Book Reviews
Have you read a book that you love? Or hate? You can now review any library book using our online catalogue - it's quick and easy! On this page we showcase a selection of the best book reviews we've received recently from our readers. If you would like to write a review of a book you have borrowed from one of our libraries just search for the book using our online catalogue and click on 'Create Review'. Reviews can be in English or Welsh and should be no more than 500 words long. All the books reviewed are available to borrow from our libraries. Please ask at your local library for details or check the online catalogue. |
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Zoo StationBy David Downing |
First published in 2007, this novel is part of a tetralogy - along with Silesian Station (2008), Stettin Station (2009) and, last year, Potsdam Station. Featuring the journalist and reluctant agent John Russell, caught up in the often brutal events of Berlin in 1938, this novel vividly conveys the crescendo of public hysteria and casual state violence, particularly against Jewish families. It convincingly details the ubiquitous bureaucracy of the Nazi regime which uses paperwork and rubber stamps as a cover for consigning increasing numbers of respectable folk to death behind bars.
Russell becomes involved with a Jewish family whose daughters he is teaching English, and whose doctor father is taken into detention on trumped-up charges of performing an abortion, before "committing suicide".
The novel gathers pace as Russell attempts to obtain exit visas for the surviving family members, in the process calling in favours from his British and Soviet contacts. We follow with trepidation their separate journeys to Czechoslovakia and freedom, their entire wealth contained in rare stamps concealed behind a set of cards extolling Nazi achievements, packed in a flimsy suitcase.
What raises this novel above the average war-time espionage story is the wealth of historical details woven so naturally into the narrative that the reader really does absorb the atmosphere of the times, so alien and cruel to us now, but largely accepted in pre-war Berlin as conventional wisdom.
Cleverly, David Downing introduces Paul, the protagonist's teenage son by an earlier marriage, and an enthusiastic member of the Hitlerian Jungvolk. Conditioned in school, for example by propagandist lessons on the evils of "Negro music" (which he confesses to his father he quite likes!), and stimulated by youth camps and the officially sanctioned pleasures of the outdoor life, is it any wonder Paul is an innocent fan of the German regime?
As a no less clever plot device, Russell is in love with Effi, a vivacious actress who is starring in a film extolling the virtues of motherhood and the home life.
Is it any wonder that some Germans supported Nazism , if only as a way out of unemployment, and a chance to drive a shiny new Volkswagen on fast new roads?
For those readers who enjoy the books of Alan Furst (most recently the TV-featured "Spies of the Balkans"), David Downing offers a most salutary and gripping 'inside' view of fascist Germany, credible, honest, and which wears its impressive historical research lightly.
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Falling AngelsBy Tracy Chevalier |
I loved this book for its wonderful recreation of London during the early 20th century. There are strong women suffrage themes, and lots of lore about funerals, mourning, and cemeteries; probably the best Chevalier I've read.
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Sacred heartsBy Sarah Dunant |
This book is OK but nothing special. It does not deserve the rave reviews it has received elsewhere.
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The JainsBy Paul Dundas |
An excellent book for the undergraduate student wanting to know more about the Jain religion, written by respected author Paul Dundas. Chapters include information on Mahavira and the tirthankaras, doctrines, history, scriptures, the sects of the Digambaras and Svetambaras and also chapters on the lay and mendicant Jains. A very useful resource book, well worth reading.
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The oblivion seekersBy Isabelle Eberhardt |
A wonderfully descriptive book of short stories based on the authors travels through Africa at the turn of the century. She lived a colourful, free-spirited life that is reflected in the experiences drawn upon to compose these works. Wonderful.
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The sweetness at the bottom of the pieBy Alan C. Bradley |
Star rating out of five: (*****)
A wonderful book, a great read.
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The elegance of the hedgehogBy Muriel Barbery |
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was challenging and I needed my dictionary at the ready, but the story of three unique individuals of various ages and backgrounds bonding as unlikely friends was heartwarming and endearing. The ending was truly unexpected.
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Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of LondonBy Keith Mansfield |
Awesome! The book cover just makes you want to pick it up straight away because it is so colorful and looks exciting. Flying around in a spaceship disguised as the London Gherkin! WOW!!! This is the first Johnny Mackintosh Book and I hope there will be more to come.
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Look back in hungerBy Jo Brand |
An interesting and well-written autobiography (which is more than I can say for many autobiographies). It may not be profound, but is thoughtful, sometimes very funny and a good read throughout. Jo Brand's story is particularly interesting insofar it seems not at all obvious from the facts of her early life that she would end up being the performer and writer that she is today
- Last Updated: 17/03/2011
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