Category: On the Work of Others
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My Favourite Middle-grade Books of 2024
Hello! I meant to post a lot this year, but depression and anemia did a pincer movement and caught me out! So let’s look back at what I read in 2024! I read 8 middle-grade novels this year (so far), so let’s go through them! (No Spoilers.) Nura and the Immortal Palace by M.T. Khan…
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My Favourite Book of 2023
(TL;DR: it’s What you are looking for is in the library by Michiko Aoyama, translated into English by Alison Watts.) I keep a spreadsheet of the books I finish reading every year, with each entry scored out of twenty in a system-less vibe-based way. I also take extensive notes on things like plot, characterisation and…
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How to support your creative friends
Through my life, while writing book manuscripts, poetry and fan-fiction, I’ve found myself asking the same question time and time again: where am I going to get beta readers for this one? How am I going to convince friends or strangers to help and support me? Maybe I should join a critique group, I’d think,…
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Three Sentences from Black Narcissus
I thoroughly enjoyed poring through The Mabinogion in search of lovely sentences, so I’ve decided to do the same with a more recent favourite of mine: Rumer Godden’s 1939 novel, Black Narcissus. Honestly, skimming through it now, I don’t know how one could choose just three sentences from this book. It’s artfully written. Every sentence…
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Three More Sentences from The Mabinogion
I could do this all year. I almost certainly will not. Last week I gave you three of my favourite sentences from The Mabinogion. Today I bestow upon you the ones I find funniest, once again from Lady Charlotte Guest’s translation. And thenceforth they made strong the friendship that was between them, and each sent…
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Three Sentences from The Mabinogion
The Mabinogion hold a very dear place in my heart, and have for most of my life, but I’ll be the first to say they’re not the world’s most accessible tales. I’d loved the stories and characters for over a decade before I actually read a classical version from start to end. There are some…
Non Hughes 