Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
| Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- Remove --> | '''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- Remove --> | ||
| + | {{newreview | ||
| + | |author=David Lucas | ||
| + | |title=This is My Rock | ||
| + | |rating=4 | ||
| + | |genre=For Sharing | ||
| + | |summary=Once you have claimed something as your own, the temptation to not share it is enormous, whether you’re three years old or thirty three! In this story we are introduced to a little goat who has climbed to the top of a mountain, claimed it as his own, and is unwilling to allow anyone else up there with him. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1909263508</amazonuk> | ||
| + | }} | ||
{{newreview | {{newreview | ||
|author=Patricia Hegarty and Fhiona Galloway | |author=Patricia Hegarty and Fhiona Galloway | ||
| Line 245: | Line 253: | ||
|summary=Two 'hurricanes' link this story. There was the one in October 1987 which wasn't going to happen, but did and as it happened a man lay dying, locked inside an old water tower in west London. He had no identification, no one of his description was registered as missing and the body was never claimed. When the body was discovered there was a single, black glove on his back. In October 2103 there was the St Jude's storm. Late one night on the Piccadilly line a man seemed to jump beneath an oncoming train. Jack Harmon saw what happened and was sure that it was suicide, but the man's brother was convinced that it was murder. | |summary=Two 'hurricanes' link this story. There was the one in October 1987 which wasn't going to happen, but did and as it happened a man lay dying, locked inside an old water tower in west London. He had no identification, no one of his description was registered as missing and the body was never claimed. When the body was discovered there was a single, black glove on his back. In October 2103 there was the St Jude's storm. Late one night on the Piccadilly line a man seemed to jump beneath an oncoming train. Jack Harmon saw what happened and was sure that it was suicide, but the man's brother was convinced that it was murder. | ||
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781857709</amazonuk> | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781857709</amazonuk> | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
}} | }} | ||
Revision as of 15:31, 23 April 2015
The Bookbag
Hello from The Bookbag, a book review site, featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - fiction, biography, crime, cookery and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library and the bookshop. Sometimes it holds the latest releases, but at other times there'll be old favourites, books for the children, books for the home. They're sometimes our own books or books from the local library. They're often books sent to us by publishers and we promise to tell you exactly what we think about them. You might not want to read through a full review, so we'll give you a quick review which summarises what we felt about the book and tells you whether or not we think you should buy or borrow it. There are also lots of author interviews, and all sorts of top tens - all of which you can find on our features page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the recommendations page.
There are currently 16,120 reviews at TheBookbag.
Want to find out more about us?
Reviews of the Best New Books
Read new reviews by genre.
Read the latest features.
This is My Rock by David Lucas
Once you have claimed something as your own, the temptation to not share it is enormous, whether you’re three years old or thirty three! In this story we are introduced to a little goat who has climbed to the top of a mountain, claimed it as his own, and is unwilling to allow anyone else up there with him. Full review...
Please: A First Book of Manners by Patricia Hegarty and Fhiona Galloway
Ah, that age old battle, of how to teach your children to be polite. I had a teacher who had magic hands, and she would only release what she was holding if you remembered to say please and thank you to her! This board book introduces the word please in a lovely way, right from a very early age! Full review...
As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust by Alan Bradley
Flavia de Luce has left Buckshaw, the family home where she has lived all her life and has gone to school in Canada (actually, 'was sent' is more accurate - the decision was none of Flavia's making and she felt that she'd been banished). On the trip over she was accompanied by Dr Rainsmith and his wife, who were associated with Miss Bodycote's Female Academy, the school which Flavia would be attending. In fact, they delivered her there with scant ceremony late on the night they arrived. Flavia would have settled down to sleep, but first she was attacked by another pupil and then a dead body fell down the chimney. She already felt quite at home... Full review...
The Lady from Zagreb by Philip Kerr
The Lady from Zagreb begins and ends in 1956. Series detective Bernie Gunther is enduring a 'subtle kind of punishment' as he watches and re-watches beautiful Dahlia Dresner, a woman he has loved and lost. This is the tenth of the novels that began with the publication of the Berlin Noir trilogy (in the early 1990s) and within a few pages the action has catapulted back to the summer of 1942 and the heartland location, Nazi Berlin. Full review...
