They were talking on the radio about the good things that reading can do for your brain. Reading a book, that is, as opposed to scrolling through social media. When you read, you read one word at a time. Your brain tries to guess the next word. the interaction between...
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I've finished reading several novels I received as Christmas presents. All were enjoyable, but at least two of them seemed to run out of steam before the end. I won't say which they were, because it doesn't seem fair to books which were very well written overall, but...
Historian Tom Holland was guest-editing the 'Today' programme on BBC Radio 4 recently. He spoke about his experience of AI 'hallucinations', that now increasingly well-known phenomenon whereby Artifical Intelligence makes up information in response to a question. Tom...
There's a nice review of my new book, Sleeping in Temples, in the Jan/Feb issue of International Piano magazine. I know from my own attempts that it isn't always easy to track down this interesting magazine, so I thought I'd take the chance to reproduce an excerpt...
Readers who followed my enthusiastic recommendation of 'The Real Charlotte' may be interested in another recommendation from the same period. I've just finished reading 'Maurice Guest', published in 1908 by Henry Handel Richardson, the pseudonym of Ethel Richardson,...
Lots of people have written to me today about coughing. Why? Because of a BBC News report about violinist Kyung-Wha Chung's comeback recital at the Festival Hall in London. She was disturbed by a child coughing in the audience, and remonstrated with the parents. Her...
My book 'Sleeping in Temples' has been named as one of the 'Books of the Year' by Classical Music magazine. In November it was their 'Editor's Choice' with a five-star review, and now in December it has been upgraded to one of the ten 'books of the year'. What...
Three more mentions of my new book have appeared this weekend: Alex Ross, music critic of the New Yorker and eminent music blogger, includes it in his 'Recommendations'. Frances Wilson reviews it in her Cross-Eyed Pianist blog: 'This absorbing and insightful book will...
I'm very happy to hear that my new book 'Sleeping in Temples' is the Books Choice in the Christmas 2014 issue of BBC Music. 'Rare insight. Susan Tomes illuminates at the piano and on the page.' 'Susan Tomes compares her first encounter with chamber music as akin to...
The first review of my new book has appeared. I’m delighted to find it is ‘Editor’s Choice’ in this month’s Classical Music with a five-star review: ‘Those bewitched by Tomes’s three previous books (two published by the clearly perceptive Boydell Press) can prepare...
My new book is officially out today from The Boydell Press. In fact, in the mysterious way of modern publishing, it seems to have been available from various outlets for a few weeks now, as I discovered with surprise when I got a letter about it from a reader, weeks...
I'm delighted to be able to say that my fourth book will be published by Boydell Press later this year. I've just pressed 'send' on the final version of the manuscript - a huge relief after working on it intensively for over a year. I had to prise my fingers away from...
I've just finished reading a wonderful Irish novel written at the close of the 19th century. 'The Real Charlotte' was written by Somerville and Ross, a pair of female cousins who co-authored a number of books including one of my all-time favourites, 'The Memoirs of an...
Here I am, lecturing to the British Comparative Literature Association yesterday. At Deptford Town Hall! Who would have expected such a grand Victorian building, with a beautifully ornate staircase, and an excellent Steinway concert grand piano in the Council Chamber?...
On Saturday I'm giving this year's Malcolm Bowie Memorial Lecture for the British Comparative Literature Association. My subject is 'Music and memory - a musician's perspective'. The lecture is free and open to the public. It takes place at 3pm in Deptford Town Hall...