Author: Colin Marks
-
Review: Rewrite Right! : Your Guide to Perfectly Polished Prose: 2nd Edition
Rewrite Right! : Your Guide to Perfectly Polished Prose: 2nd Edition by Jan Venolia My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’ve been reading this book on and off for over a decade. I bought it as a single man, living in Boston, Mass., and finished it with my second child soon to be born, back…
-
Review: The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse by Alison Moore My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is my second read of the 2012 Booker Prize short list. The first, Swimming Home, didn’t grab me. The Lighthouse, like Swimming Home, is sparse and jagged, with tight writing that sometimes felt too jarring. The story follows two characters: Futh, recently kicked…
-
Review: Swimming Home
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is the first Man Booker short-listed book that I struggled with (bare in mind I haven’t read Will Self’s Umbrella which I’m expecting to be the second). More of a novella that a novel, the clunky text, maybe to contrast against the poet’s…
-
Review: Atonement
Atonement by Ian McEwan My rating: 3 of 5 stars I struggled with this book, almost laying it to rest on at least a couple of occasions. The prose was so bloated in the first one hundred pages, paragraphs of nothingness spanning multiple pages, that it became a chore to read. Several friends suggested I…
-
Review: I am Legend and Other Stories
I am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I read this book on honeymoon, nice romantic writing 🙂 ‘I am Legend’ is a great story, though unusually I did prefer the film version. The short stories tagged onto the end were mostly disappointing and didn’t add anything, other…
-
Review: Writing the Breakout Novel
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass My rating: 5 of 5 stars Aside from overusing the word ‘breakout’ (it appears pretty much in every other sentence), Donald Maas has written a very readable book on how to construct a novel. He focuses on the themes that make a book engaging, such as the sympathetic…
-
Review: The Night Circus
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern My rating: 5 of 5 stars Fantastic book. Brilliant imagery and great story telling, highly recommended. View all my reviews
-
Review: On Writing
On Writing by Stephen King My rating: 4 of 5 stars Stephen King is very good at what he does. And what he does, is write. I’ve read his books for the past thirty or so years and have always loved his style. His novels are imaginative and his prose is tight, understandable given he…
-
Review: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is an excellent book, with brilliant examples to stress the clearly stated points and end-of-chapter exercises to ensure all the points have been grasped. The best writing book I’ve bought! View all my reviews
-
Review: The Heather Blazing
The Heather Blazing by Colm Tóibín My rating: 4 of 5 stars Colm Toibin’s ‘The Heather Blazing’ is a masterclass in understated prose. The book follows the High Court judge Eamon Redmond, with flashbacks to his early years. The writing is sparse, lacking any emotion, mimicking Eamon’s state of mind, despite several key events in…