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Claire

@thechesilbeach.bsky.social

610 followers 300 following 1.8K posts

Love visiting Chesil Beach and reading books. In fact, I’ve probably got my head in a book while you’re reading this. ⬆️And yes, this is my Backlisted bookshelf. ⬆️

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Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks, Laura!

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 1d

Just a bit of fun.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 1d

The anticipation is palpable … what book will be joining my @backlisted.bsky.social Hallowe’en shrine this year?

A collection of the Backlisted books featured on previous Hallowe’en episodes:
Cold Hand in Mine by Robert Aickman
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Ghost Stories by Edith Wharton
The Breaking Point by Daphne du Maurier
Beowulf
Something in Disguise by Elizabeth Jane Howard
The Altar of the Dead by Henry James
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M. R. James
Round the Fire Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

All the books are arranged on a dark green background and are surrounded by Hallowe’en decorations including a black cat, some tombstones, candles, spiders and cobwebs, pumpkins and coffins.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 3d

YES!

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 3d

Hooray! Catch up with work tomorrow.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 3d

I, for one, am incredibly glad you strive to make each book better than the previous one, and succeed. I love that I never know what I’m going to read, and that the book can change so much from the beginning to the end. Please keep working as you do, I love what you write x

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 3d

On the Calculation of Volume I is my favourite book of the year so far. I’ve read it twice, as I wanted to read it again before reading book II. I’ll be reading book II again for my translated fiction book group in November and before reading book III which is published on November 18th in the UK.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 3d

But, back to the main point of Tom’s original text. I try not to comment on books I haven’t read, but especially not to the author, other than if I say I’m looking forward to reading it!

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 3d

I also had a discussion with an author years ago, about a character who I found suspicious and a bit sinister, and she had written him as a sympathetic hero character in a dark book. It’s amazing how everyone reads a book differently bringing their own experience to the story.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 3d

This always fascinates me. I read a book this week and really enjoyed it, but only found out afterwards it was meant to be funny. I had no idea, but an event with the author the day after I finished reading it, confirmed that it was a comic novel.

Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 3d

When you write a book, you actually write several books. There's the one you know you wrote. Then there's the one your readers bring their experiences to. Suddenly your book becomes lots of different books, all equally valid.

But the book someone part-reads or presumes you wrote? That can fuck off.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 4d

It is indeed.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 5d

Haven’t done a #FridayReads in ages but I’ve started Everything Will Swallow You by Tom Cox (@dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social) this afternoon and I love it already, so just thought I’d share the news.

Hardback edition of Everything Will Swallow You by Tom Cox

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 11d

I wonder if it was me being mentioned on Locklisted this week 😂

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · Jan 1

Least favourite of the year

I don’t really like being negative on social media as there’s enough of that without me adding to it, but I feel like I have to mention my least favourite read of year, just for a tiny bit of balance. It has to be The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

The Crying of Lot 49

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 11d

Braved the wind and rain to find solace in Heron Books and @maxminervas.bsky.social this morning. Now I have some more bookshelf space, I immediately feel the need to fill it, so new books were purchased.

Bloody Awful in Different Ways by Andrew Walden
Kudos by Rachel Cusk
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 12d

(80s child sighs and rolls eyes at dad joke)

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 16d

Thanks! 😆

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 16d

Good news, @backlisted.bsky.social can continue for a while longer. I’ve managed to give away enough books for a reorganisation of the shelves to free up the remaining corner shelf for future episodes.

A whole empty bookshelf next to the existing Backisted featured books.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 16d

The cull continues. The Backlisted authors other books are now spreading across to the bookshelves on the other side of the room to make space for more Backlisted featured books. At what point did/does this count as an obsession rather than a collection?

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 16d

My cousins had the album of this and it terrified me. I’ve never seen the film.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 16d

Unfortunately, there’s no space left in the house for more bookshelves ☹️

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 17d

We’re trying to get a matching set, so these are duplicates where we’ve found older editions to replace these newer ones!

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 17d

Having to cull some books as we have NO SPACE left on the shelves. Here’s what will be going so far after going through 75% of the living room shelves.

Three piles of hardback books, mostly either fiction or nature/travel from previous years Wainwright prize longlists

Two piles of paperbacks, mostly fiction or travel, but some computery ones too.

Duplicate Backlisted feature books or by Backlisted authors.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 17d

I hate to tell all @backlisted.bsky.social fans this, but the podcast needs to finish after the Bob Dylan episode, because I have no space left in the bookshelf.

A full bookshelf

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 17d

I loved All Creatures Great and Small, so my grandad gave me his copy of this book when I was about 9 or 10. I read it over and over again and it was already old when he gave it to me, but as you can see, it’s now falling apart. I’m hoping that when I retire, I can learn bookbinding and recover it!

Battered paperback copy of The Animals Came in One by One by Buster Lloyd-Jones. The spine is broken, sections are falling out and it’s been taped together but the tape is also now disintegrating.

Battered paperback copy of The Animals Came in One by One by Buster Lloyd-Jones. The spine is broken, sections are falling out and it’s been taped together but the tape is also now disintegrating.

Battered paperback copy of The Animals Came in One by One by Buster Lloyd-Jones. The spine is broken, sections are falling out and it’s been taped together but the tape is also now disintegrating.

Battered paperback copy of The Animals Came in One by One by Buster Lloyd-Jones. The spine is broken, sections are falling out and it’s been taped together but the tape is also now disintegrating.

Claire @thechesilbeach.bsky.social · 18d

Well, you’re in for a treat!