“How do I not be nervous?” I hear that a lot. It’s a common question from the people who come to me for advice about getting into top universities. What they’re really asking is how they can not feel fear. But it’s not socially acceptable to admit you’re scared. Saying you’re nervous is a lot […]
How to Read the Complete Works of Shakespeare in a Year (Recommended Reading Order)
So you want to read the entire works of Shakespeare in a year. A very worthy literary challenge. And a rewarding challenge too! One that I completed myself almost a decade ago. The English Language and Literature course at Oxford University demands you read everything the Bard ever wrote in your final year. It was […]
December TBR – What Books I’m Reading This Month
I decided to stick my December reading list here for a couple of reasons. First being accountability. I’ve been slack on the reading lately, using “busyness” as an excuse. But no one’s so busy they can’t spare 30 minutes a day to read. I’ve also set up another SPAR challenge to help with the accountability […]
The Best Books I Read In 2019
2019 has been the best reading year of my life. I’m including the three years spent studying literature at Oxford. This year isn’t even over and yet if it ended today I would be thoroughly happy with the books I read. Although I continued to read widely, I approached my reading with a lust for […]
Unconventional Reading Goals for 2020
It’s been a couple of years since I set my first unconventional reading goals. How I read has changed since then. So, with 2020 right around the corner, it’s time to set some new unconventional reading goals Reading Goal #1: Read and review everything/have a back to school year My first most important reading goal for 2020 will […]
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: The Evil In Us All (VIDEO)
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is one of the most impactful books I’ve ever read. It consolidated a lot of ideas about the nature of evil and addiction, and moved me so much I was compelled to make the second video on the Hardcore Literature channel about the novella. I’m still getting to grips with […]
10 Books Of Poetry Every Literature Lover Will Treasure
The key to happiness is to read poetry every day of your life. Poetry soothes the soul. It helps you understand pain, connects you to a pool of universal humanity, and nourishes every thought and feeling. Poetry is the perfect companion to love, lust, and loss. I couldn’t imagine a bedside table without a stack […]
How Ted Hughes Writes A Poem: Bayonet Charge (VIDEO)
I’m playing around with starting a YouTube channel, a little side project, and I just put out my first video. This one is a quick analysis of Ted Hughes’ poem ‘Bayonet Charge’, which you might find useful if you’re doing the Power and Conflict module for GCSE English Literature. Or maybe you just enjoy thinking […]
How to Read like Montaigne (8 Deep Reading Techniques)
Many extol the virtues of reading, but few teach you how to read effectively. Reading challenges abound online where quantity is the measure of success. Read-a-book-a-week challenges. Read a hundred books a year! But where are the calls for the most rewarding style of reading of all – deep reading? For the large majority of […]
How To Read Poetry
When you read a poem, you’re reading pure experience packaged up in the wrapping of the poet’s personality. Keats makes you see, hear, and feel the nightingale and all the accompanying thoughts and feelings the bird sparked in him. The poem then becomes an overflowing well of feeling from which you can drink and become […]
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