Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"

Your city is lost. Your city is not yours. Your city is mine.

That's what Bast says. The Ancient Egyptian goddess, freed from thousands of years imprisonment, has unleashed her magic. Time has stopped. All the humans are frozen in suspended animation. All the humans except, that is, brother and sister Will and Jo, who are protected by the scarab bracelets they wear. And now, Bast has even succeeded in freezing some of the Spits (good statues) and has sent the bad statues (Taints) to find the two children who are threatening her plans. Full review...

Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement

Ladydi Garcia Martínez lives in rural Chilpancingo, Mexico, with her mother, Rita, who works as a cleaning lady for a rich family. Like many of the men in their town who left to find work, Ladydi's father crossed the river into America, where he is rumoured to have another family. As a result, this is very much a matriarchal community. Rita describes the situation for Ladydi's teacher: 'You men don't get it, yet, do you? This is a land of women. Mexico belongs to women.' Full review...

Falling Out of Time by David Grossman

Like the central characters in Falling Out of Time, Israeli author David Grossman lost his son, a soldier named Uri, during the Middle East conflict. In this multifaceted examination of bereavement, it seems that everyone has lost a child. The genre-bending mixture of poetry, absurdist dialogue, and an inverted fairy tale reflects the difficulty of ever capturing grief in language. Each story and each strategy is like a new way of approaching the unspeakable. Full review...

Daniel O'Dowd Was Ever So Loud by Julie Fulton and Elina Ellis

Daniel O’Dowd is ever so loud, which shouldn’t come as a shock to any of you given that the book is called Daniel O’Dowd was Ever So Loud. Much to his teacher’s dismay, Daniel never listens to a word she says because he’s too busy being loud! Full review...

The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Teens

In a land of fantasy, Twylla lives in the court, engaged to the prince. But this is no fairytale – he is one of the only people she can touch, made immune to the poison carried in her veins. The embodiment of a goddess, Twylla is the executioner, forced to kill those who commit treason. Nearly everyone around is terrified of her. Until new guard Lief arrives, who could see her as a friend, or even romantically. The question of whether the two could have a future together is an intriguing one, but before long, it’s the least of Twylla’s worries as she’s thrown into danger by the queen’s obsession with destroying her enemies. Can she survive? Full review...

How To Be A Heroine: Or, what I've learned from reading too much by Samantha Ellis

How to be a Heroine is a pleasant and addictive read. Playwright Samantha Ellis looks back at her childhood as a voracious reader and remembers the characters that influenced her. These are as diverse as Sylvia Plath, Little Women and Scheherazade. Full review...

Mind Games by Teri Terry

Teens

Luna is a Refuser. In her world, a Refuser is a kind of cross between a conscientious objector and a Luddite. In this post WW3 Britain, almost everyone has a brain implant which they use to spend most of their lives in a virtual environment. People don't just play in the vast array of games: they work, they learn, they date. Even hacking is encouraged. And those who opt out, like Luna, are shut out of the best careers and viewed with suspicion. Full review...

How to Fly with Broken Wings by Jane Elson

Willem doesn't usually find homework challenging. He's good at schoolwork. But Mrs Hubert has given him an assignment he's going to find difficult. He must make two friends of his own age. That's tricky when you're on the autistic spectrum and you don't communicate well. It's even more difficult when almost all your classmates join in with Finn when he bullies you and makes you jump from increasingly high places. Sasha is torn. She loves Finn to pieces but she can't bear bullying and she hates herself for not standing up for Willem. And Finn has a secret of his own that's driving his rotten behaviour. Full review...

Ghosting by Jonathan Kemp

General Fiction

Grace Wellbeck is 64 - living on a canal boat in London with her second husband, she lives a relatively settled life of routine. A chance encounter with a man in the street changes everything though - a man who is the spitting image of her first, deceased husband. Is he a ghost? Is Grace going mad? Full review...

Lay Me Down by Nicci Cloke

It's New Year's Eve and the nightclub is pulsating with sound. The revellers heave and swell in oceanic waves and Jack is preparing to call it a night, when he is presented with Elsa. She is small; delicate and pretty and alluringly confident - a heady combination for a man like Jack - and though he wants, with every fibre of his being, to walk away, to go home and forget her, he doesn't. Full review...

Remarkable Animals by Tony Meeuwissen

Can I introduce you to the Ally-Topus? He’s powerful enough to drag a man in to water, likes to hover over fragrant flowers but seems to be extremely shy and almost impossible to keep in captivity. Sound familiar? Maybe it would help to describe the accompanying picture – an alligator’s head, a bird’s body and a platypus tail. Still don’t recognise him? Maybe we can try another animal. What about the Pleevillar? The By-Tollar? No? I’d best stop there. There are one thousand creatures in Remarkable Animals so we could be here rather a long time. Full review...

