Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"

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{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Rory Clements
+
|isbn=1838593187
|title=Hitler's Secret
+
|title=Guess What I Found in the Playground!
|rating=3.5
+
|author=Victoria Thompson
|genre=Thrillers
 
|summary=So, Hitler had a secret?  Two, if you include the reproductive detail mentioned in a certain sing-song aspersion.  But this is a secret that is counter to that, and in fact is a secret that Hitler himself doesn't even know about.  His neice, Geli Raubal, the attractive young woman he seemed to be very close to in the early 1930s, had had his daughter behind his back.  Protected under a false identity ever since, the girl is completely ignorant of her past, and the truth is a very rare thing.  Martin Bormann, the 'gatekeeper' to Hitler and his right hand man, knows – and is desperately intent on wiping the slate clean and removing all connected with her existence from the Reich.  So it's down to Tom Wilde, an American history professor at Oxbridge, to go in and extract her, in this most shadowy race against time.
 
|isbn=1838770275
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
|isbn=0241985110
 
|title=All the Rage (D I Fawley)
 
|author=Cara Hunter
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Crime
+
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=A very beautiful, but extremely distressed teenage girl was picked up by a minicab driver on the outskirts of Oxford.  She didn't want to go to the police station or the hospital: she just wanted to be taken homeThe driver wasn't so certain though - and after dropping the girl at home he went to the police, which is why DI Adam Fawley found himself talking to Faith Appleford and her motherBoth were adamant that this was nothing more than an April Fool's joke which had gone wrongNo crime had been committed and Faith didn't want to take the matter any further. Fawley and his team weren't prepared to leave it at that and they began investigatingWhat they found strange was that Faith Appleford didn't seem to have much of a history.
+
|summary=Tilly is excited.  She's just come dashing out of the classroom, pigtails flapping behind her and a big grin on her faceDad's come to collect her and her brother and he ''has'' to try to guess what she found in the playground today, although she concedes that he will never guessDad wants to know how school was, but ''obviously'' that's not importantCould Tilly have found more collectable things for her scrap box? (Isn't that so much more sensible than a scrap ''book''?)  Well, actually, Tilly did find exciting stuffThere are sequins, glittered paper and all sorts of other things in her pocket, but that's not what she wants Dad to guess.
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1529400279
+
|author= Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed
|title=Six Wicked Reasons
+
|title= Yes No Maybe So
|author=Jo Spain
+
|rating= 4
|rating=4.5
+
|genre= Teens
|genre=Crime
+
|summary= ''We might give it our all and crash and burn. But we might win. We might actually change things. And that maybe makes it still worth going for, don't you think?''
|summary=It was early summer 2018 and Adam Latimer returned home to Spanish Cove after an absence of ten years. The family had thought him dead - in fact, that's what the private detective his mother had insisted upon had told them.  He was cagey about exactly where he'd been but he seemed content, if not happy, to be home.  What brought him?  Well, nine years ago his mother died and he'd seen the ''in memoriam'' in the paper: this was the first he'd heard about what had happened. His three sisters and two brothers had mixed feelings about his return, but his father is delighted. In fact, he's determined to have a party.   Only, with Frazer Latimer, what happens has to be about him. He has an announcement to make - it's nine years since Kathleen died and he's been lonely.  He's met Ana, a Polish immigrant, and they're getting married.
+
Jaime has been spending his summer helping his cousin with campaigning in time for a special election. When his mother encourages him to go canvassing, he can't think of anything worse. However, Jaime has always wanted to be a politician and decides there is no time like the present to conquer his fear of speaking to the public.
 +
Maya is a Pakistani-American Muslim girl who is having the worst summer of her life. Her parents are going through a separation, she has zero plans for the summer to help take her mind off things and her only close friend is permanently busy. To help occupy her, her parents offer to buy her a car if she agrees to go canvassing.  
 +
The pair could possibly be the worst canvassing duo in history, as neither of them really want to be there, but as the campaign goes on they discover that they care, a lot, about the election - and maybe even about each other?
 +
|isbn=1471184668
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Penny Chrimes
+
|author=Gregg Hurwitz
|title=Tiger Heart
+
|title=Into The Fire
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=''Fly never meant to end up in the cage with a man-eating tiger. She just saw her chance to skedaddle, and she took it. And even when the cloud of soot cleared and she saw the golden eyes of a killer staring into hers, she still didn't turn round and climb back up the chimney straightaway. 'Cos there was worse waiting for her back on the roof.''What an opener! And there's plenty more to come!|isbn=1510107045
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
|author=Tanya Landman
 
