Difference between revisions of "Newest Anthologies Reviews"

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[[Category:New Reviews|Anthologies]]
 
[[Category:New Reviews|Anthologies]]
[[Category:Anthologies|*]]  
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[[Category:Anthologies|*]]__NOTOC__  <!-- Remove -->
{{adsense2}}
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{{Frontpage
__NOTOC__
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|isbn=1737030942
 
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|title=Bag O'Goodies
{{newreview
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|author=Jolly Walker Bittick
|author=Tony Bradman and Tony Ross
+
|rating=4
|title=The Orchard Book of Swords, Sorcerers and Superheroes
+
|genre= Anthologies
 +
|summary=Sometimes, you deserve a treat and mine was Jolly Walker Bittick's ''Bag O'Goodies''.  I first encountered his writing about a year ago, when I read his [[Cape Henry House by Jolly Walker Bittick|Cape Henry House]], a rollicking tale of what happens when five young men find a base for their partying.  Right now, I didn't want a full-length novel, so I turned to this anthology of verse and short stories.  Bittick's writing has matured - and so have his characters.  Well... most of them!
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=140638853X
 +
|title=Somebody Give This Heart a Pen
 +
|author=Sophia Thakur
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|genre=Anthologies
|summary=Jason and the Argonauts, King Arthur, Aladdin, William Tell, Hercules, Sinbad, St George, Ali Baba, Theseus and Robin Hood. If you love myths and legends as much as [[Top Ten Retellings of Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales|we do]] then those ten heroes will have got your juices flowing, and you'll be desperate to dive in to this collection of adventures. It's fantastic. You'll love it!
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|summary=Sophia Thakur's debut anthology is a collection of poems that are all unique, whether in relation to their style, length or theme. The collection is split into four sections, titled 'grow', 'wait','break' and 'grow again', guiding you through a process which is one of the foundations that the anthology is built on. Each section begins with a foregrounded title page containing various small pieces of writing, ranging from a quote by a Nigerian playwright, to African proverbs. This provides a nice introduction to the section before you are immersed in the beautifully written and eloquent poems that Thakur has clearly put her heart and soul into.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408309211</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1789016789
 +
|title=You're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino: Poems for the Present
 +
|author=Don Behrend
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Anthologies
 +
|summary=''You're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino'' begins with ''A Modern Love Story'':
 +
 +
''You’re the froth on my soy cappuccino''<br>
 +
''You’re the spread on my paleo toast''<br>
 +
''You’re the nose of my GM-free Pinot''<br>
 +
''You’re organic, my love. You’re the most!''<br>
  
{{newreview
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Ha! How can you not laugh at this gently mocking take on love in the hipster world?
|author=Children's Trust
+
}}
|title=The Walrus and the Carpenter and Other Favourite Poems
+
{{Frontpage
|rating=3.5
+
|isbn=PUP_Rising
|genre=Children's Rhymes and Verse
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|title=Rising Stars: New Young Voices in Poetry
|summary=Celebrities, including [[:Category:Richard Hammond|Richard Hammond]], Paul O'Grady, Sienna Miller, McFly and Lorraine Kelly, have chosen their favourite poems for this anthology. All proceeds from the book go to [http://www.thechildrenstrust.org.uk/ The Children's Trust]. It's a fantastic charity, who help disabled children, and I urge you all to buy a copy of ''The Walrus and the Carpenter'' to support them.
+
|author=Pop Up Projects
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140632650X</amazonuk>
+
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Anthologies
 +
|summary=This collection brings together five emerging voices in poetry. And despite what the publisher says, I wouldn't personally impose an age restriction on the writing here. Each poet uses words that will appeal to many readers. I found this particularly so with Jay Hulme's poetry.
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Stevenson_Garden
|author=Michael Rosen
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|title=A Child's Garden of Verses
|title=A To Z - The Best Children's Poetry From Agard To Zephaniah
+
|author=Robert Louis Stevenson
|rating=5
+
|rating=2
|genre=Children's Rhymes and Verse
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|genre=Anthologies
|summary=Michael Rosen has picked the best modern children's poetry, from John Agard through to Benjamin Zephaniah. It stemmed from Rosen performing in schools and libraries with many of the poets, and as children's poetry anthologies go, it's amongst the very best.
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|summary=Robert Louis Stevenson was a very versatile writer; he delved deep into the human psyche when he wrote ''The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' but he did not restrict himself to representations of the gothic and the persecuted. He also wrote brilliant children's adventure stories such as ''Treasure Island'' and ''Kidnapped'', but, again, he did not restrict himself to prose writing because here he demonstrates his ability to write poetry.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141324503</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Esiri Poem
|author=Zadie Smith
+
|title=A Poem for Every Day of the Year
|title=Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays
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|author=Allie Esiri
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Anthologies
 
