Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
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| + | |summary= To my mind, ''The Dark Room'' is the most perfect psychological thriller ever written (and I've read lots in this genre). In her later works, Minette Walters seemed to veer away from this particular path to glory as her novels became steadily darker and with increasingly dislikeable characters. So it was quite refreshing to discover that ''The Cellar'' was written from the point of view of a rather likeable protagonist. Muna is an African child living in, shall we say, somewhat unusual and very cruel conditions: she was stolen and now lives in captivity. Her voice is compelling and from the first page I found myself wanting her to make good her escape from the dreadful - and sadly all too believable - circumstances in which she finds herself. So, naturally, I admired her cunning and resourcefulness, knowing that these attributes would serve her well. But, of course, this is Minette Walters and nothing is as simple as it first appears. As the story unfolded I found myself questioning who exactly were the victims and who, if anyone, was innocent. | ||
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|summary= The Cold North awaits you…War is coming to Valeron, where an ill and ineffectual king is beset on all sides by the scheming of ambitious men. His youngest son, Prince Arran is sent on a fool’s errand, with the real threat waiting to be revealed. Your are Prince Arran. The ghost prince, a sickly boy who haunts the palace library. As danger threatens, you must finally prove yourself. Will you defy fate and become a great hero of legend? You decide in this epic fantasy adventure. The cold north awaits you…are you ready for the challenge? | |summary= The Cold North awaits you…War is coming to Valeron, where an ill and ineffectual king is beset on all sides by the scheming of ambitious men. His youngest son, Prince Arran is sent on a fool’s errand, with the real threat waiting to be revealed. Your are Prince Arran. The ghost prince, a sickly boy who haunts the palace library. As danger threatens, you must finally prove yourself. Will you defy fate and become a great hero of legend? You decide in this epic fantasy adventure. The cold north awaits you…are you ready for the challenge? | ||
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Revision as of 13:17, 21 May 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.
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Cellar by Minette Walters
To my mind, The Dark Room is the most perfect psychological thriller ever written (and I've read lots in this genre). In her later works, Minette Walters seemed to veer away from this particular path to glory as her novels became steadily darker and with increasingly dislikeable characters. So it was quite refreshing to discover that The Cellar was written from the point of view of a rather likeable protagonist. Muna is an African child living in, shall we say, somewhat unusual and very cruel conditions: she was stolen and now lives in captivity. Her voice is compelling and from the first page I found myself wanting her to make good her escape from the dreadful - and sadly all too believable - circumstances in which she finds herself. So, naturally, I admired her cunning and resourcefulness, knowing that these attributes would serve her well. But, of course, this is Minette Walters and nothing is as simple as it first appears. As the story unfolded I found myself questioning who exactly were the victims and who, if anyone, was innocent. Full review...
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Many years ago, in a village deep in Eastern Europe, the locals live a life of relative peace and happiness - knowing to always avoid the wood that borders their land, and safe in the knowledge that they are guarded by a powerful wizard - the Dragon. Aware that he is the one thing keeping them safe from the dangers of the wood, the villagers take part in a ritual called 'The Choosing' every ten years - when a young girl is sent to serve the wizard for a decade. Agnieszka is of age for the choosing, but nobody fears that she will be picked - her best friend Kasia is pretty and graceful, and sure to catch the eye of the immortal Dragon. However, Agnieszka is not aware of the talents she holds that may attract the wizard - talents that the safety of the entire kingdom may come to depend on for their survival... Full review...
Keep Your Friends Close by Paula Daly
Natty and Sean seem to have a good marriage - to have everything, in fact. They didn't have a particularly propitious start: Natty's pregnancy precipitated the marriage and meant that Sean couldn't do the law degree he'd set his heart on, but they now own an upmarket hotel in the lake district, have a lovely home and drive the sort of cars more commonly associated with premier league footballers. Their daughters are in their teens now and it's when the younger, Felicity, is on a school trip to France that the problems start. Full review...
The Slaughter Man by Tony Parsons
This is the second novel by Tony Parsons, which features DC Max Wolfe, single parent to daughter Scout, who first appeared in, The Murder Bag. This book is, without a doubt, a huge step up from the first in the series – an extremely fast paced, exciting crime novel, with a gripping plot and twisted characters. There is no guessing which turn the story will take as every page throws in another plot twist; it’s impossible to figure out who the killer is. On New Year’s Eve, a rich, well established family living in Highgate, London are brutally murdered and the four-year-old son has been abducted. Now it is up to Max to track down the child and figure out who was behind the murders. Full review...
