Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
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| + | |author= Chellie Carroll | ||
| + | |title=A Colouring Classic: Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice | ||
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| + | |summary=Not so very long ago, colouring was relegated to the days of childhood past, to the days of no responsibilities and round-the-clock, non-stop fun. Remember how much you enjoyed this? Good, because the time has come to re-embrace a little of those days, and to rekindle our love of carefree colouring with this Pride and Prejudice edition. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848693265</amazonuk> | ||
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|author=Damien Wilkins | |author=Damien Wilkins | ||
Revision as of 08:44, 6 June 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.
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A Colouring Classic: Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice by Chellie Carroll
Not so very long ago, colouring was relegated to the days of childhood past, to the days of no responsibilities and round-the-clock, non-stop fun. Remember how much you enjoyed this? Good, because the time has come to re-embrace a little of those days, and to rekindle our love of carefree colouring with this Pride and Prejudice edition. Full review...
Max Gate by Damien Wilkins
This is a novel about Thomas Hardy's last days, but we get an unusual glimpse into his household at Max Gate, Dorchester through the point-of-view of his housemaid, twenty-six-year-old Nellie Titterington. She's the daughter of a local seamstress and dairyman, and with her fellow servant Alice Rigler keeps up a steady stream of bawdy banter. On his deathbed, Hardy is already more of a ghost than a real-life presence in the house. Affairs are run by Florence, his second wife, who is still viewed as something of a usurper because she was Hardy's secretary while his first wife Emma was alive and is 35 years the literary lion's junior; 'here she is, having written her way into the story line by line, just as the borer beetle eats through the floor,' as Nellie memorably puts it. Full review...
Napoleon's Last Island by Thomas Keneally
It's not usual to open a review with the history of how the book came to be written but with Napoleon's Last Island the story sheds an intriguing light on the plot. In 2012 author Thomas Keneally was given tickets to an exhibition of Napoleonic artefacts: uniforms, furniture, china, paintings, military decorations, snuff boxes and memorabilia as well as Napoleon's death mask. He was intrigued as to how the exhibits and particularly the mask came to be in Australia. Some pieces in the exhibition had been bought in later but most came from the descendants of the Balcombe family, who came to the colony in the first half of the nineteenth century, from St Helena via England. The result of Keneally's research into the story is Napoleon's Last Island. Full review...
Under Earth, Under Water by Aleksandra Mizielinski, Daniel Mizielinski and Antonia Lloyd-Jones (translator)
One of the major remits of children's non-fiction books is to get them to look around them and gain a better understanding of what they're seeing. After a volume such as this, the obvious response is to see that as an incredibly narrow focus. For this book will take the reader and show them exactly what they can't see – from microscopic things living in soil even seasoned Scrabble players haven't heard of, right down to the fish swimming their way towards the Mariana Trench, the deepest section of sea on earth. Make no bones about it, this book is entirely focused on what is beneath our feet and sea levels, and – no pie in the sky response this – it is a winner. Full review...
The Swimming Pool by Louise Candlish
The Swimming Pool is the story of a woman - Natalie - whose eyes are dazzled by a glamorous couple who live nearby. Natalie and husband Ed have a 13-year-old daughter, Molly, and are the kind of parents you'd steer clear of at the school gates for fear of offending their politically correct sensibilities. Molly has a phobia of water. Rather than keep her away from rivers and pools, they subject her to a childhood of therapy. They keep up with changes to Molly's phone code so they can check up on her messages. They don't believe in private education and they eat nutritionally supplemented pizzas. Louise Candlish pokes delicious fun at this couple, particularly at dull-as-ditchwater Ed whose moral rectitude stifles poor Natalie, desperate to break out of her mould. Enter Lara Channing. Lara is a champion synchronised swimmer and former starlet. Her beauty, wealth and warmth have a magnetic attraction for Natalie who proves powerless to resist Lara's charms, although she is less sure of Lara's enigmatic husband, Miles. The novel charts Natalie's journey as she is enticed away from Ed and into Lara's web, and there is an increasing sense of unease as events unfold. Add to this heady mix a few additional ingredients, a heatwave, an outdoor pool and a gaggle of teenagers, and you have a recipe for disaster. Full review...
