Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
| Line 17: | Line 17: | ||
|rating= 4.5 | |rating= 4.5 | ||
|genre= Emerging Readers | |genre= Emerging Readers | ||
| − | |summary= | + | |summary=In the small town of Pinewood the people are busy preparing for Christmas. This year they are doing something special to celebrate. Each person will write down a secret wish and tie it to the Christmas tree in the town square. Although nine year old Lily likes this idea she is more than a little sceptical that wishes can come true, no matter how much you may want them to. Then a strange storm blows in and scatters all the wishes across the town. Lily wakes up the following morning to discover that Bug, her pug puppy, can talk! That was not what Lily had wished for but maybe it was someone else's wish? The Christmas magic has definitely gone wrong. Can Lily, her younger brother Jimmy and, of course, Bug put things right before Christmas Day? |
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471405125</amazonuk> | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471405125</amazonuk> | ||
}} | }} | ||
Revision as of 09:41, 5 December 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.
There are currently 16,119 reviews at TheBookbag.
Want to find out more about us?
Reviews of the Best New Books
Read new reviews by genre.
Read the latest features.
Lily and the Christmas Wish by Keris Stainton
In the small town of Pinewood the people are busy preparing for Christmas. This year they are doing something special to celebrate. Each person will write down a secret wish and tie it to the Christmas tree in the town square. Although nine year old Lily likes this idea she is more than a little sceptical that wishes can come true, no matter how much you may want them to. Then a strange storm blows in and scatters all the wishes across the town. Lily wakes up the following morning to discover that Bug, her pug puppy, can talk! That was not what Lily had wished for but maybe it was someone else's wish? The Christmas magic has definitely gone wrong. Can Lily, her younger brother Jimmy and, of course, Bug put things right before Christmas Day? Full review...
Campaigns that Shook the World: The Evolution of Public Relations by Danny Rogers
I dithered about how to begin this review. On one hand I thought I should probably start by saying that I have a work related interest in marketing and communications. On the other hand, Danny Rogers has written a book which appealed to me on several levels. Campaigns are about psychology and storytelling – which of course leads us into branding but also feature critical issues around concept delivery. In short, I was looking forward to reading this for many reasons – and it didn’t disappoint. Full review...
Beautiful You by Chuck Palahniuk
Meet Penny Harrigan. And let's hope your introduction to her is more gentle than that we have on the first page of this book, where she is being raped in front of a full court house, who – male to the bone – sit back and say nothing, if not whip out their camera phone. Once people take her out on a gurney and recognise her, we can start from the beginning, where she is a lowly underling at a law firm, having failed too many exams to progress satisfactorily. The company is where the world's richest man is in legal negotiations having left the world's best and most beautiful actress, and lo and behold he just happens to pick Penny to replace her with, even if she doesn't think of herself as the most beautiful girl around. But what exactly is it she is wanted for, and can her apolitical style of feminism and aspirations be met? Full review...
Planetfall by Emma Newman
Ren believed in Lee Suh-Mi's vision of a world far beyond our one, calling to humanity. A planet promising to reveal the truth about our place in the cosmos, and untainted by overpopulation, pollution and war. Ren believed in that vision enough to give up everything, and followed the pathfinder Suh-Mi into the unknown. Twenty two years later, the new colony still functions – based around a mysterious alien structure into which Suh-Mi has resided in isolation. Ren works hard alone, generating the tools needed for survival – and harbouring a secret that could destroy everything they have worked to build. When a stranger appears, bearing a strong resemblance to the hidden Suh-Mi, secrets can no longer be hidden – secrets that may just destroy the colony… Full review...
Quarry's List by Max Allan Collins
The Quarry series is classic pulp fiction from Max Allan Collins that has spanned almost 50 years. The newest books in the series may be set in the past, but where actually written recently. The success of the newer books, has revitalised interest in the original 1970s run of books. Once known as The Broker's Daughter, Quarry's List is the second book in the series that may not introduce you to the character, but it does introduce you to why Quarry became a killer of killers. Full review...