|genre=Anthologies
|summary=Zadie Smith is best known as the author of three novels: White Teeth, The Autograph Man and On Beauty. She now teaches Creative Writing at Columbia University in New York. This collection is a mixture of literary criticism and journalism, including travel writing, reviews and other writing on film and several pieces about Zadie Smith's family, and especially her father. It is divided into five sections under the headings Reading, Being, Seeing, Feeling and Remembering.
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|summary=For those who do not read much poetry, for those who do not know where to start, this is a fun and easy commitment to take on. Reading a poem a day does not take long, mere minutes, and with over three-hundred poems in here there's bound to be a poem that speaks to each reader directly.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241142954</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Spike Milligan
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|isbn=Herbertson_Wordsworth
|title=The Magical World of Milligan
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|title=William and Dorothy Wordsworth: A Miscellany
|rating=4.5
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|author=Gavin Herbertson
|genre=Confident Readers
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|rating=5
|summary=Some people you just have to love. It's the law. Spike Milligan was always fantastic, and he's much missed. He's got the perfect mix of nonsense, heart, and surreal humour. He speaks to people of all ages, and he's just plain lovely.  
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|genre=Anthologies
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905264844</amazonuk>
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|summary=William Wordsworth was a defining member of the romantic literary era. He was part of the first wave, and his poetry helped to shape a large part of it. Nature was the key: existing in nature, finding one's own true nature and becoming natural in the process were the driving forces behind it.
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Mahfouz_Muslim
|author=Carol Ann Duffy
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|title=The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write
|title=New and Collected Poems for Children
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|author=Sabrina Mahfouz
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Anthologies
 
