Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"

When the toys discover an old, bedraggled teddy bear, they rack their brains to find a way to mend his broken heart, to make him smile again. The velvet rabbit who knows everything offers to tell them the secret of Teddy's happiness, but he wants them to do him a favour first. Full review...

Brand Society by Martin Kornberger

Business and Finance

Brand Society is fundamentally not a business management book. This might come as some surprise given the title. Management books, at least the how to management books, tend to be simple and easy to follow. But, I suspect Kornberger would agree, that's what limits their use. They are over-simplified to the point of uselessness. Rather, Brand Society takes an holistic approach to the subject of the prevailing nature of brands in today's world (at least the Western world). He suggests that today's brands exist without a prevailing theory to understand them or make sense of them. So what Kornberger does, after first looking at how brands transform management and organizations, is present a brand-centred conceptual map for thinking about things like politics, ethics and aesthetics. Full review...

The Music Instinct: How Music Works and Why We Can't Do without it by Philip Ball

Popular Science

'We need to talk about music, but it is hard. Very few people can do it.' So says Philip Ball after 400 pages of talking about music. Very few readers who make it that far will disagree with his conclusion, but most will have gained some enlightenment about how music works and why we enjoy it. Full review...

Phil Daniels: Class Actor by Phil Daniels

Autobiography

If we were asked to nominate the archetypal Cockney actor on large or small screen over the last twenty years or so, Phil Daniels would undoubtedly come high on the list. Born in Islington in 1958 and raised in Kings Cross, he was a graduate of the Anna Scher Theatre in the 1970s. Full review...

Crawlers by Sam Enthoven

Why are the men that want to take over the world using evil alien beings always so stupid? Steadman is stupid. Ever since the Great Fire of London trapped her in an underground dungeon in 1666, the Queen has been neutralised. Even then, the great and the powerful couldn't quite bring themselves to kill her. She had too much potential. But they did have the sense to keep her safely locked away. But now Steadman thinks he knows better. He thinks he can rule the world through the Queen and he's set her a test. If she passes, he will set her free. Full review...

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

In the unnamed city of the future, all the adults are pretty. They've had mental and physical surgery to make them calm, placid and perfectly aesthetic human beings. If they have any trouble as young adults it is the problem of what to wear at parties, or how to get rid of their hangovers when they wake up at 5pm. Unfortunately, one of these bright young things is our heroine, Tally, one of the few people in the world to have learnt how damnably horrid and sapping the life of Riley can be. Full review...

This Perfect World by Suzanne Bugler

Women's Fiction

Laura Hamley sees herself as a fortunate woman. She has a successful husband, two beautiful children, a big house in a good neighbourhood, and a coterie of friends who fall nicely into the category of people like us. She's always beautifully turned out, and her position in the social pecking order is never less than high. She simply shrugs off the occasional moments of dissatisfaction - what on Earth could she have to complain about?

And then Mrs Partridge makes an unwelcome phone call... Full review...

Crash Bang Donkey! by Jill Newton

Farmer Gruff spends all his time chasing the crows from his corn. Eventually he needs to sleep, so all the animals tiptoe around, making no noise whatsoever. What's this coming over the hill with a crash and a bang? Oh no! It's a donkey with a drum. How's Farmer Gruff going to get his sleep? If he can't sleep, how's he ever going to be able to keep the crows from his corn? Full review...

The Concert Ticket by Olga Grushin

The Concert Ticket follows the lives of a family in Soviet Russia who have grown desperately distant from one another. Sergei, the father, is a frustrated musician who longs to play the pre-revolutionary masterpieces of composers like Igor Selinsky but is forced to play the kind of patriotic ditties he despises. His schoolteacher wife, Anna, longs for his love, but is never quite able to get his attention with her shy gestures. Their shiftless son, Alexander, has quietly given up going to school and spends his days hanging around the park, consorting with undesirables. Also living in their house is Anna's silent, elderly mother. Full review...

The Temple-Goers by Aatish Taseer

Aatish Taseer is probably best known for his journalism, publishing regularly in the Indian press, in Prospect, and perhaps most prolifically in Time magazine. He has won acclaim for his memoir: Stranger to History in which he, raised by his Indian Sikh mother, traces his absent Muslim father across the border in Pakistan – and also for his translations of the short stories of Saadat Hasan Manto. Full review...

Beswitched by Kate Saunders

Flora is furious at being sent away to boarding school, even one which is very progressive with luxurious facilities and school rock bands. Her parents need to sell her grandmother's house in Italy and build a granny flat at home, and Flora is resentful at having her life turned upside down for a grumpy, unpleasant old woman. On the train, she falls asleep and wakes up to find herself in another era. Trendy 21st century Flora is horrified to find herself in a hideous pinafore dress with a childish haircut and no make up. What has happened to her Ipod, mobile phone and brand new laptop? Full review...

