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 Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth
I like words. Words are awesome. End of. But I also like trivia. I like knowing things that perhaps other people don’t, and helpfully passing on this knowledge to them. So a book about word-related trivia is just a win-win, and this one is so good I think we’ll have to call it a win-win-win. Full review...
The End of Growth by Richard Heinberg
With the newspapers full of economic doom and gloom the last thing you might want is to pick up a book that reiterates it and then some. But while this book may seem at first glance to be a bit of a downer, it also provides an insight into how things might just work out ok in the end. Yes, they’ll be some big changes – there have to be because the direction we’ve been heading in is just not sustainable – but if we’re willing to adapt, we will survive was the main message I picked up as I flicked through the pages. Full review...
The Promise by Lesley Pearse
Belle has a lovely London life, a good career and a happy marriage. But she has a murky past, and although it’s shaped her kind heart and character, it isn’t something she wants to come face to face with again. But some people are not able to forget the past, for reasons good and bad, and against the dramatic backdrop of the Great War, Belle is about to come face to face with all sorts of things she thought she had forgotten. Full review...
Pao by Kerry Young
In her Costa Prize short-listed first novel, Kerry Young brings together a huge number of elements that make up a good story. Set in Jamaica, the time period covers 1938 to almost present day, it is the political backdrop of independence and control over Jamaica's assets that informs much of the story. But while the politics of Jamaica resound throughout the book, it's also a very personal story about the life of the eponymous Yang Pao. Issues of race, class, love, family, ambition and business philosophy - Pao's guiding light is Sun Tzu's The Art of War - are skilfully woven into the mix to make this a great book to curl up with on a cold winter's night. Full review...
Almodis the Peaceweaver by Tracey Warr
At the age of five Almodis de la Marche was taken as a hostage - a guarantee of her family's good behaviour - and she remained there until she was of marriageable age. It was all the harder for Almodis as it meant that she was separated from her identical twin. The situation was not hostile although she didn't get on well with her foster mother, Agnes - and never would. Her first marriage was to Hugh of Lusignan and Almodis felt something akin to love for this gentle man, but the sexual relationship between the two was tenuous to say the least and Almodis was determined that she would create her own dynasty. At a time when marriages were put aside if they were not producing the required heirs, Almodis decided that she had to move on. Her next marriage - to Pons of Toulouse - would be more productive but far from happy. Full review...
Shadowstory by Jennifer Johnston
Polly grows up in an Anglo-Irish family in the years following World War II. Her father died in the war. Her mother sends her off to spend school holidays with her grandparents at Kildarragh, a great house in the countryside, far away from Dublin. Full review...
A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton
A boy and a bear go to sea, equipped with a suitcase, a comic book and ukulele. They are only travelling a short distance and it really shouldn't take too long. But then their boat encounters "unforeseeable anomalies"... Faced with turbulent stormy seas, a terrifying sea monster and the rank remains of The Very Last Sandwich, the odds soon become pitted against our unlikely heroes. Full review...
Henry's Demons: Living with Schizophrenia. a Father and Son's Story by Patrick Cockburn and Henry Cockburn
In February 2002 Patrick Cockburn was in Kabul, reporting to The Independent on the fall of the Taliban. While he was there he called his wife Jan at home in England, and was shocked to learn that their 20-year-old elder son Henry had been rescued by fishermen after coming close to death while swimming, fully clothed, in the icy waters of the Newhaven estuary. The police had decided that he was a danger to himself, and he was now in a mental hospital. Full review...
The Little Book Of Perfumes by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez
I have always admired people who seem to know about scent, those whose dressing tables are littered with bottles none of which flaunt the name of a major (or increasingly, minor) celebrity. Some of the bottles might be works of art in themselves, but the general understanding is that they’ve been bought not for their vessels, nor for their exclusive advertising campaigns, special offers or celeb endorsement, but for their evocative scent. Perfumery is clearly an art and a science and if your skills aren’t as honed as they might be, this is a wonderful little book to sink your teeth into as you’re guided through the field by two people very much in the know. Full review...
