Book Reviews & Essays on Literature
Fredrik Backman’s latest novel, Anxious People, published in Sept. 2020, is well-timed, written for people who feel anxious in theseContinue Reading
My discovery of the Google Doodle which celebrated the music of Johann Sebastian Bach started me on the road toContinue Reading
Larry McMurtry has died. He passed away on March 25, 2021, in Archer City, Texas,US, at the age of 84Continue Reading
Sometimes a new book comes out of which the plot or theme feels unimportant or irrelevant. But sometimes global eventsContinue Reading
What are my favourite authors doing next? My favourite authors have new works in the works, pardon the pun, soContinue Reading
It’s the end of the first half of the year, and so far my reading time has been reduced byContinue Reading
To alleviate the “morbs” that might have descended on you from reading those books with pandemic and epidemics as themes,Continue Reading
Staying at home and feeling trapped or bored? Not in the mood for your usual type of book? Have aContinue Reading
My journey through books this year It has been a very pleasant year in books for me. The activities onContinue Reading
A big name in the world of literature, Clive James, died on November 24, 2019, in Cambridge, UK. He wasContinue Reading
After having enjoyed Patrick deWitt’s Undermajordomo Minor (2015) his most recent novel, French Exit, was a must-read. A “French exit” isContinue Reading
Some books have exotic contexts – there is a story about the story, and it helps the promotion of theContinue Reading
The papers have been full with news of the death of Australia’s most world-famous poet, Les Murray. He died yesterdayContinue Reading
John Scalzi’s Science Fiction (SF) novel Head On was taken a step closer to being real when, in December 2018,Continue Reading
Here’s something entertaining: the appearance on The New Yorker magazine’s video channel of my favourite You-tubers, Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal,Continue Reading
This is the rack of “mass market” paperbacks that I see when I stand in the queue, every time IContinue Reading
I rarely repost news articles in their entirety but this one is a real eyebrow-raiser: – an independent author’s novel,Continue Reading
There are thousands of aspiring authors, thousands of unpublished books, and millions of readers who have not connected with particularContinue Reading
Anthony Bourdain is dead – he killed himself. His body was found in Kaysersberg-Vignoble, France, on Friday, June 8, 2018. HeContinue Reading
Any novel that has the words “pleasure model” in the title could be automatically relegated to the category of “chickContinue Reading
“Welcome to Night Vale” it says on the cover. Inside, there are stories about the town of “Night Vale”, somewhereContinue Reading
The mystery over who “Hendrik Groen” is, continues. Groen is the pseudonym of a Dutch author who has produced twoContinue Reading
There is a lot more to the phenomenon of literary one-hit wonders than you’d think. There are many reasons forContinue Reading
The teaser trailer for the new film based on the Mary Poppins books by P.L. Travers was released to coincideContinue Reading
After a 25-year absence, comic book artist Berkeley (“Berke”) Breathed restarted his famous and much-loved comic strip, Bloom County on Facebook,Continue Reading
In the previous article, I discussed the link between psychopathology and creativity. So here is a shortlist of authors whose bodyContinue Reading
Compact Crits #7: 54-second review of Insomniac City, by Bill Hayes Read the whole story here. Make no mistake, thisContinue Reading
Brian Bilston’s saucy, witty and insightful poems on Twitter (@brian_bilston) have made him famous. In this podcast (recorded in 2016,Continue Reading
I watched the final episode of the second season of Cardinal, based on the books by Giles Blunt, on Feb. 8,Continue Reading
“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever”, John Keats wrote in his poem “Endymion” in 1818 – aboutContinue Reading
I have been watching Rhett and Link, a.k.a Rhett McLaughlin and Link (Charles) Neal, on their YouTube channel, Good MythicalContinue Reading
One of my favourite marketing professionals, Seth Godin, wrote his 7,000th post on Nov. 14, 2017. That’s quite something. TheContinue Reading
Book blogs and book review aggregators exist because people like being part of a community that shares their interests. ThisContinue Reading
I did not think that I would get tired of reading the heavily stylized and very British English of StephenContinue Reading
Tom Hanks’s debut work of fiction, a collection of short stories, came out on October 17, 2017. It has beenContinue Reading
Prue Leith, as Anglophiles and food show fans would know, replaced Mary Berry as the co-judge with Paul Hollywood whenContinue Reading
In popular author Kathy Lette’s latest novel, Best Laid Plans, her writing style is a torrent of words, which you eventuallyContinue Reading
There is a current trend for novels with long titles about eccentric old people: The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed OutContinue Reading
