Kat Black
@katblack51.bsky.social
bookish old woman, still figuring it out
Pinned
Reposted by Kat Black
New on the blog today, my thoughts on A FEW GREEN LEAVES by Barbara Pym.
A charming, beautifully observed novel, laced with Pym's trademark gentle humour & quiet insights into the social dynamics of village life. A delightful read for #SpinsterSeptember! 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/09/13/a...
A charming, beautifully observed novel, laced with Pym's trademark gentle humour & quiet insights into the social dynamics of village life. A delightful read for #SpinsterSeptember! 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/09/13/a...
A Few Green Leaves by Barbara Pym
I love Barbara Pym, an underappreciated writer whose gentle comedies of manners and unrequited love among the genteel middle classes are charming and quietly poignant. She creates an idiosyncratic …
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
September 13, 2026 at 6:16 AM
New on the blog today, my thoughts on A FEW GREEN LEAVES by Barbara Pym.
A charming, beautifully observed novel, laced with Pym's trademark gentle humour & quiet insights into the social dynamics of village life. A delightful read for #SpinsterSeptember! 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/09/13/a...
A charming, beautifully observed novel, laced with Pym's trademark gentle humour & quiet insights into the social dynamics of village life. A delightful read for #SpinsterSeptember! 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/09/13/a...
Reposted by Kat Black
Avoiding the vet box at all costs!
September 9, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Avoiding the vet box at all costs!
So many good books. Last week's reads: Daniel Mason's COUNTRY PEOPLE and Ann Patchett's WHISTLER. 💙📚
Now it's Mark Billingham's THE SHADOW STEP--I love a police procedural with a heart.
Now it's Mark Billingham's THE SHADOW STEP--I love a police procedural with a heart.
September 7, 2026 at 3:20 PM
So many good books. Last week's reads: Daniel Mason's COUNTRY PEOPLE and Ann Patchett's WHISTLER. 💙📚
Now it's Mark Billingham's THE SHADOW STEP--I love a police procedural with a heart.
Now it's Mark Billingham's THE SHADOW STEP--I love a police procedural with a heart.
LAND by Maggie O'Farrell
July 17, 2026 at 4:03 PM
LAND by Maggie O'Farrell
Reposted by Kat Black
Dammit. Now where the hell did I park my. . . Ah. Found it.
July 8, 2026 at 1:09 AM
Dammit. Now where the hell did I park my. . . Ah. Found it.
I finished John Boyne's The Elements a few days ago and I can't stop thinking about it. The subject matter, child sex abuse and its insidious legacy, could hardly be more grim. The four separate but interlocking stories are a perfect vehicle for exploring the tentacles of abuse
June 28, 2026 at 12:05 PM
I finished John Boyne's The Elements a few days ago and I can't stop thinking about it. The subject matter, child sex abuse and its insidious legacy, could hardly be more grim. The four separate but interlocking stories are a perfect vehicle for exploring the tentacles of abuse
Kathleen Turner in Body Heat. You're not too smart are you. I like that in a man.
June 19, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Kathleen Turner in Body Heat. You're not too smart are you. I like that in a man.
Reposted by Kat Black
Another shot of the door at St Edward’s, Stow-on-the-wold.
June 6, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Another shot of the door at St Edward’s, Stow-on-the-wold.
Reposted by Kat Black
Great example of textual ambiguity on a door in the Glasshouse Hotel, Sligo.
April 30, 2026 at 7:10 AM
Great example of textual ambiguity on a door in the Glasshouse Hotel, Sligo.
Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew. --Jack Gilbert
March 18, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Everyone forgets that Icarus also flew. --Jack Gilbert
Reposted by Kat Black
Kelly Latimore's painting of The presentation of christ features Joseph with an @ufw.bsky.social shirt on.
Absolutely losing my mind about this.
Absolutely losing my mind about this.
February 2, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Kelly Latimore's painting of The presentation of christ features Joseph with an @ufw.bsky.social shirt on.
Absolutely losing my mind about this.
Absolutely losing my mind about this.
