Book Reviews From The Bookbag

The Bookbag

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. There are also lots of author interviews, and all sorts of top tens - all of which you can find on our features page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the recommendations page.

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Reunion by Fred Uhlman

Literary Fiction

Hans Schwarz was a jew and attended the Karl Alexander Gymnasium, the most famous grammar school in Wurttemberg. At sixteen he didn't really have a friend and was slightly apart from the other cliques in his class, until the arrival of Konradin von Hohenfels, the elegantly-dressed son of the aristocracy. For some reason Hans and Konradin became the best of friends, spending a glorious summer walking in the Swabian hills, comparing their coin collections and talking about everything. Only slowly does it occur to Hans that whilst Konradin is made welcome in his home, Hans can only visit Konradin's home when his parents are absent. This was February 1932 and in the closing years of the Weimar Republic. Full review...

Doctor Who: The Drosten's Curse by A L Kennedy

Science Fiction

If, for some unearthly reason, you should follow the world of golf and hear of a bunker that's 'lethal' or 'a killer trap', point the speaker in the direction of a sand pit on the 13th at the Fetch Brothers Golf Spa Hotel. For it really is lethal – something under it will suck you down, handspan by handspan, anaesthetising you and making you incapable of crying out. David Agnew knows this, and uses it as a handy way to get rid of people he doesn't like. Elsewhere at Fetch there is a completely inept character – I needn't specify, as he's inept at everything – who's heartily smitten by Bryony, the hard-done-by receptionist. There is a grandma who it would appear is losing all memory, beyond for her beloved octopuses, two young children who are very wrong indeed, in lots of ways, and there's also a strangely metallic taste about the air in the place. A perfect site for the Fourth Doctor to pop up in, then – until a psychic attack leaves him with little opportunity to put the ageless problems to rights… Full review...

Precious and the Zebra Necklace by Alexander McCall Smith

Confident Readers

There is a new girl at Precious Ramotswe's school. Her name is Nancy, and Precious is asked to look after her and make sure she settles into school. Precious, already a budding detective at such a young age, soon sniffs out that there is a little bit of a mystery surrounding Nancy and on discovering that all Nancy has left of her parents is a fading photograph and a zebra necklace she decides that she must try to help Nancy discover the truth about what happened to them. Full review...

Binny in Secret by Hilary McKay

Confident Readers

Reading Binny in Secret was rather like that moment when, as a child, I discovered that Noel Streatfield had written a LOT of other shoe books or, just a few years ago, when I suddenly discovered Jeanne Birdsall and her Penderwick stories, and I gorged on them, utterly delighting in their humour and kindness. I don't quite know how I haven't come across Hilary McKay before, but of course now a long list of her books have gone onto my 'to read' pile because I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I immediately wanted more! Full review...

Three Cheers for Thomas the Tank Engine by W Awdry

For Sharing

I don't like Thomas the Tank Engine. He may be a 'really useful' engine but he is also over exposed and (Surely? Please?) at commercial saturation point. Why then do I have a copy of 'Three Cheers for Thomas the Tank Engine' at my side? Well, for the same reason that a pack of Thomas, Percy and James socks, infant size 3-5, ended up in my shopping basket at the weekend. Yes, the owner of those titchy feet is my toddler boy and boy, does he love Thomas. Full review...

Woolly Mammoth by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom

Children's Non-Fiction

The Ice Age is a fascinating time, but do you think that dinosaurs still roamed the Earth alongside both man and mammoths? Ray Harryhausen has a lot to answer for and the earlier that someone learns that man and dinosaurs did not walk the land together, the better. Plus everyone knows that Woolly Mammoths are almost as cool as T-Rex – who doesn't love a hairy elephant? Full review...

Wake Up, Alfred! by David Ellwand

For Sharing

It's Alfred's birthday! We don't know how old he is, because once dogs have reached full size they tend to look much the same for quite a few years. And talking of looks, Alfred does look rather splendid – he's a Great Dane in gorgeous condition. But – back to the book! We see – in a series of black and white photographs – Alfred being woken up (he wears a nightcap), looking outside his kennel to see what the postman has brought him, opening his presents, laying the table before his friends arrive (and being just a little bit naughty by balancing a tea cup and saucer on his head...), putting the bunting up for the party, making the cake, having a much-needed bath (after making a bit of a mess with the cake), choosing which hat he's going to wear and then having great fun with his friends – there are seven dogs, two mice and a cat. Full review...

