At first glance, this book's table of contents seems puzzling. Despite running to nearly 500 pages, Frank seems to be using fewer than 50 different novels to represent a hundred years of literary evolution — but appearances can be deceptive.
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“The style is plain and simple, and all the more powerful for that, and I like the sense of foreboding.”
Quick look: Hard Rain Falling, by Don Carpenter -- Progress report
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
The style is plain and simple, and all the more powerful for that, and I like the sense of foreboding.
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Click on the cover to see this book on Amazon (affiliate link)
Quick look: Conversations with Third Reich Contemporaries
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
Context is given regarding the manner in which the interviews were conducted, and there is a great deal of nuance regarding the concept of “bystanders” vs “perpetrators”.
Read MoreThe electrophone? The Gecophone?
in Audio, Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
Although I’ve been writing for donkeys’ years, I’ve never written anything for radio.
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Quick look: The many lives of Anne Frank
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
The structure of this book is very interesting.
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Quick look: Hard Rain Falling, by Don Carpenter
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
The style is plain and simple, and all the more powerful for that.
Read MoreCompare and contrast: A Town Without Time reviewed
in Bookshelf, Journalism, Reviews
The book includes the obituary writer who can hardly wait for his subjects to drop dead so that he can at last see his work in print.
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Compare and contrast: Pen Names reviewed
Once again I am presenting you with two very slightly different reviews of the same book.
Read MoreCompare and contrast: The Library of Ancient Wisdom reviewed
Once again I am presenting you with two different reviews of the same book.
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Compare and contrast: Adaptable reviewed
Once again I am presenting you with two very slightly different reviews of the same book. The first is the review I sent in to the editor of Teach Secondary magazine. The second is what was actually published.
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Quick looks: The Great Exchange: Making the news in early modern Europe
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews
The real history of news is not about a chronology of technological inventions.
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Upcoming book reviews June 2025
in Quick looks, Reviews
This is just a very quick heads-up. I’m just about to send off four reviews to Teach Secondary magazine. I will post the reviews here once they’ve been published there (that’s the deal), but here are one-liners to whet your appetite.
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Review: Bookish words and their surprising stories
If, like me, you enjoy reading around a subject, and probing a little deeper than strictly necessary, and you are an avid reader or a determined writer, Bookish Words should appeal to you.
Read MoreCompare and contrast #4
In this article, I republish a review of mine that was first published in Teach Secondary magazine. Next, there follows the article I actually sent in. The differences are only minor, but I thought you might find it interesting to examine the differences, and consider what difference they make, if any, to your experience and understanding of the review.
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Compare and contrast #2
Taking the reader from the Middle Ages to more or less the present day, Gray shows how the kind of places we do our shopping in, and what we buy, have changed over the centuries.
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Compare and contrast reviews #1
In this article, I republish a review of mine that was first published in Teach Secondary magazine. Next, there follows the article I actually sent in. The differences are only minor, but I thought you might find it interesting to examine the differences, and consider what difference they make, if any, to your experience and understanding of the review.
Read MoreA few of my reference books
Just because I love technology and spend a lot of time on the web, and writing for the web, doesn’t mean I’ve eschewed books.
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My writing desk, by Terry Freedman
On this day: Review of WordCounter
in Reviews
Here’s my evaluation of WordCounter which, erm, counts words — plus a whole bunch of other stuff.
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Review: The Bright Side: Why Optimists Have the Power to Change the World
I wrote this review wearing my school teacher hat. However, it struck me that optimism is something all writers need a great deal of!
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Review: Small Habits Create Big Change
I wrote the review wearing my school teacher hat. However, it struck me that the “small habits” approach to writing is something useful to consider.
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