Books & Reading

A literary master's entertaining guide to reading with deeper insight, better understanding, and greater pleasure What makes a work of literature good or bad? How freely can the reader interpret it? Could a nursery rhyme like Baa Baa Black Sheep be full...

'A problem of space first of all, then a problem of order'One of the most singular and extravagant imaginations of the twentieth century, the novelist and essayist Georges Perec was a true original who delighted in wordplay, puzzles, taxonomies and...

Stuff I've Been Reading by Nick Hornby - the bestselling novelist's rich, witty and inspiring reading diary'Read what you enjoy, not what bores you,' Nick Hornby tells us. And in this new collection of his columns from the Believer magazine he shows us...

'A searing, triumphant story. A testament to the tenacity of the human spirit as well as a beautiful ode to an iconic figure' IRENOSEN OKOJIE Letters to Gil is...

This volume is an in-depth and exquisitely illustrated guide to the Second Age of Middle-earth, one of the least-explored periods of Arda's history.The Illustrated World of Tolkien: The Second Age, is the follow up companion to the best-selling The...

The Oxford English Literary History is the new century's definitive account of a rich and diverse literary heritage that stretches back for a millennium and more. Each of these thirteen groundbreaking volumes offers a leading scholar's considered...

From the acclaimed author of The Most Dangerous Book, the incredible true story behind the creation of a masterpiece of world literature, Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and PunishmentIn the summer of 1865, the former exile Dostoevsky found himself trapped in...

Beginning with a dilemma about whether he spends more money on reading or smoking, George Orwell's entertaining and uncompromising essays go on to explore everything from the perils of second-hand bookshops to the dubious profession of being a critic,...

Since the 1960s, Charles Chadwyck-Healey has been at the forefront of library publishing and the company he founded in 1973 remains a familiar brand name to academic libraries around the world. In this wide ranging book, Chadwyck-Healey charts his...

In Marx's Literary Style, the Venezuelan poet and philosopher Ludovico Silva argues that much of the confusion around Marx's work results from a failure to understand his literary mode of expression. Through meticulous readings of key passages in Marx's...

A copiously illustrated global history of magic books, from ancient papyri to pulp paperbacks "A beautiful production: a typographic and calligraphic treat as treasurable as a rare magical text itself. Almost every page is filled with wonder."-Suzi...

'The professor, the critic and the novelist work in harmony to provide a valuable tutorial on modern fiction' ObserverHow does the novel represent human consciousness on the page?In eleven sparkling essays on some of the great novelists of the last 200...

What can Alice in Wonderland teach us about childhood? Could reading Conversations with Friends guide us through first love? Does Esther Greenwood's glittering success and subsequent collapse in The Bell Jar help us understand ambition? And, finally,...

Paper Knowledge is a remarkable book about the mundane: the library card, the promissory note, the movie ticket, the PDF (Portable Document Format). It is a media history of the document. Drawing examples from the 1870s, the 1930s, the 1960s, and today,...

Enjoy daily distraction with this engaging Almanac. Each date is assigned one or more literary connections. Book lovers will find extracts from authors' diaries and letters, chance upon the narrative twists and transformative moments in their favourite...

A SPECTATOR AND EVENING STANDARD BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020'A joy. Each chapter instantly became my favourite' David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas'Wonderful' Lucy Mangan'The right book has a neverendingness, and so does the right bookshop.'This is the story...

A beautiful celebratory tribute to the powers of one of our most undervalued skills - an ideal gift for the avid reader. 'What you are doing right now is, cosmically speaking, against the odds.' As young children, we are taught to read, but soon go...

A far-ranging, invigorating and irrepressible collection of essays on literature, cinema, art - and everything in between - from the MAN BOOKER PRIZE- and WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED author of Feel Free and Swing Time'Alarmingly good' Metro'Striding with...

This important work, first published in 1934, is a concise statement of Pound's aesthetic theory. It is a primer for the reader who wants to maintain an active, critical mind and become increasingly sensitive to the beauty and inspiration of the world's...

You've Got Mail meets The Proposal-this romance is one for the books.Savannah Cade's dreams are coming true. The Claire Donovan, editor-in-chief of the most successful romance publishing company in the country, has requested to see the manuscript...