Darkest Night (Department 19, Book 5) by Will Hill

Teens

Zero Hour has passed. Despite throwing absolutely everything they had into a full on assault on Dracula's forces, the combined might of the supernatural departments failed to destroy the ancient vampire, and he has returned to full strength, ready to strike at humanity with unadulterated violence. Secrecy is no longer an option as the entire world reels from the revelation that vampires are real. Department 19 has been through so much, shaken to its core by secrets, betrayals and losses. With the public eye now firmly upon them, the very fundamentals of the Department come under fire, as issues of morality that have long writhed beneath the surface finally burst to the fore. Jamie, Larissa, Kate and Matt have always found themselves at the centre of the chaos, and despite each struggling with their own demons, their friendship and companionship has helped them survive and even thrive within the department. Humanity's last stand will need them at their very best, will need every force that the supernatural departments of the world can muster, whether it be human, machine, monster or vampire. For failure simply isn't an option when the entire future of humanity is at stake. Full review...

A Horrid Factbook: Crazy Creatures by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross

Children's Non-Fiction

The perceived wisdom is that it is harder to get young boys to read than it is young girls, but you try telling that to my nephews. They often have their heads so far in a book that their nose sticks out the other end. However, whilst one loves fiction, the other loves fact. If you think about it, you could use an extremely popular fiction character to tell children some real facts and trick them; but that would be a horrible thing to do. Full review...

The Disappearing Dinner Lady (Mariella Mystery) by Kate Pankhurst

Confident Readers

Mariella has to admit it: the school dinners have been much better lately. When Big G was in charge, vegetable mush was the order of the day, but since the 'Ladies Who Lunch' agency have been supplying the meals, they have been serving up heavenly dishes like 'Monday Munchie Madness', 'Princess Pie' and 'Pirate Pasta Bake'. The mystery girls love the new menu, but even more than that, they love the new dinner lady, Diana Dumpling. When Diana goes missing in mysterious circumstances, Mariella and her friends are on the case to discover what really happened to their favourite dinner lady. Full review...

Rainy Day Sisters by Kate Hewitt

General Fiction

Amateur artist Lucy Bagshaw isn't exactly living the American dream; she lives in Boston with her overbearing mother and works as a barista in a coffee shop, but things are about to get a lot worse. Her mother, a famous and controversial artist, writes an scathing editorial, publicly insulting Lucy's artwork just before her first exhibition. The editorial quickly goes viral and a humiliated Lucy flees the country, unsure of where her life is heading. She runs away where nobody can find her; a sleepy Cumbrian village by the sea, where her estranged half-sister runs a boarding house. Lucy quickly questions the wisdom of her decision when she receives a frosty welcome from her sister in a village that seems permanently cold, wet and rainy. Should Lucy try and make a new life for herself here, or should she return to Boston and face her demons? Full review...

The Secret of the Blue Glass by Tomiko Inui and Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator)

Confident Readers

One problem with being four inches or so tall, as any Borrower-type creature I'm sure will tell you, is getting around. There're the impracticalities of being so small, encounters with cats, and a whole lot more. But with this modern world things can happen – such as an English governess-type taking a married couple of Little People to Japan with her. There they have kids, and she leaves them with her favourite pupil – alongside the most necessary equipment, a small blue glass goblet, that helps the human bond with the Little People by using it to donate milk to them on a daily basis. We're now into the second generation of Japanese people looking after them, but something much more threatening, all-enveloping and worrying than a cat is around the corner – World War Two. Full review...

In Their Shoes: Fairy Tales and Folktales

Lots of books have, in their own way, shown fairy tales to have relied on certain tropes. You certainly don't have to read them all, or indeed many, to see the wily child outsmart the adult again and again, people tricked into changing ownership of magical things, the power of being a stepmother, or the power of doing things in threes. Still, I think this must be one of a very rare few collections to look at footwear as a theme, with a tidy, small selection of fairy and folk-tales to entertain, all with that subject. Full review...

