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Book Reviews From The Bookbag (view source)
Revision as of 05:59, 19 June 2013
, 05:59, 19 June 2013no edit summary
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{{newreview
|author=Linda Howard
|title=Shadow Woman
|rating=4
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Prelude: the President of the United States and the First Lady are on what is not being called a campaign tour. It is. It is most definitely a re-election campaign; it's just not supposed to be. They retire to their suite for the night, and the protection detail of the Secret Service are looking forward to a shift change at the end of a long day.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749955848</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Anthony Quinn
|title=The Streets
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Anthony Quinn's ''The Streets'' is set in London in the early 1880s in the area known as Somers Town, which to those not familiar with London geography is the area around Euston, St Pancras and King's Cross stations. Today, much of this falls under the trendy Camden area, but in the 1880s, was the site of some of the worst slum tenements in the capital. Some 50 years' earlier, Charles Dickens lived in this part of London and although he had died by the time this is set, the depiction of the poverty is not far from what we would term Dickensian. The book is narrated by David Wildeblood, who is a principled but naive young man who finds employment as an 'investigator' for the charismatic Mr Marchmont's ''The Labouring Classes of London'' - a strange mix of social geography and journalism publishing regular stories of the poor who reside in the slums of London.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099575159</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Julia Green
|title=This Northern Sky
|rating=4.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=Kate is not happy. Still raw from the disaster with Sam, she's been whisked away on a long holiday with her parents to a remote Hebridean island. Even discounting a broken heart, this is not the type of holiday a vivacious teenage girl wants to go on. And there's more. Kate's parents have been rowing of late. And she knows that this holiday is a last ditch attempt to save their marriage. It's not something she wants to sit and observe, day after day.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408820692</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Margo Lanagan
|title=Yellowcake
|rating=4.5
|genre=Short Stories
|summary=We should always make time for short stories. Especially if they are written by Margo Lanagan. In ''Yellowcake'', a traveller boy uses three items to reunite an old man with his memories. A boy with a crippled foot watches his townfolk butcher a beautiful creature washed up in their harbour. Rapunzel gets a makeover in which things turn out differently. We find out how the Ferryman of the Dead became the Ferrywoman. And more.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849921113</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David Levithan and Andrea Cremer
|title=Invisibility
|rating=4.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=Stephen is cursed with invisibility. He's never been seen by anyone, even his parents. Elizabeth isn't invisible, but sometimes she wishes she was. After problems back home, she's hoping to make a new start in New York City by blending into the background. Then she meets Stephen, and can see him. What is it about her that's so special? The two fall for each other hard - but in a world full of spells and curses, does love stand a chance?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141348879</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Chris Ward
|title=Out of Office: Work Where You Like and Achieve More
|rating=3
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary='Imbibe coffee and become imbued with an entrepreneurial spirit' would be an apt summary of the gist of 'Out of Office' by Chris Ward. If you choose to read the book, be prepared to receive inspiration rather than practical instruction on how to build an empire, if anything. This is not to discredit the book; it is attractively designed, full of fundraising event photos and company founder portraits, motivational quotes and brief enthusiastic testimonies of the interviewees featured. But in terms of content, it doesn’t offer substantial advice on how to make that leap from the office cubicle – a context quite heavily vilified by Ward – to the existence of the creatively liberated mover and shaker.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0957612303</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ruth Thomas
|title=The Home Corner
|rating=3.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=When you finish your Highers, you’re supposed to go on to university, especially if you’re a girl like Luisa. But she’s failed hers, so for now higher education is out, and working is unfortunately in. So, she finds a job working as a classroom assistant in a primary school. It’s not something she ever wanted to do, and she finds herself in a weird sort of limbo, at a life stage somewhere between the children in her class, and her proper grown-up adult colleagues.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>057123061X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Kate Maryon
|title=Invisible Girl
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=The day that it happened, that everything changed for Gabriella had felt the same as any other. If she had realised that she would not sleep in her own bed again she may have snuggled down for a little longer. If she had known how very hungry she would get she would have made time for an extra piece of toast that morning. If Gabriella had known what was going to happen she may have begged her Dad to change his mind. However in the space of twenty four hours Gabriella was to lose her home, her Dad, her school and her best friend. She finds herself totally alone and stakes everything on being able to find her brother, Beckett, whom she has not seen for several years. She believes if she can find Beckett she will have found a home and a family.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007466900</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Peter Bently and Russel Ayto
|title=Dustbin Dad
|rating=3.5
|genre=Emerging Readers
