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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Nee Nah! Nee Nah! To the Rescue: Press the tabs, hear the sounds (Sound of the City) by Carles Ballasteros
The cover of this book might tell you all that you need to know if you're buying a book for a boy who loves noisy vehicles, but if you dismiss it on those grounds you might be making a mistake. Let me tell you a bit about it. It's a substantially-built board book with suitably rounded corners for when it's used as a missile and it has tabs which take you to the pages for the vehicles we're going to be looking at. There's a helicopter, a police car, a fire engine and an ambulance. For a lot of books for the youngest children that would be it - and a lot of children would enjoy looking at the pictures. But - there's more... Full review...
Coming Home to Cuckoo Cottage by Heidi Swain
I absolutely loved this book. It was utterly enchanting with its charming feel-good storyline, delightful characters and innocent romance. It was also an easy read with short chapters making it easy to pick up and put down (not that I wanted to) throughout the day. Full review...
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
It's 1947. The Second World War has ended and American socialite Charlie St. Clair is unmarried and pregnant. After she's shipped off to Europe by her family to have her 'little problem' taken care of, Charlie decides to take matters in to her own hands and head to London. She is clinging on to a small hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi occupied France, may still be alive and she thinks she's found the person who will have the answers. Meanwhile, former British spy Evelyn Gardiner spends her days drunk and alone, still haunted by what she endured during her espionage in the First War. That is until a young American shows up at her door uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in years. This meeting forces two unlikely women together as they go in search of the truth, no matter what the cost. Full review...
Thornhill by Pam Smy
Perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, this story is haunting, mysterious and touching. Mary is a unique child; she's introverted and very talented, spending most of her time by herself creating her fantasies through making puppets. She is being severely bullied, but her bully has gone further than most. She torments her, haunts her steps and takes every opportunity to make Mary's life a living hell. Too scared to sleep, too uncomfortable to eat with others, Mary has become an isolated mute stuck in her room at Thornhill. Full review...
All The Wicked Girls by Chris Whitaker
In the small town of Grace, fifteen-year-old Summer Ryan suddenly goes missing. A model student with exceptional musical talent and beloved by all that know her, the incident rocks the entire town. It is even more terrifying set against the backdrop of recent crimes; for over the course of the year, five young church-attending girls have gone missing from all corners of Briar County. The kidnapper and murderer responsible for the disappearance of these girls is nicknamed Bird by law enforcement, and has so far evaded capture. Whilst he roams the streets, no one is safe. Full review...
The Hidden Keys by Andre Alexis
Tancred Palmieri is a talented thief thrown into the path of Willow Azarian an eccentric, unpredictable heroin addict. She is also part of the Azarian dynasty, bequeathed almost a million dollars upon her father's death. Each of the Azarian children were also gifted a deeply personal memento mori, which Willow is convinced make up an intricate treasure hunt. She enlists the help of Tancred to steal each item, solve the mystery and prove she is not blindly following a baseless fantasy. Tancred must use all his skills to infiltrate the homes of each of Willow's siblings, uncover the clues hidden in each item and fight off the rival interests of competing criminals and the police. Full review...
The Ghost of Helen Addison by Charles E McGarry
Leo Moran is a gourmand, sleuth and seer of visions. Beset by ghoulish dreams and apparitions of a terrible crime he leaves the safety of his extravagantly furnished Glasgow apartment and sets out to Lock Dhonn to aid the police in their investigation of the murder of the eponymous Helen Addison. Along the way he is visited by the phantom form of Helen and is besieged by evil forces before tumbling into a rabbit hole of deceit, mystery and the dark forces of the occult. In a race to solve the case and stop the wrong man being accused of such a ghastly crime, Leo must draw on all his skills and convince the police that the killer is still at large and waiting to strike again. Full review...