Nina Jones and the Temple of Gloom by Julie Cohen

Women's Fiction

A sign of a good book, for me, often relates to how easily I can put it down. And then how much I want to pick it back up again. Nina Jones was a particular challenge for me as after reading it for an hour whilst my toddler napped I kept my thumb in the page whilst getting her out of bed, snuck her downstairs still saving my page, put on Cbeebies, and then sat next to her on the sofa to carry on reading for at least another hour, if not a little bit more than that. I then kept it in the kitchen so I could sneak a few more pages in between stirring the spaghetti. And then once my daughter was in bed I went on to absently ignore my poor, tired, over-worked husband (who got bored and went for a bath) so that I could read on to the end of the story. I found myself mentally yelling at a fictional character (I hope it was mentally and I wasn't actually shouting out loud...we have very thin walls), I swooned over the hero, sniggered often and I even cried a little bit too. So, a book that induces such family neglect and an emotional roller coaster of emotions is definitely a good read! Full review...

The Guards by Ken Bruen

Crime

A woman makes an unlikely choice by asking Jack Taylor to investigate the apparent suicide of her teenage daughter in Galway. Jack is ex Irish police (Garda) but also a known alcoholic with nothing much else in his life. His approach to investigation is haphazard - he doesn't really have a method beyond asking direct questions and, if necessary, using his fists. Predictably, there is more to the suicide case than first meets the eye and Jack, aided by his unsavoury friend, Sutton, uncover some very disturbing secrets and levels of corruption within the city. The Guards is not your conventional crime thriller; it's darker and has a grim realism. Full review...

The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller

Laurence Bartram has survived the war, but his life has changed dramatically. It will never be the same again. It's almost as if he doesn't recognize himself. Domestic life is now non-existent and he has no-one to please but himself. He is unsettled and edgy. War has obviously left its mark. He retreats graciously and wonders what he'll do with the rest of his life. Full review...

Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticisms 1981 - 1991 by Salman Rushdie

Politics and Society

We read some authors because we know we're going to enjoy them. Others, we feel somehow obliged to read. If we consider ourselves readers, and certainly if we have any pretensions (I use the word advisedly) to being well-read, then there are some books and more particularly some authors with whom we are required to become familiar. Full review...

A Life Apart by Neel Mukherjee

Ritwik Ghosh grows up in India in the 1970's, one of two children of an abusive mother. In the 1990's, finally escaping the country after her death, he comes to England to study at Oxford, then moves to London. There, he looks after 86 year old Anne Cameron in exchange for free accommodation, while looking for work, and for sexual encounters with other men. He also writes a novel - the extended story of Miss Gilby, a character in Rabindranath Tagore's novel Ghare Baire. Miss Gilby becomes English teacher to Bimala, the wife of a minor official in 1900's Bengal just before the Partition of the province. Full review...

Green by Mark Sperring and Leo Timmers

Clive loves wearing green. It's all he ever wears. He thinks he looks mighty snazzy, but his big sister (boo! hiss!) takes every opportunity to call him a cabbage, moss, a sprout or a toad. Clive keeps wearing his green clothes, certain that he'll have the last laugh and get one over on his sister. Full review...

Stinky! Or How The Beautiful Smelly Warthog Found A Friend by Ian Whybrow and Lynne Chapman

Stinky the warthog lives in a neighbourhood with the Crocodile family, the Monkey family and the Littlebird family. One by one they invite Stinky round to play with their children, but his foul odour and the flies buzzing around him cause all manner of problems. Will he be able to find a friend? ...Well, yes, it says so in the title. Full review...

The Early Loves of Anne Boleyn by Josephine Wilkinson

History

Before her marriage to King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn had already been courted by three suitors, any of whom might have become her husband - and possibly saved her from her eventual end on the scaffold. The first was her Irish cousin James Butler, later Earl of Ormond, whom she was at one time intended to marry in order to settle a family dispute over the title and estates of the Earldom of Ormond. After their marriage negotiations came to an end in the face of legal obstacles, she became betrothed to Henry Percy, heir to the Duke of Northumberland. With a little help from the scheming Cardinal Wolsey, the Duke, who had little time for his son, insisted that any idea of marriage between them should be dismissed forthwith. Soon after this the poet Thomas Wyatt became enamoured of her, but by this time there was fierce competition from his sovereign, and her destiny was sealed. Full review...

