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Advantages: Fascinating window into another's life; pleasant prose style
Disadvantages: Helps to have read the books; feels like publishers' sociopolitical agenda

...same day that I finished Reading Lolita in Tehran, I had noticed a small leaflet pasted to the clear plastic of the bus-stop outside my home, a short walk from London's Central Mosque. It called for Muslims to join a protest outside 10 Downing Street against the West's gross misrepresentation of Islam in the media, in the attack on the faith that has stemmed from the hysterical reaction to the actions of extremists. And it's undeniable that now must ...
...but would I even be reading it if not for the current climate of fear and suspicion around Islam? If not for America's defensive need to know that the lifestyle of its citizens is so much better than that of the countries of the Middle East? Perhaps not, but then I should consider myself lucky, for if not for the sensationalistic aspects surrounding this book's release, I would perhaps never have heard of it. And I must state that it was primarily ... Read review

Advantages: Enthusiastic, original, varied, personal
Disadvantages: Has a tendency to scary zeal and sometimes pointless trivia

This lovely little volume is a collection of essays about books and reading - not just generalisations but astute observations of bookish behaviour and explorations of deeply personal habits and experiences, such as the awesome feeling of reading with her partner by the Grand Canyon, and the way couples have to reluctantly compromise in the eventual merging of their book collections when they move in together. I bought it on discovering that it was ...
...Addict's Treasury' (Lynda Murphy and Julie Rugg - definitely recommended!), a charming compendium of extracts about books and reading. It is very enjoyable, and book lovers will surely recognise themselves in its pages, but on the downside it is very obviously written by an over-enthusiastic American, sometimes slipping into exaggerated self-righteousness and almost religious fervour and enthusiasm, which is offputting. All kinds of bookish behaviour ... Read review

Advantages: -
Disadvantages: -

In the realms of historical detective work, one area that seems to require no further publications is the search for King Arthur. Even for those who have read enough to be able to distinguish between the mass of medievals myth and propaganda and the slim collection of realistic Dark Age references, probably feel that they have heard all of the arguments. I thought the same. Well if the above passage sums up your feelings on the matter, then Holy ...
...hinder a search for Arthur, the medieval romances, Lancelot and Camelot, Morganna and the Holy Grail, the authors have re-assembled the basic pieces into a convincing, and ultimately, possible version of events. Once that is thrown away, all the Hollywood frippery that has crept into the subconsious, they were able to start the search again, unbiased by later invention. Using previously untapped medieval Welsh texts, The Llandaff Charters, the authors ... Read review

Advantages: More convincing than Von Daniken
Disadvantages: still a bit off the wall

Gods of the New Millenium starts off with a disclaimer, that is that the whole basis of the book is not drawn from original ideas. In the seventies an author called Zecharia Sitchin put the original argument forward and Alford, in this book, has re-offered these ideas and expanded upon them due to his own research. He starts with an interesting challenge to what we currently think we know, and it runs like this. Which of the following is myth and ...
...creation of mankind by the gods at Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. He then goes on to show that all three sit on really shakey ground and can all be regarded as myth. The word "Myth" then undergoes a re-evaluation and emerges as something a bit more wholesome than what the word currently conjours up. With certain paradigms and definitions re-examined we are armed with enough weaponary to dive into the "facts" . As stated above the book is based on the ... Read review

Advantages: Fascinating concepts / lots of useful stuff
Disadvantages: For a very specialist audience

...most people would rather wrestle a rabid wombat than read an op about Critical Theory. As a result, and in order to protect the wild and secret wombat population of the UK, my ethics leave me no choice but to write this very op that you are now wishing you had never started to read in the first place. ~WHY CRITICAL THEORY?~ This book was compiled as a central text for the MA in Critical Theory at Manchester Metropolitan University. Since this was ...
...one of the editors and a well-known figure in the field of LitCrit, taught on the course but was taken ill in my second year and sadly died a short while later. This was probably NOT due to Critical Theory so please read on – you are quite safe. ~WHAT?~ Before I proceed, I should try to explain what Critical Theory actually is. Well, in the further corners of the field of Science lurks a group of pasty individuals with sweaty palms and eyes ... Read review