Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"

Jess is a single mum of a rather smart little girl. She’s also single step mum, if there’s such a thing, to a rather troubled teenage boy. This is the story of this unusual but endearing family of three, and a road trip to the other end of the country, showing that even with few resources, mums will go to the ends of the earth for their children. It’s also the story of Ed, a wealthy businessman whose life interacts with theirs in an unconventional way. A single mum meets a single man, but in an unpredictable way. Full review...

How to Disappear Completely: on modern anorexia by Kelsey Osgood

Autobiography

To the awkward 14 year-old Kelsey, a happy family and a comfortable suburban life are dull and numbing. A self-professed bookworm and fan of the literary greats, she craves meaning and purpose in an utterly normal teenage existence. Full review...

Infinity Drake: The Sons of Scarlatti by John McNally

Finn (real name Infinity) Drake is off for a week away in the Pyrenees with his Uncle Al. He's supposed to be at school but Grandma has gone off on a knitting cruise, so she will never know. But before they can be on their way, Al is summoned to a crisis meeting with secret government officials. A lethal bio-weapon - the Scarlatti wasp - has been stolen and released by an uber-villain (who else but an uber-villain) and the world's only chance is to use Al's top secret invention to shrink a combat team to destroy it. Full review...

Family Likeness by Caitlin Davies

General Fiction

On a summer’s day in 1950, a smartly-dressed white woman brings her young mixed-race daughter, Muriel, to the branch children’s home Hoodfield House, where she will leave her and never return. Muriel is physically well cared for, but has persistent questions about her identity and place in the world. Full review...

Books that Changed the World: The 50 Most Influential Books in Human History by Andrew Taylor

Entertainment

Oh the pleasure when, as a book reviewer, one can simply point to the title and say – 'yup, that'. Or, I suppose, as in the non-existent follow-up, Adverts That Changed the World, simply repeat the mantra 'it does exactly what it says on the tin'. This paperback edition of the six year old original, fresh with several typos they had time to iron out alongside putting in Seamus Heaney's departure, makes life even easier, given that subtitle. I'm sure the more bibliophilic are already sold, and there is little influence I can bear on things. I will, however, soldier on. Full review...

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

When Annabelle finds a box of yarn, she uses it to knit a jumper. There’s some left so she knits her dog a jumper too. And then one for the boy next door. And one for his dog. And still there’s yarn left over. So she goes on and on. She knits jumpers for everyone she knows and then starts knitting for things that don’t even need jumpers. Pretty soon her dark, dreary town is transformed! Full review...

Say Hello Like This by Mary Murphy

Hello!
Hi!
Good day!

There’s lots of ways people can great each other, but what about animals. How do they say hello? If you read this book you’ll know who says bow-wow, who says tip tap, who says hee haw and so on. Full review...

A Walk In Paris by Salvatore Rubbino

Emerging Readers

Welcome to the City of Lights! Come join a little girl and her grandad as they spend a magical day exploring the sights of Paris. Follow them as they see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Sit down with them in the bistro as they tuck into lunch, and then look longingly alongside them as they gaze at the delicious treats in the window of the pâtisserie. Full review...

Snowpiercer Vol.2 - The Explorers by Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette

Graphic Novels

All of humankind is living on a single train. Oh sorry, as this is the sequel, make that two trains. Launched on the same tracks as the original Snowpiercer, but clearly at a slight remove, was a second mile-long behemoth of a train, designed with the latest high tech to be completely self-sustaining as it travelled ceaselessly on the tracks encircling a frozen Earth, waiting for the time the world was inhabitable once more. But the high tech on board, complete with lemon farms, and differing qualities of virtual holidays depending on cost and class of customer, has not put paid to one aspect of society – and in fact the sole aspect of society not featured in the first book – religion. Some people are fearing the end time, when the Icebreaker crashes into the original Snowpiercer. Some believe they're duped into the whole train idea, and are in fact on a spacecraft. Some people know something else – the rare few explorers who get to go outside the train into the world beyond, and see glimpses of what came before… Full review...

The Memory Book by Rowan Coleman

When Claire Ryan first hears the devastating news that she has Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, her first instinct is to run away. However, she does not get far before she realises that she is already forgetting where she lives and the names of simple everyday objects that she has always taken for granted. The worst implication of the news though is that soon she will no longer remember the special events in her life such as giving birth to her daughters nor will she recognise their faces or remember how much she loves the man that is her husband. Not only is this traumatic for her, the effect on her family is unbearable. This is a modern day tragedy with seemingly, no happy ending. Full review...

