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. We can even direct you to help for custom book reviews! Visit www.everychildareader.org to get free writing tips and www.genecaresearchreports.com will help you get your paper written for free.
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Lean Gains by Jonathan S Lee
I don't often begin a book by telling you what it isn't but in this case I think it's important. If you're a fairly sedentary person or a casual sportsman or woman looking to shed a few pounds then you won't get the best out of this book. You'll find some good advice about diet, but I'm afraid that much of it is going to go over your head. Of course you could always take up a sport seriously... On the other hand, if you are a serious sportsman then you could find that the advice in Lean Gains could lift you up to the next level of performance. Full review...
Radio Boy by Christian O'Connell
Meet Spike. There're two things he loves in life: Katherine Hamilton, the unattainable girl at school everyone does their best to warn him off, and radio. He is the youngest person volunteering for his local hospital station – he's read all the books and knows that's the best classroom to learn his trade in. But he's been sacked – the only listener recently was someone who'd died and not turned her radio off. Never mind, though, the horrid headmaster has always promised the school its own radio – but prime presenter will not be Spike, but the headmaster's own son, who is not only Katherine's squeeze but the biggest bully around. Is there any way for Spike to possibly get his lips to the mike and his talents on to the airwaves? Full review...
Hollywood Beauty: Vintage Secrets by Laura Slater
I have vivid memories from my youth of seeing the Hollywood beauties on the television or at the cinema and wishing that I could look like that and - of course, no matter how I tried, I never could. The look of Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Ava Gardner and Sofia Loren always eluded me. To begin with, I lacked knowledge. Despite being reasonably petite my oblong face was never going to look anything like Audrey Hepburn's. I lacked quite a few of Brigitte Bardot's attributes too. Gradually, I realised that developing my own style was the best way to go, but I'll confess that there are still elements of the stars' looks which I'd love to copy. That's where Vintage Secrets: Hollywood Beauty comes in. Full review...
A Bradford Apprenticeship by Donald Naismith
with all schools removed from their control and established as freestanding and self-governing academies. In effect this would (and possibly will) mean that what was once a national service, locally administered will become a local service, nationally administered. Donald Naismith is perhaps best known as the former Chief Education Officer of Richmond-upon-Thames, Croydon and then Wandsworth but his education and formative working years took place in his adopted home city of Bradford. In A Bradford Apprenticeship he gives us an affectionate tribute to the city which made him what he is and his thoughts on the education system. Bradford was once one of the country's leading education authorities and he values the opportunities it gave him to fine tune his thinking. Full review...
Then She Was Gone by Luca Veste
Tim Johnson took his baby daughter out one day and in the course of their walk he was attacked and the baby was stolen. But there was a problem: only Tim seemed to believe that there was a baby and the police were convinced that there was an entirely different crime and that Johnson was their only suspect. He went to prison and was largely forgotten about. Full review...
A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex and the Mind by Siri Hustvedt
I must confess that A Woman Looking spoke to me on a profound, intimate level. This is in part due to the apparent similarities between me and Siri Hustvedt - we are both feminists who love art and also love science in a world which emphasises that these two passions are mutually exclusive. What Hustvedt suggests in A Woman Looking is that it is the similarities between these two areas we should emphasise and that a cohesive, inclusive approach towards art and science could help fill the gaps in both disciplines. Full review...
Tokyo Nights by Jim Douglas
Colin McCann, private detective, chronic smoker and dog lover, is charged with solving the mysterious death of the young and beautiful daughter of a wealthy businessman. The key facts of this case apparently hinge on the testimony of Charlie Davis, a ne'er do well dreamer with quick fists and a poet's heart. The only problem is that Charlie Davis has disappeared and appears to be unwilling to disclose his part in these tragic events. After some deliciously violent digging, McCann jets off to Tokyo and here is where the fun really begins… Full review...
