Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
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| + | |title=Hitler's First Victims: And One Man's Race for Justice | ||
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| + | |summary=Four people, taken to a sheltered corner of the place they're trapped, and shot in the back of the head by fresh-faced guards and soldiers with far too little experience of anything, let alone treating other men on the wrong end of a gun. Three people ''unceremoniously dumped, like slain game, on the floor of a nearby ammunition shed'' – the fourth had two hellish days with at least one bullet wound to the brain before he passed away. All four over-worked from being in a Nazi establishment, all four probably killed merely for being Jewish. Not a remarkable story, it's horrid to think, due to there being about six million cases of this happening. What is remarkable about this instance is that it was the first, at the incredible time of April 1933. And if it seems the first in a long chain of such murders, you would think people might have noticed that at the time, and tried to do something about it. Well, they did. | ||
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|summary=Maisie is a normal high school student. She's the star of the school running team, has a wonderful boyfriend, a great best friend and she's all set to go to a good college. But when an early morning run ends in tragedy, Maisie finds herself in hospital in the serious burns unit and without most of her face. When a donor appears, Maisie is given a miraculous face transplant. Her doctors, parents and her annoyingly beautiful and upbeat physical therapist all keep telling her how lucky she is... But Maisie doesn't feel lucky. Under this new face, with its heavy scarring, she has no idea who she is anymore. | |summary=Maisie is a normal high school student. She's the star of the school running team, has a wonderful boyfriend, a great best friend and she's all set to go to a good college. But when an early morning run ends in tragedy, Maisie finds herself in hospital in the serious burns unit and without most of her face. When a donor appears, Maisie is given a miraculous face transplant. Her doctors, parents and her annoyingly beautiful and upbeat physical therapist all keep telling her how lucky she is... But Maisie doesn't feel lucky. Under this new face, with its heavy scarring, she has no idea who she is anymore. | ||
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Revision as of 09:14, 31 January 2016
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.
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Hitler's First Victims: And One Man's Race for Justice by Timothy W Ryback
Four people, taken to a sheltered corner of the place they're trapped, and shot in the back of the head by fresh-faced guards and soldiers with far too little experience of anything, let alone treating other men on the wrong end of a gun. Three people unceremoniously dumped, like slain game, on the floor of a nearby ammunition shed – the fourth had two hellish days with at least one bullet wound to the brain before he passed away. All four over-worked from being in a Nazi establishment, all four probably killed merely for being Jewish. Not a remarkable story, it's horrid to think, due to there being about six million cases of this happening. What is remarkable about this instance is that it was the first, at the incredible time of April 1933. And if it seems the first in a long chain of such murders, you would think people might have noticed that at the time, and tried to do something about it. Well, they did. Full review...
The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra by David Wills
Oh, the modern celebrity – they don't make them like they used to. Anodyne, uniform in (lack of) thought and body shape, and far, far too prominent in the lives of too many for too little. If they're ever expected to multi-task it will entail them being much acclaimed for doing one day job to a mediocre standard, as well as reading out someone's voice-over for a BBC3/Channel 4/Channel 5 clip show – oh, and if someone deems them really talented they get to mime to someone else's record, in a lip dub smash or whatever the heck they're calling it. Followed by panto. It is a shameful reflection on us, and on the real celebrities we used to have, such as Frank Sinatra. By the time he was starting in film he was well-known for a character and singing talent that was making him a star already, even if, as this book proves, he had more or less the looks of a young Lee Evans. By the time he was finished he'd acted straight, comic, romantic, criminal, sung his heart out, danced – even learnt the drums for one role. He had Golden Globes, an Oscar – and he directed one film as well as produced several others. In an age when the world is up in arms at the passing of anyone remotely famous, what tribute can we give to a great such as he was? Full review...
Mr Horton's Violin by Wenhua Wang, Amann Wang and Yu Yan Chen (translator)
Meet Mr Horton. He is one of the world's most famous and rich musical instrument players, and has done it all – except, that is, stumble on a music tree. You have to stumble on them, for not carpenters, not sculptors, not even simple woodsmen would give them a second look and think of them as anything special. But when Mr Horton does find one he is able to fashion the best, most magical violin imaginable out of its wood. The only problem after that is working out who deserves to play it… Full review...