Birdwatching With Your Eyes Closed: an introduction to birdsong by Simon Barnes
One of my best-ever auditory memories is waking up in a tent to a dawn chorus, sung in the middle of Ireland in spring. It was a high-decibel effort and seemed to involve hundreds of birds. I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't begin to identify the multitude of species I heard that morning. So I suppose I chose this book expecting it to be a field guide that could at long last help me get a handle on birdsong. But it isn't yet another handbook, but a much more interesting book than that, which I thought would make a great present for a new birdwatcher. Full review...
Magic Beans by Adele Geras, Anne Fine, Henrietta Branford, Jacqueline Wilson, Malorie Blackman, Philip Pullman, Tony Mitton, Alan Garner, Berlie Doherty, Gillian Cross, Kit Wright, Michael Morpurgo, Susan Gates and Linda Newbery
I was attracted to this book because it features stories from Jacqueline Wilson, Philip Pullman, Michael Morpurgo, Alan Garner and many other prominent children's writers. I thought it might make a great Christmas or birthday present (and it would). There's a selection of stories from traditional sources such as Hans Christian Andersen, and Aesop, and I imagine that the authors were inveigled into writing for publisher David Fickling with a free choice of original stories. So don't expect a collection or compendium, but rather an anthology of tales that have entranced and inspired these writers in their own childhoods – magic beans indeed. Full review...
Safe As Houses? A Historical Analysis of Property Prices by Neil Monnery
Neil Monnery was asked to become a trustee of a local charity with most of its assets in local residential property. Over the years this had yielded good results and the charity was concerned as to whether or not they should continue on the same basis or diversify and Monnery said that he would look into this. That discussion was the genesis for this book as he began to research the history of house prices – in the UK and elsewhere – for as far back as he could go to establish whether or not house were, well, as safe as houses. Full review...
Predators by Steve Backshall
Many readers would probably know that on the simple count of humans they helped to dispatch, mosquitoes may be the most deadly animals ever. But did you know that if you take into account the success rate of hunts, diversity and spread, ladybirds are more successful predators than tigers? Full review...
Out of the Ashes: Britain After the Riots by David Lammy
Just about everyone in the country was shocked as pictures of the 2011 riots (which began in Tottenham and spread to other major cities in the UK) unfolded on our television screens. Everyone, that is, except David Lammy, MP for the area. He might not have known when it would happen or what would trigger the riot, but a year before, he said that it would happen. This wasn't a lucky guess: Lammy was born in Tottenham and brought up on the Broadwater Farm Estate as one of five children raised by his single-parent mother and he knows what's happening on the ground. Full review...
The Origin of Violence by Fabrice Humbert
Fabrice Humbert's French Orange Prize winning 'The Origin of Violence' has a young French teacher as a narrator who, while leading a school trip to Buchenwald concentration camp, sees a photograph of a Jewish prisoner taken in 1941 and is struck by the similarity in appearance of the man to his own father. However, he discovers that not only does the man in the photo have a different name to his, but the man died in 1942. Clearly there are dark family secrets afoot that he sets about discovering. Full review...
A Dancer in Wartime: One Girl's Journey from the Blitz to Sadler's Wells by Gillian Lynne
At eight years old, Gill Pyrke was driving her parents crazy, as she couldn't sit still and was nicknamed wriggle-bottom. Her mum took her to see the family GP and told him in great detail how annoying she was. The doctor asked if he could talk to Gill alone and put on some music. She started to dance around and climbed on to his desk. He prescribed ballet classes. She started off in a Bromley dance class where one of her classmates was later to be the famous ballerina Beryl Grey. This story is lovely and funny, and has lots of elements of a dream story, yet is told in a very down to earth style which makes it very convincing. The same could be said of the whole of Gillian Lynne's memoir of her early years, starting out on a brilliant career in dance. Full review...