|title=Jane Eyre: a Retelling
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
+
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=A young woman, fresh from living with horrid relatives who could care less about her, and years in a dreary school, moves into Thornfield Hall with only one intent – to have something like the life she wants – and with only one job, to tutor a young half-French girl, whose father is almost always absentWhen he does turn up he seems to be dark, brooding and troubled – but that's nothing compared to the darker, more broody and even more troubled secret in the houseYes, if you know Jane Eyre then you know the rest – but if you don't, for whatever reason, this is a wonderful book to turn to.
+
|summary= Grant Merriweather is a forensic accountant.  Or rather, was.  He was brought into an ER room after an alleged car crash, his friend pleading with the medics to keep him aliveHe was needed alive just long enough to give up a nameHis cousin, Max.
|isbn=1781129126
+
|isbn=0718185501
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author= T R Hendrick
+
|isbn=1529124395
|title= What if They Knew
+
|title=When You See Me
|rating= 4
+
|author=Lisa Gardner
|genre= General Fiction
+
|rating=4
|summary= It's 2025. Underneath a lodge in the Blue Mountain resort in Pennsylvania, is a secret facility. Here, Dr Benton and his team are making some critical scientific advances on behalf of the Benefactor, their anonymous funder. Already, the team have succeeded in teleporting small primates from one place to another. But, unbeknownst to the Benefactor, Dr Benton has also coded for another type of teleportation altogether - travel through time. And he's ready to test. If successful, Benton has a very specific use for his technology in mind
+
|genre=Crime
|isbn=1734277211
+
|summary=For Janet and Chuck, it was a hiking break in the Appalachians in Georgia and pure chance that Chuck went off the beaten track to find a stick. What he found was a human bone and SSA Kimberley Quincy was called in, along with Sergeant D D Warren.  Both women were experienced in this type of rather gruesome work but they also called on the services of Keith Edgar, a computer analyst, and Flora Dane who brought something unique to the table. Flora had been kidnapped and held for 472 days by the notorious killer, Jacob Ness.  If Ness had anything to do with the current discoveries then what Flora had to say could be invaluable.
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author= Catherine Steadman
+
|isbn=1529009677
|title= Mr Nobody
+
|title=A Window Breaks
|rating= 4
+
|author=C M Ewan
|genre= Thrillers
+
|rating=3.5
|summary= Don't you just hate it when people are multi-talented? Author Catherine Steadman is both a successful actress and writer, with this her second novel. I think in a way her acting background shows in her writing as to my mind the 'fight scene' at the end was somewhat unrealistic – you know the kind where the hero has been hurt so many times that it's virtually impossible they'd still be alive let alone able to fight off an attacker. The story also unfolded at a steady pace throughout until the ending which felt overstuffed in a frenetic bid to wrap everything up in the last few chapters. It was almost as if the author wanted to keep the suspense until the last possible moment (which I liked) but then was somewhat left with too much to do in the closing stages.
+
|genre=Thrillers
|isbn=1984890646
+
|summary=Tom Sullivan and his wife Rachel are having problems.  It's not just the usual growing apart after more than a decade of marriage.  Their son, Michael, was killed in a car crash some months before: he was driving his father's Audi and at sixteen wasn't legally entitled to drive. Not only did he kill himself when the car rammed into a tree, but he also killed his girlfriend, fifteen-year-old Fiona Connor.  Tom can't think about Michael without a sense of shame and guilt.  Rachel is broken, but she wants to forgive Michael. To give some space, Tom's moved out of the family home, but stresses to his thirteen-year-old daughter, Holly, that it is only a trial separation.
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1473681847
+
|isbn=0241985153
|title=In Her Eyes
+
|title=The House on the Lake
|author=Sarah Alderson
+
|author=Nuala Ellwood
|rating=5
+
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Thrillers
 
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Ava lives a charmed life, but those things sometimes rub other people up the wrong way. One evening she returns from a night out with a friend, and before she can finish her bedtime routine, her home, and her life, are under attack: masked men have broken in and are demanding money from her husband, while her young daughter cowers beside him. In the scuffle than ensues, Ava is hurt, badly. When she wakes up in hospital she can barely remember what happened, but she knows it was life-changing. With her daughter still fighting for her life in a room down the corridor, Ava has a lot to contend with as she tries to recover, wills her daughter to recover, and attempts to piece together what happened and why.
+
|summary=We know that something has gone wrong - badly wrong - when the woman who was alone in the house is taken away by the police, but it's going to be a while before we learn exactly what has happened.
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Leigh Bardugo, Louise Simonson and Kit Seaton
+
|author=Struan Murray and Manuel Sumberac (illustrator)
|title=Wonder Woman: Warbringer: The Graphic Novel
+
|title=Orphans of the Tide
|rating=3
+
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
+
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Diana, being unique on her island, is the victim of a lot of taunts, and claims of nepotism.  It's only her unique status, and her mother being Queen, that has her with any standing at all, her naysayers declare – even though she has clearly fought to be a strong young woman. Perhaps too strong for the island, however – for every Wonder Woman origin story has her quickly leaving home for the World of Men, and this Diana is the heroine of yet another Wonder Woman origin story.  A shipwreck disturbs her leading performance in a running race, but the survivor she drags from the waters is only going to disturb a lot more...
+
|summary= In the last city on Earth, anyone can be the vessel of The Enemy - the god who drowned the world - who has come to wreak havoc on the last of humanity. When a mysterious boy is pulled from the corpse of a whale, the citizens immediately believe him to be the Vessel - all except for young Ellie Lancaster, a girl inventor. As the ruthless Inquisition prepares to execute the boy, Ellie must prove that he is innocent - even if it means revealing her deepest, darkest secrets....
|isbn=1401282555
+
|isbn=0241384435
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1786075695
+
|isbn=0008297169
|title=When the Dead Come Calling (Burrowhead Mysteries 1)
+
|title=The Guest List
|author=Helen Sedgwick
+
|author=Lucy Foley
|rating=5
+
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Crime
 