|genre=Anthologies
|summary=Sometimes the title is all the introduction you need: Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy's 'New and Collected Poems for Children'.
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|summary=What does it mean to be British and Muslim? This is a question these writers tackle with stunning clarity. Modern-day British society has a varied sense of cultural heritage; it is a society that is changing and moving forward as it adds more and more voices to the population, but it is also one that has an undercurrent of anxiety and fear towards those who are minorities. So this collection displays how all that fear is received; it comes in the form of stereotypical labels and racial prejudice, which are themes eloquently reproduced here.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571219683</amazonuk>
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}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Holland Cheap
 +
|title=View from the Cheap Seats
 +
|author=Barry Holland
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Anthologies
 +
|summary=A little bit about Barry Holland: he was born in Newport, South Wales, to working-class parents. He loves rugby and his son - his son is his favourite rugby player, which is just as it should be. He is a qualified engineer but is unable to work because of mental ill-health. All of these things feed into ''View from the Cheap Seats'', which is a collection of poems and imaginings as vivid and immediate and striking as you could hope for. Barry sounds like a thoroughly nice bloke and his book was a pleasure to read.
 +
}}
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{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Marshall EFT
 +
|title=The Book of English Folk Tales
 +
|author=Sybil Marshall and John Lawrence
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Anthologies
 +
|summary=From ghosts to witches, to giants and fairies, ''The Book of English Folk Tales'' is a fascinating collection of stories retold by social historian and folklorist Sybil Marshall. Out of print for over three decades, this beautiful new clothbound edition is complete with wood-engraved illustrations by John Lawrence and is sure to capture the attention of a new generation of lovers of folklore.
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Trotman_Winter
|author=Harry Horse
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|title=Winter: A Book for the Season
|title=Higglety Pigglety Pop! And Other First Poems
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|author=Felicity Trotman (editor)
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
+
|genre=Anthologies
|summary=A poetry anthology that includes Edward Lear, Spike Milligan, AA Milne, Lewis Carroll and Michael Rosen is immediately worth a look. They're timeless classics that everyone has read and has had read to them.
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|summary=This seasonal anthology contains a nice mixture of poetry, nature and travel pieces, and excerpts from longer works of fiction. Felicity Trotman, a freelance editor and member of the English Civil War Society, has arranged the material into three sections: 'The Old Year', 'Christmas, Sacred and Secular', and 'The New Year'. This creates an appropriate sense of chronological progression and also serves to make Christmas the heart of the book. Black-and-white illustrations – maps, photographs and engravings – are interspersed throughout, and each author gets a short paragraph of biography and background.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406323144</amazonuk>
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}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Elphinstone_Winter
 +
|title=Winter Magic
 +
|author=Abi Elphinstone (Editor)
 +
|rating=3.5
 +
|genre=Anthologies
 +
|summary=With everything from dragons to mysterious crimes, voice-stealing witches to time travel, and magical worlds to first performances of world-famous ballets, this is a collection of short stories that delights from start to finish. Anthologies of short stories can sometimes fall flat, with one or two good ones and then a bunch of mediocre fillers, but this collection has no weak links...all the stories are good, and most of them are brilliant. I felt entirely caught up in each individual world as I read, loving the varied and extremely likeable heroines throughout.
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Phinn_Virgin
|author=Debi Gliori
+
|title=The Virgin Mary's Got Nits
|title=Noisy Poems
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|author=Gervase Phinn
|rating=5
+
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
+
|genre=Anthologies
|summary=Any book of poetry that starts with Spike Milligan and ends with Roger McGough will get the thumbs up from me. Noisy Poems is full of just that: poems about sounds, with trucks honking, ducks quacking, trains clickety-clacking and shoes squeaking. It's awash with alliteration and rhythm. It's crying out to be read aloud and joined in with.
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|summary=Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a plane and head to either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last-minute dashes to the shops on Christmas Eve and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, nor a mere 36 hours. But I do remember the feeling of Christmas when I was younger, back when it was magical, and back when you knew exactly what the season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a child.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406323195</amazonuk>
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}}
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{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Ayrton_Pasaran
 +
|title=No Pasaran: Writings from the Spanish Civil War
 +
|author=Pete Ayrton (editor)
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Anthologies
 +
|summary=In ''¡No Pasarán!: Writings from the Spanish Civil War'', Pete Ayrton has chosen a majority of texts by Spanish writers, arguing that the conflict has long been written about from the point of view of the international brigades.
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Edwards_Manor
|author=John Foster
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|title=Murder at the Manor: Country House Mysteries (British Library Crime Classics)
|title=Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Bar
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|author=Martin Edwards (editor)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
+
|genre=Anthologies
|summary=I was recently subjected to a good 20 minutes of the rude version of Happy Birthday in Catalan, even though it was neither my birthday nor am I Catalan. I responded with the ol' squashed tomatoes and stew version that we all know and love, for a very restrained 15 minutes. Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Bar is packed full of such things. Kids love those sort of rhymes, and childish adults love 'em too. Whilst Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Bar isn't exactly rude, it does have a cheeky glint in its eye, a muddy splash on its new shoes, and gleeful laughter throughout.
+
|summary=I'm not big on short stories, but two factors nudged me towards this book.  Firstly, it's broadly golden age crime, one of my weaknesses and secondly, the editor is [[:Category:Martin Edwards|Martin Edwards]], a man whose knowledge of golden age crime is probably unsurpassed and he's done us proud, not only with his selection but with the half-page biographies of the writers, which precede each story. There's just enough there to allow you to place the author and to direct you to other works if you're tempted.  It's an elegant selection, from the well known and the less well known, all set in and around the country house.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192755811</amazonuk>