The Chief Cellist by Wenhua Wang, Amann Wang and Yu Yan Chen (translator)
Meet the Chief. A new cellist in a quite horrible orchestra, he has suddenly turned their fortunes – and his – round. He is now a superstar, and asking for more and more grandeur and help in his life. But one night, when his chauffeur doesn't turn up for him after yet one more sterling performance, he finds himself alone in a world that doesn't care how good a cellist he is, but one where destiny might just depend on him learning the power of teamwork… Full review...
Paddington and the Disappearing Sandwich by Michael Bond and R W Alley
Paddington has a list - a list of shapes which he has to find. The first one was easy - it was a rectangle and he spotted that the front door was a rectangle as he closed it on his way out. There was another shape ticked off as he walked away - all the paving stones were squares! At the corner of the road there was a 'Men at Work' sign (or 'roadworks ahead' if you prefer not to be sexist) and this was a triangle and there, round the roadworks were some cones! There are still quite a few shapes on his list though - an oval, a circle, a star, a diamond and a heart. It was the heart which would prove most difficult to track down and I'm not going to tell you how Paddington did it, but there just might be a clue in the title. Full review...
The Child's Secret by Amanda Brooke
There are obvious suspects in any missing child case, with the parents often at the top of the list. In the case of 8 year old Jasmine, though, there's someone else who catches the police's eye: local park worker Sam who has something of an unconventional relationship with the girl. Full review...
Motions and Moments: More Essays on Tokyo by Michael Pronko
Last year I was lucky enough to review Beauty and Chaos: Slices and Morsels of Tokyo Life, Michael Pronko's first essay collection about his adopted city. I found that book to be full of insight and variety, so was delighted to be approached about reviewing his latest book, Motions and Moments, which is a third set of essays (after Tokyo's Mystery Deepens). Again the book is compiled from Pronko's Newsweek Japan articles, this time from 2011 onwards. All of the pieces have been reworked, but most of them remain short; 'Tokyo life is about spatial limitations,' Pronko wryly comments, and it's appropriate for his pieces to reflect that. Full review...
Love and Lies: And Why You Can't Have One Without the Other by Clancy Martin
Lying is wrong and the last people you would lie to willingly are the ones you love the most – or so you would like to think. In Love and Lies: And Why You Can't Have One Without the Other, Clancy Martin, a philosophy professor, self-confessed expert liar, and serial groom, sets out on a mission to disprove the central beliefs we hold with respect to, no more and no less than, our own morality. Full review...
Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit
It's Poland in 1939. And Anna's linguistics professor father is about to be rounded up in the Nazi purge of intellectuals. Knowing this is likely to happen, he leaves her in the care of a friend for the day. When her father doesn't return to collect her, the frightened friend loses his nerve and abandons Anna to a new and dangerous world. Anna is just seven years old and will never see her father again. Full review...
Exposure by Helen Dunmore
London - 1960. With the Cold War at its height, spy fever fills the newspapers, the political establishment knowing how and where to bury its secrets. A sensitive file goes missing, and Simon Callington is accused of passing information to the Soviets, and is arrested. His wife Lily suspects that this imprisonment is part of a cover-up, and that those higher than Simon are fighting to prevent their own downfall. Knowing that both she and her children too are in danger, Lily must fight to save Simon and protect her family. Little does she know that Simon is hiding many things from her, including a crime that may carry with it an even greater penalty. Full review...
Front Lines by Michael Grant
1942: Hitler is pushing his way ever further, the USA adds its strength to the Alliance and women are allowed to fight in the military for the first time. Rio Richlin’s sister has already died in the war, Frangie Marr is desperate for a way to keep her family’s heads above water and Rainy Schulterman wants to kill the man who is murdering Jews. All three go to war and all three are changed. Although they do they do not start together, their paths intersect as they all take on roles that leave more scars than expected. Full review...
All The Rage by Courtney Summers
In a small town, where everyone knows everything about everyone else, a teenage girl is raped. All The Rage is as simple as that, and yet it is so much more complicated too. It touches upon the blame that is laid at the victim's feet; the ways in which survivors cope with the days and weeks and years after such an ordeal; the idea that, while it changes you, it cannot fully erase what makes you you. Full review...
