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 First Time I Saw Your Face by Hazel Osmond
Mack Stone used to be a journalist on a tabloid paper and was not averse to dishing the dirt on whoever he happened to be writing about. He has left that world behind though and is now attempting to work freelance and only write in a more ethical way. However, one day he receives a call from his old boss who has one last job for him to do. When Mack is not keen, he reveals that he has information about Mack's mother – a sordid little secret that he would have no qualms about publicising to the world if Mack does not agree. If Mack wants to protect his family, it seems that he has little choice but to agree. Full review...
Pirates 'n' Pistols by Chris Mould
Out of all the unusual careers focused on in primary school activity – you know the ones, astronaut, footballer, dinosaur hunter, Olympic torch relay bodyguard, that sort of thing – that of pirate seems to be the most bizarre. Yes it brings an easy stereotype when it comes to fancy dress time, but why the tales of skulduggery, piracy and fatal thievery are so common and so popular among that age group is a bit beyond me. It's nothing to aspire too, really, is it? Still, for those still of that age, here is a very good, entertaining and commendably presented anthology of short tales of seafaring, treasure hunting, and their consequences. Full review...
Frenzy!: How the tabloid press turned three evil serial killers into celebrities by Neil Root
It was forever thus. Only last year, 2011, did the News of the World and the Sunday Mirror stop being the double-headed monster of tabloid journalism, and very little was different in the 1950s, beyond the inclusion of boobies, and the fact the Mirror was then just the Sunday Pictorial. Both formed a duopoly for those in their audience seeking all the salacious details of the scandals of the day, and the crimes and criminals people would talk about over their breakfasts. Three men stood out in those days for the ways in which they achieved their notoriety, and this book is an account of their goings-on, and how the press reported the stories – at times paying large fortunes for the privilege. Full review...
I Kick Therefore I am: The Little Book of Premier League Wisdom by Alan Tyers and Beach
You remember Ronnie Matthews, don't you? He's the footballer who celebrated his one – and so far, only – international match by booing his way through the Faroe Islands' national anthem, then getting a red card for chatting up the lineswoman. He still thinks he contributed well to a vital friendly, however. He's the player whose career in piddling his way through continuously lesser and lesser clubs for far too long has only been matched in the recent game by Steve Claridge. And still he's bucking the trend – he's the only author smart enough to realise that four-hundred page, ghost-written biogs are unnecessary, for he's crammed all his life, career, philosophy and response to Twitter into an hour's read. Full review...
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Echo used to be popular. Until a particular night when something happened, leaving her with scars on her arms and a blank space where her memory of that night should be. As if having a stepmother who used to be her babysitter and a brother who died in Afghanistan wasn't already making life hard enough, she's trying to work out if she'll ever recall what she went through. Then she meets Noah, who shares a therapist with her and is nearly as damaged as she is. Torn away from his beloved younger brothers after their parents died, he's desperate to become their legal guardian when he turns eighteen – but with a hot temper and a dubious academic record over the past couple of years, is there any way a judge would choose him over the foster parents they're currently living with? Could these two broken teenagers help each other to heal? Full review...
Up In The Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell
One of the joys of reviewing books is when you stumble across something, know you are going to love it, ask for it, have it delivered and then spend a week or so being absolutely entranced. It could so easily have been a disappointment.
Joseph Mitchell is one of those men, one feels one should have heard of, should know about. Not just that, he is one of those, one wishes one could have known. Full review...
Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story by Jim Holt
In The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adam’s famously suggested that the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything was forty-two, although it quickly turns out nobody knows what the ultimate question is, rendering the answer meaningless. In Why Does the World Exist?, Jim Holt explores potential answers to what could be considered the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything – why is there something, rather than nothing? And the answer’s certainly not forty-two. Full review...
