Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"

From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to search
(44 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
<metadesc>Book review site, with books from most walks of literary life; fiction, biography, crime, cookery and children's books plus author interviews and top tens.</metadesc>
 
<metadesc>Book review site, with books from most walks of literary life; fiction, biography, crime, cookery and children's books plus author interviews and top tens.</metadesc>
 
<h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>
 
<h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>
Hello from The Bookbag, a site featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - [[:Category:Fiction|fiction]], [[:Category:Biography|biography]], [[:Category:Crime|crime]], [[:Category:Cookery|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 [[:Category:Interviews|author interviews]], and all sorts of [[:Category:Lists|top tens]] - all of which you can find on our [[features]] page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the [[Book Recommendations|recommendations]] page. We can even direct you to help for [https://www.easywritingservice.com/custom-book-review/ custom book reviews]! Visit [http://www.everychildareader.org www.everychildareader.org] to get free writing tips and
+
Hello from The Bookbag, a site featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - [[:Category:Fiction|fiction]], [[:Category:Biography|biography]], [[:Category:Crime|crime]], [[:Category:Cookery|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 [[:Category:Interviews|author interviews]], and all sorts of [[:Category:Lists|top tens]] - all of which you can find on our [[features]] page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the [[Book Recommendations|recommendations]] page. [https://ewritingservice.com/ Ewritingservice.com] is the custom writing service thousands of students trust all over the world.
[http://www.genecaresearchreports.com www.genecaresearchreports.com] will help you get your paper written for free.
+
[https://myhomeworkdone.com/ My Homework Done] is your best choice among those websites that do homework for you.
  
 
There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' reviews at TheBookbag.
 
There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' reviews at TheBookbag.
Line 13: Line 13:
 
'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- Remove -->
 
'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- Remove -->
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= K J Whittaker
+
|author=DK
|title= False Lights
+
|title=My Encyclopedia of Very Important Animals
|rating= 4.5
+
|rating=4.5
|genre= Historical Fiction
+
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Cornwall, 1817.
+
|summary=The animal kingdom is a diverse one, full of creatures that do all sorts of things.  The number of animals out there is so vast that even vets need to do a quick google when something strange appears in their practice. For budding vet-to-be animals are a constant source of fascination and they will absorb as much knowledge as you can give them.  It is not practical to visit the zoo every day, but getting an educational and entertaining animal encylopedia is.
 
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241276357</amazonuk>
What if your worst mistake changed the course of history? Napoleon has crushed the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo, and his ex-wife Josephine presides over French-occupied England. Cornwall erupts into open rebellion, and young heiress Hester escapes with Crow, Wellington's former intelligence officer, a half-French aristocrat haunted by his part in the catastrophic defeat. Together, they become embroiled in a web of treachery and espionage as plans are laid to free Wellington from secret captivity in the Scilly Isles and lead an uprising against the French occupation. In a country rife with traitors, Hester and Crow know it is impossible to play such a game as this for long...
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786695340</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Cynthia Ryland and Mary Blair
+
|author=DK
|title=Walt Disney's Cinderella: Illustrated by Mary Blair (Walt Disney Classics)
+
|title=DK Children's Encyclopedia
|rating=4
+
|rating=4.5
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=I'm sure almost all my readers are au fait with the story of Cinderella, and of how she went from the gutter to the stars in one romantic swoop.  It's only a good thing the relevant people didn't have foot fetishes or phobias, for then the tale would have been utterly differentDisney made it slightly different, of course, when they made the animated classic based on the legend, and this book, complete with art from the time the film was being made, is evidence of just how the look and the emotion of the piece were intended to be.
+
|summary=More than sixty years ago my grandparents bought me an encylopedia: it was a major purchase for them as they didn't really ''do'' books, but it was a treasure trove for me and I still have it today.  It didn't just teach me facts - it taught me how to find out information for myself and how to use an indexIt opened my eyes to subjects I'd never considered and widened my knowledge on those I already loved. In format, in size and content it was very similar to ''DK Children's Encyclopedia'' and I can imagine a younger me hunched over it and begging just to be allowed to finish this bit before I went to bed.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405286997</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241283868</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Jon Scieszka and Mary Blair
+
|author= Kelly Barnhill
|title=Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland: Illustrated by Mary Blair (Walt Disney Classics)
+
|title= The Girl Who Drank the Moon
|rating=4.5
+
|rating= 4
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|genre= Confident Readers
|summary=I'll take is as read you have some knowledge of the story of Alice in Wonderland – certainly when she got to be 150 years old a couple of years back there were no end of editions of her story. And as you know, 150 years is a heck of a lot of unbirthdays. But her story got to be slightly different, and if anything only more loved, courtesy of the Disney cartoon, and the fact that this book features artwork that was generated during the production of that film is the unique selling point.
+
|summary= Every year the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest, in the hope that this sacrifice will keep their town safe. Little do they know that the witch, Xan, is a kind soul who rescues the children and finds them new homes with families on the other side of the forest. She feeds the babies on starlight to keep them nourished throughout their journey, but one year she accidently feeds a baby moonlight which fills the child with a powerful magic. Xan names the baby Luna and realises she must raise this magical child as her own, locking away her magical abilities until her thirteenth birthday. But as the day approaches where Luna's magic will emerge, she will have to learn to protect the safe and loving world she has always known.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405287004</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848126476</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|title=Moonrise
+
|author= Robin Jarvis
|author=Sarah Crossan
+
|title= Time of Blood
|rating=5
+
|rating= 4
 
