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Books

Bust?: Saving the Economy, Democracy and our Sanity by Robert Peston and Kishan Koria- Review

"So long as we have an economic system geared towards the accumulation of wealth rather than the acquisition of it, inequalities will continue to widen"

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."

Dune: Adventures in miseducation

"Of all the books that explore the question of how and why we learn, I find that Frank Herbert’s Dune offers an unsettling, prescient answer to this question."

‘I’ve read the secret, I know the meaning’: When rap and classical literature meet

"What do Charles Dickens, Alice in Wonderland and Kilburn-bred rapper M Huncho have in common? Quite a lot, as it happens."

Review: ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’: The Good, The Bad And The Amateur

"Perhaps Tarantino will become a better novelist as time goes on, but there's a charm to how this book is a behind-the-scenes look at a story still in construction, full of blind alleys and experiments."

I went to every library in Oxford (so you don’t have to)

You don’t need to go to every library on this list. But if you’re lucky enough to carry a Bod Card, you should make a point to visit at least a few. These are special places, each with its own history and personality. Make the most of them.

“Rotterdam is anywhere, anywhere alone…”: A Literary Pilgrimage

'If I do go to these places, I won’t need to be transported to a fictional world for them to be magic. They’ll be wonderful because I went there, and had fun, and lived a life that is far less exciting than those of the characters, but was good all the same.'

‘[I]n spring the soil swells’: Poetry’s favourite season through the ages

Spring has been extolled in poetry perhaps more than any other season. Since antiquity, poets have associated spring with growth and celebration making their poems are a joy to read this time of year.

Five Book that Shaped My Life: A Biblio-Biography

'Upon sitting down to write this article, the immense prospect of narrowing down my entire life's reading experience to five books suddenly seemed to stare at me, chasm-like. Life does not always present itself to us in such neat sequences.'

What Makes A Great Writer: A Biblio-Biography

'What makes a great writer? Practice, of course, and undoubtedly that unique spark called talent or inspiration. But as every writer, great or otherwise, knows, the whole business of writing is built on reading.'

The #OwnVoices Movement: Whose Voices Are Being Heard?

From abandoning the acronym BAME to placing diversity and inclusion at the forefront of their values, representation has never been so important in the...

Bookshops are Back: The Joys of In-Person Book Buying

'There’s something magical about running your fingers across a shelf, gazing over each stack and meandering through a cavern full of works of literature.'

Judging books by their covers?

When browsing the shelves of a bookshop, what I am most drawn to is art. I hunt for the brightest colour, the most striking typography, a good-looking image with which to decorate my bedside table. Book covers can use their beauty to their advantage, or even as a form of rebellion.

Review: Catullus: Shibari Carmina by Isobel Williams

The poetry of the late Roman Republic does not immediately move the mind to think of shibari – a Japanese rope bondage art –...

Fantasy: medieval European influences and alternatives

Faeries, elves, centaurs, wizards, dragons. In its purest form, fantasy is one of the most ancient literary genres, and fantastical elements can be found...

Interview: Alexandra Andrews, author of Who is Maud Dixon?

Alexandra Andrews’s psychological thriller, Who is Maud Dixon?, tests the limits of fiction. Literally. The novel begins in media res: Florence Darrow wakes up...

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