Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
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| + | |summary=Even after her death, George Boleyn continues to fashion his sister Anne's son into a king in George's image. However, now 18, matters of state aren’t the only concerns of Henry IX. He has to decide between the French Princess Elizabeth and commoner, childhood friend Minuette although Minuette is secretly betrothed to Henry's advisor Dominic. Minuette also has another quest: to find out who killed her friend Alyce but sleuthing is becoming more dangerous. Meanwhile Henry's Catholic sister Mary and very intelligent sister Elizabeth are not going to be happy remaining merely decorative for long. | ||
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|summary=In 1994 Mike McIntyre was a thirty-seven-year-old journalist with a secret: he was frightened. There were specific fears, but what it boiled down to was that he was frightened of life - and then there was a memory. He remembered - with some shame - not stopping for a hitchhiker with a gas can in the desert. It was almost on a whim that he decided to cross America, from San Francisco in California to Cape Fear in North Carolina, which might sound like a great adventure, but McIntyre decides to do it without money - to be completely reliant on the kindness of strangers. He was confronting his own fears. | |summary=In 1994 Mike McIntyre was a thirty-seven-year-old journalist with a secret: he was frightened. There were specific fears, but what it boiled down to was that he was frightened of life - and then there was a memory. He remembered - with some shame - not stopping for a hitchhiker with a gas can in the desert. It was almost on a whim that he decided to cross America, from San Francisco in California to Cape Fear in North Carolina, which might sound like a great adventure, but McIntyre decides to do it without money - to be completely reliant on the kindness of strangers. He was confronting his own fears. | ||
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Revision as of 15:47, 14 January 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 16,120 reviews at TheBookbag.
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The Boleyn Deceit (Anne Boleyn Trilogy Book 2) by Laura Andersen
Even after her death, George Boleyn continues to fashion his sister Anne's son into a king in George's image. However, now 18, matters of state aren’t the only concerns of Henry IX. He has to decide between the French Princess Elizabeth and commoner, childhood friend Minuette although Minuette is secretly betrothed to Henry's advisor Dominic. Minuette also has another quest: to find out who killed her friend Alyce but sleuthing is becoming more dangerous. Meanwhile Henry's Catholic sister Mary and very intelligent sister Elizabeth are not going to be happy remaining merely decorative for long. Full review...
Tigerman by Nick Harkaway
Battle-weary and suffering from PTSD, 40-year-old Sergeant Lester Ferris is posted to the island of Mancreu to mark time till his retirement. With no family of his own, Lester takes a local lad under his wing; an adolescent who lives his own life through comic books and superheroes in the hope that he can be adopted. Despite Mancreu beginning to churn with more than its customary black marketeering, Lester realises that he has a job on his hands, not only to take care of an island that sees him as a government puppet but also convince someone that he is the stuff of heroism and to convince himself while he's at it. Full review...
The Girl in the Photograph by Kate Riordan
Alice Eveleigh is sent to Fiercombe Manor in 1933 as the result of a scandal. Back in the 1890s the Manor had been home to Elizabeth and Charles Stanton and their little girl Isabel but it doesn't feel like a house that's seen much happiness. The stones are drenched in tragedy and secrets that have remained locked away since then. What sort of secrets? Will Alice be too nosey for her own good or will the secrets remain just that, with the added threat of history repeating itself? Full review...
The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books Saved My Life by Andy Miller
Andy Miller and his wife both worked and they had a three-year-old son. Despite the fact that Miller was an editor for a London publisher he felt that he'd 'lost' reading from his life. He seemed to acquire a lot of books, but making time for reading them was an entirely different matter. With the help of his wife he developed a 'list of betterment' - initially a limited number of great books which he determined to read but eventually it became fifty great books and two not so great, which he was going to master over the space of a year. He was re-integrating books into everyday life. Full review...
Charlie Cook's Favourite Book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
As a parent, you’re always in search of it. That one, elusive thing; the perfect bedtime story. Well, in Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book, I think we quite possibly have it. This ten year anniversary edition of the book will hopefully bring it to slightly wider attention than some of Donaldson’s more well known titles, as it is a completely charming and timeless book. Full review...
