Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
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| + | |title=Shifting Shadows: Stories From the World of Mercy Thompson | ||
| + | |author=Patricia Briggs | ||
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| + | |genre=Fantasy | ||
| + | |summary=To recap, then – meet Patricia Briggs. Besides one standalone book [[Aralorn: Masques and Wolfbsane by Patricia Briggs|Aralorn]] her many novels have been set in one universe – a world in the NW USA where all kinds of fantasy creatures live in amongst humans, whether officially or otherwise. Car mechanic Mercy Thompson is part-coyote, and therefore can shapeshift, but we've also seen how she has other minor talents in solving problems and identifying threats that other aspects of the fantasy world can deliver. Her colleagues have been fae, her best friends (and worst enemies) vampires, and she's now the partner of the region's alpha werewolf – who employs a witch as fixer; everywhere you look there is lore as to how all these species interrelate and the books drip with rules about every aspect of living beyond the mundane. So far there is a minor trilogy set on the edges of Mercy's world, but eight major – and majorly successful – books fully focussed on her. But Patty Briggs must clearly have a very restless imagination, and a will to narrate strong stories, and the results have also led us to this fat volume of short stories, that come from instances, characters and times scattered throughout her mythology. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356505278</amazonuk> | ||
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|summary=If you regularly read children’s books about Father Christmas you are probably as amazed as I am that he ever gets the job done. It would appear that almost every year some sort of problem befalls old Santa Claus and he has to ask for help. I can understand getting aid from his elves, his reindeers or even the tooth fairy at a push, but a hedgehog? However, this is not just any hedgehog, but Little Hedgehog and with the aid of friends and a fluffy scarf, Hedgehog may just get the job done in time. | |summary=If you regularly read children’s books about Father Christmas you are probably as amazed as I am that he ever gets the job done. It would appear that almost every year some sort of problem befalls old Santa Claus and he has to ask for help. I can understand getting aid from his elves, his reindeers or even the tooth fairy at a push, but a hedgehog? However, this is not just any hedgehog, but Little Hedgehog and with the aid of friends and a fluffy scarf, Hedgehog may just get the job done in time. | ||
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848952422</amazonuk> | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848952422</amazonuk> | ||
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Revision as of 12:42, 29 October 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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Shifting Shadows: Stories From the World of Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs
To recap, then – meet Patricia Briggs. Besides one standalone book Aralorn her many novels have been set in one universe – a world in the NW USA where all kinds of fantasy creatures live in amongst humans, whether officially or otherwise. Car mechanic Mercy Thompson is part-coyote, and therefore can shapeshift, but we've also seen how she has other minor talents in solving problems and identifying threats that other aspects of the fantasy world can deliver. Her colleagues have been fae, her best friends (and worst enemies) vampires, and she's now the partner of the region's alpha werewolf – who employs a witch as fixer; everywhere you look there is lore as to how all these species interrelate and the books drip with rules about every aspect of living beyond the mundane. So far there is a minor trilogy set on the edges of Mercy's world, but eight major – and majorly successful – books fully focussed on her. But Patty Briggs must clearly have a very restless imagination, and a will to narrate strong stories, and the results have also led us to this fat volume of short stories, that come from instances, characters and times scattered throughout her mythology. Full review...
Black Greek Coffee by Konstantina Souzou-Kyrkou
If your experience of Greece is as a tourist then you'll almost certainly think of it in terms of history, mythology and startlingly white buildings against sapphire blue sky and sea. It looks idyllic, but there's a darker side to Greek life, explored by Konstantina Souzou-Kyrkou, in Black Greek Coffee - a neat metaphor for the lives she looks at: sharp, bitter but ultimately addictive. In twenty three short stories she illuminates the chauvinism and superstition, the concepts of honour and the status of women, the dominance of religion and the lives led by ordinary people. They sound like grand themes, but the stories are grounded in domesticity and there will be few people - in any country - who have not been touched by one of the problems. Full review...
Good Dog Lion (Little Gems) by Alexander McCall Smith
Being a firm fan of Alexander McCall Smith's novels for adults, I wasn't surprised to find that I thoroughly enjoyed this children's story. Written with the same gentle understanding of human nature, and so very deftly told, I read this story with a great deal of pleasure. Although the story behind Timo's life is rather sad, with his father leaving him and his mother when Timo is only young, and his mother then struggling to find enough money to raise both of them, it never descends into tragedy but remains positive and upbeat. It's a story of strength, and bravery, and I'm not just talking about Timo and his mother. Full review...
