Book Reviews From 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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The Question Book by Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschappeler
Most of us have probably made at least one of those end-of-the-year lists of the best books, albums and parties we have been to in the previous twelve months. But can you, with some effort, locate the one you made in 1987? Have you ever constructed a graph of your ups and downs in a given period, and then decided to expand it by separating emotional, intellectual, sexual and financial aspects and colour coding them? Have you made a list of all your lovers, bosses or friends and then rated them from 1 to 10 on several dimensions each? Do you have one of the books that list 100 things to do before you die or 500 books to read in your life (and ticked off the ones you have done)? Did you ever spend a whole evening and half of a night filling in dubious 'personality' questionnaires on the Internet? Have you ever doodled something, decided that it beautifully expresses the deepest essence of your personality and then proceeded to draw such icons for all your friends? Full review...
Little Bones by Janette Jenkins
While this might sound like the afterlife of a brilliant and unlikely cabaret mimic, it's not. It's a rich, evocative and engaging novel set in the last years of Victoria's reign, in the depths of her darkest London. Fate - and being abandoned by, in turn, her mother and older sister - leaves Jane Stretch living with and working for a doctor and his lumpen, housebound wife. Jane is alternatively called an 'unfortunate' and a 'cripple' for her disabilities and distorted frame, but she has enough bookish intelligence to pass herself off as an assistant to the doctor, who only ever does one operation - abortions, for music hall artistes. The plot is evidently gearing up to reveal how dangerous such a criminal business might be, for the both of them. Full review...
Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson
Tiny Sunbirds Far Away starts in Lagos but soon moves to the rural, oil producing Niger Delta. This allows Christie Watson's young narrator, 12 year old Blessing, to view the traditional ways afresh. It's a clever device and young Blessing is shocked by the rural conditions after a relatively luxurious life in Lagos with a good school and a modern apartment. But when her mother discovers her father on top of another woman, she takes Blessing and her older brother, the asthmatic Ezikiel, back to her family home. Full review...
Snakes' Elbows by Deirdre Madden
Barney Barrington, the millionaire pianist, is returning to live in his home town of Woodford, but the current local millionaire, Jasper Jellit, doesn't like it one little bit. Jasper revels in parading around town as the most extravagant millionaire, throwing ridiculous parties to show off his riches, and he resents the entrance of a competitor to the town. Barney, however, lives a quiet, reclusive life and wants no part in Jasper's shenanigans. But when a rare, beautiful painting comes up for sale they both decide they want it. Jasper, much like a spoilt child, will stop at nothing to get his way, but he may have a fight on his hands since there are a few animals who intend to save the day...! Full review...
You Me and Thing: The Dreaded Noodle-doodles by Karen McCombie
We first met Thing in You, Me and Thing: The Curse of the Jelly Babies where he caused rather a lot of chaos with a large number of jelly babies. He's back again, and this time he really, really wants to go to school with Ruby and Jackson... it can only end in disaster! Full review...
In Darkness by Nick Lake
Shorty is lying in the rubble of the great Haitian earthquake of 2010. If he's not rescued soon, he will die. Shorty is from Site Soley, the sprawling slum of Port-au-Prince. After the murder of his father and abduction of his twin sister, Shorty has allowed himself to fall further and further into the slum's gang culture. But Route 9 isn't all about drug-dealing and gun-running - it's also about feeding the poor and educating the children. And Shorty has a great deal to teach his readers, as he recounts his life while waiting to die. Full review...
Trapped by Michael Northrop
When school closes early because of the snow coming down, Scott and his friends decide to take advantage of the extra time to work on a go-kart they've been building in shop class. But with nearly everyone else having left the school, and the snow coming down faster and faster, they realise they may have made a terrible mistake. So begins a chilling (sorry!) tale, which sees seven students struggle to hold on as the weather gets ever worse. Full review...
Horrid Henry's A - Z of Everything Horrid by Francesca Simon
Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry is a very popular little boy, although you might have a different opinion if you actually had to put up with his antics yourself. A slightly modernised embodiment of 'slugs and snails and puppy dogs' tails' concept of boyhood, Henry is naughtiness personified, combining irreverence for authority with a huge dose of gross-out crude humour that really appeals to the target readership of early primary school children. Add a somewhat nostalgic, timeless feel, trademark alliterations, subtle (and not so subtle) digs at family dynamics, sibling rivalry and particularly at modern middle-class manners and sensibilities and you have a winning character and a base for a very successful edutainment franchise. Full review...
