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{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingisbn="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->1903385679|title=The 100 Best Novels in Translation|author=Boyd Tonkin|rating=3.5|genre=Reference|summary=Consider, if you will, translated fiction. Some say it's impossible – that if a book was so good in one tongue it could never survive being put into another. Samuel Beckett must have laboured over ever syllable and ''Breath'', but he could translate his own works, and other equally complex pieces can cross borders. It's a market that has actually doubled in sales volume between 2000 and 2016 (thanks, ''Millennium Trilogy''). Novels, in particular, in translation, are – as the introduction here so smartly puts it – ''a privileged means of passing border posts, a sort of universal passport issued by that Utopian state, the Republic of Letters''. We here at the 'Bag regularly try and give equal credit to the translator, without whom we wouldn't be reading what we have in our hands. But all that said, do we really need one of those list books about the subject? I got given a book the other year detailing 1001 places to go to before I die, and I might even then have missed out a zero. It would take as long as a fortnight's holiday to wade through, and even though this is not as long as your typical Bolano housebrick, it's not a short thing. Should it take our time?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Fry_Mythos|title=Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece|author=Stephen Fry|rating=5|genre=Reference|summary=The Greek Myths are, arguably, the greatest stories ever told. So old and influential they cast a shadow over western tales and traditions, yet remain relatable and readable millennia later. Here comedian, actor, television presenter, actor and author Stephen Fry brings his considerable talent to these special stories and recreates them with a wit, warmth and humanity that brings them into the modern age whilst still giving the honour and respect that such ancient and influential stories deserve.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Mahnke_Lore|title=The World of Lore, Volume 1: Monstrous Creatures|author=Aaron Mahnke|rating=4.5|genre=Reference|summary=Every country, every town, every village has a folktale – a story passed down through generations that often focuses on the dark and unexplained. No matter how the modern world moves on, there's a still a part of everyone that is vulnerable to a good tale. From ghosts to werewolves, by way of wendigos and elves, author Aaron Mahnke delivers the reader legends from all over the world, whilst examining how they've become part of our collective imaginations, still striking fear into the hearts of many of us today.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=Fowler_Forgotten|title=The Book of Forgotten Authors|author=Christopher Fowler|rating=5|genre=Reference|summary=''Absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder''. It makes people think you're dead.

<!-- Tonkin -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1903385679.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1903385679/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The 100 Best Novels in Translation by Boyd Tonkin]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] Consider, if you will, translated fiction. Some say it's impossible – that if a book was so good in one tongue it could never survive being put into another. Samuel Beckett must have laboured over ever syllable and ''Breath'', but he could translate his own works, and other equally complex pieces can cross borders. It's a market that has actually doubled in sales volume between 2000 and 2016 (thanks, ''Millennium Trilogy''). Novels, in particular, in translation, are – as the introduction here so smartly puts it – ''a privileged means of passing border posts, a sort of universal passport issued by that Utopian state, the Republic of Letters''. We here at the 'Bag regularly try and give equal credit to the translator, without whom we wouldn't be reading what we have in our hands. But all that said, do we really need one of those list books about the subject? I got given a book the other year detailing 1001 places to go to before I die, and I might even then have missed out a zero. It would take as long as a fortnight's holiday to wade through, and even though this is not as long as your typical Bolano housebrick, it's not a short thing. Should it take our time? [[The 100 Best Novels in Translation by Boyd Tonkin|Full Review]] <!-- Fry -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Fry_Mythos.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0718188721?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0718188721]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece by Stephen Fry]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Reference|Reference]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] The Greek Myths are, arguably, the greatest stories ever told. So old and influential they cast a shadow over western tales and traditions, yet remain relatable and readable millennia later. Here comedian, actor, television presenter, actor and author Stephen Fry brings his considerable talent to these special stories and recreates them with a wit, warmth and humanity that brings them into the modern age whilst still giving the honour and respect that such ancient and influential stories deserve. [[Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece by Stephen Fry|Full Review]] <!-- Mahnke -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Mahnke_Lore.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1472251652?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1472251652]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The World of Lore, Volume 1: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Mahnke]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Reference|Reference]], [[:Category:Spirituality and Religion|Spirituality and Religion]] Every country, every town, every village has a folktale – a story passed down through generations that often focuses on the dark and unexplained. No matter how the modern world moves on, there's a still a part of everyone that is vulnerable to a good tale. From ghosts to werewolves, by way of wendigos and elves, author Aaron Mahnke delivers the reader legends from all over the world, whilst examining how they've become part of our collective imaginations, still striking fear into the hearts of many of us today. [[The World of Lore, Volume 1: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Mahnke|Full Review]] <!