The Giant of Jum by Elli Woollard and Benji Davies
The Giant of Jum is hungry and it’s making him grumpy. Luckily he remembers his brother telling him a story about a beanstalk and a boy called Jack and this leads the Giant to set off to find his own Jack. The boy will, he decides, make a very tasty snack. But things don’t work out as he plans. Instead of eating the children he meets along the way he ends up helping them, using his extra height to fetch a lost ball and rescue a cat from a tree. When he finally finds Jack will he really be able to eat Jack up? And if he doesn’t eat Jack, how will he fill his rumbling tummy? You’ll have to read the book to find out. Full review...
The Stolen Ones by Owen Laukkanen
By book four in any series things start to go one of two ways; stagnation or consolidation. Are these going to be a collection of books that slowly become the same story over and over again, or will the author distil what made the first books so good and build upon them for a stronger, richer and varied series? Looking at the score for ‘‘Stolen Ones’’, it would appear that the future is bright, the future is Owen Laukkanen. Full review...
Clash of Iron (The Iron Age Trilogy) by Angus Watson
Lowa is now queen at Maidun Castle as she, Dug the reluctant (but highly effective) warrior and his young ward Spring attempt to defend it from the local tribes chancing their arm. Spring seems to have lost her magic but hopefully this is only temporary. There are bigger worries however; Lowa knows that the Romans will come and so sends Ragnall and Dunstan, former prince and his druid tutor Durstan to Rome on a mission to gather intelligence about the enemy. Unfortunately things don't go to plan on either front! Full review...
The Summer of Broken Stories by James Wilson
England 1950: Soon-to-be-10, Mark Davenant is a typical lad with a typical lad's life. He loves adding to his model train layout, he plays with his mates and walking best friend Barney the dog. It's on one such walk he comes across Aubrey, an elderly writer living in the forest. They build a friendship based on shared stories and imaginings. Not all in the village are accepting though and, when they try to drive Aubrey out, Mark feels himself torn between old loyalties and new. Full review...
Rutabaga the Adventure Chef: Book 1 by Eric Colossal
Meet the latest adventurer to scour the land. He has a talent for finding the obscure and seeking out the rare, and surviving all the undignified fates the world has in store. He even has a magical companion. He will be open to any challenge set upon him, from locating dragon-smiting swords to besting the largest, most locally loved, rival. He is Rutabaga, and he is, of course, a chef. Full review...
The Private Blog of Joe Cowley: Return of the Geek by Ben Davis
Joe Cowley has got it bad. Whatever it is, he's got it bad. The hots for his girlfriend, Natalie? Bad. Living arrangements with his ex-school-bullying-nemesis-turned-step-brother? Very bad. Some greasy swazz trying to take his girlfriend from him, at the same time as sucking up to her father who is also his business mentor? Pretty awful. An attitude that means a devil-may-care voice in his head leads him to support his oddball friends through a dance music competition just to get one over on the swazz? You can guess, what with that being the main thrust of the plot here, that that too is B A D bad. Full review...
The Umbrian Thursday Night Supper Club by Marlena de Blasi
Author Marlena de Blasi lives in the (as far as I can tell from having a quick google), beautiful small Italian city of Orvieto – deep in the beautiful Umbrian countryside. Having lived there for some time, she gradually becomes aware of the Umbrian Thursday Night Supper Club – a group of Italian ladies who meet once a week for supper, and to talk. Whilst it takes her some time, Marlena eventually manages to be accepted into the group, and begins to cook and eat with these unique and fascinating ladies, sharing both tales of life, love, and death, and taking part in delicious home cooked meals. Full review...
Will Gallows and the Wolfer's Deadly Magic by Derek Keilty and Jonny Duddle
Will Gallows is just a week away from being a fully-fledged member of the Sky Cavalry – and his talking, winged horse is even more keen on hitting the passing out ceremony on the nose. But things aren't all going to go their way – Mid-Rock City has received a blackmail note, extorting the town out of a lot of gold for threat of a 'death mace', of which nobody has ever heard. Certain factors all point to Will being the best cadet to take part in nixing the handover to the criminal, not least of which is his half-hidden secret magic skill due to being part-elf – but as soon as it's realised who the baddy is, things immediately step up a gear. And if that isn't bad enough, Will's grandma and great-uncle have just turned up for a pleasant trip based around his graduation… Full review...
Charlie Chaplin by Peter Ackroyd
Charlie Chaplin dominated the formative years of the cinema, as actor and director, like no other. As we are told in an early chapter of this book, on his first visit to America in 1910, he is alleged to have shouted, ‘I am coming to conquer you. Every man woman and child shall have my name on their lips!’ Within a few years he had indeed conquered the entire movie-going world Full review...