The Enchanted Riddle by Charlotte Kandel
Daphne, a thirteen-year-old orphan in London in the 1920s, has two dreams. She longs to find a family and to become a ballerina – but both seem equally impossible. Then a package from an anonymous sender, with a magical pair of stockings and a strange riddle, seems to give her the opportunity to make her dreams come true. Can she get the happiness and success she's always longed for, or will the interference of others stop her from achieving it? Full review...
I Didn't Do It! (Little Princess) by Tony Ross
There's mud all over the floor and the Queen blames the Little Princess. 'I didn't do it!' the Little Princess responds with a very disgruntled look upon her face. A little later, the Cook tells her off for eating all the chocolate cake; the Gardener thinks that she has trampled all over the radishes; the Prime Minister claims that he has taken the bell from his bicycle and the Admiral blames her for sinking all his ships. To each accusation, the Little Princess replies:
I didn't do it! Full review...
The Bride Stripped Bare by Nikki Gemmell
A young woman, newly married. Discovering her husband is not all he seems. That he has secrets. That she has needs, wants, desires. That she will need to take things into her own hands if she is ever to be satisfied in her new role as wife. Full review...
Tokyo Hearts - A Japanese Love Story by Renae Lucas-Hall
Takashi is a student in his final year at university. He works pretty hard, but his heart belongs to Haruka, who was a fellow student until she had to leave when her father was taken ill. As a rule they meet once a week in a cafe - but Takashi fears that Haruka only sees him as a friend, particularly when he discovers that she's seeing a wealthy ex-boyfriend on a regular basis. Jun's good-looking too and Takashi realises that he has little to offer, particularly as Haruka loves shopping for designer goods. They're in fashionable Tokyo where style, sophistication and fashion are a way of life. How will it work out, particularly when Haruka is planning on moving to Kyoto - which is also where the ex-boyfriend lives - and earthquakes seem to be happening regularly in the capital? Full review...
Wolfie by Emma Barnes
Lucie has always wanted a dog and then one day her Uncle Joe arrives at her front door with one especially for her. However Lucie’s new pet is very big, with pointed ears, sharp teeth, a silvery coat and glinting eyes. Lucie realises instantly that her present is in fact a wolf but, incredibly, no-one else thinks so. Not only is the animal a wolf but a talking wolf with magical powers that becomes a trusted and wise friend to the little girl. Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult to hide a talking wolf from family, friends, teachers and especially from the horrible bully who lives next door. Gradually Lucie realises that her new friend is in great danger and she resolves to help Wolfie before it is too late. Full review...
Free Lunch - Easily Digestible Economics by David Smith
Reading David Smith's new book Free Lunch brought to mind an episode of the Freakonomics podcast broadcast earlier this year. In it, listeners were first asked to imagine that the interest rate on their bank account was 1% per year and the rate of inflation was 2% per year. In a year's time would they be able to buy more, buy about the same or buy less using money from that account? Full review...
The Shadow of What we Were by Luis Sepulveda
Chile, the modern day. Four elderly men meet for one last time, planning something suspiciously underhand, having made arrangements - and discussed Internet dating - online. We're let into the fact that the grandfather of one was a bank robber in a classic tale of Robin Hood-style wealth distribution, but as to what the outcome of their plans might be we're forced to wait. Elsewhere a domestic incident leads to a bizarre death - by record player. And you can just tell I'm suggesting you wait to discover the link... Full review...
Frisky Business by Clodagh Murphy
Romy doesn’t have a clue who the father of her baby son, Luke, is. But it’s not like she’s an über-slut who sleeps around: in her defence his conception was a one off thing, it was dark (they were in a cupboard) and the baby daddy had on a Darth Vader mask (it was a Halloween party). That was a year ago, and now Romy’s wondering whether she should renew her efforts to find the mystery man, for Luke’s sake as much as anything. As the book starts she is throwing her own Halloween party, hoping to jog some memories as she recreates last year’s (not in every way of course…she’s far from ready for baby number 2). Full review...
