BookSky
August 27, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Book 30 of '25 and Booker list 6. The life of a man told in sparse prose and sparser dialogue, "okay", "sure"! Yet fully realised and utterly compelling - definitely a contender for the big prize. #BookSky
Booker 5. 16 year old gets "ketch", goes to Venezuela and a group of kindly nuns. Begins a new life in England with the constant shadow of the daughter she left behind. Beautifully brings to life the contrast between UK and Trinidadian cultures and values,while exploring what it means to be a mother
August 24, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Booker 5. 16 year old gets "ketch", goes to Venezuela and a group of kindly nuns. Begins a new life in England with the constant shadow of the daughter she left behind. Beautifully brings to life the contrast between UK and Trinidadian cultures and values,while exploring what it means to be a mother
Booker list 4 - 2 visits to Greece, 9 years apart, not always clear at first which visit we're witnessing. Same characters, different lives. Interesting technique switching from narration to narrator's notes worked well for me. Enjoyed till final chapter left me cold. Still worth the read.
August 17, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Booker list 4 - 2 visits to Greece, 9 years apart, not always clear at first which visit we're witnessing. Same characters, different lives. Interesting technique switching from narration to narrator's notes worked well for me. Enjoyed till final chapter left me cold. Still worth the read.
Booker list 3. The Albanian/US culture clashes are better drawn than most of the characters. There's incident and drama and it feels like there's something great here trying to get out, but not getting beyond the ok. Not one for the shortlist.
August 13, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Booker list 3. The Albanian/US culture clashes are better drawn than most of the characters. There's incident and drama and it feels like there's something great here trying to get out, but not getting beyond the ok. Not one for the shortlist.
What Sarah said
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The threat to our society is not from asylum seekers in small boats. It’s from politicians and media cynically whipping up fear and prejudice, labelling them all as criminals, inciting hatred against people for where and what they’ve fled from.
It must stop. For all our sakes. It’s deeply sinister.
It must stop. For all our sakes. It’s deeply sinister.
August 10, 2025 at 1:15 PM
What Sarah said
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And another one reaches the 90 landmark
August 7, 2025 at 7:02 PM
And another one reaches the 90 landmark
No 2 of Booker list. A life of hopeless drudgery, a guitar, a film director, a girl and a song from a dying man's dream all wrapped in a beautifully evoked foggy gloom with the faintest hint of sun poking through. Even reading it in mid-summer you can feel the damp seeping into your bones. #BookSky
August 4, 2025 at 10:21 AM
No 2 of Booker list. A life of hopeless drudgery, a guitar, a film director, a girl and a song from a dying man's dream all wrapped in a beautifully evoked foggy gloom with the faintest hint of sun poking through. Even reading it in mid-summer you can feel the damp seeping into your bones. #BookSky
Wordle 1,505 6/6*
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Again “phew”
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Again “phew”
August 2, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Wordle 1,505 6/6*
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Again “phew”
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Again “phew”
Wordle 1,504 2/6*
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Some days the random first word method works a treat
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Some days the random first word method works a treat
August 1, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Wordle 1,504 2/6*
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Some days the random first word method works a treat
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Some days the random first word method works a treat