Roland Allen, author of 'The Notebook: a History'
@zibaldoni.bsky.social
山人. 'The Notebook: a History of Thinking on Paper' is available everywhere. 'Book of the Year' pick by Waterstones, New Yorker, New Statesman, Spectator, Toronto Globe, Engelsberg Ideas, Lit Hub, Austin Kleon, Ryan Holiday, Stephen L. Carter...
A dreamy day, if you enjoy writing things in notebooks, and – crucially – I enjoy writing things in notebooks.
November 13, 2025 at 5:16 PM
A dreamy day, if you enjoy writing things in notebooks, and – crucially – I enjoy writing things in notebooks.
Nice! Although.
November 10, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Nice! Although.
Relatable content from Tom Gauld (again!)
November 10, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Relatable content from Tom Gauld (again!)
Well this was nice to see. (Ryan runs what looks like a beautifully curated bookshop, and shouts out other authors relentlessly, and is A Good Thing)
November 6, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Well this was nice to see. (Ryan runs what looks like a beautifully curated bookshop, and shouts out other authors relentlessly, and is A Good Thing)
BUT there is one brilliant spot, the sunlit studio upstairs where kids can get their hands dirty and actually print stuff. That looks great.
October 14, 2025 at 10:06 AM
BUT there is one brilliant spot, the sunlit studio upstairs where kids can get their hands dirty and actually print stuff. That looks great.
The only part of the whole museum with a coherent chronology is the self-aggrandizing 'story if the museum' on the stairs.
October 14, 2025 at 10:04 AM
The only part of the whole museum with a coherent chronology is the self-aggrandizing 'story if the museum' on the stairs.
They put their Bibles on display in a darkened chamber to encourage hushed reverence. Everyone starts whispering when they go in there. I prefer the NYPL display where you see them in daylight and they look like living things.
October 14, 2025 at 10:01 AM
They put their Bibles on display in a darkened chamber to encourage hushed reverence. Everyone starts whispering when they go in there. I prefer the NYPL display where you see them in daylight and they look like living things.
October 10, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Kemi made me do it.
October 9, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Kemi made me do it.
This is the sort of shit that people come up with before settling down to a long evening in front of Netflix or Apple TV, watching shows made in the UK by humanities graduates, that attracting inward investment, then generate massive export revenues.
October 9, 2025 at 9:00 AM
This is the sort of shit that people come up with before settling down to a long evening in front of Netflix or Apple TV, watching shows made in the UK by humanities graduates, that attracting inward investment, then generate massive export revenues.
Just finished this from @praddenkeefe.bsky.social and humbly propose that, despite dealing with events in US in the ’80s and ’90s, it gives great insight into what's happening today in the UK. Plus, just a terrific read in its own right.
October 7, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Just finished this from @praddenkeefe.bsky.social and humbly propose that, despite dealing with events in US in the ’80s and ’90s, it gives great insight into what's happening today in the UK. Plus, just a terrific read in its own right.
Ooooh, surprise in the post, Korean editions of the book!
October 5, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Ooooh, surprise in the post, Korean editions of the book!
Nice little breakthrough in the planning of Chapter IX.
October 2, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Nice little breakthrough in the planning of Chapter IX.
I was here today and iykyk.
August 28, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I was here today and iykyk.
Attention Early Modern Historians! This, from Angus Vine and @oxfordunipress.bsky.social is sure to be of great interest — Angus was insanely knowledgeable, helpful & quotable when I interviewed him for my own book. Have a look at it!
August 27, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Attention Early Modern Historians! This, from Angus Vine and @oxfordunipress.bsky.social is sure to be of great interest — Angus was insanely knowledgeable, helpful & quotable when I interviewed him for my own book. Have a look at it!
The high spot of the day: the arrival of the Jim Norton/ Marcella O'Riordan reading of Ulysses, complete on 22 CDs, one of the great interpretative works of the century, second-hand, and fuck you, Audible.
