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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Birds in a Cage by Derek Niemann
Birds in a Cage introduces the reader to John and his fellow officers: Peter Conder, George Waterston and John Henry Barrett and shows how their shared love of birds enabled them to create an emotional escape from the gruelling conditions that surrounded them in the prisoner of war camp at Warburg. The men banded together to form a birdwatching society within the camp, making meticulous observations of the lives of the birds nesting in and around the area. These detailed records went on to become valuable scientific documents, as they recorded the lives and habits of birds in painstaking detail, revealing previously unknown facts about species such as the redstart and goldfinch. Full review...
Sword At Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff
Every country has its myths and legends: those stories that are told and re-told. Stories that have any number of re-interpretations. Stories, a belief in which becomes part of our national identity, even if we hold them to be true, purely because we want them to be true. Part of them, at any rate. Those parts of our favourite retelling that speak most to us as individuals. In England, Robin Hood and his merry men, is one such. The other is King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Full review...
Little Lost Hedgehog (RSPCA Fiction) by Jill Hucklesby
Grace Fallon was out in her garden one evening, doing what she did every night - making certain that her pet rabbits were fed, watered and safe. When she saw a movement in the flower bed she went to investigate and found a baby hedgehog - or a hoglet as they're correctly called. Wisely she didn't attempt to touch the animal but told her parents and then kept watch from inside the house. When the hoglet reappeared and looked rather distressed her mother rang the RSPCA and was told to give it some food - dog food and crushed dog biscuits (NEVER milk as it can make any hog very sick). Later someone from the RSPCA came round to collect the hoglet and take it to their centre for care. Full review...
Pantomime by Laura Lam
Pantomime is almost certainly the best fantasy of the year. That's virtually all I can say about it without getting deep into spoiler territory, which as regular readers will know, I hate. (Oh, actually, I can probably just about tell you that there's a circus in there as well without completely ruining it for you.) I'm not sure whether to praise LR Lam for writing such a phenomenal book or curse her for writing one that's almost completely unreviewable. There's such a big twist early on (which, admittedly, I guessed), that I can't even really say much about the start. Full review...
The Disappeared by C J Harper
Jackson is self-confident, motivated and happy. After all, he attends one of the top Learning Communities and has an AEP score of 98.5. He is destined to become an important part of the Leadership some day. You and I might see Jackson as an insufferable, pompous ass but, since he is surrounded by people like him, Jackson doesn't see it like that.
But then a seemingly random violent attack leaves Jackson battered and bloody and his best friend Wilson dead. When police return him to the Learning Community, Jackson finds his teachers claim not to recognise him and all his records wiped. Dumped in an Academy - a school purportedly for those with lower AEP scores - Jackson's life becomes a hell. Academy students are known as Specials. They're disciplined by electric shocks distributed by teachers in cages. They're fed slop through nozzles in slots. They're encouraged to fight. And they're kept in line by Reds - nominated Specials who get extra food and pride of place in the violent Academy pecking order. Full review...
Sea of Whispers by Tim Bowler
Hetty has grown up on the remote island of Mora. Communication with the outside world is limited and the island relies on its boat, The Pride of Mora. But Hetty herself communicates in another way. She sees visions in the pieces of sea glass washed up on Mora's beaches. Sometimes, too, she hears whispers from the sea. Hetty's visions aren't universally popular with all the islanders but Grandy and Tam and Mackie and her other close friends at least try to understand them. Full review...
Turn of the Tide by Margaret Skea
Family and clan count in 16th century Scotland as Munro discovers. His allegiance lies with the Clan Cunninghame and therefore he's involved in their bloody feud with the Montgomeries. It should be straightforward but sometimes feelings don't run along genealogical lines and loyalties are torn. Munro's wife Kate finds this as difficult to live with, sharing the hardships of a life on the edge whilst trying to protect their children. Unfortunately the Cunninghames' victory at the Annock massacre has created greater problems than it solved and no one knows which side fate will eventually favour. Meanwhile King James' presence creates a temporary respite, but revenge can't be side-lined forever. Full review...