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

"This city is a paradise, Tally. It feeds you, educates you, keeps you safe. It makes you pretty." And that's meant literally. As soon as they're sixteen years old, ugly people like Tally are completely rebuilt - no more freckles, dull eyes, rough skin, or ideas about biting their fingernails, and made a pretty. It's scientific, and obviously of benefit, considering the parties, status and love afforded to pretties. But is it essential? When her best friend is prettified Tally finds a new friend, Shay, who has secrets to share in the few weeks before the operation they're due to have on the same day. Secrets of another place, another way, and of people staying forever ugly - through choice. Full review...

Tortoise vs. Hare - The Rematch! by Preston Rutt and Ben Redlich

Harry 'The Hurricane' Hare has been licking his wounds since 'Steady' Eddie Tortoise beat him in the famous race. It's time for a rematch, and Harry's been training hard. Eddie couldn't possibly win again, could he? Full review...

Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo

Lisa's best friend has moved away. The neighbourhood bullies, Truls and Trym Trane, are causing havoc. Her dad is getting ready for Norway's Independence Day celebrations. Oh, and there's an anaconda on the loose in the sewers. Then Nilly moves into her street, and the two of them meet Doctor Proctor and discover his amazing fart powder. Full review...

Talk to the Hand by Nicole Dryburgh

We first met Nicole Dryburgh in her book The Way I See It, which she wrote at eighteen, and which detailed her battles with cancer and the loss of her sight. We loved the warts-and-all picture of her life that she gave us then, and so we were really pleased to see that she's written a second book. Full review...

The Man of Passage by Ian Mathie

Autobiography

Ian Mathie's association with Africa began when his father was posted to what was then Northern Rhodesia when Mathie was just four years old. School was in a convent and was run by German and Italian nuns and for a while he was the only white child amongst a couple of hundred Africans. Even when he was joined by others he was still part of an ethnic minority although he didn't realise it! He was taught in the local language and grew up with the local children. It was his home and was to be the centre of his life for decades to come. Full review...

The Queen Must Die (Chronicles of the Tempus) by K A S Quinn

In this historical time-travelling extravaganza, Katie Berger-Jones-Burg (I know, it's a mouthful, but stay with me) is the daughter of Mimi, an ex-girl band member who has been married three times, so far, hence Katie's hyphenated name. Katie has come home from school to find that Mimi has gone off with another man, Dr Fishberg, and as she begins to stress about the potential new addition to her surname she crawls into her hidey-hole space beneath her bed to escape for a little while. Here she keeps her diary and her stash of books, and she curls up to read her latest book, a compilation of letters from Princess Alice, Queen Victoria's youngest daughter. She starts to feel a bit sleepy, but is suddenly startled awake by a flash of light. She finds herself in Victorian England, underneath a sofa and staring into the eyes of Princess Alice, who is just as startled as she is. Full review...

Luke and Jon by Robert Williams

Luke's mum died in a car accident a while ago and since then his father has let things go. The house has been repossessed and they are forced to move to a new town. The new place is falling down - it's all they can afford after the debts were paid. Neither Luke nor his father are really that bothered - what can a house be when there's no mum to fill it with her brightness and vivacity and love? The bottle of whisky that has begun to live in his father's hand though - that's a worry for Luke; that makes him feel rather sick inside. Full review...

Coming Home by Melanie Rose

Women's Fiction

We meet the narrator of this story drinking coffee from a thermos in a lay-by, on a cold grey day. All her worldly possessions are travelling with her in her car, including her cat. She has clearly made some momentous decision, and is on her way to somewhere new. I assumed that as story unfolded, I'd learn more about her and where she was going. Full review...

Divine by Choice (Goddess of Partholon) by P C Cast

Fantasy

A few months after the Formorian war, Shannon Parker is living the high life. Hailed as Goddess Incarnate, married to a man (well, centaur) who was born to love her, carrying her first child, the next daughter of Epona and royally spoiled with amazing jewels and clothes, life really can't get much better. Full review...

Cut on the Bias by Stephanie Tillotson

Short Stories

If Cut on the Bias is in your local bookshop, you will surely be won over by the feisty cover. Stories about women and their clothes are about identity, so what better start to a set of short stories than a fashion statement cover featuring the bags in which said clothes arrive home? Full review...

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

A clever, comic delight, pitch-perfect, astutely observed, particularly insightful, must-read. Crumbs. Whatever else is there to say about Nick Hornby's latest book that isn't already plastered on this newly-published paperback edition? I can only report that Juliet, Naked bowled me over with yet another Hornby strike. Full review...

