The Bookbag
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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Too Many Hats (My First Reader) by Hilda Offen
It can be difficult, sometimes, to find a good story that an emerging reader can try to read themselves. I know some of the books my daughter has brought home from school to read have had the most boring plots ever! This is an example of a good early reader however. It's a funny story about princesses and hats and a cat. Full review...
Bob the Bursting Bear by Michael Rosen and Tony Ross
I knew from the title this would be a good book. All that alliteration couldn't be for nothing, surely? Then I saw the cover, with a delightful bear wearing round wire-rimmed glasses and an oversized bowtie. 'Better and better,' I thought to myself. And you'll be relieved to hear that the story does not disappoint. This is one of my favourite books this year, and I have read it repeatedly with both my six year old and my one year old, both of whom enjoy it in different ways! Full review...
Tempting Fate by Jane Green
Sometimes people make mistakes. It only takes a moment to do something wrong and if you’re lucky, it only takes a moment to put it right. Or it can take months or years. Some mistakes you just have to live with, forever. Gabby has made one of those mistakes. The sort you can never really come back from. Full review...
Looking for Bear by Holly Webb
Young siblings Ben and Cassie have just moved into a new house with their dad. Their new world is exciting to explore, but they wish that dad wasn’t so busy all of the time. They have lots of things that they want to tell him, like how Ben is being excluded by his friends at school, how they discovered that the new builders are actually pirates, how Ben designed his own football comic strip and best of all, how they both discovered a bear living at the bottom of the garden... Full review...
Breaking the Spell: Stories of Magic and Mystery from Scotland by Lari Don and Cate James
I love folk tales and fairy tales and have a vast collection from many countries and cultures. Finding ones from Britain however is surprisingly difficult. I must have at least ten Asian folktales for every British one I own. Of course we love learning about other cultures, but children should learn about their own heritage as well. While we live in Northern Ireland, the cultures of Northern Ireland and Scotland have intertwined from the first human settlements in Scotland. In fact I would argue very strenuously that one of these stories is Northern Irish, originating in the Tain Bo Cuailnge, but in fact, many of these stories are told in more than one place, and I do feel that the stories of Scotland reflect a part of our heritage as well. Whether you live in Scotland, or simply have an interest in the heritage of this country, this book would make an excellent addition to a child's book shelf, and should be required reading within the Scottish schools. Full review...
The Skull in the Woods by Sandra Greaves
Dartmoor wasn't exactly Matt's first choice as a place to spend his school holidays. He barely knows his Uncle or cousins, and there was obviously some bad blood between members of the family. But his father was away for the summer, as were most of his friends and he couldn't stand another day in the house with his mother's new boyfriend, especially as their relationship was dashing any hopes Matt might have held of his parents ever reuniting. But whatever the trouble may have been between Matt's mother and his now dead Aunt Rose, his Uncle Jack has welcomed Matt into his home and treated the boy with all the kindness one might expect for a prodigal son. His youngest cousin Kitty seems delighted to have a new member of the family to play with as well, but Tilda, who is near his own age can't stand him and is determined to have this interloping city dweller out of the way as quickly as possible. Matt treats Tilda with same contempt, with the two children carrying on where their feuding parents left off. Full review...
Goth Girl: and the Ghost of a Mouse by Chris Riddell
It all starts with 'sigh, soft and sad and ending in a little squeak'. But while some mice can end up roaring, so this book soon escalates from just meeting the ghost of a dead mouse to something much bigger. Through exploring the country pile Goth Girl Ada lives in with her father, alongside the ghost mouse, she finds an albatross, a Polar Explorer who might be a monster, and then a compact club of young people her age she had no idea existed. There's even more to be found after that, as Ada discovers how malevolent the party season's plans are going to get, with a nasty indoor hunt having some remarkable prey… Full review...
Top 10 For Boys 2014 by Paul Terry
OK, I'll admit – sometimes there comes a time when it would appear terribly easy to post a review of a book, when something so self-explanatory pops up that a description of it hardly seems necessary. And you can judge the contents of this book similarly easily too – it takes the Top Ten of Everything format developed by the late Russell Ash, and makes it funkier, smaller, more brashly colourful, and apparently, suitable for boys. There are unofficial, opinionated lists, and bits where kids can scribble their own content and ratings. But despite how easy it is to get a handle on the book, I do hereby solemnly swear etc that I read almost every word, and just as I should, even no longer being a boy I learned a lot. Full review...