I Am Missing: David Raker Missing Persons by Tim Weaver
David Raker is an investigator, specialising in missing persons cases. Over the course of his work, he's seen plenty of unusual things, but he’s never encountered a case quite like this one. A man, Richard Kite, has approached him for help, but explains that his request is quite unusual. You see, Richard Kite isn't trying to locate a missing person. He IS the missing person. Found unconscious at the mouth of Southampton Water 10 months previously, Richard is now suffering from dissociative amnesia, which means that he can't remember anything about his life. He's not even sure that his real name is Richard Kite. Richard is frustrated because he cannot move on with his life. Nobody seems to know who he is, despite news and press coverage of his case, and without a National Insurance number, he is basically 'off the grid,' unable to get a job, pay tax or own a home. This desperate and confused man needs Raker's help to discover the truth. But the truth can be a dangerous thing. Full review...
My Year in Small Drawings: Notice, Draw, Appreciate by Matilda Tristram
In recent years there has been an upsurge in the publication of 'interactive' books, designed to spark our creativity. Colouring books for adults, as well as my teenage daughter's current favourite: Wreck This Journal, seek to tap into our creative side, whilst promoting mindfulness and relaxation. By actively encouraging us to slow down and look at the world around us, books like these enable us to take time out of our busy lives and just enjoy the present moment. And this method must be working, because they are proving incredibly popular. I was intrigued, therefore, at the idea behind My Year in Small Drawings, which invites readers to create a visual diary of the world around us by creating a series of small pictures on a given subject. Full review...
Town and Country (Turnaround Book) by Craig Shuttlewood
I know I should have been working but I've just spent the last hour pouring over Town and Country. On the face of it there's a very simple idea here: on each double-page spread you get examples of what happens in towns and what happens in the countryside with regard to various activities, modes of transport and even things like beaches and snow. You turn the book one way for the country scene and then flip it over for what happens in the town. Down the side of each page there's a list of things for you to find, complete with a thumbnail of what it is you're looking for. Full review...
Mudpuddle Farm: Cock-A-Doodle-Doo by Michael Morpurgo and Shoo Rayner
This is an anthology book containing two titles from the Mudpuddle Farm series (Mossop's Last Chance and Albertine, Goose Queen). In the first of these we see all the animals work together to save the saggy old cat-puss from being fired. The second story sees our resident genius tested by an encounter with a crafty fox whilst the farmer decides to avoid all the fuss by going for a shave. Full review...
Dragon Rider: The Griffin's Feather by Cornelia Funke
The last Pegasus on Earth has three eggs but unfortunately Pegasus eggs need their mother's saliva to allow them to magically grow and their mother died recently. Despite growing increasingly transparent the eggs are harder than diamond and before too long they will become a tomb for the winged horses inside. Our plucky adventurers have to seek out a special feather from potentially the most dangerous creature on the planet, a griffin. That is if griffins even exist! A gorgeous and loving book that just oozes empathy and care for all of nature. This is an utterly brilliant adventure that gripped me from the start and if I was 10 years old this would be one of the most wonderful adventures I could go on. Full review...
Swell by Jenny Landreth
I love Jenny's own description of her book as a waterbiography and I love her encouragement that we should each write our own. This is more than just (I say just!) a recollection of the author's own encounters with water; it's also a history of women's fight for the right to swim. That sounds absurd until you start reading about it, then it becomes serious. Not too serious though – because Jenny Landreth is clearly a lover of the absurd. Not a lover of book blurbs myself, I do always seek to give a shout-out to those who get it dead right: in this case I'm definitely with Alexandra Heminsley's giggles-on-the-commute funny. Full review...
Petite Fleur by Iosi Havilio
Every now and then you read a book that leaves you thinking “well I have no idea what just happened but I know I enjoyed it”. This is how I felt after reading Petite Fleur, the fifth novel (perhaps 'long paragraph' would be more appropriate) from cult Argentinian writer Iosi Havilio. Full review...