Sleuth or Dare: An AKA Novel by Robin Benway

When safecracker Maggie Silver's parents are falsely accused of a crime, she's uprooted from her newly peaceful existence as a normal high-school girl and forced to flee, along with best friend Roux and boyfriend Jessie, to Paris. Can the three of them, aided by some new friends and honorary uncle Angelo, clear her family's name? Full review...

Princess Stay Awake by Giles Paley-Phillips and Adriana J Puglisi

This cheerful picture book will resonate with parents everywhere. Princess Layla doesn’t want to go to bed. Every single evening she stays awake instead. The cheeky princess ignores every attempt to persuade her that a good night’s sleep is what children, even princesses, need. She skips around the bedroom, plays with her toys without even a yawn in sight. Her exhausted parents have tried everything they can think of...or have they? Full review...

The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate (Bluffer's Guides) by Neil Davey

Cookery

I've always been a little bit nervous about the Bluffer series, on the basis that I would be sure to come out with a clever-sounding phrase, only to be found out when someone asked the follow-up question. Better, I thought to stay silent and appear ignorant than to open my mouth and prove myself a fool. But then The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate came my way and I couldn't resist - any more than I've ever been able to resist chocolate. Full review...

Trouble by Non Pratt

Hannah is 15 and pregnant. She can't tell anyone who the father is - but new boy at school Aaron steps up to offer his services as a fake father. Hannah accepts, and the pair start their journey to parenthood. But who really is the dad, and why is Aaron willing to make such a massive commitment to a girl he doesn't even know that well? Full review...

The Darling Girls by Emma Burstall

Leo Bruck, a world famous conductor, died suddenly of a heart attack. Amongst many mourners at his funeral are three women for whom Leo was much more than an acquaintance. Victoria was his long term partner and mother of his two children, Ralph and Salome. However, Maddy has also shared much of her life with Leo and he is father to her daughter Pheobe. Then there is Cat, who met Leo about eighteen months ago and they also formed a relationship. All three were aware of the others and, for whatever reasons, had tolerated the parallel lives that Leo was leading. However, they had never met before the funeral and there is instant dislike particularly between Victoria and Maddy. Full review...

The Legend of Frog by Guy Bass

Frog is about to journey to the End of the World to stake a claim for his rightful throne. Armed only with a stick called Basil Rathbone and a pair of catastrophe pants, he expects it to be easy - but hadn't bargained on an army of aliens appearing. What's a Frog to do? Full review...

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

Sophie is shipwrecked in the English Channel on her 1st birthday, with her mother presumed dead, but she's lucky enough to be found by scholar Charles. He raises her as his ward and they have a happy, if seriously unconventional, existence until the authorities intervene on her 12th birthday. With the orphanage beckoning, Sophie and Charles run away to France in the hope that her mother may be alive after all. Full review...

The News: A User's Manual by Alain de Botton

Politics and Society

Alain de Botton maintains that 'the news' has assumed the position in our lives which was once occupied by religion, with some consumers viewing it as often as every fifteen minutes (slight blush there - let's say about every hour...). Furthermore, we do it completely unprotected against every political scandal or celebrity story. The sub-title 'A User's Manual' sets out to remedy this. Full review...

The Runaways by Elizabeth Goudge

The year is 1912. With their father overseas, Nan, Robert, Timothy and Betsy are staying with their grandmother. Locked in their rooms after they fail to make themselves presentable for a dinner party, they run away and find a horse and cart which takes them to their uncle's house. There, he gruffly accepts the responsibility of looking after them in exchange for being able to educate them, and they fall in love with their surroundings - while stumbling upon the tragic history of a neighbour. Can they help to put things right? Full review...

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

Literary Fiction

Holly Golightly. Who doesn't know her? Whether in the pages of Breakfast at Tiffany's, the short novel by Truman Capote or capture on film by Audrey Hepburn, she's an American icon. A young country girl becomes a New York socialite, trading on amusement value to make a life paid for by rich men who are titillated by her outrageous opinions and anecdotes. We want to know her. And the narrator wants to know her as much, if not more, than we do. Full review...

The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

Literary Fiction

The Crane Wife ticks all my boxes. It's by Patrick Ness who is one of my favourite writers of Young Adult fiction. It has a basis in myth and legend and still better in an ancient story new to me. It doesn't go on and on and Ariston for half a billion pages. Best of all, the author includes a shout-out for the brilliant Decemberists. I agree with Ness: this is a band you should look up. A heavy reading schedule meant I didn't get to it last year when it was first published but now it's out in paperback and here I am. I wasn't disappointed. Full review...

