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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Made to last: The story of Britain's best-known shoe firm by Mark Palmer
From its founding by the Quaker brothers Cyrus and James Clark in the Somerset village of Street, to its present-day status as a global shoe brand, the name of Clark has weathered many a storm as it draws close to its bicentenary. This account of the company, by a distant kinsman of the two original founders, has drawn heavily on the archives and on in-depth interviews with the family to tell the full story. Full review...
The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 10 by Maxim Jakubowski
A couple of years ago, I reviewed The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 8 by Maxim Jakubowski and it was something of a frustrating experience. There were some really good short stories in there, from excellent authors, but they were padded out by a significant number of completely unmemorable ones. The latest in the series suffers from the same lack of quality control - if anything, the ratio of hits to misses is somewhat lower. Full review...
The Vegetarian Pantry by Chloe Coker and Jane Montgomery
Chloe Coker and Jane Montgomery aren't strict vegetarians, but they are passionate about fresh, healthy, seasonal, meat-free cooking. A shared frustration about being unable to find the inspiration and ideas they wanted led to this book, with its recipes which will appeal to everyone from strict vegetarians to meat eaters. Reassuringly they're not out to convert anyone - just to give some inspiration, particularly to people who haven't tried this type of food before. Some recipes are suitable for vegans (or can be easily adapted) and they're clearly marked, as are those suitable for people with a gluten intolerance. Full review...
Patisserie at Home by Will Torrent
I've always been in awe of people who can make great desserts - the ones which taste amazing AND look stunning on the plate. I have used The Roux Brothers on Patisserie by Michel and Albert Roux (that's Michel Roux senior, by the way and not his son) but I found the book almost pernickety in some of its requirements and I've long wished for a book which was rather more relaxed and aimed at the home cook rather than someone who aspired to be a professional chef. Patisserie at Home seemed to fit the bill. Full review...
Department 19: Battle Lines by Will Hill
The wheels have been set in motion for Dracula to rise. Department 19 is in disarray, dealing with deaths, the disappearance of their chief Henry Seward, and the dreadful knowledge that there could be yet more traitors in the ranks. Jamie Carpenter is trying to train rookies into a fighting force who can take on vampires more dangerous than any newly-turned ones that have ever been seen before, Matt Browning is desperately trying to find a cure for vampirism, and Larissa Kinley is in the USA trying to help in the fight against her own kind. With Zero Hour coming ever closer, can the department save the day? Full review...
Lilliput by Sam Gayton
Sam Gayton's tale of a tiny girl who longs to go home has all the ingredients you need for a thumping good read. There are villains and heroes, adventures and deadly peril, new friends and wonderful animals, plus some charming illustrations. Oh, and chocolate. There's lots of that, and the book is all the better for it. Full review...
Cheesecake by Hannah Miles
I have a weakness for cheesecake, the genuine item rather than the over-sweet lookalikes found in some supermarkets. I love that unctuous richness and the slightly tart taste on the tongue. I'm less keen on what they deliver in terms of calories, but that simply means that cheesecake has to be an occasional treat - and the best that there is around. So, Cheesecake by Hannah Miles was going to press all the right buttons. Hannah reached the final of Masterchef in 2007, so she knows a thing or two about food. Full review...
The Gathering of the Lost by Helen Lowe
It may only have taken a year for the second in the Wall of Night series to hit the shelves, but on Haarth five years have passed since The Heir of Night disappeared from the Wall. She's known not to have died in the Swarm attack, but was last seen in the wilds of Jaransor and many believe her now to be dead. Full review...
Blessed Are Those Who Thirst by Anne Holt
1222 was one of last year’s crime novel sensations. Set in a blizzard-hit hotel in a remote part of Norway and featuring prickly detective Hanne Wilhelmsen, it was Miss Marple meets Harry Hole, a clever and very funny take on the Nordic noir genre. 1222 was Britain’s introduction to Wilhelmsen and her creator, the lawyer and Norwegian Minister for Justice-turned-novelist Anne Holt. Scandinavian readers, however, have been familiar with them both since 1993, when Hanne made her debut in the novel The Blind Goddess. Blessed Are Those Who Thirst, first written in 1994, is Hanne’s second case, a story that shows her still finding her feet as a detective. Full review...