|genre=Teens
 
|genre=Teens
|summary=Joe is seventeen and he hasn't seen his brother for ten years. And the reason for that is brutal - Ed is on Death Row in Texas, convicted of the murder of a police officer. Ed says he's innocent. Aunt Karen doesn't believe him. And Mum is long gone, no-one knows where. When the execution date comes through, Joe passes up on his job and a spot on a summer athletics scholarship and treks from New York across the country so that Ed is not alone. He is determined to spend these last weeks with his brother no matter what anybody else thinks.
+
|summary= Travel back over a hundred years into Whitby's past to see two witches battle an ancient evil. Follow young Lil as she tries to avoid spoilers and find her best friend.  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140886780X</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405280255</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|title=I am Traitor
+
|author=J M Barrie and Robert Ingpen
|author=Sif Sigmarsdottir
+
|title=Peter Pan and Wendy
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
+
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Alien ships have arrived in the skies above London. The Prime Minister appeared on TV to announce this ominous visitation and order a curfew. After that, he went AWOL and took all reliable information with him, leaving the army to patrol the streets. Not that the army has any answer to the long pipes that snake down from the ships and gobble up teenagers. To where, nobody knows.
+
|summary=It's a childhood staple - the story of Wendy, John and Michael Darling and their beloved nurse, Nana the Newfoundland dog who took them to school each day. It's George Darling, their father, who makes the mistake when he locks Nana in the yard and the children are whisked away to Neverland by Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. There's a wonderful mix of characters, from Peter Pan, the boy who never wants to grow up, Tinkerbell, the rather unpleasant fairy, Captain Hook, Tiger Lily, the lost boys and - of course - Wendy, but then it wouldn't have been a classic since the original stage production in 1904 and the novel of 1911 if it were otherwise.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444934473</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786750856</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|title=Charlotte Says
+
|author= Emily Winslow
|author=Alex Bell
+
|title= Look For Her
|rating=4.5
+
|rating= 4
|genre=Teens
+
|genre= Crime
|summary=''Charlotte says... don't open the door.''
+
|summary= In 1976, Annalise Wood disappeared on her journey home from school and instantly became a local celebrity. For decades the town of Lilling tried to solve the mystery of Annalise's disappearance until, almost twenty years later, her body was discovered. Annalise's body was badly decomposed and there was lack of DNA available, the only trace on the body was found in her skirt and does not match anyone on record. The chances of finding her killer were extremely low and the murder soon becomes a 'cold case' – but still the most famous Lilling has ever seen.  
 
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749022663</amazonuk>
Jemima's mother died in an awful fire not long ago and that is why Jemima decides to leave London and take up a job as a teacher on the Isle of Skye. But leaving the place doesn't mean escaping the memories and Jemima is tormented by second-guessing what actually happened on that terrible night. It doesn't help that Miss Grayson, the mistress at the school, is a strange, forbidding sort, while the school itself is a thoroughly creepy old building.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847158404</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= J Jefferson Farjeon
+
|author= Grady Hendrix
|title= Seven Dead
+
|title= Paperbacks from Hell: A History of Horror Fiction from the '70s and '80s
|rating= 4
+
|rating= 4.5
|genre= Historical Fiction
+
|genre= Horror
|summary=Ted Lyte was petty criminal, but not usually the housebreaking type. He lacked the courage. However, needs must, and whilst feeling down on his luck he decided to try his chances at an isolated house with a shuttered window. ''...he might find a bit of alright behind those shutters! Wot abart it?'' Ted does indeed find something interesting behind the shutters, but it definitely isn't what he'd hoped. In a locked room he finds seven dead bodies; six men and a woman. Fleeing the house in horror, he is pursued and caught by a passing yachtsman, Thomas Hazeldean, who also happens to be a journalist. Fascinated by Ted's story (and a possible scoop), Hazeldean decides to investigate this curious case and its assortment of odd clues, including a portrait shot through the heart, an old cricket ball and a mysterious note written by one of the victims.
+
|summary= Demonic possession, murderous babies, man-eating moths… for these books, no plot was too ludicrous, no cover art too appalling, no evil too despicable. Now horror author Grady Hendrix risks his soul and his sanity (not to mention the reader's!) to relate the true, untold story of a fascinating and often forgotten era in publishing.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0712356886</amazonuk>
+
 
 +
Read the synapse-shattering story summaries!<br>
 +
See the horrific hand-painted cover imagery!<br>
 +
And learn the true-life tales of the writers, artists, and publishers who gleefully violated every literary law but one – never be boring.
 +
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594749817</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Chris Colfer
+
|author= Luke Dittrich
|title= The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide
+
|title= Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness and Family Secrets
 
|rating= 4.5
 
|rating= 4.5
|genre= Confident Readers
+
|genre= Popular Science
|summary=Finally, after much anticipation, the grand finale to the best-selling ''Land of Stories'' is here. The previous book [[The Land of Stories: An Author's Odyssey by Chris Colfer|The Land of Stories: An Author's Odyssey]] left us dangling on an almighty cliffhanger, as well as leaving many plot threads unresolved. We have been with the Bailey twins from the very beginning; seen them grow and mature from awkward pre-teens to confident young adults. Orson Welles famously said: ''If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.'' Is the fact that the book begins with this quote an ominous warning that the Bailey twins may not get their 'happily ever after' after all?
+
|summary= Luke Dittrich seeks to shed light on the man behind the initials, and in doing so, uncovered quite a bit more than he expected.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0316355895</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099571862</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Brian Masters
+
|author=Sita Brahmachari and Jane Ray
|title= Killing for Company
+
|title=Worry Angels
|rating= 5
+
|rating=4
|genre= True Crime
+
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary= Killing for Company is a detailed criminal study of Dennis Nilsen, unique in that it was produced with Nilsen's full cooperation and includes material from Nilsen's prison diaries. Covering Nilsen's early life, his career and subsequent murders, this is a detailed analysis of the man behind the murder and an attempt, on Masters' part, to understand what shaped Nilsen and what could have caused such apparently senseless violence.
+
|summary=Amy-May was devastated when her parents split up: she and her mother left the delightful seaside cottage where the waves had sung her to sleep and moved into a 'garden flat'.  That didn't mean that it had a garden, just that it was on the ground floor. They didn't have a lot of possessions as the bailiffs had taken most of them.  Her father was living in another old cottage now and hopefully he'd be able to set up his kiln, but he wouldn't be able to home-school Amy-May.  The alternative was Sandcastles Secondary School but the rather nervous Amy was considered to be too ''anxious'' to start at the school full time.  As a gentle introduction to schooling she went to Grace's art school instead.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784759422</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178112695X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= E V Harte
+
|author= Cassandra Parkin
|title= The Prime of Ms Dolly Greene
+
|title= The Winter's Child
 