In God We Trust by Winshluss

Graphic Novels

To start with, a rhetorical test. How about God and Adam playing badminton day in and day out, until one gets bored and decides to create Eve? Or the defeater of Goliath and the saviour of the Israelites being one Conan the Barbarian? Or this as a test – Jesus Himself failing to have a successful session of tequila slammers with Gabriel due to the holes through His hands? I barely need mention that in these pages God does battle with Superman, for you to have answered the test and put yourself firmly in one of two camps for this book – one very much opposed to buying it, and one very much in favour. Full review...

How to Make Coffee: The Science Behind the Bean by Lani Kingston

Cookery

Have you ever caught the aroma of coffee brewing but when it came to that first sip the taste has been, well, distinctly underwhelming - and you might actually have preferred a glass of water? Well, Lani Kingston has written 'How to Make Coffee' which takes you from plant to cup, tells you how to make the perfect drink and explains the science behind it. It's a comprehensive book which gives you an overview of the history of coffee, the areas in which it originated and how it spread before moving on to an explanation of the chemistry behind what is probably the world's favourite drink. Full review...

Death of A Liar by M C Beaton

Crime

Hamish Macbeth is still enjoying the relatively easy life of running the two-man station in remote Lochdubh in the highlands of Scotland. He could maybe do without current side-kick Dick Fraser's eternal presence on site, but has to admit that the man's cooking skills and his tendency to whip out a stove and frying pan in the remotest of locations do have their advantages. Still and all, it's not doing our eternal Sergeant's love-life any favours. Full review...

Cheep Cheep Pop-Up Fun (Little Snappers) by Jonathan Litton and Kasia Nowowiejska

The animals on the farm are in a playful mood and some of them are hiding. Duck knows that there's a dotty animal playing peek-a-moo behind the tractor, but who is it? Lift the flap and we can all see that it's laughing cow, with her head popping right out to greet us. Someone is playing the same game with ginger cat - and there's an awful lot of mud around. Who can it be? Well, when you move the mud out of the way (don't worry - it's a flap - rubber gloves are not required) we can see that it's piglet, who's having a wonderful time. Full review...

Viking Longship by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom

Children's Non-Fiction

Fly on the Wall is a new series of history books by award-winning duo Manning and Granström, which aim to bring history to life for young readers. Viking Longship is the story of Grimm, a Viking warrior who buys a broken ship called the Sea Dragon and fixes it up to set sail in search of pastures new. The story follows Grimm's progress as he invades England with his band of warriors and then creates a farm settlement where his family can live in peace. The book touches on various aspects of Viking life before coming full circle when the settlement is raided by Saxons, culminating in a Viking funeral and a final image of the longboat in flames. Full review...

Egg: An Egg-Citing Easter Eggs-Capade! (My Little World) by Jonathan Litton and Fhiona Galloway

There's a big hole in the front of Egg and - curiously - it's egg-shaped. Behind this hole and on every page there's another egg-shaped hole and they get smaller and smaller leaving a neat shape which you could easily balance on egg in. The colours shout SPRING and in case you are in any doubt we're told it's An eggs-citing Easter egg-scapade! You get the idea? Full review...

Roman Fort by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom

Children's Non-Fiction

Fly on the Wall is a new series of history books by award-winning duo Manning and Granström, which aim to bring history to life for young readers. Roman Fort follows the adventures of Centurion Vespian as he escorts the lady Lepidina and her son to the safety of the Roman fort to celebrate her best friend's birthday. Along the way, the story touches on various aspects of Roman life, including clothing, family life, buildings and religion. Full review...

Nightbird by Alice Hoffman

TTwig's mother is the most beautiful woman in Sidwell. She bakes famous Pink Apple pies. Makes delicious lavender honey butter. Has an exotic and mysterious past. And Twig loves her with everything she's got. But not all is well in Twig's world. Friends aren't allowed. Because a friend might discover the secret kept so carefully by Twig and her mother. There is a centuries-old curse on their family. So Twig is a lonely girl... Full review...

Master of War: Defiant Unto Death by David Gilman

Historical Fiction

Spoilers straight ahead for the first book, Master of War so go read that first…

Ready?

Ok…

It's been 10 years since the young Thomas Blackstone chose military service over hanging and faced the French at Crecy, coming away from the battle knighted. Time's passing now finds him and his wife Christiana living with their two children in Normandy castle. Meanwhile in French held France, the current king, John II, is proving unpopular, starving the country with taxes and spreading fear with his cruel capricious nature. He sees betrayal everywhere and will execute those he perceives to be against him. However, now he's right and there is a plot brewing and French royalist Simon Bucy has a plan to put it down: remove its cornerstone. His perceived cornerstone is none other than Sir Thomas Blackstone. This isn't going to be a clean fight; bring on the Savage Priest! Full review...

