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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The Marathon Conspiracy by Gary Corby
Nicolaos has a lot on his mind. His wedding is only a few weeks away and he still has no real means of supporting a wife and family. The investigating game, it seems, doesn't pay too well. So when his patron Pericles asks him to investigate the murder of a young child, Nico is a little reticent, especially since he is still waiting to be paid for his previous assignment. Deciding that he can't afford to be picky, Nico accepts a case which will see him, amongst other things, fending off street thugs, diving for treasure in a sacred spring, going on a bear hunt, rescuing a pair of fighting cocks and consulting a strange priestess who has a habit of running around the woods naked...At least he can't complain that his work is boring. Full review...
Tales From Hans Christian Andersen by Naomi Lewis and Emma Chichester Clark
As a child, fairy tales for me were synonymous with the Ladybird Classics series. Whilst the memory of the stories and the accompanying paintings remains very fresh, I don’t recall any mention being made of the original authors. I was eager then to read Tales from Hans Christian Andersen, a collection of nine stories, and identify which classic tales from my childhood he wrote. Full review...
My Amazing Dad by Ross Collins
Snip the little crocodile is worried. He doesn't know what his dad does all day. All his friends seem to have really cool dads. Monkey's dad is super fast at swinging through the trees. Little zebra's dad is excellent at hiding, and Snip's elephant friend's dad is amazing at spraying water higher than the highest tree. Poor Snip doesn't think that his dad can do any of those things. Full review...
Supertato by Sue Hendra
Oh my goodness, whatever can we do? There's an evil pea on the loose in the supermarket, causing havoc wherever he goes! He has sticky-plastered poor carrot to the conveyor belt, and drawn a mustache and glasses on broccoli, and poor old cucumber has been mummified with a bandage! Still, try to calm your frayed nerves because, never fear, Supertato is here to save the day! Full review...
Chicken Clicking by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
Chick has a problem. Every night, when the farmer and his wife are asleep, she sneaks into their house and goes online on their computer to order things. She starts with a teapot, and a motorbike! Soon she's buying diamond watches and a hundred handbags, for which the farmer blames his wife - she, of course, gets angry and blames his dodgy software since she certainly didn't order those things! Chick starts to buy gifts for all her farm animal friends, but all too soon she realises she's alone on the farm and in need of a friend. Can she find one online? Full review...
Succession by Livi Michael
15 year old Margaret of Anjou is brought to England to marry King Henry VI, little realising she'll rule in his stead in all but name. Then little 3-year-old Margaret Beaufort marries John de la Pole, son of the Duke of Suffolk. This is the first of three marriages she'll embark on by the time she's 14, one of which will produce a king and all will produce suffering. The War of the Roses and the Tudor dynasty are both waiting in the wings; these are the women who will raise the curtain. Full review...
Wild Wood by Jan Needle and Willie Rushton
Bank clerk Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 classic Wind in the Willows, populated with lovable anthropomorphic characters, started life as a bed time story for his son Alistair. He fused these adventurous tales with later descriptive epistles for a holidaying Alistair to create a tale which was, as Grahame described in a letter to Teddy Roosevelt, an expression of the very simplest joys of life as lived by the simplest beings. Indeed the four iconic protagonists - the outrageous, irrepressible toad, the loyal and humble mole, the brave and paternalistic badger and the resourceful and determined rat have a fond place in many childhood memories but are they as valiant as they seem? What if they were suddenly recast as the villains of the piece? Full review...
Shifting Colours by Fiona Sussman
Celia works as a maid for the Steiners in South Africa; a safe job in a white household for a 'black' to have at a time when the country lurches from suspicion to brutality and back again. At least it was a safe job. The Steiners have decided to move to England and, after difficulty in having their own children, want to adopt Miriam, Celia's youngest child. For so many reasons Celia can't refuse. Rita Steiner promises Miriam an exciting adventure and she promises Celia regular contact. When mother and daughter are miles apart, they both come to realise the same thing: sometimes promises are only as good as the people making them and that goes for promised lands too. Full review...
Friend and Foe (A Hew Cullan Mystery) by Shirley McKay
1583 and King James VI of Scotland is paranoid and, after the events of the Ruthven raid the year before, who can blame him? Surely this won't affect humble academic lawyer Hew Cullen? Oh but it will, eventually causing more turmoil than even he is used to. Back at the beginning though, while Hew continues, unaware of what's to come, he has more pressing domestic worries that, for once, don't affect his herbalist sister Meg or his doctor brother-in-law Giles. Indeed, this time the concern is the love of Hew's own heart. Full review...