|genre=Crime
|summary=It began with the discovery of a body under the swings in the children's playgroundIt was Dr Alexis Crosse and he was found by PC Simon Hunter, who loved him deeply, but who had reason to mistrust himCrosse was a psychotherapist who grew up in Greece, but such professions are misunderstood in Burrowhead (along with foreigners), a community which regards anyone not born and brought up there as an outsider.  DI Georgie Strachan is an outsider - you've only got to look at her skin to realise that, and her husband, Fergus, well, he's a little strange too, not entirely ''here''.
+
|summary=The boat trip out to Inis Amploir, off the Irish coast, might have been enough to put some guests off, but it was the wedding of the yearWill Slater (television personality, if not yet a celebrity) was to marry Jules Keegan, online magazine publisher, in the ruined chapel on the islandThe bride's sister, Olivia, would be her only bridesmaid and the wedding planner and chef are Aoife and her husband, Freddy.  They gave a huge discount to get the couple to the island, but surely it would be worth it for the publicity?
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Alastair Chisholm
+
|isbn=B07ZGL6B1B
|title=Orion Lost
+
|title=In Plain Sight (D I Clare Mackay)
 +
|author=Marion Todd
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|genre=Crime
|summary=Thirteen-year-old Beth and her parents board the transport ship Orion ready for a new life on Eos Five. Their new home is still being terra-formed and life there isn't going to be easy, but it ''is'' going to be a fresh start. As Beth's mum puts it, ''There's a future waiting for us. A chance to make our own decisions, create our own lives.''
+
|summary=It was a coincidence that Detective Sergeant Chris West and DI Clare Mackay were at the beach when the baby was stolen.  They were there for the fun run and their attention was taken by the NEFEW protesters who tried to disrupt the race. They're against the planned McIntosh Water bottled water plant to be constructed on Priory Marsh and the firm is sponsoring the fun run.  It was Lisa Mitchell's scream which stopped everything.  Her daughter, six-month-old Abi, had been taken from her pram whilst no one was looking.  It's a major incident when ''any'' child is abducted but Abi needs regular medication because of a heart problem: without it, she might have only forty-eight hours to live.
|isbn=1788005929
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|isbn=0753553236
+
|isbn=1471180921
|title=Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything
+
|title=Firewatching
|author=B J Fogg
+
|author=Russ Thomas
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
+
|genre=Crime
|summary=Go on, admit it - you're not quite perfect.  You still have those odd, quirky, even loveable (to you) habits that seem to annoy other people.  Other people, of course, are sorely afflicted with some dreadful flaws which they could so easily correct, if only they would make just a little bit of effortOr put another way, I get cross with myself because I forget to do things or do some actions more than I should and no matter how I try to make what seem to be quite monumental changes I never quite seem to get to grips with the conceptsI constantly fail and then I get cross with myself for failing.  Lack of willpower is another burden to add to the list.
+
|summary=Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is in the Cold Cas Review Unit at South Yorkshire Police and there are those who think that he's lucky to be there, given that he decked a superior officerHe's there because Tyler came off worse in the exchange - there's a scar on his face to prove it - and the superior officer was forced to take early retirementThere's a suggestion too that Tyler's godmother (she's on the force too) has looked after him and that his current boss is keen to have a tame gay to put on the town hall steps come Pride.  Either way, he's there, but without anything really interesting to get his teeth into.
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author= B T Keaton
+
|author= A K Larkwood
|title= Transference
+
|title= The Unspoken Name
 
|rating= 4
 
|rating= 4
|genre= Science Fiction
+
|genre= Fantasy
|summary= Barrabus Madzimure is about to die, stranded on a mining planet millions of light-years from home, executed for high crimes against the Church, the ruling body of Earth. Except he's not Barrabus Madzimure, he's Thaniel Kilraven in Barrabus Madzimure's body. Such is the magic of Transference, the ability to transplant a person's soul or consciousness into a different body - and a power that the Church has exclusive control over. As if Thaniel doesn't have enough things to worry about, a Church employee named Corvus has arrived from Earth to interrogate him. All Thaniel wants is to see his family again, and he'll stop at nothing to accomplish this, but the Church isn't going to give in without a hell of a fight...
+
|summary= What does it mean to betray someone? What if that someone is a god? Csorwe has been raised knowing that she would be sacrificed to her god on her fourteenth birthday, yet when the opportunity arises, she chooses to abandon everything she knows and flee with her life. Who can blame her? Her god's reach is limited and Csorwe intends to stay far beyond it, yet fate is a funny thing and when circumstances bring her back within the reach of her god Csorwe learns that her god remembers her, and blames her very much indeed.
|isbn=B082WPHTHH
+
|isbn=1250238900
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Christine Brown
+
|author= M G Leonard and Sam Sedgman
|title=Bucket Showers and Baby Goats: Volunteering in West Africa
+
|title= The Highland Falcon Thief
|rating=4.5
+
|rating= 5
|genre=Travel
+
|genre= Confident Readers
|summary=In the summer of 2008, this book's author was spending her days working in an office job in the USA while spending her nights dreaming about being somewhere else, doing something else. Long story short, she ended up volunteering in Ghana, West Africa. Now coincidentally, in the summer of 2010, this review's author was spending ''her'' days working in an office job (albeit in the UK) while spending ''her'' nights dreaming about being somewhere else, doing something else, and ''she'' ended up just 3 countries away, volunteering in Sierra Leone, West Africa. So you can see why, when this book came up, said reviewer was delighted to have the opportunity to read and critique it.
+
|summary= Harrison Beck, or Hal as he prefers to be called, isn't exactly pleased when his parents send him off with his uncle Nat, a travel writer, on a long train journey. Although, this isn't any old train; this is the Highland Falcon, the royal train, and this is its last ever journey before it gets sent to a museum. A number of high-society figures, including film stars, millionaires and aristocrats, will be on this train, so it is quite the event on the social calendar. However, when an expensive brooch is stolen, Hal realises that maybe this trip won't be as boring as he previously thought. As the passengers begin to turn on each other, Hal vows to get to the bottom of the mystery…before the train gets to the end of the line.
|isbn=171024299X
+
|isbn=1529013062
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Mark Lingane
+
|isbn=0008275246
|title=Degrade (Tesla Expansion)
+
|title=Perfect Kill (D I Callanach)
 +
|author=Helen Fields
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
+
|genre=Crime
|summary= ''Degrade'' opens as it means to go on - with inyerface, banging action. Poor Arid, alone in the desert since his parents were killed, has a narrow escape as two mega-rigs fight it out and his is pretty much destroyed. He finds himself rescued by the mysterious-but-fascinating Ella and onboard the ''Moonlight'' under the suspicious eyes of its leader, Queen Bea. Bea's eyes flash with recognition when he tells her his name - Arid Geiger - but before he can find out why that is, there's an assassination attempt and Arid is under suspicion and imprisoned. An escape facilitated by Ella - Queen Bea's daughter - sees Arid and her other daughter, Frey, stranded in the desert...
+
|summary=When Maggie Campbell realised that her son, Bart, was missing he was already 200 miles away and just waking from a chemically-induced sleep.  Maggie knew straight away that something was wrong.  Bart might be twenty but he was considerate of his mother and wouldn't have stayed out all night without letting her know.  Besides, he didn't have his phone with him and he wouldn't have gone far without that.  It's not long before Bart realises that he's alone, trapped in a shipping container and on his way to France, where his fate has already been decided.
|isbn= 099461649X
+
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author= Alyssa Sheinmel
 +
|title= What Kind of Girl
 +
|rating= 4
 +
|genre= Women's Fiction
 +
|summary= '' Doing something when you're scared is braver than doing something when you're not''
 +
 