Bryant and May – The Burning Man by Christopher Fowler
The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) has a new set of overlords. For reasons that were explored in the previous couple of outings they have been transferred to the City Of London Police. The Met are still the big players in the area. City of London Police only police the old city, the square mile, the financial district in other words, that has very little in the way of street crime, because no-one lives there anymore and the people who work there are, by and large, either too rich to need to steal, or too smart to have to do so on the streets. Full review...
Mr Mercedes by Stephen King
Bill Hodges is a retired cop, spiralling down into a seemingly inescapable depression. Stuck at home each day watching dreadful American daytime TV, toying with the idea of shooting himself, it is only with the sudden arrival of a letter claiming to be from someone who committed an unsolved multiple murder, one of Hodges’ old cases, that he finds a new interest in staying alive. Is this actually the murderer? Why is he crawling out of the woodwork now? And can Hodges stop him from killing again? Full review...
Mariella Mystery Investigates: A Kitty Calamity by Kate Pankhurst
When Mariella Mystery (amazing girl detective, aged nine and a bit) and the other Mystery Girls – Violet and Poppy – start to investigate the disappearance of their neighbour’s cat they think it’s going to be an easy case. Aren’t missing cats usually just stuck up a tree or off visiting a house where there’s tastier food? But the girls’ views begin to change when more and more cats start to disappear. Soon everyone in Puddleford is worried. The situation is suddenly serious and it’s up to the Mystery Girls to put an end to the catnapping. Full review...
Horrid Henry and the Comfy Black Chair by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
Horrid Henry just can’t catch a break. Perfect Peter has been interfering with his weekend morning television watching, but mum and dad are clear it’s first come first served. So Horrid Henry hatches a plan to get up a bit earlier than usual and be the first one downstairs, gaining full uninterrupted access to the remote control in the process. It seems like Perfect Peter has the same idea, though, and however early Henry gets up, Peter’s already down there, beating him to it. Week after week he’s thwarted. Can he pull out a signature, and horrid, trick to finally get his own way? Full review...
The Novel Habits of Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith
There are some authors who I pick up with a contented sigh, knowing that I am in safe hands. Alexander McCall Smith is currently my favourite, and thank goodness he is so prolific with his writing that my reading habit is fed on a regular basis! This is the tenth novel in the Sunday Philosophy Club series, and we settle down once more to a visit to Isabel Dalhousie in her beloved Edinburgh. Isabel is wondering, perhaps belatedly, if she is sometimes rather judgmental of people. In particular, she’s having an awful lot of qualms about her niece, Cat’s, latest romance. Will Isabel find herself forced to intervene, or can she sit back and let nature take its course? Full review...
Merlin and Guinevere: A Happenstance Meeting: Volume 1 by R D Shanks
Merlin is both ordinary and special. He is living a quiet, ordinary life with his father in his quiet, ordinary village. Murrow is a fisherman and he and his son have a great relationship, supportive and loving. So far, so ordinary, right? But Merlin isn't like the other boys. While they are raucous and social, Merlin is quiet and contemplative. His best friend isn't another boy; it's Happenstance, his cat. Murrow and Merlin might not realise it but the reader will - there's something special about Merlin. Full review...
Othergirl by Nicole Burstein
Imagine a world where superheroes are real and very much awesome. Imagine a teenage girl who discovers she has amazing powers, that she can fly and toss fire. And then imagine that you aren’t this girl, but rather her very normal best friend. The one who patches up her friend's costume and covers for her at school, who worries and frets about her GCSEs while simultaneously planning how to get her friend noticed by the worldwide network of heroes, the Vigils. This isn't the story of Erica the superhero, but rather the story of Louise, loyal friend and sidekick. Full review...
My Pet Book by Bob Staake
I have a deep regard for books; they led to my love of reading and later my career as a Librarian. Over the years I have had some books that I have read many times and are firm favourites, but would I go so far as to call them my pets? I don’t keep them in a little book house (unless that’s how you describe your bookshelf) and I don’t walk around the street with them on a lead. Who on Earth would do that? Full review...
The Angel and the Sword by Sally Wragg
We met the people from Loxley New Hall in Loxley but we've moved on quite a few years as we rejoin them for the story of The Angel and the Sword. Harry, eleventh Duke of Loxley is dead and the title has been inherited by his daughter - she's a lucky girl as that doesn't happen too often in the world of Debrett's. She's only in her mid teens, but Katherine, her grandmother is uneasy about her friendship with Bill, a local boy. She was very sniffy when her son married Bronwyn, the daughter of a doctor and only really came around to the idea when Bron made a good fist of running the estate when the Duke went off to the trenches with every able-bodied man on the estate. Full review...