|rating= 5
 
|rating= 5
|genre= Crime
+
|genre= Paranormal
|summary= I love reading full stop so I was excited to have the chance to read the first crime novel from established, well-regarded author Daisy Waugh, writing under a pseudonym. But, as a self-confessed chicklit fan, who's never read a crime novel before, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it....turns out I absolutely loved it!
+
|summary=''A modern Gothic tale of twisted love, secrets and hauntings'' it says on the cover.  I'll go along with that. Suzannah Harper doesn't believe in life after death or gypsies being able to tell the future, but that hasn't stopped her spending a fortune on psychics and fortune tellers in the desperate hunt for her son. Joel has been missing for five years. He skipped out of school one day after an argument at home and has not been seen since.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472124243</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785079034</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Vicky Hayward
+
|author=Clare Foges and Al Murphy
|title=Juan Altamiras' New Art of Cookery: A Spanish Friar's Kitchen Notebook
+
|title=Bathroom Boogie
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Cookery
+
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=In 1745 a Spanish friary cook, Juan Altamiras, published the first edition of  his ''New Art of Cookery, Drawn From the School of Economic Experience''. It contained more than two hundred recipes for meat, poultry, game, salted and fresh fish, vegetables and desserts.  The style was informal, chatty and humorous on occasions and it was aimed, not at those who could afford to cook on a grand scale, but at those with more modest budgets, who sometimes needed to cook for large numbers.  Whilst the ingredients were - for the most part - modestly priced there is a stress on the careful combination of flavours and aromasSpices are used conservatively and the bluntness of some Moorish cooking is eschewed in favour of something much more subtle and we see influences from Altamiras' own region, Aragon, the Iberian court and the New World.
+
|summary=Every day I leave the house with the feeling that I left it in a pretty tidy state, but on my return some things always seem out of place. This is especially true of my bathroom.  Why is there toothpaste on the mirror, or a flannel on the floor? It would appear that I may not actually be to blame and that when I'm at work all the bathroom items come out for a boogieWill I ever catch them in the act?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1442279419</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571337317</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Clar Ni Chonghaile
+
|author= Mark Alder
|title= Rain Falls On Everyone
+
|title= Son of the Night
|rating= 5
+
|rating= 4
|genre= Literary Fiction
+
|genre= Fantasy
|summary= It's a cliché that the Irish have a picturesque turn of phrase, but clichés only exist because they're true.  Roddy Doyle put it differently in a recent interview with ''Writing'' magazine, when he said that ''With Irish, there's another language bubbling under the English''.  However you express it, that art of expression is woven into every other line of Clár's prose. Pick a page at random and you'll find something like ''the sickness that had come to roost in her home like a cursed owl'' or ''like he was God, Jesus and Justin Timberlake rolled into one'' or ''a low sobbing, slow and inevitable as rain on a Sunday'': expressions that catch your smile unawares, or tear at your heart in their mundane sadness.  Or sometimes both.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785079018</amazonuk>
+
|summary=In [[Son of the Morning by Mark Alder|Son of the Morning]], author Mark Alder plunges the reader into a chaotic, dangerous world, taking them back to the turbulent reign of Edward III and the dangers of the Hundred Years War. Adding elements of fantasy and theology to the mix, Alder created an intriguing read which is continued in ''Son of the Night''. With Lucifer, Satan, God, Devils and Angels interacting with a cast of real and well researched characters, Alder continues his exploration of the Hundred Years war whilst rather incredibly keeping his readers as educated as they are entertained.
 +
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0575115203</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|title=Salt Creek
+
|author=Kenneth Grahame and Robert Ingpen
|author=Lucy Treloar
+
|title=The Wind in The Willows
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=4
|genre=Historical Fiction
+
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=The first chapter of ''Salt Creek'' opens in Chichester, England, in 1874. Hester Finch is a respected and reasonably wealthy member of her community. But she can't stop her thoughts wandering back to her adolescence, spent on Salt Creek Station in the remote South Australian Coorong region. Hester feels ''has never felt so alive as then, when we had so little''.
+
|summary=Kenneth Grahame's ''The Wind in the Willows'' was one of the defining books of my childhood and more than sixty years after I first read the book I've just recently passed it onto another young reader.  Since the book was first published in 1908 there have been some notable illustrators: Paul Bransom provided illustrations for the 1913 edition, Ernest H Shepard (perhaps better known for his illustrations of ''Winnie the Pooh'') in 1933, Arthur Rackham (possibly the leading illustrator from the golden age of book illustration) in 1940 and Robert Ingpen who illustrated the centenary edition of ''The Wind in the Willows''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910709417</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786751062</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Bali Rai
+
|author=Simon Jenkins
|title= Tales from India
+
|title=Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations
|rating= 4
+
|rating=5
|genre= Confident Readers
+
|genre=Reference
|summary=
+
|summary=In the mid twentieth century the railway was something which harked back to the Victorian age with trains being supplanted by cars and planes, but steam was being replaced by oil, even then and in the twenty-first century oil is giving way to electricity. It's cleaner, more environmentally friendly and the stations which we'd all rushed through as quickly as possible, keen to escape their grime, were restored and became places to be admired, possibly even lingered in. Simon Jenkins has chosen his hundred best railway stations.
Fairy stories, folk tales and fables are a rite of passage for an inquiring mind. They open the door to enchantment, magic and moral lessons. Many European collections exist, some of the most notable being that of Aesop, Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Andrew Lang and Perrault. Tales can also originate from exotic climes. An endless source of delight for me as a child was my great grandmother's much cherished copy of The Arabian Nights. Full of mystery, imagination and charm, it communicated to me the power of storytelling and transported me to different worlds. This is what Bali Rai aims to do for young readers with his latest offering. Inspired by the collected tales of the C19th Sydney-born English folklorist Joseph Jacob, Rai has lovingly created a tribute to the traditional stories of India.
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>024197898X</amazonuk>
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141373067</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Lucy Adlington
+
|author=Sarah Baker
|title=The Red Ribbon
+
|title=Eloise Undercover
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=4
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Ella is rushing to her audition for a job in fashion, as are several other young women. Thrown in at the deep end in the high-pressure workplace, she is tasked with creating a dress from scratch for an important client before four pm that day. But she manages it, even working through the non-existent lunch break, to design a silk wonder worthy of any environment.  But this is no typical make-or-break-'em fashion design house, and this is no normal environment for the recipient to be wearing the frock. This is Birchwood – or Auschwitz-Birkenau to you and I.
+
|summary= Eloise has a wonderful life with her two best friends, Albert and Maddie, until the German soldiers start to arrive and everything changes. Nazi-occupied France is not a place Eloise wants to be. Maddie and her family are taken away and Albert starts to act very strangely. Then her father disappears. Eloise is lost until she discovers her father has been working for the resistance and there might, if she is brave enough, be a way to rescue him before he's deported to Germany. She now has hope and a plan. But will the resistance let a twelve year old schoolgirl join them?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471406288</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910611131</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Andy Bell
+
|author= Nalini Singh
|title=The DIY Investor: How to take control of your investments and plan for a financially secure future
+
|title= Silver Silence A Psy-Changling Trinity Novel
|rating=5
+
|rating= 4
|genre=Business and Finance
+
|genre= Paranormal
|summary=Investments are confusing.  They're also rather frightening unless you have a background in finance: you could invest in equities which seem likely to make your fortune, only to find that you've lost all your money.  On the other hand you could put all your savings into a nice, safe building society or bank account only to find that the interest is so derisory that your capital doesn't actually have the same buying power that it did when you opened the account. You could, of course, spend the money, but what about when you want to buy a house, replace the roof or retire?  The roof might be relatively cheap but the other two are going to need a substantial investment pot.
+
|summary= Jump straight into a rich and diverse universe at this designated jumping on point. Visit a world of humans, changelings and Psy. The world the books have set in has faced a dramatic change and a new world-order of peace has been declared. The peace is painful and not universally loved. Into this world a bear falls in love with an emotionless Psy – how'd ya reckon it'll turn out?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857196014</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473217571</amazonuk>
 +
}}
 +
{{newreview
 +
|author= Colin Thubron
 +
|title= Mirror to Damascus
 +
|rating= 4.5
 +
|genre= Travel
 +
|summary= Damascus today is a monument to her past, to all the people and civilisations that helped shape her. In this enthusiastic piece of travel writing, Collin Thubron tells the tale of a city that has seen empires rise and fall, conquerors come and go and has lasted for over two thousand years. It's rich in impressive history and this book is rich in impressive detail.
 +
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099532298</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= E Lockhart
+
|author= Fearne Cotton and Sheena Dempsey
|title= Genuine Fraud
+
|title= Yoga Babies
 
