virtual background

Zoom meeting backgrounds: a glimpse into the lives of others

May 01, 2020 in News & views, Photography, Technology

Is having a virtual background cheating in a sense? And is having a virtual background that looks like your own but isn’t really, cheating even more?

Latest Book Reviews

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Bookshelf, Reviews, The lighter side

Spotting the BS

Bookshelf, Reviews, The lighter side

“You’ve been speaking to that blasted Freedman, haven’t you?!”

Bookshelf, Reviews, The lighter side

Bookshelf, Reviews

A book I'm reading

Bookshelf, Reviews

I’m familiar with a few of the stories in this volume, which features some well-known names such as Raymond Carver, George Saunders, Grace Paley, Ursula Le Guin and Susan Sontag.

Bookshelf, Reviews

Review: The Notebook *CORRECTED*

Bookshelf, Reviews

I love the subtitle: A history of thinking on paper (my emphasis). I do think there’s much to be said for writing on paper, and there is no paucity of research showing the benefits of analogue over the digital approach.

Bookshelf, Reviews

Bookshelf, Bookshops, News & views

Just William

Bookshelf, Bookshops, News & views

A few months ago I wrote about Barnabees Books, in Westleton, Suffolk. It’s a lovely warm place, not only heat-wise but atmospherically, not least because of its delightful owner, Ty.

Bookshelf, Bookshops, News & views

Bookshelf, Quick looks

Quick looks: Jane Austen; Write, Cut, Rewrite; Handwritten; The Book At War; From Edtech to Pedtech

Bookshelf, Quick looks

Since I read Northanger Abbey when I was in my twenties, I have to say that in the interim it has much improved. Clearly, Jane must have taken a creative writing course or two because it is now much funnier, more cutting and more modern, what with her stepping outside the story to comment on her characters and the novel form itself.

Bookshelf, Quick looks

Bookshelf, Creative Writing, Oulipo, Reviews, Reference, Audio, Oulipo book

Review: Oulipo and Modern Thought (Update)

Bookshelf, Creative Writing, Oulipo, Reviews, Reference, Audio, Oulipo book

If your interest in the Oulipo goes beyond simply trying out their techniques, and you wish to learn about the context in which it was conceived and the developments in went through, you will find this book very useful.

Bookshelf, Creative Writing, Oulipo, Reviews, Reference, Audio, Oulipo book

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

Quick looks: Triggered Literature PLUS an extract from my new version of Macbeth

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

A very timely publication. The first section is replete with anecdotes about trigger warnings and similar. Some of these are, in my opinion, ill-informed (such as the charges levelled against Jane Austen) while others are ridiculous (like the rewriting of parts of the Noddy books).

Bookshelf, Quick looks, Reviews

Bookshelf, Research

Libraries and readers in an age of conflict (book review)

Bookshelf, Research

The Book at War is a fascinating study of how books and other reading matter have variously influenced politics, propaganda and history over time.

Bookshelf, Research

Bookshelf

Review: The Artist's Journey

Bookshelf

Elborough’s central premise is that artists’ travels have always influenced their art – albeit more obviously in some cases than others.

Bookshelf

Bookshelf, Events, Reviews

Review of Fantasy: Realms of Imagination

Bookshelf, Events, Reviews

The shelves in libraries or bookshops labelled Science Fiction and Fantasy interest me only for the former, not the latter. Games like Dungeons and Dragons have never appealed to me, and much as I like maps and strange lands, the works of Tolkien leave me cold.

Bookshelf, Events, Reviews