'THUMBNAIL' BOOK REVIEWS
Books reviewed briefly within set guidelines by your venerable CB&M editor.
Also see BEST BOOK, 'MICRO' REVIEWS and REGULAR REVIEWS .
Updated 9th September, 2009.
Just ONE page on the Collecting Books and Magazines web site based in Australia.

Why not send us a thumbnail review of every book you read? It's easy, just follow the guidelines below. If you don't agree with a review, you're welcome to send in your own review. See the samples below.
Ratings for each section are out of 10. Poor would score 1-2, fair to average 3-5, above average 6, good 7, excellent 8-9, brilliant 10.
Synopsis. One sentence of less than 40 words which tells us what the book's about, without giving away the ending.
Section 1. Rate the story interest. (Did you have to keep turning the pages to find out what happened next, or did your interest lag?)
Section 2. Rate the character interest.
Section 3. Rate the literary merit of the book.
Section 4. Rate the 'recommendability'. (Is this a book you would recommend to a friend?)
Section 5. Rate the value of this book. (We know you borrowed it. Would you actually go out and BUY another copy if the library copy disappeared.)
Section 6. Rate the collectability of the author. (It was so enjoyable you're going to hunt down every other book by the author.)
Section 7. Rate the skill of the artist in portraying the author's characters. (If no artwork, give a 5 rating.)
Section 8. Rate the interest spectrum of the book. (In your humble opinion, does the book appeal to all ages, thus gaining a high rating, or just to a narrow band of readers, say girls of the 12-15 age group?)
Section 9. Rate the 're-readability' of the book. (A one-shot wonder, or one to be read again soon.)
Section 10. Rate the book as a desert island selection, or not.

Thumbnail reviews appear in AUTHOR order. Current top scorer in RED.

Bates, H E: A MOMENT IN TIME
Young girl, friend to a group of fighter pilots, goes through all the emotions of war time. JT rating = 64%

BAWDEN, NINA: CARRIE'S WAR
Children evacuated to the country during WW2 come of age. JT rating = 89%

Brickhill, Paul: THE DAM BUSTERS
The story of 617 Squadron, RAF, and the extraordinary inventor, Barnes Wallis. JT rating = 89%

Brisbane, Coutts: THE MEMORY MAN
Eccentric story paper collector/inventor, his niece and M.I.5 friends take on the German Secret Service. JT rating = 64%

Buchan, John: THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS
Richard Hannay is chased across the wilds of Scotland by both the police and German spies. JT rating = 84%

BULEY, E.C.: GLORIOUS DEEDS OF AUSTRALASIANS IN THE GREAT WAR
Published in 1915, this is a remarkable collection of interviews and eye-witness reports. JT rating = 94%

Collier, Richard: THE SANDS OF DUNKIRK
The true story of history's great rescue mission. JT rating = 95%

Deighton, Len: BOMBER
The story of a bombing raid in Europe, 1943, from allied and axis viewpoints. JT rating = 52%

Forester, C. S.: THE GOOD SHEPHERD
The story of a destroyer escort crossing the Atlantic in WW2. JT rating = 90%

Harris, John: RIDE OUT THE STORM
The story of Dunkirk; with a selection of interesting characters. JT rating = 78%

Harris, John: THE SEA SHALL NOT HAVE THEM
The story of four men lost in a life raft in the North Sea during 1944, and the search for them. JT rating = 70%

Heinlein, Robert: STARMAN JONES
Science fiction: Hillbilly with photographic memory worms his way aboard a star ship. JT rating = 84%

Harris, John: THE SEA SHALL NOT HAVE THEM
The story of four men lost in a life raft in the North Sea during 1944, and the search for them. JT rating = 70%

Hilton, James: GOODBYE MR CHIPS
The story of a master in an English school, told in retrospect, in the first person. JT rating = 90%

Hilton, James: KNIGHT WITHOUT ARMOUR
Englishman joins the Secret Service, into Russia, endures the Revolution and finds his one true love. JT rating = 94%

Hilton, James: MORNING JOURNEY
Larger than life actress and movie director journey through the 1920s and 30s via Europe, New York and Hollywood.. JT rating = 79%

Hilton, James: NOTHING SO STRANGE
American scientist working in Nazi Germany meets girl looses contact before moving back to Hollywood!. JT rating = 89%

Hilton, James: TIME AND TIME AGAIN
The life of a British diplomat during the first half of the 20th Century. JT rating = 66%

Hoehling, A A & Mary: THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE 'LUSITANIA'
The true story of the 'Lusitania's' sinking by torpedo off the coast of Ireland in 1915. JT rating = 91%

Kleinfield, Sonny: THE HOTEL
The writer spent a week in NY's Plaza Hotel (1988) talking to the staff, and guests, and experience 'it'. JT rating = 82%

Korn, Jerry: THE RAISING OF THE QUEEN
Four amateurs salvage a 20,000 ton oil tanker; a true story. JT rating = 94%

Llewellyn, James: HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY
The lives of a Welsh coal-mining family and their town during the latter part of the 19th Century. JT rating = 86%

Llewellyn, James: NONE BUT THE LONELY HEART
Young man in London's East End joins a razor gang in the 1920s. JT rating = 80%

Moyes, John P.: SCRAP IRON FLOTILLA
The true story of Australia's 5 ex-WW1 destroyers in the Mediterranean during WW2. JT rating = 92%

Muir, Marie: TORRIDONS IN TROUBLE
Last of the Torridon series; Jan of the small Scottish boating business. JT rating = 90%

Ollis, Ray: 101 NIGHTS
WW2 novel based on RAF Special Ops Lancaster Squadron 101. JT rating = 97%

Pape, Richard: AND SO ENDS THE WORLD
Weird futuristic story about the end of the world which combines SF with Spiritualism. JT rating = 58%

Peters, Ellis: DEATH AND THE JOYFUL WOMAN
16 yo schoolboy sets out to solve a mystery one step ahead of his policeman father. JT rating = 90%

Shaw, Jane: NO TROUBLE FOR SUSAN
Jane and friends take over running a book shop at Christmas.. JT rating = 56%

Streatfeild, Noel: WHEN THE SIREN WAILED
WW2 and the three Clark children are evacuated to Dorset. JT rating = 81%

Trease, Geoffrey: NO BOATS ON BANNERMERE
Bill, Sue and Mum arrive in Bannermere. First in the series of five. JT rating = 85%

West, Frank, MBF: LIFEBOAT NUMBER SEVEN
Britannia sinking in WW2; 82 survivors in one lifeboat, heading for South America. JT rating = 90%

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