The Bookbag
Hello from The Bookbag, a 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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The Nearest Faraway Place by Hayley Long
On Griff's thirteenth birthday, he and his brother's lives change forever when their entire family is caught up in a road accident. The Nearest Faraway Place is told from the point of view of his brother, Dylan, as they both try to come to terms with the end of their world as they know it. Full review...
The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris
A flawed but reasonably entertaining swipe at modern media. There's plenty here to like, and plenty not to. But good structure and scramjet pace keep this one flying to the final page. Full review...
Best-loved Paddington Stories by Michael Bond and R W Alley
With the sad passing of Michael Bond there is no time like the present to revisit some of the adventures of his most iconic creation; Paddington. As the character has proved so timeless regular re-issues of the books have appeared and Best-loved Paddington Stories brings three of these stories together. Does this collection really reflect the best that the bear has to offer or are they just three random tales stuck together with marmalade? Full review...
Court of Lions by Jane Johnson
Kate Fordham arrived in the sunlit city of Granada a year ago. In the shadow of the Alhambra, one of the most beautiful places on earth, she works as a waitress serving tourists in a busy bar. She pretends she's happy with her new life – but how could she be? Kate's alone, afraid and hiding under a false name. And fate is about to bring her face-to-face with her greatest fear. Five centuries ago, a message, in a hand few could read, was inscribed in blood on a stolen scrap of paper. The paper was folded and pressed into one of the Alhambra's walls. There it has lain, undisturbed by the tides of history – the Fall of Granada, the expulsion of its last Sultan – until Kate discovers it. Born of love, in a time of danger and desperation, the fragment will be the catalyst that changes Kate's life forever. Full review...
Flaneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London by Lauren Elkin
Lauren Elkin is down on suburbs: they're places where you can't or shouldn't be seen walking; places where, in fiction, women who transgress boundaries are punished (thinking of everything from Madame Bovary to Revolutionary Road). When she imagines to herself what the female version of that well-known historical figure, the carefree flâneur, might be, she thinks about women who freely wandered the world's great cities without having the more insalubrious connotation of the word 'streetwalker' applied to them. Full review...
Together by Julie Cohen
This is a love story told backwards, in the most beautiful manner, so that we know from the very beginning that Emily and Robert love each other enormously, and that he is about to break her heart in the most dreadful way in order to protect a secret that they've lived with for decades. Seeing their love unfold in reverse is beautiful. We get to know them once they have already gotten to know each other, and it makes for an unusual and interesting structure. The secret they hold is referred to throughout, but it isn't revealed until very late in the book. I'm guessing very few readers will figure it out. Even once you know, you want to go back and read the whole story again in the light of the information you now hold. Full review...
Wishker by Heather Pindar and Sarah Jennings
Mirabel is a small girl who wants rather a lot from life and is sadly frustrated when everyone says no to her. Then a stray cat appears in her garden. He's a rather special cat with wish-granting whiskers. All Mirabel's problems will be instantly solved. Or so she thinks… Full review...
A Guide to the Classics: Or How to Pick the Derby Winner by Guy Griffith and Michael Oakeshott
It's not often that you get a glimpse into the personal, youthful interests of one of the greatest Conservative philosophers of the twentieth century, but A Guide to the Classics co-authored by Michael Oakeshott is a light-hearted look at how to pick the Derby winner. Originally written in 1936 it is, amazingly, as relevant today as it was then. In fact, the techniques and analysis employed by the authors were way ahead of their time and have only come into general use relatively recently. Full review...
So Say the Fallen (DCI Serena Flanagan) by Stuart Neville
Harry Garrick had been a successful businessman until the car accident which cost him both legs and left him bedridden and beholden to his wife for even the most intimate functions, so there was not a lot of surprise when, six months later, he seemed to have taken his own life. One sachet of morphine granules, mixed in a pot of yoghurt had given him a good night's sleep. Garrick appeared to have crunched ten sachets of granules, if the empty packets were anything to go by. It seemed obvious that the case should be closed quickly: who would dispute a finding of suicide? Even DCI Serena Flanagan was just about convinced: it was just that the widow, Roberta Garrick, and the local clergyman, Peter McKay seemed suspiciously close. Perhaps a few loose ends needed tidying up before the case was closed? Full review...
Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente
Nine comedians are invited to a remote Caribbean island under the guise of working with Dustin Walker, a comedic legend. Each fits neatly into one of the archetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, the washed-up has-been who has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, the rising female star with a new stand-up special coming soon; Dante, who went from being a kid on the streets to the hardest working road comic in the business; Oliver, the child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, the insult comic who is past her prime; TJ, the nightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, the ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character Billy the Contractor is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. Of course, all nine agree because when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and asks for your help, what the hell else are you going to say? Full review...