13 (Women of the Otherworld) by Kelley Armstrong
13 picks up where Spell Bound left off. A terrorist group is still trying to expose the supernaturals and create a new world order. Our heroes, from among the ranks of the werewolves, the witches, the half-demons, the vampires, the necromancers and the sorcerer cabals, are trying to stop them. Savannah takes centre stage and the majority of the narration. Her spells are still on the fritz but she thinks she knows why and she survived the explosion. Full review...
Dark Eyes by William Richter
Born in Russia but brought up in New York by wealthy adoptive parents, before rejecting them to live on the streets with her friends, Wallis Stoneman has never known too much about her past. This lack of knowledge might turn out to be deadly, though, when a chance encounter leads to her being given a letter from her birth mother. As Wally tries to track her down, she and her friends enter a murky world where the stakes are high, the truth is hidden, and every move they make could be their last. Full review...
The Last Tiger by Rebecca Elliott
Luka lives in a very grey world, with no trees or plants or animals. Everyone has forgotten what is important but then one day Luka finds the very last tiger. Will the tiger bring everyone hope for the future, or will he spend his life away locked up in a cage? Full review...
George's Invisible Watch by David McKee and Brett McKee
George has an invisible watch. At first no one believes that he has an invisible watch, but slowly they find that his watch is always right until eventually they all begin to rely on him and his watch to tell the time! But what happens when one day nobody rings the bell at playtime so the children don't begin their lessons again? Has George's watch broken down? Full review...
This Holey Life by Sophie Duffy
Vicky's husband has found faith and since he's working as a curate now rather than a plumber Vicky has been dragged into church life whether she likes it or not. She's struggling to raise her family whilst dealing with her own grief when suddenly into the mix come her irritating big brother and his little boy. As Vicky's patience is stretched paper-thin the lies woven within her family begin to unravel and she struggles to keep everything and everyone together. Full review...
Split Second by Cath Staincliffe
On a late December evening, Emma Curtis is on a bus travelling home from work when she becomes aware of a young lad being picked on by three others. Too scared to intervene, she sits alone feeling guilty but taking everything in. To her shame, nineteen year old student, Jason Barnes, comes downstairs on the bus and immediately challenges the three youths. Luke, the young victim, leaps off the bus and a chase follows. Jason continues to try and defend Luke, and they end up in Jason's front garden where his parents witness the brutal attack. Eventually the trio run off leaving Luke unconscious on the snowy ground. Worse still, is the realisation that Jason has been stabbed and tragically it turns out to be fatal. Full review...
The Forsaken by Lisa Stasse
Alenna Shawcross has grown up in a newly-formed super country controlled by the military dictatorship that stole her parents from her as a child. Alenna has grown up in a state-run orphanage, in anticipation of the Test, a government-administered initiative designed to identify those teens most likely to become criminals. As you'd expect in a dystopian thriller, Alenna fails the test and ends up on an isolated island with other potential criminals. However, she soon finds that the island isn't all that she had been led to believe. Full review...
Canvas Under The Sky by Robin Binckes
Rauch Beukes is a 17 year old Boer lad living with his family on the Eastern Cape frontier in Africa. Sadly for them, the year is 1834: not a good time as the Boers live under the dictates of the British and in fear of indigenous local tribes. This becomes all too real to Rauch when, returning from a trip with his father, he discovers a smouldering heap where his home once stood and a row of graves bearing the remains of his mother and sisters. Wanting a better life, a group of farmers decide to travel towards Africa's southern interior to establish a self-determining Boer homeland and so Rauch, his father and brothers join them feeling they have nothing to lose. The momentum grows and the migration will become known as 'The Great Trek', a tough, dangerous period of South African history, challenging Rauch's strength, courage and a fair bit of his libido. Full review...