Reading Speak to Me of Home by @jeaninecummins.bsky.social. As previously mentioned, I love books with maps (San Juan!!). There is also a bonus family tree. And a great story. Heaven. #💙📚
December 12, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reading Speak to Me of Home by @jeaninecummins.bsky.social. As previously mentioned, I love books with maps (San Juan!!). There is also a bonus family tree. And a great story. Heaven. #💙📚
Loving the new Mick Herron--CLOWN TOWN. 💙📚
December 5, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Loving the new Mick Herron--CLOWN TOWN. 💙📚
Reposted by Kat Black
Reposted by Kat Black
Latenite archival BabbyGonz time!
November 26, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Latenite archival BabbyGonz time!
Just finished @patrickryannyc.bsky.social 's BUCKEYE and I could feel my heart expanding as I read it. A bighearted novel.
November 23, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Just finished @patrickryannyc.bsky.social 's BUCKEYE and I could feel my heart expanding as I read it. A bighearted novel.
Reading Stephen Greenblatt's Dark Renaissance, a biography of Christopher Marlow. You need two bookmarks because the endnotes are great. I had no idea reading Virgil and Ovid in 12th grade Latin was so subversive. I am now rethinking my entire life. 💙📚
September 14, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reading Stephen Greenblatt's Dark Renaissance, a biography of Christopher Marlow. You need two bookmarks because the endnotes are great. I had no idea reading Virgil and Ovid in 12th grade Latin was so subversive. I am now rethinking my entire life. 💙📚
Reposted by Kat Black
New on the blog today, I've written about some of my favourite spinsters in literature for @pear-jelly.bsky.social's #SpinsterSeptember, which starts tomorrow.
Featuring books by Anita Brookner, Muriel Spark, Rumer Godden and many more! #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/s...
Featuring books by Anita Brookner, Muriel Spark, Rumer Godden and many more! #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/s...
Spinsters in literature – some recommendations for #SpinsterSeptember
If you follow Nora (Pear Jelly) on Bluesky or Instagram, you’ll know that she’s been gearing up to host #SpinsterSeptember, a brilliant reading event showcasing books featuring spinsters, from the …
jacquiwine.wordpress.com
August 31, 2025 at 6:19 AM
New on the blog today, I've written about some of my favourite spinsters in literature for @pear-jelly.bsky.social's #SpinsterSeptember, which starts tomorrow.
Featuring books by Anita Brookner, Muriel Spark, Rumer Godden and many more! #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/s...
Featuring books by Anita Brookner, Muriel Spark, Rumer Godden and many more! #BookSky 💙📚
jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2025/08/31/s...
Reading @alexhaybooks.bsky.social 's The Queen of Fives. It's so much fun-- a twisty Victorian caper with a great female lead. You never know who's going to wink at the reader next.
August 25, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reading @alexhaybooks.bsky.social 's The Queen of Fives. It's so much fun-- a twisty Victorian caper with a great female lead. You never know who's going to wink at the reader next.
When I picked up @garrettcarr.bsky.social 's The Boy from the Sea, I knew it was set in 70's-80's Northern Ireland, I had read a review, but it wasn't what I expected. So much hard but gentle truth about relationships, families, and time, how time changes things and doesn't change things. Wow.
August 10, 2025 at 3:11 PM
When I picked up @garrettcarr.bsky.social 's The Boy from the Sea, I knew it was set in 70's-80's Northern Ireland, I had read a review, but it wasn't what I expected. So much hard but gentle truth about relationships, families, and time, how time changes things and doesn't change things. Wow.
Reposted by Kat Black
'Wild Poppies' by Colleen Parker, contemporary artist and illustrator #womensart
July 6, 2025 at 7:46 AM
'Wild Poppies' by Colleen Parker, contemporary artist and illustrator #womensart
Just read Beena Kamalani's The English Problem. I'm so completely in this world. I need to think about "desire."
June 21, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Just read Beena Kamalani's The English Problem. I'm so completely in this world. I need to think about "desire."
What is Louise Hegarty doing in Fair Play? Golden Age mysteries as a coping mechanism for grief? Strangely, it works. And that final chapter--my heart!
May 26, 2025 at 12:33 PM
What is Louise Hegarty doing in Fair Play? Golden Age mysteries as a coping mechanism for grief? Strangely, it works. And that final chapter--my heart!