The Favourite by S V Berlin
Siblings Edward and Isobel Vernon haven't spoken in years and live on opposite sides of the Atlantic. When their mother Mary dies unexpectedly, they are thrown together to sort through the family home. With Edward's diffident but devoted girlfriend, Julie, making an awkward threesome, each stumbles through the practicalities of funeral preparation and house clearing, trying to make sense of their emotions and their feelings toward one another. Isobel makes a disturbing discovery and her fateful decision has consequences for all of them, challenging their beliefs about the past, hopes for the future and understanding of Mary's role in keeping them at once apart and together. Full review...
Be Frank with Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson
In June 2009 Isaac Vargas sends his assistant, twenty-four-year-old Alice Whitley, to Bel Air, California to help Mimi Gillespie produce her long-awaited second novel. Under the name M.M. Banning, Mimi issued a wildly successful novel back in the 1970s, Pitched, which quickly became a modern classic on every American adolescent's list of assigned reading for school. She's the sort of figure Harper Lee was for decades: a one-hit literary wonder and an infamous recluse. But there's one key difference here: Mimi has a nine-year-old son, Frank. Full review...
Freshers by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison
Away from home. Away from friends. Leaving behind parts of the person that you were growing up, in the hopes of finding more of the person that you want to become. Going to university is a monumental transition. For some, it's an escape. A chance to start anew. A freedom of the sort that you'll rarely have at any other point in life. An opportunity to make lifelong friends and memories that will stay with you forever. However, student life can also be a double-edged sword. There's a fine line, after all, between the opportunity to meet new people and the pressure to make new friends. With great freedom comes great responsibility. In the hands of new young adults, just leaving the nest, it's something that can get very messy, very quickly. Phoebe and Luke went to the same high school, but never really floated in the same circles. But when the two collide in the madness of Fresher's week, little do they realise that they're about to get pulled into each other's worlds for a messy, intense and hilarious term that neither of them will ever forget. Full review...
Henry and the Hidden Treasure by B C R Fegan and Lenny Wen
Henry is a careful young man. He has a lot of treasure and he keeps it very well hidden. We might not call it 'treasure': like his parents we'd probably call it 'pocket money' and suggest that what he's not going to spend he should put in the bank. But Henry's worried and he knows that only he can keep his treasure safe. But what, or who, is he keeping his treasure safe from? Well, he has a little sister called Lucy and despite the fact that his parents think he should be nicer to Lucy, Henry knows that she's really a secret ninja spy sent to steal his treasure. Isn't that true of all little sisters? Full review...
Operation Goodwood: a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery by Sara Sheridan
In this, the fifth novel in the Mirabelle Bevan Mystery series, we have reached 1955. There is less emphasis on rationing now: time has moved on from the post-war privations we saw in our first encounter with Mirabelle and her warm, cheery companion Vesta in 1951, a time when tearing a stocking was a disaster of the first order. Various types of prejudice are still rife, however, and Sara Sheridan is a real expert at dropping in that small, lightly sketched detail which tells us we are still in a Britain overshadowed by the aftermath of conflict. A woman who walks alone into a bar will not be served; the British Empire is still front-page news, and the colour of a person's skin is still an almost insurmountable barrier to equality of opportunity. Full review...
Festivals and Celebrations by Sandra Lawrence and Jane Newland
Every day is a feast day, if you follow the Christian calendar very closely – there are probably enough saints now for each day to have about three people attributed to it. But that's just one religion, one way of thinking, one culture – the world is host to a whole lot more, and in every corner they have their own way of celebrating. Some poignantly light small fires and set them afloat to guide the visiting spirits of the deceased back to their post-life homes; some rejoice in the return of spring, or the bounties of the summer's harvest; some just throw crap like tomatoes or coloured water over each other. But the world has a ritual calendar of events such as these, and this is a brilliant book for the young that shows how diverse our celebrations can be. Full review...