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}}
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{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Colfer_Place
 +
|title=Once Upon a Place
 +
|author=Eoin Colfer (editor)
 +
|rating=3.5
 +
|genre=Anthologies
 +
|summary=You know the bit of the blurb on every ''Artemis Fowl'' book, where Eoin Colfer had it said about how you pronounce his name?  That wasn't the intention of an up-and-coming author to be recognisable; rather, it was pride.  Pride in the difference of it, of the Irishness of it. Ireland, it seems to me, is more full than usual of people, things and ideas, and places that are different by dint of their singular nationality – and so many deserve to have pride attached to them. The places might not be the famous ones, but they can be the source of pride, and of stories, which is where this compilation of short works for the young comes in, with the authors invited to select their chosen place and write about it.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=Cleeves_Murder
 +
|title=The Starlings and Other Stories
 +
|author=Ann Cleeves (editor)
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Anthologies
 +
|summary=Six authors, known collectively as 'Murder Squad', and their six accomplices were each given photographs of the remote landscape of Pembrokeshire by acclaimed photographer David Wilson and asked to come up with a short story inspired by what they saw. Some of the stories will be more to your taste than others, as is only to be expected in such a varied anthology, but none are weak and if you enjoy crime short stories then this book could be a real treat.
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Milne_Love
|author=Paul B Janeczko and Chris Raschka
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|title=Love From Pooh (Winnie the Pooh)
|title=A Kick In The Head: An Everyday Guide To Poetic Forms
+
|author=A A Milne
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|genre=Anthologies
|summary=As the subtitle says, A Kick In The Head is an everyday guide to poetic forms. It's a perfect primer to couplets, limericks, acrostics, sonnets, haiku and many more. Each form has a brief explanation, an example, and then a more detailed explanation at the back. It's a wonderful educational book for any child (or for any adult who wants to brush up on their basic understanding of poetry).
+
|summary=For a small book, a small review – this is a quite delightful little thing, about which not a lot can be said. It is a gift book pure and simple, much in the way that Pooh Bear was a little simple at times (''Pooh… thought how wonderful it would be to have a Real Brain which could tell you things''). With it comes a simple blurb, and almost instructions that it is for giving, and there is a space for a loving dedication at the beginning, which is again only apt, as it is all about love.  Love of honey, love in friendship, love of all various kinds, but just love. It can't help but make you most warm-hearted.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0763641324</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Walton_Scifi
|author=Brian MacArthur
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|title=What Makes This Book So Great: Re-Reading The Classics Of Science Fiction And Fantasy
|title=For King and Country: Voices from the First World War
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|author=Jo Walton
|rating=3
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|rating=5
|genre=History
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|genre=Anthologies
|summary=''For King and Country – Voices from the First World War'' is an anthology of writings edited by Brian MacArthur. It features around 450 pages of journals, poems, articles and memories of those involved in WWI. These factual accounts cover all kinds of styles, lengths and subject matter, but each one is hopefully able to give the reader a real taste of a time most of us are too young to remember first-hand.
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|summary=Jo Walton has published over ten books, several of which have been award-winning. On top of that, she has a voracious appetite for books - both as a well-respected writer of original fiction, but as a well-respected reviewer too. Not only does she have time to do all that, but she also writes a regular column for Tor.com, on Science Fiction and Fantasy books, and it is these columns that a selection of which are collected here.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0349120293</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Tennant_Grub
|author=Tom Hodgkinson
+
|title=Did We Meet on Grub Street?
|title=The Book of Idle Pleasures
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|author=Emma Tennant, Hilary Bailey and David Elliott
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=3.5
|genre=Trivia
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|genre=Anthologies
|summary=We've all heard the clichés about modern life. You know – technology was meant to free us from drudgery. Instead we've become its slaves and work longer hours than ever. We're overloaded with means of communication but few of us know our neighbours, etc, etc. On hearing these, most of us shrug and carry on with our busy, busy lives. But now and then, something reminds us of who and what we are. This delightful, unassuming book is one of those things.
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|summary=Essentially, the three authors (all of whom have long careers in the book industry) revel in the idea of being whining old curmudgeons who miss the good old days of publishing. This unashamed nostalgia provides the focus of the book and allows the writers to recount numerous anecdotes from their days in the publishing business. Whilst the primary audience for this book may well be students of creative writing and media studies, it also serves as an interesting exploration of an aspect of modern history: how a once-burgeoning industry is now a shell of its former self, much like a lot of manufacturing. Because of this, I was disappointed that no space was given to a consideration of how the rise of the e-book and Kindle has directly damaged both the sale of books and the potential for new books to be written (fewer real books sold = fewer financial advances paid to writers = fewer books written). Also, given the clear love of books as treasured artefacts, the dismissal of the Harry Potter phenomenon seems truculent, given the impetus the series gave to reading amongst both the young and adults.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091923328</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Penzler_Big
|author=Richard Dawkins   
+
|title=The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries
|title=The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing 
+
|author=Otto Penzler (editor)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Anthologies
|summary=Popular science is a huge field nowadays, populated by both writers who turn to science and scientists who took to writing. The collection I have the pleasure of reviewing contains samples of writing by scientists, most of it at least illuminating, some truly excellent.
+
|summary=Nostalgia is a big part of the Christmas experience, and that's provided in sack-loads by this hefty tome of short stories. Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Brother Cadfael jostle Morse, Rumpole and Vic Warshawski for space on these tightly packed pages, while lesser-known and long since forgotten writers furnish new and unexpected pleasures for even the most well-read of book worms.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199216800</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
Move on to [[Newest Art Reviews]]

