John Connolly
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jconnollybooks.bsky.social
John Connolly
@jconnollybooks.bsky.social
1.2K followers 41 following 320 posts
Writer, friend to dogs, booksellers, and wine merchants.
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jconnollybooks.bsky.social
You have just over an hour to prepare yourself for this week's ABC to XTC, featuring music from Prince, Madness, The Cure and more. Listen via the RTE mobile app or stream the show at www.rte.ie/radio/gold/.
The cover of "Pop Life (extended version)" by Prince and the Revolution is a pastel illustration of an older woman with wild white hair and vivid makeup, using a handkerchief to blot her tears.
November 22, 2025 at 3:51 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
ABC to XTC is next on @rtegold.bsky.social, with music from Bryan Ferry, Tears for Fears, Fine Young Cannibals and more. Listen via the RTÉ mobile app or stream the show at www.rte.ie/radio/gold/.
Cover of the 45rpm single of "Funny How Love Is" by the Fine Young Cannibals shows the three band members looking up through dappled shadows.
November 15, 2025 at 4:49 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
A la venta hoy, de @tusquetseditores.bsky.social: LA TIERRA DE LAS COSAS PERDIDAS. www.planetadelibros.com/libro-la-tie...
The cover of LA TIERRA DE LAS COSAS PERDIDAS by John Connolly is a painting of a woman seated in a black armchair beside a floor lamp, reading a book to a bedridden listener. A bird watches from a windowsill.
November 12, 2025 at 6:45 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
Up next on @rtegold.bsky.social: this week's ABC to XTC, with music from Adam Ant, Big Country, Leonard Cohen and more. Listen via the RTÉ mobile app or stream the show at www.rte.ie/radio/gold/
The sleeve of "Fields of FIre" by Big Country is a pen-and-ink drawing of four men gathered around a campfire in front of some ruins.
November 8, 2025 at 4:49 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
Next on @rtegold.bsky.social: ABC to XTC kicks off November with music from Nik Kershaw, Kirsty MacColl, Hüsker Dü and more. Listen via the RTÉ mobile app or stream the show at www.rte.ie/radio/gold/
Cover of the 7" single of "A New England" by Kirsty MacColl.
November 1, 2025 at 4:48 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
Happy Samuel Johnson Day to all who celebrate. www.johnconnollybooks.com/other-books/...
Text from THE GATES by John Connolly: Mr. Abernathy looked from the dog to the small figure, then back again, as though unsure as to which one of them was going to speak. "Trick or treat," said the small figure eventually, from beneath the sheet. Mr. Abernathy's face betrayed utter bafflement. "What?" said Mr. Abernathy. "Trick or treat," the small figure repeated. Mr. Abernathy's mouth opened once, then closed again. He looked like a fish having an afterthought. He appeared to grow even more confused. He glanced at his watch, and checked the date, wondering if he had somehow lost a few days between hearing the doorbell ring and opening the door. "It's only October the twenty-eighth," he said. "I know," said the small figure. "I thought I'd get a head start on everyone else."
October 28, 2025 at 11:03 AM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
And for American e-book readers, THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS and THE LAND OF LOST THINGS remain on sale for $1.99 apiece on all platforms:
www.simonandschuster.biz/books/The-Bo...
www.simonandschuster.biz/books/The-La...
The cover of THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS by John Connolly is a woodcut illustration showing a boy reading a book in a thicket of brambles, with a sinister hunchbacked figure looking down from above. The cover of THE LAND OF LOST THINGS by John Connolly is a woodcut illustration with the prone figure of a girl at the center of a thicket of brambles.
October 23, 2025 at 12:32 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
UK ebook readers: the Kindle edition of NIGHT & DAY is currently on sale for a mere 99p — amzn.eu/d/c5LxjCq
The cover of NIGHT & DAY by John Connolly shows a locomotive moving through brambles, with smoke in the shape of a ghost coming from its smokestack.
October 23, 2025 at 12:23 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
US readers: the next Charlie Parker novel, A RIVER RED WITH BLOOD, goes on sale on May 5, 2026 and is now available for pre-order: www.simonandschuster.biz/books/A-Rive... (UK details coming soon!)