Before He Finds Her by Michael Kardos

Thrillers

The newspaper reports at the time were unanimous: in September 1991 Ramsey Miller held a party for all his neighbours and then, when it ended, killed his wife Allie and toddler daughter Meg, then ran away, remaining a fugitive from justice. The newspapers were wrong. Meg isn't dead but has been kept hidden by her Uncle Wayne and Aunt Kendra, had her name changed to Melanie and has led a sheltered life. No photos, no internet, no friends after school, no holidays away from home. That's no way to live and now she approaches her 18th birthday, Melanie/Meg wants to end her half-life in order to live fully and yet to do that she must risk any form of life. She must find her father before he finds her. Full review...

Deliciously Ella: Awesome Ingredients, Incredible Food That You and Your Body Will Love by Ella Woodward

Cookery

Last year I had some health problems which caused me to take a hard look at the way that I was eating: within a month or so I was feeling a lot better as a result of the changes and six months on I can't imagine going back to the way that I used to eat. But there was one snag: we seemed to be eating the same few dishes most of the time and I needed fresh inspiration. Deliciously Ella was the book everyone seemed to be talking about and with a few clicks it was on its way to me from Amazon. Full review...

Preposterous Rhinoceros by Tracy Gunaratnam and Marta Costa

Reading is easy! You may say that, after all you are reading this very review. However, if you had never read a book before and someone gave you one, would you know what to do? When King Lion loses his voice, Preposterous Rhinoceros thinks he can help, but it takes more than just hope to read a book aloud. Will Rhino figure out what to do before the other animals get restless? Full review...

The Ship by Antonia Honeywell

Dystopian Fiction

Sixteen year old Lalla has spent her life in London – mostly inside her family home. Because this is not the London of today, or any other day. When Lalla was seven, the apocalypse arrived; banks crashed, flood defences failed, power failed – and the world could only focus on survival. Now the Nazareth Act is in force and without your identity card, you don’t exist – literally, as you will be shot if you don't produce it. Full review...

Rasputin: A Short Life by Frances Welch

Biography

Was Grigori Rasputin, the Siberian peasant turned mystic and the time bomb who almost single-handedly precipitated the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, a genuine holy man or an evil-minded reprobate and total disaster? Full review...

HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes

Biography

Hillary Clinton initially came to our attention as First Lady and even then she might have faded into international obscurity had it not been for the way in which she managed to hold her head high during those unfortunate incidents with Bill - well, HRC wasn't involved but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Then she re-emerged through the fog of the George W Bush presidency with her bid to gain the Democratic nomination, losing in a hotly contested series of primaries to Barack Obama - and went on to become his Secretary of State. Now the question is whether or not she will make another run for President in 2016. Full review...

The Deadly Seven by Garth Jennings

Most of us do our best to live our lives as polite, sensible, clean human beings. After all, society would soon fall apart if we grabbed whatever we wanted, always said the first thing that came into our heads, and punched anyone who annoyed us. But admit it - deep down, there are moments when you'd just love to bop some irritating twit on the nose, shred your report card and use it as hamster litter, eat a whole box of chocolates in one go, then burp every single verse of The Twelve Days of Christmas, right? Seriously - never? Hmm . . . not sure you're being entirely honest there, pal. Full review...

Down to the Sea in Ships by Horatio Clare

Travel

Inspired by a chance read of Moby Dick, the aptly named Horatio Clare applies to be a writer in residence for a shipping company. They accept, and he travels with them on two voyages - one from Felixstowe to Los Angeles, and the other from Antwerp to Montreal. Full review...

Tape by Steven Camden

Teens

This treasure of a book is an affectionate tribute to the world of the mixed tape and the human desire to find a fairy tale. It encapsulates universal themes of love, hope and fate while adding a soupcon of magic. Full review...

Best Lowly Worm Book Ever! by Richard Scarry

Since we have worn our copy of Busiest People Ever almost to shreds it was with great delight that we sat down to take a look at this book all about Lowly Worm. Lowly Worm is already a well known character in our house, and so there's something delightful in having a whole book about him! And what a book! This has a little bit of everything in, from the Lowly Worm alphabet right at the start, through counting and what it's like at school, to a delightful chapter all about good manners and on to the never-ending fun of playing 'where's Lowly Worm'. It's possible this will become our new favourite bedtime read! Full review...

A Day at the Fire Station by Richard Scarry

We're big fans of Richard Scarry in our house. Though I have to admit we don't usually read the story and we tend, instead, to just spend our pre-bedtime reading minutes scanning the pages for where the cheese car is, or who has stolen the bananas, or what Mr Frumble has crashed into now! This particular Scarry comes as a small disappointment, then, if that's what you're looking for as it focuses solely on the fire station and the activities of the firemen, but the story (if you bother to read it!) is actually quite good! Full review...

Hamish and the Worldstoppers by Danny Wallace

Something strange is happening to Hamish, or happening around him, or actually, if we're being specific, things are not happening! He is finding that suddenly, in the middle of a perfectly normal day, everything stops except him. So the people around him are frozen, the birds are stuck mid wing-flap, planes hang un-moving in the sky, and Hamish is the only one who can still move around! What is causing these strange pauses, and is there anything Hamish can do about it? Full review...

Oliver and Patch by Claire Freedman and Kate Hindley