Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
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| + | |summary=Up on the north Yorkshire Moors there’s a feature of the landscape known as the Wolf Pit. It’s thought to be a medieval trap into which wolves were driven, but as you get close to it, it’s difficult to locate, marked only by a change in the light, a slope of the ground. Will Cohu doesn’t concentrate on the pit but rather on nearby Bramble Carr, the remote moorland cottage to which his grandparents moved in 1966, almost on a whim and certainly with insufficient thought. George Brook was a manager at ICI in Billingham and Dorothy was an artist and musician. They’d been brought together by a shared love of the arts but once installed at Bramble Carr and with little more than each other for company the marriage deteriorated into dark silence. | ||
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|summary=Pablo Simó is an architect on the verge of a mid life crisis. His work, marriage and general life is governed more by habit and routine than anything, leaving him to ponder over the attractions of his colleague Marta with whom he suspects his boss may be having a relationship. When a young girl enters the office asking if anyone knows a man called Nelson Jara, the three architects deny all knowledge, but they do know him. He was involved in a claim that one of the practice's projects caused a crack in the wall of his apartment and how this was resolved is something all three of them would rather forget. | |summary=Pablo Simó is an architect on the verge of a mid life crisis. His work, marriage and general life is governed more by habit and routine than anything, leaving him to ponder over the attractions of his colleague Marta with whom he suspects his boss may be having a relationship. When a young girl enters the office asking if anyone knows a man called Nelson Jara, the three architects deny all knowledge, but they do know him. He was involved in a claim that one of the practice's projects caused a crack in the wall of his apartment and how this was resolved is something all three of them would rather forget. | ||
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Revision as of 09:58, 20 June 2013
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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The Wolf Pit by Will Cohu
Up on the north Yorkshire Moors there’s a feature of the landscape known as the Wolf Pit. It’s thought to be a medieval trap into which wolves were driven, but as you get close to it, it’s difficult to locate, marked only by a change in the light, a slope of the ground. Will Cohu doesn’t concentrate on the pit but rather on nearby Bramble Carr, the remote moorland cottage to which his grandparents moved in 1966, almost on a whim and certainly with insufficient thought. George Brook was a manager at ICI in Billingham and Dorothy was an artist and musician. They’d been brought together by a shared love of the arts but once installed at Bramble Carr and with little more than each other for company the marriage deteriorated into dark silence. Full review...
Paris by Edward Rutherfurd
Taking four families, from different social positions, Edward Rutherfurd weaves these family histories into the history of Paris and France. We encounter the noble de Cygnes, the bourgeois Blanchards, the lower class Gascons and the revolutionary Le Sourds. Their lives cross paths through the years in often unexpected ways and while Paris is an historical fiction novel, this is as much an epic story of families as it is about the history. Full review...
The Radically Awesome Adventures of the Animal Princess: Balloon Toons by Pranas T Naujokaitis
I know so many parents who are completely fed up with the stereotyped role of little girls and especially princesses in stories. If you are looking for stories with a totally different type of princess, then this book is for you. The little princess, or Animal Princess as she is known, is most certainly not a damsel in distress. She is an active heroine boldly seeking adventure, and the messier the better. Rather than looking like a beauty pageant winner in a formal gown, the little Animal Princess looks refreshingly child like in the illustrations. I am delighted to see a princess drawn with the proportions of an ordinary child rather than a Barbie doll. She also prefers nice comfortable animal pyjamas to ball gowns. Full review...
My Friend Fred (the Plant) by Daniel Cleary and Kanako Usui
I loved comic books as a child. As an adult. I love them even more as wonderful way to encourage literacy in young children. Unfortunately comic books for children are hard to come by now, and there are very few books in this format for children under age 8. Ballooon Toons seems poised to change this with a delightful new series of children's books printed in comic book style format, but with a sturdy hardback binding. Full review...
Out Of This World by Ali Sparkes
The best thing about being a book reviewer is the sheer variety of reading material you get access to. In the last few weeks alone I’ve been immersed in blasphemous hilarity, paranormal mystery and even the landscapes of deepest darkest Transylvania. This book, however, is the first one I’ve read in ages that dragged me right out the door on an adventure. Full review...