 +
When Mike Parker's girlfriend comes into school with a black eye, claiming he gave it to her, her whole world is tipped upside down. Her relationship has just ended and now she's the talk of the school. Mike was the most popular boy in school who was always so in love with her, everyone knew that, so why did he do what he did? Some people believe her and some don't, but one thing is for sure, this isn't going to blow over any time soon.
 +
|isbn=0349003297
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|isbn=B07XLM3SM6
+
|author= Holly Rivers
|title=Murder at the Dolphin Hotel
+
|title= Demelza and the Spectre Detectors
|author=Helena Dixon
+
|rating= 5
|rating=4
+
|genre= Confident Readers
|genre=Crime (Historical)
+
|summary= Demelza Clock is a scientist, often staying up late to work on her various gadgets, much to her Grandma Maeve's irritation. However, she has also inherited a certain set of skills that are not especially scientific: Spectre Detecting, the ability to summon the ghosts of the recently deceased. Under the guidance of her Grandma Maeve, Demelza begins to master her newfound skills. However, there is a mysterious individual on the prowl, kidnapping young Spectre Detectors. It's up to Demelza and her best friend Percy to get to the bottom of this...
|summary=Elowed Underhay was just twenty-seven when she disappeared from Dartmouth in June 1916, leaving her daughter, Kitty, in the care of her grandmother. A great deal of money had been spent to find out what happened to her and the conclusion was that she was dead, mainly because there was no evidence to suggest otherwise. Kitty has come to terms with this and in 1933 she was running the Dolphin Hotel in Dartmouth with her grandmother when her grandmother had to leave to look after her sister who was ill.  She was reluctant to leave Kitty in charge - and Kitty could not understand why. She's always coped with the mix of holidaymakers, boating people and the naval college on the edge of town before - and she's done every job in the hotel. And she particularly cannot understand why her grandmother's friends have been roped in to keep an eye on things ''and'' why Captain Matthew Bryant has been hired to take charge of security at the hotel.
+
|isbn=1912626039
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Seishi Yokomizo and Louise Heal Kawai (translator)
+
|isbn=1787477533
|title=The Honjin Murders
+
|title=The Lantern Men (Dr Ruth Galloway)
|rating=4
+
|author=Elly Griffiths
 +
|rating=5
 
