Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
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| + | |title=The Mill River Redemption | ||
| + | |author=Darcie Chan | ||
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| + | |summary=Rose and Emily are sisters who co-exist rather than interact. In the past, a devastating event drove them apart, and now they both have their own lives, far away from sleepy Mill River, Vermont, where they grew up. When their mother Josie dies, they are brought back together first in their mourning and then in their frustration at a message from beyond the grave: their mother is determined to achieve in death what she couldn't while still alive, a sisterly reconciliation. She has left her estate to the girls, but in order to access the funds they will need to cooperate and coordinate efforts to unearth the clues she has left them. With neither in a position to walk away from the potential gold mine, they have to put aside their differences, if only for the summer. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00L845NR2</amazonuk> | ||
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|summary=What links London and Rome? Their capital city status for one, of course. One has a St Paul's cathedral, the other a St Peter's (although pedants will say not). They both have a football team who wear red and white. Oh, and the ancient pilgrim route called the Via Francigena – although the pedant will again say that that strictly starts at that other pilgrimage site, Canterbury. As for Harry Bucknall, the Via starts at St Paul's and should end at St Peter's. Whether or not Harry himself will connect the two cities – and entirely on foot – is the subject of this travel book. | |summary=What links London and Rome? Their capital city status for one, of course. One has a St Paul's cathedral, the other a St Peter's (although pedants will say not). They both have a football team who wear red and white. Oh, and the ancient pilgrim route called the Via Francigena – although the pedant will again say that that strictly starts at that other pilgrimage site, Canterbury. As for Harry Bucknall, the Via starts at St Paul's and should end at St Peter's. Whether or not Harry himself will connect the two cities – and entirely on foot – is the subject of this travel book. | ||
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Revision as of 06:17, 27 August 2014
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.
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The Mill River Redemption by Darcie Chan
Rose and Emily are sisters who co-exist rather than interact. In the past, a devastating event drove them apart, and now they both have their own lives, far away from sleepy Mill River, Vermont, where they grew up. When their mother Josie dies, they are brought back together first in their mourning and then in their frustration at a message from beyond the grave: their mother is determined to achieve in death what she couldn't while still alive, a sisterly reconciliation. She has left her estate to the girls, but in order to access the funds they will need to cooperate and coordinate efforts to unearth the clues she has left them. With neither in a position to walk away from the potential gold mine, they have to put aside their differences, if only for the summer. Full review...
The Leopard of Dramoor by P De V Hencher
Stephen, Earl of Northumbria, known to popular legend as the Leopard of Dramoor, is past his best fighting days. But warfare is never far away in medieval England, particularly in the border country. And it's not far away now. A combined force of Scottish and French troops are massing and intend to attack one of Stephen's castles. Stephen's son David is captain of the castle but he's spoiled and lazy and his father knows he won't defend it successfully without help. Full review...
Beautiful Dogs Postcard Book: 30 Postcards of Champion Breeds to Keep or Send by Andrew Perris
If you're looking for a present for a dog lover, Beautiful Dogs might fit the bill. It's a book of thirty postcards, which you can either send or keep in the book. You might expect to find the more usual breeds - Labradors, Retrievers and the like - but instead you'll find more exotic breeds such as the Bedlington Terrier and the Bolognese. There's just the one dog or bitch on each card and Andrew Perris has managed to give us an excellent view of the animal whilst allowing it to look completely natural. Full review...
Death on Toast (Shades 2.0) by John Townsend
Freddy has the ultimate disadvantage of having rich parents. Well, actually, I guess it's not so much that they're rich as that they're far too busy doing what they want, have to do to take much if any notice of Freddy and what he's doing. He's left on his own - often overnight - to do exactly as he wants to do. And what Freddy wants to do is to watch horror DVDs. Who's to say whether it was the DVDs or his parents lack of interest which drove him to do what he did, but whichever it was, Freddy does something from which there is no return. Full review...
