Picture this: you’ve finally written the book you’ve spent your whole career preparing for. Your book launch is in full swing, and you hop on to Amazon and see…a negative review. You don’t have to imagine much further to understand the disappointment and frustration a bad review brings. If you put that much effort into...
There are two approaches to a book review: Descriptive reviews give the essential information about a book. This is done with description and exposition, by stating the perceived aims and purposes of the author, and by quoting striking passages from the text. Critical reviews describe and evaluate the book, in terms of accepted literary...
What is the best way to critique a literary non-fiction? It is easy for one to criticize people, processes, governments, etc. without necessarily adding value. Sometimes, such criticisms are done in bad faith. In a work of art, however, this should not be the case. If you have decided to do a critique of a...
How well-read are you, really? It is no longer news that writers must be readers. This is because the depth of your writing is determined by the wealth of other writings you have consumed. What if you were to do a count of other works, articles, books and publications you have read, can you boldly...
A book review is a critical appraisal of a book. It contains a summary of the content and assesses the importance of the book. It also goes beyond assessment and summary, it’s an opportunity for the reviewer to assess the content, quality and relevance of the book. Typically, a book review ranges from 500-1000 words,...
The art of writing is different for everyone; writing comes easily to some people, and as a result, they are eager to share their work with others. For other people, writing could be a burden. The combination of words to form sentences that can entertain, educate and inspire could jar the senses of this set...
The shortlist for the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction was released on Monday, April 29, 2019 and Oyinkan Braithwaite’s satire slashfest debut novel made the list of six! In honour of the recognition she’s been getting since My Sister, The Serial Killer was released in November 2018, here’s a brillant review by Jennifer Malec of...
Reading is not just about pleasure: books have the power to touch us profoundly, to open our eyes to injustices – and sometimes even act as a catalyst for social change. To mark World Book Day, we take a look at some of the novels that have changed society. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe...
In her book The Doctor and the Saint, Arundhati Roy discusses at some length how Gandhi’s impressions of the Africans during his two-decade-long stay as an expatriate attorney in South Africa were full of superstitions. Naturally, such an attitude was the least expected from a victim of racial discrimination in colonial India. But it speaks volumes...
Of course, the Real Book Oscars are given out at the National Book Awards ceremony; so consider these the Fake Book Oscars—they’re extra fun because you don’t even have to dress up [Ed. note: dressing up IS fun]. In putting this list together, Literary Hub figured out what each of the Academy Awards categories would...