Meet at the Ark at Eight! by Ulrich Hub, Jorg Muhle and Helena Ragg-Kirkby (translator)

Confident Readers

An educated penguin, an agnostic penguin and a violent, smaller, young penguin walk into a snowdrift… You might not be able to make a full joke out of that opening line, but this book practically does continue on from there. Three penguins – each a little different from the other, even if they generally look and definitely smell the same, and God, a subject of their conversation when a butterfly comes along, of all things. The young, hot-headed one (well, in the pictures he wears a woolly hat, he's bound to be hot-headed) leaves in umbrage, leaving just two – which is perfectly timed if you're a dove, and come along telling all the animals to get into Noah's Ark in pairs, as an almighty flood is about to happen… Full review...

The Diary of Dennis the Menace: Canine Carnage (book 5) by Steven Butler

Confident Readers

I'm sure Dennis the Menace has a hate-hate relationship with school, but the nature of it is relevant when considering these books. The fact he goes at all is the cause for them in the first place – he originally was tasked with writing a journal as homework, and turned it into a menacing manual for us, his readers. But if he paid attention there he might realise £1,000 is not quite enough to build his own, self-aggrandising theme park, even if he manages to employ the bummy, booky, wimpy types behind the scenes. The grand sum is what Dennis intends to win when The Fame Factor TV talent show hits town. That, as we can easily foretell, is going to be very menacingly interesting, but that's not the site of the titular carnage – for that we have to rely on an unusual sleep-over… Full review...

Black Waters (Strong Winds) by Julia Jones and Claudia Myatt

Teens

Xanthe Ribiero had won the area championships in her sister's boat, but she now had sponsorship and a new laser dinghy. Best of all she had the letter from the GB Racing Committee which confirmed that she was in the squad and was off to the Easter training camp at the National Sailing Academy at Weymouth. She was full of plans to train harder, watch her diet and - she had to admit - just a little bit pleased that she might not have to worry about exam results and university applications. This was as good as it got. Full review...

Cheeky Charlie by Mat Waugh

Confident Readers

'My book is about all the naughty things that my brother Charlie has done. Some of it is funny, some of it is a bit sad, and lots of it is disgusting, because that's what Charlie can be. It might even make you be sick, so get ready.'

You know what? That's about the size of it. After Harry has introduced herself - she's almost seven years old, she doesn't like her freckles, she's used to people thinking that someone called Harry ought to be a boy, and she has a younger brother, who is three and called Charlie. This is Harry's book about Charlie. Charlie is a cheeky chappie. He never shuts up. He likes to push his luck. And, having pushed his luck once, he likes to push it again. And again. And again. This is much to Harry's exasperation, as she explains by dint of a book full of anecdotes... Full review...

Paper Weight by Meg Haston

Teens

Stevie had a plan. A good plan (in her mind). But, as is often the way, her plan has been interrupted. In her case it's by an unexpected and involuntary admission to an eating disorder unit in a different state. Under lock and key and constant supervision, she doesn't have the resources or the freedom to go through with it. And it's all a bit annoying. Full review...

Dork Diaries: Once Upon a Dork (Book 8) by Rachel Renee Russell

Confident Readers

There is wishing you had a fairytale relationship, and/or having the chance to change your life drastically – and then there is being able to see what would actually happen if either wish came true. Nikki wakes up on a typical school day with a hellish start – no alarm clock, due to her younger sister, sandwich all over her jumper, again due to her younger sister, and so on, and so she can only wish for something to take her out of it and give her a dollop of fantasy. That something is dodgeball, which bangs her on the head so much she wakes up in a sheer fantasy world, where her BFFs are Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood, the world is peopled by other folk from school, but her hunky friend Brandon is still Prince Charming, and her enemy Mackenzie Hollister is still able to make her life hell… Full review...

Frank Merlin: Princes Gate by Mark Ellis

Crime

In the early part of the Second World War there was a lull, when hostilities didn't really seem to get going – the so-called Phoney War. Some Londoners, who'd left the capital in the expectation of early bombing raids, began drifting back and there were still those who thought that peace could be negotiated – that we could stay out of the fight. Chief amongst those outside of the political classes who supported this view was the American Ambassador, Joseph Kennedy. Kennedy was, perhaps fortunately but not unusually, out of the country when one of the staff at the residence was murdered and her body fished out of the Thames. Full review...