Time Hunters: Gladiator Clash by Chris Blake
Time Hunters is a new series of six books featuring a young Egyptian princess and a modern-day schoolboy who team up to locate six hidden amulets, scattered in a variety of dangerous historical locations. Gladiator Clash is the first book in the series and sees the duo magically transported to ancient Rome, where they train with gladiators and compete for a chance to fight in the arena with the most feared gladiator of all, Hilarus, who is currently unbeaten and just happens to possess the lost amulet. Full review...
Oksa Pollock: The Last Hope by Anne Plichota and Cendrine Wolf
Oksa is a French girl whose family has just moved to London to open a restaurant with the parents of her best friend Gus. She is a determined (some might say headstrong) and energetic thirteen-year-old whose lively imagination often leads her to see herself as a ninja warrior. But the truth is far more astonishing. She and her family come from a magical hidden land called Edefia, and she is soon to discover that she has a unique and terrifying destiny, one which will put her and everyone she holds dear in serious danger. Full review...
The Belly Book by Fran Manushkin and Dan Yaccarino
The formula for the perfect children’s picture book may go something like this:
Simple Theme + Rhyming Text + Memorable Phrases + Great Illustrations = Happy readers.
In which case, it would seem that the authors of 'The Belly Book' have followed this blueprint to the letter, resulting in a delightful book that is perfect for cosy snuggle time on the sofa. Full review...
Shadow Woman by Linda Howard
Prelude: the President of the United States and the First Lady are on what is not being called a campaign tour. It is. It is most definitely a re-election campaign; it's just not supposed to be. They retire to their suite for the night, and the protection detail of the Secret Service are looking forward to a shift change at the end of a long day. Full review...
The Streets by Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn's The Streets is set in London in the early 1880s in the area known as Somers Town, which to those not familiar with London geography is the area around Euston, St Pancras and King's Cross stations. Today, much of this falls under the trendy Camden area, but in the 1880s, was the site of some of the worst slum tenements in the capital. Some 50 years' earlier, Charles Dickens lived in this part of London and although he had died by the time this is set, the depiction of the poverty is not far from what we would term Dickensian. The book is narrated by David Wildeblood, who is a principled but naive young man who finds employment as an 'investigator' for the charismatic Mr Marchmont's The Labouring Classes of London - a strange mix of social geography and journalism publishing regular stories of the poor who reside in the slums of London. Full review...
This Northern Sky by Julia Green
Kate is not happy. Still raw from the disaster with Sam, she's been whisked away on a long holiday with her parents to a remote Hebridean island. Even discounting a broken heart, this is not the type of holiday a vivacious teenage girl wants to go on. And there's more. Kate's parents have been rowing of late. And she knows that this holiday is a last ditch attempt to save their marriage. It's not something she wants to sit and observe, day after day. Full review...
Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan
We should always make time for short stories. Especially if they are written by Margo Lanagan. In Yellowcake, a traveller boy uses three items to reunite an old man with his memories. A boy with a crippled foot watches his townfolk butcher a beautiful creature washed up in their harbour. Rapunzel gets a makeover in which things turn out differently. We find out how the Ferryman of the Dead became the Ferrywoman. And more. Full review...
Invisibility by David Levithan and Andrea Cremer
Stephen is cursed with invisibility. He's never been seen by anyone, even his parents. Elizabeth isn't invisible, but sometimes she wishes she was. After problems back home, she's hoping to make a new start in New York City by blending into the background. Then she meets Stephen, and can see him. What is it about her that's so special? The two fall for each other hard - but in a world full of spells and curses, does love stand a chance? Full review...
Out of Office: Work Where You Like and Achieve More by Chris Ward
'Imbibe coffee and become imbued with an entrepreneurial spirit' would be an apt summary of the gist of 'Out of Office' by Chris Ward. If you choose to read the book, be prepared to receive inspiration rather than practical instruction on how to build an empire, if anything. This is not to discredit the book; it is attractively designed, full of fundraising event photos and company founder portraits, motivational quotes and brief enthusiastic testimonies of the interviewees featured. But in terms of content, it doesn’t offer substantial advice on how to make that leap from the office cubicle – a context quite heavily vilified by Ward – to the existence of the creatively liberated mover and shaker. Full review...