|rating= 4
 
|rating= 4
|genre= Teens
+
|genre= For Sharing
|summary= I'm going to straight up say that I'm not going to mention the plot in this review, because I can't without inevitably spoiling something in this twisting, turning, great suspense of a novel. All I will say is that I felt like I was watching a proper thriller movie while I was reading it; I feel like I might see this advertised as a film on the side of a bus any time soon, and if that happens, then it will have an excellent female lead that kicks some serious backside.  
+
|summary= Radio host, TV presenter, fashion designer, author – is there anything Fearne Cotton can't do? Based on the content of this book, we can undoubtedly add Yogi to the ongoing list of talents, because it's hard to imagine any other way in which this came into being.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471406628</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783445645</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Jackie Morris and James Mayhew
+
|author= Claire Freedman and Jane Massey
|title= Mrs Noah's Pockets
+
|title= Florence Frizzball
|rating= 5
+
|rating= 4.5
 
|genre= For Sharing
 
|genre= For Sharing
|summary= The heavy rains, Noah building his ark and the animals going in two by two to be saved. This most familiar of stories has been retold time and time again but not like this. This time there is twist and someone else quietly takes centre stage. When Mr Noah builds the ark, he makes two lists - one for all the animals who will come on board and one for those troublesome creatures he will leave behind. Meanwhile, Mrs Noah gets out her sewing machine and makes a coat with very deep pockets. Lots of pockets.
+
|summary= Florence Frizzball has the frizziest, curliest, most out of control mop of hair you've ever seen! And she longs for smooth, sleek, brushable locks like all her friends. As a kid, I remember being chased round the garden by my mother, brandishing a hair brush and trying to get me to sit still and have my frizz sorted out. To say I identified with Florence would be an understatement. As the tale goes on, though, we see another side to the story. Florence gets what she wants, but when her dream comes true she quickly learns that maybe she was wanting all the wrong things, and that actually her frizzball is part of her identity.  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>191095909X</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471144542</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Jem Vanston
+
|author= Stuart Maconie
|title=A Cat Called Dog 2 - The One with the Kittens
+
|title= Long Road From Jarrow
|rating=4
+
|rating= 5
|genre=General Fiction
+
|genre= Travel
|summary=George, Dog the cat and Eric the stray were indulging themselves with a philosophical discussion when they heard some strange mewingThree kittens had found their way into the garden and told  the resident cats that their mother had told them to run away when a two-legs cat catcher came for them all. Mother couldn't run as she had a sore paw, but Daisy, Maisie and Boo had run and run and runThey'd no idea what happened to her - or how to get back home again.  George is getting on in years and wouldn't like to upset his two legs, The Lady, by being away from home for too long, so he appoints Dog as leader of an expedition to reunite the kittens and their Mother.
+
|summary= I cancelled my ''Country Walking'' magazine subscription about a year ago and the only thing I miss is Stuart Maconie's columnHis down-to-earth approach and sharp wit belie an equally sharp intellect and a soul more sensitive than he might be willing to admit.   Let's be honest, though, I picked this one up because of someone else's review, in which I spotted names like Ferryhill and Newton Aycliffe.  Places I grew up inLike Maconie I have no connection (that I know of) to the Jarrow Crusade but when he talks about it being ''a whole matrix of events reducible to one word like Aberfan, Hillsborough, or Orgreave'' then somehow it does become part of my history too.  Tangentially, at least.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786293390</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785030531</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Cressida Cowell
+
|author= Kieran Larwood
|title= The Wizards of Once
+
|title= The Gift of Dark Hollow
 