The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
Julian Barnes's first novel since he won the Booker Prize for The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes is a fictionalised biography of Russian composer Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (1906–75). Knowing Barnes's penchant for stylistic experimentation, though, this was never going to be a straightforward, chronological life story. Instead, as Barnes so often does, he sets up a tripartite structure, focussing on three moments in Shostakovich's life when he has a reckoning with Power (always capitalised here). The title phrase helpfully spells out what the book is all about: 'Art is the whisper of history, heard above the noise of time.' Full review...
Darkmouth: Worlds Explode by Shane Hegarty
It was bad enough when Finn was being trained by his dad to hunt the monsters known as Legends: at least there was someone around to rescue him if he messed up, and to apologise to the neighbours for the occasional dented car or broken window. And seeing as Finn isn't anywhere close to being the greatest hunter the world has ever seen (he'd much rather be a vet, not that anyone has ever asked his opinion on the matter), there's been lots of apologising to do. Lots and lots and lots. Full review...
Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette, Max Cabanes and Doug Headline
Play. It's a weird verb – it can mean many different things. Aimee intends to play – she's already put paid to several men playing at being hunters, but she has a different game in mind. Arriving at a very insular little town she scopes the big-wigs out, watching them over the bridge table and across the golf tees, and, seeing them bicker about each other at both play and work, she knows she can play with them. But what might happen, given these undefined rules, if they chose to play as a team against her? Full review...
The New Threat From Islamic Militancy by Jason Burke
Barely a day passes without Islamic militancy making headlines somewhere in the world, and yet it can be a hard subject to grasp. The sudden rise of Islamic State and their campaign of shocking violence both in the Middle East and further afield has left many confused and fearful, and has provoked a sometimes extreme political response. In "The New Threat From Islamic Militancy", Jason Burke, a journalist with two decades of experience reporting on the Islamic world, attempts to correct the many misconceptions about Islamic extremism to give a true understanding of the threat we now face. Full review...
Midnight in Berlin by James MacManus
Berlin – 1938. In the British Embassy, military attaché Colonel Macrae prepares to defy his ambassador and government, and assassinate Hitler. Elsewhere, Sara Sternschein appears on stage in her role as the lead in the Gestapo's brothel – the Salon Kitty. She has no choice, her twin brother is being held in a concentration camp. In the Gestapo Headquarters, Obergruppenfuhrer Joaqim Bonner waits and watches – with his eyes on Sara Sternschein as his secret weapon. As Colonel Macrae gathers intelligence for his mission he finds himself drawn to Salon Kitty – but does Sara hold the key to thwarting Hitler, or is Macrae being manipulated? Full review...
Mind Your Head by Juno Dawson
The number of young people suffering from mental ill health is increasing year-on-year. Yet we still find it difficult to talk about. And mental health still hasn't achieved parity with physical health in terms of services and healthcare available. Enter Mind Your Head. This is a frank and accessible overview of the issues facing young people with regards to mental ill health. It covers the various types of illness, the treatments available, how to manage them. It includes personal stories and exercises and is written in a chatty but serious way. Juno Dawson is the transgender author you might have known before as James Dawson. She's brought in clinical psychologist Dr Olivia Hewitt to help her. And also illustrator Gemma Correll to avoid any appearance of dourness. Because Mind Your Head is about serious things but is an absolute pleasure to read. Full review...
The Queen's Choice by Anne O'Brien
Joanna of Navarre may be married to John IVth Duke of Britany but she has views of her own and isn't afraid to voice them, even to Charles the French King. When she defends exiled English noble Henry Bolingbroke at the French court she does so as a friend not realising what the future holds. For Bolingbroke is the future Henry IV and fate will decree that Joanna will become his queen, roles that will take their toll on both of them as a couple and individuals. Full review...
The Astonishing Return of Norah Wells by Virginia Macgregor
Fay, Adam, the girls teenager Ella and little 6 year old Willa seem a happy family. They are on the whole, it's just Ella who isn't. Fay, named by the ladies across the road 'The Mother that Stayed' moved in after Norah, 'The Mother that Left', went. Now she's taken Norah's place in the family's life and Adams' bed. Ella just wants her mother to come home and then, 6 years after she went, Norah does. How will she fit in and, just as importantly, why did she come back? Full review...