Flight by Isabel Ashdown
Mothers are supposed to adore their children - to be willing to give up everything for them and to devote their lives to being mothers. But, for some people it doesn't work that way. Wren Irving, mother of six-month-old Phoebe had bought a ticket for the first-ever National Lottery draw in 1994, without telling her husband and she said nothing when her numbers came up. Instead she simply packed her bags as soon as she was alone and left - also alone. Later a letter would arrive from a solicitor saying that she had no intention of returning. Her husband Robert and best friend Laura were left to cope, to pick up the pieces and endure the vacuum. Full review...
The Trains Now Departed: Sixteen Excursions into the Lost Delights of Britain's Railways by Michael Williams
Beaching wasn't the only buffer to the fate of various train lines of our land – it could have been sheer managerial incompetence, the birth of the package air holiday, or even road-builders' bloody-minded spite that served to bring down the end of the line. Yes, the fact you can easily pepper your words with idiom from the world of trains shows how important they have been over the last two hundred years, and this book is geared around that as well, if happily cliché-free. Our author takes us on a journey around various sites where train lines and elements of what once rode proudly upon them have been and gone. So grab a platform ticket (RIP) and see what class of journey we're travelling in. Full review...
Rabbits Don’t Lay Eggs! by Paula Metcalf and Cally Johnson-Isaacs
Life’s boring in the burrow so Rupert rabbit decides to tunnel over to the neighbouring farm. There he meets a very bossy duck, Dora, who tells him that only animals who can do a job can live on this farm. What can a rabbit do? Full review...
Cakes, Custard and Category Theory: Easy recipes for understanding complex maths by Eugenia Cheng
Eugenia Cheng is a professor of maths and a lover of cake. If you’re wondering how those two things could ever intersect, it’s quite easy. And the result, the middle of the Venn diagram, if you will, is this book which makes maths fun, meaningful and relatively easy to digest. Much like her recipes. Full review...
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Finch and Violet are both counting the days. Violet is on countdown to graduation, to getting away from the school and town that hold so many torturous memories. Finch, meanwhile has started from zero and is logging the number of days in a row he is awake. And he doesn’t mean that in terms of physically awake, but more so in terms of his emotions. Neither of them are particularly happy. At least one of them has a plan to make the pain stop in the most final way possible. It’s pretty horrific. Full review...
Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary by David and Ben Crystal
David Crystal, renowned linguist, writer, editor, lecturer and broadcaster has collaborated with his son Ben, Shakespearean actor, author, director and producer to create an eye catching, exquisitely detailed, carefully colour coded and incisive reference guide. It is extensive and meticulously researched- a fusion of the Crystals’ Shakespearean knowledge, linguistic skill and theatrical enthusiasm. Lavishly illustrated by Kate Bellamy, who favours a bright, attractive primary colour palette, this dictionary is a treasure trove for any student of Shakespeare. This would be a five star review but for a minor quibble- it is missing an index of characters which would have been useful for pupils assigned character studies as they could have cross referenced the explanatory entries with quotes or themes. It also only concentrates on Shakespeare’s twelve most performed plays so it is not an exhaustive treatment of his work. Full review...
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North
Sophie Stark wasn't born Sophie Stark - that's the person she decided to become. She didn't know that she wanted to become a film director either, but that is what she evolved into as she fought being the one who was different, as she tried to fit in but found that making movies actually drove her away from people. She was a genius when it came to making movies, but genius scythes through other people in pursuit of perfection, leaving disaster casually in its wake and Sophie was no exception to ‘'that rule. Full review...
System: With his face in the sun by Jon A Davidson
Wallace Blair, like everyone else, is used to the benefits of a life guided by The System. After all, The System knows best. However he is somewhat dismayed when he wakes to a System message on his Commcuff informing him that his happy marriage is about to be dissolved and that's not his only concern. After being sent to retrieve papers from his grandfather's house, Wallace reflects on how long it's been since he's seen the old man. Wallace decides to drop in on him but what should be a trip to an elderly care facility takes him down an unexpected path. Full review...
Bedtime Rhymes by Tony Ross
It is getting late so it is time to start the bedtime routine; upstairs for a wash, clean your teeth and then into your PJs. Settle into bed and what now? A story perhaps, or some night time nursery rhymes. Is it just me or do many of these bedtime tales feel a lot more sinister than their daytime cousins? Full review...
Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer
Many readers can identify with the idea of falling in love with a hero from a book. After all, they are written to be appealing, with rugged good looks, charming personality, strength and wit. But what if the hero from your favourite book came to life and joined you in the real world? Can a storybook romance flourish in a High School setting? Or will our fairytale prince be keen to return to his homeland of unicorns, fairies, castles and mermaids? These are the dilemmas faced by awkward teen Delilah and her fantasy prince Oliver, who swaps places with a human boy in order to join his true love in the real world. The lovers may be together for now, but the book has other ideas, and soon begins rewriting itself to put everything back to how it was. Full review...
Re Jane by Patricia Park
Growing up in Flushing, New York –Jane Re has long been hoping to escape her whole life. A half-Korean, half-American Orphan, Jane struggles to find her place as a spirited and intelligent young woman growing up in a strict and mirthless family, observing the traditional Korean principle of “Nunchi” (a combination of good manners, obligation and hierarchy). Desperate to escape, Jane is thrilled when she becomes the au pair for a rich couple – two Brooklyn based professors of English, who have adopted a young Chinese girl into their family. Jane soon falls for the man of the family, but their blossoming affair is soon curtailed by a family death, prompting Jane’s return to Korea. As she learns more about herself, her history and her culture, Jane must make huge decisions about her life, her future, and her man… Full review...
Minecraft Beginners's Handbook: Updated Edition by Stephanie Milton
If you haven't heard of Minecraft, where on earth have you been? This popular construction/survival game has captured the imagination of almost 30 million people worldwide and the craze shows no signs of abating. If, like me, you are curious as to what all the fuss is about and wonder why you can no longer get near the computer until after the kids have gone to bed, then this new series of books by Egmont are just what you need. In no time at all, you will be happily chatting about mobs, redstone, endermen and zombie pigmen as if you were an expert... Full review...
Made For You by Melissa Marr
Eva Tilling comes from a wealthy, influential family and reigns supreme at school - she is well thought of and has expectations to live up to - nothing ever changes for her, but that’s just how things are in obsolete Jessup: nothing unusual or unexpected ever happens… Full review...
Secrets of the Pomegranate by Barbara Lamplugh
Home in Bristol, Alice gets the news from her sister's partner, Paco. Her sister, Deborah Hardy, was on board one of the trains bombed at Madrid's Atocha station on 11 March. No one can yet confirm whether she is alive or dead. Deb had moved to Granada nearly 20 years ago, after her divorce from Mark's father, and was starting to make a name for herself as a scholar of women in Andalusia's history. Alice and her nine-year-old son Timmy fly to Spain to find that Deb is alive, but in a coma in hospital. Over the weeks she keeps vigil for Deb, Alice lives in her sister's home in Granada and reads her diaries, which proves to be a way of feeling closer to her and learning more about her than she ever knew. Meanwhile, Mark and Paco keep their distance, working through their complicated grief in their own ways. Full review...
Sophie and the Sibyl: A Victorian Romance by Patricia Duncker
Sophie and the Sibyl, consciously modelled on John Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman, is a postmodern blending of history, fiction, and metafictional commentary. Brothers Max and Wolfgang Duncker really were George Eliot's German publishers, but the accident of their surname matching the author's makes them her clever stand-in. As the novel opens in 1872, the venerable English author is exploring Homburg and Berlin in the company of her 'husband' while ushering her latest novel, Middlemarch, into German translation. Max, a young cad fond of casinos and brothels, has two tasks: ensuring Eliot's loyalty to their publishing house, and securing Countess Sophie von Hahn's hand in marriage. Full review...
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
A hit and run. A young boy killed. A family devastated. How can a mother ever recover from seeing her child killed right in front of her? When there are no leads, how can the police know where to look to bring someone to justice? Full review...
The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards
Martin Edwards has had such a good idea for this book. He takes the foundation of the Detection Club in the late 1920s and follows through into the postwar period, ending his account sometime in the mid-1950s, perhaps with the death of Dorothy L Sayers in 1957. I may sound tentative here because there is no entirely precise end date. The Detection Club itself still lives on, hosting three dinners a year for elected members. Edwards is its current archivist – yet there are no archives, unless you count the hundreds of books produced by its members, which of course he does. And he also explores their lives. Full review...