The Home Corner by Ruth Thomas
When you finish your Highers, you’re supposed to go on to university, especially if you’re a girl like Luisa. But she’s failed hers, so for now higher education is out, and working is unfortunately in. So, she finds a job working as a classroom assistant in a primary school. It’s not something she ever wanted to do, and she finds herself in a weird sort of limbo, at a life stage somewhere between the children in her class, and her proper grown-up adult colleagues. Full review...
Invisible Girl by Kate Maryon
The day that it happened, that everything changed for Gabriella had felt the same as any other. If she had realised that she would not sleep in her own bed again she may have snuggled down for a little longer. If she had known how very hungry she would get she would have made time for an extra piece of toast that morning. If Gabriella had known what was going to happen she may have begged her Dad to change his mind. However in the space of twenty four hours Gabriella was to lose her home, her Dad, her school and her best friend. She finds herself totally alone and stakes everything on being able to find her brother, Beckett, whom she has not seen for several years. She believes if she can find Beckett she will have found a home and a family. Full review...
Dustbin Dad by Peter Bently and Russel Ayto
Dustbin Dad is a cautionary tale aimed at all of those children who leave food on their plate at the end of a meal. Dad likes nothing better than to polish off the leftovers, much to the disgust of his family. One day, however, he gobbles down a pint of something that tastes like fish chowder. Unfortunately, it is cat medicine and it has some very strange side effects indeed, as dad discovers when he hears a loud rip and a long tail pops out of the back of his trousers... Full review...
My School Day by Ellen Crimi-Trent
The feature that initially attracted me to My School Day was the huge, interactive clock face on the front cover. Learning to tell the time is such an important life skill, but sometimes young children can struggle with the concept. A hands-on approach, combining the senses of sight and touch can be an effective method of teaching. The child is learning through play and having lots of fun at the same time. Full review...
Evil and the Mask by Fuminori Nakamura
The novel begins when the protagonist is only eleven years old, and spans the rest of his life, alternating between the past and the present in the first half of the novel, until we catch up with the present day. At the start young Fumihiro is summoned to the room of his elderly father, the present president of the Kuki Group of interlinked corporations across Japan. What transpires next is a monologue from Fumihiro's father, telling the boy he was bred to be a cancer on the world and spread unhappiness. Fumihiro's father ends with introducing Fumihiro to his new adopted sister, Kaori, and informing them both that when they turn fourteen Kaori will be an integral cog in the plan to break Fumihiro's spirit; to 'show him hell'. Full review...
Tarnish by Katherine Longshore
Anne Boleyn is coming back to court. After suffering embarrassment and exile, Anne is not about to let this second chance slip through her fingers. But the trickery of court life is difficult to navigate, and telling friend from foe can be the difference between social success and becoming a pariah. Luckily she has the help of Thomas Wyatt, poet and infamous womaniser. He promises to make Anne the most popular woman at court, and when Anne starts to play his game, things start to escalate far further than anyone ever imagined. For not only does Anne manage to get the court eating out of her hand, but the King is starting to sit up and take notice too... Full review...
Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani
Azar is in labour and about to give birth to her first child. Elsewhere she'd be looking forward to medical care for as long as she needs it and a good chance of a safe delivery. But this is Iran in 1983 and Azar is in the notorious Evin Prison for daring to believe in something different from the government. Amil saves date stones to make into a bracelet for his little baby as she grows into a child without him; he too is incarcerated. Even those on the outside need to be wary of what they say or do as Laila discovers when hair falls over her face while she's out walking. This isn’t the brave new world that the revolution was meant to provide, however it is the world in which they, their children and children's children will need to survive. Full review...