Myths and Legends by Sandra Lawrence and Emma Trithart
Mythology is a peculiar realm, when you think about it – not quite legend, and not just the religions of the dead civilisations, but something like a mixture of the two. Certainly some of the entries in this pleasant little read hit on legend – King Arthur, Robin Hood – but we also seemed to believe they were true, even if they didn't fit into any pattern of organised worship. But seeing as it is the gospel truth that people lived by these mythologies, it's vital for the young to have some grounding in the subject, and this book is pretty good at providing such. Full review...
Fighting Fantasy: The Port of Peril by Ian Livingstone
As I promised I would when I looked back at the beginning of the 35 year history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks (here), I took to the brand-new-for-2017 volume with my pen, mapping paper, and most importantly, dice. For the first time in a long, long time, I would not read a book for review. I would play it. And so, armed with healthy stamina, reasonable luck but frankly embarrassing skill, I set off. This is the report of that journey – as well as hopefully being the usual useful book review. Full review...
The Way Back to Us by Kay Langdale
A household revolves around its weakest member and because it's revolving there's always a danger that some people - such as a spouse - will be spun to the outside, whilst other children, loosely attached to the main carer will be at a distance, never completely close, but never escaping either. In the centre are the carer and the person who needs that care, bonded together in such a way that it's actually difficult to offer help or even friendship. So it is with Anna and Teddy, who suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, or SMA as it's generally known. He's five now, confined to a wheelchair or his Whizzybug and not putting on much weight as chewing and swallowing are difficult. Full review...
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
One day Ellie went to the library for some last minute GCSE study and she never returned. There are a lot of what ifs?: what if her sister hadn't had a noisy friend over, forcing her to seek out somewhere quieter to study? What if there had been more CCTV on the high street so her journey could have been traced? What if, taking it back a bit, she had never met Theo, never fallen for him, never drifted into competition against him and never felt the need for extra swotting? What if, what if, what if? And what if actually, none of this had made a difference, because what happened was always going to happen, one way or another? Full review...
Counting Things by Anna Kovecses
Little Mouse is learning lots of new things in this series of books by the Hungarian illustrator Anna Kovecses, and here we see the delightful little rodent counting its way through the jungle, the farmyard, the countryside and the town. On every page the same question is asked, beginning with 'How many . . . ?', and the toddler, with the help of an adult or older sibling, will soon learn to touch the named items on the page and under the flap. Full review...
Flight of a Starling by Lisa Heathfield
Rita and Lo are sisters and best friends too. Their partnership extends to a double act as a trapeze act in the travelling circus that forms a backdrop to their lives. Always on the move, travelling from one place to another, never staying in one town for long is all they have ever known. The sisters are surrounded by the love of their family and the close friends who make up the other circus acts. Their lives are happy and secure. Until one day Lo meets a boy, a special boy named Dean. Their growing friendship, together with a secret that Lo discovers, will change things for ever. Full review...
The Starman and Me by Sharon Cohen
He wasn't an alien, I was sure of that. It was more like he'd walked in through an ancient door from the past... except he was here, in my bedroom and his misty forest was somewhere real on Planet Earth.
Twelve-year-old Kofi thought he was seeing things when he spied a tiny human on a roundabout near to his house. But he wasn't. Rorty Thrutch is as real as you or me. But how did Rorty come to be hiding out in the middle of a roundabout in Bradborough? And why is he so insistent that he'll soon be bad dead? Full review...
Dinosaur Detective's Search-and-Find Rescue Mission by Sophie Guerrive
This is a horrific world. Monsters leer over all the mountain tops, there's a giant octopus in one building and a green giant's arms coming through the windows of another, and everywhere you look someone has lost something. Luckily the Dinosaur Detective is on hand to help. Yes, despite his paws looking incredibly ungainly on the controls of his flying machine, he is able to visit all eleven zones, and find the five things requested of him in each. But can you? Full review...