The Quick by Lauren Owen
The Quick is the debut of author Lauren Owen, and set in the gothic world of Victorian London. Owen guides us through the lives of several characters, but specifically James and Charlotte, siblings living in a Yorkshire mansion. Left to fend for themselves due to a dead mother and an absent father, the two grow up close, playing dark games to pass the time. It is only when James, the younger child, moves to London, that the games become very real indeed, and both brother and sister must fight to save not just themselves, but their humanity. Full review...
Where Bear? by Sophy Henn
Where Bear? is a delightful picture book that is sure to charm. A bear and a boy live happily together but both baby bears and baby boys grow up, and over time the bear grows too big for the human-sized house. Sad to lose his friend, but determined to find a nice new home for him, the boy offers up suggestion after suggestion. Some bears live in zoos, or forests or perform in a circus. What about one of those places? With each No from the bear comes a defeated response from our boy Then where bear? Full review...
Remember Me This Way by Sabine Durrant
People should be sad when their husband or wife dies. It’s just the way things work. Whether it’s a sudden accident or a long time coming deterioration, there should be sorrow and maybe a few tears. But Lizzie is a little bit relieved when Zach dies in a horrible car crash. He was her husband and she loved him but there was more to it than that. Now it’s a year later and, for the first time, Lizzie feels strong enough to visit the scene of the accident. But all is not right when she gets there, and as she pulls at a loose thread, the whole jumper starts to unravel. As she starts to question everything she believed to be true, she can’t help but wonder if the whole story of that night hasn’t quite come out yet. Full review...
You Are (Not) Small by Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant
Meet little purple critter. He is small. Big orange critter tells him so. And indeed, he is smaller than big orange critter, just a fraction of his size. But wait. What if he’s not small, but big orange critter is the weirdo? What is he’s big? Did you ever think of that, Mr big orange critter? Full review...
Golden Parasol by Wendy Law-Yone
If you look her up Wendy Law-Yone is described as a Burmese-born American author. That Burmese-born American might be an accurate description of her current citizenship, but it barely hints at the ethnic mix of her heritage, nor of her personal closeness (through her father) to her original homeland's struggle for freedom and democracy. Full review...
The Odyssey (The Classics) by Rosemary Sutcliff and Alan Lee (illustrator)
It took ten years but the drama contained within The Iliad finally concluded, and the few people to survive were able to go back home. Many packed up their black ships and sailed from whence they arrived, although one was not to find the journey so direct. Odysseus, and his command of twelve ships, were to be battered and torn, tried and tested in all manner of ways, before they had any hope of finishing their circuitous loops of the classical world. But for all the threat they endured, something equally base and nasty was happening at the home they so actively sought… Full review...
The Great War: The People's Story by Isobel Charman
During this centenary year, we have seen many ways of telling the history of the conflict which broke out among the Great Powers of Europe and soon involved all four corners of the world. This volume, based on a recent ITV series of the same title, approaches it from an angle which I have not seen before. It follows the course of events over the four years through the letters, memoirs and diaries of about a dozen individuals as it presents their story against the background of fighting on the continental mainland, and of bereavement, shortages and more at home. Full review...
Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face and the Quest for the Magic Porcupine by John Dougherty and David Tazzyman (illustrator)
Here's an abject lesson for you – when you've got a large collection of evil badgers in your prison, don't let them play with a Monopoly set. For one thing one of them will eat all the fake banknotes, and for another it will come with a 'get out of jail free' card. Then the rain will be mucky and smell of bananas, and the King will come knocking on the door and asking for help and suggesting the butcher in the post office is the best person to tell you about stories and might give a clue as to how best to go about living through this one. And it'll still only be chapter four. Full review...
