Reviews
The inspiration for this page comes from the fact that it has been said that to be a good writer, one has to have read at least 1000 books. Likewise, to be a good storyteller, it is perhaps necessary to read 1000 stories. I would like to go further than just reading – I think that reading a story alone is not enough. One has to analyse it, review it and be able to critically appraise a story. This, then, will be the aim of this column but with an emphasis on all manner of storytelling. With that in mind, certain things need to be pointed out:
- As this website caters for storytellers, this column will feature all manner of storytelling.
- We accept reviews written by other storytellers as well. Please note that we do not pay for reviews.
- There is no specific genre of stories reviewed here.
If you’d still like us to publish a review you’ve written, please send an email to editor @ howtotellagreatstory.com
Friday, 28 September 2012 20:10
Nothing But Blue Skies by Timothy James Keogh
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
Nothing But Blue SkiesBy Timothy James KeoghPaperback: 160 pagesPublisher: Keoboy Publications (July 1, 2009)ISBN-10: 0956288103ISBN-13: 978-0956288103 Mancunian from the start, Middletonian since the Princess Royal’s first wedding day, with undeniable Sky Blue affiliations if too severely put to the test by Sky Reds of little brain, I confess to reading at one sitting Nothing but Blue Skies ISBN 9780956288103 an autobiographical romp by Tim Keogh, erstwhile Middletonian, nowadays Chaddertonian, whose life, love – indeed, very raison d’etre these 40 years past (’twould seem) has been a professional Soccer team that turns out in a blue and white strip at its…
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Friday, 28 September 2012 20:05
Manchester United - Man and Babe by Wilf McGuinness and Ivan Ponting
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
Manchester United – Man and BabeBy Wilf McGuinness and Ivan PontingHardcover: 272 pagesPublisher: Pitch Publishing (October 1, 2008)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1848185030ISBN-13: 978-1848185036 With a generously bubbly 1200 word Foreword penned by the author’s good friend and former team mate, Sir Bobby Charlton, and no fewer than 140-plus photographs within its 316 page format, it is quite unbelievable that, 14 months on from its original publication date in October 2008, Manchester United Man and Babe, the long-awaited autobiography of Wilf McGuinness of Man U and England, has received nary a mention in the local or regional press. Because there must be thousands…
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Friday, 28 September 2012 20:01
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
The Devil Wears PradaBy Lauren WeisbergerPaperback: 368 pagesPublisher: Broadway (April 13, 2004)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0767914767ISBN-13: 978-0767914765 At 448 pages, The Devil Wears Prada is an enormous novel. A work of fiction, and, perhaps, chick-lit, it is a story about a young woman, Andrea Sachs (‘Andy’) who has recently graduated from college and stumbles into the hectic world of high fashion and publishing at ‘Runway’, a prestigious fashion journal. Her job is to be the second assistant editor to Miranda Priestly. Miranda turns out to be a diva and is hell to work with and for. Inside the book, it is stated…
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Friday, 28 September 2012 19:56
Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst DogBy John GroganHardcover: 466 pagesPublisher: William Morrow; 1ST edition (2005)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0739461192ISBN-13: 978-0739461198 If you’d like to laugh, cry and be entertained all at once, this memoir is the book for you. John Grogan, a journalist, tells a tale about his dog and, on the back cover of this book, it is stated as follows: John and Jenny were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a puppy – and their…
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Friday, 28 September 2012 19:43
The Old Man & The Monkey: The story of a friendship by George Polley
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
The Old Man & The Monkey: The story of a friendshipBy George PolleyPaperback: 60 pagesPublisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 25, 2010)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1451543778ISBN-13: 978-1451543773 This work of fiction opens with this paragraph: In a small park near one of the rivers in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, there is a bronze statue of an old man and a monkey seated side by side on a broad flat stone looking out over the river and the mountains. The monkey is bigger than ordinary snow monkeys; the top of his head reaches to the old man’s shoulder. Looking at the bags under his eyes,…
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Monday, 24 September 2012 18:00
The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing by Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
The Slippery Art of Book ReviewingBy Mayra Calvani and Anne K. EdwardsPaperbackPublisher: Twilight Times Books; First Edition edition (2008)Language: EnglishASIN: B0064GADLU Have you read a review and wondered whether it is good or bad? Have you ever wanted to venture into writing reviews but don’t know how to begin? Are you wary of writing a review and having publishers think that it might be too amateurish for them to consider publishing? Well, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing answers these questions and so much more. A website has been created to feature this book: http://www.slipperybookreview.wordpress.com/ On it, you can view…
