The Physical Book
Buckram gives library bindings a hard-wearing cloth surface
Buckram is a practical bookbinding cloth with several finishes. Learn what it can tell you about a cover and what it cannot prove about the book inside.
BOOKS & THE LIFE AROUND THEM
Keep the conversation going after the last page.
Reading notes, thoughtful book discussions and practical ways to care for the collection you live with.
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Between the covers
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Book History
A dos-à-dos binding joins two books back to back
A dos-à-dos binding joins two text blocks back to back. Learn how to recognise the structure without confusing it with two works bound in one volume.
Reading Fiction
Parataxis and hypotaxis change how a sentence makes you wait
Try two short passages to hear how parataxis and hypotaxis organise clauses, pace a scene and change what a narrator seems to emphasise.
Reading Fiction
Who speaks and who sees? Two questions for reading a novel
Separate the narrator’s voice from the perspective limiting a scene. A short invented example makes focalisation easier to notice in your next novel.
Reading Fiction
When the weather seems to feel: reading the pathetic fallacy
When a landscape seems to share a character’s feelings, look closely at the narration. Pathetic fallacy can reveal mood, perspective or a deliberate mismatch.
Reading Poetry
A dramatic monologue lets a speaker reveal more than they intend
Read a dramatic monologue by listening for the speaker, the silent audience and the details that escape the speaker’s intended story.