The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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PSA: NetGalley, ebooks, freebooks

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Folk who like to read and review stuff ahead of publication might be interested in this just-launched site.

Once you’ve signed up (and constructed a not-too-obviously-bogus persona for yourself) you can request proofs (ie ebooks) from a whole range of publishers including Bloomsbury, Penguin, PanMacmillan, Fourth Estate, Granta, Canongate etc etc. You have to be approved by the publisher whose book you’ve requested, and you have to say where you’re going to post a review, but I would have thought several hundred committed book-buyers on the Afterword would constitute a fairly convincing demographic.

So give it a go if you fancy it.

http://www.netgalley.co.uk

The world needs Christian Grey

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todayoutof10 on Fifty Shades – Christian Grey is ready for us. But are we ready for him…?

As I booked my ticket to see Fifty Shades of Grey, I was very much looking forward to my date with Christian Grey. I had been left disappointed by our first encounter and was eager to find out if our second meeting would be an improvement. I had reason to believe this would be the case.

I was late to the Fifty Shades party, having bought the book and its two sequels long enough after they had become a sensation to expect a cracker of a read. Finding the idea interesting, I was eager to immerse myself in a story that I expected to be emotionally charged, erotic and pretty gripping. In my head, I was already conjuring the developing relationship between the troubled man and the sexually naive young woman and looked forward to how it would play out in word form. Unfortunately, the books disappointed. So much so, that I gave up part way through the second novel. For me, a good book will put flesh on the bones of the characters I am imagining, helping me develop the story » Continue Reading.