Would I Lie To You? by Clare Dowling
Hannah, Ellen and Barbara have been friends ever since they shared a house at university. They are now in their late thirties and over the years have always been there for each other. This year though, as both Hannah and Ellen prepare to celebrate their thirty eighth birthdays, they all seem to have a bit more stress in their lives than usual. Hannah’s partner, Ollie, has left her and their seven year old daughter, Cleo; Barbara is preparing to adopt a Russian baby on her own; and Ellen and her husband Mark are struggling to ‘live the dream’ that was theirs when they moved to France a few years earlier. Added to this, when Hannah and Barbara spend a couple of weeks with Ellen and her family, something happens that shocks Hannah. If she tells Ellen, it could wreck their friendship. However, if she keeps quiet, she runs the risk of Ellen finding out anyway which could make things even worse. Full review...
Kel Gilligan's Daredevil Stunt Show by Michael Buckley and Dan Santat
Kel Gilligan is a daredevil. He... wait for it... eats BROCCOLI! He even does his poos on the potty. What a brave soul! What a hero! Kel faces all the traumas of childhood, with aplomb. Full review...
Geek Inc: Technoslime Terror by Mark Griffiths
A boy wakes up in a grassy field and discovers that his trousers are on fire, though fortunately it doesn't hurt a bit. A lonely girl wonders why a fully functioning grandfather clock is standing on a patch of wasteland (she also wonders why it seems to move a few metres each day. Grandfather clocks aren't in the habit of wandering round the landscape). Even if you hadn't read the blurb you'd know already that this book is going to be full to the brim with fun, mysteries and oddities. Add to that a large, welcoming typescript and some very funny illustrations, and you have a book that both boys and girls will want to settle down and read. Full review...
Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara
After the death of her boyfriend in a car accident which she survives, Wren Wells retreats to live with her artist father in his studio in the woods of Maine. While she wants to be alone, she doesn't bargain for meeting Cal Owen, also damaged, and falling for him. Full review...
Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure by Artemis Cooper
The sub-title of this biography is highly appropriate, for the ninety-six years of Patrick Leigh Fermor were packed with adventure. Born in 1915, he was something of a maverick at school, intellectually gifted but perpetually naughty, and his punishments for various refractions included suspensions and even expulsions. Full review...
Whisky Galore by Sir Compton Mackenzie
The inhabitants of Great Todday and neighbouring Little Todday enjoy embrocation provided by a tot or two of whisky. Unfortunately this is war time. To date the sacrifices in the Hebrides have included their young men and a token black-out (the harbour lights remain on so there seems little point) but more follows. The water of life itself is becoming scarcer and they're approaching Lent. The timing is unfortunate as they don't exactly give it up for Lent, but drink extra as Shrove Tuesday approaches in the spirit of the season. So, as supplies dwindle to extinction, imagine their surprise when a ship containing practically a million bottles of it en route to America founders off the coast. The community launch a covert army-like operation to liberate the alcohol fighting, planning to outwit not the Germans but the islands' Home Guard, HM Customs and Excise and an inept British Intelligence officer. Easy then? Well, an easier task than that which local headmaster George Campbell has. He wants to get married but his mum won't let him. Full review...
Something You Are by Hanna Jameson
The title of Something You Are has been taken from a line of Brett Easton Ellis’s American Psycho that asks: ‘Evil. Is it something you are? Or something you do?’ At first, Hanna Jameson’s answer to Ellis’s question seems obvious. She’s created a hyper-violent, supercharged London underworld that’s filthy with sin and death and peopled with junkies, psychopaths and dealers, a place where waking up in the morning doesn’t guarantee you’ll go to sleep again at night, especially not with the same compliment of arms, legs and eyes. Full review...
The Crocodile by the Door: The Story of a House, a Farm and a Family by Selina Guinness
Selina Guinness lived at Tibradden as a child and in 2002 she and her husband-to-be, Colin Graham, moved back to the house when her elderly uncle Charles became frail. The surname might lead you to suspect that there were brewery millions in the background but this wasn't the case. The couple were young academics and doing what needed to be done at Tibradden would need to be done in addition to full-time jobs. The house was on the outskirts of Dublin - 'derelict fields' if you were a property developer or the last defence against the encroaching city if you were not. Full review...
Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman
'tis the season to be…thoroughly depressed if you're anything like me – can't bear the cold, the grey, the forced jollity. Whatever book I pick up at this time of year needs to be a highly effective escapist tonic, otherwise there's a good chance I won't even finish it. So I'd like to thank Kimberley Freeman for the most all-encompassing, escapist and enjoyable novel I can remember reading in winter; something tells me I'll revisit this one a few times. Full review...
The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel, Volume 1: The Manga (Manga Edition) by Cassandra Clare and HyeKyung Baek
Meet Tessa Gray. Summonsed to London to be with her brother after living in America, she has no idea what she is going to be in for. A kidnap and training at the hands of two witches is only the start of it as she is forced to find the truth about the world about her – about the two different kinds of supernatural beings, and of how they constantly fight against each other, and about her own unique origin, character and destiny that makes her more than a pawn in this battle. You might have met Tessa before, but not like this – for this is the manga adaptation of the series. Full review...
Alys, Always by Harriet Lane
Harriet Lane's debut novel, Alys, Always garnered a raft of favourable coverage from the professional reviewers when it was first published in hardback. Concerning, as it does, a young woman who works as a sub-editor in a publishing company and a Booker winning novelist, there is always the chance that this was due to the reviewers merely recognizing the world that is portrayed. This view is unfounded though - it is a superbly drawn, frequently very funny, and often psychologically chilling story of ambition and class differences. It thoroughly deserves all the praise that has been heaped upon it. Full review...
I Want a Boyfriend! by Tony Ross
When the Little Princess sees the Maid picking a flower and handing it to the General, she demands to know why. It turns out that the General is the Maid’s boyfriend and he looks after her. Well, on hearing this, the Little Princess declares at the top of her voice:
I WANT A BOYFRIEND! Full review...
Friends in the Snow by Daniel Postgate and Sam Childs
When Lucy’s dad offers to paint her bedroom walls, she is adamant that she only wants them to be white. He is a little surprised by her choice thinking that just white is a little bit boring. However, Lucy jokes that it’s not just white because there is actually a white monster hiding in the white snow. Her dad agrees and before long she has a freshly painted bedroom. The only problem is that, when she tries to go to sleep, she wishes that she hadn’t mentioned the monster because he keeps her awake with his grunting and growling. Full review...
You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane
Who hasn’t got a ‘one that got away’? Or maybe several? Rachel and Ben meet at university in Manchester, but she’s got a boyfriend back home, and he’s a bit of a ladies man, so rather than settle down together (which is arguably what at least one of them thinks they should have done), they pad through a few years as fellow students and then go their separate ways. After a while Rachel heads back to Manchester and some time well after that, Ben finds himself back up north too. They bump into each other and it’s like nothing has changed. Except everything has changed. Rachel is hot off a broken engagement, while Ben is married to a hotshot lawyer from Lan-dan. Will their past stay in the past, and do they want it to? Told from Rachel’s point of view, this is a story that sets out to answer those, and other questions. Full review...
The Best Present Ever! by Neil Griffiths and Melanie Siegel
Long ago and far away lived a kind and generous King and Queen in a land where everyone was well treated and happy. One day the Queen tells her delighted husband that she is to have a baby. The King decides that his lovely wife deserves the very best present ever to mark the happy event. So begins a search by the King’s messengers throughout the country and across the world for the perfect gift for the Queen. Beautiful gifts are brought to the palace from all over the globe for the King to inspect. As he is about to select the best present ever a poor young fisherman arrives and incredibly the gift that he brings might be exactly what the King is looking for! Full review...
The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce Carol Oates
Many years ago, I stumbled across a Joyce Carol Oates story in a horror anthology. What I most remember about the story was how vividly the feelings the characters experienced were portrayed. Whilst the story itself was not exactly a horror story in the mould of Stephen King and James Herbert, it was very well presented. With this experience, I had high hopes of 'The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares' a brand new collection of short stories from Oates. Full review...