My First Mog ABC by Judith Kerr
There are few children's series that have been as long lasting as Judith Kerr's Mog books and even though the cat may no longer be with us, there is a huge back catalogue of old stories and images that could be repurposed. In the wrong hands reusing old Mog images would seem like a crass cash in, but done right, they could still hold the same sentimental appeal that the daft old cat has for so many people. Which way does My First Mog ABC fall? Full review...
Three Drops of Blood and a Cloud of Cocaine by Quentin Mouron and W Donald Wilson (translator)
Paul McCarthy is a man of simple pleasures; Sheriff in a small town, a good husband father and neighbour, he moves through life buoyed by his faith, in both God and justice. The brutal murder of old Jimmy Henderson rocks this simple man's tenuously ordered life and drags him to the edge of the abyss. McCarthy is tasked with leading a fractured investigation whilst managing his own soul-searching questions about morality and the nature of existence. Into this quagmire steps Franck, a private detective with a shadowy agenda, a raging cocaine habit and a twisted sense of morality. As McCarthy tries to solve this apparently motiveless crime, Franck acts as a perverse Jiminy Cricket, dripping immorality and depravity into his ear with a kiss and a wink. Full review...
Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall
Kate and Harriet are best friends growing up together on an isolated Australian cape. As the daughters of the lighthouse keepers, the two girls share everything, until a fisherman, McPhail, arrives in their small community. When Kate witnesses the desire that flares between him and Harriet, she is torn by her feelings of envy and longing. An innocent moment in McPhail's hut then occurs that threatens to tear their peaceful community apart. Full review...
Exquisite by Sarah Stovell
I was looking forward to reading Exquisite ever since I first heard about it, and it didn't disappoint. It's a murky, suggestive thriller about two very different women who find themselves fascinatingly connected; it's a compulsive, attention-grabbing read that had me hunched up in bed till 1am, desperate to finish it as soon as I could. It's clever, excellently-paced, and uncannily realistic. It's just a pity that I managed to figure out the ending about a quarter of the way in. Full review...
Ireland: The Struggle for Power: From the Dark Ages to the Jacobites by Jeffrey James
The 'Irish troubles' go back over many centuries. When I and doubtless many others of my generation studied History at school, the Emerald Isle barely intruded on our consciousness, apart from brief references to the Battle of the Boyne and maybe the Easter Rising. This book therefore does us, and the country, a service in helping to fill a very large gap. Full review...
The Book of Orchids: A life-size guide to six hundred species from around the world by Mark Chase, Maarten Christenhusz and Tom Mirenda
One in seven flowering plants on earth is an orchid: there are 26,000 species in 749 genera. They flourish in remarkable habitats such as deserts and the Arctic circle, in fact all areas but the most inhospitable. There's a wide range of colours, shapes and scents: they're dramatic, delicate and ingenious in the ways that they've developed not just to survive but to thrive. Tom Mirenda describes them as masters of manipulation and famous for lying and cheating their way to their many evolutionary successes, yet his love of them is as obvious as his respect for the insight they give us into the processes which shaped our world. He hopes that understanding how that has come about will inspire us to conserve what we have. Full review...
Grow: A Family Guide to Growing Fruit and Veg by Ben Raskin
I worried when I looked at this book: Grow, it said, A family guide to growing fruit and veg. Why did it worry me? Well, it's a mere 48 pages and the cover says that it includes Games, stickers and MORE! I have weighty tomes which don't completely cover what I need to know about growing fruit and veg, so wasn't this going to fall a little short? Well, it doesn't - not at all. Full review...
Rainforest Masks: Ten 3D Rainforest Masks to Press Out and Make by Gavin Rutherford and Tanya Batrak
I have been having the most tremendous fun making rainforest masks: you know the effect that you get when a really talented face artist does a young child's face and you see the tiger? Well, this is an even better result and it's in 3D. All the creatures are, as you would expect, from the rainforest regions of the world, but there's decidedly more here than the usual suspects. You get a green iguana, toucan, jaguar, emperor tamarin, blue morpho butterfly, red-eyed tree frog, Brazilian tapir, giant otter, blue-and-yellow macaw and the emerald tree boa. Never heard of some of them? Well, don't worry: the book is gently educational, with a paragraph telling you just enough about the creature. Full review...
Merlin at War: A DCI Frank Merlin Novel by Mark Ellis
Whilst war is raging in Europe and France is occupied, there's something of a lull in Britain. Hitler needs the Luftwaffe for other duties and London is spared the nightly blitz, but no one's under any illusions that it could start again at any time. There's been a certain relaxation in sexual relationships though and illegal abortions are on the rise and not all of them go as they should. A young woman is found dead in a London hotel room as the result of a botched operation: she has no identification and no one knows who the father of the baby was, or who performed the operation. Full review...
Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais
The results are in – and for the first time in three years Mireille has not been voted ugliest girl in school, but only the third ugliest. When her replacement at that exalted low position comes calling for sympathy, Mireille is at first too hard-hearted to give a damn, for angry self-defence is her default mode. But soon all three medallists in the unwanted competition form a trio, and all three see a reason to go and gatecrash the 14th July Presidential Garden Party – one girl because her favourite band are playing there; another as her brother has been ignored for a major military honour in favour of his ex-superior, who should instead be getting hauled over the coals and not applauded; and for Mireille, the reason is that the President's husband is her natural birth father, and has never acknowledged her… Full review...
You Die When You Die by Angus Watson
Finnbogi the Boggy and his tribe of mushroom men (Vikings) must take a road trip through hostile territory whilst being hunted by the greatest fighting force ever seen (Amazonian Native Americans). Vikings meet Native Americans in a clash of cultures and potentially the end of the world. When the Queen of the known world says your tribe has to be exterminated then your immediate future may not be so rosy. Full review...
Giant Killer (Infinity Drake, Book 3) by John McNally
Yay! More Infinity Drake! Boo! It's his final outing!
When Finn (real name Infinity) Drake took advantage of his grandma going off on a knitting cruise (yes, a knitting cruise, Grandma loves knitting) to spend a week away in the Pyrenees with his Uncle Al, he could never have predicted what would happen. The release of a devastating bio-weapon by supervillain Kaparis required Uncle Al and his super-secret invention to rush to an equally super-secret crisis meeting. An act of sabotage saw Finn shrunk to just 9mm in height and joining up with a crack special forces squad to save the world...
... but the world needs quite some saving when Kaparis is about. Full review...
Strange Practice: A Dr Greta Helsing Novel by Vivian Shaw
I don't suppose it's worth trying to convince you it's too dangerous?
Not in the least.
Meet Dr Greta Helsing, a highly talented, well respected physician with her own specialised medical practice, known and adored throughout London for her great work… well, at least amongst the supernatural community. Greta is in fact a descendent of the vampire hunter Professor Abraham Van Helsing, but relations have improved since then and she now spends her days carrying on her father's legacy treating vampires, werewolves, mummies, ghouls and the like. So early morning emergency calls are not uncommon; what is uncommon however, is a vampire's stab wound that won't heal.
Full review...
The Demon Headmaster: Total Control by Gillian Cross
Lizzie and her younger brother Tyler aren't looking forward to returning to Hazelbrook Academy. However, when they arrive, they find everything has changed. And it's not for the better. Every pupil is now perfectly behaved and suddenly everyone seems to have a special talent. Even the teachers are acting strangely. And, if that isn't enough, Lizzie inexplicably finds herself throwing food around the canteen and being accused of vandalising the school. Lizzie is determined to find out what has caused the sudden change in everyone's behaviour but it's hard because no one seems to be able to talk about what's going on. It's almost as if the Hazelbrook students are no longer able to think and act for themselves. Could it, perhaps, be something to do with the mysterious new headmaster? Full review...
The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrere and Linda Coverdale (translator)
On 9th January 1993 Jean-Claude Romand orchestrated a horrifying chain of events which exposed a shocking double life, a history of lies and a breath-taking capacity for deceit. The Adversary dissects the choices and actions of Romand which led to the brutal murders of his wife, children and parents and the attempted murder of his mistress, the impact of his deception on those around him and his sensational trial. Carrère is as integral a part of this story as Romand, his coverage of the trial and correspondence with him whilst in prison form a significant part of the story as do his feelings and response to Romand's justification for his actions. Full review...
The Family of Richard III by Michael Hicks
New titles about the Yorkist dynasty, which ruled England for little more than two decades, continue to proliferate. Michael Hicks, acknowledged as one of the great – although never sympathetic – experts on Richard III, has contributed an interesting chronicle to the shelves. Full review...
The Vinyl Detective - The Run-Out Groove: Vinyl Detective 2 by Andrew Cartmel
The Vinyl Detective is not really a detective. He's just a normal bloke - though that might depend on your definition of 'normal' - who lives with his girlfriend Nevada, two cats and a collection of vinyl in a house that happens to be adjacent to the Abbey, a posh rehab place notorious for the celebrities it treats. He doesn't solve crimes or trace missing people, even if he does search for rare records. So when an odd couple turn up on his doorstep requesting his help in tracing a missing child of a 1960's female rock star whose own death was shrouded in now somewhat cultish mystery, he says no. That is, until he is told that the job would also involve tracing a rare single. Full review...