August 21, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The high spot of the day: the arrival of the Jim Norton/ Marcella O'Riordan reading of Ulysses, complete on 22 CDs, one of the great interpretative works of the century, second-hand, and fuck you, Audible.
The over-caffeinated researcher.
July 27, 2025 at 12:41 PM
The over-caffeinated researcher.
So this is enough to get you arrested in the UK these days.
Hats off to Jon Farley for exposing this ridiculous situation, Private Eye for the original joke. Photo: Steve Johnston
Hats off to Jon Farley for exposing this ridiculous situation, Private Eye for the original joke. Photo: Steve Johnston
July 23, 2025 at 7:26 AM
So this is enough to get you arrested in the UK these days.
Hats off to Jon Farley for exposing this ridiculous situation, Private Eye for the original joke. Photo: Steve Johnston
Hats off to Jon Farley for exposing this ridiculous situation, Private Eye for the original joke. Photo: Steve Johnston
The yellow bits were irrigated by the dam. All in currently Russian-held territory, I think, so you can rule out any eco-friendly smart solution to the problem happening.
July 22, 2025 at 9:05 AM
The yellow bits were irrigated by the dam. All in currently Russian-held territory, I think, so you can rule out any eco-friendly smart solution to the problem happening.
A pot of Lapsang Souchong and a surprisingly productive problem-solving hour at Café Salvage in Hove, where one particular table has proven itself particularly lucky, from a writerly point of view, many times over about six years.
That's the structure of the next chapter cracked. 🙂 #amwriting
That's the structure of the next chapter cracked. 🙂 #amwriting
July 20, 2025 at 7:47 PM
A pot of Lapsang Souchong and a surprisingly productive problem-solving hour at Café Salvage in Hove, where one particular table has proven itself particularly lucky, from a writerly point of view, many times over about six years.
That's the structure of the next chapter cracked. 🙂 #amwriting
That's the structure of the next chapter cracked. 🙂 #amwriting
When I'm a billionaire I'm going to procure the rights to 'Stop Making Sense' so I can make the 'Mabry + Holt' cut. The energy they bring...
July 16, 2025 at 4:52 PM
When I'm a billionaire I'm going to procure the rights to 'Stop Making Sense' so I can make the 'Mabry + Holt' cut. The energy they bring...
A delightful surprise in the post! THE NOTEBOOK will soon be available in Spanish (Latin America) thanks to the good people of Trillas and the estimable rights department of @profilebooks.bsky.social
July 12, 2025 at 9:07 AM
A delightful surprise in the post! THE NOTEBOOK will soon be available in Spanish (Latin America) thanks to the good people of Trillas and the estimable rights department of @profilebooks.bsky.social
And for a formal common-place book, an A6 hardcover Moleskine address book. This is a new development, slowly filling.
July 11, 2025 at 8:17 AM
And for a formal common-place book, an A6 hardcover Moleskine address book. This is a new development, slowly filling.
For more transient research notes, a larger page size works better. B5 paperback notebooks, mostly Japanese manufacturers like Life, Hobonichi, Stalogy. I start a new one for each project and keep separate ones for structures / plans / plots / 'big themes'. So they don't get buried in my reading.
July 11, 2025 at 8:14 AM
For more transient research notes, a larger page size works better. B5 paperback notebooks, mostly Japanese manufacturers like Life, Hobonichi, Stalogy. I start a new one for each project and keep separate ones for structures / plans / plots / 'big themes'. So they don't get buried in my reading.
For notes-from-reading that I know I'll refer to repeatedly in the long term, Leuchtturm A5 hardbacks. I started the first here in 2019 and refer to it most weeks.
July 11, 2025 at 8:09 AM
For notes-from-reading that I know I'll refer to repeatedly in the long term, Leuchtturm A5 hardbacks. I started the first here in 2019 and refer to it most weeks.