|rating= 4.5
 
|rating= 4.5
 
|genre= Confident Readers
 
|genre= Confident Readers
|summary= Xar and Wish only meet because they are both where they are not supposed to be. Xar is an impetuous young wizard keen to prove his magical prowess. Wish is a young warrior desperate to demonstrate her worth. They live in a world in which Iron vanquishes Magic - and the Magic of the witches is pretty evil stuff. Thankfully, the warriors have used Iron to keep the witches at bay. And now, they are turning their attention to the wizards. But what if not all Magic is bad? What if the witches are a threat to warrior and wizard alike? What then?
+
|summary= This is the second marvellous book featuring the rabbits of Enderby, and the delightful young rabbit hero, Podkin One Ear. I love the format of a story within a story. The adventures of Podkin in ''The Gift of Dark Hollow'', are told by an old rabbit who has been a Bard all his life - a teller of stories and legends from the rabbit world. The Bard has an apprentice, Rue, desperately eager to learn his trade.  He hangs on every word spoken by the Bard as they travel together to a festival.  Rue is hungry to learn the art of story-telling, but also wants to know all about Podkin One Ear, and what better way to do this than to hear from the Master himself. The tale he tells Rue (and us) is a gripping and scary one, featuring Podkin and his friends in their ongoing battle to overturn the ruthless Gorm, and their cruel leader, Scramashank.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444936700</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571328415</amazonuk>
 +
}}
 +
{{newreview
 +
|author= Phil Allcock and Richard Watson
 +
|title= Clumpety Bump
 +
|rating= 4
 +
|genre= For Sharing
 +
|summary= Clumpety Bump likes apples. Nothing wrong with that, after all: they're tasty and full of goodness. But you don't get delicious, juicy treats like that unless you deserve them, and naughty Clumpety is a bit too keen on saying ''I can't be bothered'' when his friend Wally asks for help. So, after several disasters, Wally decides he'd be better off leaving Clumpety at home and using his tractor instead. Unfortunately, things don't turn out too well, and our two heroes learn that if you want to be properly happy, other people need to be happy too. Selfishness just makes everyone sad.
 +
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848862458</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview <!-- remove 10/9 -->
+
{{newreview
|author=Stuart Burrell
+
|author=Roger Moore
|title=Twelve Times To The Max: One Man's Journey to, and Recollections of, Setting Twelve Verified World Records
+
|title=A Bientot...
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Autobiography
 
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=The first of Stuart Burrell's world records, well, the first two, actually, as he's not a man to do things by halves, came about by accident.  There had been a plan to raise some money for the Children in Need Charity and quite late on the people who were to have been the main attraction got a better offer and Burrell is not a man to let people downWhat could be done to bring people in and raise some money?  Most of us would have thought of jumble sales and cake bakes, but Burrell had made a hobby of escapology and idea of a sponsored escape had life breathed into it.  On 3 November 2002 he went for the Fastest Handcuff Escape world record and immediately afterwards Most Handcuffs Escaped in One Hour.  Both were successful and more than £300 was raised for Children in Need.
+
|summary=The news of the death of Sir Roger Moore in May 2017 came as a great shock: he was one of those people you knew would go on for ever.  There was just one small glimmer of light in the sadness - the news that a matter of days before his death he'd delivered the finished manuscript of his book, ''À bientôt…'', to his publishersJust a few months later a copy landed on my desk and I didn't even bother to look as though I could resist reading it straight away.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>154712251X</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782438610</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Susan Duxbury-Neumann
+
|author= Jonathan Stroud
|title= What Have the Germans Ever Done for Us?: A History of the German Population of Great Britain
+
|title= Lockwood and Co: The Empty Grave
|rating= 4
+
|rating= 5
|genre= History
+
|genre= Confident Readers
|summary= The adapted Monty Pythonesque rhetorical question takes some time to provide a full answer, and this slim but useful volume does so very well.  
+
|summary= In a world that takes the best and worst of Victorian times (atmospheric fogs, candles, mudlarks who scavenge along the banks of the Thames for treasures) and the modern day (leggings, skinny jeans, cabs and concrete underpasses) absolutely anything can happen – and it does. For fifty years ghosts of all kinds have infested Britain, and as only children and young people can see them, theirs is the task of protecting the adults and ridding the country of the menaces, one by painful one. Lucy, George, Holly and Lockwood are the members of the smallest and most ramshackle independent agency, but their constant success (and survival despite forever lengthening odds) is a thorn in the flesh of the elite Fittes Agency, which has acquired almost total control over the whole ghost-bashing business.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445664860</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0552575798</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Holly Hepburn
+
|author=Kenneth Steven
|title= The Picture House by the Sea
+
|title=Winter Tales
|rating= 4
+
|rating=4
|genre= Women's Fiction
+
|genre=Short Stories
|summary=So as another typically dreary British summer is drawing to a close, I found myself craving a fix of literary sunshine and sea kissed romance. In such a mood it was then, that I came across the cover for ''The Picture House by the Sea''. Perfect blue skies, glistening sea, a beautiful Art Deco building and to top it off an old fashioned ice-cream cart. Consider me sold!
+
|summary= Upon opening this book you are presented with an eclectic collection of twelve short stories centred around a common theme of Winter. You are taken around the world as you read stories set in a variety of places from Helsinki to New York, Germany to Russia. Kenneth Steven cleverly utilises a key component of short stories - that you can read each story in one sitting - to his advantage as he gives each story an individual focal subject, such as bullying, ensuring that you are reading a distinct story every time you open the book.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471161714</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910674508</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre
+
|author= William Sutton
|title=Pug-a-Doodle-Do!
+
|title= Lawless and the House of Electricity
|rating=4.5
+
|rating= 5
|genre=Crafts
+
|genre= Crime (Historical)
|summary=I was reading a book so utterly different to this the other day, it has to bear mention. It was an exceedingly academic book about graphic novels and comics for the YA audience, and it featured an essay picking up on the way books like the fill-in-bits-yourself entries in the Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries series (such as [[Dork Diaries: How to Dork Your Diary by Rachel Renee Russell|this one]]) let you interact with the franchise, and also to create your own content.  There was some weird high-falutin' academic language to describe such books – but you know what? I say (redacted) to that – let's just hang it and have fun.  And this book, spinning off from the four books this partnership has so far been responsible for, is certainly a provider of that.
+
|summary= Campbell Lawless is back, this time tasked with solving a series of terrorist attacks across the nation. Is it the work of the French, as police and public are being led to believe, or someone closer to home? Who can be trusted and what does Roxbury, an innovative inventor previously disgraced, have to do with the bombs used to cause chaos across the country? Employing the services of Molly, the effervescent ragamuffin from his previous adventures, he sets in motion a campaign of subterfuge which uncovers long held secrets, skulduggery and the desperate yearnings beneath Roxbury's constant invention.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192764047</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785650130</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Jeremy Strong and Jamie Smith
+
|author=K J Lawrence
|title=Nellie Choc-Ice, Penguin Explorer (Little Gems)
+
|title= The Cossack
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=5
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
+
|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Meet Nellie Choc-Ice.  Thus named by her grandparents (and grandparents have a habit in this book of making unusual names for their grandchildren, whichever species they belong to), she is a pretty little Macaroni penguin, complete with pink feet, bright yellow eyebrows and a woolly hat with the world's biggest pompom on the end.  She has a habit of going exploring and finding out what's over the next ridge in the ice, and the next, and the next. But when disaster happens and the ice she is on is knocked off Antarctica by a submarine, even she can have no idea as to where she will end up…
+
|summary=
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781127212</amazonuk>
+
Daniel Brooking is not what you'd think of as hero material: he's a photographer of some merit and in his fifties he has a settled life. It was the disappearance of his assistant, Ivan Shevchenko, which disrupted everything. It wasn't unknown for him to disappear occasionally, but missing an exhibition was a first for him. He'd been distracted for a few days - and then there were the strange papers which arrived, to be kept safe. The authorities, in the form of a shadowy senior member of the security services, confirmed the view that Ivan was probably dead, because of some supposed connections with organised crime and drug dealing.
 +
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1999782704</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Sally Nicholls
+
|author=James Goss and Russell T Davies
|title= Things A Bright Girl Can Do
+
|title=Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who)
|rating= 4
+
|rating=4.5
|genre= Teens
+
|genre=Children's Rhymes and Verse
|summary=''Things a Bright Girl Can Do'' tells the story of three teenage girls, all of whom are fighting for women's suffrage, despite coming from very different backgrounds. There's Evelyn, an upper-class girl expected to marry at a young age, May, a middle-class girl with an opinionated Mother, and Nell, a working-class girl who does what she can to help her large family scrape by. The novel chronicles both their contributions to the fight for suffrage, and the way their lives change when World War One begins.
+
|summary=Consider the Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, were he to keep in touch with even half of his companions?  He would certainly need a few novelty gifts for some of them, say, for example, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and enemiesAs luck would have it, he has the space in his TARDIS to stock up in advance, so my advice to him – sorry, her would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and get himself ready.  And if you're working on a shorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well my advice is pretty much the same.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783445254</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785942719</amazonuk>
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Neil White
 
