The Bookbag
From TheBookbag
Hello from The Bookbag, a book review 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.
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Dino Egg by Charlie James
It was a rather odd-looking egg – the usual creamy colour but with a pink kiss mark on one side – but what was oddest of all was that when Ned tapped on the shell to break into his boiled egg, it tapped back. That wasn't all though. The shell changed colour and when it finally broke out crawled a baby dinosaur, complete with a pink body with purple spots, a whip-like tail and a dreadful smell. The sensible thing would have been to tell Mum and Dad but Ned's brother Bill had other ideas and when she finds out what is going on, big sister Stacey joins in too. Full review...
Towards Another Summer by Janet Frame
Janet Frame, who died in 2004, is acknowledged as one of the most distinguished writers to come out of New Zealand. She won just about every prize going, wrote an autobiography (An Angel at My Table) that is adjudged to be a classic of the genre and inspired a similarly appreciated film, was awarded a CBE and honorary membership of the American Academy of Arts and Letters…
…and to my shame I'd never heard of her. Full review...
The Drop-off by Patrick Quinlan
Smoke Dugan, one-time bomb-maker for the mob, is on the run. It's not easy to keep a low profile when you've got your girlfriend (Lola), her best friend (Pamela) and a retired professional assassin (Cruz) with you; and if you're carrying $2.5 million in cash, you can be sure the people the money belongs to won't let the trail go cold. The tiny Caribbean island of Saint Mark's seems a safe bet, but that's reckoning without the unexpected presence of ex-Navy Seal Stone, an old enemy of Cruz. Stone has heard of the massive finder's fee placed on Cruz's head by Big Vito back in New York, so he's very motivated. Soon the rest of the mob is on the way and the scene is set for a game of cat and mouse amid the palm trees and on the high seas. Full review...
Traversa by Fran Sandham
When you reach the end of Fran Sandham's solo walk across Africa, as he finally dips his toe into the Indian Ocean, you need to go back to the beginning and start again.
Lots of books make you want to do that. In this case, you actually need to: in order to fully understand the man, and so many of the things he says and does along the way. Otherwise, you're in danger of thinking this guy was a fool for even trying to attempt a solo walk across the African continent. Full review...
Writing for Magazines by Adele Ramet
From being an avid reader (and maybe a passionate book reviewer) to writing for magazines yourself is a pretty logical progression. Yet like any other competitive field in life, it's a very hard one to get into – and doubtless getting harder all the time. Full review...
Times of Our Lives by Michael Oke
I am currently writing my autobiography as a long-term project and something to leave for my children, so I was interested to receive Times of Our Lives by Michael Oke, which is advertised as the essential companion for writing your own life story. Full review...
A Writer's Book of Days by Judy Reeves
I have always written really – diaries every day for years, letters, stories, poems… Ciao and Dooyoo fitted into this perfectly and increased my confidence, as I received better feedback over time, gaining crowns here and Premium Fund payments on Ciao. I am not a particularly confident person, I have quite low self-esteem at times, but I love writing and believe it is my one talent. I think everyone has something they are good at. Full review...
Waggit's Tale by Peter Howe
Every once in a great awhile a book comes from a new writer that makes me say, "Wow!". It's even more impressive when it is a children's book, and triply so when it deals with the potentially schmaltzy topic of sad hearted animals. Newcomer Peter Howe manages to pull off this mean feat, and I have to say I salute him for it. Not since reading Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan have I felt such sincerity in a story told from the perspective of animals. Mr Howe makes the reader believe these really are the things that dogs think and say between them, and those of us who have known and loved dogs will recognise the behaviours he so ably describes. Full review...
Off Track by Clare Curzon
Apparently, Clare Curzon has been writing for many years and has published more than 40 books, but Off Track was the first time I had come across her work. Unfortunately, the experience hasn't really encouraged me to read any of her other books. Full review...
Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
We have not exactly seen a lot of Artemis Fowl's parents in this series so far. What with his adventures taking him to other worlds, of course, they've been left behind – and earlier times had mother ill and father hostage. Here, however, in a much more gentle and poignant way than anything before, we have a new, horrid illness keeping Angeline bedbound. Full review...
