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.
There are currently 16,117 reviews at TheBookbag.
Want to find out more about us?
New Reviews
Read new reviews by genre.
Read new features.
The Slither Sisters: Tales from Lovecraft Middle School by Charles Gilman
This, if anything, is an abject lesson in the dangers of recycling. The brand spanking new Lovecraft Middle school actually reused bits of an old mansion where arcane experiments were going on, meaning the school to this day serves as a portal to a different universe, one of horrid man-eating demons and other monsters, all with designs on people like Robert Arthur. last time round Robert had trouble with one teacher, who was not as he appeared - this time it's double trouble with two of the school's most popular, most cupcake-giving girls. How can he in his lowly position find the strength to save everyone? Full review...
The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones by Jack Wolf
It doesn’t take long for Jack Wolf’s extraordinary pastiche eighteenth century novel 'The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones' to show its true stripes. Narrator Tristan Hart’s best friend Nathanial is handsome, charming and athletic, and also prone to ‘snatching blue Tits from the Hedges, and consuming them direct upon the Spot.’ In that phrase you see both the heart-stopping nastiness that pulses through Raw Head and Bloody Bones and the fascinating attitude to Gothic duality that lies at its core. Full review...
Ausperity: Live the Life You Want for Less by Lucy Tobin
Clever title, eh? It's a conflation of austerity, of which we must all be sick to the back teeth and prosperity, which we'd all love. At a time when incomes are standing still (unless you're very lucky) but costs are going up all the time. For most people this means that it's the pleasurable parts of life - the treats - which get squeezed out, leaving a life that's dull and rather unrewarding. Lucy Tobin, personal finance editor of the London Evening Standard thinks differently. She's brought together hundreds of money-saving tips which might make that holiday possible - or suggests cheap or free trips in place of the holiday. There are also lots of ways in which you can raise extra money which don't involve a dodgy loan that will cost you more in interest than you borrowed in the first place. And, yes - there's all the information about credit cards, mortgages and budgeting that you need to set you on the right path. Full review...
In the Gold of Time by Claudie Gallay
A young father (I'm not sure we ever know his name) leaves his Montreuil apartment and takes his wife and their seven-year-old twin daughters on the annual holiday to the coast. They have a house, La Téméraire, overlooking the sea a few kilometres south of Dieppe. They'd bought the house just after the girls were born and go there every summer, and maybe for a weekend or two in the Spring. Never in winter. Full review...
A Fatal Thaw (A Kate Shugak Investigation) by Dana Stabenow
Roger McAniff bought a new Winchester rifle and went out to test it - and nine people were dead by the end of the day. But - only eight of them had been shot by McAniff and one - Lisa Getty was shot by someone else. McAniff wouldn't have it - he was almost insulted by the thought that he might have missed someone - but ballistic tests proved that in this instance he wasn't the killer. Kate Shugak was given the job of tracking down the unknown killer. It wasn't going to be easy, not least because she apprehended McAniff and every conversation began with a statement that she could have saved time and money if she'd killed him. That's not Kate's way though. Full review...
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis
Teenager Hattie Shepherd moves with her husband August, parents and siblings from the colour apartheid of the southern US to Philadelphia in search of a better life. Unfortunately this is 1920's America and so 'better life' is a mirage for Hattie. By the age of 15 she's pregnant and subsequently gives birth to twins Jubilee and Philadelphia, the first two of 11 children. As much joy as they bring, the twins are destined to provide a tragedy that will flavour Hattie's and August's outlook and relationship for decades. Each later Shepherd baby will develop with their own characteristics but each will also be tarnished by the past, irrespective of their attempts to escape it. Full review...
Deceit by Deborah White
Thinking the immortal Doctor defeated, Claire has allowed her modern-day London life to return - almost - to normal. Her father has found a new girlfriend, Lindsay, and Claire quite likes her, despite a nagging guilt about disloyalty to her mother, who is depressed about the divorce and struggling to cope with Claire's new baby brother, Matthew. There's even a boyfriend, Joe, on the scene. Last year's adventure involving a girl from the past, an evil magician ancestor and an ancient prophecy, seem like old news. After all, Doctor Robert died, didn't he? Full review...
Midnight Pirates by Ally Kennen
It's hard to read this book without feeling a sea breeze on your face and sand between your toes, so vivid and so natural is the detail on every page. Pinkie-Sue and Cormac have been running the slightly dilapidated Dodo beach hotel for years, and their children have lived their whole lives in and out of the waves in Dummity Bay. Miranda swims like a fish herself and knows all the local seals and their habits, easy-going Cal talks of nothing but surfing and his girlfriend Doris, and Jackie scrambles over the rocks with his dog Fester whenever he can escape from the irritations of school and chores. Full review...
