Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
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'''Read [[Features|new features]].''' | '''Read [[Features|new features]].''' | ||
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| + | {{newreview | ||
| + | |title=Tinder | ||
| + | |author=Sally Gardner | ||
| + | |rating=4.5 | ||
| + | |genre=Teens | ||
| + | |summary=Sally Gardner has followed her wonderful and haunting [[Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner|Maggot Moon]] with another story about a world at war, but although death and violence abound once again, the atmosphere here is very different. This time we are not in some alternate nineteen fifties Britain where the bad guys have won, but instead in the eerie, mist-filled world of the fairy tale. In this place wonders and magic lead the hero to his destiny, and love, power and greed are the catalysts for both joy and despair. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780621493</amazonuk> | ||
| + | }} | ||
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| + | {{newreview | ||
| + | |title=Love, Nina | ||
| + | |author=Nina Stibbe | ||
| + | |rating=4 | ||
| + | |genre=Autobiography | ||
| + | |summary=When I began reading this book I wasn't entirely sure that I liked it. I didn't quite know how to take the Nina from the title. She's a twenty year old Nanny, employed by the editor of the London Review of Books and living near Regent's Park in North London. The book contains her letters to her sister, Victoria living at home in Leicestershire, and tell of the events and happenings in her life as a Nanny and then, going on, in her life as a student at Thames Polytechnic. Initially it felt like she was name dropping - Alan Bennett lives over the road and drops in for dinner most days; the father of Will and Sam, the two boys she is nannying, is Stephen Frears; down the road lives Claire Tomalin and her partner Michael Frayn...and yet, given chance, you begin to see that she isn't awed by the notoriety of these people (indeed, she tells her sister that Alan Bennett was in Coronation Street!) and actually they are just the neighbours and so it is less important that Alan Bennett (AB as he's referred to in the book) comes around for dinner every night since he isn't there for fame value but rather for his own unique place in this rather crazy family life memoir! | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0670922765</amazonuk> | ||
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| + | {{newreview | ||
| + | |title=Barbapapa's Voyage | ||
| + | |author=Annette Tison and Talus Taylor | ||
| + | |rating=4.5 | ||
| + | |genre=For Sharing | ||
| + | |summary=In [[Barbapapa by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor|Barbapapa]], we were introduced to a friendly, pink, shape-shifting blob who used his special talents to help the local townsfolk, who hailed him as the new town hero. However, despite having lots of human friends, our pink protagonist is looking decidedly off-colour at the beginning of this sequel. It seems that being the only one of your species is a pretty lonely affair and poor Barbapapa is longing for a ''Barbamama'' to share his life with. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408330725</amazonuk> | ||
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| + | {{newreview | ||
| + | |title=Fractured | ||
| + | |author=Dani Atkins | ||
| + | |rating=4 | ||
| + | |genre=Women's Fiction | ||
| + | |summary=Rachel is not living a life most people would covet. Her job is dull, she lives alone in a grotty flat, she has a scarred face that makes people stop and squirm, and she still hasn’t come to terms with the death of her best friend – who lost his life saving hers. She has to drag herself out of London and back to her hometown for the wedding of a close friend, and she goes so reluctantly because it’s the first time the whole gang will have been back together since the accident, five years ago. It’s really not a life to hold on to. Surely she’d rather anything else? | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781857113</amazonuk> | ||
| + | }} | ||
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| + | {{newreview | ||
| + | |title=The Facebook Diet: 50 Funny Signs of Facebook Addiction and Ways to Unplug With a Digital Detox | ||
| + | |author=Gemini Adams | ||
| + | |rating=3.5 | ||
| + | |genre=Humour | ||
| + | |summary=Everywhere you look and question this book, it is a success – more or less. Does it do what it purports to – show evidence of a Facebook addiction and provide a dietary way out? Yes, more or less. Does it engage with its combination of cartoon images and captions? Yes, more or less. Does it have some cult Internet pedigree to make it a hit gift book for the techie? Yes, more or less – it might not have been borne from a webpage somewhere online, but the Kindle version was launched several months before the paperback. Is it then a worthwhile addition to your comedy book shelves? Yes – more or less. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>095546563X</amazonuk> | ||