A Journey Through the Weather by John Haslam and Steve Parker
We're British. We LOVE to talk about the weather. But beyond the usual platitudes of Bit cold out isn't it or What a beautiful day, how much do you actually know about what's happening up in the sky? Full review...
The Murder Road (Cooper and Fry) by Stephen Booth
The locals will tell you that there's only one road into and out of Shawhead and over the years they've become accustomed to being cut off by snow or floods. The road passes under a railway line and one day in early February Mac Kelsey's curtain-sider jammed under the bridge. It was Amanda Hibbert who discovered the obstruction as she tried to return home to Shawhead, but there was no driver in the cab. There was a lot of blood though. Full review...
The Secret Pirate (Swashbuckle Lil: The Secret Pirate) by Elli Woollard
School girl Lil is a secret pirate. Her classmates think she's an ordinary girl and assume they're just imagining things when they hear her bag squawk. They don't know that's where she keeps her parrot (whose name is Carrot). Her teacher, Miss Lubber, thinks Lil's naughty and is unaware that Lil's really trying to save the teacher from being kidnapped by the wicked pirate, Stinkbeard. But Lil doesn't mind because she knows the truth – she's a bold and brave pirate and all her adventures are true (at least to her). Full review...
Our Young Man by Edmund White
New York City in the eighties, and at its decadent heart is Guy. Guy is taking on the fashion world and fast becoming the darling of the Fire Island's gay community. Fred, Andre and Pierre-Georges are all fixated on Guy, and the Dorian Gray like Guy commands their attention, whilst seemingly never aging. Still modelling at thirty-five, enjoying lavish gifts from these admirers who believe him far younger, Guy lets them believe – but then finds this way of life is destroying the men he loves. Stretching from the disco era to the age of AIDS, Edmund White explores beauty, and the power is has to enslave, fascinate and deceive. Full review...
Erica's Elephant by Sylvia Bishop
Erica Perkins is a very sensible young lady. When she wakes on the morning of her tenth birthday and finds a very confused elephant sitting on her doorstep, she doesn't jump up and down shouting Ooh, goody goody, or Oh, you poor cuddly thing. She looks the elephant in the eye: Who left you she demanded And why? Erica lived with her Uncle Jeff. Well, she would live with him, if he was there, but he'd left when she was eight years old in search of a bird - the Lesser Pip-footed Woob - and it was up to Erica to cook and clean and, well, bring herself up. He'd left some money in an envelope but there was only £30.42 left and even the piece of paper which came with the elephant stating that Erica Perkins had a Legal Right to him didn't explain how she was going to be able to feed him. Full review...
My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal
Everything that is precious to Leon gets taken away. His Action Man toys, his home, his mum, and his brother. The world seems utterly unfair, and so he sneaks 20p here, and 50p there, out of people's purses, whilst building up a rucksack full of all the things he's going to need when he finds his baby brother, and reunites his family. Through all his planning he still manages to find enjoyment in small things, like a Curly Wurly, or riding his bike, or planting seeds with his new friends on the allotments, but how will he cope when he finally faces the truth of his new life without his family. Full review...
The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
Yolanda and Verla wake up disorientated. They realise they've been drugged. Yolanda thinks that perhaps they are in some kind of mental facility - She knew she was not mad, but all lunatics thought that. Verla just sits, still and frozen, waiting. And soon enough, two men arrive to reveal their fate. Yolanda and Verla, along with eight other girls, have been brought to a remote farmhouse surrounded by an electrified fence. Their heads are shaved. They are dressed in uncomfortable, scratchy, Amish-style clothes. They are tied together like a chain gang. And, like any chain gang, their days are marked with forced labour. Two men, one more cruel than the other, and a so-called nurse are their jailers, not their guardians. Full review...