You Are Awful (But I Like You): Travels Through Unloved Britain by Tim Moore
This is not the first book I've read about the scummy, unloved corners of our country, and I approached it in just the same way I did with the last - I looked to see if it might feature Leicester, where I live. The opinion seems to be that you can only like Leicester enough to be proud of it if you're not from there originally - and as I grew up on the edge of a village in the middle of nowhere, it suits me fine. But no - despite its problems (thanks, Labour councils) it doesn't count. It's not grotty, ugly, run-down and unappreciated enough. It still has some semblance of life, unlike too many towns and cities in Britain where the industry, the jobs, the life and the thought have been sucked out, seemingly beyond repair. After stumbling upon the nightmare that is the out-of-season, redundant English coastal town, our author has valiantly journeyed round many of these grot-spots, and found the story of decrepitude only exacerbating. Full review...
Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
Hannah's best friend Lillian starved herself to death six months ago. And now she's haunting her. Hannah wants life to resume as normal, but even if she wasn't constantly in the presence of Lillian's ghost, that wouldn't be possible. How can she carry on when her best friend is dead? To add to her problems, girls in her hometown are dying, beaten brutally then arranged in a ritualistic sort of way. Soon Hannah's being haunted by more than just Lillian, each vision more ghastly than the last. Full review...
The Investigation by Philippe Claudel
And you think you had it bad. Our hero gets off a train at the right station, but doesn't get collected by those he's working on behalf of, can't have his order at the bar fulfilled, cannot get to the place of work on time, then cannot find the hotel almost opposite without a major trek through a snowy, unsavoury but completely empty city. And when he gets to the hotel - well that and the other people he meets there are a whole new category of odd. Is this how things are supposed to be - is this limbo, a nightmare or just a novel our hero is trapped in? Full review...
Splintered by A G Howard
Alyssa Gardner has secrets. She can't tell anyone that bugs and flowers talk to her, or she'll end up in a mental hospital like her mother. All of the women in her family have struggled with mental health problems, ever since her ancestor Alice Liddell inspired Lewis Carroll to write 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. When she's dragged into Wonderland herself, can she break the family curse? Full review...
Shrinking Violet Definitely Needs a Dog by Lou Kuenzler
Ten year old Violet Potts wants a dog. Her favourite uncle, Max, adopted a Siberian wolf cub for her, but that wasn’t the same as having a real pet dog to cuddle and care for. Her parents think she is too irresponsible to handle a pet, but Violet is determined to prove them wrong by volunteering at the local pet shelter. The only complication is that Violet has a secret; she shrinks to the size of a dog biscuit whenever she gets excited. Will she be able to keep a lid on her emotions and prove to her parents that she can handle a dog of her own? Full review...
Lionheart by Sharon Penman
Lionheart is the latest book in the Devil’s Brood series, which focuses on the dysfunctional Angevin branch of the Plantaganets. As the title suggests, the story is a richly detailed account of the life of Richard I, covering the period from his coronation up to the end of the third crusade. Full review...
Making of Life of Pi - A Film, A Journey by Jean Christophe Castelli
Before I'd seen the film of Yann Martel's novel Life of Pi I knew the end result would leave me either wondering 'how did they make that?!' or 'WHY did they make that?!'. The fact I ended up watching it twice before the general public had their chance, and lapped up a repeat viewing within a fortnight, says it all. There's no plot spoiler in the fact that the creators left us with a visually dazzling, splendidly luxurious-looking piece of cinema, one that left me scrabbling for tiny faults to nitpick with and just acknowledging how brilliant the FX and acting were. And, as the resulting question was the right one, I am still interested very much in the answer - luckily for me this book provides it. Full review...
Up Close by Henriette Gyland
Dr Lia Thompson is an E.R. specialist. She patches people up for a living. Her fiancé is some hot-shot lawyer (specialism unspecified) with an all-American-apple-pie family and a mom pressing for a wedding date. When Lia's grandmother dies and her mother eschews any right to the inheritance or obligation for dealing with the estate, it falls to Lia to come up and tidy up. That's exactly what she intends to do. Sign the papers, clear the house, get it on the market and go home. Full review...
