Books – Nerdalicious

1946 George Orwell’s Christmas Pudding

October 9, 2018

When Voltaire made his often-quoted statement that the country of Britain has “a hundred religions and only one sauce”, he was saying something which was untrue and which is equally untrue today, but which migh...

Hell’s Bells! Something Scary For Christmas

C S Hughes

December 19, 2016

Books

Sometimes it is easy to forget in the cheer and frivolity of the festive season, that celebrations at this time of year began as a way of warding off the evils of long, dark winters, where snow didn't mean rosy...

The Trial of Elizabeth Poldark

Olga Hughes

December 12, 2016

Books, Film & TV

The following contains spoilers for Poldark Season 2. Elizabeth Chynoweth has never been in an advantageous position with readers. In the first instance, when the protagonist Ross Poldark returns to his home i...

Christopher Tolkien Awarded the Bodley Medal

Olga Hughes

November 1, 2016

Books

Christopher Tolkien is to receive the Bodley Medal, awarded by the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford for outstanding contributions to the worlds of literature, culture, science, and communication. ...

Elizabeth Norton’s ‘The Lives of Tudor Women’ Book Tour – The Seven Ages of Women

Olga Hughes

October 12, 2016

Books, History

Elizabeth Norton has brought us intriguing and compelling historical studies and biographies, looking at both the famous and infamous Queens of England, the consorts of King Henry VIII, his mistress and the mot...

Banned Books Week 2016: Enid and Noddy Defeat the Despots

Olga Hughes

September 29, 2016

Books

Over the last few decades the word "racist" has become almost synonymous with Enid Blyton's name. Accusations of sexism and classism have also persisted, along with the BBC's recent desperate campaign to expose...

Penguin Comes to the Hundred Acre Wood for Winnie-the-Pooh’s 90th Anniversary

Olga Hughes

September 23, 2016

Books

Winnie-the-Pooh's 90th anniversary will be celebrated with an official sequel The Best Bear in all the World, and a new friend coming to the Hundred-Acre-Wood. Author Brian Sibley, who has written one of the...

Ten Sweets We Want to Eat from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Olga Hughes

September 13, 2016

Books

Supervitamin Chocolate “Supervitamin Chocolate contains huge amounts of vitamin A and vitamin B. It also contains vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin F, vitamin G, vitamin I, vitamin J, vitamin K, vit...

The Tunnel Runner – Terror Under The Streets Of Brisbane

C S Hughes

September 11, 2016

Books

You may have heard of urbex - urban exploration, a little like spelunking, but instead of discovering the mysteries of caves, exploring the hidden, the abandoned, the forgotten spaces of the human-made environm...

Truth Endures: Je Anne Boleyn Book Tour and Give Away – Making the Movie

Olga Hughes

September 6, 2016

Books

The love letters that King Henry VIII penned to his amour Anne Boleyn over 1527 and 1528 survive as an enduring testimony to the great love he once had for her; less than ten years before he ordered her executi...

Enid Blyton for Grown-Ups – Five on Brexit Island and More!

Olga Hughes

August 10, 2016

Books

Quercus is bringing out a Famous Five Parody series, Enid Blyton for Grown-Ups, this November. Grisly Tales from Tumblewater author Bruno Vincent is penning the series, which will include Five Go Dry January, F...

Five Fabulous Feasts in Children’s Literature: Feast and Friendship

Olga Hughes

July 15, 2016

Books

Who can forget two young girls who pretend they are prisoners in the Bastille to ward off the freezing cold and hunger; the first sail on the river that leads to a lifelong friendship, all the animals in the ba...

Ghostbusters Collectables with Matt MacNabb

C.S. Hughes and Olga Hughes

July 13, 2016

Books, Film & TV, Interviews

toyicious /tɔɪˈɪʃəs/ adjective 1. the ease, success or suitability with which a character, object or concept from a film or television program can be turned into a toy. Ghostbusters is undoubtedly one of...

Shakespeare First Folio Discovered in Scotland

Olga Hughes

April 8, 2016

Books, History

Another Shakespeare First Folio has been discovered in Scotland on the Isle of Bute, less than 18 months after a copy was discovered in 2014, by a librarian in Saint-Omer, near Calais. Unlike many of the 230 od...

Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse

Olga Hughes

March 30, 2016

Books

Black Beauty is one of the best-selling and most-beloved books of all time; a ground-breaking anthropomorphic novel so poignant it led to international outrage and protest against the treatment of working horse...

12 Things We’ve Learned About the History of Magic in North America

Olga Hughes

March 14, 2016

Books, Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling released four new articles on Pottermore last week discussing the history of magic in North America. In anticipation of the first movie instalment of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them this ye...

Why Your Old Harry Potter Books Are Probably Not Worth a Fortune

Olga Hughes

March 2, 2016

Books, Harry Potter

One of this week's media trends has seen various newspapers and websites leading Harry Potter readers down the garden path, making vague claims that their old Harry Potter books could be worth thousands. It has...