That's Not How You Do It! by Ariane Hofmann-Maniyar
Lucy the cat knows how to do everything. Yes, she is one of those dreadful know-it-alls who can build a tower, play the xylophone, eat with a knife and fork...you name it, she can do it! Everyone knows that she's the best at all of these things, so she's the one they go to if they need help. One day, however, there's a new panda in town, Toshi, and Lucy watches him and sees that he doesn't know how to do anything right at all! His music is strange, and he eats differently to everyone else, and he can't make paper stars, only some weird-looking bird! Lucy finds this more and more frustrating until she suddenly can't contain herself any longer and she tells Toshi that he's doing everything wrong… Full review...
Stone Underpants by Rebecca Lisle and Richard Watson
Poor Pod has a chilly bottom! His leafy clothing is just not cutting it, and he needs to find an alternative. But what can he use to make himself some pants? This is a madcap story that will see Pod wearing everything from stone pants to feather pants, to even, in desperation I suspect, some pants made from spider's webs! Will he ever manage to find something suitable to make his pants from? Full review...
The Sticky Witch by Hilary McKay
Tom and Ellie's parents have set sail around the world on a raft made of rubbish! They tell the children that they will be gone for three years, but it will go by very quickly and they'll be safe and happy in the company of Aunt Tab. But who is this strange lady who applied for the job of caring for two wonderful children and their cat, Whiskers? She doesn't seem to be the kind guardian that the children need, and why is everything in her house so very, very sticky? Full review...
Infographics: Technology by Simon Rogers
As parents, we can often be bombarded with questions as our children start to discover the world. These questions soon become increasingly complex, especially with the latest technological advances. How do computers work? What's inside a smartphone? How can earth communicate with spacecraft? Thankfully we now have a handy, illustrated guide to help us: Infographics: Technology. Full review...
The Burning of Juniper Slaide (The Juniper Series) by Johanna Handley
Juniper and James are best friends, but their friendship is more intense than most, even though James' father is in prison for murdering Juniper's family. Most outsiders would consider their relationship toxic, but for painfully shy Juniper, having a close friend who can make decisions for her and speak in her behalf is her comfort blanket. So for now, it's James and Juniper against the world. Well, it would be, if James hadn't gone missing. Now Juniper feels guilty. She was the last person to see James alive and they had a terrible argument. Now Juniper is all alone and exposed, with nobody to shield her from the scary outside world. Full review...
The Burning of Juniper Slaide (The Juniper Series) by Johanna Handley
Juniper and James are best friends, but their friendship is more intense than most, even though James' father is in prison for murdering Juniper's family. Most outsiders would consider their relationship toxic, but for painfully shy Juniper, having a close friend who can make decisions for her and speak in her behalf is her comfort blanket. So for now, it's James and Juniper against the world. Well, it would be, if James hadn't gone missing. Now Juniper feels guilty. She was the last person to see James alive and they had a terrible argument. Now Juniper is all alone and exposed, with nobody to shield her from the scary outside world. Full review...
Hilo Book 1: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick
Meet D.J. He's the odd one out in a family of talented prodigies. Whilst his siblings excel at music, arts, science and sport, D.J. isn't particularly good at anything. When D.J. discovers a boy who seems to have crash-landed to earth, things start to change. Suddenly, this very ordinary boy has the potential to be a real hero; especially when he discovers that his new friend is not the only thing that fell to earth that day... Full review...
Me and Mister P by Maria Farrer and Daniel Rieley
Meet Arthur. He's a young lad with a lot on his shoulders, and nearly all of it seems to come courtesy of his younger brother, Liam. Liam, you see, is on the autistic spectrum – at the colour marked rocking to and fro lots, face to the TV screen so Arthur can't see the football, and shrieking at the slightest sign of stress. Arthur for one stresses because of this situation, so is leaving home for good one day – with lucky charms in his pockets – when he nearly bumps into Mister P on their doorstep. Mister P is a tall, distinguished character, oddly bearing a small suitcase that smells of fish and has a label on it stating Arthur and Liam's address. Has he possibly come to stay? That would be weird. And what is even weirder, as of course the cover tells you, is that Mister P is a polar bear… Full review...