Another Time, Another Life by Leif G W Persson
We start, enjoyably enough, in the realm of truth, as German terrorists attack their own embassy in Stockholm, demanding things as only the Red Army Faction demanded. But the truth only goes so far - as this whole book will prove - before we are engaged in the solving of a civil servant's murder some years later. There should be no connection - but there is. There should be a way to solve the crime - but there are too many potential stories and nobody to point the way. There should also be effective collaboration in the police forces - but with personalities as rich as these investigators, there won't be. Full review...
Jack's Mega Machines: The Dinosaur Digger by Alison Ritchie and Mike Byrne
Jack the mechanic loves to repair broken vehicles in his workshop. But the magical Rally Road Workshop is no ordinary garage. Whenever Jack takes one of his vehicles on a test drive, he is wondrously transported to incredible locations or different time periods. Full review...
The Flowers of War by Geling Yan and Nicky Harman (translator)
1937, Nanking. The war between the Republic of China and Japan has ended in defeat for China, and now Japanese soldiers are moving in to bloodily occupy the capital city. In a small American mission church, fifteen Chinese schoolgirls are hiding, trapped until the priests who look after them can smuggle them to safety. Into this already fraught atmosphere come desperate Chinese citizens looking for shelter – a rowdy group of Nanking prostitutes, a colonel on the run and two more soldiers who have survived a horrendous secret massacre. As the Japanese atrocities gather pace, the safety and survival of each of the church’s disparate members becomes uncertain, and the initially hostile girls begin to realise that there may be common ground between them and the prostitutes they have been taught to despise. Full review...
3-Minute JRR Tolkien: A Visual Biography of The World's Most Revered Fantasy Writer by Gary Raymond
When something with such a built-in cult base as Tolkien books have gets transported into another medium, the manically interested fans have two reactions – to initially scoff at how nothing could compare with the original, and then to try and buy everything worthwhile with even a tenuous link to the object of their affections, while avoiding the mountain of crud that could deluge the unwary. Such it will be until the third movie part of The Hobbit is safely behind us, and the six-film, three-month long Blu-Ray box set is on the shelves. Tolkien enthusiasts of course have a precarious situation – so great do they rightly hold the originals, and so low can the quality of the spin-offs be, there are some who will never be satisfied. But there remains the newcomer, freshly inspired to find out more, and those at least will certainly be able to enjoy this beginner's guide to J R R Tolkien. Full review...
The Truth About Love by Philip Ardagh
We are never too far from springtime, when, of course, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. Beardy Ardagh is hoping that young people's fancies turn to trivia about love customs, predictions of who they'll marry and what the whole symbolism around love, Valentines and marriage mean. The emphasis is on young – this book is definitely suited for the primary school library, although he slips up once when asking if we think our partners smell nice. Full review...
The Friday Gospels by Jenn Ashworth
There are five in the Leeke family. Martin is the father and he works in the mail sorting office. There's not a lot of pleasure in Martin's life, but if you were making a list you'd put Bovril at the top of it. She's a labrador and Martin's obsessed with her training. Well, he's partly obsessed with the training and the training is partly an excuse for his other obsession. Nina owns two labradors and Martin sees them (he and Nina, that is - not he and the labs) as having a future together. It would be easy to be critical, but Martin's wife is in a wheelchair. Pauline's been unwell since the birth of their youngest child. She's not quite doubly incontinent, but accidents are frequent and embarrassing. She's also got a penchant for spending on home improvements - despite the fact that there really isn't the money for them. Full review...
The Change Book: Fifty models to explain how things happen by Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschappeler
The Change Book is a pocket-sized publication with lofty ambitions. Small enough to slip into a handbag, and a mere 167 pages long, it makes the following claim: Full review...
Cinderella's Secret Diary by Faye Hanson
Did you know that Cinderella kept a secret diary sharing all her thoughts and feelings about how she was treated by her stepmother and her two ugly sisters? The diary starts when her father returns home from his travels and not long after, she is introduced to Madame Riche who is soon to become her father's wife. When Cinderella finds out about the forthcoming marriage, she is very excited to discover that she will soon have two sisters. Unfortunately, her excitement is short lived as, after the marriage, her father stays abroad for business and Cinderella's stepmother and sisters start to show their true colours. They are mean and nasty treating her no better than a slave. The worst thing is when an invitation comes for the royal ball and Cinderella is not allowed to attend even though she has been invited. Luckily, her fairy godmother appears, waves her magic wand and well, I guess we all know what happens next. Everybody loves a happy ending and it's wonderful to read Cinderella's words at the end of her diary: Full review...
