Barbara Alderton

Writer in Residence at Costa Coffee.

[Barbara Alderton @bdalderton]

@dollyalderton Looks absolutely brilliant! ❤️

[Alison Kriel 💚 @AKLondon UpScrolled @AlisonKriel]

Nothing like a bit of Vivaldi played by The Goede Hoop Marimba Band to bring joy to any day #WednesdayMotivation

[Fiona King @fiionaking]

Cancellations are absolutely shite but MASSIVE love to the party that cancelled, then still paid for their pre-ordered food, which they collected and donated to a homeless kitchen.

[Brett Goldstein @brettgoldstein]

This book is fxxxing excellent. @dollyalderton has been compared to Nora Ephron and there is no higher praise. It's true too. She nails accessible, romantic and funny while also being profound, truthful and wise. A story about friendships, lovers and families. You'll love it.

[John Jackson 🦔🇺🇦 @jjackson42]

I'll just leave this here.

[Susie Dent @susie_dent]

Word of the day is ‘blatteration’, 16th-century speak for foolish babbling or prattling, committed by a ‘blatteroon’.

[Barbara Alderton @bdalderton]

Can’t wait! Loved the book.

[Barbara Alderton @bdalderton]

Be gentle, September.

[VeryBritishProblems @SoVeryBritish]

Well, September. Here we are. Be a good month. No pressure.

[Susie Dent @susie_dent]

If anyone needs cheering up, eggs were once known as ‘cacklefarts’, and a hankie was called a ‘snottinger’.

[Nigella Lawson @Nigella_Lawson]

I gave myself a present for finishing my book and spent the day reading @dollyalderton’s novel Ghosts (I begged an advance copy as it’s not out till Oct). It’s funny and sad, and gentle and strong. And it’s going to be HUGE.

[Barbara Alderton @bdalderton]

Ety, my favourite mology. Sometimes Twitter is worth it.

[Susie Dent @susie_dent]

Etymology of the day: ‘window’ was a gift from the Vikings, whose word for a hole in a wall or roof was ‘vindauga’: ‘eye of the wind’.

Before ‘window’, the Anglo-Saxons used ‘eye-thirl’, in which ‘thirl’ meant ‘hole’: hence ‘nose-thirls’ or ‘nostrils’, ‘nose holes’.

[Gyles Brandreth @GylesB1]

Christopher Robin Milne was a wise and kind man, born 100 years ago on 21 August 1920. (I was lucky enough to know him & have remembered him in the current issue of @OldieMagazine)

[PreRaphaeliteSociety @PreRaphSoc]

The exceedingly talented Arts & Crafts superwoman Phoebe Anna Traquair died #OTD in 1936. Superb painter, muralist, embroiderer, illluminator, bookbinder, enamellist..... Phoebe was also the first woman to be elected to the Scottish Royal Academy.

[Barbara Alderton @bdalderton]

Go Dora! Love a rebellious penguin, me.

[National Aquarium of New Zealand @AquariumNZ]

🐧 Penguin of the Month
Captain’s nest building efforts have been outstanding, his partner Flip is one lucky bird. Dora’s been switching allegiance between keepers, becoming quite FLIPpant with her usual favourite keeper. #penguinofthemonth #littlepenguins #newzealand

[Barbara Alderton @bdalderton]

Not sure why this is so funny ...

[Curly Kid Life @Curlykidlife]

If birds had arms...

[Susie Dent @susie_dent]

vellichor: the magical, distinctive smell of old books.

(my take on a word coined by John Koenig in his Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, where he defines it 'the strange wistfulness of used book stores'.)

[Barbara Alderton @bdalderton]

Get your house in order, Twitter.
#NoSafeSpaceForJewHate

[Rob Rinder @RobbieRinder]

Tomorrow 9am. Thank you. #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate

[Shannon @HarewoodMalone]

So awful to hear Birmingham’s museums are struggling with the COVID-19 crisis. As a teen without too much money growing up me and my friends would often hang out at the free @BM_AG on weekends. Horrible to think future generations might not get the chance. Please help if you can.

[Barbara Alderton @bdalderton]

New protocol. Henceforth am only following smile-makers.

[Just Jill @WrongJill]

When you order your girlfriend a personalised gin glass and get the option to add a note......