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Sam’s StoryBy Elmo JayawardenaPaperback: 181 pagesPublisher: TimesEditions (January 2004)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 9812327746ISBN-13: 978-9812327741 When I started to write this review, I realised that this is the third review about book that has, as a central character, a houseboy – the first was Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the second was Reef by Romesh Gunesekera. On this website, http://www.samsstory.per.sg/main.htm, a synopsis of the story reveals that Sam’s Story is a story set in the year 2001. It is the tale of Sam, ‘raised in a tiny village too remote for maps, brought to work in Colombo as…
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ReefBy Romesh GunesekeraPaperback: 192 pagesPublisher: Riverhead Trade (February 1, 1996)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1573225339ISBN-13: 978-1573225335 Right at the very end of my copy of Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I read that one of the novels the author liked was Reef by Romesh Gunesekera. I decided I would re-read this book. Reef is not a difficult book to read for it is small in size. On this website, this is the description given for this book: Reef is a love story set in a spoiled paradise. It is told by Triton, who at the age of eleven goes…
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Golden Chariotby Chris KarlsenPublisher: Books to Go Now (March 14, 2012)Sold by: Amazon Digital ServicesLanguage: EnglishASIN: B007KNLC02 Talented author Chris Karslen has written an action-packed adventure story set in exotic Turkey that will be relished by fans of underwater archaeology and lost treasures. Our feisty protagonist, Charlotte Dashiell, is about to complete her doctorate in nautical archaeology. She travels to Bodrum, Turkey, to start a new excavation for the Maritime Institute of Archaeology and Research. In fact, she’s there to investigate a wreck possibly associated with Troy. This is her dream come true, as she’s always wanted to focus her…
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The Power of NowBy Eckhart TollePaperback: 224 pagesPublisher: New World Library; 1ST edition (August 19, 2004)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1577314808ISBN-13: 978-1577314806 In the middle of last year (2008), I was given this book together with Practising the Power of Now. The author provides an excellent explanation as to why it’s taken me so long to finish reading this book and also write this review; in the Introduction, he writes: The pause symbol [elongated ‘s’] after certain passages is a suggestion that you may want to stop reading for a moment, become still, and feel and experience the truth of what has just…
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Monday, 24 September 2012 13:37
The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
The Marriage Bureau for Rich PeopleBy Farahad ZamaFile Size: 438 KBPrint Length: 316 pagesPage Numbers Source ISBN: 0399155589Publisher: Berkley; 1 edition (June 11, 2009)Language: EnglishASIN: B0028T82M4 Sometime in November last year (2008), a friend of mine recommended that I read this book. I bought it and finished reading it in a day. The blurb on the back cover of the book states as follows: What does somebody with a wealth of common sense do if retirement palls?Why, open a marriage bureau, of course. And soon Mr. Ali, from beautiful Vizag in South India, sees his new business flourish as the…
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Monday, 24 September 2012 13:30
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
Half of a Yellow SunBy Chimamanda Ngozi AdichiePaperback: 543 pagesPublisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (September 4, 2007)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1400095204ISBN-13: 978-1400095209 On the back cover this work of fiction, the blurb provides the following description of the story: ‘In the 1960s Nigeria, a county blighted by civil war, three lives intersect. Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, works as a houseboy for a university lecturer. Olanna, a young woman, has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos to live with her charismatic new lover, the professor. The third is Richard, a shy Englishman in thrall to Olanna’s enigmatic twin sister. When…
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Monday, 24 September 2012 13:25
The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-TimeBy Mark HaddonPaperback: 226 pagesPublisher: Vintage (May 18, 2004)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1400032717ISBN-13: 978-1400032716 In this novel, Christopher John Francis Boone is fifteen years old. He is autistic and his world is very ordered. As the blurb on the back cover of the book says, ‘he knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,0507. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. He detests the color yellow.’ One day, however, the neighbour’s dog, Wellington, is…
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Monday, 24 September 2012 13:20
Write It, Self-Publish It, Sell It by Bill Keeth
Written by Aneeta Sundararaj
Write It, Self-Publish It, Sell ItBy Bill KeethPaperback: 252 pagesPublisher: Halterburn (9 May 2008)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0955886309ISBN-13: 978-0955886300 How time flies! As I write this review, it appears that it has been some five years now since I self-published The Banana Leaf Men. When I started that project all I knew was this – I had a manuscript, I wanted it published and I wanted the books sold. I remember agonising over what font to use, how many lines to squeeze onto one page, what the cover design of my book should be and so much more. I had to learn…
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