Secrets of Success in Brand Licensing by Andrew Levy, Judy Bartkowiak
Brand licensing is a huge business, with the annual worth estimated at 150 billion USD. It's hard to avoid Hello Kitty, Thomas the Tank Engine, Peppa Pig or Dr Who. One sometimes wonders if it's even possible to buy non-character pyjamas for a six year old. It's not just kids' brands, either (though these dominate the lucrative licensing market). From socialites (Paris Hilton) to actors and pop stars (Hale Berry, Britney Spears), football clubs and individual footballers (Beckham, Pele), magazines (Playboy, National Geographic), TV series (Simpsons) and pure graphic design (Smiley, Hello Kitty), brand licensing and brand extensions surround us on a scale unprecedented in human history. Full review...
The Child Who by Simon Lelic
Simon Lelic's third book, The Child Who, takes him back to the format that worked so successfully with his first novel, Rupture, avoiding the near-future angle he took, less successfully I felt, with his second book. Lelic's themes are always inspired by real events that have been in the news. Here, he tackles the murder of an 11 year old child by Daniel, a 12 year old. The creative inspiration is surely the James Bulger case and he acknowledges the creative debt to Blake Morrison's As If on that very subject. Full review...
Street of Tall People by Alan Gibbons
It's the East End of London, and it's 1936, and it's a time of fighting. Jewish lad Benny, and Jimmy, who's rather more C-of-E, are going to become firm friends through having a boxing bout against each other. Benny is fighting against the more extreme anti-Goyim sentiments of his neighbour Yaro. Jimmy has to fight, it seems, against life, what with his father dieing and his mother having found a new boyfriend, putting a sense of social outcast on the lad. And all through this is the fight to come, around the corner, against Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts. Full review...
Amy Winehouse: A Losing Game by Mick O'Shea
At the risk of stating the obvious, this is a sad book. Writing this review some five months after her death, now the immediate smoke has cleared, it is apparent from this book (as well as other general sources) that she was a gifted performer, with a jazz voice which could have qualified her for a lengthy career long after scores of aspiring X-Factor contestants had given up singing and opted for less glamorous, more steady careers. After all, her idols had been not only near-contemporaries like Michael Jackson and Missy Elliott, but also those of an earlier generation such as the classic 1960s girl groups, as well as Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, with whom she was thrilled to record a duet four months before she died. Full review...
Smoulder by Brenna Yovanoff
Daphne is a quiet teenage girl who is half-demon and half-fallen angel. She's the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith and her sisters are seductive soul-sucking succubi (sibilance!). However, Daphne is more like her brother, Obie, whose gentle nature and genuine kindness make him an oddity in Pandemonium. When her brother leaves to make a life for himself on Earth, Daphne finds herself alone, confused and unsure of her future; but when she learns that her brother has been kidnapped by a psychopathic archangel she realises that she will stop at nothing to save him, even if that means going to Earth alone and facing the risk of being hunted and destroyed by Azrael. Full review...
All To Play For by Heather Peace
Back in August 1985 at the time of the Edinburgh Festival a group of people met in what could have been difficult circumstances. They were arrested for causing a disturbance despite the fact that they weren't really involved in the fracas and it was all a misunderstanding. Little did they know that in the following decade they would all be involved - one way and another - in producing drama for the BBC as it went through one of the toughest periods in its history. The tale is told - mainly - by Rhiannon, but we hear the stories of Nicky, Maggie, Jill, Jonathan and Chris. Names will change, but they'll all wander the circular corridors of power in Langford Place. Full review...
Bullet Boys by Ally Kennen
Alex is a crack shot. His gamekeeper father trained him well.
Levi would rather pull a girl than a trigger.
Max is a bomb about to go off.
These are three unlikely friends. Alex doesn't really want to do his A levels. He'd rather join his father in estate management. But his father feels he needs to connect with the world more, especially since his mother died, and so Alex goes along with his wishes with as glad a heart as he can manage. Max doesn't have much choice either. Expelled from his posh private school and a severe disappointment to his military family, Hammerton is his last chance to salvage some chance of a future. Levi provides the link between these two wildly different boys. He's an easygoing, happy-go-lucky lad whose dreams are much more about being a lover than a fighter. Full review...