|summary=''Dustbin Dad'' is a cautionary tale aimed at all of those children who leave food on their plate at the end of a meal. Dad likes nothing better than to polish off the leftovers, much to the disgust of his family. One day, however, he gobbles down a pint of something that tastes like fish chowder. Unfortunately, it is cat medicine and it has some very strange side effects indeed, as dad discovers when he hears a loud rip and a long tail pops out of the back of his trousers...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847388744</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ellen Crimi-Trent
|title=My School Day
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=The feature that initially attracted me to ''My School Day'' was the huge, interactive clock face on the front cover. Learning to tell the time is such an important life skill, but sometimes young children can struggle with the concept. A hands-on approach, combining the senses of sight and touch can be an effective method of teaching. The child is learning through play and having lots of fun at the same time.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849158533</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Fuminori Nakamura
|title=Evil and the Mask
|rating=4.5
|genre=Crime
|summary=The novel begins when the protagonist is only eleven years old, and spans the rest of his life, alternating between the past and the present in the first half of the novel, until we catch up with the present day. At the start young Fumihiro is summoned to the room of his elderly father, the present president of the Kuki Group of interlinked corporations across Japan. What transpires next is a monologue from Fumihiro's father, telling the boy he was bred to be a cancer on the world and spread unhappiness. Fumihiro's father ends with introducing Fumihiro to his new adopted sister, Kaori, and informing them both that when they turn fourteen Kaori will be an integral cog in the plan to break Fumihiro's spirit; to 'show him hell'.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1616952121</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Katherine Longshore
|title=Tarnish
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=Anne Boleyn is coming back to court. After suffering embarrassment and exile, Anne is not about to let this second chance slip through her fingers. But the trickery of court life is difficult to navigate, and telling friend from foe can be the difference between social success and becoming a pariah. Luckily she has the help of Thomas Wyatt, poet and infamous womaniser. He promises to make Anne the most popular woman at court, and when Anne starts to play his game, things start to escalate far further than anyone ever imagined. For not only does Anne manage to get the court eating out of her hand, but the King is starting to sit up and take notice too...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471116964</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|summary=Horrid Henry was the first chapter book my son ever read alone. It was quickly followed by a succession of books in the series and my son's confidence in reading grew by leaps and bounds with this engaging series that gets young children reading and keeps them reading. The simple fact is, with such a large number of books in the series, any child who reads through the whole lot will improve their reading skills. As he has grown older, his tastes in books have changed, but as I sat down to read 'Horrid Henry's Nightmare' to my four year old he was happy to listen in as well and we all enjoyed sharing this book as a family.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444000160</amazonuk>
}}
|summary=Provence 1942: Lavender farmer Luc Bonet joins the Maquis (a rural guerrilla wing of the French Resistance) to avenge the death of his adoptive Jewish family. Meanwhile in London gifted linguist Lisette Forester is recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a group of trained specialists parachuted into enemy territory to send vital information back to the homeland. Their paths will cross as Lisette is sent into France with the aim of ingratiating herself with Nazi Colonel Markus Kilian. The mission is clear cut on paper, but life can be messier than any plan can predict.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749013443</amazonuk>
}}
|summary=October 2011 and the Berlin wall is still intact. Inspector Martin Wegener of the East German People's Police faces another day dividing his mind between thoughts of his luscious ex-lover Karolina and work. On this particular day 'work' is a body found hanging from the GDR section of gas pipeline that joins Russian to Europe. Not only is he hanging, the deceased has eight knots round his neck and his shoe laces are tied together: a Stasi trademark. Who is he and why are the Stasi killing again? Martin needs answers and they're sending a West Berlin detective in to help him find them; not the best start to a day.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846556929</amazonuk>
}}
|summary=In the Saigon of the 1980s the Vietnam War is over but the traces remain. Alexander has deserted from the US army and makes a comfortable living selling girls to local business men. Phuc used to be a business man, complete with mansion and the means to keep his wife and three children in affluence. Now his family live in a shanty hut, afraid of the ruling government that spies through the eyes of children. At last he finds a way out, his luck just needs to hold. Hanh also lives in poverty, desperately trying to help her sick mother with the pittance she earns from cleaning one of the city's many open latrines. Then one day she meets someone who offers so much more. His name is Alexander.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782063218</amazonuk>
}}
|summary=Michel is as carefree as any child can be during that difficult process called 'growing up'. Here in Congo Brazzaville he has his best friend Lounes, a crush on Caroline (his best friend's sister), the hassles of school and a family consisting of two mothers in two houses which seems perfectly normal. He's also being educated about the world by his father; a world that changes daily as it's 1979. Never mind, he can always marry Caroline as long as he meets her conditions: she requires children, a red 5-seater car and a white dog.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846685842</amazonuk>
}}
|summary=Following several main characters - scientist Paul, businessman Max, remote viewer Tahra and mystery woman Ava - across two time frames spanning the 1940s to the present day, ''Seven Point Eight'' blends science fiction and fantasy in a sprawling, absorbing, diffuse novel that will attract fans of both genres.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B005IBYKC0</amazonuk>
}}