The King's Assassin by Angus Donald
AD 1215: The year of Magna Carta - and Robin Hood's greatest battle. King John is scheming to reclaim his ancestral lands in Europe, raising the money for new armies by bleeding dry peasants and nobles alike, not least the Earl of Locksley - the former outlaw Robin Hood - and his loyal man Sir Alan Dale. As rebellion brews across the country and Robin Hood and his men are dragged into the war against the French in Flanders, a plan is hatched that will bring the former outlaws and their families to the brink of catastrophe - a plan to kill the King. England explodes into bloody civil war and Alan and Robin must decide who to trust - and who to slaughter. And while Magna Carta might be the answer to their prayers for peace, first they will have to force the King to submit to the will of his people. Full review...
Claude All at Sea by Alex T Smith
Claude is a small dog who likes wearing a beret and a lovely red jumper. He lives with Mr and Mrs Shinyshoes and his best friend is a stripy sock called Sir Bobblysock. Full review...
The Fallen (The Darkest Hand) by Tarn Richardson
1915 and the war continues, not just as the conflict that will come to be known as World War I but a more supernatural fight between good and evil. The dark forces continue to move across a darkened Europe, evidenced by the increase in demon possession and hideously misshapen babies. When the Vatican fountain produces blood rather than water, the world knows that the events spoken of in Revelation may be underway. Inquisitor Poldek Tacit still has the will to fight but he's just one man. Will one man be enough? Full review...
Ravenspur: Rise of the Tudors (The Wars of the Roses) by Conn Iggulden
Edward IV and his brother Richard of Gloucester aren't exactly accepting of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick deserting them to stand with the ailing Henry VI again. The sons of York are gathering support in Burgundy while Edward's wife Elizabeth (nee Woodville) gives birth to his son in the sanctuary of Westminster Abbey. Meanwhile Henry's wife Margaret of Anjou is also in France, drumming up resources for the return of their son, Edward, Prince of Wales. Elsewhere a 14 year old Henry Tudor is waiting at one of history's most important cross roads. Full review...
The Great Fire of London: 350th Anniversary of the Great Fire of 1666 by Emma Adams and James Weston Lewis
While the average primary school child may not quite be able to fathom the importance and actual length of 350 years, it is no reason not to put a book out looking back that distance of time to major historical events. But it has to be a good book to justify the mental time travel that entails. And you have to hit on a remarkable subject, something that will open the young eyes to the danger, tragedy and drama of our history. Something like the Great Fire of London, as seen in this large hardback, which when it comes down to it, and for many reasons, is a very good book indeed. Full review...
Art in the Blood: A Sherlock Holmes Adventure by Bonnie MacBird
It's the winter of 1888 and Sherlock Holmes is languishing. After a devastating result concerning the mysterious Ripper investigation, Holmes can find no solace and falls back in to his troublesome relationship with cocaine. Not even his good friend Doctor Watson can cheer him – that is until an encoded letter arrives from Paris from a young French cabaret star who claims her son has vanished. Intrigued, Holmes explores the case only to uncover that the disappearance of a young boy is only the tip of the iceberg. Journeying to Paris and then to the Lancashire countryside, Holmes and Watson become involved in a dangerous investigation, concerning a prized stolen statue, child slavery, and murder – but who is the culprit behind it all? Full review...
Amazing Daddy by Rachel Bright
Daddy Panda and Baby Panda are spending the day together, and Baby Panda is thinking about all the different reasons why his daddy is brilliant. These range from how he smells safe and warm to the extra large breakfasts that daddy makes! There are lots of common, everyday situations, so little ones will enjoy making comparisons with their own lives, and discussing what makes their daddy amazing. Full review...