Lives in Writing by David Lodge
David Lodge Lives in Writing. So blares the cover of my edition, and it's not far wrong. When he's not entertaining us with his writing career (now in its third, more erudite and to me more serious stage, after the first third of comic light touches, before he found his metier – and fame with TV adaptations– with comedies about the social and sexual lives of academe) he's teaching about and around writing. When I was younger I also read around writing – literature books, in other words – and Lodge's were among those I turned to. So this book and its contents are a welcome step back down a very familiar road. Full review...
Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content by Ann Handley
Ann Handley has compiled a one stop resource for writers of any kind of marketing and promotional material. Assuming you have command of basic vocabulary and know how to write a simple sentence, Handley takes you through everything you could ever need to know for a huge variety of platforms, purposes and problems, in order to better represent your business on the internet. Full review...
Border Angels by Anthony J Quinn
Lena Novak knew all about border country. She was an illegal immigrant from Croatia and whilst she wasn't having to cope with landmines, bears and wolves, the Irish border had its own problems. She had worked in the farmhouse brothel for two months when she met Jack Fowler but her plan to escape left bare footprints in the snow and more than one dead body. The investigating officer was Inspector Celcius Daly and it wasn't long before he found himself in the unprofessional situation of working with a prostitute and a hitman. Full review...
Far As the Eye Can See by Robert Bausch
It was a bit slow was probably my Mam's worst condemnation of film… but I'm going to forgive her for not appreciating slowness, because it was she that got me into appreciating westerns. Of course she preferred the all-action kind, but through watching those with her, I started to watch and enjoy the long, slow, ones and to appreciate the back-drop to all of that action… and then somewhere along the line I got interested in what might really have happened: not just in the West but the whole of what became the U.S. in the early days of settlement. Full review...
Behind God's Back (Ariel Kafka Series) by Harri Nykanen and Kristian London (translator)
Ariel Kafka, as the only Jewish detective in Helsinki's violent crime unit, has special insight into the Jewish Community. It goes without saying but it also provides Ari with a steady flow of cases. Therefore when a local company director and Jewish congregation member is murdered, Ariel is first choice of investigator. Unfortunately the victim happens to be the man who could have become Ariel's father-in-law a couple of decades before but Ari feels enough removed by time not to disqualify himself from the case. Gradually as the web of clues is carefully teased out, more worrying connections are discovered. The Mossad may be involved but then so may Ari's brother Eli. Full review...
Jam and Roses: The Lives and Loves of 1920s Factory Girls by Mary Gibson
The year is 1923 and 'jam-girl' Millie Colman is eagerly awaiting the arrival of a letter inviting her family to go 'hopping' in Kent. The annual trip provides desperately needed respite from the oppressive atmosphere at home, as well as a much-needed dose of fresh air and open space. For Millie, the invitation symbolises escape; albeit for only a few precious weeks of the year. Life in the Colman household is uncomfortable, to say the least. Millie and her two sisters bicker constantly and the whole family live under the shadow of a drunken father who is prone to violent rages. Unfortunately for Millie, this year's hopping trip is anything but an escape, when she makes a foolish decision which will have dire repercussions for the whole family. Full review...
The Pet Person by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
Children's stories often turn a familiar idea on its head. In this story it is that of pets, for the main characters in the story are a family of dogs, and one of them would very much like his own pet person! Will Rex succeed in persuading his parents to get him a person? And if so, will it be everything he ever dreamed of? Full review...
Frog in Love by Max Velthuijs
Frog has been feeling a little strange. He finds himself wanting to laugh and cry at the same time, and his heart is beating strangely. Pig declares that Frog must have a cold, but Hare suggests that perhaps Frog is in love. But who can Frog possibly be in love with? Full review...
Enter the Saint by Leslie Charteris and John Telfer (narrator)
When you think of thrillers written by a man in his early twenties there's a temptation to believe that the books might not be, well, top drawer, but that would be a mistake. The first of The Saint novels was published in 1928 when Leslie Charteris was just twenty one and this collection of stories is dated 1930. You might expect the rambunctious adventurer we meet, but not the subtleties of the slightly world-weary man of the world, all-knowing about the evils to which men (and women) can sink, but they're all there. Admittedly the Saint is more boisterous and less subtle than he will become - but that speaks more about the later works than this book. Full review...