| + | }} | ||
{{newreview | {{newreview | ||
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|summary=Emil Tischbein has been given a great responsibility - to deliver 140 marks to his grandmother, who he is going to stay with on holiday. Pleased at being trusted with so much money by his widowed mother, the young boy is determined to keep it safe. But when he falls asleep on the train, he wakes up to find both the money, and the only other passenger in his carriage, a man who introduced himself as Max Grundeis, gone! Unwilling to involve the police for fear of arrest himself, as he thinks that he's wanted for painting the nose of a local monument, Emil stumbles on a ragtag bunch of children who offer to help him track down Herr Grundeis and get the money back. | |summary=Emil Tischbein has been given a great responsibility - to deliver 140 marks to his grandmother, who he is going to stay with on holiday. Pleased at being trusted with so much money by his widowed mother, the young boy is determined to keep it safe. But when he falls asleep on the train, he wakes up to find both the money, and the only other passenger in his carriage, a man who introduced himself as Max Grundeis, gone! Unwilling to involve the police for fear of arrest himself, as he thinks that he's wanted for painting the nose of a local monument, Emil stumbles on a ragtag bunch of children who offer to help him track down Herr Grundeis and get the money back. | ||
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099572842</amazonuk> | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099572842</amazonuk> | ||
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|summary=Nicole Oxford knew that her marriage was over when she discovered that Tom had been unfaithful - again. They'd seemed like the golden couple of television but that and their gorgeous home suddenly seemed as insubstantial as dust. Taking a break from work Nicole flew out to stay with her parents in Spain. Actually, they were her adoptive parents - and Nicole wondered if the bond between them all was going to be strong enough to stand the weight of what she was going to ask of them. Nicole had stopped liking herself and she felt that she needed to go back to her roots, discover who ''she'' was - and she wanted their help to trace her birth mother. | |summary=Nicole Oxford knew that her marriage was over when she discovered that Tom had been unfaithful - again. They'd seemed like the golden couple of television but that and their gorgeous home suddenly seemed as insubstantial as dust. Taking a break from work Nicole flew out to stay with her parents in Spain. Actually, they were her adoptive parents - and Nicole wondered if the bond between them all was going to be strong enough to stand the weight of what she was going to ask of them. Nicole had stopped liking herself and she felt that she needed to go back to her roots, discover who ''she'' was - and she wanted their help to trace her birth mother. | ||
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Revision as of 18:25, 6 November 2013
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 16,126 reviews at TheBookbag.
Want to find out more about us?
New Reviews
Read new reviews by genre.
Read new features.
Tinder by Sally Gardner
Sally Gardner has followed her wonderful and haunting Maggot Moon with another story about a world at war, but although death and violence abound once again, the atmosphere here is very different. This time we are not in some alternate nineteen fifties Britain where the bad guys have won, but instead in the eerie, mist-filled world of the fairy tale. In this place wonders and magic lead the hero to his destiny, and love, power and greed are the catalysts for both joy and despair. Full review...
Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe
When I began reading this book I wasn't entirely sure that I liked it. I didn't quite know how to take the Nina from the title. She's a twenty year old Nanny, employed by the editor of the London Review of Books and living near Regent's Park in North London. The book contains her letters to her sister, Victoria living at home in Leicestershire, and tell of the events and happenings in her life as a Nanny and then, going on, in her life as a student at Thames Polytechnic. Initially it felt like she was name dropping - Alan Bennett lives over the road and drops in for dinner most days; the father of Will and Sam, the two boys she is nannying, is Stephen Frears; down the road lives Claire Tomalin and her partner Michael Frayn...and yet, given chance, you begin to see that she isn't awed by the notoriety of these people (indeed, she tells her sister that Alan Bennett was in Coronation Street!) and actually they are just the neighbours and so it is less important that Alan Bennett (AB as he's referred to in the book) comes around for dinner every night since he isn't there for fame value but rather for his own unique place in this rather crazy family life memoir! Full review...