The cover of A RIVER RED WITH BLOOD: A Charlie Parker Novel by John Connolly shows a river glowing red as it flows through a pine forest under a darkened sky.
October 22, 2025 at 11:29 AM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
Words of wisdom from the great Bill Nighy.
October 21, 2025 at 11:59 AM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
From yesterday’s @IrishTimesCultr, as @Connellybooks continues his campaign to steal my mum. Mark my words, he’ll be in her will next — at my expense.
October 19, 2025 at 3:06 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
My current reading by @carrport.bsky.social, which is so good, and so much more than a collection of interviews. But among the latter, Josephine Hart describes literature as the “geography of mankind”, which seems just right: non-fiction as the history, fiction as the geography…
October 16, 2025 at 11:57 AM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
!En media hora! En inglés, pero creo que habrá una traducción en español…
October 12, 2025 at 6:30 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
ABC to XTC is next on @rtegold.bsky.social, with music from The Waterboys, Pixies, birthday boy Daryl Hall (with John Oates) and more. Listen via the RTÉ mobile app or stream the show at www.rte.ie/radio/gold/
The cover of the single "Some Things are Better Left Unsaid" by Daryl Hall & John Oates shows the two artists posing toward the camera, facing away from each other.
October 11, 2025 at 3:52 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
Voy a charlar en un evento digital por la Feria Internacional del Libro Zócalo este Domingo, 12 de octubre, a la una de la tarde (8pm GMT) — pero creo que la charla será en inglés. (The conversation will be in English.)
October 10, 2025 at 2:44 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
Classics of the genre and some fun covers on this week's ABC to XTC, next on @rtegold.bsky.social with music from @petshopboys.co.uk, @thepretenders.com, Thin Lizzy and more. Listen via the RTÉ mobile app or stream the show at www.rte.ie/radio/gold/.
Cover art for "Jailbreak" by Thin Lizzy is a black-and-white negative image of a space-age figure holding a screen where band members are depicted in a colored ink illustration.
October 4, 2025 at 3:54 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
Given the cost of the rest of the items on this page of the Sunday Times male fashion special, I may not bother asking for the price “on application” of the Celine coat at No. 10.
October 2, 2025 at 10:10 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
ABC to XTC is next on @rtegold.bsky.social, with music from XTC, Depeche Mode, The Waitresses and more. Listen via the RTÉ mobile app or stream the show at www.rte.ie/radio/gold/
The cover of the 45rpm single of "I Know What Boys Like" by The Waitresses is a black-and-white photo of the band lined up behind lead singer Patty Donahue.
September 27, 2025 at 3:49 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
September 20, 2025 at 11:09 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
ABC to XTC starts next on @rtegold.bsky.social, with music from Wang Chung, Kate Bush, Belinda Carlisle and more. Listen via the RTÉ app or stream the show at www.rte.ie/radio/gold/.
The cover of "To Live and Die in L.A.," the original motion picture soundtrack conceived and performed by Wang Chung, shows a sunset over palm trees in front of electrical towers.
September 20, 2025 at 3:58 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
American troops in Algeria in 1942. My God, how young that soldier in the second row looks. He’s just a child…
September 20, 2025 at 2:15 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
Check your email, check your spam folder — a newsletter went out last night announcing the next Parker novel: hosted.verticalresponse.com/205621/d24c9...
The U.S. cover of A RIVER RED WITH BLOOD: A Charlie Parker Novel by John Connolly, New York Times bestselling author of The Instruments of Darkness, shows a river flowing red under a cloudy night sky.
September 16, 2025 at 11:35 AM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
“Never leave me alone with poets.” — Harold Ross, editor-in-chief of The New Yorker, 1925-51.
September 15, 2025 at 10:18 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
Happy Saturday! Almost time for ABC to XTC on @rtegold.bsky.social, with music from Cameo, Talk Talk, New Order and more. Listen via the RTÉ mobile app or stream the show at www.rte.ie/radio/gold/.
The cover of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" is a photograph of the band members.
September 13, 2025 at 3:55 PM
jconnollybooks.bsky.social
Newspapers, coffee, and an order of beignets at the excellent Bayou on MacCurtain Street, Cork, with Joni Mitchell on the stereo. An absolute gem of a place…
September 12, 2025 at 9:44 AM