An Editor’s Notes on Writing and Writers by Terry McDonell Reviewed for New York Journal of Books by Stevie Godson  Here’s an irony: If ever a book title needed editing, it could be the one on the cover of award-winning American editor Terry McDonell’s new book. The Accidental Life it’s called—An Editor’s Notes on Writing and Writers . [...]

CLOSE the curtains and crack out the crayons – colouring-in for grown-ups is on its way. Why the closed curtains? Well, you probably wouldn’t want the neighbours to see what you’re doing, would you? I first came across the phenomenon a couple of months ago after discovering that specially designed adult colouring-in books were selling [...]

IT BEGAN in the most unlikely way, my search for aptronyms. It was during the course of an animated cyber squabble some time ago about genetically modified produce. The “debate”, between a few like-minded journalists (myself included) and a large national retail chain, raged around certain social media websites for a while. Furious posts filled [...]

LUCKY me. I’ve really hit the jackpot when it comes to internet competitions – especially on Twitter. Over the course of a couple of years, my loot has included such treasures as a hefty two and a half kilogram Chambers Dictionary; and Scar Tissue, the award-winning memoir of Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis [...]

… by Joanna Rakoff Reviewed for New York Journal of Books by Stevie Godson   NEW York in the mid-1990s—not a bad place to be for a young woman with writerly aspirations, especially one who’s found work at one of the city’s many literary agencies. It was Joanna Rakoff’s dream job. “. . . there [...]

ARE you true to type? There’s a quick way to find out, apparently, and that’s to check what font you use when you’re bashing away at your keyboard – as most of us do these days, even if it’s only for e-mails. Handwriting used to be the giveaway. Some cutting-edge companies even hired handwriting analysts [...]

… by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson and James Harkin Reviewed for New York Journal of Books by Stevie Godson 1,227 Quite Interesting Facts to Blow Your Socks Off is a book reviewer’s nightmare. With no real  structure, apart from an index “to help you find your favourite bits”, it’s just a string of odd information [...]

I WAS feeling pretty down the other day. In fact, on a scale of 1 to Adele, I was truly miserable. Unlike the angst-ridden singer, for me it wasn’t a case of love gone wrong, though. It was far worse – I’d been beaten by a word. That doesn’t happen to me very often. Actually, [...]

… by Edward Kelsey Moore Reviewed for NewYork Journal of Books by Stevie Godson A CLUTCH of husbands, wayward and otherwise, a vicious small-town bigot, and even a couple of benign ghosts – including a most unladylike Eleanor Roosevelt – are among the characters who inhabit the pages of professional cellist Edward Kelsey Moore’s enchanting debut novel. [...]