|genre=Crime
 
|genre=Crime
|summary=To many readers, the phrase 'locked room murder mystery' is enough to make the book one to read; preferably quantified by the words 'clever' or 'good'For those who need more, here is the extra background – we're in rural Japan in the 1930sThe oldest son of an esteemed family is belatedly getting married, although the whole affair is really not as ostentatious as it might be – hardly anybody has turned up, what with it being arranged at great hasteShe only has an uncle representing her family, for one thingEither way, the celebrations have gone ahead as planned, only for the wedded couple to be slashed to death in their private annexe before the sun rises on their marriageWhat with a man missing parts of his fingers being in the neighbourhood, and some mysterious use of a traditional musical instrument at the time of the crime, this case has a lot of the peculiar about it.
+
|summary=Everything has changed for Dr Ruth Galloway.  She's no longer providing assistance to the police and isn't even working at the University of North NorfolkShe's lecturing at Cambridge and has moved from her beloved Saltmarsh cottage to live with Dr Frank Barker in CambridgeHer daughter, Katie, has settled into school better than she could ever have hoped and life is looking goodSettledShe can't help thinking about Harry Nelson, Katie's father, because Katie sees him regularly and there's a close relationship with his familyYou might ''almost'' think that Ruth's life is settling down.
|isbn=1782275002
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Cixin Liu
+
|isbn=183895015X
|title=Death's End
+
|title=A Bit of a Stretch: The Diaries of a Prisoner
 +
|author=Chris Atkins
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Science Fiction
+
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary= If I'd been paying more attention when I picked this book up, I would have put it back on the shelf.  Not because I didn't want to read it, but because I'd have figured out that it was the final part of a trilogy. Coming in partway through a saga is never the easiest thing to do and it's particularly true in science fiction because without knowing the back-story there are not just people whose names mean nothing to you (when it's assumed they will) but there are whole concepts that you won't understand.  This latter is particularly true of Cixin Liu's work – his range is phenomenal.  George R R Martin, who knows a thing or two about world-creation, described it as ''a unique blend of scientific and philosophical speculation, conspiracy theory and cosmology''.  All of that and more.
+
|summary=Documentary filmmakers don't usually get the run of establishments within the Mountbatten-Windsor Hotel Group, but after getting involved in an illegal tax scheme to fund his latest film, Chris Atkins was invited for a five-year stay.  The first nine months were spent in HMP Wandsworth, which is probably the oldest, largest and most dysfunctional prison in Europe.
|isbn=1784971650
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1780894511
+
|isbn=1250168546
|title=Die Alone
+
|author=Sarah Kozloff
|author=Simon Kernick
+
|title=A Queen In Hiding
|rating=4
+
|rating=3
|genre=Thrillers
+
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Ray Mason is in prison awaiting trial for murder and he's in the vulnerable prisoner unit: as a cop, he's something of a target, but the unit is not as secure as the inmates would have hoped and Mason is injured in a riot. On his way to hospital he's broken free by armed men and an offer is made to him.  He's to assassinate the man who is likely to become the country's next prime minister and he'll then be given a new identity so that he can start afresh abroad.  His captors say that they're MI6, but Mason has his doubts.  His choices are limited though and he has personal reasons to believe that it would be better if Alastair Sheridan was dead.
+
|summary= World-building is the backbone by which fantasy novels live and die. And what a pleasure, then, to get a novel with world-building you actually want to delve into. Sarah Kozloff's debut novel presents a startlingly rich and layered world, with a complex history of connecting nations that seems certain to have more to tap, and the characters are interesting – if a little underdeveloped. But it's a world I could – and did – eagerly buy into, and the struggle of each Queen to discover and hone her magical talent felt very real and very apt.
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Akwaeke Emezi
+
|isbn=1543987877
|title=Pet
+
|title=Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life
 +
|author=Dr Thomas Jordan
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Teens
+
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=The people of the town Lucille believe that all the monsters are goneTheir children are raised to understand that they were saved by the angels, those who rid the town of evil, and there are no monsters anymoreBut one day, Jam accidentally cuts herself and bleeds a little onto one of her mother's paintingsThe blood awakens a bizarre, terrifying-looking creature named Pet, who somehow comes to life and declares that it is here to hunt the monsterThough Jam tries to convince it that all the monsters are gone, Pet is certain that there is one, still, and that the monster is hiding in the home of her best friend, Redemption.
+
|summary=''Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life'' is a book about love relationships rather than a book about loveThe two greatest emotions are love and grief and love is the opposite of grief: ''if you love'', Dr Thomas Jordan tells us, ''you will inevitably grieve''Your love relationships begin the moment you're born and end only when you dieWhilst we all come into the world hoping to give and receive love there are many people for whom love is not quite so simple.  Some people suffer multiple disappointments - sometimes repeating the same mistakes - and this eventually becomes resignationFor people who are making the same mistakes repeatedly, self-preservation, in the form of resignation is a necessity.
|isbn=0571355110
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1686751680
+
|author=Chris Hauty
|title=My Mummy does weird things / Maman fait des choses bizarres
+
|title=Deep State
|author=Amelie Julien and Gustyawan
+
|rating=3
 +
|genre=Thrillers
 +
|summary= Hayley Chill is a fighter.  She is every kind of fighter, and well-trained in most of them. She's army infantry and she boxes for fun – and she wins. Always. She wins because she is focussed. She works hard, mentally and physically, and she knows how to deal with the pain. She is not so much cold as controlled.  This fight is against someone she is not expected to beat.  And she is being watched.
 +
|isbn=1471185605
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=H G Parry
 +
|title=The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Which child doesn't think that their mother is, well, ''weird''?  It might be that in the morning their mother doesn't like speaking much when every self-respecting child knows that that is when you're at your brightest with lots to say?  ''Why'' then does Mummy stick her fingers in her ears?  Then there's doing yoga in front of the television, which could be worrying if it wasn't so funny. We won't go into too much detail about what goes on in the bathroom and the colour changes which have occurred when Mummy emerges and frankly, the less said the better about her reactions to your artistic efforts on the wall.  I mean, what else would you use paint for?
+
|summary=Brothers Rob and Charley have struggled to see eye to eye for years - Rob a sensible lawyer who exists in the "normal" world - and Charley a man who is blessed with an ability he can't fully control - one which allows him to bring literary characters into the real world. After years of protecting Charley, Rob wants to discharge his duties and leave Charley to his own devices - but circumstances soon take choices out of both their hands. As literary characters begin to appear everywhere, it soon becomes clear that someone out there shares Charley's powers and intends to use them for nefarious gains. Rob and Charley must team up to stop the madness - in a battle to win before they, the characters and the world reach The End…
 +
|isbn=0356513777
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Justine Avery and Liuba Syrotiuk
+
|isbn=1444776185
|title=What Wonders Do You See... When You Dream?
+
|title=Haven't they Grown
|rating=4
+
|author=Sophie Hannah
|genre=For Sharing
+
|rating=4.5
|summary=''The day has ended''<br>
+
|genre=Thrillers
''Hasn't it been splendid?'' <br>
+
|summary=It was when Beth Leeson was ferrying her son, Ben, to a football match that she found herself on Wyddial Lane in Hemingford Abbots. Actually, It's a little disingenuous to say 'found herself' as Beth had made a deliberate detour on the grounds that she didn't find herself in this neck of the woods very often and she was curious to see where a family who'd come into money had lived before they'd all lost contact twelve years ago.  And it might have gone no further than that had Beth not seen a car draw up and her friend Flora get out along with two children she called Thomas and Emily. Beth remembered the names well - but these children were about three and five and Flora's children - Thomas and Emily - would now be fifteen and seventeen.
''But now, it's time, to be sure'' <br>
 