The Alchemist and the Angel by Joanne Owen

When Jan's parents die of the plague, he is sent to the great city of Vienna to live with his aunt and uncle. His uncle is a distinguished alchemist, and, hoping to take the boy's mind off his grief, hires him as his apprentice. Jan loves the work, learns quickly, and soon the two of them are on the verge of perfecting a serum said to bring the dead back to life. But then his uncle is found dead, and Jan is being whisked off to Prague by his vain and calculating aunt. She has her own plans for the serum, and she will stop at nothing to accomplish them. Full review...

The Spider Truces by Tom Connolly

The title of this debut novel by Tom Connolly is enigmatic, mysterious. It draws the reader in - just like a fly to a spider's web. And in fairness 'The Spider Truces' does exactly what it say on the tin as the main character, Ellis, is obsessed and terrified in equal measure, of spiders.

... and when you live in an old house, as the O'Rourke family does, there are plenty of spiders and other creepy crawlies about. Full review...

Witchfinder: Dawn of the Demontide by William Hussey

Jake is a rather solitary person. He's bright but bored by school and he's obsessed with horror comics. He owns an amazing collection and he knows all the stories and myths and folklores off by heart. Little does he realise that everything he reads about is real, and the Demontide is almost upon him. Full review...

The Favorites by Mary Yukari Waters

This story is set in Kyoto, Japan, starting in June 1978. Fourteen year old Sarah Rexford and her Japanese mother, Yoko, have come back from the US to stay with family for a few weeks. Sarah was born and brought up in Japan but has lived in the US with her mother and white American father for five years. She is very conscious of the differences between life in Kyoto and in Fielder's Butte, California. Here in Kyoto, the women, including Sarah and her mum, go shopping every day for food, and the food is very different – in an opening scene, Sarah is trying to explain to her grandfather what she normally has for breakfast in the US, and becoming aware of the gulf between her life in Japan and in California. Full review...

The Master of Misrule by Laura Powell

In the Arcanum, fortunes could be won and lost. The bizarre otherworld, just the slightest shift away from our own, had been home to a life-altering game of chance, power and intelligence, based on the tarot. Four teenaged Londoners had been witness to this, then players. But they'd found it wanting, and to level the playing field, had thrown out the rulebook. With that, however, the referee is no more, and the Lord of Misrule is in charge. Free, too, to smother all of Britain with his unique brand of scratch-card lottery. Soon all humanity might be out of luck. Full review...

Timecatcher by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

Jessie Minahan is a pretty average fictional twelve year old girl: she has a dog side-kick named Duff and she craves adventure. One day, when her scatty mother has an urgent need for buttons Jessie discovers the abandoned Dublin Button Factory in an old mill, now inhabited by two detectives, who have a big, big secret. She also meets G who is not your average fictional twelve year old boy - for one, he's dead. His worst enemy is Greenwood – a large ghost who lives in the mill and is full of rules. Greenwood is also involved in this big secret which Jessie and G soon discover is the Timecatcher. It opens every seven years for three days and reveals the past - 'shadow days' and 'shadow people'. It is about to open again and there is a ghostly villain named Sullivan Ellz'mede who would do anything to have the power source at its heart... Full review...

Trespass by Rose Tremain

Set in the hills of Southern France, Trespass is a novel about sibling love and rivalry, disputed territory and ultimately revenge. In the French corner are Aramon Lunel, resident of the Mas Lunel, and his sister Audrun who lives in a cottage in the grounds. In the English corner are Victoria Verey, a garden designer, and her partner, an untalented watercolourist, Kitty. The catalyst that brings these together is the arrival in France of Anthony Verey, Victoria's sister whose exclusive antiques business in London is failing and who decides to follow his sister in finding a new life in France. Aramon is tempted to sell his family Mas by the lure of 'foreign' money even if that means that his sister's house has to be destroyed to secure the deal. Full review...

The Wrong End of the Dog (Grubtown Tales) by Philip Ardagh

If you haven't been to Grubtown before, then feel welcome. It's an auspicious day for the town of grubby and inept people with names like Rambo Sanskrit, and Mango Claptrap, as well. For today is the day of film star Tawdrey Hipbone's gala charity premiere. But there's to be no gala, and little charity either, when a pelican (and not the town mascot either, but a different one) comes and steals - yes, steals - the beloved dog Snooks - yes, Snooks - from where he was living the fine life in Tawdrey's hair - yes, hair. Full review...

The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips

Historical Fiction

It is 1672 and Hannah Devlin, a young widow with a skill for (illegally) practicing medicine finds herself being all but kidnapped by King Charles II's advisors and forced to use her skills to treat his mistress, Louise de Keroualle. Full review...

In the Trees by Pauline Fisk