Articles - Miscellaneous

St Ed's Web Watch

Have you only got a limited time to spare and you want to read a short, funny and optimistic book with no sex in it then the WhichBook web site (www.whichbook.net) might be able to help you choose something suitable. You can choose a total of four criteria from a list of 12 and move along a spectrum for each (e.g. safe to disturbing, gentle to violent). You can try a different approach by specifying the features of the book's main character or the type of plot (e.g. success against the odds) or the part of the world where the book is set. The site includes audiobooks and large print. What's more you can find out which local library stocks the title and reserve it.

In response to my search for a short, funny and optimistic book the site found 10 titles - poems, short stories and short novels such as Alan Bennet's 'The laying on of hands'.

Fascinating to explore although at the moment the choice of books is somewhat limited.

Brian Livesey

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