This is a book of book lists. Not of the '1,001 Books You MUST Read Before You Die' variety but lists that tell stories. Lists that make you smile, make you wonder, and see titles together in entirely new ways. From Bin Laden's bookshelf to the books...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780358212102Author Ursula K Le GuinFormat PaperbackPage Count 336Imprint Harper PerennialPublisher Harper PerennialWeight(grams) 259gDimensions(mm) 201mm *...

In 14 original essays, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Book reveals the history of books in all their various forms, from the ancient world to the digital present. Leading international scholars offer an original and richly illustrated narrative...

A clear-sighted and entertaining defence of literary realism, and an account of its key practitioners Realist fiction is one of the most enduring artforms history has ever witnessed. By describing the intricate inner life of its characters, or widening...

Michael McKeon, author of The Origins of the English Novel, 1600-1740, here assembles a collection of influential essays on the theory of the novel. Carefully chosen selections from Frye, Benjamin, Levi-Strauss, Lukacs, Bakhtin, and other prominent...

A uniquely personal account of the life and enduring legacy of the Renaissance libraryWith the advent of print in the fifteenth century, Europe's cultural elite assembled personal libraries as refuges from persecutions and pandemics. Andrew Hui tells the...

A sense of certainty and unhesitating confidence is rare in the contemporary world. An unrelenting flow of choices confronts us at nearly every moment of our lives, and if we are honest about it then most of us will admit that we waver in the face of...

Who had birds called Death, Wigs and Spinach? How do you spell the noise of a door slamming? Whose working title was The Chronic Argonauts?Henry Eliot - author, editor and insatiable bookworm - has ransacked the libraries and archives of world...

A darkly comic and moving reflection on what it means to be human in a world where nothing is certain, from the award-winning Oxford professor'The best book about multiple sclerosis'THE TIMES'An outstanding feat'SUNDAY TIMESWe all have trapdoors in our...

Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-FictionLonglisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing'If you have even the slightest interest in Orwell or in the development of our culture, you should not miss this engrossing, enlightening book.'...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781451696325Author Phillip LopateFormat PaperbackPage Count 240Imprint Simon & SchusterPublisher Simon & SchusterWeight(grams) 181gDimensions(mm) 211mm *...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780804171632Author Peter MendelsundFormat PaperbackPage Count 448Imprint Vintage BooksPublisher Random House USA IncWeight(grams) 510gDimensions(mm) 198mm *...

Inventing Scrooge uncovers the real-life inspirations from Charles Dickens' own world that led to the fascinating creation of his most beloved tale: A Christmas Carol.When Charles Dickens created the story that would become A Christmas Carol, little did...

'Words connect the visible track to the invisible thing ... like a fragile makeshift bridge cast across the void'With imagination and wit, Italo Calvino sought to define the virtues of the great literature of the past in order to shape the values of...

"The ultimate literary bucket list." -The Washington Post "If there's a heaven just for readers, this is it." -O, The Oprah Magazine Celebrate the pleasure of reading and the thrill of discovering new titles in an extraordinary book that's as...

Beginning with new evidence that cites the presence of books in Roman villas and concluding with present day vicissitudes of collecting, this generously illustrated book presents a complete survey of British and Irish country house libraries. Replete...

Should you finish every book you start?How has your family influenced the way you read?What is literary style?How is the Nobel Prize like the World Cup?Why do you hate the book your friend likes?Is writing really just like any other job?What happens to...

'Generous, enjoyable and well informed.' Observer'500 expertly potted plots and personal comments on a wide range of pop and proper prose fiction.' The Times___________________________________________________________Ranging all the way from Aaron's Rod...

The era of the printed book is at a crossroad. E-readers are flooding the market, books are available to read on cell phones, and companies such as Google, Amazon, and Apple are competing to command near monopolistic positions as sellers and dispensers...

This book is about the Old Norse god Odin. It includes references to all occurrences of Odin in the Old Norse/Icelandic texts, including Saxo’s Gesta Danorum, the eddic poems, Snorri’s Edda, and Ynglinga saga and analyses the high medieval reception and...