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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The A-Z of You and Me by James Hannah
Lying in a hospital bed, refusing visits from friends, Ivo is alone. Only his carer, Sheila, provides company - and she asks him to think of a different part of his body for each letter of the alphabet, and then to tell a tale about each one. Full review...
Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver
Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara's beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged. Nicole, known as Nick, and younger sister Dara, have their lives and relationship torn apart by a serious car accident. Once extremely close, Nick and Dara now barely speak to each other, both sisters weighed down by feelings of guilt. Full review...
Adult Onset by Ann-Marie MacDonald
At midlife, Mary Rose MacKinnon has settled down with her partner, Hilary, and is raising two young children. Opting to fulfill the role of stay at home mum, she has placed her career as an author on hold. What follows is a bid to reconcile this new identity with her former idea of self. Success, however, depends on Mary Rose facing up to the confusions of her past. Full review...
By Its Cover by Donna Leon
A prestigious library in the heart of Venice discovered that pages had been cut from many of its most valuable books and that several others were missing. This would normally have been investigated by a specialist department in Rome, but Commissario Guido Brunetti agreed to look into the thefts - partly for personal reasons and partly because it was the simplest way to move the problem forward. The staff at the library were certain that an American researcher was responsible, but there were quite a few factors which didn't quite add up for Brunetti and he decided to look at some of the other regular attenders at the library. Full review...
Elementary: The Ghost Line by Adam Christopher
Once an author dies, the characters they created are often left alone to live off this initial legacy, but it is increasingly normal to see past heroes rise again – quite literally in the likes of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Once out of copyright you can do what you like to a character; a character just like Sherlock Holmes. Not only do we get numerous new books starring Holmes set in the Victorian era, but there are currently two separate TV shows about modern Sherlockian adventures. Elementary is set in America and is more liberal than most adaptations with the lore, but can the tie in novel evoke any memories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Full review...
Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein
The essential role of aviators in the success or failure of modern war is a given, and fiction is full of the derring-do and dog-fight exploits of moustachioed heroes waving their trade-mark silk scarves as they land their frail and battered craft at a friendly airstrip. But what if the enemy planes outnumber those of your country by hundreds, if not thousands, and you, the pilot, are barely out of your childhood? Full review...
The Wickford Doom by Chris Priestley and Vladimir Stankovic
Following Harry’s father’s death in the war, he and his mother learn that they’ve inherited a bequest from a relative. When they arrive to claim it, though, they find that they’ve been the victims of a dying man’s last cruel prank. But there are local tales of missing children and a strange painting called the Doom, and Harry quickly learns that there may be something far more evil than a nasty joke to worry about. Can he fight back against it? Full review...
Supercat vs the Pesky Pirate (Supercat, Book 3) by Jeanne Willis
We all know the story, you’re a cat and you wake up one day, lick a toxic sock and end up as a crime fighting cat, right? Well SuperCat is back in this rip roaring (or should that be meowing?) adventure, SuperCat vs The Pesky Pirate. Full review...
A Fifty Year Silence by Miranda Richmond Mouillot
The story follows the narrator’s quest to find out why her mother’s parents abruptly parted and never reconciled, or even spoke another word to one another. We follow Miranda as she goes backwards and forwards between her Grandmother, whom she is very close to, and her Grandfather, whom she has always found a difficult character. She is determined to get to the bottom of the story which takes her through terrible first hand accounts of events leading up to and throughout World War Two and what Nazi occupied Europe was like for the Jewish. She is driven by the need to know what could cause two people to part so completely after going through so much together, and it’s become her academic life to find out. Full review...
The Red House by Emily Winslow
On the face of it, it seemed quite simple. It was just that as you started to unravel what had happened, what might happen, there seemed to be more skins that on an onion. Maxwell Gant had taken his fiancee to meet his mother. He and Imogen were hoping to move to Cambridge, where Maxwell had applied for a job with one of the college choirs. Imogen had an unusual history - she had been adopted when she was eight after the deaths of her parents in a car crash. She'd managed to trace her two elder brothers after the four children had been adopted by different families, but she was still looking for her younger brother, Sebastian, who was only three at the time of the accident. Full review...
