Sam Leith

My book is out in paperback TODAY. All about children’s books, which are the best and most important sort. bit.ly/4pdXMNt

Oh look -- it's me talking to Craig Brown about the Queen at Jewish Book Week. Did this a while ago but they've just put video up

Did my best to think through the Sally Rooney muddle

Loved joining the Slightly Foxed podcast to talk about My Rosemary Sutcliff Shame. You can listen here:

Unreal. Your Normal People tote bag is probably a criminal offence too now.

samleith.substack.com/p/howl-howl-...

your perfectly indispensable read for the day, via @questingvole.bsky.social

On me podcast’s tenth birthday…

Habemus shortlist 👇

On my growing gloom about books

I bloody love Cobralingus. It might actually be a masterpiece. (My first ever book was with the same small press publisher, a year later).

In praise of Jeff Noon and AI hipsters

This seems to me spot on by Danny Finkelstein Banning Reform’s £72m donations breaks the rule of law

The ability of the richest & most powerful men in the world to position themselves against "the elite" - a category that excludes the world's richest man, its biggest media magnates, the UK's richest party & the biggest donors in UK history - may be the most effective lie in modern political history

Oh thank goodness Sam has written this. “A History of X in [number] Objects” is not just annoying as a title but lazy as a concept too

Only a matter of time

An irk

Wheels, clown car

Always said Harry was a wise fellow

Life is a rollercoaster

🙌

Insert, perhaps, “the means of” between “convinced” and “keeping” in the headline

In other news, Amazon’s Reacher series has really found its line and length. Season Four is just ridiculously fun, IMO.

Clickbaity headline, but actually a piece about memoir vs autobiography and publishers' responsibility for factchecking.

Enabler Post

Starting this as a service to readers

Wow. Spider-Man Brand New Day absolutely nails it, IMO. Perfect mix of action and sentiment and gags, with glorious cameos from Punisher, Widow and the big green guy. My MCU ennui has evaporated.

Reviewed the new Robert Harris

The president is refusing to spend taxpayer money assisting Americans suffering from natural disasters solely because their states didn't vote for him. I know there are a thousand scandals at the moment, but this one deserves some more oxygen at every level.

My failed book, first in an occasional series…

On Frank Miller. My mon don’t shiv. Balls nasty.

It’s that time of year again: here are some of the books I’ve enjoyed this summer. If you’ve read any good ones, let me know!

🤞

On the new Meg Mason

Worth reading this one to the end. The final couple of paragraphs are chef’s kiss stuff.

Worth reading this one to the end. The final couple of paragraphs are chef’s kiss stuff.

On the language of Homeric Greek, and the language of a certain forthcoming film: here are a few simple observations.

Odyssey latest: polytropos