secondly

First or firstly? A reminder

May 24, 2026 in Handy hints

Is it first, second etc, or firstly, secondly etc?

First or firstly?

May 21, 2020 in Handy hints

Is it first, second etc, or firstly, secondly etc?

Latest Book Reviews

Featured

Bookshelf, Back Catalogue, Memoir, Reviews

Review: Accustomed as I am...

Bookshelf, Back Catalogue, Memoir, Reviews

As the title suggests, it’s about Basil Boothroyd’s (mis) adventures as a public speaker. In an anecdote I found particularly amusing …

Bookshelf, Back Catalogue, Memoir, Reviews

Bookshelf, Reviews

Review: The Mathematician's Library - two reviews in one!

Bookshelf, Reviews

This wide-ranging book takes in probability, fractals, astronomy, Babbage, Lovelace, and a host of other areas and people.

Bookshelf, Reviews

Bookshelf, Reviews

Review: Hotel Exile -- two reviews in one!

Bookshelf, Reviews

You settle down to read, and the subject of this particular vignette could be you: a teacher, a student, a mother, a brother.

Bookshelf, Reviews

Review: Weimar -- two reviews in one!

Bookshelf, Reviews

Weimar, the birthplace of the optimistic but short-lived republic of the same name, a place called “home” by Goethe, Liszt and Nietzsche and a mere eight kilometres from Buchenwald.

Bookshelf, Reviews

Bookshelf, Language, Reviews, Creative Writing

Review: Verb Your Enthusiasm: Two reviews in one!

Bookshelf, Language, Reviews, Creative Writing

No book about the craft of writing seems complete without a stern chapter on the importance of eschewing adverbs and adjectives - but what to put in their place?

Bookshelf, Language, Reviews, Creative Writing

Bookshelf, Creative Writing, Quick looks, Reviews

Two previews

Bookshelf, Creative Writing, Quick looks, Reviews

In this post I preview two books which you may be interested in. One is a series of autobiograohical stories, beautifully written, while the other comprises six writers explaining why they did what they did in their short story included in the book.

Bookshelf, Creative Writing, Quick looks, Reviews

Bookshelf, Reviews, Reflections

Mini-essay: Two books reviewed -- Weimar, Hotel Exile

Bookshelf, Reviews, Reflections

I’m reviewing these together partly because I have a separate review of each one being published in Teach Secondary magazine next month, and partly because they are both concerned with the same subject matter: the Nazi era.

Bookshelf, Reviews, Reflections

Bookshelf, Creative Writing, Reviews

Review: The Bengali Book of Short Stories -- two reviews in one!

Bookshelf, Creative Writing, Reviews

I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.

Bookshelf, Creative Writing, Reviews