A Brotherly Bother (Pip Street) by Jo Simmons
This is a tale of two elderly men, neither of whom can get around very well without help. One is Richard Keiths, who has lived on Pip Street, and taught electric guitar lessons, for as long as anyone can remember. He needs his mobility scooter, but it's gone and broken down. The other is a mysterious rich man, who swoops into town on the back of a crazy sleigh towed by five huge malamute dogs. For some reason he seems to have an eye on the Keiths house, number 8, and is talking of demolishing it – and possibly even the whole street – so he can go fracking for oil underneath everyone's happiness. Oh, and he's also Richard Keiths' brother. Can our heroic children friends raise enough money to keep the scooter on the road and the road intact from the baddy's evil intentions? Full review...
The Something by Rebecca Cobb
The Something is one of those great books which instantly captures your imagination with a very simple idea. The premise is that a boy loses his ball when it falls down a small hole underneath the cherry tree in his back garden. What could be inside the hole? He asks his friends and family and they all come up with lots of different suggestions, but will he ever find out what it actually is? Full review...
Remember, Remember by Lisa Cutts
Detective Constable Nina Foster has just returned to work after after a stabbing which nearly killed her. Everyone - even Nina - thinks that she's going to be taking it gently and easing herself back into the job. She's working on cold cases - this time it's a train crash which happened in 1964 - but what she's given is just a little tame compared to the cases which her colleagues are struggling to cope with. Drugs deaths and robberies are a lot more immediate, but then - with one of those peculiar quirks of fate - evidence emerges which links the crash which happened half a century ago to the current spate of drug deaths. The woman who is supposed to be taking it easy is back in the thick of it. Full review...
Digby Dog Delivers: A Search and Find Book by Tor Freeman
Digby Dog is off on his rounds, delivering the post. But he might need some help finding the people his parcels are for, can you help him? Full review...
Paddington Marches On by Michael Bond
We all remember Paddington, I’m sure. The Brown family and their housekeeper, the formidable Mrs Bird, and the nice/nasty/nosy next door neighbour Mr Curry and the rest of the gang. This book of seven classic Paddington stories has everything I knew and loved about the bear, reissued for the next generation. Full review...
Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Death and kindergarten are not two things you would normally think went together, but this time they have. Someone is dead. A murder investigation has been launched. But why are the police finding it so hard to get answers? What actually went on that night? And can an incident in the playground on the first day really have come to this? Full review...
While Wandering - A Walking Companion by Duncan Minshull
While Wandering - A Walking Companion, was first published ten years ago as The Vintage Book of Walking. Reprinted and retitled with a stunning new cover by James Jones and Finn Dean, and a foreword by Robert Macfarlane, the best writer on walking in recent years (in my humble opinion). Full review...
I Really, Really Want It by Richard Hennerley
Andrew Manning is what I would call 'a fixer'. He's got decades of experience in sorting out those little problems which so plague celebrities and, frankly, if he's got to bend the law just a tiny bit - or even more - to earn his crust then that's OK by him. He's wealthy, with a list of clients to die for (and some will...) and happily unfaithful to his long-term partner, Johnny on a regular basis. And Johnny does exactly the same. When we meet Andrew his main problem is Shelley Bright. She's 'England's Sweetheart', chart-topping singer and television star. Andrew prefers to think of her as 'a vicious, avaricious snake, a nasty, nasty piece of work' - and he's probably got the right of it. Full review...
The Creative Therapy Colouring Book by Hannah Davies, Richard Merrit and Jo Taylor
Apparently, colouring books for adults have become de rigeur in France, with the book Art Therapie-100 Coloriages Anti-Stress flying off the shelves as increasing numbers of stressed-out individuals discover the therapeutic value of 'colouring in'. Full review...
Animal Lives: Lions by Sally Morgan
Lions is part of the wonderful Animal Lives series, each focusing on a particular animal from the African savannah. This time, the king of the beasts takes centre stage, in a book that mixes stunning photography with plenty of fascinating facts and figures. Full review...