Dear Zoo (Noisy Book) by Rod Campbell
There is something slightly unsettling about the notion of a noisy book; the very idea that you can make a racket with something intended as a quiet pastime is a tiny bit of an oxymoron for me. But not, of course, for your average toddler (let's assume that we are disregarding the din they are able to make just by banging a fair sized hardback such as this, on the table!) And I've never met a child who did not like a book with interactive buttons and flaps – never. Full review...
Monster's Corner by Christopher Golden (Editor)
The Monster's Corner is a collection of tales that are told from the monster's perspective. It takes the idea that we are all the heroes of our own story and has a gloriously good time with it. Ranging from the thought-provoking to the strange, to the shocking and gory – they're a great selection of stories from the likes of Kelley Armstrong, Kevin J. Anderson, Sarah Pinborough and many others. Full review...
Design by Ewa Solarz, Aleksandra Mizielinski and Daniel Mizielinski
Although this is a book for children I can imagine plenty of grown ups who would find it fascinating! It's a wonderful dip in and out book and I actually found myself keeping it in our washing basket in the bathroom so I could have a quick read whenever I needed to spend a penny! It depicts 69 objects from all over the world that were designed in the last 150 years. There's everything here from octopus-inspired lemon juicers through to sofas made to look like a pair of lips or an Ottoman that resembles a shapely lady's bottom! Full review...
The Lion Bible in its Time by Lois Rock and Steve Noon
This factual book approaches stories from the bible in a historical way, looking at the lives people would have been living at the time, the sort of homes they had and the reigning monarchs of each era. Working through from the old testament to the new testament it covers a wide range of biblical stories and is illustrated throughout with fascinating, detailed pictures. Full review...
Spirit of the Titanic by Nicola Pierce
Samuel Joseph Scott was fifteen years old when he landed a job in the Belfast shipyards. But when Sam plunges to his death while working on construction of the magnificent Titanic, he doesn't leave her behind. Sam becomes a spirit on board, realising his dream of sailing away with his beloved Titanic on her first... and, of course final voyage. Sam roams freely throughout the ship, from the luxurious first class all the way down to the engine room. He observes the lives of the people on board, become privy to their hopes, dreams and fears. Sam takes particular interest in one third-class family, Jim, Isobel and their children, as they sail away to their new and better life in America. But when disaster threatens the lives of all on board, can Sam find a way to lead the family to safety? And what will become of Sam as the Titanic sinks to the ocean's bed? Full review...
Off the Rails by Beryl Kingston
A young girl from a Yorkshire village was weeping, begging her mother to be allowed just one more night at home, but the carter was waiting for her. The girl was fifteen, unmarried and pregnant. She was to go any stay with her aunt until the baby was born and she would be Mrs Smith whose husband had died at sea. The father of the baby was actually a village boy, George Hudson, who would prefer to pay a fine for bastardy than make an honest woman of the girl. He too ended up leaving home over the matter. In the years to come the paths of Jane, along with her daughter Milly, would cross and recross with Jane swearing that she would have vengeance. Full review...
Cat on the Hill by Michael Foreman
The story is told through the eyes of the nameless cat. It starts in Summer when he tells how he loves living at the top of the hill with its tremendous views of the sea and the constant visitors who are only too happy to share their sandwiches and the drips from their ice creams. Life is good even with horrible squawky gulls trying to steal his food. He explains how he used to be a ship's cat until both the skipper and the ship became too old to sail the seas. Full review...
You Are Not Alone: Michael Through A Brother's Eyes by Jermaine Jackson
It is inevitable that the books we have already seen about Michael Jackson in the two years since his sudden passing will be merely the tip of the iceberg. Yet for those which comprise and are based on first-hand knowledge of his life and death, there will surely be few if any to rival this account by his brother Jermaine and ghostwriter Steve Dennis. Full review...
Landfall by Helen Gordon
'Most people at one time or another of their lives get a feeling that they must kill themselves; as a rule they get over it in a day or two' ('How Girls Can Build Up The Empire: the handbook for Girl Guides' 1912)
Excerpts from the handbook precede each section of Landfall and it is hard to know what to make of them – other than to take on board that women are not, by any stretch, the weaker sex, just the more emotional one 'They can even…shoot tigers, if they can keep cool'. Full review...