Drawing Projects for Children by Paula Briggs
Drawing Projects for Children is a beautiful, full-colour guide that encourages children to use a range of materials to create stunning and thought-provoking artwork. As the author points out, the end result is not always as important as the journey and this book helps children to move away from the more traditional, or 'safe' type of drawing styles and indulge in a little more experimentation and risk taking. The book is ideal for parents to use with their children, but each chapter is a self-contained lesson plan that facilitators and teachers can use with groups. Full review...
Glass Thorns - Window Wall (Book Four) by Melanie Rawn
The Touchstone Players begin another season but, once again it differs from previous years. Now each of the quartet have become or are about to become fathers; all apart from Cade that is. He still has to find that special person but isn't particularly looking as he has problems of his own. His kid brother Derien is starting to come into his own magical gifting which could potentially attract the wrong attention. Cade's elsewhens (his visionary glimpses of possible futures) have also stopped; or rather he has chosen to thwart them. Meanwhile there has been an accident badly maiming Jez, one of Mieke's brothers. At least everyone believes it's an accident until Mieke finds something suspicious in the debris. Full review...
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George and Simon Pare (translator)
Monsieur Perdu has a barge on the Seine, and in that barge he has his bookshop. Actually, rather than being a normal sort of bookshop it is more of a chemist's, since he is something of a literary apothecary, prescribing books to his customers that he senses will soothe their souls, and relieve whatever troubles are ailing them. He only has to speak to them a little, sometimes only has to see them, and he instinctively knows which book will help them. Despite his skills, however, he seems unable to diagnose and resolve his own emotional issues and he is, as the translation of his French surname tells us, Mr Lost. Full review...
Where's the Elephant? by Barroux
We've all had great fun with books such as Where's Wally, haven't we? They appeal to children and adults and everyone who has seen Where's the Elephant? has jumped in with great enthusiasm, keen to show just how observant they are. We start off with a forest - actually it's the Amazon Rainforest - full of glorious colours and our three friends, who are hiding in there. Elephant is probably the easiest to spot, but Snake and Parrot are in there too and with a little concentration you'll find them. When you turn the page you'll scan the trees again and discover their hiding places. You even wonder if it might get a little boring if it goes on like this. Full review...
The Blind Man of Hoy: A True Story by Red Szell
Redmond Széll was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) at age 19. It's now 26 years since he got the life-changing news. Although not completely sightless – he sees shadows and shapes – he is registered blind and walks with the stereotypical white stick. This hasn't stopped him from pursuing his hobby of rock-climbing, though, both indoors on climbing walls and on Britain's cliffs. The culmination of his climbing obsession came in 2013, when he became the first blind person to climb the Old Man of Hoy, the 449-foot cliff off the Orkney Islands of Scotland. Full review...
A Few Words For The Dead by Guy Adams
Warning: spoilers for both The Clown Service and The Rain-Soaked Bride so best read them first. Remember the near-demonic Fratfield? Well, the honeymooning Toby and Tamara find themselves – and Fratfield – in the South American jungle. However, things aren’t running smoothly. Not only does Fratfield still control the forces of nature, now he has some help. Meanwhile back home a hit man prepares to continue his profession. The target? August Shining, Toby's boss, friend and wanted as an interview subject by MI6, should he live that long. Full review...
One Thousand Things by Anna Kovecses
When you are just short of two years old there’s a whole lifetime of learning ahead. Where to begin? Well, you could do a lot worse than get Mum or Dad to buy a copy of Anna Kovecses’ One Thousand Things. Don’t believe the mouse on the front cover holding a balloon saying learn your first words. To bill this book as a ‘vocabulary builder’ is to woefully underplay its hand. Study hard and this book will see you safely through nursery and in to reception as an assured four year old who can hold their own in the cut and thrust of classroom debate. Full review...
The Detective's Secret by Lesley Thomson
Two 'hurricanes' link this story. There was the one in October 1987 which wasn't going to happen, but did and as it happened a man lay dying, locked inside an old water tower in west London. He had no identification, no one of his description was registered as missing and the body was never claimed. When the body was discovered there was a single, black glove on his back. In October 2103 there was the St Jude's storm. Late one night on the Piccadilly line a man seemed to jump beneath an oncoming train. Jack Harmon saw what happened and was sure that it was suicide, but the man's brother was convinced that it was murder. Full review...
