The Bright Side

Review: The Bright Side: Why Optimists Have the Power to Change the World

April 23, 2025 in Bookshelf, Reviews

I wrote this review wearing my school teacher hat. However, it struck me that optimism is something all writers need a great deal of!

Latest Book Reviews

Featured

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

Quick look: The many lives of Anne Frank

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

The structure of this book is very interesting.

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

Quick look: Hard Rain Falling, by Don Carpenter

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

The style is plain and simple, and all the more powerful for that.

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

Bookshelf, Journalism, Reviews

Compare and contrast: A Town Without Time reviewed

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.

Bookshelf, Journalism, Reviews

Bookshelf, Reviews

Compare and contrast: Pen Names reviewed

Bookshelf, Reviews

Once again I am presenting you with two very slightly different reviews of the same book.

Bookshelf, Reviews

Compare and contrast: The Library of Ancient Wisdom reviewed

Bookshelf, Reviews

Once again I am presenting you with two different reviews of the same book.

Bookshelf, Reviews

Audio, Bookshelf, Reviews

Compare and contrast: Adaptable reviewed

Audio, Bookshelf, Reviews

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.

Audio, Bookshelf, Reviews

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

Quick looks: The Great Exchange: Making the news in early modern Europe

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

The real history of news is not about a chronology of technological inventions.

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

Bookshelf, Quick looks

Quick look: The Penguin Book of Polish Short Stories

Bookshelf, Quick looks

The stand-out aspect of this collection for me is the way it has been organised into categories, a brave choice I think.

Bookshelf, Quick looks

Quick looks, Bookshelf

Quick look: The Penguin Book of Bengali Short Stories

Quick looks, Bookshelf

These stories really provide a short glimpse into a culture of which I am almost completely ignorant.

Quick looks, Bookshelf

Bookshelf, Reviews

Review: Bookish words and their surprising stories

Bookshelf, Reviews

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.

Bookshelf, Reviews