Books

Review: Making the Weather: Six Politicians Who Shaped Modern Britain by Vernon Bogdanor

Six essays are included here, one for each Carlylean “great man”, covering biographical and ideological context as well as political analysis.

Books Hassan Akram -

A literary map of Oxford

Look no further for the perfect afternoon dawdle, as you chase the ghosts of literary greats through the town.

Books Maya Heuer-Evans -

Should we judge a book by its cover?

Maybe we need to start giving a chance to the books we wouldn't usually take a second glance at.

Books Yasmin Beed -

Reinventing the epistolary novel

It looks like, then, the epistolary novel isn’t dying out completely—just reinventing itself.

Books Alyssa Guan -

Review: May We Be Forgiven by A.M Homes

Weird and wonderful. Heavy at times, strange throughout, but uplifting to the end. An incredible read.

Books Yasmin Beed -

Latest

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...

Decline and fall: How They Broke Britain by James O’Brien – review

"Today, in the wake of Brexit, Britain is once again broken – so argues commentator James O’Brien in his new book, How They Broke Britain."

What can books say that we can’t?

As people, we love to talk - to other people, to ourselves, to the mirror (don’t lie, everyone does it!) We all have opinions...

HomeCultureBooks

Blackfriars Fellow created a Cardinal by Pope Francis

Review: Making the Weather: Six Politicians Who Shaped Modern...

Oxford state school offer rate has decreased over the...

Revealed: Oxford Vice-Chancellor Tracey’s £47k expense claims