Alex and Ada Volume 1 by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn
Meet Alex. You'd probably be in a minority if you did, for he's a bit of a loner since he broke up with his last girlfriend. He meets few people in the workplace, has a quite antiseptic flat with his virtual cinema and his flying robotic kitchen aide, and that's about it. But others aren't too keen for Alex to carry on like that – people such as his gran, who has given herself the gift of an android in the form of a handsome young man to, er, keep her company. And yes, that too. Unfortunately, as Alex sees it, she buys him one for his birthday as well – a Tanaka X5, which you wake up by tugging on an earlobe. This being a world where the first real Artificial Intelligence went nasty and killed people a year ago, Alex is certainly torn about having the thing in his flat – especially as it just kowtows to his wishes and opinions without having anything like its own, as it is not allowed to get that close to sentience. But Alex changes his mind right upon the point of returning the thing, and begins to explore just what kind of life the gift could end up presenting to him. Full review...
The Eye of the Falcon (Gods and Warriors Book 3) by Michelle Paver
It's been seven long months since Hylas and Pirra were separated in the wake of the devastating eruption of Thalakrea. The eruption was followed by tsunami and the coldest winter anyone can remember. There is no spring. No sun. Full review...
Trillium by Jeff Lemire
It's the future of at least a thousand years hence, and humanity is in trouble. The species has spread itself thinly out in the galaxy, but is under threat from a sentient virus, which is beating all efforts – military, scientific – to best it. The nearest thing to hope is in the unlikely form of a jungle flower, found only in realms sacred to the natives of one of humankind's planets. Elsewhere and elsewhen a shell-shocked WWI veteran is taken with his brother to South America, to gain the secrets and glories of the remotest Incan temples. It therefore sounds entirely unlikely that the main alien life scientist in the future and the earlier explorer will meet, but meet they do – and then things start to get weirder and weirder… Full review...
Visions by Kelley Armstrong
Olivia Jones, daughter of serial killers, has successfully proved her parents innocent of one murder. With that seed of doubt planted, she's out to prove them innocent of the rest. She knows the people of mysterious little town Cainsville know more than they are saying, but trying to get them to talk about anything - from her parents to Olivia's strange ability to read omens - is like trying to get get blood from a stone. Full review...
He Wants by Alison Moore
Lewis Sullivan is close to retirement, but elderly beyond his years and widowed. Edie's death seems to have had practical implications - he's not getting the food he used to enjoy - but beyond that it's difficult to see quite what they had in common other than the library. He used it and she worked there - but they didn't even enjoy the same books. Lewis is an RE teacher at the same school where his father, Lawrence, used to teach - when they were both there at the same time it often confused the paperwork. Lewis is beginning to wonder if he chose the wrong career, if he lives in the wrong place. He used to be able to see the house he grew up in from the bedroom window before it was demolished and replaced by a supermarket carpark, but he's always dreamed of living by the sea. His adult daughter, Ruth visits him every day and brings him soup.
He doesn't want soup. Full review...
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin and James Dean
Pete the Cat has put his favourite shirt on, you know the one, with four groovy buttons? And he loves it. But what happens when those buttons start to fall off one by one? Full review...
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
The Narrow Road to the Deep North is the title of both Flanagan's Booker Prize-longlisted sixth novel and a book by seventeenth-century Japanese poet Basho. Poetry irradiates this often bleak story of Australian POWs building the Burma Death Railway during the Second World War, presenting beauty and love as counterpoints to gory descriptions of suffering and inhumanity. Full review...
Like a Tramp, Like A Pilgrim: On Foot, Across Europe to Rome by Harry Bucknall
What links London and Rome? Their capital city status for one, of course. One has a St Paul's cathedral, the other a St Peter's (although pedants will say not). They both have a football team who wear red and white. Oh, and the ancient pilgrim route called the Via Francigena – although the pedant will again say that that strictly starts at that other pilgrimage site, Canterbury. As for Harry Bucknall, the Via starts at St Paul's and should end at St Peter's. Whether or not Harry himself will connect the two cities – and entirely on foot – is the subject of this travel book. Full review...