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
The Age of Miracles was one of those much-talked about books that I never got the time to read on its first go around. I'm not sure how I managed that, but I did. Anyway, it got debut author Thompson Walker a seven figure deal after a bidding war and it has dystopian themes, so it is right up my alley and not the sort of thing I'd usually miss. And so, I was happy that Simon & Schuster decided to reissue it for a YA market and even happier that they decided to send me a copy. Full review...
The Seventh Simian by Gary Kurylo
Edith has lived alone for many years and she has become irascible and rather anti-social. She avoids even going into the nearby village to do her shopping and the only human being she sees with any regularity is the local shopkeeper who makes grocery deliveries to her and makes an art form of palming off the strange old lady with overpriced, underweight goods. If it weren't for her cat, Edith would have no companionship at all. Full review...
The Crooked House by Christobel Kent
Many years ago, a tragedy shook an English village. A whole family wiped out with no warning, a whole family, that is, except for one of the daughters who was, unbeknown to the assailant, upstairs at the time. Esme was that girl, but she is no more. She has a new name, a new identity, a new life, far away from that terrible place. As Alison she flies under the radar, not attracting any attention, with a menial job to fill her days. And she has every intention of staying that way, no intention of ever stepping foot in Saltleigh again. Full review...
After the Storm by Jane Lythell
Rob and Anna are nearing the Honduras leg of their South American travels. Here they meet Kimberley and Owen, an American couple who charter out their own boat for sailing trips around the local islands. Rob persuades Anna it will be a fun way to end their holiday but Anna isn't so sure. There's something about Owen and Kimberley that makes her hesitant about being shut away on a boat at sea with them. Perhaps it's the way that he never sleeps or the mystery as to why there are no knives in the cutlery drawer. Rob thinks Anna's just overly imaginative, but time will tell. Full review...
We Used to Be Kings by Stewart Foster
Tom and Jack are 18 today. Not that they have much cause for celebration - stuck in a home for troubled children, they are constantly examined and questioned by doctors, when all they want is to be left alone to live life together. Full review...
I Feel Sick! (Little Princess) by Tony Ross
I should think most parents of small children are familiar with fake sicknesses, in an attempt to get out of nursery/school/the dentist or whatever other trauma you are heartlessly inflicting on them. I remember my daughter aged about three trying to convince me that she had a broken leg, pointing to the broken one and then limping on the other! Here we see the Little Princess insisting that she is terribly, dreadfully sick. Especially when she has been asked to do something she doesn't want to do. Then she feels really terrible! Full review...
Siena by Helen Eve
Siena Hamilton rules over Temperley High, along with her clique the Starlets. Nothing can stand in her way – not even the return of ex-Starlet and her former best friend Romy, who spent a term in France after a shocking incident one night led to the headmistress deciding the girl needed to spend some time away from their school. If you've read Stella, you know roughly what happens here, but you don't necessarily know why. If you haven’t read it, I'd definitely suggest going for that one first. (There may be spoilers here, although I've tried to avoid anything too specific.) Full review...
The Deep Dark Wood by Algy Craig Hall and Ali Pye
Children love a fairytale. Forests, monsters, Little Red Riding Hood. They open up a world of possible adventures, wonder and mystery. The Deep Dark Wood taps into that format brilliantly, taking ideas and myths already deeply ingrained into our culture and creating a really fun story for children (and adults) to engage with. Full review...
There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake
Shelby is seventeen. She dreams of going to college but her mother would never allow it. Shaylene is more than over-protective. She homeschools Shelby and rarely lets her daughter out on her own. She is obsessed with the danger that men present. Shelby loves her mother but can't help the odd twinge of resentment at the level of control she exerts and more than the odd twinge of embarrassment when she looks at they overweight, unfit, pyjama jeans-wearing Shaylene.
And then Shelby is knocked down by a car. And everything unravels. Shaylene turns up at the hospital with bags packed. She's running from something, but what is it? And why can't she see the coyote that is watching Shelby, talking to her, warning her of lies and asking her to save a Child from a Crone? Full review...
The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry
When the seven schoolgirls at St Etheldreda's School for Young Ladies in Victorian Ely see their headmistress and her brother drop dead at dinner, they're more concerned about their future than the loss of the two adults. Knowing that if anyone discovers what's happened they'll be sent home to families who don't want them, they launch a daring plan to cover up the sad news, and run the school themselves. When the deaths turn out to be caused by poison, though, they're left not just trying to run a school and convince an alarming number of visitors that nothing's wrong - but also to solve the murders before there's another killing. Full review...