''For an entirely different adventure'' <br>
 
 
 
I hope you haven't forgotten how it feels to be much too excited for bed. If you're a parent at least, you'll know how it is to persuade an excited small person that yes, it is in fact time for bed. ''What Wonders DoYou See...'' sets out to cater to these children. Instead of trying to persuade them that night time is a calm time, it takes a slightly different tack. It tells them that sleep is actually an exciting time: a time of dreams in which imagination takes over and has no limit. But the trick in accessing this wonderful and exciting world is to get calm and relaxed first so that you can easily fall asleep and open the door to it.
 
|isbn=194812422X   
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{Frontpage
 
{{Frontpage
|author=Michael Harris
+
|isbn=1529123763
|title=Solitude: In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World
+
|title=Miss Austen
 +
|author=Gill Hornby
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Lifestyle
+
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary= This is not the book I was expecting it to be. For some reason I expected it to be another self-help manual on how to find calm, how to step outside the mainstream, but it is not that at all.  Instead of telling us how it is more about the ''why''.  Harries examines how we're eroding solitude, which used to be a natural part of our human life, and why that matters.   Of course, he talks about how some people have found solitude and what has come of that, and eventually in the final chapter he talks about his own experience of having deliberately sought it out, but mostly he wanders down the alleys and by-ways that his thinking about this lost art led him.
+
|summary=It's long been known that Cassandra Austen burned most of the letters which she and other members of the extensive Austen family had exchanged with or about her sister Jane. What is not known is ''why'' she did this and at this stage - more than two hundred years after Jane's death - a definitive answer is unlikely to forthcoming. Gill Hornby has provided us with some possible answers in a book that proved to be far more emotionally complex than I was expecting.
|isbn=1847947662
 
 
}}
 
}}

Revision as of 14:21, 19 February 2020

The Bookbag

Hello from The Bookbag, a 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, the charity shop 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 16,084 reviews at TheBookbag.

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Reviews of the Best New Books

Read new reviews by category.

Read the latest features.

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Review of

Guess What I Found in the Playground! by Victoria Thompson

4.5star.jpg For Sharing

Tilly is excited. She's just come dashing out of the classroom, pigtails flapping behind her and a big grin on her face. Dad's come to collect her and her brother and he has to try to guess what she found in the playground today, although she concedes that he will never guess. Dad wants to know how school was, but obviously that's not important. Could Tilly have found more collectable things for her scrap box? (Isn't that so much more sensible than a scrap book?) Well, actually, Tilly did find exciting stuff. There are sequins, glittered paper and all sorts of other things in her pocket, but that's not what she wants Dad to guess. Full Review

1471184668.jpg

Review of

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed

4star.jpg Teens

We might give it our all and crash and burn. But we might win. We might actually change things. And that maybe makes it still worth going for, don't you think? Jaime has been spending his summer helping his cousin with campaigning in time for a special election. When his mother encourages him to go canvassing, he can't think of anything worse. However, Jaime has always wanted to be a politician and decides there is no time like the present to conquer his fear of speaking to the public. Maya is a Pakistani-American Muslim girl who is having the worst summer of her life. Her parents are going through a separation, she has zero plans for the summer to help take her mind off things and her only close friend is permanently busy. To help occupy her, her parents offer to buy her a car if she agrees to go canvassing. The pair could possibly be the worst canvassing duo in history, as neither of them really want to be there, but as the campaign goes on they discover that they care, a lot, about the election - and maybe even about each other? Full Review

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Review of

Into The Fire by Gregg Hurwitz

5star.jpg Thrillers

Grant Merriweather is a forensic accountant. Or rather, was. He was brought into an ER room after an alleged car crash, his friend pleading with the medics to keep him alive. He was needed alive just long enough to give up a name. His cousin, Max. Full Review

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Review of

When You See Me by Lisa Gardner

4star.jpg Crime

For Janet and Chuck, it was a hiking break in the Appalachians in Georgia and pure chance that Chuck went off the beaten track to find a stick. What he found was a human bone and SSA Kimberley Quincy was called in, along with Sergeant D D Warren. Both women were experienced in this type of rather gruesome work but they also called on the services of Keith Edgar, a computer analyst, and Flora Dane who brought something unique to the table. Flora had been kidnapped and held for 472 days by the notorious killer, Jacob Ness. If Ness had anything to do with the current discoveries then what Flora had to say could be invaluable. Full Review

