Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"

The Happets are a friendly looking bunch of animal friends all made of different coloured fabrics. In this story we're introduced to each character and told about its colour, for example Milo is green like gorgeous green apples, gorgeous green clover, gorgeous green balls. Each page has a fabric tab, to match the character in question, making it a lovely book for babies to touch and play with. Full review...

The Storm at the Door by Stefan Merrill Block

The author, Stefan Merrill Block, is writing about members of his own family in The Storm at the Door. The story opens at the end, if you get my drift. We see the elderly grandmother Katherine in a bit of a spot, wondering whether to open and then read a bunch of papers. These papers (these red-hot papers) are the words and thoughts of her husband Frederick from his time in a mental institution. If she opens them, then it will be opening a veritable can of worms. Does she or doesn't she? Full review...

House of Exile: War, Love and Literature, from Berlin to Los Angeles by Evelyn Juers

Biography

Heinrich Mann and Nelly Kröger-Mann were in a constant state of hazardous exile after the rise of fascism in Germany in 1933. He became like Zola, his favourite author, a socially committed novelist and political activist and fierce critic of militarism. He was convivial, having a wide circle of friends that contained many creative artists, playwrights, socialists. He seemed drawn to the bohemians and the demi-monde. This elegant and sometimes formal gentleman came from the Hanseatic town of Lubeck where his father belonged to a renowned grain merchant family. These might be described as the haute-bourgeoisie. There was an unusual degree of sibling rivalry between him and his less robust brother, the famous author of The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann. Hendrick possessed a sensual nature and fell passionately and easily in love with a number of women. Of these his relationship with Nelly, a fascinating woman, a seamstress and nightclub hostess, as full of contradictions as himself, was the most successful and long lasting. She followed him on the long painful journey into exile at first in Nice and later to the United States. Full review...

A Conspiracy Of Friends by Alexander McCall Smith

So, here we are again back with our friends in Corduroy Mansions in this, their third book. I found A Conspiracy Of Friends a little slow to start with, and I worried that perhaps I had tired of the characters, but a few chapters later the pace picked up and once again I was thoroughly entertained by the quirky characters, interesting thoughts and ideas. Full review...

Bang Bang You're Dead by Narinder Dhami

Mia is holding her family together. She's never known her father, her mother is suffering from manic depression which she refuses to seek help for, and her twin brother Jamie is causing her real concern. So when the fire alarm is set off at school and rumours fly around that there's a pupil with a gun on the loose, she starts to worry that Jamie has done the unthinkable. Ignoring all common sense, she desperately tries to see for herself whether he could be the one with the gun... Full review...

In The Sea There Are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda

In The Sea There Are Crocoiles is based on a true story about a young boy left by his mother to fend for himself. As if that wasn't difficult enough, he's stranded in Pakistan while the rest of his family are in war-ravaged Afghanistan. It's a collaboration between Afghan Enaiatollah and his Italian translator, Fabio - this book is already a big hit with Italian readers (it says so on the back cover blurb). Enaiatollah eventually claimed political asylum in Italy. Full review...

My Name is Rose by Sally Grindley

Rosa comes from a Romany gypsy community. She travels around Eastern Europe with her family, only stopping occasionally for school. Her father says her education comes from her family's connection with the land and the Roma traditions. And Rose agrees. She is happy and never happier than when her parents are playing music and there is noise and laughter and gaiety. Full review...

Momentum by Saci Lloyd

London, 2030. Energy wars are consuming the globe now peak oil is past. Britain creaks on with ever-declining influence and is now partly dependent on aid from China. The gap between rich and poor is now so great that the poor (the Outsiders) live in dreadful slums while the rich (the Citizens) spend most of their time plugged into the net, experiencing life as a fantasy. Civil unrest is springing up, only to be ruthlessly put down by the Kossacks, the new security force. Full review...

Asylum by Rachel Anderson

Sunday arrived in the UK at Lowestoft. He'd have preferred Iceland, which, so he'd heard, was cold and treeless but democratic and respectful of human life. Sent from a refugee camp by his Auntie Pru, Sunday is very religious and very respectful of human life, unlike the militia who destroyed his village. So it's difficult for Sunday to become a Muslim. But that's what he has to do. His papers confiscated by a shady people trafficker, Sunday finds himself the unpaid caretaker at Hawk Rise, a condemned London tower block. And his name isn't Sunday any more; it's Piet Ali. Full review...

We Love Bears by Catherine Anholt and Laurence Anholt

Two young children wake up one morning to find their teddy bear has come to life and is waiting to take them on an outing to a Teddy Bear Town. The simple text makes for a short and sweet bedtime read, always useful in our house. There are just a couple of lines of rhyming verse on each page, with a nice rhythm for easy reading aloud, and I think it could be enjoyed by quite young toddlers. However, I liked the amusing pictures, with lots of detail to look and discuss with slightly older siblings. Full review...