A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton
Anna and her father have just moved to the coastal town of Winter - they needed to downsize. So Anna finds herself at a new school trying to make new friends. So when she finds a book of spells and Prue, Liz and June suggest trying the one which will enchant a boy to love you, Anna goes along with it - despite not believing in magic - and thinks of the gorgeous Seth Waters when she closes her eyes. And it's the worst thing she could have done...
... because Anna is a witch. Full review...
The Day The Gogglynipper Escaped by James McKnight and Mark Chambers
One day, when rounding up the rather dangerous and often very smelly Gogglynippers, Diggle discovers that there are only nine of the purple monsters, instead of ten. Full review...
Don't Invite Dinosaurs To Dinner by Neil Griffiths and Peggy Collins
Don't invite dinosaurs to dinner, or take them to the shops… don't take them to a football match, or to sports day, or to the zoo …. In fact, DON'T take a dinosaur anywhere because, as you will find out, it's a really, really bad idea! I've got to tell you now, that I really love this book – firstly, the stanzas are the well-paced rhyming variety and not your moon, June, spoon assortment of verse, either, which was a pleasant surprise and went down very well in our house and secondly there are fold out flaps which are huge and beautifully illustrated, often with hilarious punch lines lurking inside. Full review...
Wanderlust by Elisabeth Eaves
Egypt. Australia. Papua New Guinea. Spain. Pakistan. New Zealand. France. For some that list will be a random list of places, mixing those they know with those they’ve never considered. Others might tick off a few and have the remainder on a ‘to do’ list. It’s probably only a small subset who will have passed through all of them, and an ever tinier one who will have spent considerable time in each. Canadian native Elisabeth Eaves is one of the lucky few who has been there, done that, and this book is essentially her travel diaries of those years wandering the globe. Full review...
Deep Deep Down by Garrett Carr
Ewan can see monsters, wherever he is. That's not because he has any special abilities - unlike his friend May, who can telepathically talk to the animals, or Andrew, who starts this book a sub-human, with a Hellboy-type mutated and very mighty arm, and demons writhing inside him sending him berserk. No, Ewan can see monsters everywhere he looks because life is like that - especially adults. So when May decides a fabled pool of magical water is what can cure Andrew, they go and find an idyllic place of long life, peace and Utopia. And still Ewan can see monsters. But which side is of more danger to the other? Full review...
Made in Britain by Gavin James Bower
The settings of the intertwined tales of Russell, the working class swot trapped by his conditions, Charlie, the heroic 'lad' who gets caught in the drugs scene and Hayley the naïve wannabee with a single parent father are the school rooms and backstreets, flats, pubs and clubs of Every Town, the vision of twenty-first century deprivation that Bower conjures. Or rather fails to conjure, for the device of making the 16 year olds tell the story from their own first person narrative deprives the reader of a genuine sense of the physical reality in which this story unfolds. Full review...
Midnight Blue by Pauline Fisk
Bonnie has finally got away from Grandbag and Aunt Doreen and gone to live with her - very young - mother, Maybelle. Maybelle may be nervous and insecure but she brims over with love. And love is something Grandbag doesn't understand too well at all. For Grandbag, it's all about control and possession. But for Maybelle, it's about sharing, bright colours, pretty plants and pancakes for breakfast. Finally, there's some optimism in Bonnie's life.
But it doesn't last long. Full review...
Bloodmining by Laura Wilkinson
Although Wilkinson has placed her story in the near future, for the most part, you wouldn't necessarily be aware of that fact. Personally, I was delighted as I'm not a fan of futuristic fiction. Full review...
Shadow of the Titanic by Andrew Wilson
Lesson one in writing non-fiction articles and journalism seems to be to find out what is topical. April 2012 is the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic, and there are going to be hoards of people finding it topical to celebrate that. Lesson two seems to be to find your own unique angle on the story. Wilson approaches the Titanic disaster by sinking her at the end of chapter one, for he looks more at the lives of the people on board, and how they took the calamity and dealt with it. Full review...