Blade of Light by Andrea Camilleri
When Mr di Marta arrived at Montalbano's station to report an armed robbery on his wife the night before the most surprising point was not the robbery itself, but the fact that it had ended with a kiss. The Inspector's suspicions were aroused and he was convinced that he was not being told the full story. None of the witnesses' stories added up and it was difficult not to come to the conclusion that they were not meant to. Then a body turned up in a burnt-out car which had all the hallmarks of a Mafia hit. This isn't Montalbano's only problem though - there's another case which keeps sneaking its way back into his attention even though he should have nothing to do with it. Full review...
Braver Than Britain, Occasionally by Spadge Whittaker
In which Spadge researches Britain's top ten fears and faces them all over the course of a year. We're quite a fearful society, you know. And the things we fear most are, in order: heights (acrophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia). Full review...
21st Century Tank Girl by Jamie Hewlett, Alan Martin and others
I sometimes wonder, when keying in book reviews, if ISBNs are not constructed by design instead of the formal accident that is supposed to create them. Surely it's intentional that this book has 666 in its code – it's the most devilishly brash, ugly and foul-mouthed comic around, and people who like that kind of thing will like this. Especially as this book is a return to waaay distant form, and waaay distant creative partnerships, with the original artist Jamie Hewlett back on board. It's time to cuss and roll once more… Full review...
The Hotel on Mulberry Bay by Melissa Hill
Penny and Elle Harte are sisters, but they couldn't be more different. The two had an idyllic childhood, brought up in the family hotel in the scenic Irish coastal town of Mulberry Bay. Ambitious Elle always had the urge to spread her wings and fly, whereas her dreamy younger sister was content to stay at home and help her parents out in the hotel. As time passed, the sisters no longer had the close bond they once shared, especially with Elle living in London, enjoying her successful and demanding role as an architect. A family tragedy brings the sisters together once more; however, and family loyalties are tested as never before. Full review...
My Dog Daisy by Jean Ure
Lily did not want a goldfish. Nor did she want a hamster or a cat. She wanted a DOG and whilst she understood what Mum said about not being able to have a dog in the 5th floor flat without a garden she still thought it was unfair. After all, when they lived at Gran's house there was a garden and she could have had a dog, but then Mum and Gran had a row and they moved out. She hadn't even seen Gran for three months and she missed her. And the dog which she couldn't have. Even Keri, her best friend, though that she was going on a bit about the whole thing. Full review...
Gulliver by Mary Webb, Daniel Swift and Lauren O'Neill
Be careful what you wish for. Gulliver wants adventure – and boy is he going to get it. His very first voyage ends in an almighty storm, which ends in him being washed onto a shore alone – but the shores of an island where he himself is almighty, compared to the inhabitants. After being shot at with the smallest of arrows, chained up, made a spectacle of – and sorted out a problem of etiquette most diplomatically – he tries again, only to be stranded on a second island, completely in contrast to the first… Whether or not you recognise the story from this summary, be relieved that this most perfectly conveys big ideas (and those of one big book in particular) for small people… Full review...
Vasilisa the Beautiful (Russian Folktales) by Anthea Bell and Anna Morgunova
When I say to you the first response I had on picking up this book was 'Ooh, someone knows their Klimt', and that I thought I had seen Kandinsky in the art inside, it tells you the aesthetic is definitely to the fore here. (That latter claim was a bit false – but there's definitely a touch of Picasso.) Of course there is a story, and a more-than decent story it is too, but with the intriguing, detailed and unusual artwork of Anna Morgunova, this picture book with many words really does come to life. Full review...
In Search of Mary: The Mother of all Journeys by Bee Rowlatt
As a university student at Glasgow, Bee Rowlatt first encountered the proto-feminist Mary Wollstonecraft through her epistolary travel narrative, Letters from Norway. This book is her homage to Wollstonecraft as well as an attempt to pinpoint why this particular work has meant so much to her over the years and helped her form her own ideas about feminism and motherhood. From Norway to Paris and then San Francisco, Rowlatt follows in Wollstonecraft's footsteps and asks everyone she meets how modern feminism and motherhood can coincide. By using a Dictaphone, she is able to recreate her dialogues exactly, making for lively, conversational prose. Full review...