Russia: A 1,000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East by Martin Sixsmith

History

As a former BBC correspondent in Moscow at the time that the Cold War was ending, Sixsmith is in a unique position to write a history of Russia, based partly on research and partly on his own experiences, after having witnessed at first hand some of the upheavals in recent years which play such an important part in the story. Full review...

Forgetting Zoe by Ray Robinson

Forgetting Zoe opens with Thurman, one of the two main characters. We see that his home life is dreadful - with a violent and cruel father and a mother who is weak. And as an only child (to rather elderly parents) Thurman hears his father's violence directed at his mother. Their home is out of the way and in an isolated spot, so really the three of them form a very unhappy threesome indeed. The reader is left in no doubt as to the nature of the father with lines such as, As a form of punishment Father would press one of his hands down on top of Thurman's head so forcefully that Thurman's legs would buckle... that blood would trickle down his forehead... Full review...

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

Growing up in foster care has always left Ari wondering where she came from. The teal coloured eyes and strange, unchangeable, silver hair just adds to the mystery surrounding her. When she searches for answers to her questions about her past, she finds a simple message left for her by her mother – RUN. Desperately seeking answers and with scary figures on her trail, she returns to her birthplace of New 2, once known as New Orleans, to find herself plunged into a power struggle which could have far reaching consequences. Full review...

The Deserter by Peadar o Guilin

It's been four years coming, but this sequel to The Inferior won't disappoint those who have loyally waited. I've loyally waited. And I would like to say that four years has been too long. In that time dystopian fiction for young adults has become more and more popular - lots of it is very good - and I did wonder if I would love the central character Stopmouth quite as much as I had before. I shouldn't have worried. He's a gorgeous creation - brave, honest, loyal and committed, he will appeal equally to male and female readers. Full review...

The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly

Karen is ending her university years and has her future mapped out. But then she meets Biba, who opens doors to a world she's never seen before, and to the type of intense friendship that she's never experienced either. As Karen embarks on this friendship, she collects all kinds of new experiences along the way. At the start of that summer, she could never have predicted just how indelible the mark left by the friendship would turn out to be. Full review...

Whatever by Michel Houellebecq

Interviewed by BBC film critic Mark Kermode shortly before his 60th birthday, Woody Allen gave the bequiffed one this somewhat startling piece of advice, You get to my age, you realise that when you die you're really not losing that much. Those words sprang to mind while reading Whatever, first novel by Michel Houellebecq. The main protagonist in Whatever may be only half the age of the film director, but the outlook on life shared by both men seems strikingly similar. Full review...

Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead wanted to write something personal for his fourth book, so he chose an autobiographical novel, based on his experiences as a vacationing youngster. Sag Harbor really does exist - at the far end of Long Island and next to the up-market Hamptons. It has a history of whaling and an association with John Steinbeck. Within easy reach of New York, in 1985 it was an affluent black enclave within a large, white middle-class holiday area. Full review...

Oomph! (Preston Pig) by Colin McNaughton

Preston Pig is a charming and somewhat lucky character who features in quite a few of Colin McNaughton's picture books. In Oomph!, Preston and his family go to the seaside for their holiday where he makes a new little friend called Max. They have great fun together all week but are blissfully unaware that there is someone a bit sinister lurking in the background. With this book, as well as reading the words, make sure that you pay close attention to the illustrations where there is a slightly different story being told. Full review...

Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison

Bridget Duke, daughter of a famous celebrity, is the undisputed queen of her school. Popular, wanted by the boys and feared or adored by the girls, she barely even notices the trail of destruction she leaves behind her as friends, teachers and even her stepmother end up being hurt by her actions. So when Bridget is in a car accident, and ends up in limbo, she's sent into the shoes of those she's wronged to see the effect she's had on them. Can she redeem herself? Full review...

The Songs of Manolo Escobar by Carlos Alba

Antonio is the second-born son to Spanish parents, living in Glasgow. He's embarrassed to be anything other than Scottish, and he tries everything to hide his family background from friends at school, refusing to speak Spanish with his parents and struggling to forge his own identity in life. In his middle age, he suddenly finds his life falling apart around him as his marriage begins to fail and his increasingly frail father becomes obsessed with the proper burial of his parents back in Spain. Antonio continues to play a rather emotionally distant part in his parents' lives, but then finds himself drawn further and further into the truth about his father's past which, ultimately, leads him to question his own past and the path his future might take. Full review...

A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard

Skip is a runaway. Shipped around from one foster family to another, he finally plans an escape. Ending up homeless on the streets, he befriends an elderly homeless man called Billy. Just as Skip seems to be finding an unusual kind of stability in his life the city he lives in is suddenly bombed, and overnight his life changes again. Billy and Skip find themselves responsible for three more people: Max, Tia and the baby. Soon they're running away again, but this time to try to save their lives. Full review...

