I am a voracious reader, writer, and all round pseudo-cultural nit-wit. I
am part student, part super librarian. I’ve no special qualifications
as a reviewer, but I’m excited by literature and by ideas, and I’m
developing my own writing all the time. I spend a lot of my life around
books and I especially love discussing opinions with others, and arguing
various viewpoints. With that in mind I hope my blog creates an
atmosphere that inspires debate, and that readers will interact,
disagree, and generally have a chat with me through comments, etc.
I’ve always been a very energetic person and as a kid I spent as much
time running around outside as I could. Consequently, I came to reading
later in life than some, and I feel like I’m still catching up –
enjoying many of the classics for the first time. I read mainly fiction,
and I lean towards the literature end of the scale. Complexity has
always appealed to me, and I’m drawn to novels about big ideas, and
those that approach subjects from an interesting angle. However, to help
keep the blog fresh I will make an extra effort to pick up and review
new, mainstream fiction as well as titles with a smaller audience.
Beyond fiction I enjoy reading about art, psychology, economics,
photography, sports, films, and a range of other topics that will pop up
now and then.
I’ve always taken a scatter-gun approach to my reading in the past,
picking up whatever catches my fancy and reading around particular
topics as and when they interest me. One of the joys/pitfalls of being
around books all day is that you are constantly inspired to pick up new
books, and jump from one read to the next easily.
In addition to being an avid reader I also started collecting books a
few years ago (when my income could first support my ‘habit’). I am
thrilled to have some beautiful nineteenth century books, some with the
most gorgeous illustrations, and more recently I have begun collecting
modern first editions, gathering together some of my favourite books to
cherish and maintain. I have other small collections, and I’m quite sure
I will collect for as long as I have money in my wallet.
About Bibliofreak.net
As mentioned above, I don’t feel especially qualified to pronounce on a
novel’s literary worth, but rather I can offer my opinion and open the
floor to debate and criticism.
I don’t read in a particularly methodical way, I just pick up whatever
takes my fancy. For everything I read I will write a blog post and these
will come in one of two forms:
Reviews For every book I read I will write a short review
(500-1000 words) and will give a brief overview of the works plot and
themes, and the quality of the writing, as well as considering the
success of the book overall. At the end of every review I’ll leave my
personal comments. I try to base my opinion of a book on my own
enjoyment of it and how well it lives up to my expectations. Therefore, I
might be equally positive about both War and Peace and Paris Hilton’s
autobiography, but that would be based on my relative expectations and
my reading experience - it wouldn’t suggest I rate each as equally
impressive feats of literature.
Analyses In addition to reviewing all books that I read I will
occasionally write longer posts discussing books in more detail, and
perhaps responding to existing criticism. Although I absolutely love
taking the time to dissect a book these posts will be scarcer due to the
time commitment it takes to put them together. Equally, they shouldn’t
be thought of as comprehensive, they deal with the key points I have
drawn from the book, others might find different points worthy of
discussion. I should also point out that analyses assume the reader has
already read the book, so spoilers may be included.
In both cases it would be great to hear your responses as readers,
whether it be your own impressions of the book, or a response to some of
the points I have made about a novel or my interpretation of it.
Since starting the blog I've also expanded my scope, and now post
interviews with authors and members of the literary world. Taking on the
role of an interviewer is entirely new to me, but it's an exciting way
to connect with authors, and an opportunity for them to share some
insights about their own work and the business, which hopefully readers
will find interesting.
As well as interviews, I've also started putting together fun literary
puzzles for when a little light distraction is required. These are
developing all the time, but I've started with word searches, anagrams,
quotes to guess, and a few other things as well – I hope you all enjoy
them!
Back to the core purpose of the blog – reading! There is no particular
rhyme or reason to the way I select books to read or review, I simply
dart around the literary spectrum as the mood takes me. However, if you
want to suggest a title I might enjoy, feel free to e-mail me at bibliofreakblog@gmail.com or leave a comment on a relevant post. If you'd like to submit your own book for review, please see my review policy.
written by Matthew Selwyn
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