The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna
Eva is an echo. Woven at the Loom, she is a carbon copy of Amarra, a girl loved by her parents so much that they can't bear the thought of losing her. Should anything ever happen to Amarra, Eva will take her place - live in her home, go to her school, even kiss her boyfriend. So Eva's young life is all about Amarra. She eats the same foods, studies the same subjects, reads the same books, watches the same films. When Amarra gets a tattoo, so must Eva. The Weavers impose many rules and if Eva breaks even one of them, her life is forfeit. Full review...
Beyond by Graham McNamee
Teenager Jane's life so far has been plagued by near-fatal accidents. The last one left a nail embedded in her brain and the doctors say surgery is too dangerous. And she sleepwalks at night, walking alone in a daze up the highway. As you can imagine, Jane's parents are beyond worried about her. But they don't know the worst of it. Only Lexi, Jane's best friend and fellow Creep Sister, does. The truth is that Jane's shadow is trying to kill her. Literally. She has no control over it but it has control of her. Full review...
Song Hunter by Sally Prue
A new Ice Age is coming. Winters are getting colder. There are fewer mammoths to hunt and no trees from which to fashion spears to kill them. A small group of Neanderthals is facing starvation this winter. One of them, Mica, is full of ideas to avert the impending doom, but the others simply won't listen to her. If something has never been before then it is nothing and simply not worth thinking about. Even Bear, who loves Mica, won't hear her. One night, Mica hears strange voices calling in the darkness. They fill her with a deep sense of longing. But to whom do these siren voices belong? And do they hold the key to Mica's future? Full review...
Fatal Frost by James Henry
It was 1982 and Jimmy Savile and the sinking of the Belgrano dominated the airwaves. Thirty years on we might prefer to forget that either happened, but in Denton the first black policeman has arrived. DS Waters is on loan from the Met, in the name of encouraging racial diversity. Frost and his team have been dealing with a spate of local burglaries when the body of fifteen-year-old Samantha Ellis is found in local woodland near a railway line, but it's not immediately evident whether this is suicide or something more sinister. For the teenagers of Denton it's going to get a lot worse, but DS Jack Frost finds the pressure of work a welcome distraction from home. His marriage is in difficulties, his wife is either unwell or as dissatisfied with the marriage as he is - and he's not immune to the charms of DC Sue Clarke either. Full review...
Aralorn: Masques and Wolfbsane by Patricia Briggs
Here is what seems quite a rum Patricia Briggs compendium – her first attempt at a fantasy novel, published and read by roughly six men and an orc back in the early 1990s, and what would appear the fourth book in the same series, dusted off after they both got a rewrite in 2010, and together at last for the curious completist. And if the rewriting ironed out a few creases it shows just how much there was needed done – for the first book is still full of minor problems – a man immune to, or invisible to, magic unless when it's needed for the plot, a host of exposition all throughout, and much that marks it down as a debut effort. It doesn't mean it's not worth reading however. Full review...
Wolves in Winter by Lisa Hilton
It's 1492 and Mura, an exotic-looking child of Moorish, Spanish and Viking origin enjoys an idyllic childhood living with her widowed father, a Toledo bookseller. However she soon learns that the world is a cruel place when he's snatched by the Spanish Inquisition and she's hidden in a brothel for safe keeping. Adara, the lady of the night entrusted with Mura, betrays that trust and the child's adventurous journeys begin. From nurtured daughter to child prostitute to Medici slave, Mura discovers the power within, nourished by her childhood tales from the Moors and 'North Men' and her gift of 'the sight'. Mura also bears a secret but it seems that she'll be the last to discover it. Full review...
Jammy Dodger by Kevin Smith
It's 1980s Belfast and Artie McCann has it sorted. Having left uni with a literature degree, a love of poetry and no real urge for hard work, he and his mate Oliver discover the joy of Art Council grants. All they need to do is establish a literary magazine and bring out an issue (very) occasionally. This frees them up for reliving the best bits of their former student lifestyle and discussing the comparable merits of biscuit varieties. However things start to go awry; not all the magazine's would-be contributors are happy (or unarmed) and life begins to appear more unsettled. There is a way out but it will take some hard work, an actor and a remedy for that smell of rotting milk. Full review...
