I wish this had been around years ago.
Read MoreTwo reviews in one: State of Ridicule: A History of Satire in English Literature -- politics, history, English
This is an encyclopaedic work focused on political satire.
Read MoreReview: Turner and Constable: Art, Life, Landscape -- two reviews in one!
Art, art history, politics with a small ‘p’.
Read MoreReview: The Penguin Book of the International Short Story -- two reviews in one!
I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote!
Read MoreTruth and compromise in journalism
Journalistic integrity and reader manipulation.
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Review: Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual, Volume 2: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book
This is potentially a very handy volume. I say “potentially” because it is full of links to services and articles.
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Review: an oldie but goodie -- Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book
Although this book is quite old (2007), it contains a great deal of useful advice.
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Review: Great writers and the Cats who Owned Them
The title of this book is, of course, highly accurate. It is well known that while dogs have owners, cats have staff.
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Review: The Photographer's Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas
This is definitely a book worth having, and a good companion to the usual sort of writers' prompts collections.
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Review: Raising kids who read: What Parents and Teachers Can Do
Although this book was published over ten years ago, it is still worth reading.
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Book stack with cat -- Terry Freedman
Starting or restarting a reading habit
in How to, News & views
I am pretty sure that all this binge-watching and doom scrolling reduces the number of active brain cells.
Read MoreQuick look: A History of the Novel in Britain
in Bookshelf, Research, Quick looks, Reviews
Because Hensher has read so many novels, the reader feels in safe hands.
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Quick look: G., by John Berger
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
The funny thing about reading the first few pages of a book is that the outcome can sometimes be the opposite of what you’d expect.
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Quick look: About Looking, by John Berger
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
This is a collection of essays or meditations on looking and seeing or, fundamentally, visibility.
Read MoreQuick look: Here is where we meet, by John Berger
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
A strange sort of book, this. A mixture, it seems to me, of fiction and autobiography.
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Review: The Complete C Comics, by Joe Brainard & Bill Kartalopoulos
I have enjoyed reading the C Comics, especially the mock advertisements and the parodies of famous comic book characters like Nancy, Archie and Veronica.
Read MoreQuick look: Celtic Wonder Tales
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
I am not familiar with Irish myths and tales, so this beautiful collection of stories is quite an eye-opener.
Read MoreQuick look: La Brava
in Quick looks, Reviews
Before I read a book properly, especially if it has only just arrived, I like to get its measure. I look it up and down. Are its shoes polished?
Read MoreThe stuff of fiction
. I recently asked three AI programs to review my latest book, which is called The Reconstructed Muse: AI and the Renaissance of Literature.
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Books, by Terry Freedman
Patronising or what? An unintended consequence of wishing to be nice when reviewing books by female authors, Revisited
in News & views, Research
I’ve been reading Phillipa K. Chong’s “Inside the Critics’ Circle”, in which she attempts to discover the process by which books get reviewed. It’s a very interesting read. I haven’t finished it yet, so am not in a position to review it as such, but I was struck by the extract cited here.
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