Bookshelf
I thought I would test ChatGPT’s mettle in a rather self-interested way. I write a lot of book reviews — a lot. I have three books I need to review for an education magazine by 21st January, plus two books I need to review for other websites soonish, and I have to write a review of an exhibition for a different education magazine by next week <gulp>.
Therefore I have two (competing) concerns.
Read MoreYou might wonder why I’ve included a review of it at all on this website, given that the target readership of the website is writers, and people thinking about writing.
Read MoreI was commissioned by Teach Secondary magazine to review this book. I’ve included here both the review I submitted, and the lightly edited version published in the magazine.
Read MoreBerkman has written an interesting and very academic examination of the links between maths and literature.
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Bookcase, by Terry Freedman
The news a few months ago that Annie Ernaux was going to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature prompted me to think that a round-up of reviews of books by non-English authors, or set in foreign countries, would make quite an interesting article. Some of these have been reviewed here before, but I thought you might enjoy having them all in one place according to a theme. Enjoy!
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Reference books, by Terry Freedman
Specific books, and general categories. Some of these books have been reviewed here before, but I thought it might be useful for people to have all of them in one place.
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Why shouldn’t nonfiction writing be as well-crafted, interesting, even exciting as fiction?
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The life of a freelance writer is one of unreliable remuneration, shifting loyalties and sudden endings, as this book makes abundantly clear.
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Click to see this on the publisher’s website
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.
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Click to see this book on the publisher’s website
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.
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Click to see this book on the publisher’s website
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!
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Click to see this book on the publisher’s website
Written mainly in the form of a diary, this is an account of how Colwell’s headship changed the culture of a community’s school.
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Please click on the cover to see this book on the publisher’s website
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 MoreI 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 MoreOne of the things we should all do as writers is study other people's works to try to discern how they achieved particular effects, or how they use language. It's known as 'close reading'.
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On 17 June 2021 I wrote a round-up of my reviews of books about the Oulipo. Here’s a link to that article.
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Books to be reviewed ,by Terry Freedman
One of the first things I look for when reviewing a non-fiction book is whether or not it contains an index. If it does, the next thing I check is whether the index is actually useful.
Read MoreBeing a teenager is not easy.
Read MoreThe book covers language, voice, audience and other aspects of writing.
Read MoreIt's always been my contention that practitioners should know as much about what they do as possible.
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