Latest revision as of 15:49, 16 May 2022

1737030942.jpg

Review of

Bag O'Goodies by Jolly Walker Bittick

4star.jpg Anthologies

Sometimes, you deserve a treat and mine was Jolly Walker Bittick's Bag O'Goodies. I first encountered his writing about a year ago, when I read his Cape Henry House, a rollicking tale of what happens when five young men find a base for their partying. Right now, I didn't want a full-length novel, so I turned to this anthology of verse and short stories. Bittick's writing has matured - and so have his characters. Well... most of them! Full Review

140638853X.jpg

Review of

Somebody Give This Heart a Pen by Sophia Thakur

5star.jpg Anthologies

Sophia Thakur's debut anthology is a collection of poems that are all unique, whether in relation to their style, length or theme. The collection is split into four sections, titled 'grow', 'wait','break' and 'grow again', guiding you through a process which is one of the foundations that the anthology is built on. Each section begins with a foregrounded title page containing various small pieces of writing, ranging from a quote by a Nigerian playwright, to African proverbs. This provides a nice introduction to the section before you are immersed in the beautifully written and eloquent poems that Thakur has clearly put her heart and soul into. Full Review

1789016789.jpg

Review of

You're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino: Poems for the Present by Don Behrend

4star.jpg Anthologies

You're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino begins with A Modern Love Story:

You’re the froth on my soy cappuccino
You’re the spread on my paleo toast
You’re the nose of my GM-free Pinot
You’re organic, my love. You’re the most!

Ha! How can you not laugh at this gently mocking take on love in the hipster world? Full Review

PUP Rising.jpg

Review of

Rising Stars: New Young Voices in Poetry by Pop Up Projects

4star.jpg Anthologies

This collection brings together five emerging voices in poetry. And despite what the publisher says, I wouldn't personally impose an age restriction on the writing here. Each poet uses words that will appeal to many readers. I found this particularly so with Jay Hulme's poetry. Full Review

Stevenson Garden.jpg

Review of

A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

2star.jpg Anthologies

Robert Louis Stevenson was a very versatile writer; he delved deep into the human psyche when he wrote The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde but he did not restrict himself to representations of the gothic and the persecuted. He also wrote brilliant children's adventure stories such as Treasure Island and Kidnapped, but, again, he did not restrict himself to prose writing because here he demonstrates his ability to write poetry. Full Review

link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/Esiri Poem/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21