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Review of

A Window Breaks by C M Ewan

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

Tom Sullivan and his wife Rachel are having problems. It's not just the usual growing apart after more than a decade of marriage. Their son, Michael, was killed in a car crash some months before: he was driving his father's Audi and at sixteen wasn't legally entitled to drive. Not only did he kill himself when the car rammed into a tree, but he also killed his girlfriend, fifteen-year-old Fiona Connor. Tom can't think about Michael without a sense of shame and guilt. Rachel is broken, but she wants to forgive Michael. To give some space, Tom's moved out of the family home, but stresses to his thirteen-year-old daughter, Holly, that it is only a trial separation. Full Review

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Review of

The House on the Lake by Nuala Ellwood

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

We know that something has gone wrong - badly wrong - when the woman who was alone in the house is taken away by the police, but it's going to be a while before we learn exactly what has happened. Full Review

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Review of

Orphans of the Tide by Struan Murray and Manuel Sumberac (illustrator)

5star.jpg Confident Readers

In the last city on Earth, anyone can be the vessel of The Enemy - the god who drowned the world - who has come to wreak havoc on the last of humanity. When a mysterious boy is pulled from the corpse of a whale, the citizens immediately believe him to be the Vessel - all except for young Ellie Lancaster, a girl inventor. As the ruthless Inquisition prepares to execute the boy, Ellie must prove that he is innocent - even if it means revealing her deepest, darkest secrets.... Full Review

0008297169.jpg

Review of

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

4.5star.jpg Crime

The boat trip out to Inis Amploir, off the Irish coast, might have been enough to put some guests off, but it was the wedding of the year. Will Slater (television personality, if not yet a celebrity) was to marry Jules Keegan, online magazine publisher, in the ruined chapel on the island. The bride's sister, Olivia, would be her only bridesmaid and the wedding planner and chef are Aoife and her husband, Freddy. They gave a huge discount to get the couple to the island, but surely it would be worth it for the publicity? Full Review

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Review of

In Plain Sight (D I Clare Mackay) by Marion Todd

4.5star.jpg Crime

It was a coincidence that Detective Sergeant Chris West and DI Clare Mackay were at the beach when the baby was stolen. They were there for the fun run and their attention was taken by the NEFEW protesters who tried to disrupt the race. They're against the planned McIntosh Water bottled water plant to be constructed on Priory Marsh and the firm is sponsoring the fun run. It was Lisa Mitchell's scream which stopped everything. Her daughter, six-month-old Abi, had been taken from her pram whilst no one was looking. It's a major incident when any child is abducted but Abi needs regular medication because of a heart problem: without it, she might have only forty-eight hours to live. Full Review

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Review of

Firewatching by Russ Thomas

5star.jpg Crime

Detective Sergeant Adam Tyler is in the Cold Cas Review Unit at South Yorkshire Police and there are those who think that he's lucky to be there, given that he decked a superior officer. He's there because Tyler came off worse in the exchange - there's a scar on his face to prove it - and the superior officer was forced to take early retirement. There's a suggestion too that Tyler's godmother (she's on the force too) has looked after him and that his current boss is keen to have a tame gay to put on the town hall steps come Pride. Either way, he's there, but without anything really interesting to get his teeth into. Full Review

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Review of

The Unspoken Name by A K Larkwood

4star.jpg Fantasy

What does it mean to betray someone? What if that someone is a god? Csorwe has been raised knowing that she would be sacrificed to her god on her fourteenth birthday, yet when the opportunity arises, she chooses to abandon everything she knows and flee with her life. Who can blame her? Her god's reach is limited and Csorwe intends to stay far beyond it, yet fate is a funny thing and when circumstances bring her back within the reach of her god Csorwe learns that her god remembers her, and blames her very much indeed. Full Review

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Review of

The Highland Falcon Thief by M G Leonard and Sam Sedgman

5star.jpg Confident Readers

Harrison Beck, or Hal as he prefers to be called, isn't exactly pleased when his parents send him off with his uncle Nat, a travel writer, on a long train journey. Although, this isn't any old train; this is the Highland Falcon, the royal train, and this is its last ever journey before it gets sent to a museum. A number of high-society figures, including film stars, millionaires and aristocrats, will be on this train, so it is quite the event on the social calendar. However, when an expensive brooch is stolen, Hal realises that maybe this trip won't be as boring as he previously thought. As the passengers begin to turn on each other, Hal vows to get to the bottom of the mystery…before the train gets to the end of the line. Full Review

0008275246.jpg

Review of

Perfect Kill (D I Callanach) by Helen Fields

4star.jpg Crime

When Maggie Campbell realised that her son, Bart, was missing he was already 200 miles away and just waking from a chemically-induced sleep. Maggie knew straight away that something was wrong. Bart might be twenty but he was considerate of his mother and wouldn't have stayed out all night without letting her know. Besides, he didn't have his phone with him and he wouldn't have gone far without that. It's not long before Bart realises that he's alone, trapped in a shipping container and on his way to France, where his fate has already been decided. Full Review

0349003297.jpg

Review of

What Kind of Girl by Alyssa Sheinmel

4star.jpg Women's Fiction

Doing something when you're scared is braver than doing something when you're not