Cathedrals and Abbeys (Amazing and Extraordinary Facts) by Stephen Halliday
What makes a cathedral? It's not automatically the principal church of anywhere that is made a city – St Davids is a village of 2,000 people, and wasn't always a city, but always had a cathedral, as did Chelmsford. It's not the seat of a bishop – Glasgow has the building but not the person, and hasn't had a bishop since 1690. It's not a minster – that's something completely different, and if you can understand the sign in the delightful Beverley Minster describing the difference, that I saw only the other month, you're a better man I, Gunga Din. Luckily this book doesn't touch on minsters much, and we can understand abbeys, so it's only the vast majority of this book that is saddled with the definition problem. It's clearly not a real problem, and those it does have are by-passable, for this successfully defines a cathedral as somewhere of major importance, fine trivia and greatly worthy of our attention. Full review...
L is for London by Paul Thurlby
I spend a lot of time in London for work, and we tend to walk to a lot of our destinations which works out quite well since London days are long days and long days tend not to include time for the gym. But, as you walk from Euston to Waterloo or Elephant and Castle, you also get to see a lot of a wonderful city. I've never lived there, but I feel like every week I know it a little better. This book is London all over and whether you live elsewhere in the UK or further afield, it's a fantastic way to learn more about the place. Full review...
Henrietta Maria by Dominic Pearce
The phrase 'tragic Queen' is an often overused one, but the French princess who became the second Stuart Queen Consort of Britain surely has as strong a claim as any to the title. In British history she was unique in that she not only lived to see her husband defeated in civil war, but also sentenced to death and in effect judicially murdered. Full review...
Bryant and May - London's Glory by Christopher Fowler
In the depths of the last B&M review I wrote I said Of course, it's unbelievable, farcical. But then you don't come to a Bryant and May story for realism. You come for absurdity. Naturally, I stand by that comment. Fowler has concocted his characters and has no shame in shunting them up and down the time-line of British history as he sees fit. Full review...
Prunes for Breakfast by John Searancke
Edward Searancke was called up to serve his country in 1940, not long after the outbreak of the Second World War and we hear his story from initial call-up, through the years of preparation for the invasion of France, to his eventual release as a Prisoner of War and return home to attempt to pick up the pieces of everyday life. It's a delightful mixture of the mundane (the difficulties of getting dry clothing, problems with his feet) and the dramatic (being surrounded and captured in an orchard in Northern France and his life as a prisoner of war) and much of the story is told through the genuine letters from Searancke to his wife which were handed to his son after his father's death. John Searancke tells us the story of his father's war. Full review...
The Shakespeare Trail by Zoe Bramley
It has been 400 years since William Shakespeare, the man heralded as the greatest writer in the English language, and England's national poet, died. Shakespeare has made a profound mark on our culture and heritage, yet many aspects of his life remain in the shadows, and many places throughout England have forgotten their association with him. Here, Zoe Bramley takes the reader on a journey through hundreds of places associated with Shakespeare – many whose connections will come as a surprise to most. Filled with intriguing titbits of information about Shakespeare, Elizabethan England, and the places that she talks about, this is no mere travel guide. Full review...
Tales from Schwartzgarten: Marius and the Band of Blood by Christopher William Hill
Frankly, it's a surprise to discover there are still people left alive in the gloomy town of Schwartzgarten. In this story, the fourth in the series, creepy bad guys in masks roam the town after dark. The local kiddie catcher is determined to rid the streets of orphans by any means he can (quite a challenge, considering how high the death rate among parents is) and for some reason the chocolatiers of the town are being murdered in inventive and frequently sticky ways. Full review...
Chance Developments: Unexpected Love Stories by Alexander McCall Smith
Sometimes, if I'm in a cafe by myself, I like to watch the people around me and imagine stories about their lives. Just a single sentence, overheard, can lead to wonderous tales of mystery and intrigue whilst I sip my cappuccino! So I was delighted to sit down to read the latest offering from AMS, not only because he wrote it, but because he wrote it after looking at 5 different black and white photographs, and then imagining the stories behind them. Who are all these people, and what are their stories? Each story is unique, and yet they all have one abiding link...love. Full review...
The Spectre Trilogy by Ian Fleming
With the new Spectre film in the cinema, it's time to revisit the original stories… what exactly is SPECTRE, who is Blofeld… and how exactly does 007 come into the picture? Full review...
Trashed by Derf Backderf
For those people who think graphic novels are rubbish, this is the epitome of that baseless argument. Its subject is junk, it's trash, it's landfill, and garbage. That's not a verdict on its qualities, which are great and fine ones, but its very topic. Straight from school, our author was actually a bin man for a few seasons – riding on the back of something like Betty, the garbage van featured here. It's a job nobody wants in all honesty, of course – but the book is fine enough to actually make the subject something most people should read about. Full review...