Seen and Not Heard by Katie May Green
During the day the eight children of Shiverhawk Hall are seen and not heard for they are images captured on canvas. 'Don’t they look so sweet and good, so well behaved like children should?' They certainly look a picture, picked out in the silvery moonlight. As night sets in and all is quiet, only the black cat and a handful of mice are there to see the portraits come to life and step out of their frames. What mischief can these children from across the ages make? Full review...
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
Rachel Joyce envisions The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy not as a prequel or sequel to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry but as a companion volume. Giving Queenie's side of the story through an extended letter she is writing to Harold from St Bernadine's hospice as she awaits his arrival, Joyce gives readers a new perspective on her character's unrequited love for Harold, a surprising friendship she kept up with his son David until his suicide, and her sudden move from Devon to Northumbria, where she lived in a quaint beachside cottage and maintained her sea garden until she became ill with cancer. Full review...
The Bonkers Banana by Allan Plenderleith
Father Christmas has a problem. Because the house had no chimney he had to use his magic dust to shrink himself down so that he could slip into the house through the keyhole. All went well until the very tiny Santa bumped into a fruit bowl containing just one banana and all his magic dust flew up in the air - and landed on the banana. The banana was rather pleased - brought to life he jumped up and down and began dancing and singing - but Father Christmas was distraught. Without the magic dust he couldn't ride his sleigh and deliver all the presents. Eventually the banana calmed down sufficiently to realise that Santa had a problem and the only way out of it was for banana to fly Santa to the moon so that he could get more magic dust. Yes - I know - it's bonkers. Full review...
Here Be Monsters! by Alan Snow
When the author of a book is also the illustrator, and he has a wild and thoroughly silly imagination, it's not surprising if that book is swiftly turned into a highly successful film. This story, part of the Ratsbridge Chronicles, is a lively and wondrously eccentric tale of greedy villains bent on revenge, brave and resourceful heroes of all shapes and sizes, and brilliant (if occasionally sinister) Heath-Robinson-style devices. Full review...
The It Doesn't Matter Suit and Other Stories by Sylvia Plath and David Roberts
I've said it before and I'll say it again, that you should always approach classical authors through their least typical, shortest and more individual works – you won't gain much insight perhaps into why they were famous, but you will find more entertainment and greater pleasures by staying outside the canon. And the lovely people at Faber and Faber have a case in point – rather than plough through serious dross from Eliot, why not stick to The Illustrated Old Possum by T S Eliot and Nicolas Bentley? And with Sylvia Plath I cannot think of a better place to start with her oeuvre than with these snappy and delightful pages. Full review...
Thunderbirds Comic: Volume 1 by Gerry Anderson and Frank Bellamy
Meet the Thunderbirds. If you don't know anything about the Tracy family and their International Rescue organisation, then I'm not sure where you've been. For people of a certain age (OK, mine, at least) they were the staple of Saturday morning cinema clubs, a highlight of BBC2 when repeated teatime, and even managed to make those 3D rotating card-a-vision things worthwhile. They've been in cinemas since then, of course, but now with the world needing everything everywhen we've got a welcome chance to look back at some of the original comic book spin-offs, that probably haven't been much seen since then. With five volumes of these books on the cards, it's worthwhile sticking to the first and seeing just what these retro delights – or otherwise – could bring. Full review...
One Step Closer To You by Alice Peterson
Single mum Polly has a lot of baggage, but it all basically boils down to two things, boys and booze. She’s been to hell and back, but for right now, she seems to be doing ok, holding down a job in a café, looking after son Louis and staying off the sauce. She’s even in a position to help those she meets, like her fellow AA-ers and single dad Ben at school who is adjusting to his new role. Full review...
Lamentation (Matthew Shardlake) by C J Sansom
The reign of Henry VIII is drawing to a close. It's heresy to speculate on the death of the king, but obvious to anyone who sees the bloated man who can barely walk that he cannot have much longer. Matthew Shardlake is still drawn to the queen - Catherine Parr as was - but he'd prefer to avoid court politics particularly when there's someone as suggestible and changeable as Henry on the throne. Ultimately though he doesn't feel that he has much choice when he's summoned to Whitehall Palace. It seems that the queen has a problem which could put her life in danger - along with the lives of all those who are seen as her supporters. Full review...
Beautiful Patterns by Various Authors
If you are going to make a colouring book aimed at adults I say do it 100% and go all out. You can keep your minimalist landscapes or your naïve animals; give me a page packed to the gills with something that needs filling in. This can make a creative colouring book for grownups feel more like a military operation, but at least you will have fun doing it and improve your skills. Full review...