Alphasaurs and Other Prehistoric Types by Sharon Werner and Sarah Nelson Forss
I suppose you could describe any book about dinosaurs as being sixty-five million years in the making. What is definite is that this title was certainly not knocked up overnight. After a suitably clever, rhyming introduction, we enter the world of prehistory with A, and exit with Z, having met 27 (yes, there's a surprise guest entrant) animals along the way. And the way we meet them on these supremely clever pages is the selling point. Full review...
Beast Friends Forever! by Robert L Forbes and Ronald Searle
We're never far away from spring, when the thoughts of the whole animal kingdom turn to love - or at least, one aspect of it we'd better not mention in a book for the very young such as this is. Skunks need to smell nice, elephants and crickets need to make the right noises to attract a mate, while others can just celebrate their being together in different ways, whether they be real love birds or grizzly bears. The whole wildlife love life is here, in a very chaste and harmless manner. Full review...
Darcy Burdock by Laura Dockrill
Darcy Burdock is a ten-year-old girl who sees the extraordinary in the everyday. This is her first book, a story about her life, complete with her own short stories and pictures. Full review...
The Sentinel by Mark Oldfield
Plaza De Toros, Badajoz, 15th August 1936: a group of prisoners are marched across the sands of the bullring, lined up against the barrera and, mown down rifle-fire. The first group of many.
Cut to 2009. In the mountains known as the Sierra de Gredos in central Spain, there was mine. For some reason it was abruptly closed in 1953. On another newbie-assignment forensic investigator Dr Ana Maria Galindez is about to find out why. Full review...
The Positively Last Performance by Geraldine McCaughrean
Gracie absolutely loves Seashaw. She has many happy memories of holidays in the faded resort (which bears more than a passing resemblance to Margate) and she is delighted when her parents, who are actors, decide to move there for good. Their plan is to take over the old theatre, which has been abandoned for years, and do it up—as long as they can get a grant or two to fund the work. They are understandably busy with surveyors and town officials, and it's no surprise to Gracie that she's left pretty much to her own devices. Besides, she's just discovered something extraordinary: she can see ghosts. Full review...
The Taste of Apple Seeds by Katharina Hagena and Jamie Bulloch (Translator)
Iris Berger isn't a stranger to loss. Her cousin died at 15 and her grandmother has just passed away leaving Iris her house. It all echoes with memories, for instance the wardrobe full of her mother and aunts' childhood dresses, the beautiful garden and the apple tree that played such a large part in the family history. While wandering outside, Iris bumps into Carsten Lexow, family friend and garden caretaker. Over lunch he tells her of a family secret. There's a reason why, on a certain June night a lifetime ago, a certain apple tree bloomed twice. Although significant, Iris discovers more secrets as she settles in, and not only secrets concerning others. Full review...
The Agincourt Bride by Joanna Hickson
Baker's daughter Guillaumette Dupain, aged 15, mourns for her still-born baby but her tragedy becomes others' gain. Young Mette is sent to the Hotel de San Pol, home of the French royal family to become wet nurse to the latest child produced by the sickly Charles VI and his wife, Isabella of Bavaria. The infant is Catherine de Valois; destined to be the mother of an English dynasty. But first she must live long enough to marry an English king and being a 15th century royal is a dangerous existence when your greatest enemies are in your own family. Full review...
A Cold Day for Murder (A Kate Shugak Investigation) by Dana Stabenow
Mark Miller is a park ranger in one of the Alaskan National Parks, but it's six weeks since he's been seen - and there are twenty million acres for him to get lost in. Two weeks ago an investigator was sent in to look for him, but he's not been seen since either. There's little choice now but to hand the case to the expert who knows the park and the people: Kate Shugak is Aleut by birth and upbringing and she knows the people - is related to an extraordinary number of them - and she knows the Park. She's thirty years old, five feet tall and has a scar from ear to ear where her throat was cut. Full review...
Blockade Runner by David Kent-Lemon
London shipbroker's clerk Tom Wells is hungry for promotion. Seeking responsibility where ever possible he's still unprepared for a proposition from his employer Mr Pembroke. The company is to operate five cargo ships, shuttling between the Bahamas and America's southern states and he wants Tom to be on board as shipping agent; a dangerous enterprise. Why? It's 1861 and the south is at war with the Yankee north. President Lincoln has blockaded ports like Charleston and Wilmington in the Carolinas in an attempt to prevent revenue-providing cargo leaving or supplies (including uniforms and arms) arriving. Mr Pembroke plans to illegally 'run' the blockade, something not unattractive to Tom partially due to the vastly increased wage attached but mostly because he has a certain interest in a certain American lady. Full review...
