Benjamin McEvoy

Essays on writing, reading, and life

Thelonious Monk ‘Palo Alto’ Album Review

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Let me tell you the story of the long lost jazz record of Theolonius Monk’s Palo Alto. Thelonious Monk ‘Palo Alto’ Album Review It’s a rainy day in California. The year is 1968. Cold War America still reeling from the fallout of the MLK and Kennedy assassinations. Theolonius Monk is nearing the end of his […]

How to Make Time for Writing (Video)

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How do you make more time for writing? How do you balance and juggle your writing career, your vocation, your artistic ambitions with making money? Well, here’s how I do it. Here are the rituals, routines, and mindsets that support my writing. How to Make Time for Writing How do you make time for writing?

My ELAT Experience (Plus Mindset Tips)

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The ELAT is right around the corner. So I decided to share my own personal ELAT experience with you, along with some mindset tips for approaching the University of Oxford’s English Language Admissions Test. The premium ELAT Masterclass is now open for enrolment. We’ve hooked up a limited time offer for you to get 69% […]

Where to Start with Japanese Literature (Video Introduction)

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Looking to get into Japanese Literature? Want to know some of the best books to start with for newcomers to Japanese fiction? Should you start with Murakami, Mishima, Kawabata, or Yoshikawa?  All will be answered in this video guide to Japanese Literature. 読みましょう！ Where to Start with Japanese Literature Japanese books recommended in the video: […]

Where to Start with Russian Literature (Video Introduction)

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Want to know where to start with Russian Literature? What are the best Russian books to start reading for a newcomer to Russian Literature? Should you start with Tolstoy, Chekov, Turgenev, or Dostoyevsky? And which translations of the great Russian novels like Crime and Punishment and War and Peace should you read? All of those questions and […]

10 Oxbridge Interview Strategies (Video)

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Today’s video contains ten techniques for acing high-stakes high-pressure interviews. Whether you want to get into Oxford University, like myself, or another elite or Ivy League College, or perhaps you’re aiming for a competitive career, these are some of the interview strategies that I recommend and worked for me and my consulting clients. 10 Oxbridge […]

How To Retain Your Reading (Video)

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What’s the point of reading all these great books if you don’t retain anything? This is a problem I struggled with for years. I read and read and read, but never remembered what I was reading. But the last couple of years, I’ve become a powerhouse of retention. And here’s how you can too. How […]

How To Read More Books (Video)

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If you want to know how to read more books, I give you 15 tips in this video. Some unconventional tips, battle-won from years spent carving out deep reading habits. I hope you enjoy it. How To Read More Books Secret Book Recommendations: Beginner Intermediate Advanced Free Audible Credits: Audible Free Trial Mentioned in the […]

Reading Shakespeare Chronologically: The Journey Begins (Video)

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I’ll be vlogging my journey reading Shakespeare chronologically in a year. There will be meta-commentary videos like this one along the way: There will also be long lectures, deep dives into each play, mini-documentaries, attempts to break specific scenes and language and characters and themes apart. I also have a secret project in store for […]