Fancy Dress Christmas by Nick Sharratt
Who is who at the Christmas party? All the animals have come in fancy dress, so can you guess who is inside each costume? Someone is dressed as a snowman, someone is dressed as an angel. Someone is even dressed as a candle! Can you tell who each one is? Lift the flap and see... Full review...
The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
When you see a new book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler you know it's already set to be a best seller and that you're in for a treat! Here Donaldson takes the refrain from The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes and weaves it into a story about a rather naughty rat who just can't stop stealing everyone else's food! Full review...
The Soldier's Story by Bryan Forbes
Alex Seaton awaits his post-war demob from the British army in Germany while tracking down wrong-doers ranging from allied black-marketeers to Nazi war criminals. Although fraternisation with locals is still frowned on, Alex meets and befriends university lecturer Professor Grundwall after a chance meeting. United by their love of books, Alex becomes a regular visitor to the Professor's home. However books aren't the only attraction: Alex gradually falls in love with the Professor's daughter, Lisa. Their future together seems assured until Alex uncovers a secret that will rip to the core of Alex's loyalties and jeopardise more than just their love. Full review...
The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs with Foreword by Malcolm Gladwell
I think it's fair to say that you're not even going to pick this book up unless you're a dog lover. If you've always yearned for a cat and shudder at the thought of early morning walks in the rain then this is definitely no the book for you. But - if you know, or are known by a dog then it's the equivalent of that massive hamper of chocolate delights to a chocoholic. Only a magazine like the New Yorker could raid its archives and produce such a massive compendium of humour, illustrations, essays, fiction, poems and cartoons about dogs, or have a cast of writers which could put many a bookshop to shame. Full review...
Maya Makes a Mess by Rutu Modan
For once it is almost impossible to make a plot summary without giving almost the whole game away – such is the brevity of this bright and breezy book for those youngsters still reading with some supervision. Maya is at home and nothing she can do when eating lunch is to her parents' taste – her posture, her table manners or her use of the dog for leftovers. But lo and behold when they give the Queen as an example where she might need more decorum, there then comes a summons to dinner from the Queen – who would be more than surprised to see Maya in action… Full review...
Days of the Bagnold Summer by Joff Winterhart
Meet Daniel Bagnold. He is a surly, sullen, modern teenager, permanently in a black hoodie, with long, lanky hair and almost a monobrow, who one would call very quiet were it not for the metal music that forms almost his only interest. He has been forced to spend the summer, not in Florida with his absent father's new family, but with his librarian mother Sue, his best friend and his shyness. He doesn't want much, and neither it would appear does his mother – although she knows she has to get him some posh shoes for her cousin's wedding. This book is about their relationship – the two of them and the dog that completes the household – in telling, devastating and humorous manner. Full review...
The Secret of the Stone Frog by David Nytra
You know the drill – you are a young boy and find yourself waking up alongside your older sister, but with your beds beside the bole of a huge tree in an enchanted forest. The advice you get is straightforward, but impossible to follow, as you don't stick to the straight and simple path home that you should. As a result you find a tempting house guarded by bees who steal the words out of your mouth, hoity-toity upper class lions, angler fish on the daily commute and more. Full review...
A Drop of Chinese Blood by James Church
Set on the Chinese border with North Korea and in Mongolia, James Church's A Drop of Chinese Blood offers a complex crime mystery of lies and deception, although for much of the book it's not entirely clear what the crime is. I was drawn to the book by the author's background. James Church is a pseudonym for an American former intelligence officer whose working life was spent in North Korea and the surrounding area, so he undoubtedly knows his subject. His previous books have featured the North Korean Inspector O, and while he gets another outing here, this time he has moved beyond Korea to China to have O residing with his chief of Chinese Ministry of State Security nephew, Major Bing. Full review...
Little Bear's Trousers by Jane Hissey
When Little Bear wakes up one sunny morning to discover that he has lost his trousers he feels sure that he will find them quickly with the help of his friends. However, although Old Bear, Camel, and the others have all seen Little Bear’s trousers no-one knows where they are now. So Little Bear sets off on a journey to visit all his friends in search of his missing trousers. What has happened to them? Will Little Bear and his trousers be reunited? Full review...