|title= From The Shadows
 
|rating= 4.5
 
|genre= Crime
 
|summary= I'm a bit old-fashioned and therefore not a great fan of stories that can't keep their timeline straightI'll go with a prologue – even if it's becoming a bit of clichéd way of creating a mystery at the beginning of a story but switching between 'now' and 'a fortnight ago' – just feels a little lazy, a way of creating tension when all else fails.  That, however, is my only little gripe about ''From The Shadows'' and I admit, whether I like it or not, it does more or less work.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785760920</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}

Revision as of 16:15, 19 September 2017

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 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. Ewritingservice.com is the custom writing service thousands of students trust all over the world. My Homework Done is your best choice among those websites that do homework for you.

There are currently 16,084 reviews at TheBookbag.

Want to find out more about us?

Reviews of the Best New Books

Read new reviews by category.
Read the latest features.

My Encyclopedia of Very Important Animals by DK

4.5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

The animal kingdom is a diverse one, full of creatures that do all sorts of things. The number of animals out there is so vast that even vets need to do a quick google when something strange appears in their practice. For budding vet-to-be animals are a constant source of fascination and they will absorb as much knowledge as you can give them. It is not practical to visit the zoo every day, but getting an educational and entertaining animal encylopedia is. Full review...

DK Children's Encyclopedia by DK

4.5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

More than sixty years ago my grandparents bought me an encylopedia: it was a major purchase for them as they didn't really do books, but it was a treasure trove for me and I still have it today. It didn't just teach me facts - it taught me how to find out information for myself and how to use an index. It opened my eyes to subjects I'd never considered and widened my knowledge on those I already loved. In format, in size and content it was very similar to DK Children's Encyclopedia and I can imagine a younger me hunched over it and begging just to be allowed to finish this bit before I went to bed. Full review...

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

4star.jpg Confident Readers

Every year the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest, in the hope that this sacrifice will keep their town safe. Little do they know that the witch, Xan, is a kind soul who rescues the children and finds them new homes with families on the other side of the forest. She feeds the babies on starlight to keep them nourished throughout their journey, but one year she accidently feeds a baby moonlight which fills the child with a powerful magic. Xan names the baby Luna and realises she must raise this magical child as her own, locking away her magical abilities until her thirteenth birthday. But as the day approaches where Luna's magic will emerge, she will have to learn to protect the safe and loving world she has always known. Full review...

Time of Blood by Robin Jarvis

4star.jpg Teens

Travel back over a hundred years into Whitby's past to see two witches battle an ancient evil. Follow young Lil as she tries to avoid spoilers and find her best friend. Full review...

Peter Pan and Wendy by J M Barrie and Robert Ingpen

4star.jpg For Sharing

It's a childhood staple - the story of Wendy, John and Michael Darling and their beloved nurse, Nana the Newfoundland dog who took them to school each day. It's George Darling, their father, who makes the mistake when he locks Nana in the yard and the children are whisked away to Neverland by Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. There's a wonderful mix of characters, from Peter Pan, the boy who never wants to grow up, Tinkerbell, the rather unpleasant fairy, Captain Hook, Tiger Lily, the lost boys and - of course - Wendy, but then it wouldn't have been a classic since the original stage production in 1904 and the novel of 1911 if it were otherwise. Full review...

