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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Further Encounters of Sherlock Holmes by George Mann (Editor)
Hot on the heels of Encounters of Sherlock Holmes comes another collection of brand-new tales written by some of the brightest creative minds from the genres of science fiction and crime. In this anthology, Holmes and Watson are pitched headlong into twelve different mysterious scenarios and invited to unravel secrets and unmask villains as only they know how. During their adventures they come face to face with a mountain monster, take a murderous boat trip, meet Moriarty’s siblings and even indulge in a little space travel. The game is afoot! Full review...
The Black Snow by Paul Lynch
Barnabas Kane returned to his birthplace in Ireland with his family with the goal of setting up his own farm and raising his son in a better setting than New York. With his farm of a decent size and a good herd of cattle all seems well with Kane until out ploughing one day he and his farm hand Matthew Peoples spot smoke in the sky from the direction of his byre. The fire marks the start of a sometimes bleak downward spiral and Kane is forced to rely on the kindness of his neighbours who still see him as an outsider. Full review...
The Madness of July by James Naughtie
A dead body is found in a Houses of Parliament broom cupboard on a hot 1970s summer day. A sinister enough event normally but for Foreign Office Minister Will Flemyng it heralds greater concerns. The fact the deceased has Will's phone number in his pocket triggers a series of events that not only tests his loyalty to work, country and family but will take Will from the everyday political cut and thrust to his old job. The job he hoped he'd walked away from: spying. Full review...
One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore
In June 1945 two school students are shot dead in Moscow. These aren't just any school students; they attended Josef Stalin School 801, the academy that taught Stalin's own children and the current educational establishment of choice for the offspring of many government and army grandees. Why did they die? Did the seemingly innocent Fatal Romantics Club have anything to do with it? For the children the club is a way of living their love of Pushkin's literature but to others it seems a little different. Stalin himself is determined to have it investigated and what Stalin wants, Stalin gets no matter how wide the ultimate spider's web of suspicion is cast and no matter whom it catches. Full review...
The Facts of Life (Rachel Riley) by Joanna Nadin
Never let it be said that we here at The Bookbag do not try and give you the reviews nobody else can. This is a case in point – the review of the sixth and final Rachel Riley book from someone who has never read any of the other five. As such a person I can add to all the superlatives the series has got from elsewhere the bonus information that should your tastes in books be as fickle as those of the reviewing gods, you can start this brilliant series at the end and not really suffer a jot. You would be patently bonkers to choose to do so, but the option's there. Full review...
Rock War by Robert Muchamore
Jay comes from a large family - he's one of eight kids squashed into a flat above the chip shop that his mother runs. Jay isn't really like his brothers, who are tough and always in trouble. Jay is skinny and weedy and consumed with musical ambition. But his band, Brontobyte, just doesn't have what it takes, largely thanks to its spoiled brat, hopeless drummer, Tristan. If he wants a future in music, some major changes are in order. Full review...
The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh
The Lemon Grove is not the book I expected it to be. No better no worse, just not what I expected. Set in Mallorca, it is the tale of a summer in the sunshine, but though they’ve holidayed at this villa for years, this summer is a bit different for Jenn and Greg. There are lots of things in this book that are a bit quirky, and the holiday set up is just one of them: the couple are joined by Greg’s daughter (Jen’s step-daughter) and her boyfriend. It’s not wildly unconventional in the real world, but for one reason or another it’s the sort of chaotic set up many authors wouldn’t bother to create. And yet as you read this book you wonder why, because it adds a dynamic that is definitely different, and in a good way. Full review...
The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
Jess is a single mum of a rather smart little girl. She’s also single step mum, if there’s such a thing, to a rather troubled teenage boy. This is the story of this unusual but endearing family of three, and a road trip to the other end of the country, showing that even with few resources, mums will go to the ends of the earth for their children. It’s also the story of Ed, a wealthy businessman whose life interacts with theirs in an unconventional way. A single mum meets a single man, but in an unpredictable way. Full review...
How to Disappear Completely: on modern anorexia by Kelsey Osgood
To the awkward 14 year-old Kelsey, a happy family and a comfortable suburban life are dull and numbing. A self-professed bookworm and fan of the literary greats, she craves meaning and purpose in an utterly normal teenage existence. Full review...
Infinity Drake: The Sons of Scarlatti by John McNally
Finn (real name Infinity) Drake is off for a week away in the Pyrenees with his Uncle Al. He's supposed to be at school but Grandma has gone off on a knitting cruise, so she will never know. But before they can be on their way, Al is summoned to a crisis meeting with secret government officials. A lethal bio-weapon - the Scarlatti wasp - has been stolen and released by an uber-villain (who else but an uber-villain) and the world's only chance is to use Al's top secret invention to shrink a combat team to destroy it. Full review...