The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott
I’ve always avoided stories with a strong link to the Titanic; it’s such a depressing and distressing topic, especially for those of us with an active imagination! However, I was attracted to this novel for different reasons. Telling the story of Tess, a talented seamstress looking for a break, the core relationship is one that is not often explored – that between employee and employer. Designer Lady Duff Gordon takes Tess on as her maid on the Titanic and quickly becomes a mentor and example as Tess develops her craft. But what happened on the voyage threatens their relationship and Tess finds herself facing all kinds of moral dilemmas. Full review...
Glass Thorns - Touchstone by Melanie Rawn
Cayden is a hybrid being part elf, fae and human but all wizard. He also has a day job as a tregetour or playwright with his own touring company, Touchstone. They're ambitious and planning to get through the trials and into the upper flight. As you would expect from a wizard, this troupe doesn't just act; they also weave magic imbued in hallucinations and encased in glass withies. The problem is they're short of a glister, a troupe's wielder of withies. Or rather they were until Mieka arrives. Actually short's a good world as he's an elf but he also happens to be the best glister anyone's ever seen, thorns permitting. With one problem solved, another remains. Namely prophetic dreams that have haunted Cade since boyhood and they aren't improving, in fact they're more like nightmares. Full review...
The Aylesford Skull by James P Blaylock
Langdon St. Ives, renowned scientist and adventurer, returns home from the hubbub and grime of Victorian London to his tranquil residence in rural Aylesford where he lives with his wife Alice and their two young children. Weary of the city, having survived a devastating explosion and particularly vicious attempt on his life, he is hoping for some repose and a chance to work quietly on his latest project; a dirigible airship. Full review...
The Phlunk by Lou Rhodes and Tori Elliott
What is a Phlunk? I know that you're wondering. Well, wonder no more for this book will tell you all about the Phlunk, who lives on a planet shaped like a spoon, looks a bit like a cat but who has very, very large ears. Why, you're now asking, does he have such very large ears? Well, it's all the better to hear you with, of course! And the Phlunk hears everything, from everybody, all over the world! Full review...
Flying to Neverland with Peter Pan by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Carolyn Leigh and Amy June Bates
There's something perennially magical about the story of Peter Pan. It's timeless, this story of a little boy who doesn't want to grow up, and who lives in a land full of pirates and fairies and mermaids and crocodiles. It's one of those stories that stays with you, which is why it's a classic, I suppose! In this version part of the story is told through the lyrics of two songs from the musical Peter Pan. The songs I'm Flying and Never Never Land are combined together to tell the story as far as the children flying to Neverland. Full review...
Honey Brown is Married by Sara Judge
Honey Brown had been a foundling, but fortune - and a benefactress - had smiled on her and she became a dancer at the Windmill Theatre. Then she met August Blake, farmer and the two married and Honey left the theatre to live on the Sussex farm. After a week's honeymoon she was largely left to her own devices. How would she cope with married life, the local community and being a farmer's wife? Well, it was a steep learning curve, but there's more to Honey than meets the eye. There's more to August, too. Full review...
Cross Roads by Wm Paul Young
Wm. Paul Young's debut novel The Shack was a revelation in many ways. Whilst many disagreed with his theology, it was refreshing to see such an overtly faith based book on the bestseller lists. Personally, I found it a very moving story and whilst I thought it helpful on some points, it tended to skim over others. Now we get to see if Young can repeat his success with his new novel, Cross Roads. Full review...
How We Met by Katy Regan
At the start of 'How We Met', a group of friends - Fraser, Mia, Anna, Melody and Norm - are all meeting up in order to celebrate their friend's birthday. There would be nothing unusual about this apart from the fact that the friend is dead. Liv died tragically after falling from a balcony when they were all on holiday in Ibiza. The remaining friends feel that they need to honour her birthday but of course it is going to be a poignant occasion. As they are remembering their friend, Norm produces something that he found in the pocket of a coat he once lent Liv. It's a list of all of the things that she wanted to do before she was thirty, such as, learn a foreign language, swim naked in the sea at dawn and go to an airport and pick a random destination to travel to! As it would have been Liv's thirtieth the following year, the group decide to share out and complete all the activities on the list as a tribute to their friend. Full review...