A Man of Sorrows: An Inspector Carlyle Novel by James Craig

Crime

Inspector John Carlyle has a lot on his plate. His attack on a paedophile priest left Father McGowan injured and angry and Carlyle in a vulnerable position. The fact that the Pope is due to visit ups the political pressure and brings Carlyle into conflict with his old nemesis, Christian Holyrod, the Mayor of London. Then there's the armed robbery at a very upmarket Mayfair jeweller when tens of millions of pounds worth of stock goes missing - along with one of the assistants. Normally he'd have had some support from his boss, but she's on secondment in Canada and the man replacing her has great hopes for Carlyle - mainly that he can get him dismissed. Then Carlyle's wife has a serious health scare and his daughter is growing up very fast. Full review...

A Pleasure and a Calling by Phil Hogan

Thrillers

Estate agent William Heming has got it right. He owns a successful estate agency and yet isn't too noticeable. He's helpful, but not in a memorable way. A bit on the beige side perhaps but that’s just the way he likes it, living a life that assists society. Take the time he entered the home of the gentleman who refused to clear up his dog's leavings for instance. It's ok – Heming didn't break in. He already has the key as he once sold the house. How many of his former clients' keys has he actually kept, you wonder? The answer's easy: all of them. Full review...

Will by Christopher Rush

Historical Fiction

It's March 1616 and William Shakespeare, not having long to live, sends for his lawyer and old friend Francis Collins to draw up his will. While Francis works (at both the will and eating Shakespeare out of house and home) William's mind meanders, regaling Francis with stories and opinions from a life well-lived in a nation in turmoil. After all, Mr S could never resist an audience. Full review...

Left and Leaving by Jo Verity

Set in modern day London, this novel explores the lives of two central characters who, on the surface, could not be any different. However, after a catastrophic incident in the city, Gil and Vivian are thrown together through the rather annoying, interfering character of Irene. Spending time with each other in the run up to Christmas, both Gil and Vivian find themselves having to face up to various family issues and responsibilities that, before, they were able to ignore. Full review...

The Tell-Tale Heart by Jill Dawson

Literary Fiction

Being told that you have six months to live concentrates the mind most wonderfully: fifty is no age to die, even if you have lived life to the full. Patrick's heart was giving up on him and the Professor of American Studies, philanderer and heavy drinker was at the head of the list for a heart transplant. His other problems - entirely of his own making - faded into insignificance. Sixteen-year-old Drew Beamish died in a motorcycle accident in the village where he lived in rural Cambridgeshire and it will be his (still beating) heart which is transplanted into Patrick. The two, who had never met, would be permanently joined. Full review...

Agatha Parrot and the Odd Street Ghost by Kjartan Poskitt

The clock is ticking… and that's not the only noise it makes when it's the one in the belltower of Odd Street School. When everyone in Agatha's gang of girlies is woken in the middle of the night by the clock bell chiming far too many times to make chronological sense, one of them dreams it is a ghost, hastening the passage of time and making them age. That might not be too bad, as nasty Gwendoline lives too far away and wouldn't mature at the same rate, surely? But then… would you really want to hurry up to become one of the geriatric, and very weird, schoolmistresses, or someone like Agatha's dad, whose sole intent seems to be to buy the cheapest, and very weird, breakfast cereal…? Full review...

Sorcerers and Orange Peel by Ian Mathie

Autobiography

I can’t understand why Ian Mathie isn’t a more celebrated writer and commentator on African cultural affairs. I’ve never yet heard him on radio, re-telling episodes from his memorable life. Our loss. Africa is moving forward, but to understand the Africa of today we need to pay attention to its recent past as well as its early colonial history. Ian’s unassuming witness of African tribes as they slowly emerged into the world of the 1970’s is unparalleled for its authenticity and depth of experience. This recent memoir is his best constructed yet; a seriously informative tale for anyone who wants to know about the real Africa beneath the surface of today’s mobile phones and pre-loved designer jeans. Full review...

I Love Mum by Joanna Walsh and Judi Abbot

When I went to get dressed this morning, there, on my only decent post baby bra, was what appeared to be butternut squash. Regurgitated. Veg I.D. was confirmed by the Daddy of the house. Ever helpful, he recalled that he had seen our little boy chewing it. It is because of incidents like this that books like I Love Mum get written, bought and read. Without a bit of positive affirmation for Mummies, the human race could die out. Quickly. Full review...

Wild Boy by Rob Lloyd-Jones

Raised as a monster and sent to a freak show because of the hair that covers his body, Wild Boy is loathed and feared by nearly everyone, but has an incredible power of observation. When he's accused of murder, he's forced to run from the freak show and team up with circus acrobat Clarissa to try and clear his name. Full review...

Miffy at the Zoo by Dick Bruna