Review of

A Poem for Every Day of the Year by Allie Esiri

4star.jpg Anthologies

For those who do not read much poetry, for those who do not know where to start, this is a fun and easy commitment to take on. Reading a poem a day does not take long, mere minutes, and with over three-hundred poems in here there's bound to be a poem that speaks to each reader directly. Full Review

Herbertson Wordsworth.jpg

Review of

William and Dorothy Wordsworth: A Miscellany by Gavin Herbertson

5star.jpg Anthologies

William Wordsworth was a defining member of the romantic literary era. He was part of the first wave, and his poetry helped to shape a large part of it. Nature was the key: existing in nature, finding one's own true nature and becoming natural in the process were the driving forces behind it. Full Review

Mahfouz Muslim.jpg

Review of

The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write by Sabrina Mahfouz

5star.jpg Anthologies

What does it mean to be British and Muslim? This is a question these writers tackle with stunning clarity. Modern-day British society has a varied sense of cultural heritage; it is a society that is changing and moving forward as it adds more and more voices to the population, but it is also one that has an undercurrent of anxiety and fear towards those who are minorities. So this collection displays how all that fear is received; it comes in the form of stereotypical labels and racial prejudice, which are themes eloquently reproduced here. Full Review

link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/Holland Cheap/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21

Review of

View from the Cheap Seats by Barry Holland

4star.jpg Anthologies

A little bit about Barry Holland: he was born in Newport, South Wales, to working-class parents. He loves rugby and his son - his son is his favourite rugby player, which is just as it should be. He is a qualified engineer but is unable to work because of mental ill-health. All of these things feed into View from the Cheap Seats, which is a collection of poems and imaginings as vivid and immediate and striking as you could hope for. Barry sounds like a thoroughly nice bloke and his book was a pleasure to read. Full Review

link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/Marshall EFT/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21

Review of

The Book of English Folk Tales by Sybil Marshall and John Lawrence

4star.jpg Anthologies

From ghosts to witches, to giants and fairies, The Book of English Folk Tales is a fascinating collection of stories retold by social historian and folklorist Sybil Marshall. Out of print for over three decades, this beautiful new clothbound edition is complete with wood-engraved illustrations by John Lawrence and is sure to capture the attention of a new generation of lovers of folklore. Full Review

Trotman Winter.jpg

Review of

Winter: A Book for the Season by Felicity Trotman (editor)

4star.jpg Anthologies

This seasonal anthology contains a nice mixture of poetry, nature and travel pieces, and excerpts from longer works of fiction. Felicity Trotman, a freelance editor and member of the English Civil War Society, has arranged the material into three sections: 'The Old Year', 'Christmas, Sacred and Secular', and 'The New Year'. This creates an appropriate sense of chronological progression and also serves to make Christmas the heart of the book. Black-and-white illustrations – maps, photographs and engravings – are interspersed throughout, and each author gets a short paragraph of biography and background. Full Review

Elphinstone Winter.jpg

Review of

Winter Magic by Abi Elphinstone (Editor)

3.5star.jpg Anthologies

With everything from dragons to mysterious crimes, voice-stealing witches to time travel, and magical worlds to first performances of world-famous ballets, this is a collection of short stories that delights from start to finish. Anthologies of short stories can sometimes fall flat, with one or two good ones and then a bunch of mediocre fillers, but this collection has no weak links...all the stories are good, and most of them are brilliant. I felt entirely caught up in each individual world as I read, loving the varied and extremely likeable heroines throughout. Full Review

Phinn Virgin.jpg

Review of

The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn

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Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a plane and head to either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last-minute dashes to the shops on Christmas Eve and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, nor a mere 36 hours. But I do remember the feeling of Christmas when I was younger, back when it was magical, and back when you knew exactly what the season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a child. Full Review

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Review of

No Pasaran: Writings from the Spanish Civil War by Pete Ayrton (editor)

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In ¡No Pasarán!: Writings from the Spanish Civil War, Pete Ayrton has chosen a majority of texts by Spanish writers, arguing that the conflict has long been written about from the point of view of the international brigades. Full Review