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages by Tom Holt

Fantasy

Imagine a world where pigs can do quantum mechanics, and where female solicitors turn into chickens. Add a dry cleaner that moves (literally, from the roof tiles to the basement) from town to town every forty-eight hours, a couple of medieval knights who've fought every day for centuries, and a magical ring (or pencil sharpener, depending on the mood it's in). Stir in a bit of property developing, a thaumaturgical detective and an old man who lives in a cloud. Result? You haven't even begun to probe the depths of this crazy, absurd, complex and hilarious book. Full review...

The Rage by Gene Kerrigan

Crime

DS Bob Tidey has been round the block a few times. He's middle-aged, has a less-than-perfect home life, but on the upside, he loves his job - especially court work and court appearances. Bob Tidey felt at home here. He's going to have his hands full shortly. Enter Vincent, the other main character. Fresh out of an Irish prison, he's strutting all over the place. You could say he's looking for trouble. Fed up with small-beer crimes, he wants to land a big one. A big one with big rewards and then he can put his feet up. Full review...

Daily Mail Tax Guide 2011/2012 by Jane Vass

Business and Finance

H M Revenue and Customs is now bigger than ever – it's taken on more work – but at the same time it's having to shed staff, many of them being the ones with experience and inevitably something will have to give. In the light of this the author rightly concludes that it's now more important than ever to keep a close eye on your tax affairs. Don't assume for example that your PAYE coding is correct. Full review...

Six Words and a Wish by Karen McCombie

Jem has a dad who's a clown, a best friend who's a hypochondriac, a house where it's always Christmas, and a sister who's missing – or is she? Gracie left home after something Jem said, and the younger girl has always wondered whether she's to blame for her big sister's disappearance. When her mother receives a present from Gracie on her birthday, she thinks she might finally be able to ask her. As well as hoping her sister returns, Jem also tries to form a band, helps her dad do his clown shows, and may even have found a cute boy she likes… Full review...

Elmer's Special Day by David McKee

My daughter has grown up loving the Elmer the Elephant stories and even though she is now six, he still remains one of her firm favourites. His brightly coloured patchwork skin, along with his wise words and thoughts, is particularly appealing. In 'Elmer's Special Day', all of the elephants become as bright and colourful as Elmer, as this is their one opportunity to paint and decorate themselves as brightly as him. They do become rather noisy and excitable though which causes some of the other jungle animals to complain. Elmer is both wise and resourceful though and soon realises that the way to keep all of the animals happy is to invite them all to join in. He does this and the outcome is truly colourful with lions, monkeys, giraffes, as well as elephants and many more animals, all uniquely decorated and wearing elephant masks. All except one elephant that is. Because this is the day when all of the other animals can shine, Elmer goes and rolls in elephant coloured berry mud until he is the one that looks like an ordinary elephant. At that moment the parade begins and it is truly enjoyable and spectacular. Full review...

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Anders Eckman is dead. The news has been delivered in the form an aerogram – remember those blue paper-cum-envelope things we used to use to write to foreign pen-pals when the notion of befriending a person you'd never met in a foreign country still seemed exotic?

This flimsy piece of paper was delivered to Eckman's employers. After all it was them that had sent him down to the Brazilian Amazon to find the enigmatic and evasive Dr Annik Swenson, and more precisely find out exactly how she was getting on with developing the drug that was costing the firm so much of their research budget. Full review...

Killing Honour by Bali Rai

Historical Fiction

Sat comes from a prosperous Sikh family in Leicester. His mother spends a lot of time at the gurdwara but his father and brother don't and are not above breaking parts of the Sikh code - they both eat meat and drink alcohol. Overall, though, Sat's family is a traditional one and so when his parents hear a rumour that his sister Jas has a boyfriend at college, they withdraw her and arrange a marriage to Taz Atwal, a wealthy local businessman. Full review...

John Shakespeare: Prince by Rory Clements

Historical Fiction

This is the third in the excellent Elizabethan murder mystery series, featuring John Shakespeare, brother of Will. An inexplicable murder is linked to a much deeper plot of political dimensions, leading Shakespeare into danger and tragedy. A series of bombings, which appear to be targeting the immigrant population causes huge unrest and fear, and leads to the uncovering of further political dimensions. Full review...

Let Not The Waves of the Sea by Simon Stephenson

Biography

The book opens after the catastrophic event and the narrator/author Simon is in the local area of Phi Phi. He describes it in glowing terms (which may sound a little strange) as he aims, on a rather arduous climb, to be rewarded with a stunning view. And immediately I'm struck with Stephenson's lilting style of writing. For example, ' ... an elderly lady carrying bags of rice over each shoulder as if they were no more than foam guesthouse pillows.' How lovely and evocative is that, I'm thinking to myself. Full review...