Ribblestrop Forever! by Andy Mulligan
It's a new term for Ribblestrop, the weirdest boarding school in the world of fiction. The pupils, who of course include a bus-load of orphaned Himalayan circus stars, are so used to the extraordinary that when three returning children arrive by landing the plane they're travelling in - onto the said bus - nobody bats an eyelid. But problems begin when they stray onto a rival school's ground, and practically rescue a historian living in a stolen mobile library, who is tracing the ghosts of an ancient tribe across the local region. Soon things conspire to put the whole faculty on the same path... Full review...
The Yips by Nicola Barker
Stuart Ransom is a golfing has-been and he's the only one who doesn't realise it. If his recollections are anything to go by (and who can tell?) he was on a par with the best. Times have changed though; the handicap isn't what it once was and age and alcohol have taken their toll. However, hope springs eternal and there's always one more match, so perhaps this is it. Meanwhile Gene, who splits his time between working at the hotel in which Stuart is staying and reading electricity meters, encounters an agoraphobic, exotic tattooist. Valentine is a woman struggling with an unhealthily precocious 2 year-old, a brother flirting with criminality and a brain-injured mother who has become more than a little eccentric. Add Gene's wife Rev Sheila and her personal crisis into the mix and it becomes a recipe for disaster, it's just a case of waiting for it to erupt. Full review...
Pieces of Light: the New Science of Memory by Charles Fernyhough
Over the years, I've seen the human memory at its best and worst. I watched my Nan suffer with Alzheimer's to the point she couldn't remember who anyone was, but also had a colleague who won a silver medal at the Memory Olympics for his ability to remember long strings of items. I also studied memory as part of a psychology degree but, perhaps ironically, I can no longer remember much of what I learned. Full review...
A is for Angelica by Iain Broome
Gordon and Georgina Kingdom spent years being like many other couples. They had jobs, friends, holidays, a springer spaniel named Kipling and a life together. Then Georgina became ill and Gordon took early retirement to nurse her better. He treats retirement with the same methodical efficiency he employed at work. He records Georgina's care, her progress and shares her waking moments, feeding her and sitting with her. However, as she spends a lot of time asleep, Gordon is left to entertain himself and so, the same man who led the local Neighbourhood Watch, watches his neighbours, noting points of interest and visible activities in alphabetically filed dossiers. They're all there: Don across the road who borrows garden tools on a more permanent basis than Gordon would like, art award winner young Benny who paints with his eyes shut, the lady next door who throws footballs over the fence and the new woman across the road, Angelica. Except, when Angelica moves into the street, Gordon's interest becomes more focused than usual. Full review...
Umbrella by Will Self
Will Self's Umbrella spans a century taking three interwoven strands. One features Audrey Dearth, who in 1918 is a munitions worker who falls ill with encephalitis lethargica, a brain disease that spread over Europe after the Great War rendering many of its victims speechless and motionless. She is incarcerated in Friern hospital where, in the early 1970s a psychiatrist, Zach Busner wakes her from her stupor using a new drug. In the final thread, in 2010 the asylum has closed and the now retired Busner travels across north London seeking the truth about his encounter with his former patient. While that sounds like a fascinating story in its own right, be warned. Self's approach is ambitiously modernistic making this a very heavy going tome even by Self's standards. Full review...
Sleeping Patterns by JR Crook
Anneli Strandli lives with insomniacally introverted Berry Walker, among others but not in a romantically co-habiting way. They all share student accommodation complete with attendant noise and comings and goings. Berry isn’t the most forthcoming of people but Anneli discovers a manuscript in his desk and so, sneaking into his room to read it, she hopes to discover from his writings the essence of Berry that his private nature hides. Meanwhile Berry is falling in love but has difficulty communicating it to the person concerned. Full review...
Insignia by S J Kincaid
Tom is awkward, wary and self-reliant. He has spent his life on the road, moving from casino to casino with his dad and catching a little online education whenever the opportunity presents itself, but frankly he is far more concerned with finding his next meal than any more distant future. A poor diet and a life spent in gaming rooms has left him scrawny, small, and with a serious case of acne. He feels he is nothing and no one, and cannot imagine ever living any other life. Full review...