Read Me Like A Book by Liz Kessler
Read Me Like A Book is both a coming-of-age and a coming-out story.
Ash feels as though everything is a mess. Her parents aren't getting on and Ash is terrified they're going to split up. She's struggling to keep up her relationships with her friends. She trying to decide whether or not to lose her virginity - and how exactly she even feels about the boy she might lose it with. She's falling behind in her grades at school and half of her is a rebellious teen who couldn't care less about it, while the other half is panicking that she might not get into university.
And if all that wasn't enough, Ash is struck by a bolt from the blue when she develops an almighty crush on Miss Murray, her English teacher... Full review...
The Last Bookaneer by Matthew Pearl
Bookaneer Fergins makes a decent living in 19th century London. However his business acquaintance Davenport has a plan to aid his prosperity. Hot literary property Robert Louis Stevenson is dying on Upolo, a Samoan island, having just written his final potential masterpiece. Therefore all Davenport has to do is to steal it, bringing it back to publishing glory and self-aggrandisement. The only problems are that the enabling legal loophole is about to close and he's not the only one with his eye on that particular prize. And Fergins? He's going too, whether he wants to or not. Full review...
The Economist Style Guide: 11th Edition
If you don't write what you mean, how will people know what you mean? Full review...
Gorgeous Colouring Book for Grown-Ups
So, when I mentioned on Facebook that I had a nice new grown-up colouring book to review, I discovered a secret little group of friends who all confessed (instantly and with glee) that they have succumbed to the new relaxation craze of grown-up colouring! They had tales of how tricky it was to stay inside of the lines, how long one picture could take, and how relaxing the whole thing is. I dug out my old tin of pencils, and settled down to give it a try. Full review...
Best Friends’ Bakery: Birthdays and Biscuits by Linda Chapman and Kate Hindley
In this, the fourth story in the Best Friends’ Bakery series, Hannah is recovering from her sadness at being thrown off the Junior Baker show on TV. Fortunately there’s plenty going on in her town and at her mum’s bakery to keep her busy. There’s a new beauty shop opening to bake for, a doggy rescue centre in trouble, and a new girl who seems intent on stopping anyone from befriending her. How will Hannah get on with these new challenges in her life? Full review...
Generation Z: Their Voices, Their Lives by Chloe Combi
Generation Z, for anyone like me who didn’t know, is made up of those young people born between 1995 and 2001. It is one of the central contentions of Chloe Combi’s book 'Generation Z: Their voices, Their Lives' that these young people’s lives are unlike anyone else’s in British history. From the radical technological innovation which produced the internet and smart phones to multiculturalism, life for these children and teenagers is characterised by so much that was not experienced by their parents and grandparents. In 'Generation Z', then, Combi offers some glimpses into the worlds of young people today, in what she wishes to be 'a conversation starter between teenagers and adults'. Full review...
Alienated by Melissa Landers
Two years ago, aliens made contact. Now, Cara Sweeney has been chosen to host Aelyx, a L'eihr exchange student. The first exchange student. Cara gets a free ride to any college she chooses out of the deal, some excellent material for her blog, and a chance to be a part of history, helping in her own way to form an alliance between the two races. Full review...
Invaded by Melissa Landers
To save the alliance between Humans and the L'eihr, and save the planet from the deadly algae blooms that threaten to destroy all life, Cara and Aeylx have to persuade the L'eihr that Humans and L'eihr can peacefully co-exist. Full review...
Eagles at War by Ben Kane
War, what is it good for? Looking at the ever buoyant historic fiction genre it would appear that war is great for selling books. This is especially the case with the Romans; there are more books about Ancient Roman battles than there were mad Caesars. One of the leading names in the historic fiction genre is Ben Kane and when he releases the first book in a new series fans of the genre take notice, but would they be right to do so? Full review...
The Eye of Winter’s Fury by Michael J Ward
The Cold North awaits you…War is coming to Valeron, where an ill and ineffectual king is beset on all sides by the scheming of ambitious men. His youngest son, Prince Arran is sent on a fool’s errand, with the real threat waiting to be revealed. Your are Prince Arran. The ghost prince, a sickly boy who haunts the palace library. As danger threatens, you must finally prove yourself. Will you defy fate and become a great hero of legend? You decide in this epic fantasy adventure. The cold north awaits you…are you ready for the challenge? Full review...
