by Lee Cross Broadly speaking we, as bookworms, should be willing to attempt to read any book once. Realistically, that’s just not possible, we only have so much time and we’re always going to make value judgments on how to spend our most precious commodity – reading time. Back when I was a teenager and … Continue reading What it Takes to Read a Book Twice

by Lee Cross What does Groundhog Day mean to you? To me, it’s the day that a self-obsessed weather-man, has to live over and over again, until he comes to realize the flaws within himself, and ultimately finds a form of redemption. Apparently though, Groundhog Day is a real thing (something I’m not entirely sure … Continue reading The Morning After Groundhog’s Day

by Lee Cross So, I’m currently in the middle of sitting a load of professional qualifications [don’t worry I’m not going to blog about that; trust me when I say, that the only person who cares less about them, than you do; is me], which is thrilling – well as thrilling as Oliver Stone’s DVD … Continue reading Leopold Broom Investigates: Why I Hate Textbooks

by Regina Kenney I want to share my favourite literature smackdowns of all time. William Butler Yeats was hopelessly in love with a phenomenal woman named Maud Gonne. He pursued her relentlessly and asked to marry her many times. Many of Yeats' poems were inspired by Gonne including, "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven", … Continue reading Best Literature Smackdown: Maud Gonne’s Response to William Butler Yeats

by Lee Cross Once upon a time, there was a modestly budgeted movie (well relatively, it’s pretty messed up that tens of millions of dollars isn’t considered to be that much… but it isn’t) called Ironman. It was a movie about a self-obsessed billionaire, acting like a self-obsessed billionaire. Well, that’s one way of looking … Continue reading 4 Literature Gems Just Waiting to Become Shared-Universe Movie Franchises

by Simon Critchlow  The baroque period is generally considered as being from around 1650-1750 and the classical period from around 1750-1830. To illustrate the changes in style between these two periods, I’ve chosen two pieces by the titans of each era: J.S. Bach in the Baroque corner and Mozart in the Classical corner. The two … Continue reading What is the difference between Baroque and Classical Music?

The mysterious mystery of the missing mysteries. [Working Title] by Lee Cross Chapter One – A case of the terrifyingly obvious.   “Rain, rain go away, and come back another day”, wouldn’t the weather broadcast on television be a lot more interesting if it had information like that on it. “Red sky at night, Shepherd’s … Continue reading The Mysterious Mystery of the Missing Mysteries

by Lee Cross I’m at the airport in Amsterdam now, just on my way home; I’m rather tired, and looking forward to getting home to my own bed… so this will be a short blog. If you’ve never been to Amsterdam, you’ll be surprised by the number of bookshops there are… you can pretty quickly … Continue reading Book Hunting in Amsterdam (A Bookworm’s Holiday, Part 4)

by Lee Cross Right about now the high street is doing its annual ramp up, and the bookshops are no exception. One glance at the shelves is enough to tell you that pretty much every big-ticket thriller writer has a book out, and if you take a closer look you’ll notice a few of the … Continue reading 17 Books That Make Perfect Christmas Presents For The Bookworm In Your Life