Most books on creative writing tend to be less technical, at least in appearance, than ‘Sentence models’.
Read MoreReview: Sentence models for creative writing By Christopher Youles
Bookshelf
Review: The Written World and the Unwritten World: Collected Non-fiction, by Italo Calvino
Some of the essay topics may be a little dated – the failure of the Italian novel being one – but such is the clarity and variety of his work that the actual subject matter starts to feel immaterial.
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Three collections of Oulipo writing: which is best for you?
in Bookshelf, Oulipo, Oulipo book
Three reviews in one article, plus a couple of news announcements.
Read MoreMy 6 word review of Lolita, plus commentary, updated with comments
Why I can’t read Lolita, but am reading Nabokov’s short stories.
Read MoreReview: The Writer's Journey
Where do authors’ ideas come from? Even Stephen King finds that a difficult question to answer. One possible answer might be ‘Everything they see on their travels’, because as Roland Barthes once suggested, writers are never truly on holiday…
Read MoreReview of Old Truths and New Clichés
It is bordering on the preposterous to think that a writer best known for his fiction, and who died nearly thirty years ago, has anything relevant to say to us today.
Read MoreDictator Literature: a lesson in unreadability
There are loads of prizes for writers, but maybe there should be one or two for readers as well.
Read MoreCan AI write book reviews?
in Bookshelf, News & views, Reviews, Research
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 MoreReview: How to Teach Economics to Your Dog
You 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 MoreReview: Blurb Your Enthusiasm
I 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 MoreQuick looks: Oulipo and the Mathematics of Literature
in Bookshelf, Quick looks, Oulipo, Reviews
Berkman has written an interesting and very academic examination of the links between maths and literature.
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Bookcase, by Terry Freedman
7 books set in 6 different countries: England, Colombia, France, Germany, Spain, USA
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
5 reference works for writers, and 4 kinds of useful works
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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Review: Story Craft
Why shouldn’t nonfiction writing be as well-crafted, interesting, even exciting as fiction?
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Review of How to be a writer, by Marcus Berkmann
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
Two reviews for the price of one! Engineering in Plain Sight
in Bookshelf
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
Two reviews for the price of one! Climate Change for Dummies
in Bookshelf
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
Two reviews for the price of one! Story Machines
in Bookshelf
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
Two for the price of one: Reviews of No Excuses Turning around one of Britain’s toughest schools
in Bookshelf
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
Two Book Reviews for the price of one! Futureproof: A Comprehensive Framework For Teaching Digital Citizenship In Schools
in Bookshelf
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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