-- Fowler -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Fowler_Forgotten.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1786484897?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1786484897]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] ''Absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder''. It makes people think you're dead. There's truth in that statement, you know, but there's a conundrum when it's applied to authors. Shakespeare is dead: Dickens is dead, but we haven't buried what they've written: that lives on until... when? Is it until fashion decrees that they should be no more? Or is it, as in the case of some children's authors that they are on life support through licensing deals and astute marketing? Christopher Fowler has unearthed (exhumed?) ninety-nine authors who were once hugely popular, but whose works have disappeared, sometimes quite literally. [[The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler|Full Review]]}}<!-- Angell -->{{Frontpage|-| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Angell_Triang.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1445664577/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | styletitle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Tri-ang Collectables by |author=Dave Angell]]|rating=== [[image:3.5star.jpg5|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] summary=A guide to the trains produced by the Tri-ang company from its inception until the company became Hornby. A very personal guide to the collecting of model trains. [[Tri-ang Collectables by Dave Angell|Full Review]]}}<!-- Chase -->{{Frontpage|-| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Chase_Orchids.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1782404031/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title===[[The Book of Orchids: A life-size guide to six hundred species from around the world by |author=Mark Chase, Maarten Christenhusz and Tom Mirenda]]==|rating=5 [[image:5star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] summary=One in seven flowering plants on earth is an orchid: there are 26,000 species in 749 genera. They flourish in remarkable habitats such as deserts and the Arctic circle, in fact , all areas but the most inhospitable. There's a wide range of colours, shapes and scents: they're dramatic, delicate and ingenious in the ways that they've developed not just to survive but to thrive. Tom Mirenda describes them as ''masters of manipulation'' and ''famous for lying and cheating their way to their many evolutionary successes'', yet his love of them is as obvious as his respect for the insight they give us into the processes which shaped our world. He hopes that understanding how that has come about will inspire us to conserve what we have. [[The Book of Orchids: A life-size guide to six hundred species from around the world by Mark Chase, Maarten Christenhusz and Tom Mirenda|Full Review]]}}<!-- Edwards -->{{Frontpage|-| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Edwards_Story.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0712356967/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | styletitle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books (British Library Crime Classics) by |author=Martin Edwards]]==|rating=5 [[image:5star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] summary=It's easy to be confused by the various 'ages' of crime writing: if you've have an interest in the genre you'll almost certainly have heard of the Golden Age of Crime, generally acknowledged as being the period between the first and second world wars. 'Classic Crime' on the other hand extends the time frame at either end and covers books published in the first half of the twentieth century. Throughout my adult life , there's been just one genre of books which has fascinated me, and that's crime, so I could hardly resist the chance of reading ''The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books'' particularly as the author, Martin Edwards is an accomplished author within the crime genre and an acknowledged expert on the subject. [[The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books (British Library Crime Classics) by Martin Edwards|Full Review]]}}<!-- DK -->|-{{Frontpage| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:DK_Childrens.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241286972/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title===[[Children's Illustrated Thesaurus by |author=DK]]=|rating== [[image:4.5star.jpg5|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Non-Fiction|Children's Non-Fiction]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] summary=One of the most valuable literary skills which children can learn is how to use reference books. As a child every question which I began with ''how do you spell...?'' would be answered with ''EXACTLY as it says in the dictionary''. This was fine, but the family's Collins Little Gem Dictionary didn't encourage exploration, not least because the font was small and difficult to read. Fortunately , those times have now changed and reference book for children are now much more inviting. Not every book comes with a set of instructions but it's worth studying the ''How to...'' section, not least because similar systems are used in other reference books. [[Children's Illustrated Thesaurus by DK|Full Review]]}}<!-- DK -->{{Frontpage|-| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:DK_1st.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/024118875X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title===[[First Science Encyclopedia by |author=Dorling Kindersley]]==|rating=5 [[image:5star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Non-Fiction|Children's Non-Fiction]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] summary=I wasn't introduced to 'science' until I was eleven and went on to senior school: I wasn't alone in this, but it really was too late. Thankfully, times have changed and children at primary school are getting to grips with plants and animals, atoms and molecules and even outer space from a very young age. What's needed is a good, basic reference book which will introduce all the subjects and give a good grounding. It needs to be something which would sit proudly in the classroom library and comfortably on a child's bookshelf. ''The First Science Encyclopedia'' would do both well. }}Move on to [[First Newest Science Encyclopedia by Dorling Kindersley|Full ReviewFiction Reviews]] <!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->|}