My reviews of other authors' works
I believe the general marking criteria for book reviews is based upon stars, one being bad (although I would have thought none would be really bad), up to five, being excellent. I’m inclined, as this is going to be on my website, to have a different rating system or at the very least a different symbol. I’m quite tempted by Grim Reapers, although in this case presumably one would be excellent and five would be ‘You’re in serious trouble, matey’. I don’t know. I’ll think on that. So for now I’ll stick to the standard convention of stars.
‘There’s Someone in Reception: Adventures in Local Journalism’
by
Alex Morrison.
I would have been disappointed if this book hadn’t, at the very least, been well written. Alex Morrison is a journalist, after all. But as we all know these days journalism isn’t what it used to be. Suffice to say, I wasn’t disappointed, far from it, Alex Morrison’s rendering of the quirks and weirdness of the general public, as well as the truly heart rending and sometimes downright criminal abuses that people take with one another, was sublime.
It is also a heartfelt plea for a new trend that seems to be occurring across the country, for true and honest journalism to reclaim its role in our society. Alex Morrison sings the praises of the journo past and present and proves to be an excellent spokesman for their often maligned role in our lives.
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If I don’t recommend another book this year, and given how infrequently I write reviews (this is my first this year, and I owe one author at least two reviews. Plus another author, who probably won’t mind that I haven’t written a review, as he sadly passed away recently.), then this is my recommendation (currently – stranger things have happened at sea, as my gran would’ve said, so me changing my mind is always a possibility) for your must read book for 2024.
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An ideal page turner for reading in a deck chair on silver sands, whilst supping local beers. Although, if like me, you may well end up reading it in a single day, what to do with the other thirteen days of your holiday? Well, you couldn’t go wrong with reading ‘There’s Someone in Reception…’ again.
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