Family Likeness by Caitlin Davies
On a summer’s day in 1950, a smartly-dressed white woman brings her young mixed-race daughter, Muriel, to the branch children’s home Hoodfield House, where she will leave her and never return. Muriel is physically well cared for, but has persistent questions about her identity and place in the world. Full review...
Books that Changed the World: The 50 Most Influential Books in Human History by Andrew Taylor
Oh the pleasure when, as a book reviewer, one can simply point to the title and say – 'yup, that'. Or, I suppose, as in the non-existent follow-up, Adverts That Changed the World, simply repeat the mantra 'it does exactly what it says on the tin'. This paperback edition of the six year old original, fresh with several typos they had time to iron out alongside putting in Seamus Heaney's departure, makes life even easier, given that subtitle. I'm sure the more bibliophilic are already sold, and there is little influence I can bear on things. I will, however, soldier on. Full review...
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen
When Annabelle finds a box of yarn, she uses it to knit a jumper. There’s some left so she knits her dog a jumper too. And then one for the boy next door. And one for his dog. And still there’s yarn left over. So she goes on and on. She knits jumpers for everyone she knows and then starts knitting for things that don’t even need jumpers. Pretty soon her dark, dreary town is transformed! Full review...
Say Hello Like This by Mary Murphy
Hello!
Hi!
Good day!
There’s lots of ways people can great each other, but what about animals. How do they say hello? If you read this book you’ll know who says bow-wow, who says tip tap, who says hee haw and so on. Full review...
A Walk In Paris by Salvatore Rubbino
Welcome to the City of Lights! Come join a little girl and her grandad as they spend a magical day exploring the sights of Paris. Follow them as they see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Sit down with them in the bistro as they tuck into lunch, and then look longingly alongside them as they gaze at the delicious treats in the window of the pâtisserie. Full review...
Snowpiercer Vol.2 - The Explorers by Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette
All of humankind is living on a single train. Oh sorry, as this is the sequel, make that two trains. Launched on the same tracks as the original Snowpiercer, but clearly at a slight remove, was a second mile-long behemoth of a train, designed with the latest high tech to be completely self-sustaining as it travelled ceaselessly on the tracks encircling a frozen Earth, waiting for the time the world was inhabitable once more. But the high tech on board, complete with lemon farms, and differing qualities of virtual holidays depending on cost and class of customer, has not put paid to one aspect of society – and in fact the sole aspect of society not featured in the first book – religion. Some people are fearing the end time, when the Icebreaker crashes into the original Snowpiercer. Some believe they're duped into the whole train idea, and are in fact on a spacecraft. Some people know something else – the rare few explorers who get to go outside the train into the world beyond, and see glimpses of what came before… Full review...
The Memory Book by Rowan Coleman
When Claire Ryan first hears the devastating news that she has Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, her first instinct is to run away. However, she does not get far before she realises that she is already forgetting where she lives and the names of simple everyday objects that she has always taken for granted. The worst implication of the news though is that soon she will no longer remember the special events in her life such as giving birth to her daughters nor will she recognise their faces or remember how much she loves the man that is her husband. Not only is this traumatic for her, the effect on her family is unbearable. This is a modern day tragedy with seemingly, no happy ending. Full review...
Sleuth or Dare: An AKA Novel by Robin Benway
When safecracker Maggie Silver's parents are falsely accused of a crime, she's uprooted from her newly peaceful existence as a normal high-school girl and forced to flee, along with best friend Roux and boyfriend Jessie, to Paris. Can the three of them, aided by some new friends and honorary uncle Angelo, clear her family's name? Full review...
Princess Stay Awake by Giles Paley-Phillips and Adriana J Puglisi
This cheerful picture book will resonate with parents everywhere. Princess Layla doesn’t want to go to bed. Every single evening she stays awake instead. The cheeky princess ignores every attempt to persuade her that a good night’s sleep is what children, even princesses, need. She skips around the bedroom, plays with her toys without even a yawn in sight. Her exhausted parents have tried everything they can think of...or have they? Full review...
The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate (Bluffer's Guides) by Neil Davey
I've always been a little bit nervous about the Bluffer series, on the basis that I would be sure to come out with a clever-sounding phrase, only to be found out when someone asked the follow-up question. Better, I thought to stay silent and appear ignorant than to open my mouth and prove myself a fool. But then The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate came my way and I couldn't resist - any more than I've ever been able to resist chocolate. Full review...
Trouble by Non Pratt
Hannah is 15 and pregnant. She can't tell anyone who the father is - but new boy at school Aaron steps up to offer his services as a fake father. Hannah accepts, and the pair start their journey to parenthood. But who really is the dad, and why is Aaron willing to make such a massive commitment to a girl he doesn't even know that well? Full review...