The Bumblebear by Nadia Shireen
Ever a sucker for a book about a bear, this one has fast become a favourite for me. Norman is an ordinary kind of bear, small and cuddly and a big fan of honey. He is such a big fan, in fact, that he comes up with a cunning plan in order to make his honey hunting much easier. He decides to dress up as a bee (a giant bee, from Giant Bee Land, obviously) and join Bee School where he has the most marvellous time learning about things like buzzing and finding smelly flowers. However, although most of the bees are convinced of his bee-ness, there is one rather clever little bee who grows increasingly suspicious of poor Norman… Full review...
Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe
After seventeen year-old Vera's mental breakdown, her father Lucas takes her on a trip to the tiny Lithuanian town of Vilnius to recover and reconnect with their family history. Full review...
Hendrix the Rocking Horse (Fables from the Stables 2) by Gavin Puckett and Tor Freeman
Poor Hendrix. He has a nice life and a nice farmer's field, but he's bored. All the excitement of the world is just too far away, except for the time the fairground came to town, complete with Ferris wheel, rides, stilted jugglers and the Tumbling Pebbles playing a gig. He could hear all of their concert – even dancing and prancing around his field as a result. But little did he know what would happen when the lead guitarist's instrument literally fell off the back of their tour bus, and Hendrix had a chance to find the music within… Full review...
Get Coding!: Learn HTML, CSS & JavaScript & build a website, app & game by Young Rewired State
Learning to code, even heading into my seventh decade, changed my life and for today's children it's important because it opens so many doors. It might look complicated, but all it required is concentration and - eventually - imagination. I had a reasonable mastery of the skills of basic HTML in three days with the benefit of a personal tutor, but where to go if you don't have that privilege or if you need some extra support? Get Coding! seems like the perfect answer. Full review...
Dragons: Ten Entrepreneurs Who Built Britain by Liam Byrne
Liam Byrne MP, a minister in the last Labour government, has come up with a novel way of telling British history through the ages in this book. His approach is not one of Kings and Queens, wars or scientific discoveries, but through the business world and several of the key – and often unsung – entrepreneurs and commercial venturers from medieval times to the twentieth century. As he says in his preface, the people through whose lives he has chosen to narrate the saga reveal the best and worst of human endeavours, as he serves us up several explorers, inventors and moral leaders alongside a motley crew of fraudsters, warmongers and unembarrassed imperialists. All of them took risks, some made fortunes and some lost them, but for better or worse they all contributed towards the tale of British enterprise and the making of the modern world. Full review...
Artist in Residence by Simon Bill
The nameless protagonist of artist Simon Bill's first novel is almost instantly dislikeable. He's a slob with an alcohol problem whose endeavours in the art world appear lackadaisical and who seems to have behaved questionably to his ex-girlfriend Susan. In his antihero, Bill gives himself an uphill struggle to keep the reader turning pages, let alone engage their sympathy. And yet, Artist in Residence is a funny, thought-provoking, informative read which is all the more enjoyable for the mental and emotional demands it places on the reader. Full review...
The World's Worst Children by David Walliams and Tony Ross
At last David Walliams has produced a book for me. I'm damned sure the previous ones (eight full novels and four picture books, and counting) are fine enough quality for me to consider, but I'm contrary. Whether the author sells ten copies or a million I'll look for the more esoteric titles on their list – the essays not the novels, the short stories that get ignored and not the big-sellers, the Lee Scoresby spin-off and not the full His Dark Materials. But if you think that makes me bad – a reviewer who can spout about only the less populist works – I'm sure you will agree, after reading these pages, that I could be a heck of a lot more bad, if I tried. The children here, what's more, don't have to try. Full review...
Nemesis by Alex Lamb
I'm not a great lover of back-cover blurb, but every now and again it tells you everything you need to know…if you read between the lines. Hugely promising said SFX. Hits the ground running said the Guardian. I can't disagree with either of those two statements. Unfortunately for this particular reader, it ran very quickly into a swamp of dense pseudo-scientific-explicatory-strangle-weed. And didn't live up to the promise. Full review...