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Review of

Murder at the Manor: Country House Mysteries (British Library Crime Classics) by Martin Edwards (editor)

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I'm not big on short stories, but two factors nudged me towards this book. Firstly, it's broadly golden age crime, one of my weaknesses and secondly, the editor is Martin Edwards, a man whose knowledge of golden age crime is probably unsurpassed and he's done us proud, not only with his selection but with the half-page biographies of the writers, which precede each story. There's just enough there to allow you to place the author and to direct you to other works if you're tempted. It's an elegant selection, from the well known and the less well known, all set in and around the country house. Full Review

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Review of

Once Upon a Place by Eoin Colfer (editor)

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You know the bit of the blurb on every Artemis Fowl book, where Eoin Colfer had it said about how you pronounce his name? That wasn't the intention of an up-and-coming author to be recognisable; rather, it was pride. Pride in the difference of it, of the Irishness of it. Ireland, it seems to me, is more full than usual of people, things and ideas, and places that are different by dint of their singular nationality – and so many deserve to have pride attached to them. The places might not be the famous ones, but they can be the source of pride, and of stories, which is where this compilation of short works for the young comes in, with the authors invited to select their chosen place and write about it. Full Review

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Review of

The Starlings and Other Stories by Ann Cleeves (editor)

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Six authors, known collectively as 'Murder Squad', and their six accomplices were each given photographs of the remote landscape of Pembrokeshire by acclaimed photographer David Wilson and asked to come up with a short story inspired by what they saw. Some of the stories will be more to your taste than others, as is only to be expected in such a varied anthology, but none are weak and if you enjoy crime short stories then this book could be a real treat. Full Review

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Review of

Love From Pooh (Winnie the Pooh) by A A Milne

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For a small book, a small review – this is a quite delightful little thing, about which not a lot can be said. It is a gift book pure and simple, much in the way that Pooh Bear was a little simple at times (Pooh… thought how wonderful it would be to have a Real Brain which could tell you things). With it comes a simple blurb, and almost instructions that it is for giving, and there is a space for a loving dedication at the beginning, which is again only apt, as it is all about love. Love of honey, love in friendship, love of all various kinds, but just love. It can't help but make you most warm-hearted. Full Review

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Review of

What Makes This Book So Great: Re-Reading The Classics Of Science Fiction And Fantasy by Jo Walton

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Jo Walton has published over ten books, several of which have been award-winning. On top of that, she has a voracious appetite for books - both as a well-respected writer of original fiction, but as a well-respected reviewer too. Not only does she have time to do all that, but she also writes a regular column for Tor.com, on Science Fiction and Fantasy books, and it is these columns that a selection of which are collected here. Full Review

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Review of

Did We Meet on Grub Street? by Emma Tennant, Hilary Bailey and David Elliott

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Essentially, the three authors (all of whom have long careers in the book industry) revel in the idea of being whining old curmudgeons who miss the good old days of publishing. This unashamed nostalgia provides the focus of the book and allows the writers to recount numerous anecdotes from their days in the publishing business. Whilst the primary audience for this book may well be students of creative writing and media studies, it also serves as an interesting exploration of an aspect of modern history: how a once-burgeoning industry is now a shell of its former self, much like a lot of manufacturing. Because of this, I was disappointed that no space was given to a consideration of how the rise of the e-book and Kindle has directly damaged both the sale of books and the potential for new books to be written (fewer real books sold = fewer financial advances paid to writers = fewer books written). Also, given the clear love of books as treasured artefacts, the dismissal of the Harry Potter phenomenon seems truculent, given the impetus the series gave to reading amongst both the young and adults. Full Review

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Review of

The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries by Otto Penzler (editor)

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Nostalgia is a big part of the Christmas experience, and that's provided in sack-loads by this hefty tome of short stories. Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Brother Cadfael jostle Morse, Rumpole and Vic Warshawski for space on these tightly packed pages, while lesser-known and long since forgotten writers furnish new and unexpected pleasures for even the most well-read of book worms. Full Review

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