Barbapapa's Voyage by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor
In Barbapapa, we were introduced to a friendly, pink, shape-shifting blob who used his special talents to help the local townsfolk, who hailed him as the new town hero. However, despite having lots of human friends, our pink protagonist is looking decidedly off-colour at the beginning of this sequel. It seems that being the only one of your species is a pretty lonely affair and poor Barbapapa is longing for a Barbamama to share his life with. Full review...
Fractured by Dani Atkins
Rachel is not living a life most people would covet. Her job is dull, she lives alone in a grotty flat, she has a scarred face that makes people stop and squirm, and she still hasn’t come to terms with the death of her best friend – who lost his life saving hers. She has to drag herself out of London and back to her hometown for the wedding of a close friend, and she goes so reluctantly because it’s the first time the whole gang will have been back together since the accident, five years ago. It’s really not a life to hold on to. Surely she’d rather anything else? Full review...
The Facebook Diet: 50 Funny Signs of Facebook Addiction and Ways to Unplug With a Digital Detox by Gemini Adams
Everywhere you look and question this book, it is a success – more or less. Does it do what it purports to – show evidence of a Facebook addiction and provide a dietary way out? Yes, more or less. Does it engage with its combination of cartoon images and captions? Yes, more or less. Does it have some cult Internet pedigree to make it a hit gift book for the techie? Yes, more or less – it might not have been borne from a webpage somewhere online, but the Kindle version was launched several months before the paperback. Is it then a worthwhile addition to your comedy book shelves? Yes – more or less. Full review...
The Luck of the Vails by E F Benson
'The sequestered village of Vail lies in a wrinkle of the great Wiltshire downs, and is traversed by the Bath Road.' Of course the big inn is called 'The Vail Arms' and about a mile from the village is 'the big house'. Benson doesn't name the house – indeed it wouldn't have needed a name. Locally it would just be known as the big house, and any local delivery person would know where to deposit any attached to Lord Vail. Full review...
Nor Will He Sleep by David Ashton
Two opposing Edinburgh university student gangs are full of high jinks the night that Agnes Carnegie is found dead. Daniel Drummond, one of the merry-makers, is a prime suspect as he had an altercation with her and uses a silver cane that matches the murder weapon. Nothing is a foregone conclusion though and so dour, wily Inspector James McLevy of the Leith police is determined to uncover the truth. Meanwhile Robert Louis Stevenson is in town for his father's funeral and renews his acquaintance with McLevy which is rather fortuitous when we consider what lies ahead. Full review...
The Jade Boy by Cate Cain
Jem Green is taken from his boring life as a servant to a duke to make the acquaintance of the duke’s new friend, Count Cazalon. Cazalon takes a worrying interest in twelve-year-old Jem, and the unease he initially feels is made even worse when he meets two children in Cazalon’s household and starts to find out just how evil the man is. Can Jem save himself, and the city of London, from Cazalon’s evil plans? Full review...
If I Never Went Home by Ingrid Persaud
Bea is a practising psychologist. It's her second career - she was once an ambitious academic, a professor of history, but a longstanding depression led to a breakdown and recovery meant a search for pastures new and more fulfilling. But even now, she can't cast off the family crises that led to her illness. Tina is a young girl living in Trinidad with her mother. One question preoccupies Tina - who is her father? Her mother won't say and her grandmother and aunt claim not to know. Tina feels lonely a lot of the time and she is sure that finding her father would put an end to her unhappiness. Full review...
I Love You Too by Michael Foreman
It’s bedtime and you know what that means. Little Bear is tucked up cozy in bed and Dad’s just finishing reading his story. It’s time to sleep… or is it? Little Bear seems a bit too awake and every time Dad makes a move to go, Little Bear tells him how much he loves him. And it’s A Lot. He loves him more than all the toys, more than all the birds in the trees and the stars in the sky. More than… well, you get the picture. It’s very sweet, but it is bedtime and, you know, Dad’s looking rather tired himself. Full review...