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
I saw the BBC's 'Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit' a semi-autobiographical account of Winterson's childhood. This book's title is equally memorable and unique and we learn that it's a line Mrs Winterson said to the young Jeanette. Full review...
Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home by Nigella Lawson
Nigella Lawson's latest offering is subtitled 'recipes from the heart of home', which is a very vague title whose significance (undoubtedly clear to those who watch the TV versions) I fail to decode. All cooking is done in the kitchen after all. But I suppose coming up with interesting titles for general collections of recipes is not that easy, so I'll leave it at that. Full review...
You Talkin' To Me?: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama by Sam Leith
Over the years I've trained myself (fairly successfully) not to judge a book by its cover. I've added 'not judging a book by its title' to the training, but what do you do when your first impressions of a book - the title and the cover - scream 'trivia'? Well, I put this one to one side on the basis that it really wasn't likely to be a book which would interest me. Picking it up and looking at the contents was almost accidental - and then I discovered that this book is a gold mine. Full review...
Torn by Cat Clarke
A week in the Scottish Wilderness doesn't exactly sound fun, not to Alice King, but that's what she's about to embark on. Her and her classmates are off on an activity holiday together – walking, climbing, caving. Alice is fortunately put in a cabin with her best friend Cass, so things can't be too bad. But, then Tara Chambers, the popular girl, gets put in their cabin too - things definitely just got worse. Tara, though beautiful is powerful, mean and likes nothing more than putting people down. Full review...
Nine Lives of William Shakespeare by Graham Holderness
There is a subtle irony in the fact that the world’s best-known playwright, and possibly the most famous author of all time, is a character about whom so little is known for certain. Nevertheless, as we are looking at someone who died nearly 400 years ago, the indisputable documentary evidence is bound to be lacking. Full review...
The Frog Princess by Angie Beasley
I expected a tabloid expose of the beauty queen industry, or a spirited defence against feminist ethical attacks of the past few years from one of its successful 'victims'. Best of all, I enjoy an ordinary person telling an authentic emotional tale, whatever their circumstances or personal history. Sadly I'm afraid that this book fell rather short on these attractions. At first I felt that Angie Beasley deserved a lot more editorial help in developing her manuscript. Then I realised that the story was ghost written, which explains the lack of authentic voice fairly neatly. Full review...
The Book of Deadly Animals by Gordon Grice
Animals and humans have long mixed, even though the one has almost always proven capable of being lethal to the other. Many scientists in the past decided animals killing humans were aberrant, and that the real animal knew it was second best to humans, having been saved in the Ark, and respected our dominion over them. Even now, it seems, there are opinions that creatures attacking mankind are somehow rogue and need destroying. But where is the wrong in an animal behaving as its nature compels it? Similarly, the human wandering around the wilderness, or even the idiot woman feeding a black bear her own toddler's honey-dripping hand (true story - what the bear thought of the taste of honeyed fingers we don't know) is just the same in reverse - humans behaving as only humans can. Full review...
Dark Warning by Marie Louise Fitzpatrick
Taney Tyrell lives in a room in Missus Kenny's boarding house in Dublin. She shares it with her father, her step-mother Mary Kate and her little brother Jon Jon. Life is hard but both Da and Mary Kate are working and they get by. But Taney is lonely. Ever since she was a tiny thing she has known she can see things before they happen. She has the gift of second sight. But Da and Mary Kate don't see it as a gift. They see it as a curse and worse, the curse that killed Taney's mother. But whatever they say, Taney's gift won't be denied. It's as much a part of her as her beautiful red hair. Full review...
Dickens's Women: His Life and Loves by Anne Isba
The subject of the several women in the life of Charles Dickens might at first glance seem an unusual theme to build a biography around, but this fairly brief but penetrating book serves its purpose well. The author’s foreword begins by telling us that Dickens was a man who 'craved a love so unconditional that the yearning was unlikely to be satisfied in this world, a man in thrall to a vision of a womanhood so idealized that it was incompatible with everyday domesticity'. Full review...