The Prussian Princesses: The Sisters of Kaiser Wilhelm II by John Van der Kiste
Kaiser Wilhelm II is well known and not for the best of reasons and he's certainly over-shadowed his six younger siblings. John Van der Kiste's first biography was of his father, Kaiser Friedrich III and he has also written about Emperor Wilhelm II so he is well placed to write about the three youngest children Kaiser Friedrich and Victoria, Princess Royal. Originally he intended to write about Friedrich's second daughter, but it quickly became obvious that the most satisfying biography - for reader and author - would be a biography of Victoria, Sophie and Margaret, their mother's kleebatt or trio, as they were known. Full review...
Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell
When Sophie and Jay play around with a ouija board app that Jay has downloaded to his phone, things go awfully wrong. Sophie asks to speak to Rebecca, a cousin of hers who died in mysterious circumstances. But what Rebecca has to say is not good. And that very night, Jay drowns in the canal after falling from his bike. A tragic accident. Or was it? Full review...
The Zigzag Effect by Lili Wilkinson
When she's told her family can't afford to pay for the photography course she was planning on attending, Sage is thrilled to get a holiday job at a theatre, working with a magician, his beautiful assistant, and his handsome stagehand. But The Great Armand's magic show is, while initially thrilling, potentially full of danger - and when a wand gets snapped on stage, a sure sign of bad luck, things go from bad to worse. Who can Sage trust when someone vanishes? Is it a magic trick, a ghost, or something even more sinister? Full review...
Song of the Slums by Richard Harland
Song of the Slums fuses politics, music, social injustice and gaslight fantasy. Set in 1846 during the age of steam it tells the story of Astor Vance and her mysterious servant/companion Verrol who are caught up in the machinations of the plutocratic Swale family and must fight for survival in a world of intrigue. Full review...
Careless People Murder Mayhem and the Invention of the Great Gatsby by Sarah Churchwell
In this accomplished literary biography Professor Churchwell expertly weaves together three guest lists- the Fitzgeralds and literary cast of New York, the sensationalist tragic murder victims and suspects of New Brunswick, New Jersey and the careless characters of F. Scott's novel using the Fitzgeralds' archives, newspaper clippings, literary scrapbooks,diary entries and anecdotes to link the stories and chronicle the heedless hedonism of the 1920s. It is not only a meticulously researched tribute tracing the genesis of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s plot skeleton, which he roughly sketched in pencil in the back of a book, entitled Man’s Hope, but it also sparkles with sophisticated vocabulary fizzing with the effervescence of a glass of champagne providing new treats for the reader with each inviting chapter. Full review...
MOD: From Bebop to Britpop, Britain's Biggest Youth Movement by Richard Weight
Mod is arguably a rather-overused term. First of all, there is the matter of establishing a precise definition. Modernism, which was soon abbreviated for convenience, began as the working-class movement of a newly affluent nation. Once the age of immediate post-war austerity was gone, the cult of a youth keen to shake off the drab conformity of life in 1950s Britain took hold. It was more than anything else an amalgam of American music and European fashions, beginning as a popular cult and gradually becoming a mainstream culture. Full review...
Where is Pim? by Lena and Olof Landstrom
I had a gankie when I was little. It was a ragged bit of blanket that went everywhere with me. Actually there were a couple of bits because my mum cut it into two so she could wash one whilst the other was in use! After gankie came Teddy, and he really went everywhere with me. I even took him to school where his name was on the register and he had his own reading book. Special 'things' and teddies can be very important to small children, and this story shows us how important these things can be, and how traumatic it is when they go missing! Full review...
The Kindness of Strangers: Penniless Across America by Mike McIntyre and Chris Brinkley (narrator)
In 1994 Mike McIntyre was a thirty-seven-year-old journalist with a secret: he was frightened. There were specific fears, but what it boiled down to was that he was frightened of life - and then there was a memory. He remembered - with some shame - not stopping for a hitchhiker with a gas can in the desert. It was almost on a whim that he decided to cross America, from San Francisco in California to Cape Fear in North Carolina, which might sound like a great adventure, but McIntyre decides to do it without money - to be completely reliant on the kindness of strangers. He was confronting his own fears. Full review...