Return to the Middle Kingdom by Yuan-Tsung Chen
Yuan-Tsung Chen's family have lived through momentous times in China and been as close to what was happening as any one family could be. Chen Guixin, born in 1830 in the time of the Manchu government and just before the beginning of the Opium Wars was her husband's grandfather. He was a part of the Taiping Rebellion but it was his son, Chen Youren who was hailed as a hero when he marched into two former British concessions and reclaimed the land for China. He was the first foreign minister of modern China to have taken back land from the colonial powers. The author married Chen Youren's son, the journalist and artist Jack Chen, who was arrested by the Red Guards in the Cultural Revolution and who later continued his work in the USA. Full review...
Wolfblade by Jennifer Fallon
And I thought it was going to be so normal. Another average mediaeval-style fantasy novel. And at the start, that's precisely what it seems to be, a box ticked for just about every fantasy element you could want. I thought it was going to be readable, but nothing memorable. I shouldn't have underestimated this author's ability for plot twists! Full review...
Jung's People by Kay Green
These short stories offer fantasy, sci-fi, historical and contemporary angles on human personality. Kay Green used Jung's writing on dreams to delve into her own subconscious and has come up with an eclectic mix of stories. A crisp commentator's voice observes life through different lenses and perspectives. I often felt that I was trapped in a nest of boxes with the characters, not quite sure which way was out. My interest hooked, I delved into the fifteen stories and enjoyed their surprising twists and multiple layers as characters discover their tragic destiny within whatever happens to be the chance setting of their lives. I'll just give you a flavour of three of them. Full review...
Wife in the Fast Lane by Karen Quinn
Karen Quinn is the best-selling author of The Ivy League Chronicles, a fictional account of her own true-life story and a Richard and Judy Summer Read for 2005. It was really good and, unsurprisingly, I had high hopes for Wife In The Fast Lane, thinking it may also have reached the revered upper echelons of this pink-fluff covered genre. But then, as I have said before, the second novel is always harder to write; it's either streets ahead of the first (having made all your mistakes on your debut) or a bit of a let down (having written such a rip-snorter the first time, that, as the song says, Nothing Compares 2 U). Full review...
Blind Rage by Terri Persons
Bernadette Saint Claire or Cat as she is called for she has odd eyes, just like the Catahoula Leopard dogs that share the same trait, has a very special gift: not only can she converse and fully interact with the ghosts of the recently departed, she is also able to see through the eyes of the monsters she hunts. This ability, however, is no church picnic. Being immersed in the mind of a serial killer leaves Agent Saint Claire exhausted and increasingly attuned to the innermost thoughts, urges and feelings of her quarry. And that's not a nice place to be! Full review...
The Birthday Present by Barbara Vine
A young married mother is snatched while walking down her street, bundled into the back of a car, bound and gagged. As the vehicle tries to get through the London traffic, there is a dreadful accident. The woman and one of the men is killed, the other left comatose. But this is no real kidnap – instead the whole thing is a ruse invented as a sub/dom game by her lover for her birthday, now gone horribly wrong. Oh, and the boyfriend happens to be an up-and-coming Tory MP. Full review...
In the Dark by Mark Billingham
I've been a fan of Mark Billingham and his DI Tom Thorne character since his debut novel. Like many series do, though, I did feel that a couple of the more recent novels suggested that Billingham was running out of ideas of things to do with Thorne. So it was a minor relief that his latest novel In the Dark was to be a standalone one, even if early optimism was dulled by the rather clichéd tagline …it's where fear lives, which didn't seem quite in keeping with Billingham's normal style. Full review...
Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
Set in the same alternative Renaissance time line as Carey's previous three Kushiel novels, this is the first of a trilogy focusing on Imriel nó Montrève de la Courcel. Whilst it is able to stand on its own by giving some needed background information within the story, told from Imriel's point of view, it is actually a continuation of the Kushiel saga featuring Imriel's now foster mother, the anguisette former courtesan Phèdre nó Delauney. It's a tale of a young boy's quest to discover who he really is as a human being and to find his true place in the world, when all he has known before was a lie. Full review...