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
We are in North America in a near but post-Apocalyptic future. Those few humans to survive a pandemic have to be treated as carriers, and/or armed and desperate, and so are particularly of note to military-minded survivalist Bangley. And climate and eco-problems have killed off many common species, something closer to narrator Hig's heart, as he's a more placid, huntin', shootin' and fishin' guy. These two solitary men are an unlikely partnership, but both look out for each other in complementary ways. Bangley has his watch-tower, while Hig takes off in his Cessna to get away from it all, and his flights act as a first line of defense. But is it all life could be, for Hig and his dog and Bangley? What is Hig still to make of the last inviting contact he heard on his plane's radio - even if that was three years ago? Full review...
Instructions For Bringing Up Scarlett by Annie Sanders
A lot of adults will be familiar with the scenario where a close friend ventures the thought 'if anything happened to us would you look after the children?' and there will be few who do other than give assurances that of course they would. There's an easy assumption that it was unlikely to come about - and it would seem churlish to refuse someone that reassurance. Alice gave her best friend Virginia that assurance, but when the unthinkable happened she was a travel guide writer, used to going hither and thither at a moment's notice. Scarlett was eleven years old and she didn't come with a user's manual. Full review...
Homework for Grown Ups by E Foley and B Coates
School days can sometimes seem like a very long time ago. You most likely spent 12 to 14 years of early life learning in a classroom, but how much can you remember? Sure, you can count, and you know your alphabet, but all those other lessons you had, how much can you really remember of those? If you want or need to remember back to your school lessons (to help your own children with their homework, to win pub quizzes, whatever the reason) then this book can help. Covering ten subjects from English and Maths to Science, Home Ec and History, it’s a crash course to refresh your knowledge – all those things you kinda know deep down, but at the same time have forgotten at least a little bit. Full review...
Skios by Michael Frayn
Set on a Greek island, a cultural foundation is preparing for the biggest event in its year at which renowned academic Dr Norman Wilfred is due to give the keynote speech. Also heading to the island on the same plane is Oliver Fox, a morally vacant but charming Lothario, who has arranged an assignation with a girl who he has met for only five minutes but has invited to spend a week with him at the villa that he was due spend a week with his ex-girlfriend before she threw him out. But when the girl sent to collect Dr Wilfred from the airport, Nikki, turns out to be irresistibly charming Oliver decides to play the role of Dr Wilfred and follow her to the foundation while the real Dr Wilfred, minus luggage is transported to the villa at the other end of the island. Someone still has to give the speech though - will it be the real Dr Wilfred or the fake Dr Wilfred? Full review...
HAV3N by Tom Easton
Initially, people thought it was just another media scare. Unfortunately, HAV3N is real and it is apocalyptic. Incredibly virulent, it is a strain of bird flu to which no one has any natural immunity. It spreads through global populations with the speed and ferocity of a forest fire, killing its victims within hours of infection, making them literally cough out their lungs. The small village of Great Sheen put up barricades isolating them from the infected, in a desperate bid for survival, but it does little to stop HAV3N. It is only the timely arrival of scientist Michael Pirbright with an experimental vaccine and antivirals that saves the village from eradication. However, when the villagers are finally able to freely venture outside of the village, they discover the horrible truth. Pirbright's discovery of the vaccine was an incalculable stroke of luck, one that hasn't been repeated, and by making the choice to save his family and the village Pirbright was too late to save anyone else. The rest of the population appears to have been entirely eradicated by the disease. They might be the only humans left alive… Full review...
The Comic Strip Book of Dinosaurs by Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner
If I asked you all to put your hands up if you had a dinosaur book as a youth I'd feel the draught from here. My grander examples certainly stayed on my shelves for years and survived several readings, and I'm sure that's not unique - plus, over the intervening years science has learnt a lot of extra facts, to make the books more accurate. Here then, for the 5-9s, is a primer of prehistory, and one such as the young me never had. Full review...