Look For Her by Emily Winslow

4star.jpg Crime

In 1976, Annalise Wood disappeared on her journey home from school and instantly became a local celebrity. For decades the town of Lilling tried to solve the mystery of Annalise's disappearance until, almost twenty years later, her body was discovered. Annalise's body was badly decomposed and there was lack of DNA available, the only trace on the body was found in her skirt and does not match anyone on record. The chances of finding her killer were extremely low and the murder soon becomes a 'cold case' – but still the most famous Lilling has ever seen. Full review...

Paperbacks from Hell: A History of Horror Fiction from the '70s and '80s by Grady Hendrix

4.5star.jpg Horror

Demonic possession, murderous babies, man-eating moths… for these books, no plot was too ludicrous, no cover art too appalling, no evil too despicable. Now horror author Grady Hendrix risks his soul and his sanity (not to mention the reader's!) to relate the true, untold story of a fascinating and often forgotten era in publishing.

Read the synapse-shattering story summaries!
See the horrific hand-painted cover imagery!
And learn the true-life tales of the writers, artists, and publishers who gleefully violated every literary law but one – never be boring. Full review...

Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness and Family Secrets by Luke Dittrich

4.5star.jpg Popular Science

Luke Dittrich seeks to shed light on the man behind the initials, and in doing so, uncovered quite a bit more than he expected. Full review...

Worry Angels by Sita Brahmachari and Jane Ray

4star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

Amy-May was devastated when her parents split up: she and her mother left the delightful seaside cottage where the waves had sung her to sleep and moved into a 'garden flat'. That didn't mean that it had a garden, just that it was on the ground floor. They didn't have a lot of possessions as the bailiffs had taken most of them. Her father was living in another old cottage now and hopefully he'd be able to set up his kiln, but he wouldn't be able to home-school Amy-May. The alternative was Sandcastles Secondary School but the rather nervous Amy was considered to be too anxious to start at the school full time. As a gentle introduction to schooling she went to Grace's art school instead. Full review...

The Winter's Child by Cassandra Parkin

5star.jpg Paranormal

A modern Gothic tale of twisted love, secrets and hauntings it says on the cover. I'll go along with that. Suzannah Harper doesn't believe in life after death or gypsies being able to tell the future, but that hasn't stopped her spending a fortune on psychics and fortune tellers in the desperate hunt for her son. Joel has been missing for five years. He skipped out of school one day after an argument at home and has not been seen since. Full review...

Bathroom Boogie by Clare Foges and Al Murphy

4star.jpg For Sharing

Every day I leave the house with the feeling that I left it in a pretty tidy state, but on my return some things always seem out of place. This is especially true of my bathroom. Why is there toothpaste on the mirror, or a flannel on the floor? It would appear that I may not actually be to blame and that when I'm at work all the bathroom items come out for a boogie. Will I ever catch them in the act? Full review...

Son of the Night by Mark Alder

4star.jpg Fantasy

In Son of the Morning, author Mark Alder plunges the reader into a chaotic, dangerous world, taking them back to the turbulent reign of Edward III and the dangers of the Hundred Years War. Adding elements of fantasy and theology to the mix, Alder created an intriguing read which is continued in Son of the Night. With Lucifer, Satan, God, Devils and Angels interacting with a cast of real and well researched characters, Alder continues his exploration of the Hundred Years war whilst rather incredibly keeping his readers as educated as they are entertained. Full review...

The Wind in The Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Robert Ingpen

4star.jpg Confident Readers

Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows was one of the defining books of my childhood and more than sixty years after I first read the book I've just recently passed it onto another young reader. Since the book was first published in 1908 there have been some notable illustrators: Paul Bransom provided illustrations for the 1913 edition, Ernest H Shepard (perhaps better known for his illustrations of Winnie the Pooh) in 1933, Arthur Rackham (possibly the leading illustrator from the golden age of book illustration) in 1940 and Robert Ingpen who illustrated the centenary edition of The Wind in the Willows. Full review...

Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations by Simon Jenkins

5star.jpg Reference

In the mid twentieth century the railway was something which harked back to the Victorian age with trains being supplanted by cars and planes, but steam was being replaced by oil, even then and in the twenty-first century oil is giving way to electricity. It's cleaner, more environmentally friendly and the stations which we'd all rushed through as quickly as possible, keen to escape their grime, were restored and became places to be admired, possibly even lingered in. Simon Jenkins has chosen his hundred best railway stations. Full review...

Eloise Undercover by Sarah Baker

4star.jpg Confident Readers

Eloise has a wonderful life with her two best friends, Albert and Maddie, until the German soldiers start to arrive and everything changes. Nazi-occupied France is not a place Eloise wants to be. Maddie and her family are taken away and Albert starts to act very strangely. Then her father disappears. Eloise is lost until she discovers her father has been working for the resistance and there might, if she is brave enough, be a way to rescue him before he's deported to Germany. She now has hope and a plan. But will the resistance let a twelve year old schoolgirl join them? Full review...

Silver Silence A Psy-Changling Trinity Novel by Nalini Singh

4star.jpg Paranormal

Jump straight into a rich and diverse universe at this designated jumping on point. Visit a world of humans, changelings and Psy. The world the books have set in has faced a dramatic change and a new world-order of peace has been declared. The peace is painful and not universally loved. Into this world a bear falls in love with an emotionless Psy – how'd ya reckon it'll turn out? Full review...

Mirror to Damascus by Colin Thubron

4.5star.jpg Travel

Damascus today is a monument to her past, to all the people and civilisations that helped shape her. In this enthusiastic piece of travel writing, Collin Thubron tells the tale of a city that has seen empires rise and fall, conquerors come and go and has lasted for over two thousand years. It's rich in impressive history and this book is rich in impressive detail. Full review...