The Hello Atlas by Ben Handicott and Kenard Pak
Sannu! Kina lafiya? That's how Azumi greets us in this book. He's from Africa, and he speaks Hausa. Do you? Don't worry if not, because you're about to learn. Full review...
1588: A Calendar of Crime (A Hew Cullan Mystery) by Shirley McKay
A lot of crime happens in St Andrews during 1588 and therefore in the life of law lecturer and local investigator Hew Cullen too. As we travel through the year with him, his recently wedded English wife Frances, doctor brother in law Giles and his sister Meg, the wise woman, we also encounter some of his most interesting cases. In fact there's one to match each of the year's big festivals: Candlemas, Whitsun, Lammas, Martinmas and Yule. Full review...
Nazi Saboteurs on the Bayou by Steven Burgauer
A sudden death in New Orleans' red light district, the invention of a more effective US military landing craft with a big future, a crime family with links back to occupied Sicily and two Germans lurking suspiciously in America's southern states. All these are connected and, as World War II hots up across a fortnight in 1942, the links become more obvious as well as more dangerous. Full review...
The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo and Lola Rogers (translator)
In a different world, women are bred to be beautiful, man-serving and submissive, little more than pretty faces on walking reproductive machines. All the intelligent, independent women are being removed from the gene pool through forced sterilisation, compelled to while away their days doing menial jobs until the blessed end comes. To the world, Vanna is one of the former, an eloi with few rights and of whom there are few expectations beyond being well groomed and keeping her man well fed. But she has a secret – she is not dim at all. She is one of the clever ones, who is playing dumb to further her cause. In between her college courses in good housekeeping, (which she's flunking, to perfection), she has the small matter of a drug addiction to feed, and the mystery of her true-eloi sister's disappearance to solve. Full review...
A Food Guide to Lowering Blood Pressure: 6 Simple Steps by Yuchi Yang
Yuchi Yang has been a registered dietitian for over twenty years and she's allowing us the benefit of her knowledge to help us to reduce our blood pressure without taking medication, although she does stress that if you are taking medication you shouldn't stop doing so without consulting your doctor. You can reduce your BP in six steps, which are actually a lot simpler than they sound. Does it work? Yes, it does: I've been eating this way for more than two years and I've gone from having 'very worrying' blood pressure readings to getting a smile when they're taken and being told that my BP is perfectly normal - and that's without taking medication of any sort. Full review...
The Private Life of Edward IV by John Ashdown-Hill
Edward IV is currently a popular subject for biographers. All credit is therefore due to Dr Ashdown-Hill, one of the foremost of current Yorkist-era historians, for looking at the King from a fresh angle – that of his romantic involvements. Full review...
A World Gone Mad: The Diaries of Astrid Lindgren 1939-45 by Astrid Lindgren
Before she became a world famous author, Astrid Lindgren worked as a secretary, and as a wife and mother. She kept a diary, and throughout the war maintained her own personal record of world events, commenting on political situations as well as her own day to day activities and struggles. She writes in a fresh and candid manner, and her observations are both personal and astute. Full review...
The Servants' Story: Managing a Great Country House by Pamela Sambrook
With so many recent books on aristocratic families and their homes, one which looks at the lives of their servants is to be welcomed. Written with the help of a vast archive, this presents a vivid picture of those in service at Trentham, the Staffordshire home of the Leveson-Gower family, the Dukes of Sutherland, at one stage said to be the richest non-royal family in Britain. Its insights into the ups and downs of life below stairs, and the mini-family histories involved, make for an excellent read. Full review...
Sun Moon Star by Kurt Vonnegut and Ivan Chermayeff
In his own delightfully imaginative way Kurt Vonnegut tells the story of the birth of Christ in this unique and long out of print children's book. Told from the perspective of the new born infant in his first hours of birth, this charming little story feels different to other children's Christmas books whilst at the same time goes back to the basics in exploring the true nature of Christmas. Full review...