'Past Present Tense' (Life's a Mess) - Brilliant Review Comments
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
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Lesley Atherton
Jan 26, 20212 min read
Review of 'Tales from the Plots' by David Jackson
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
Lesley Atherton
Jan 26, 20211 min read
Review of 'Caging the Stars' by David Jackson
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
Lesley Atherton
Jan 26, 20212 min read
Review of Light Reading Stories, Vol 1' by Peter McGeehan
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
Lesley Atherton
Jan 26, 20212 min read
Review of 'Light Reading Stories, Vol 2' by Peter McGeehan
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
Lesley Atherton
Jan 26, 20213 min read
Review of 'Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play' by Mark Foister
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
Lesley Atherton
Jan 26, 20213 min read
Review of 'Get Rich Blogging' (by Zoe Griffin from 'Live Like a VIP'
‘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
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Jan 26, 20212 min read
Review of 'A Man Called Ove' by Fredrik Backman
This book is a million-copy bestseller which is described on its front cover as ‘warm, funny… unbearably moving’ – and, having been...
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Jan 26, 20216 min read
Review of 'How to be Both' by Ali Smith
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...
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Jan 26, 202110 min read
Review of 'NW' by Zadie Smith
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,...
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Jan 26, 20219 min read
Review of 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy
This is perhaps the most stylistically distinct book on the reading list. The novel’s typical sentence structure is unlike any others in...
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Jan 26, 20219 min read
Review of 'The Heart Goes Last' by Margaret Attwood
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...
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Jan 26, 202110 min read
Review of 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' by Moshin Hamid
I’d like to begin the discussion by thinking about style. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is notable for its use of dramatic monologue. This...
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Jan 26, 20217 min read
Review of 'The Harmony Silk Factory' by Tash Aw
‘I’ve always been drawn to novels with complicated structures, richly textured stories that don’t reveal everything at first glance.’ –...
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Jan 26, 20218 min read
Review of 'A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (by Xiaolu Guo)
Much of the novel discusses language, and the differences between Z’s native language and that of her host culture. Were these conflicts...
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Jan 26, 20219 min read
Review of 'The Year of the Runaways (by Sunjeev Sahota)
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...
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Jan 26, 20213 min read
Review of 'How to Enjoy Your Life and Your Job' by Dale Carnegie
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...
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Jan 26, 20212 min read
Review of 'The Good Mood Guide' by Ros and Jeremy Holmes
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...
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Jan 26, 20212 min read
Review of 'Craft a Creative Business' by Fiona Pullen
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...
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Jan 26, 20213 min read
Kadenza Women's Choir Christmas Concert
Christmas Concert of Kadenza Women’s Choir at St John’s Methodist Church in Horwich, on the 15th December, 2018. Of course, I was...
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