The Happy Life: The Search for Contentment in the Modern World by David Malouf
There's something quite uplifting about the physical brevity of David Malouf's 'The Happy Life' which is subtitled 'The Search for Contentment in the Modern World'. It suggests that it is easy to find, when of course, the whole point of the book is that despite, or perhaps because of, scientific and technological advances that have taken away many of the causes of true unhappiness in the world, it remains elusive for most. Who can say that they are truly happy? The book runs to less than 100 pages if you take out the Notes section, and the typeface is large. It is, by any reckoning a slim offering. Full review...
Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas by Matthew Hollis
Most historians tend to refer to Edwardian England as the thirteen-year interlude between the Victorian era and the shots at Sarajevo which precipitated the First World War, an era of relative stability. However, there had been ominous rumblings from the new order of things during the two years or so prior to June 1914, particularly from a new spirit among the younger literary generation. The old Victorian writers, notably the uniquely terrible Poet Laureate Alfred Austin (doubtless a very good man, but an almost comically inept writer of verse) were dismissed as irredeemably old hat by the likes of Rupert Brooke and W.H. Davies. For a short time London was the poetry capital of the world, and the book opens with the opening in January 1913 of Harold Monro’s poetry bookshop in Bloomsbury, which rapidly became a magnet for the self-proclaimed Georgian poets and readers. Full review...
The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Julie lives in Bootle and is in her last year of primary school. She's like every little girl, hoping to be invited to her friends' houses for tea and just beginning to think about boys. She's never thought much about the world outside Bootle but the arrival of Chingis and his younger brother Nergui is about to change all that. The two boys are nomads from Mongolia and they arrive at school on a hot summer's day, wearing traditional Mongolian furry coats and hats. Taking a shine to Julie, Chingis appoints her his Good Guide to the UK. And in return he tells her stories of horsemen and eagles and shows her Polaroid photos of a land far away. Full review...
Thin Paths: Journeys in and Around an Italian Mountain Village by Julia Blackburn
Julia Blackburn had known Herman for many years, but they had drifted apart. She put the postcard which she received from him in an album: it mentioned a cottage he had discovered in Liguria and which he was renovating. Some time later there was another postcard and an invitation to visit. Over time the cottage would become her home and Herman her husband. 'Thin Paths' is the stories of the people who inhabit this harsh, wild landscape and of the way in which the landscape has formed the people. The thin paths join the people and the places together in a way of life which is rare. Full review...
After Obsession by Carrie Jones and Steven E Wedel
Aimee Avery isn't a normal teenage girl. She has supernatural abilities – Aimee is a healer. But something evil is calling to her to the River, like her mother who drowned in the River. Aimee's mum had supernatural abilities too, and was branded insane by those around her. But was she? Or is there something really out there killing people in the river? Was Aimee's mum's suicide a suicide at all? Full review...
A Summer of Drowning by John Burnside
A Summer of Drowning is a book in which for much of the time not a lot happens - but always spookily. Set on the Norwegian island of Kvaløya in the Arctic Circle, the story is narrated by Liv who is now 28 but who recalls events of a summer when she was 18. Liv resides with her artist mother in, if not isolation, then certainly seclusion. The book makes much of the midsummer madness that 24 hour daylight induces and in that respect it is wholly successful. It aims for a dream-like and timeless quality which it largely achieves. Full review...
The House of Eliott by Jean Marsh
When Evangeline and Beatrice's father dies, the two sisters discover that he has left them with very little money and without any qualifications with which to support themselves. They struggle to find suitable employment before accidentally discovering their talents as seamstresses and fashion designers. The book follows their journey of independence after their father's death, and the new relationships they begin to build without him dominating their lives. Full review...
Twisted Agendas by Damian McNicholl
Writing about Ireland and the Irish, especially the dimension of the Troubles and the IRA, from a third hand American perspective is a recipe for cliché and stereotype. Balancing and interweaving the story of American journalist Piper with that of Irishman Danny's search for independence in London does enable McNicholl in some part to achieve a wry and knowing stance, making us hope for a clever twist away from the predictably which always seems so close. Full review...
Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Tale of the Terrible Secret by Kristina Stephenson
The brave and bold Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and his companions - who are, as I am sure you already know by now, his good grey mare and his pet cat, Envelope - are led to a castle that teeters on top of a hill from which strange cries are heard. Sir Charlie knows that even though he is a bit scared, he must be brave and put right the terrible thing that has happened in the tall, tall tower (with the pointy roof). And so our hero's tale begins… Full review...
Signing Their Rights Away by Denise Kiernan
Many Americans believe that the Declaration of Independence is the cornerstone of the American democracy, the fountain-head of the American Way of Life and the American Dream. The 4th of July is the national holiday and often thought to be the single most important date in American history. Full review...