When You Walked Back into My Life by Hilary Boyd
Hilary Boyd wrote best-selling 'Thursdays in the Park', which I enjoyed immensely, so I was delighted to be given the opportunity to read her latest novel. With the stalwarts of a white-coat hospital romance as the major characters, and a sub-plot involving a dying old lady and her money-grabbing nephew, there's plenty to hook lovers of an easy-read romantic novel. Hilary Boyd writes straightforwardly, and the story flies across the pages. Full review...
An Englishwoman in New York by Anne-Marie Casey
I just love that feeling. I’m in the hands of an writer who knows the business of writing inside out, and I can relax and enjoy a surprise ride with plenty of laughs along the way. No, I’m not related to veteran scriptwriter and producer Anne-Marie Casey: in a literary world awash with good reads, this is the highest-calibre popular novel I’ve read in a while. Full review...
Odes and Prose for Older Women by Diana Wells
I am, of course, not an older woman and nether is Diana Wells. We were born in the same year and we are what is best described as 'upper middle aged', but - perhaps in anticipation of what is to come - Diana has collected together her writings on the subject and I read through them in two sittings (the break was enforced) and I laughed and cried, but the wry smile of recognition never left my face from beginning to end. There are about eighty five short stories and odes - with none more than a few pages long - written, we are told, from observation, experience or imagination and I can only conclude that Wells has led a very rich life. Full review...
Someone by Alice McDermott
Marie is growing up in 1920s Brooklyn and, although not financially rich she's the secure, cared for child of Irish parents from one of the many waves of immigration which the US has promised to welcome. Marie's friend Pegeen is from Irish/Syrian stock and is dying for romantic love to come her way. Marie's brother Gabe is singled out for Catholic seminary and priesthood. Marie thinks the future is as safe as the loved ones around her but the future is an unknown country and her journey towards it hasn't finished yet. Full review...
Sad Monsters by Frank Lesser
If you thought you had it bad… Here is the chupacabra writing to the newspapers for better press – notices that don't universally mention his goat-sucking habits before his chess-playing, dancing or debating record. Here is a banshee struggling with high school life, knowing the end of everyone that comes across her path. Here is King Kong, being defended in court by a lawyer with a revelation to the jury about his bipolarity and how wrong it was to get his hopes up with a Broadway show in a strange city. Did you honestly think Godzilla enjoyed the way his life ended up? Full review...
The Ice-Cold Heaven by Mirko Bonne
They say that if you fall off a horse you should get back on one right away, but even so… I don't think many people who had only just left their first love – a shopgirl in their village – for their second – exploring the world on sailing cargo ships – would leap to a further voyage having been wrecked and stranded off the coast of South America for well over a week. But Merce here does – he wants to follow his best friend on to a ship called The Endurance and head with Shackleton to the Antarctic. But Merce is only seventeen, and is rejected – causing him to stow away onto one of the world's worst ever journeys. Full review...
Parasite by Mira Grant
Parasite is the first part of the Parasitology series and if the quality of this book is anything to go by the next is going to be highly sought after. It puts us several years into the future, in a time where medicine has made massive leaps forward and where humans no longer take medication, suffer from allergies, or even catch the common cold. These medical advancements are all thanks to SymboGen and the invention of their intestinal shield, which is a genetically engineered tapeworm designed to monitor your body’s functions and correct abnormalities. Full review...
Stuff I've Been Reading by Nick Hornby
I am lucky enough to be typing this while sitting on the fifth floor of the magnificent new Library of Birmingham. Coming in at a whopping £189 million the burghers of the second city certainly haven't skimped in trying to create a 21st century centre of learning. Amongst all the interactive learning zones, digital galleries and coffee shops there are of course books. Many, many books. Over one million in fact. And this in an era when some critics have said that the book in its current form is dead. Full review...
