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Books

Book recommendations from the editors’ desk

"It’s rare that I find non-fiction to be such a page-turner, but Tara Westover’s autobiography was just that."

Greg Heffley: A Hero of Our Time

Few modern comic heroes align with our distinctive age – an age which Dickens’s...

The man of the moment: Review of Keir Starmer: The Biography by Tom Baldwin

"Baldwin does his best to humanise Starmer and to deflate the view of him as “Mr Boring”."

Review: Chaucer Here and Now, Weston Library

"Mansplaining scribes, scandalised censors, and unfinished endings. Even from day one, there is no stable and single Chaucer."

Empireworld: How British Imperialism Shaped the Globe (Sathnam Sanghera, 2024): Review

Without confronting the wrongs of the past, the wrongs of the present will go on unabated.

Book recommendations from the editors’ desk

"It’s rare that I find non-fiction to be such a page-turner, but Tara Westover’s autobiography was just that."

Greg Heffley: A Hero of Our Time

Few modern comic heroes align with our distinctive age – an age which Dickens’s famous opening, ‘It was the best of times, it was...

The man of the moment: Review of Keir Starmer: The Biography by Tom Baldwin

"Baldwin does his best to humanise Starmer and to deflate the view of him as “Mr Boring”."

Review: Chaucer Here and Now, Weston Library

"Mansplaining scribes, scandalised censors, and unfinished endings. Even from day one, there is no stable and single Chaucer."

Empireworld: How British Imperialism Shaped the Globe (Sathnam Sanghera, 2024): Review

Without confronting the wrongs of the past, the wrongs of the present will go on unabated.

The Autobiogra-phony

"A master of saying everything and nothing all at once! I sure would make a great celeb."

Wattpad: the new online course in creative writing?

The only issue that sites like Wattpad face is their association with ‘low value’ feminine writing and smut.

Literary Red Flags: Cause for Alarm?

"The internet loves to tell us what to do, especially when there's a healthy smattering of pseudo-psychology involved."

Making reading for pleasure pleasurable

"After being a bit too optimistic with my 2023 Goodreads Challenge, 2024 is going to be the year where I repair my relationship with books."

False Prophets: Prophet Song Review

"Prophet Song is neither prescient nor melodious; it is a self-proclaimed seer’s message which reads as an exhausting description of current events"

Introducing 2023’s Standout Reads

"2023 was truly a year of amazing writing, and I am so grateful to have explored such a wide variety of literature and non-fiction."

“Rich and original”: ‘Parables, Fables, Nightmares’ Review

Parables, Fables, Nightmares is the first short story collection published by Malachi McIntosh. A short traditional story collection can be likened to a gallery...

How to judge a book by its cover

Let’s be real. You’re in Blackwells looking for a book to read if you’re cool, and buying a mug with a world map on...

MARCO SOLO: Manuscripts and Archives at Oxford University

Although unnoticed by many students and tutors alike, a revolutionary new service by the name of MARCO was unveiled last week, taking the archivist...

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