London (Amazing and Extraordinary Facts) by Stephen Halliday
What makes a city? Is it the materials, such as the very London Stone itself, of mythological repute, that has moved around several times, and now forms part of a WH Smith's branch? (This has nothing, of course, on Temple Bar, which has also been known to walk.) Is it the people – the butchers (Jack the Ripper), the bakers (or whoever set fire to the entire city from Pudding Lane) and the candlestick makers? Is it the infrastructure, from the Underground, whose one-time boss got a medal from Stalin for his success, to the London Bridge itself, that in its own wanderlust means it's highly unlikely the Thames will freeze again? However you define a city, London certainly has a lot going for it as regards weird and wonderful, and the trivial yet fascinating. And, luckily for us, so has this book. Full review...
London Underground (Amazing and Extraordinary Facts) by Stephen Halliday
From initial worries about smutty, enclosed air with a pungent smell to decades of human hair and engine grease causing escalator fires; from just a few lines connecting London termini to major jaunts out into Metro-land for the suburbia-bound commuters; and from a few religious-minded if financially dodgy pioneer investment managers to Crossrail; the history of the world's most extensive underground system (even when a majority is actually above ground) is fascinating to many. This book is a repository of much that is entirely trivial, but is also pretty much thoroughly interesting. Full review...
Murder For Christmas by Francis Duncan
Mordecai Tremaine used to be a tobacconist and he was a lover of romance novels, but these were not his main claim to fame: he has a reputation as a sleuth. He was somewhat surprised to be invited to spend Christmas in the peaceful village of Sherbroome at the country home of Benedict Grame, not knowing the man well. When he arrived on Christmas Eve the festivities were in full swing, but - observer of people as he was - he sensed tensions amongst the odd assortment of guests. In the early hours of Christmas Day the household is woken by screams and as everyone assembles downstairs they discover a dead body under the Christmas tree - and he looks decidedly like Father Christmas. It's up to Tremaine to establish who committed the murder. Full review...
Shadow Spell (The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy Book 2) by Nora Roberts
Spoilers ahead for Book 1, Dark Witch. Life goes on for the O'Dwyer cousins but that doesn’t mean they've given up on Cabahn, the evil one who has stalked their family for centuries. He hasn't given up on them either unfortunately. As the cousins' resolve increases so does their links with their 13th century ancestors from when their powers – as well as their problems – originated. Meanwhile the problem of their friend Meara Quinn may seem paltry by comparison but it's still a problem. She's desperate not to fall in love with Connor O'Dwyer. Good luck with that Meara! Full review...
Anything That Isn't This by Chris Priestley
Frank Palp lives in a dull, dystopian world, where The Grey pervades every aspect of life, from the food to the architecture. So insidious are these changes, that no-one seems to have noticed them, apart from Frank. His family, schoolmates and society in general seem to be completely oblivious to the sinister nature of the world around them and seem strangely content with the status quo. The all-powerful Ministry has a stranglehold on everything and everyone, with each household having its own assigned student, who records everything and reports suspicious activity to the mysterious Mr Vertex. Frank thinks he is the only person who hates this oppressive world, but one day he finds a message in a bottle with a wish for anything that isn't this, and goes on a desperate search for the person who wrote it; his potential soul-mate. Full review...
Autumn Gold by Beverley Hansford
While on holiday with her friend, Debbie soon has a different reason for remembering the Dorset beaches and countryside. On the beach she meets John who gallantly comes to her rescue. Both are widowed, in the autumn of their lives and just seem to click. The holiday romance has the potential to continue but they both have responsibilities, adult offspring and other obstacles that creep into life. Does love conquer all or is that only in story books? Full review...
Skyborn: 1 (The Seraphim Trilogy) by David Dalglish
Twins Kael and Bree Skyborn witness the battle in which their parents died and yet still want to follow in their footsteps. The pair train as Seraphim, members of the winged force that are on the front line of the war, proud to serve their people and the Theocrats who have devised the whole support system for their world. There are those who speak out against the Theocrats but even consorting with people like that means death. Everyone knows it and yet… Full review...