The Lives of Stella Bain by Anita Shreve
The opening of this book is a brilliant one, being thrust into the midst of Stella’s confusion as she wakes with no memory in a first aid station near the front line. She knows nothing other than the fact that she can drive an ambulance, and the reader knows nothing more than her. She soon discovers that she can draw, too, and this is a really nice angle to help learn about her and her past without having to unveil everything all at once. I think the use of present tense within this novel works incredibly well in order to keep the reader at the same speed as the character, and it’s also a writing style I enjoy as a whole because it’s a little bit unusual and brings a different pace to the text. Full review...
Unmade by Sarah Rees Brennan
Sorry-in-the-Vale has been taken over by Rob Lynburn and his merry band of evil sorcerers. But Kami Glass has never been one to let danger of death and dismemberment stop her on her quest for truth. And Kami has to know the truth about what happened to Jared, Jared who rescued her brother and hasn't been seen since. Full review...
Indian Summer by Marcia Willett
Mungo is a retired actor and director. His brother Archie is a landowner, struggling to make ends meet. Kit is a good friend who comes to stay, wanting a safe place while she decides whether or not to get in touch with a former boyfriend. Neighbours include Emma, an army wife with two small children who is tempted to an affair with a friend of her husband’s, and the elderly brothers Philip and Billy who have a secret that’s been hidden for forty years... Full review...
The Wolves of London - The Obsidian Heart Trilogy (Book 1) by Mark Morris
Alex Locke has grown from the young petty criminal he once was. Now a psychology lecturer with a beautiful 5-year-old daughter he has every incentive he needs to stay straight. It would take something devastating to make him return to his former life but devastation happens. Alex is coerced into doing on last job: stealing a piece of heart shaped obsidian from someone it didn’t belong to in the first place. What are the consequences? What's so special about this piece of rock? As all hell breaks loose, Alex is about to find out. Full review...
The Twilight Hour by Nicci Gerrard
Eleanor has been persuaded by her children to seriously consider sheltered accommodation. At the age of 94 and blind, she isn't considered safe rattling around a big old house. She doesn't surrender without conditions though: before she considers moving out, a stranger should be employed to sort her photos and papers before burning them. The family agree and Peter is appointed. Gradually he realises why Eleanor doesn’t want her children to see the documents as the story of hidden life, love and loss is revealed. Full review...
Cover Your Eyes by Adele Geras
For London fashion journalist Megan forbidden love ends suddenly and painfully, just when she thinks it will blossom into something lasting and legitimate. Elsewhere, in the countryside, Eva Conway lives with her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters in Salix House – the house that Eva used to call her own when she was a famous fashion designer. Now she feels alone, even in the heart of her family. Not only this but she also faces the loss of the home that means so much to her. As Megan and Eva's paths cross they discover that each of them has a dark guilty secret eating away at them, but then Salix House has secrets too. Full review...
The Hawley Book of the Dead by Chrysler Szarlan
Revelation (Reve) Maskelyne is the latest of a long line of girls named Revelations in the Sears family. This has a significance she's unaware of as she divides her time between a happy marriage, parenthood and sharing the limelight with her husband Jeremy as illusionist team The Amazing Maskelynes. Until the day she kills Jeremy… The tragic event triggers the realisation that someone has been stalking Reve for most of her life. For the protection of her 15-year-old twins and 10-year-old daughter, Reve runs to Hawley Five Corners, a large New England estate that's been in the family for centuries. Reve has always known that not all magic is illusion but now she has to rely on that. Full review...
Twinkle by Katharine Holabird and Sarah Warburton
Pink. Glitter. Magic. Right from the start this book has all the ingredients needed to be a hit with little girls. I hate to stereotype but there’s no denying it with this one. From the author of Angelina Ballerina comes the first in a new, rather magical series. Full review...
The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes
Stella is an author working on her second book. Though now back in Ireland, she talks of a life in New York. It sounds fabulous. But something has changed. Whatever it is, we’re not sure. Maybe the mighty have fallen, the stars have stopped colliding. Either way, that adventure is over as the book starts. It’s not where the story starts, though, and we’re soon plunged back into the past, with the events that have lead Stella to this point. First on the list, a serious illness, without which nothing that followed would have happened, or at least not in the way it did. This may sound confusing but the book is anything but, and despite its great length, I sped through it. Full review...
Encyclopedia Paranoiaca by Henry Beard and Christopher Cerf
We're screwed. Wherever we look, whatever we think of doing, there is a reason why we shouldn't be doing it, and people to back that reason up with scientific data. Take any aspect of your daily life – what you eat, how you work, how you rest even, what you touch – all have problems that could provoke a serious illness or worse. And outside that daily sphere there are economic disasters, nuclear meltdowns, errant AI scientists and passing comets that could turn our world upside down at the blink of an eye. Perhaps then you better read this book first – for it may well turn out to be your last… Full review...
Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver
It probably helps to be a fan of Agatha Christie. It probably helps to absolutely adore the sheer selfish indulgence and style of the 1930s. It probably helps to just accept the rich as being completely divorced from real life. It definitely helps if you're happy to take your crime as a puzzle, rather than as heart-rending, gut-wrenching rendition of reality. Full review...
The Imaginary by A F Harrold and Emily Gravett
Rudger is Amanda's imaginary friend. She found him in her wardrobe one morning and they've been inseparable ever since. Amanda's mother is quite accepting of Rudger, Amanda's friends less so. Amanda took him to school with her once but the trip wasn't a huge success so now the pair hang out by themselves, taking voyages of adventure in Amanda's garden, in her bedroom and under the stairs in Amanda's house. It's while exploring a complex of dark and dingy caves under the stairs - what on earth could be in a cupboard under the stairs other than a complex of caves? - that the doorbell rings and Mr Bunting appears. Full review...
Eminent Hipsters by Donald Fagen
Donald Fagen is best known as one half of the partnership that became Steely Dan, one of the more sophisticated names in American rock music. While at school in the 1960s he was convinced that his vocation would be journalism, until music took over. When the group, or rather duo plus hired hands, went on hiatus, he contributed to various journals. About half of this fairly brief book consists of his articles on films, music and science fiction, and the rest is made up of his entries (including random thoughts concerning the world around him) from a touring diary. Full review...
Hitler's Last Witness: The Memoirs of Hitler's Bodyguard by Rochus Misch
I am proud to declare an interest in all things Holocaust, one of the key areas of which was the last days of Hitler – the Downfall, if you like, way before youtube satirists. So this book, from the man who for some unspecified years was the last eye-witness to have been in the Fuhrerbunker at the end of the Nazi regime, was always going to be a great read. It remained that even after the foreword dismissed its own book, pointing out differences here to the canon of thought about the timings etc of April/May 1945, and declaring the author somewhat naïve in not being so aware, circumspect and authoritative about the major points of WWII. Full review...
Digital Inferno by Paul Levy
You know how it goes. You have a pressing job that requires your immediate attention, but decide to treat yourself to a five minute tea break surfing the internet. One link leads to another and before you know it, your short tea break has swallowed up a whole hour. Or maybe you are at an important meeting and you feel the phone vibrate in your pocket, signalling an incoming text. Is it rude to check your messages when your full attention should really be elsewhere? If you feel that meaningful communication with the family has been replaced with a glut of hastily-typed x's, LOLs and emoticons, this book may be just what you need. Digital Inferno aims to help its readers reclaim their place in the digital world and gain mastery over all of those pieces of tech that seem to demand so much of us. Full review...
Engel's England: Thirty-nine counties, one capital and one man by Matthew Engel
Matthew Engel has spent some considerable time travelling around the thirty nine historic counties of England. On the face of it this is a rather strange task given that some of the counties (anyone remember Middlesex? Cumberland?) no longer exist and that they are - or were - situated in a country which you can't reliably find on a drop-down internet menu. Engel's attempts to explain to his eight-year-old son which country we live in produced mixed results. His son grasped the outlines but as he explained the concepts Engels found himself getting more and more confused, particularly when you add in the counties: reorganisation in 1974 changed borders, created new counties and abolished some old ones. Some were renamed, to subsequently revert to the old name whilst others faded away unremarked. Full review...
The Hero Pup by Megan Rix
Christmas is going to be tough for Joe this year. It's going to be the first without his dad; a brave soldier who died in the line of duty. Before then, he has the more immediate issue of facing his friends when he returns to school. They are bound to ask him lots of awkward questions about his dad and he's not feeling ready to open up to people just yet. Luckily, Mum has an idea that will help them both perform a fitting tribute to dad, whilst giving Joe something worthwhile to focus on: they decide to adopt and train a helper pup who will eventually assist an injured soldier in need. Full review...
One Christmas Night by Christina M Butler and Tina MacNaughton
If you regularly read children’s books about Father Christmas you are probably as amazed as I am that he ever gets the job done. It would appear that almost every year some sort of problem befalls old Santa Claus and he has to ask for help. I can understand getting aid from his elves, his reindeers or even the tooth fairy at a push, but a hedgehog? However, this is not just any hedgehog, but Little Hedgehog and with the aid of friends and a fluffy scarf, Hedgehog may just get the job done in time. Full review...