Dear Scarlett by Fleur Hitchcock
Shortly after her eleventh birthday Fleur receives a mysterious box from her father who died five years earlier. The box contains a strange collection of items that provide Scarlett with clues to her father’s life. For years she has accepted the story that her father had been a notorious jewel thief but as she attempts to make sense of the clues it becomes apparent that maybe things were not quite as they had seemed. With the help of her friend Ellie, Scarlett sets off on an exciting and at times dangerous mission to discover the truth. Full review...
Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders - World War II by Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders is an informative, easy to read book for children covering WW2. I would describe it as something of a cross between a school text book and Terry Deary's Horrible Histories series - as much as I am certain Mr Deary would shudder at the thought of any of his books being crossed with a text book. This isn't quite facts, facts and nothing but the facts, it does break things up with humour, but I would describe this as book meant to teach history, unlike Deary's books which I would describe as books which make reading fun, and just happen to inform children on history as well. Full review...
The Enchanted Wanderer and Other Stories by Nikolai Leskov, Richard Pevear (translator) and Larissa Volokhonsky (translator)
This is a collection of 17 Nikolai Leskov stories as mixed in subject matter as they are in length. From the very short Spirit of Madame de Genlis, warning of the dire consequences of selecting literature for a mollycoddled princess, to the novella-length The Enchanted Wanderer telling the tale of the apparently immortal monk who prayed for suicide victims, Leskov (aided greatly by the talented translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky) unlocks the mores, traditions, religion and superstitions of 19th century Russia for a modern readership. Full review...
A Perfect Day for a Picnic by Tori Finch
There are strange reasons why books appeal to you. With A Perfect Day for a Picnic my immediate reaction was it would be lovely to have the weather, never mind the food. Then I had a look at the spine of the book (I know - I'm sad) and it looked just like one of those expensive linen glass cloths - you know, the ones you have to iron and it brought back such memories of childhood picnics that I had to see what was on offer. Full review...
Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi
Kweku Sai, father, husband and doctor, awakes early one morning and wanders outside into his Ghanaian garden. As he gazes back at his house, he suffers a fatal heart attack and, during his last moments reflects on his life and a family fragmented. On hearing of his death, his children and first wife Folasade look back on what they were before and, thanks in part to Folasade's and Kweku's actions, what they've become. Full review...
Salt of Their Blood by Gerald Wixey
Back in 1960 Stuart couldn’t get to sleep on a very hot night. He lived at the pub next door to the bus garage and the sounds drifted upwards. A man screamed and then there was the sound of a heavy weight falling. When he jumped out of bed he saw someone scurrying away. No one was interested in what Stuart might have heard, or seen and even he lost interest as the day after the inquest (the mechanic’s death was ‘an accident’, the coroner said) his best friend, Declan, disappeared. Twelve years later Stuart was leading a feckless life but was still convinced that there was a connection between the mechanic’s death and Declan’s disappearance. He was also involved in an illicit love affair with Kathy - and if he had to pick the wrong person then it was Kathy. Full review...
The Last Wild by Piers Torday
The animals and the plants have all died, killed by the red-eye: only insects are immune. And the humans have all retreated to the Island, terrified that they too will catch the horrible disease. As there is nothing else to eat they live on formula, a sort of bright pink gruel which, no matter what they call it, always tastes of prawn cocktail crisps. The gloop is made by Factorium, the world's biggest food company, which has gradually taken over the running of the whole Island, including schools, hospitals and eventually the government itself. Full review...
The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore
In Plainview, Indiana there are three women who have been friends since their teens. Forty years after they first met they're still known as the Supremes, the name given to them by Big Earl at his All-You-Can-Eat diner. The diner's now run by his son, Little Earl, but you'll find the Supremes at the table in the window every Sunday, after church, along with their families. Odette tells us her own story, from the time she was born in a sycamore tree, which made her the fearless soul she is. But now she's up against something which even she might not be able to face down. Clarice was always the well-brought-up young lady as well as being a musician of some considerable merit, but her husband is causing her problems. Even serial philanderers would be in awe of what Richmond gets up to. Full review...