Yoga Babies by Fearne Cotton and Sheena Dempsey

4star.jpg For Sharing

Radio host, TV presenter, fashion designer, author – is there anything Fearne Cotton can't do? Based on the content of this book, we can undoubtedly add Yogi to the ongoing list of talents, because it's hard to imagine any other way in which this came into being. Full review...

Florence Frizzball by Claire Freedman and Jane Massey

4.5star.jpg For Sharing

Florence Frizzball has the frizziest, curliest, most out of control mop of hair you've ever seen! And she longs for smooth, sleek, brushable locks like all her friends. As a kid, I remember being chased round the garden by my mother, brandishing a hair brush and trying to get me to sit still and have my frizz sorted out. To say I identified with Florence would be an understatement. As the tale goes on, though, we see another side to the story. Florence gets what she wants, but when her dream comes true she quickly learns that maybe she was wanting all the wrong things, and that actually her frizzball is part of her identity. Full review...

Long Road From Jarrow by Stuart Maconie

5star.jpg Travel

I cancelled my Country Walking magazine subscription about a year ago and the only thing I miss is Stuart Maconie's column. His down-to-earth approach and sharp wit belie an equally sharp intellect and a soul more sensitive than he might be willing to admit. Let's be honest, though, I picked this one up because of someone else's review, in which I spotted names like Ferryhill and Newton Aycliffe. Places I grew up in. Like Maconie I have no connection (that I know of) to the Jarrow Crusade but when he talks about it being a whole matrix of events reducible to one word like Aberfan, Hillsborough, or Orgreave then somehow it does become part of my history too. Tangentially, at least. Full review...

The Gift of Dark Hollow by Kieran Larwood

4.5star.jpg Confident Readers

This is the second marvellous book featuring the rabbits of Enderby, and the delightful young rabbit hero, Podkin One Ear. I love the format of a story within a story. The adventures of Podkin in The Gift of Dark Hollow, are told by an old rabbit who has been a Bard all his life - a teller of stories and legends from the rabbit world. The Bard has an apprentice, Rue, desperately eager to learn his trade. He hangs on every word spoken by the Bard as they travel together to a festival. Rue is hungry to learn the art of story-telling, but also wants to know all about Podkin One Ear, and what better way to do this than to hear from the Master himself. The tale he tells Rue (and us) is a gripping and scary one, featuring Podkin and his friends in their ongoing battle to overturn the ruthless Gorm, and their cruel leader, Scramashank. Full review...

Clumpety Bump by Phil Allcock and Richard Watson

4star.jpg For Sharing

Clumpety Bump likes apples. Nothing wrong with that, after all: they're tasty and full of goodness. But you don't get delicious, juicy treats like that unless you deserve them, and naughty Clumpety is a bit too keen on saying I can't be bothered when his friend Wally asks for help. So, after several disasters, Wally decides he'd be better off leaving Clumpety at home and using his tractor instead. Unfortunately, things don't turn out too well, and our two heroes learn that if you want to be properly happy, other people need to be happy too. Selfishness just makes everyone sad. Full review...

A Bientot... by Roger Moore

4star.jpg Autobiography

The news of the death of Sir Roger Moore in May 2017 came as a great shock: he was one of those people you knew would go on for ever. There was just one small glimmer of light in the sadness - the news that a matter of days before his death he'd delivered the finished manuscript of his book, À bientôt…, to his publishers. Just a few months later a copy landed on my desk and I didn't even bother to look as though I could resist reading it straight away. Full review...

Lockwood and Co: The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud

5star.jpg Confident Readers

In a world that takes the best and worst of Victorian times (atmospheric fogs, candles, mudlarks who scavenge along the banks of the Thames for treasures) and the modern day (leggings, skinny jeans, cabs and concrete underpasses) absolutely anything can happen – and it does. For fifty years ghosts of all kinds have infested Britain, and as only children and young people can see them, theirs is the task of protecting the adults and ridding the country of the menaces, one by painful one. Lucy, George, Holly and Lockwood are the members of the smallest and most ramshackle independent agency, but their constant success (and survival despite forever lengthening odds) is a thorn in the flesh of the elite Fittes Agency, which has acquired almost total control over the whole ghost-bashing business. Full review...

Winter Tales by Kenneth Steven

4star.jpg Short Stories

Upon opening this book you are presented with an eclectic collection of twelve short stories centred around a common theme of Winter. You are taken around the world as you read stories set in a variety of places from Helsinki to New York, Germany to Russia. Kenneth Steven cleverly utilises a key component of short stories - that you can read each story in one sitting - to his advantage as he gives each story an individual focal subject, such as bullying, ensuring that you are reading a distinct story every time you open the book. Full review...

Lawless and the House of Electricity by William Sutton

5star.jpg Crime (Historical)

Campbell Lawless is back, this time tasked with solving a series of terrorist attacks across the nation. Is it the work of the French, as police and public are being led to believe, or someone closer to home? Who can be trusted and what does Roxbury, an innovative inventor previously disgraced, have to do with the bombs used to cause chaos across the country? Employing the services of Molly, the effervescent ragamuffin from his previous adventures, he sets in motion a campaign of subterfuge which uncovers long held secrets, skulduggery and the desperate yearnings beneath Roxbury's constant invention. Full review...

The Cossack by K J Lawrence

5star.jpg Thrillers

Daniel Brooking is not what you'd think of as hero material: he's a photographer of some merit and in his fifties he has a settled life. It was the disappearance of his assistant, Ivan Shevchenko, which disrupted everything. It wasn't unknown for him to disappear occasionally, but missing an exhibition was a first for him. He'd been distracted for a few days - and then there were the strange papers which arrived, to be kept safe. The authorities, in the form of a shadowy senior member of the security services, confirmed the view that Ivan was probably dead, because of some supposed connections with organised crime and drug dealing. Full review...

Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies

4.5star.jpg Children's Rhymes and Verse

Consider the Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, were he to keep in touch with even half of his companions? He would certainly need a few novelty gifts for some of them, say, for example, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and enemies. As luck would have it, he has the space in his TARDIS to stock up in advance, so my advice to him – sorry, her – would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and get himself ready. And if you're working on a shorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well my advice is pretty much the same. Full review...