John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman

Entertainment

For part of my formative years, John Lennon was one of the four most famous people in the world. All that we have learnt about him in the thirty years or so since his death has kept his name firmly in the public eye, if not always for the best of reasons. At over 800 pages, this is one of the lengthiest biographies written about the extraordinary life and times of the former Beatle. It's also surely one of the most impartial. Full review...

The Untied Kingdom by Kate Johnson

Women's Fiction

Eve Carpenter is having a very bad day, and it is about to get worse. She comes round from a paragliding accident but everything is rather strange. Although she’s still in London, this is a city and a world she hardly recognises. There is just enough that is familiar to be totally confusing. In this world, England is a backward country with a population kept too busy fighting in a civil war to do much else. She is taken captive by a small group of soldiers who take her marching across the country with them. The leader, Major Harker, is obnoxious and scruffy, and is convinced Eve is a spy, or perhaps she is just mad. While they apparently speak the same language, they struggle to understand each other – their worlds are so different. Full review...

The Truth About Celia Frost by Paula Rawsthorne

Celia Frost has always been extremely careful, never playing with other children, always wearing gloves and long sleeves, and never getting into unwanted confrontations. For she knows from her mother that the rare disorder that she suffers from, which is not unlike haemophilia, will mean that just a small cut, a seemingly insignificant graze, can leave her bleeding uncontrollably until she dies. However, one day Celia snaps. When she humiliates a bully, the boy gets his revenge and with a small flick of a knife starts a cut that will kill her. Full review...

The Long Road Home: The Aftermath of the Second World War by Ben Shephard

History

In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War Europe was in tatters, and millions of its citizens were stranded far from home. How to cope with these Displaced Persons was one of the biggest issues of the immediate post-war period. In 'The Long Road Home' Ben Shephard tells their story. Full review...

Darkness Rising: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Maya has lived her whole life in strange little rural town, Salmon Creek. Although 'little' means a population of less than 200 and 'rural' really does mean in the middle of nowhere, Maya is happy living where she does. Sure, she gets more contact with cougars than she does with people some days, but she's always loved nature and she's always been content at Salmon Creek. Full review...

Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon

Fantasy

On a stormy night, two very different Princesses save the life of a drowning man.

The first, Lenia, is a mermaid, Princess of the sea. Tired of life underwater, she dreams of her eighteenth birthday when she's allowed to spend one day in the realm of humans. Though it's stormy and dangerous, she can't resist a trip to the surface, where a boat is sinking, human men drowning all around her. When Lenia lays her eyes on one man in particular, she knows she has to save him. Carrying him to the shore, she calls out to a human girl on the cliffs to do what she cannot – to bring him to real shelter and warmth. Full review...

The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Calcutta, 1916. Lieutenant Peake sacrifices his life to save two twin babies from a terrifying and murderous demon.

Sixteen years later, the separated twins meet again. Sheere has spent her childhood moving from place to place with her grandmother - never staying still, always hypervigilant. Ben has lived in a Calcutta orphanage and has a band of friends - the Chowbar Society - who are all about to be released from care to make their way in the world. Full review...

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Conor wakes up from his nightmare at 12.07am. To. The yew tree from the churchyard has uprooted itself, transformed into a huge monster and is waiting at his window, full of threat. Conor, though, is unimpressed. Nothing could be as frightening as his nightmare. Nothing could be as frightening as his waking life, for that matter. So he snorts in contempt. But the monster shrugs off this reaction and tells Conor he must listen to three stories and then tell one of his own. And that fourth story must be The Truth. Full review...

Looking For Alaska by John Green

When Miles Halter leaves his safe, comfortable life in Florida for Culver Creek – a boarding school his father used to attend – he's looking for what French poet Francois Rabelais called the Great Perhaps. Miles thinks he's found it in Alaska Young – beautiful, flirty, sexy, but messed up Alaska. Her mood changes like the flip of a switch. She smokes and drinks too much. Miles couldn't be more in love with her. Full review...

Ophelia in Pieces by Clare Jacob

Barrister Ophelia Dormandy had been working hard – well, overworking – for the last six months and on the eve of her thirty-ninth birthday she decided that she would go home early and cook a decent meal for her husband and herself. She even decided that she would wear the red dress which Patrick liked. But when she got home Patrick and their son, Alex, were eating ice creams. He didn't seem in the least interested in dinner and then admitted that he was having an affair. Ophelia threw him out – and then began the long haul of trying to be a decent single parent in a job where the hours were long and the money uncertain. Full review...

The Children's Crusade by Elliott Hall