The Darling Girls by Emma Burstall
Leo Bruck, a world famous conductor, died suddenly of a heart attack. Amongst many mourners at his funeral are three women for whom Leo was much more than an acquaintance. Victoria was his long term partner and mother of his two children, Ralph and Salome. However, Maddy has also shared much of her life with Leo and he is father to her daughter Pheobe. Then there is Cat, who met Leo about eighteen months ago and they also formed a relationship. All three were aware of the others and, for whatever reasons, had tolerated the parallel lives that Leo was leading. However, they had never met before the funeral and there is instant dislike particularly between Victoria and Maddy. Full review...
The Legend of Frog by Guy Bass
Frog is about to journey to the End of the World to stake a claim for his rightful throne. Armed only with a stick called Basil Rathbone and a pair of catastrophe pants, he expects it to be easy - but hadn't bargained on an army of aliens appearing. What's a Frog to do? Full review...
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
Sophie is shipwrecked in the English Channel on her 1st birthday, with her mother presumed dead, but she's lucky enough to be found by scholar Charles. He raises her as his ward and they have a happy, if seriously unconventional, existence until the authorities intervene on her 12th birthday. With the orphanage beckoning, Sophie and Charles run away to France in the hope that her mother may be alive after all. Full review...
The News: A User's Manual by Alain de Botton
Alain de Botton maintains that 'the news' has assumed the position in our lives which was once occupied by religion, with some consumers viewing it as often as every fifteen minutes (slight blush there - let's say about every hour...). Furthermore, we do it completely unprotected against every political scandal or celebrity story. The sub-title 'A User's Manual' sets out to remedy this. Full review...
The Runaways by Elizabeth Goudge
The year is 1912. With their father overseas, Nan, Robert, Timothy and Betsy are staying with their grandmother. Locked in their rooms after they fail to make themselves presentable for a dinner party, they run away and find a horse and cart which takes them to their uncle's house. There, he gruffly accepts the responsibility of looking after them in exchange for being able to educate them, and they fall in love with their surroundings - while stumbling upon the tragic history of a neighbour. Can they help to put things right? Full review...
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Holly Golightly. Who doesn't know her? Whether in the pages of Breakfast at Tiffany's, the short novel by Truman Capote or capture on film by Audrey Hepburn, she's an American icon. A young country girl becomes a New York socialite, trading on amusement value to make a life paid for by rich men who are titillated by her outrageous opinions and anecdotes. We want to know her. And the narrator wants to know her as much, if not more, than we do. Full review...
The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness
The Crane Wife ticks all my boxes. It's by Patrick Ness who is one of my favourite writers of Young Adult fiction. It has a basis in myth and legend and still better in an ancient story new to me. It doesn't go on and on and Ariston for half a billion pages. Best of all, the author includes a shout-out for the brilliant Decemberists. I agree with Ness: this is a band you should look up. A heavy reading schedule meant I didn't get to it last year when it was first published but now it's out in paperback and here I am. I wasn't disappointed. Full review...
A Man of Sorrows: An Inspector Carlyle Novel by James Craig
Inspector John Carlyle has a lot on his plate. His attack on a paedophile priest left Father McGowan injured and angry and Carlyle in a vulnerable position. The fact that the Pope is due to visit ups the political pressure and brings Carlyle into conflict with his old nemesis, Christian Holyrod, the Mayor of London. Then there's the armed robbery at a very upmarket Mayfair jeweller when tens of millions of pounds worth of stock goes missing - along with one of the assistants. Normally he'd have had some support from his boss, but she's on secondment in Canada and the man replacing her has great hopes for Carlyle - mainly that he can get him dismissed. Then Carlyle's wife has a serious health scare and his daughter is growing up very fast. Full review...
A Pleasure and a Calling by Phil Hogan
Estate agent William Heming has got it right. He owns a successful estate agency and yet isn't too noticeable. He's helpful, but not in a memorable way. A bit on the beige side perhaps but that’s just the way he likes it, living a life that assists society. Take the time he entered the home of the gentleman who refused to clear up his dog's leavings for instance. It's ok – Heming didn't break in. He already has the key as he once sold the house. How many of his former clients' keys has he actually kept, you wonder? The answer's easy: all of them. Full review...
Will by Christopher Rush
It's March 1616 and William Shakespeare, not having long to live, sends for his lawyer and old friend Francis Collins to draw up his will. While Francis works (at both the will and eating Shakespeare out of house and home) William's mind meanders, regaling Francis with stories and opinions from a life well-lived in a nation in turmoil. After all, Mr S could never resist an audience. Full review...
Left and Leaving by Jo Verity
Set in modern day London, this novel explores the lives of two central characters who, on the surface, could not be any different. However, after a catastrophic incident in the city, Gil and Vivian are thrown together through the rather annoying, interfering character of Irene. Spending time with each other in the run up to Christmas, both Gil and Vivian find themselves having to face up to various family issues and responsibilities that, before, they were able to ignore. Full review...