Books & Reading

In The Nature of the Book, a tour de force of cultural history, Adrian Johns constructs an entirely original and vivid picture of print culture and its many arenas-commercial, intellectual, political, and individual."A compelling exposition of how...

A dazzling biography of two interwoven, tragic lives: John Keats and F. Scott Fitzgerald. 'Highly engaging ... Go now, read this book' THE TIMES 'For awhile after you quit Keats,' Fitzgerald once wrote,...

A fascinating, richly illustrated exploration of the poignant origins of Rudyard Kipling's world-famous children's classic"In this concise and remarkable book . . . Batchelor guides us expertly . . . drawing on multiple sources and making intriguing...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781528719216Author George OrwellFormat PaperbackPage Count 306Imprint Read BooksPublisher Read BooksWeight(grams) 392gDimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 18mm

In an age of globalization characterized by the dizzying technologies of the First World, and the social disintegration of the Third, is the concept of utopia still meaningful? Archaeologies of the Future, Jameson's most substantial work since...

"The Art of Fiction" is essential, thoroughly entertaining reading for writers, students and anyone who wants to understand how literature works. The articles by David Lodge, which first appeared in the "Independent on Sunday", are expanded here and...

A groundbreaking study of the fascinating, yet largely unknown world of books in the first great age of print, 1450-1600 The dawn of print was a major turning point in the early modern world. It rescued ancient learning from obscurity, transformed...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781632461544Author Lucy FerrissFormat PaperbackPage Count 160Imprint Ig PublishingPublisher Ig Publishing

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780062720733Author Clifton FadimanFormat PaperbackPage Count 400Imprint HarperCollinsPublisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781597523141Author Dr Leland RykenFormat PaperbackPage Count 284Imprint Wipf & Stock PublishersPublisher Wipf & Stock PublishersWeight(grams)...

A century and a half after the publication of Origin of Species, evolutionary thinking has expanded beyond the field of biology to include virtually all human-related subjects-anthropology, archeology, psychology, economics, religion, morality, politics,...

For a whole year on his train to work, Stig Abell read books from across genres and time periods. Then he wrote about them, and their impact on our culture and his own life.The result is a work of many things: a brisk guide to the canon of Western...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780544002340Author Instructor Jonathan GottschallFormat PaperbackPage Count 272Imprint Mariner BooksPublisher Mariner BooksWeight(grams) 218gDimensions(mm)...

Ever since Robinson Crusoe in 1719, the novel has introduced British readers to truly unforgettable characters - people in whom we can find deeper understanding of our own lives. In this engaging and personal book, Sebastian Faulks examines and...

'A rich, strange book. Very truthful and moving' Tessa Hadley 'A terrific, engrossing novel' Roddy Doyle 'A masterpiece' Sebastian Barry The new novel about the transformative power of art,...

A vivid exploration of the evolution of reading as an essential social and domestic activity during the eighteenth century Two centuries before the advent of radio, television, and motion pictures, books were a cherished form of popular entertainment and...

The emergence of the book was not merely an event of world historical importance, but the dawn of modernity. In this much praised work, Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin mesh together economic and technological history, sociology and anthropology, with...

How ordinary forms of writing-including manuals, petitions, almanacs, and magazines-shaped the way colonial subjects understood their place in empire In Required Reading, Priyasha Mukhopadhyay offers a new and provocative history of reading that centers...

In this third Why I Write volume, Eileen Myles addresses the social, political, and aesthetic conditions that shape their work "A sharply etched, unvarnished self-portrait."-Kirkus Reviews "[Myles] has a good time journeying through Hell, and like a...

Close friendships are a heart-warming feature of many of our best-loved works of fiction. From Jane Eyre and Helen Burns' poignant schoolgirl relationship to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn's adventures on the Mississippi, fictional friends have...

Is reading under threat? No, says Alan Jacobs--but people do need help iand encouragemnt to enjoy it to the full. Jacobs's experience as a lecturer and many-time author suggests that many readers lack confidence; they wonder whether they are reading...

From Pierre de Fermat to Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Graham Greene, readers have related to books through the notes they write in the margins. In this pioneering book-the first to examine the phenomenon of marginalia-H.J. Jackson surveys an extraordinary...

From a celebrated critic, a heartfelt and adventurous reflection on the art of writing about art “Essential for fans of Marcus and fruitful reading for anyone reflecting on the mysteries of art.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Writers write. They...

Exploring the archives of the Man Booker prize-winning novelist Julian Barnes - including notebooks, drafts, typescripts and publishing correspondence - this book is an extraordinary in-depth study of the creative practice of a major contemporary...

Why read non-fiction? Is it just to find things out? Or is it for pleasure, challenge, adventure, meaning? Here, in seventy new pieces, some of the most original writers and thinkers of our time give their answers.From Hilton Als on reading as writing's...

The books that we choose to keep--let alone read--can say a lot about who we are and how we see ourselves. In MY IDEAL BOOKSHELF, dozens of leading cultural figures share the books that matter to them most-books that define their dreams and ambitions and...

What is the source of a book's perceived greatness and why do certain books become part of the accepted canon? This book presents a fresh perspective on these questions: against prevalent approaches, it explains a work's reputation in terms of its...

Tracing the developing modernist aesthetic in the thought and writings of James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson and Virginia Woolf, Deborah Parsons considers the cultural, social and personal influences upon the three writers. Exploring the connections between...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781416571223Author Sarah WendellFormat PaperbackPage Count 294Imprint Simon Spotlight EntertainmentPublisher Simon & SchusterWeight(grams) 268g

Around 2000, people began to believe that books were on verge of extinction. Their obsolescence, in turn, was expected to doom the habits of mind that longform print had once prompted: the capacity to follow a demanding idea from start to finish, to look...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781907471667Author Farah & James, Edward MendlesohnFormat PaperbackPage Count 296Imprint Libri PublishingPublisher Libri Publishing

Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in CriticismShortlisted for the Christian Gauss Award, Phi Beta Kappa SocietyA history of the chapter from its origins in antiquity to todayWhy do books have chapters? With this seemingly simple...

In the first days of spring in his eighty-second year, Gerald Murnane - perhaps the greatest living writer of English prose - began a project that would round off his strange career as a novelist. He would read all of his books in turn and prepare a...

Since its publication in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye has been a cultural phenomenon, not only as an assigned text for English courses, but as a touchstone for generations of alienated youth. As the focus of recent major films and a successful...

The Literary Agenda is a series of short polemical monographs about the importance of literature and of reading in the wider world and about the state of literary education inside schools and universities. The category of 'the literary' has always been...

Why do some surprises delight-the endings of Agatha Christie novels, films like The Sixth Sense, the flash awareness that Pip's benefactor is not (and never was!) Miss Havisham? Writing at the intersection of cognitive science and narrative pleasure,...

Much ink has been spilled lamenting or championing the decline of printed books. In Book Was There, Andrew Piper shows that the rich history of reading itself offers unexpected clues to what lies in store for books - print or digital. From medieval...

Reading, like any human activity, has a history. Modern reading is a silent and solitary activity. Ancient reading was usually oral, either aloud, in groups, or individually, in a muffled voice. The text format in which thought has been presented to...

For avid readers and the uninitiated alike, this is a chance to reengage with classic literature and to stay inspired and entertained.The concept of the magazine is simple: the first half is a long-form interview with a notable book fanatic and the...

The perfect gift for book-loving friends and family, 50 Books to Read If You're an Armchair Detective will provide lots of inspiration for fans of cosy crime to discover lesser known books and revisit forgotten classics. Whether you're a Richard Osman...