The Brinkmeyers by Michael Cameron
Hymie Brinkmeyer, New Yorker transplanted in the UK is 50 years old on a good day. He lives with his wife Maggie and teenage children Kevin and Karrie. Hymie thinks Kevin is great, while given that, if he gets picked up for drug possession once more, Hymie will have to admit that Kevin may have a problem. Karrie, a burgeoning poet, is also wonderful in her dad's eyes and is about to give birth to her second child outside a relationship. It's her body so she has the right... hasn't she? Everything is fine and life is great. Ok, Kevin's plotting to kill his mother and Hymie's leather-clad secretary seems to have a crush on her boss and Hymie seems to have a lump somewhere delicately crucial but everything's just fine. Full review...
Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin
Charlie Watts said that being in the Rolling Stones for fifty years consisted of a decade drumming and four decades waiting for something to happen. John Rebus - back in CID - is feeling much the same way as business is slow. He's had to come back in as a sergeant, but being back was what was important. He's not even that worried about working for Siobhan Clarke when their positions used to be reversed. On the other hand he's not pleased when Inspector Malcolm Fox from Professional Standards (or whatever they're calling themselves this week) investigates what happened some thirty years before at a station where Rebus was the new sergeant (first time round...). Fox himself isn't in the best of positions though - he's on his way back to CID where he knows that he's going to be loathed by everyone for the job he's been doing. Full review...
Horrid Henry's Christmas Play ( Horrid Henry Early Reader) by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
Horrid Henry is one of those characters that parents either love or hate. Some parents feel Henry sets a very bad example - and at times he does, but what child doesn't love a bad example? Other parents love Henry simply because their children love him. Horrid Henry Books not only help children learn to read, they encourage them to read for pleasure, and children who read for pleasure invariably become better readers. Full review...
The Dragonsitter's Castle by Josh Lacey and Garry Parsons
When Edward finds his Uncle Morton's dragons at the door, he is quite happy to take a shift at dragon sitting, along with his little sister Emily. His parents however are far less happy, and the fact that they are recently divorced only makes things more complicated. It seems that the dragons visit was completely unplanned, and the adults are completely unprepared for the event. The story is told in letters from Eddie to his Uncle, the former detailing the dragons' latest escapade, and the latter writing about one delay after the other. Eddie's mother is getting ready to go away on a yoga retreat and Dad's new girlfriend says absolutely no dragons. What are the children to do? Dad finally gives in, taking the dragons and children to the castle he is renovating in the hopes of striking it rich. Needless to say nothing goes to plan where dragons are involved and the grown ups are in for quite a few problems, but things work out quite well from the children's point of view. Full review...
Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner
Emil Tischbein has been given a great responsibility - to deliver 140 marks to his grandmother, who he is going to stay with on holiday. Pleased at being trusted with so much money by his widowed mother, the young boy is determined to keep it safe. But when he falls asleep on the train, he wakes up to find both the money, and the only other passenger in his carriage, a man who introduced himself as Max Grundeis, gone! Unwilling to involve the police for fear of arrest himself, as he thinks that he's wanted for painting the nose of a local monument, Emil stumbles on a ragtag bunch of children who offer to help him track down Herr Grundeis and get the money back. Full review...
Finding Mother by Anne Allen
Nicole Oxford knew that her marriage was over when she discovered that Tom had been unfaithful - again. They'd seemed like the golden couple of television but that and their gorgeous home suddenly seemed as insubstantial as dust. Taking a break from work Nicole flew out to stay with her parents in Spain. Actually, they were her adoptive parents - and Nicole wondered if the bond between them all was going to be strong enough to stand the weight of what she was going to ask of them. Nicole had stopped liking herself and she felt that she needed to go back to her roots, discover who she was - and she wanted their help to trace her birth mother. Full review...
Speaking of Love by Angela Young
For some people it's impossible to tell another person that they love them and both are damaged. Iris could not tell her daughter, Vivie, that she loved her and Matthew, Vivie's childhood friend, neighbour and would-be lover could not tell her how he felt. For all three the result was years of separation with Vivie feeling that she was fundamentally unloveable and the whole situation was further complicated by Iris's mental disintegration and her treatment removing most of her memories of Vivie's childhood. If that sounds depressing and soul-destroying then I am doing Speaking of Love an injustice because it's also a story of trust, reconciliation and learning to speak about your feelings. Full review...