Invitation to Die by Helen Smith
I must confess I feel a little apprehensive writing this review. Why? It has to do with the subject matter of the book, a murder mystery set in a London Hotel. The murder victim just happens to be a blogger who writes book reviews [laughs to self nervously] and one of the key suspects is a writer who has taken offense at the poor reception that her book has received online. I keep telling myself that this is only fiction. Only fiction. Full review...
Joe and the Hidden Horseshoe by Victoria Eveleigh
Joe did not want to move. Birmingham suited him just fine. It was where his friends were and his school - and he'd got life sorted quite nicely. But his father had got his dream job as head of a group of village primary schools and the family - Mum, Dad, Joe and his younger sister Emily - moved to a farmhouse in Devon. His Mum was determined that she and Emily would have ponies to ride and not being prone to thinking things through before acting it wasn't long before Lady and Lightning arrived in a horsebox. Mum should have made checks on the ponies before deciding to buy them and she should have been even more wary when the ponies were delivered with little ceremony. But she wasn't. Full review...
Chuckle Bob's Great Escape by Jeremy Strong and Scoular Anderson
Chuckle Bob looks positively wicked in the first illustration of this book, but then who can blame him for feeling a bit cranky? He wants to swing in the trees and run in the grass, not sit in a cage all day. When he sees a chance to escape, he takes it, causing all sorts of mayhem in the process. Once out of his cage he turns the entire pet shop into a disaster zone. He lets the parrot loose, but it falls into the fish tank. Fish get knocked everywhere, including down the pet store assistant's top, and then he lets out the gerbils and rabbits as well. While Mr Rush, the pet store owner and his assistant Maya try to deal with all the mischief he has caused, an unsuspecting customer enters the door, and Chuckle Bob makes his escape, with just a bit more mayhem of course. Full review...
What Fresh Lunacy is This?: The Authorised Biography of Oliver Reed by Robert Sellers
For rather more of his career than he, his family and closest friends might have liked, the name Oliver Reed was a byword for booze, brawls and all types of laddish behaviour. As Sellers’ very full and remarkably objective biography reveals, it was a funny yet sad life all at once. For although he repeatedly played up to the image of the lovable rogue which he had created, underneath the bad boy of popular legend he was at heart a professional actor who could always deliver a first-rate performance on the film set when required. Full review...
Never Forget by Lisa Cutts
DC Nina Foster isn't that unusual in the police force. She's perhaps a little overweight and a little too fond of wine. Her relationships don't tend to last but then the unpredictable hours which the job demands don't help in that area. She has some good friends within the force - part camaraderie, part common interest and a lot of knowledge that that these are the people you might be relying on in an emergency. Nina does have one secret though and it relates back to her childhood. She does her best not to give what happened to her any room in her head and most of the time it works. Most people have no idea about her history. Then a frenzied stabbing pulls Nina into her first murder investigation and the Major Incident Room. Full review...
Bryant and May and the Invisible Code by Christopher Fowler
Never judge a book by its cover? Oh come on... Doesn't that do a huge disservice to the army of graphic designers designing those covers? To be fair, the designers don't get the final say and we've all read things that didn't do what they said on the tin, but I think it's time we started giving a bit of credit to those that do. Full review...
Horrid Henry's Nightmare by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
Horrid Henry was the first chapter book my son ever read alone. It was quickly followed by a succession of books in the series and my son's confidence in reading grew by leaps and bounds with this engaging series that gets young children reading and keeps them reading. The simple fact is, with such a large number of books in the series, any child who reads through the whole lot will improve their reading skills. As he has grown older, his tastes in books have changed, but as I sat down to read 'Horrid Henry's Nightmare' to my four year old he was happy to listen in as well and we all enjoyed sharing this book as a family. Full review...
A Crack in the Wall by Claudia Pineiro
Pablo Simó is an architect on the verge of a mid life crisis. His work, marriage and general life is governed more by habit and routine than anything, leaving him to ponder over the attractions of his colleague Marta with whom he suspects his boss may be having a relationship. When a young girl enters the office asking if anyone knows a man called Nelson Jara, the three architects deny all knowledge, but they do know him. He was involved in a claim that one of the practice's projects caused a crack in the wall of his apartment and how this was resolved is something all three of them would rather forget. Full review...