With books, as with films, success depends a lot on the timing and the tie-ins. Whether it will resonate withContinue Reading
Julian Barnes October 8 at 7:03pm · Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, on Julian Barnes’s novel The Noise of TimeContinue Reading
I know a good thing when I read it! Yesterday, 5 Oct. 2017, the British author Kazuo Ishiguro was named thisContinue Reading
Icelandic writer Sjón has spent the first half of this year in Lillehammer, Norway, where, on June 2, 2017, heContinue Reading
At the 75th World Science Fiction Conference (Worldcon 75) held in August 2017 in Helsinki, Finland, the bag of goodiesContinue Reading
I think people fall into three categories: 1) those who read the book first, then go see the film ofContinue Reading
You could be tempted to dismiss Roger Moore’s autobiography, My Word Is My Bond, as a bit of a joke,Continue Reading
AI, Artificial Intelligence, is the one element that many SF writers like to work into their stories, particularly robot-human interactions.Continue Reading
On day 2 of Worldcon 75 in Helsinki, I finally got to have a word with one of the “insider”Continue Reading
Day 2 of Worldcon 75 delivered an Academic Track session that was on par, at least in terms of content,Continue Reading
See me, hear me and walk with me – that’s what many websites try to achieve; in other words, connectContinue Reading
Update: On Dec. 18, 2017, the New York Times reported that Sheila Nevins is exiting HBO after 38 years. TheContinue Reading
(Above: Spot the possum details on these re-imagined book covers. Graphics by M. Bijman) I wondered what would happen ifContinue Reading
Dum-dah-dah…Another one bites the dust…♬ (Sorry, Queen.) A few months ago I announced that my reviews will be published inContinue Reading
Ben H. Winters wrote the acclaimed, award-winning Science Fiction series, The Last Policeman. I called the hero of the series,Continue Reading
Here is the last part in a series of four posts on the subject of fan fiction versus copyright rules.Continue Reading
The court cases continue Update – May 4, 2021 The Hergé Foundation, known in French as Moulinsart, and formerly knownContinue Reading
To continue the discussion on fan fiction versus copyright, here follows the case of the two “Alephs”, one by Jorge Luis BorgesContinue Reading
The Era of the Reboot and Sequel Whenever an author adds a new book on to a successful novel orContinue Reading
Another year has passed on the Seven Circumstances book blog. Here are the site stats, courtesy of WordPress’s StatsMonkeys whoContinue Reading
As of this month, I’m going to be contributing book reviews to Fairlady magazine. For those who don’t know, it’s anContinue Reading
This novel, first published 1991, won Ben Okri the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. You might wonder what relevance aContinue Reading
Sjón: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Reader of Sjón. Her current mission: to explore strange new worlds,Continue Reading
Two days ago, 19 February 2016, both Umberto Eco and Harper Lee died. Both their names were probably in theContinue Reading
As famous film director Werner Herzog explains in an interview with Stephen Sackur on the BBC’s HARDTalk program on 24thContinue Reading
The WordPress.com stats Helper Monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A New York City subwayContinue Reading
For the last in my series of festive season books, the theme is romance and erotica, and I have someContinue Reading
Today, Remembrance Day, I am remembering – unwillingly – the wars of the country I was born in, South Africa. EuropeansContinue Reading
The Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell (born February 3, 1948) died of cancer on 5 October 2015. His most famous creation wasContinue Reading
Last year I wrote about why old books, long-playing records and other non-digital media are gaining value, and why some unlikelyContinue Reading
Grand old man of Canadian literature dies Just last week I gave my copy of Farley Mowat’s Eastern Passage to a friendContinue Reading
It’s the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, who is traditionally believed to have been born today, 23Continue Reading
South African author, poet, lyricist and playwright Hennie Aucamp died on 20 March 2014, aged 80 years, from a heartContinue Reading
New spins on old fables The past few years have seen an increase in films and novels that rework andContinue Reading
The best way to express my best wishes to my family, friends, followers and fellow book lovers for the newContinue Reading
Doris Lessing, the Zimbabwean-raised author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007, died on 17 November 2013. Luckily forContinue Reading
– (Penguin Books Canada, 2012) The significant moments in Alice Munro’s latest collection of short stories tend to creep upContinue Reading
Dylan Thomas would’ve been 99 today. Born 27 October 1914, he died 9 November 1953, only 39 years old, muchContinue Reading
