Category: Review

Finding the #Write #Words? No. 8 Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Grammar, Reading, Review, Word Choice7 Comments

Continuing the description of books on words in the list from post 1, which you’ll find here. Book 8: Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors On with the info. Hardback, 454 pages, including eight appendices covering topics from “Words ending in ‘able’ and ‘ible’” to “Numerals,” via “Metric prefixes” and “Main units of currency”. It …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No. 7 Brit-Think/Ameri-Think

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Grammar, Reading, Review, Word Choice4 Comments

Continuing the description of books on words in the list given in post 1, which you’ll find here. Book 7: Brit-Think/Ameri-Think (sub-titled – A Transatlantic Survival Guide) On with the info. Paperback, 176 pages. It was published by Harrap Books Ltd in 1986; my version is the 1992 edition and cost £5.95. It’s available in …

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84K, by Claire North: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, politics, Reading, Review3 Comments

480 pages Political Fiction/Dystopian/Literary Fiction Not for the faint-hearted. And, definitely not for the perennially depressed. But this is a book that should be read by everyone (I’m conscious of the contradiction). Set in a future UK too close for comfort, it examines the inevitable consequences of unfettered capitalism. The writing style is clever, sometimes …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No.6 A Dictionary of Rhyming Slang

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Grammar, Reading, Review, Word Choice

Continuing the description of books on words in the list given in post 1, which you’ll find here. Book 6: A Dictionary of Rhyming Slang, by Julian Franklyn. On with the info. Paperback, 200 pages. It was published by Routledge & Kegan Paul in 1960 (yes, really!); my version is a reprint from 1981. Original …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No.5 American English English American

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Grammar, Reading, Review, Word Choice2 Comments

Continuing the description of books on words in the list given in post 1, which you’ll find here. Post 2 is here, post 3 here, and post 4 here. Book 5: American English English American On with the info. Paperback, 47 pages. It was published by Abson Books London in Nov 1971; my version, revised …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No.4 A Miscellany for Word Lovers

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Reading, Review, Word Choice2 Comments

Continuing the description of books on the list given in post 1, which you’ll find here. Post 2 is here, and post 3 here. Book 3: A Miscellany for Word Lovers On with the info. Paperback, pages 214. It was published by How To Books in 2014. Original cost £7.99, and currently available at £5.61. …

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Your Thyroid, by Dr Barry Durrant-Peatfield: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Reading, Review7 Comments

264 pages Family and Lifestyle Endocrinology/Popular Medicine ‘Your Thyroid’, subtitled ‘and how to keep it healthy’, is the second edition of ‘The Great Thyroid Scandal and How to Survive it.' I expect readers may be curious about why I read and reviewed this book. It’s a short story, but you can skip it if you …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No.3 A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Review, Word Choice

Continuing the description of books on the list given in post 1, which you’ll find here. Post 2 is here. Book 2: A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, by Eric Partridge. On with the info. Hardback, 1,400 pages, approximately 61,600 word definitions (a guestimate). It was published by Routledge & Kegan Paul in 1984. …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No.2

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Grammar, Reading, Review, Word Choice

Beginning the description of books on the list given in post 1, which you’ll find here. On with the info. ‘A Dictionary of Misunderstood Misused Mispronounced Words’ Edited by Laurence Urdang, is the first book on my list of word books to bring to your attention. I’m doing this alphabetically; laziness, I guess, although calls …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No.1

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Grammar, Progress, Reading, Review, Word Choice4 Comments

For a few years I’ve been posting about word choice here. It seems timely to let you know the sources for the information and ideas I’ve presented. Before I started writing seriously, which preceded mobile phones, personal computers, and even electronic typewriters, I developed an interest in words: a fascination for the huge variety of …

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God on Trial, by Sabri Bebawi: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review2 Comments

This short novel takes an unusual idea (one deserving a lot more attention) and sends it on a fascinating journey. I’ll make it clear now that I’m agnostic, so carry none of the usual religious hang-ups about discussing the force, entity or whatever name you wish to give to the mythical being generically known as …

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Too Much, Not Enough, by Tara Sanderson PsyD, MBA: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Reading, Review

127 pages Exercise & Fitness/Mind, Body & Spirit Self Help/Counselling I rarely read self-help books, but this one popped up via a particularly supportive Twitter group I belong to and, as it was free for a few days, I thought I’d give it a look. It attracted my attention due to its subtitle ‘A guide …

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Exiles, by Daniel Blythe: #Book Review.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review1 Comment

494 Pages Science Fiction/Children’s/Colonisation In this quite extraordinary novel we have a piece of science fiction that could well become a literary classic. The combination of figurative language, timeless universal themes, and adventure shown through the eyes of carefully realised and presented characters places this work high above many in the genre. In fact, it …

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Venus, by The Science Geek: #Book Review.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Reading, Review4 Comments

This short volume is packed full of facts about our nearest planetary neighbour. The author is a scientist who studied Maths and Astronomy at Warwick University and gained a PhD in Astronomy through Manchester University. He writes a popular science blog – http://www.thesciencegeek.org, recently renamed as http://www.explainingscience.org – which is well worth visiting for anyone …

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Dead Man Dreaming, by Uday Mukerji: Reviewed.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review

This unusual novel reads like an autobiography in that the narrator, David, tells his story in the first person as though detailing his life experiences. Initially, he recounts his early life and leads up to his relationship with his girlfriend, Chloe, and his hopes of a career as a heart surgeon. Everything changes, however, with …

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