My Private Reading Pleasure

Slightly Foxed is my private reading pleasure. It’s British quarterly literary magazine that “introduces its readers to books that are no longer new and fashionable but have lasting appeal.” It contains articles written by people who love to read, often authors, about books they love. A good friend gifted me a subscription when I turned […]

December 2020 Book Reviews

I read ten books in December. Books are how I rest and recuperate, which is exactly what the end of December called for. The Netherlands went into its first full lockdown just before school let out for the holidays. The first thing we did when they leaked the news was go to the library an […]

November 2020 Book Reviews

I’m going to ease back into writing this year with my favorite topic, books. Between being a couple months behind and having read a whole lot of good books, this is going to be fun for me. In November, I read a lot of library books and have given away or loaned out others so […]

October 2020 Book Reviews

October was a very busy month, largely due to launching the Perfect Story Formula for the first time. However, I did read the books pictured above and listened to Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz and Squirm by Carl Hiassen. It was so busy that I’m feeling good that I managed to read at all, to be […]

January 2020 Book Reviews

Last week, I promised you an article about setting goals this week. I’m putting it off. First of all, I came up with a brilliant idea for a giveaway that I want to take time with. Also, I have been on a more serious reading bender than usual and wanted to share what I’ve been […]

Reading Notes: The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall

Story’s role in human life extends far beyond conventional novels or films. Story, and a variety of storylike activities, dominates human life. Storytelling is a fundamental drive. It’s a skill that humans have developed to survive. That’s Jonathan Gottschall’s position in The Storytelling Animal. Gottschall is an evolutionary biologist who asks a simple but important […]

A little book with big ideas about storytelling

The Mystery Feast isn’t a book I went looking for. I suspect it found me. I was aware of Nigerian author Ben Okri as any Booker Prize follower must be aware of him. His novel The Famished Road won the Booker Prize in 1991. However, my interest became more specific last summer. I spent a […]