13 Coins by Michael B Jackson, Martin Brennan and Simon Bisley

Graphic Novels

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. There, I've done it – quoted the Bible in a review. It's certainly pertinent in the world of this graphic novel, where the fallen angels have one get-out clause they have been seeking since those very lapsarian events. They turned a little section of chain holding their leader eternally captive into the titular coins, which can influence the human holders into sheer evil, but might just cause an open war on Heaven, whether they or the best of the holy on earth use them all. The best of the holy then, offspring of the good angels, are culled as a routine, but not one – John Pozner, who of course has no idea of his place in the celestial circle of life… Full review...

Big Nate Lives It Up (Big Nate, Book 7) by Lincoln Peirce

Confident Readers

Life at school might actually be interesting for Big Nate, for once. Even if the building is so old it's falling down, an ancient student's journal much like his has been discovered, peppered with a girl's cartoons from a long, long time ago – proving even he can have a connection with something a century old. (And I don't mean the connection made when bits of the place actually fall onto his head.) Unfortunately for Nate, another connection has been forced on him – he has had to buddy up with the new boy in class. He's new, dorky, and has a name that sounds like a British boarding school, we're told. But what exactly is it about Breckenridge Puffington III that gives Nate a strong sense of déjà vu…? Full review...

It's a Groovy World, Alfredo! by Sean Taylor and Chris Garbutt

For Sharing

Cool boogie-style. Speedy Heebie-Jeebies. Silky-smooth moving and grooving. These are the three dances that Marty tries to teach his friend, Alfredo. But Alfredo can't dance. Every time he tries the same thing happens – he goes Jump, Jump, Jump and looks like a duck on a trampoline. Alfredo is worried that everyone will laugh at him. But he doesn't need to worry because he's about to introduce his own form of groovy dancing – the Jump-Jump-Jumping Jive! Full review...

Elena Vanishing by Elena Dunkle and Clare B Dunkle

Autobiography

There’s a voice in Elena’s head, and it’s harsh. 'You’re a failure,' it says. 'You’re a fat flabby mess.' And she agrees, she is both of those things. Full review...

J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan: The Graphic Novel by Stref

Graphic Novels

Here's a quiz question for you – despite the uniform seventy year copyright rule, which work has been the sole recipient of an endless extension of it, courtesy of an ex-Prime Minister? The answer is obvious now at least, as this is one such volume. It's a very readable and pleasant variant on J M Barrie's original stage version and novel regarding Peter Pan, which of course helps and always will now help the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. And for a boy who never grows up, at 111 years old he's in spritely good health. Full review...

The Cat with a Really Big Head by Roman Dirge

Graphic Novels

How many picture books are there about cats? And how many do you know that you would really NOT prefer your children to see? If the answer to the second question is 'none – yet', scratch that last word. The title piece in this collection is, by the author's own admission, his imagining of the Joseph Merrick (the 'Elephant Man') of the feline world – who struggles to sneak up behind a mouse when the shadow of his head is a total giveaway, and who can hardly even eat with dignity as bending down to his bowl would break his neck. If that's too dark or oddball for you, try the second major piece, which has a most revealing foreword – Dedicated to a certain girl… I hope your life is filled with wonderful accomplishments, love and all the magic you desire… - But I hope your death is slow and horrible. Full review...

Skink No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen

Teens

Skink No Surrender is a love letter to the wildlife of Florida. The narrative is engaging and fast paced peppered with references to literature, folk legends, the ecological history of the area, the importance of conservation and the art of fishing. Hiaasen's protagonists are vividly observed and fully rounded. Skink is an eccentric, crazy, courageous, reckless renegade with a n anarchic, devil may care attitude and a no nonsense attitude. He is a good hearted protector of the innocent, possesses an assortment of false eyes, wrangles alligators, battles storms, lectures on politeness and deals out rough justice. His portrait is messianic and folkloric in places. Richard is plucky and loyal but is he in over his head? Malley is selfish, stubborn, smart, caustic, sarky and brave but also naive, vulnerable and susceptible to charm. Full review...

The Unnoticeables by Robert Brockway

Paranormal

Carey is a punk living in New York City, 1977. Sick of watching his friends be abducted and killed, he doesn’t care about the rumours of strange monsters and supernatural happenings – all he wants to do is drink beer and kick ass. In the present day, Kaitlyn is in Hollywood. A stuntwoman, she has a missing best friend, has just escaped an attempt on her life, and an angel is waiting outside her door. The survival of the human race lies in the hands of Carey and Kaitlyn. We are, all of us, well and truly screwed… Full review...