How to Win Every Argument by Madsen Pirie
When a book makes a promise on its cover, call me old fashioned but I’m kinda expecting it to deliver on this. So How to Win Every Argument has me thinking that I would read it and become an expert in proving I’m right all the time (even when I’m not). I was expecting the sort of hints and tips one could use to argue successfully that the Earth is flat, chocolate is a vegetable (cocoa is a plant) and Cheerleaders should rule the world. Simples. Full review...
Stammered Songbook: A Mother's Book of Hours by Erwin Mortier and Paul Vincent (translator)
A chateau in the country. So far, a fine life behind you. Just 65 years of age. A happy collection of three successful children. Alzheimer's. You work out what's the one bummer in that circumstance. Full review...
The Well by Catherine Chanter
The subject and title of Catherine Chanter's debut novel is a country idyll of which dreams are made: charmingly ramshackle, disarmingly verdant and heaving with fertile acreage. Ruth and Mark can barely believe their luck at finding this perfect retreat, an oasis from their tired and overwrought City existence. Several months down the road and with the entire nation brought to its knees by an almost apocalyptic drought, Ruth and Mark are beginning to question their good fortune in their ownership of The Well. Full review...
The Longest Fight by Emily Bullock
Jack Munday is a retired boxer who, even in his prime, wasn’t quite good enough, so now older and wiser Jack hopes to hit the big time as a manager and believes that in Frank he has found a fighter who could get him there. Frank is young, naïve, eager to learn with a lot of talent and Jack discovers him just in time to take him under his wing before any other more established managers could sign him up. The pair make a pretty good team and Frank starts to build up an impressive boxing record and fan base and Jack sees his dreams and hard graft about to reach fruition but things are rarely simple and life, love and shady characters get in the way. Full review...
The Knowledge by Lewis Dartnell
Post apocaplyptic depictions of earth are common place in Science Fiction - the wonderful (if hugely depressing) The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The MaddAdam trilogy by Margaret Atwood (although I believe Ms Atwood would be rather rankled to hear her books described as 'Science Fiction'), and the recent Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel are just a small drop in the very deep ocean of post apocalyptic books. Full review...
The Traitor's Mark by DK Wilson
1543 - Hans Holbein - famed artist of both that time and today, has disappeared. When Thomas Treviot is left awaiting a design from Holbein, he goes to track him down - only to end up drawn into a conspiracy which threatens to destroy those he loves, and all he holds dear... Full review...
Kipper's Toybox by Mick Inkpen
There are things in life that make you feel old; when the last Premiership footballer born the same year as you retires, or when their arresting officer looks like they don’t even shave. The fact that Kipper is over 25 years old makes me feel my age; this collection of books always felt a little ageless and classic. The new 25 year anniversary releases look to cement this. Full review...
Rise by Karen Campbell
Justine is running for her life. She's had enough of being someone else's property, of being subjected to the kind of love that has seen her tattooed and owned and beaten and rented out to others to earn her keep. So she's taken what isn't hers, but then was never actually his either, and she's packed a bag, waited until he is drunk-enough asleep not to hear her say goodbye to the dog, and has left. Full review...
Gifted by Donald Hounam
Fifteen-year-old Frank is a forensic sorcerer, employed to solve murders and other grisly crimes in a world where adults get the blur and lose their eyesight by their mid-twenties, and only the young have enough sorcerous power to summon demons and angels. Full review...