Pear Shaped by Stella Newman
One night Sophie was out with her friend Laura. They met a couple of men and there was an immediate chemistry between Sophie and James Stephens. He was good looking, charismatic, great fun and obviously attracted to Sophie. The fact that he was rich (complete with Maserati) didn't matter to her - but it didn't do any harm either. What's not to like? Well, there's nothing 'not to like' but just the odd thing that might give some pause for thought. He's forty five and never been married - and has a history of dating super-slim models. But - he is obviously very taken with Sophie and she falls head-over-heels for him. Full review...
Yossarian Slept Here by Erica Heller
'To live forever or die in the attempt' was the essential glory in life and living that is at the heart of John Yossarian in Catch 22. This autobiography of the daughter of his creator, Joseph Heller, reveals how the same excitement and joie de vivre suffused throughout the Heller family. The harebrained unpredictability, the madcap exploits and relationships bowl us through this book with terrific pace and verve. Full review...
Interpreters by Sue Eckstein
Julia Rosenthal whilst visiting her childhood haunts, is invited to go around what used to be her family home. As she wanders around the rooms, she relives her past and seeks to understand why her parents (particularly her mother) were as they were. Julia also desperately seeks reassurance that she has not, in turn, damaged her own daughter, Susanna. Meanwhile the reader is given the privilege of knowledge unavailable to Julia. Via transcriptions of discussions with counsellor, the reader learns about Julia's mother first hand. Slowly, in alternating chapters, whilst Julia goes over her far from normal 1970s upbringing, her mother haltingly and touchingly reveals the secret life which almost destroyed her. Full review...
Da Vinci's Ghost: The untold story of Vitruvian Man by Toby Lester
As the number of popular non-fiction titles grows, the authors on the hunt for new-book material often use a concept approach, trying to come up with an USP for a new title. This uniqueness is often achieved by adopting an obscure subject, or an unusual perspective from which to view a popular theme. Full review...
Chambers Biographical Dictionary by Chambers and Joan Bakewell
It's now the ninth edition of this famous volume and that came as a bit of a shock when I glanced at the bookcase and realised that my copy dated back to 1974 and was still in regular use for a quick guide as to who might have been who. It's advertised as 'the great, the good, the not-so-great and the downright wicked' and it's difficult to better that summary. It has eighteen thousand biographies and differs from Who's Who with it's thirty thousand entries in that covers the dead as well as the living and the interesting rather than those who need to be included because they have achieved a certain position. Full review...
City of Bohane by Kevin Barry
Bohane is a thoroughly lawless town, set in what would appear to be some kind of parallel universe. We are told it is set in 2053, but it's a town without any technology or modern luxuries. It's a violent place fuelled by alcohol, drugs and lust with a patois style language that takes a little work to get into. Novels with this kind of premise have to be beyond good if they are to interest the annual literary prize judges; this is one such book and City of Bohane is nominated for this year's Costa First Novel prize. It is stunningly good. Full review...
Pig in the Middle by Matt Whyman
I'm so pleased I read this book. It's only the occasional writer who grabs me by the short and curlies with his observation of human nature, but accomplished children's writer Matt Whyman not only grabbed me, but sold me on the mini-pigs as well. Full review...
Solar System by Marcus Chown
With beautiful photographs of the wonders of the solar system, this is a gorgeous coffee table book for anyone with even a passing interest in astronomy. Marcus Chown's descriptions are in-depth enough to warrant considered reading, but if you're after a simple and casual flick through, you'll still find plenty to appeal. Full review...
Ladies and Gentlemen by Adam Ross
Adam Ross's characters are driven - but I mean that in the wrong way. They're not the ones riding on a crest of a wave of motivation, steering their course through life. No, instead they are passengers, and who or whatever is at the wheel seems to have lost the satnav. So, in 'Futures', a middle-aged unemployed man finds himself giving life lessons and a kick up the backside to a teenaged neighbour just as his own career seems about to enter its nth phase, with an airy-fairy psychic-oriented company that won't ever go as far as telling him what his job might be. A professor who has to settle temporarily where his work takes him and not where he would like, has to wonder what to do when told of the action-packed adventures of a devil-may-care, come-what-may mechanic. Full review...
Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent (The Father of Lies Chronicles) by Alan Early
When Joe Quinn is offered a great job working on the new Metro tunnels, within just a few days, he and his son Arthur have packed up and moved from a peaceful life in Kerry across country to central Dublin. Full review...