The Diary of Dennis the Menace: The Great Escape by Steven Butler
Poor Dennis the Menace. He thinks he's sorted his life out, and got rid of the Bum-Face wimp he loves to hate so much. His school, the Bash Street, is giving the winner of an exam they are holding the chance to upgrade to the snotty Posh Street equivalent, which is a nightmare full of books (and worse) and is actually a boarding school – yes, one of those places for people who seriously want to live in a school. Clearly the exam will only have one winner – said wimp, Walter the Softy. But like I say, Dennis only thinks he has his life sorted – sometimes it can come round to bite him on the bum, and sort him out… Full review...
Battle For Rome (Twilight of Empire) by Ian Ross
Be warned - spoilers ahead for the first two books… Aurelius Castus, tribune in Emperor Constantine's army is preparing for the battle everyone (including us) has been waiting for: the fight against Maxentius, Tyrant of Rome. Meanwhile Castus' marriage to the aristocratic Sabina has borne him a beloved son but coldness lurks between man and wife where there was hot passion. Castus' suspicions are further fed by his wife's name being on the lips of a dying officer; truth or pre-death ramblings? Meanwhile Sabina has bought a new slave and Castus swears he's seen her somewhere before… Full review...
Cat Burglar (The Scarlet Files) by Tamsin Cooke
Scarlet is thirteen. She goes to school, she does her homework and she's beginning to wonder about boys. So far, so normal. But Scarlet doesn't make friends. She and her dad move house pretty often, and she always wears dull clothes so she can fade into the background – unless you think a balaclava and night vision goggles can be classed as a fashion statement. And instead of surfing the web and downloading music, she spends her free time scrambling over roofs and picking locks. Scarlet is a trainee burglar. Full review...
Create Your Own Alien Adventure by Chris Judge and Andrew Judge
Choose Your Own Adventure books were massive during the 80s. They allowed the young reader to pick up a book and be the hero; your choices determined if you live or die. Invariably, it was a game of leaving your finger in the previous page to make sure you could skip back should the fate that befell you not be to your liking. Well, its 2016 and just choosing your adventure is no longer enough, we want to interact even more with the story, we want to create our own adventure. Full review...
Scales of Justice (DCI Roderick Alleyn) by Ngaio Marsh
Swevenings seems like one of those idyllic places to live. All that disrupts the tranquil lives of the inhabitants is the fierce competition to catch the Old Un, a large trout which lives under the bridge over the stream which meanders through the village. Then one day Nurse Kettle discovers the body of Colonel Carterette at edge of the stream and beside him is the Old Un. Carterette had been brutally murdered and he was not the fisherman who had landed the Old Un. He was, though, the man who was in charge of publishing the controversial memoirs of the local baronet. The investigation is beyond the capacity of the local constabulary, and Scotland Yard, in the person of Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn is called in. And his primary interest is the fish. Full review...
Behind Closed Doors by Elizabeth Haynes
In 2003 Scarlett Rainsford was on holiday in Rhodes with her parents and sister when she met a boy. Her father wasn't at all keen on the idea so Scarlett crept out at night to meet him and she might have given him the idea that she wanted to run away from home. On the last night of the holiday Scarlett was bundled into a van - and into a life of terror and prostitution. Ten years later she turned up in her hometown when a brothel was raided. Where had she been all these years, how had she got back to the UK and why did her parents not seem all that pleased to find that she was back? Full review...
Faceless by Alyssa Sheinmel
Maisie is a normal high school student. She's the star of the school running team, has a wonderful boyfriend, a great best friend and she's all set to go to a good college. But when an early morning run ends in tragedy, Maisie finds herself in hospital in the serious burns unit and without most of her face. When a donor appears, Maisie is given a miraculous face transplant. Her doctors, parents and her annoyingly beautiful and upbeat physical therapist all keep telling her how lucky she is... But Maisie doesn't feel lucky. Under this new face, with its heavy scarring, she has no idea who she is anymore. Full review...
