Comments from a reader of 'Past Present Tense' (now known as Life's a Mess... and Then You Die! "Good pace. Takes its time to reflect in

The book begins with the statement “These stories of allotment life draw on the author’s own experiences as an allotment gardener of over 30

27 short poems - and almost every one jumped off the page at me! I’m a lapsed musician so ‘The Bass’ spoke to me, especially the final

This is the first of Peter’s short story books published under the title of ‘Light Reading’ - but is the second I have read. How typical o

I have heard Peter McGeehan read his work in person on a great many occasions, and his touching and humorous short stories are always w

I love books like this. They basically buy into what I’ve always felt - that work and play are seriously allied. Work is best when seen as

‘Get Rich Blogging’ by Zoe Griffin is a chunky paperback book by a Sunday Mirror former showbiz gossip columnist which is touted as the only

This book is a million-copy bestseller which is described on its front cover as ‘warm, funny… unbearably moving’ – and, having been...

Form Smith’s novel was printed in two versions, identical but for the order of the two stories which it contains. Which of the novel’s...

1. How did you respond to the novel? To what extent does it correspond to your own preconceptions or preferences in terms of genre, plot,...

This is perhaps the most stylistically distinct book on the reading list. The novel’s typical sentence structure is unlike any others in...

Make a list of the novel's strengths and weaknesses. What might you learn, in your own writing, from the strengths? How would you handle...

I’d like to begin the discussion by thinking about style. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is notable for its use of dramatic monologue. This...

‘I’ve always been drawn to novels with complicated structures, richly textured stories that don’t reveal everything at first glance.’ –...

Much of the novel discusses language, and the differences between Z’s native language and that of her host culture. Were these conflicts...

Sahota’s novel is perhaps less stylistically innovative than some of the other novels we’ve read on the unit. How did you respond to his...

The crux of Dale’s message is that we should all discover who we are – and must become or remain that person. In his thinking, not being...

As a person who experiences the usual amount of highs and lows, mood-wise, I’ve learned how to help myself when times are hard. And this...

As I now run a creative business, as a book publisher and author, and as I also have some experience of being self employed as a...

Christmas Concert of Kadenza Women’s Choir at St John’s Methodist Church in Horwich, on the 15th December, 2018. Of course, I was...