The Complete Father Brown Stories by GK Chesterton
Having read many of the Father Brown short stories before, and after really enjoying the recent screen version, I jumped at the chance to get hold of this TV tie-in omnibus. The little cleric who has such a mild manner, but a keen knowledge of human evil, is one of my favourite detectives, and it was a pleasure to be able to read this complete collection of his stories. Full review...
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
Eleanor Henderson's debut novel Ten Thousand Saints is set in late 1980s Vermont and, more memorably, New York. Opening in 1987 we discover in the second sentence that one of the two boys hiding under the stands to the Vermont school football field on match day will die that night. It's a powerful opening. From then on, the book deals first with Teddy's death and then with the life he has left behind in the form of his friend Jude, Jude's sort of step sister Eliza and Teddy's older brother Johnny. It's a world of broken homes and the trinity of sex and drugs and rock and roll, or more specifically punk. Henderson is particularly good at evoking the underground scene in New York at the time before the unlikely combination of AIDS and mayoral intervention combined to clean up the city. Full review...
Ignorance by Michele Roberts
Michèle Roberts's Ignorance is a beautifully written, lyrical story about life in wartime France. Narrated mainly by two characters, Jeanne and Marie-Angèle, it jumps back and forward in time and is an enthralling mixture of guilt, faith, and survival. The two girls could not be more different. Marie-Angèle is the grocer's daughter while Jeanne is the daughter of a Jewish mother who washes clothes for a living. The two girls together go to the village convent for their education but come from different ends of the social spectrum. When the German occupation arrives, the two girls' experiences are very different but both are 'ignorant' of each others plight and their judgements are repeatedly shown to be wide of the mark. In fact the book could just as well have been titled 'Judgement'. Just when you think you know one through the eyes of the other, you get the opposite view of things. Full review...
In the Name of the People: Pseudo-Democracy and the Spoiling of Our World by Ivo Mosley
On the spectrum ranging between democracy and totalitarianism, Ivo Mosley upholds that the system of elective oligarchy lies closer to the latter. And yet, he essentially says, Western democracy as we know it today is nothing but this form of representative government, excluding a large proportion of the people whose freedoms it claims to protect. Full review...
Maria & The Devil by Graham Thomas
The Devil has ridden out.
Maria's lover is Montana's most feared outlaw. He has left her alone in a secluded cabin deep in the wilderness. Maria is pregnant. Left in solitude, she develops a familiar routine that feels safe. But the isolation is pervasive and Maria's defences against it are crumbling. And while she waits for her lover to return, she is discovered by Rickman Chill, whose gang is tracking the Devil in a relentless quest for revenge. What will happen when Chill discovers Maria's identity? Will the Devil return in time? Full review...
Queen & Commander (A Hive Queen Novel) by Janine Southard
In Rhiannon's world, your entire future depends on your final school test results. Everyone is classified according to personality type and entry to any career or university depends upon your personality type. It's impossible to cheat the test... unless you're Rhiannon. Rhiannon should really be a Perceiver. But all her life she has wanted her own hive. And to achieve this, she must test as a Queen or Commander. And this she does. The only person to ever have manipulated the test. Rhiannon's future is set: leadership training, followed by a choice of Devoted to serve her, followed by command of a prestigious space ship and hive. Full review...
The Vagaries Of Swing (Footprints on the Margate Sands of Time) by Mac Carty
Mac Carty tells us that the catalyst for 'The Vagaries of Swing' was the BBC television series 'True Love' which portrayed a series of romantic encounters all set by the sea in his home town of Margate. But Carty has taken the original idea - about relationships between people - and run with it, extending love into passion, say for cricket, or (at the other end of the scale) as a human encounter which ends in violence. Whilst the television series might have been the catalyst for the book there was another and probably more compelling reason. When his friend Mike died he realised that he had no one with whom to share his fund of stories about growing up in Margate, all of which had been revisited on a regular basis and usually over a pint. I've just read the result. Full review...