The Mystery of Wickworth Manor by Elen Caldecott
Paige Owens is really looking forward to going to secondary school. She's sure that a school trip to Wickworth Manor, to meet up with the other students who will be starting their new school in the autumn, will be fabulous. Newcomer Curtis Okafor is far more nervous about the visit, especially since he doesn't know anyone. When he finds a portait of a young black servant hidden away, though, and Paige finds an old letter which mentions it, the pair team up to do some detective work to try and work out why the portrait isn't on display. Full review...
Debutantes by Cora Harrison
The year is 1923. Everyone who is anyone is enjoying themselves in London, coming out as a debutante and eagerly anticipating the royal wedding. But the Derringtons aren’t really anyone – they’re stuck in their run-down house in the country with their father and their great-aunt, without the money or fashionable dresses for eldest sister Violet to have the season she desperately wants. Can these four young ladies make their way in the world? Full review...
The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen
Minou lives on a sparsely occupied, temperate island. In fact the only occupants apart from Minou and her Papa are Priest (the Priest), Boxman (a maker of magical boxes) and a dog called No Name. Minou’s mother used to live there too. She arrived on a boat with a bowl containing a peacock (a real live one called… yes… Peacock). But then one day Mama disappeared completely apart from one shoe. Minou misses her and the way that she encouraged Minou’s imagination, completely at odds with her father’s logical philosophical outlook. Papa doesn’t believe that Mama will return and so has symbolically buried the shoe but Minou thinks differently: Mama will come back. Full review...
The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman
It's hard to know where to start in reviewing Ned Beauman's Booker long-listed The Teleportation Accident. Reading it, you feel like the parent of an ADHD-suffering child. At times it is lovable, brilliant and entertaining, at others you just want to reach for the Ritalin and tell it to sit in a corner quietly while it composes itself. A clue to both the brilliance and frustration of Beauman is in the vast range of writers to whom he has been compared in both this and his first novel Boxer, Beetle. There are hints of people as wide ranging as David Mitchell, P G Wodehouse, Douglas Adams, Raymond Chandler even Angela Carter to name just a few. Beauman takes a huge range of styles and genres and pushes them and bends them often to glorious effect, but it can be a challenge keeping up with him at times. Full review...
The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow
Someone is killing off Mentaths - geniuses, logic machines - in the city of London and it's up to Emma Bannon, sorcerer Prime, to protect their next target Archibald Clare. Emma is powerful and resourceful, but she has problems of her own - such as whether she can trust her Shield, Mikal, who killed the last sorcerer whose service he was in. And while Clare is as keen as she to uncover the conspiracy behind the murders, the illogical world of sorcery and the logical minds of Mentaths don't mix well. Full review...
The Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin
In a society devastated by an illness which is killing off the poor as the rich are kept safe by wearing special porcelain masks, Araby is seeking oblivion. She is trying to get over the death of her brother, Finn, who even her scientist father - the inventor of the masks - wasn't able to save. Feeling she has nothing left to live for, she's resigned herself to drug-fuelled nights in the Debauchery Club along with April, niece of the city's ruler Prince Prospero. When she meets two different, but enchanting, boys there, and becomes involved in events which will shape the destiny of the city, will she find something worth fighting for? Full review...
Laura Marlin Mysteries: Dead Man's Cove by Lauren St John
Laura has been in foster care since she was born, but Social Services have recently discovered that she has an uncle. So, at the beginning of this adventure mystery she finds herself moving to a house by the beach in Cornwall to live with Calvin Redfern, a man she has never met before. Laura's experiences have taught her to question everything, to be independent and to stand on her own two feet, so having an uncle who trusts her to be sensible, rather than lay down a list of rules, seems ideal. But Uncle Calvin and his house are shrouded in secrets. Why does he work such strange hours? Where does he go late at night? And why are there no signs of his past in the house? Full review...