When Mike Parker's girlfriend comes into school with a black eye, claiming he gave it to her, her whole world is tipped upside down. Her relationship has just ended and now she's the talk of the school. Mike was the most popular boy in school who was always so in love with her, everyone knew that, so why did he do what he did? Some people believe her and some don't, but one thing is for sure, this isn't going to blow over any time soon. Full Review

1912626039.jpg

Review of

Demelza and the Spectre Detectors by Holly Rivers

5star.jpg Confident Readers

Demelza Clock is a scientist, often staying up late to work on her various gadgets, much to her Grandma Maeve's irritation. However, she has also inherited a certain set of skills that are not especially scientific: Spectre Detecting, the ability to summon the ghosts of the recently deceased. Under the guidance of her Grandma Maeve, Demelza begins to master her newfound skills. However, there is a mysterious individual on the prowl, kidnapping young Spectre Detectors. It's up to Demelza and her best friend Percy to get to the bottom of this... Full Review

1787477533.jpg

Review of

The Lantern Men (Dr Ruth Galloway) by Elly Griffiths

5star.jpg Crime

Everything has changed for Dr Ruth Galloway. She's no longer providing assistance to the police and isn't even working at the University of North Norfolk. She's lecturing at Cambridge and has moved from her beloved Saltmarsh cottage to live with Dr Frank Barker in Cambridge. Her daughter, Katie, has settled into school better than she could ever have hoped and life is looking good. Settled. She can't help thinking about Harry Nelson, Katie's father, because Katie sees him regularly and there's a close relationship with his family. You might almost think that Ruth's life is settling down. Full Review

183895015X.jpg

Review of

A Bit of a Stretch: The Diaries of a Prisoner by Chris Atkins

5star.jpg Politics and Society

Documentary filmmakers don't usually get the run of establishments within the Mountbatten-Windsor Hotel Group, but after getting involved in an illegal tax scheme to fund his latest film, Chris Atkins was invited for a five-year stay. The first nine months were spent in HMP Wandsworth, which is probably the oldest, largest and most dysfunctional prison in Europe. Full Review

1250168546.jpg

Review of

A Queen In Hiding by Sarah Kozloff

3star.jpg Fantasy

World-building is the backbone by which fantasy novels live and die. And what a pleasure, then, to get a novel with world-building you actually want to delve into. Sarah Kozloff's debut novel presents a startlingly rich and layered world, with a complex history of connecting nations that seems certain to have more to tap, and the characters are interesting – if a little underdeveloped. But it's a world I could – and did – eagerly buy into, and the struggle of each Queen to discover and hone her magical talent felt very real and very apt. Full Review

1543987877.jpg

Review of

Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life by Dr Thomas Jordan

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

Learn to Love: Guide to Healing Your Disappointing Love Life is a book about love relationships rather than a book about love. The two greatest emotions are love and grief and love is the opposite of grief: if you love, Dr Thomas Jordan tells us, you will inevitably grieve. Your love relationships begin the moment you're born and end only when you die. Whilst we all come into the world hoping to give and receive love there are many people for whom love is not quite so simple. Some people suffer multiple disappointments - sometimes repeating the same mistakes - and this eventually becomes resignation. For people who are making the same mistakes repeatedly, self-preservation, in the form of resignation is a necessity. Full Review

1471185605.jpg

Review of

Deep State by Chris Hauty

3star.jpg Thrillers

Hayley Chill is a fighter. She is every kind of fighter, and well-trained in most of them. She's army infantry and she boxes for fun – and she wins. Always. She wins because she is focussed. She works hard, mentally and physically, and she knows how to deal with the pain. She is not so much cold as controlled. This fight is against someone she is not expected to beat. And she is being watched. Full Review

0356513777.jpg

Review of

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H G Parry

4star.jpg General Fiction

Brothers Rob and Charley have struggled to see eye to eye for years - Rob a sensible lawyer who exists in the "normal" world - and Charley a man who is blessed with an ability he can't fully control - one which allows him to bring literary characters into the real world. After years of protecting Charley, Rob wants to discharge his duties and leave Charley to his own devices - but circumstances soon take choices out of both their hands. As literary characters begin to appear everywhere, it soon becomes clear that someone out there shares Charley's powers and intends to use them for nefarious gains. Rob and Charley must team up to stop the madness - in a battle to win before they, the characters and the world reach The End… Full Review

1444776185.jpg

Review of

Haven't they Grown by Sophie Hannah

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

It was when Beth Leeson was ferrying her son, Ben, to a football match that she found herself on Wyddial Lane in Hemingford Abbots. Actually, It's a little disingenuous to say 'found herself' as Beth had made a deliberate detour on the grounds that she didn't find herself in this neck of the woods very often and she was curious to see where a family who'd come into money had lived before they'd all lost contact twelve years ago. And it might have gone no further than that had Beth not seen a car draw up and her friend Flora get out along with two children she called Thomas and Emily. Beth remembered the names well - but these children were about three and five and Flora's children - Thomas and Emily - would now be fifteen and seventeen. Full Review

1529123763.jpg

Review of

Miss Austen by Gill Hornby

5star.jpg Historical Fiction

It's long been known that Cassandra Austen burned most of the letters which she and other members of the extensive Austen family had exchanged with or about her sister Jane. What is not known is why she did this and at this stage - more than two hundred years after Jane's death - a definitive answer is unlikely to forthcoming. Gill Hornby has provided us with some possible answers in a book that proved to be far more emotionally complex than I was expecting. Full Review