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer
Twins Alex and Connor Bailey have had it tough recently. Their father was killed in a tragic accident and their mother has to work all hours to make ends meet. They even lost their house, as the family could not afford to live there anymore. Things are not completely hopeless though. They have a wonderful grandmother who always seems to be there when they need her most and a special birthday gift from her is about to send them on an adventure that they will never forget: a trip to the enchanting Land of Stories. Full review...
Eminent Elizabethans by Piers Brendon
Eminent Elizabethans is in effect a descendant of the author’s Eminent Edwardians. The latter, a volume of short biographies of four British iconic figures of the early twentieth century, was in turn inspired by Lytton Strachey’s barbed 'Eminent Victorians', published in 1918, a debunking of four Victorian heroes whom the iconoclast Strachey wished to demonstrate had feet of clay. Full review...
The Waking World (The Future King) by Tom Huddleston
'Many tales have been told of the boy who became our greatest king. Very few have spoken of the future...'
Aran is the son of one of the Island's wealthiest Laws. He lives in the underground farmstead of Hawk's Cross. He wants for nothing. But Aran is not entirely happy. Rumours are everywhere and the Island is under threat. Bands of fierce men known as Marauders are beginning to attack further and further inland, burning homes and taking slaves. Aran wants to join the fight against them but that task has been given to his older brother. Aran's future lies in overseeing the farmstead and it's not a future he wants. Full review...
Best Word Book Ever by Richard Scarry
Richard's Scarry's Best Word Book Ever was first published in 1963. Over the years it has had a few minor revamps. Some adults have applauded these as improvements to the original, and others have bemoaned the changes as pandering to political correctness. I for one like the inclusion of female characters in traditionally male jobs and, knowing the actual definition of squaw, I am more than happy to see it removed. Most of all I appreciate the inclusion of Hanukkah and a menorah under Holidays, as I believe this will keep some children from feeling that their culture is left out. Full review...
Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
China is a booming economy for people in a position to take advantage; people like Gary the pop star who once won a talent show, Yinghui the lingerie magnate or her childhood friend and property developer Justin who feels the weight of his family's expectations. Then there's Phoebe, moving to Shanghai from the country on a promise and a belief that to attract success one must act as if one already has it. Life will bring them into each other's orbit but it won't leave any of them the same as when they started. Full review...
1912: The Year the World Discovered Antarctica by Chris Turney
If you read those products designed to make you a published author, one way to start according to so many of them is to look ahead for a pertinent anniversary, research or know your subject well, and write well in advance and as popularly as you can on whatever the subject is. Make no mistake, however – Chris Turney, even if he would appear to have followed that dictum to the last, is no chancer with the eye to the temporary relevance. Full review...
Do Dogs Dream?: Nearly Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know by Stanley Coren
If you love dogs this book is an absolute gem. It's not going to explain to you how to feed or train your dog. There's no advice on first aid or when you should seek advice from the vet. What you get are seventy two essays on subjects which dog lovers ponder on, each one just two or three pages long and written in terms which the layman can understand. I've opened the book at random and found 'Why Do Dogs Touch Noses?', 'Do Dogs Recognize Themselves in a Mirror?' and 'Why Do Puppies Sleep in a Pile?' There's nothing there that you absolutely have to know so that you can keep a dog as he should be kept but by the time that you've finished you will know him a lot better. Full review...
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Subhash and Udayan Mitra are brothers growing up in an India growing into its post-independence status. Subhash goes along with Udayan's ideas but it's Udayan who's the radical, fighting against the injustices of an elitism that remains once the British have left India. Eventually they go their separate ways, one studying abroad to avoid conflict and the other becoming more deeply embroiled. Life can't go on like this forever and it doesn't but the reverberations seem to, affecting generation after generation as Subhash realises that the search for peace isn't always an external thing. Full review...
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
In 1845 ex-slave, black American Frederick Douglass visits Ireland for a lecture tour about freedom and emancipation only to discover he's not preaching to the converted after all. In 1919 Alcock and Brown climb into a rickety aircraft to fly the Atlantic and land in Limerick. In 1994 Senator George Mitchell also travels to Ireland watched by a world that's about to see a miracle of negotiation. Meanwhile through it all Lily and her descendants are also there, not only watching history but living it on both sides of the Atlantic. Full review...
Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe
It's 1958 and Thomas Foley works for the British Government Central Office of Information but feels an outsider. He's ex-grammar school rather than establishment public school and his mother is Belgian (that's foreign you know) so there are definite impediments to his promotion. Thomas is therefore thrilled when chosen to oversee one of Britain's exhibits at the big, exciting international Expo in Belgium. So bring on the experience… and a little brush with espionage… and some beautiful women. (Sylvia is a little less thrilled, being his wife and all.) Full review...
Sisters of the East End by Helen Batten
Katie Crisp had never intended to become a nun. Raised by non-religious parents, her family frowned upon organised religion and when Katie started secretly going to church, they strongly disapproved. When Katie ran to the aid of a stroke victim, she had a vision that changed her life. She saw herself dressed as a nun with a large silver cross hanging from her neck. She decided to follow her calling and join the community of St John the Divine, a group of Anglican nuns dedicated to nursing and midwifery. She thus shed her old identity and became known as Sister Catherine Mary. Full review...
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries is set in the New Zealand gold rush of the late 1860s. It's a story about greed, power, gold, dreams, opium, secrets, betrayal and identity, but most of all, it's a celebration of the art of story telling, both in terms of Catton's book and the stories her characters have to tell. It's the kind of book that is perfect escapism and which wraps you up in its world. If you like big, chunky books that you can get lost in for hours, then this is one for you. Full review...
Desert Heart: 2 (Ellen Martin Disasters) by Mark Lingane
Ten years have passed since Chasing Heart and that moment that Ellen Martin met and fell in love with Alex Heart while he was attempting to extricate her from South American impending doom. We now catch up with them to discover that Ellen has ditched Alex, has become a partner in her law firm and is about to fly out to the Middle East for important business negotiations on behalf of a client. Ellen isn't known for staying out of trouble and the Middle East isn't known for its tolerance of the mischievously danger-prone. Therefore it's not long before Ellen needs a rescuer again and, yes, it's reunion time. Full review...
Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre
Children the age of Oliver are supposed to be adventurous, but he just wants to stay at home. He's been dragged across the globe by his explorer parents, but he only wants to settle. Moving into a new home at last, when they retire, he soon finds them vanished, along with lots of small islands that had peppered the bay their house overlooked. Oliver, then, has to turn pioneer, and try and find out what has happened to the rest of his family. Full review...
Four New Words for Love by Michael Cannon
Christopher meets Gina on Waterloo Bridge. He is newly widowed, she is newly homeless; he's an elderly Londoner, she's a young Glaswegian. It is a defining event in both their lives, but that only becomes clear in the future. Of pressing concern in the present is the rather rude policeman looking to move Gina on. The situation is nearing crisis. Sensing her desperation, Christopher impulsively asks her to come home with him, a proposal she tentatively accepts. Yet it is this one benevolent act that gives birth to an odd and platonic friendship, a relationship based on silences and lacunas, and one which Michael Cannon's fourth novel, Four New Words for Love, looks to delicately unravel. Full review...
The Lost Gods by Francesca Simon
Imagine that Christianity didn't end up a world religion. In its stead you have the Norse gods, a bunch of war-mongering, bling-loving, mead-slurping divinities with the appetite and impatience of a toddler in a sweet shop. Mad berserks battle to the death every day in their halls — for fun, that is — and their idea of meaningful communication is a thunderbolt. Only . . . they can't quite manage all that any more. Full review...
Broken Angels by Graham Masterton
Despite the odd reservation, the first book in his Katie Maguire series, was good enough to have me eagerly reaching for the second, Broken Angels. Whilst Masterton may have dipped into some of the female detective clichés with his debut crime thriller, he also dipped into his past as a great horror writer and the combination worked well. Full review...
Silent Mountain by Michelle Briscombe
Silent Mountain introduces us to the world of Jack Jupiter and his adventures. An ordinary boy with an interest in wildlife, Jack is bullied in school and still grieving the death of his father when, ignoring his Grandmother’s warning, he heads to the frozen lake and gets drawn into a life changing adventure in another world. Full review...
Fire & Ash by Jonathan Maberry
ALERT! Spoilers for early books in the Rot & Ruin series are scattered throughout this review. So if you haven't read the others, get thee over to my words about book one. Full review...
Kennedy: A Cultural History of an American Icon by Mark White
During his lifetime John Fitzgerald Kennedy created an image of himself that dazzled and which has largely remained intact despite the steady leakage of information over the years which could have been expected to tarnish. It could be argued that - much as in the case of Elvis Presley and Princess Diana - death was an excellent career move, but Mark White examines the way the image was built up, then maintained and - after the assassination - burnished, reinforced and protected. Full review...