Sardines of Love by Zurine Aguirre
This is a love story about Lolo and Lola, and grandfather and grandmother whose lives revolve around sardines (stay with me!) Lolo goes out fishing for sardines, and loves to eat sardines, whilst Lola his wife runs a shop selling sardines. Lola doesn't like to eat sardines, but she happily cooks them for her husband, albeit with a peg on her nose because of the smell! But one day, the unthinkable happens, and Lola finds that she has run out of sardines for Lolo. What will she do? Full review...
I Love You to the Moon and Back by Tim Warnes
I do love a good bear story, and the bears in this one are wonderfully appealing. Sweetly drawn, in a gentle, loving story, this is a perfect 'winding-down' story. It's loaded with sentiment (I'm sure I'd be crying if I were pregnant!) and is just very sweet to share with small, snuggly, just out of the bath toddlers Full review...
The Big Beautiful Colouring Book by Hannah Davies
Although I have two small children, it's been a long time since I just sat and did any colouring by myself. Usually I am tasked with drawing various family members, or vehicles, or animals, and then we colour them in together. This time I sat quietly by myself with a pack of my son's new colouring pencils, and I quite happily passed a couple of hours colouring in! Full review...
The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again! by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
Following the success of The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules, the League of Pensioners are back – and this time, they’re in Vegas! I haven’t read the first book but it was on my list when the opportunity arose to review this one. The idea of the League of Pensioners marching towards a fairer world through fun and frolics was hugely appealing to me and this is a stand alone novel so I thought I would dive straight in with this one. Full review...
Just One More Day by Jessica Blair
When war is declared and her brother joins the RAF, young Carolyn Maddison makes it clear that she plans to follow in his footsteps and join the WAAF as soon as she turns eighteen. Despite her parents' objections, she stays true to her word and soon receives an invitation to report to the Air Ministry for training. In her first weeks with the WAAF, Carolyn experiences heartbreaking loss and witnesses an horrific accident that causes her to make a rash vow: never to get emotionally involved with a pilot. However, as a pretty young girl stationed at a base full of dashing young airmen, she finds it increasingly difficult to keep her resolve, especially when fun-loving Vera arrives at the base and starts flirting with Rick, the man that she just turned down. Full review...
Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise by Sean Taylor and Jean Jullien
As quick as a shooting star, like a wolf in the air, who could it be? It’s Hoot Owl! And Hoot Owl is hungry. Owls are well known for being wise, but what people don’t know is that Hoot Owl is also the Master of Disguise; a skill which he’s going to use to use to get himself some dinner. The question is, will it work? And what will he be eating for dinner? I don’t think you’ll be able to guess... Full review...
The Khazar Codex by Graham Fulbright
It's a brutal introduction to the story as a man is killed in the way that they did it in those days: two trees were pulled to the ground and the man lashed between them and then the trees were released. But that's only the background to the story which is set in the here and now and most of it is in The Kemble, a rather rundown theatre, which is presenting a revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. On the opening night there's apparently a fire, but whilst most of the hostages are shepherded out of the theatre a group of seven members of the audience, two cast members and the prime minister's son, Nigel Hastings, are taken hostage. The 'terrorists' (for what else can you call people who take others hostage?) represent New METRO, a group of activists who are campaigning for disused underground stations to be converted for use by the homeless. Full review...
The Minnow by Diana Sweeney
Diana Sweeney's The Minnow is an Australian book aimed at Young Adults that features death, grief, abuse, fear and loneliness. Teenage pregnancy lies at its heart while bereavement, and trying to come to terms with loss, bubbles just under the surface, constantly. But don't be misled. This novel isn't some earnest pedagogical attempt to convey teenage angst and elicit grave pity or understanding from the reader. What rescues it from mawkishness is the beautiful voice of the narrator, Tom (or Holly, if you prefer her real name). Tom doesn't fall prey to self-pity. She simply describes her world as she sees it, matter-of-fact. And the fact that her view is rather unusual (she talks to fish, dead people and her unborn child - and they talk back) doesn't really matter. Nothing can detract from the sheer lyricism of her voice. As a reader, you just have to suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride. Full review...
