Marion in Turkey - Greenhouse Bookstore, Istanbul

Reading Marco Polo's "The Travels" this week, I was struck how like a very early Lonely Planet Guide this 13th century manuscript is. Except, the venerable Marco desperately needs a great modern editor to make his chapter titles a bit more zappy, and to create history boxes and culture boxes to highlight features of interest. Maps and some illustrations would make the text a bit less stuffy, too.

That got me thinking ... how much of a book's success is from the original content, and ho…

Far too many times I have picked up a book on a specialist subject to find it is heavy and indigestible!

Full of long, technical words, and pompous opinion, I am turned off before I have finished chapter one.....

John Shindeldecker avoids this pitfall in "The World of Alevis". He creates a readable but informative introduction to this group of Islamic believers in the Middle East. He says, "My hope is that the reader will have a tasty, balanced meal, and the appetite to come bac…

Have you ever stopped to consider how children learn language, or how they develop reading skills?

If you are a children's books author, this is an essential part of your understanding of your target customer.

Peter Pikkert is an expert in this area, and he has written a book that helps adults learn a foreign language in the same way that children learn their native language.

Click here to r…

Houses often form an important character in a book. Just think of "The Lake House" in the film of that name. Click on my review in today's paper for another house that is the eponymous hero of a Turkish book ....

http://www.sundayszaman.com/sunday/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=2088