The City by Stella Gemmell
The City has been fighting for centuries, be it the recognised war of Red versus Blue fuelled by the mysterious Emperor or the daily fight of the Dwellers struggling for existence in the sewer settlements. Such oppression breeds unlikely heroes. A former general, now a fugitive from a questionable justice, a 16 year old soldier trying to out-run her father's reputation, a famed Red army leader and a little girl who believes in someone whom others hardly notice any more; these carry hope for the City, whether the City realises it or not. Full review...
The Secret Dinosaur: Giants Awake by N S Blackman
When Marlin Maxton goes on a school visit to the local museum, he is looking forward to seeing Protos - the dinosaur that his Uncle Gus remembers so fondly. But Protos is nowhere to be seen and the museum's Mr Grubbler seems to be doing his utmost to take all the fun out of the school visit Marlin had been anticipating with such excitement. So Marlin sneaks off to explore by himself... Full review...
The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin
Based on a true story, The Axeman's Jazz is scriptwriter Ray Celestin's debut novel. It tells of a serial killer in New Orleans in 1919 - the Axeman - who torments the city and has everyone talking; it seems that everyone has their theories and yet no meaningful leads are presenting themselves, as the police and citizens of New Orleans begin to despair of ever catching the killer. Full review...
Dead But Not Forgotten by Charlaine Harris and Toni LP Kelner (Editors)
Dead But Not Forgotten returns to Sookie Stackhouse's world, exploring the lives and misadventures of some of the more minor characters in the series. The collection features stories about Pam Ravenscroft, Adele Hale Stackhouse, Luna, Diantha, Bubba and many of the other colourful characters from Bon Temps and the wider universe of Sookie's story, written by authors such as Seanan McGuire, Rachel Caine, Nicole Peeler, Christopher Golden and many more. Full review...
Before You Die by Samantha Hayes
A stolen bike, a crash, a death.
Anywhere else it would be a catastrophic accident. Here, it's suicide. Another one. Please don't let it be starting all over again.
D.I. Lorraine Fisher is one of those rare creatures in modern detective fiction. She's normal. Married, with two daughters who she only partly understands, and a husband who she loves to bits, and not enough time to spend with any of them. She has a good career, because it's clearly what she was born to do. No quirks, no hang-ups, she's just good at her job, because she thinks like a copper – which means she doesn't give up at the first hurdle. When things nag at her, she lets them, until she can hear what it is they are trying to tell her. Full review...
The Tropic of Serpents (A Memoir by Lady Trent) by Marie Brennan
We are in sequel territory, so we must hope that things have escalated for Lady Trent, and that she is finding life even harder than before. And it is – as much as she would like to go dragon hunting with her husband she cannot. (And by dragon hunting I don't mean killing them, I mean being a natural historian for the species in a world that would rather massacre them for industrial purposes). Here, repressed by the Victorian society she lives in, she can just about raise another exhibition together, to a different corner of the world, but she won't find herself with the possibility of observing dragons – she is instead faced with the demand that she MUST hunt dragons… Full review...
I, Hogarth by Michael Dean
How similar in many ways was Hogarth’s London in the middle of the Eighteenth Century to the London of today. A city where it was easy enough to end up in debtor’s prison, as indeed did Hogarth’s beloved and unworldly father, having been condemned to the Fleet; a sad fate for a brilliant Latin scholar and writer of erudite texts. He opened a Latin speaking coffee house in St John’s Gate. Here the governor and authorities were open to high levels of corruption, as later in Dickens time and very reminiscent of the scandals of G4S today. Full review...
Money: The Unauthorised Biography by Felix Martin
Occasionally books are not exactly what they seem. When I picked this up, read the blurb and began the contents inside, I was expecting a kind of biography or history of money through the ages. The opening chapter, a brief sketch of the economy of the Pacific island of Yap and how it worked, seemed to confirm this. It tells us how in the late nineteenth century Yap, east of the Philippine Islands, had an unwieldy coinage consisting of stone wheels around 12ft in diameter, called fei. The population did not carry these around, let alone own them like we possess pounds and pence, as they were part of a sophisticated system of credit management. Full review...
War Girls by Adele Geras, Melvin Burgess, Berlie Doherty, Mary Hooper, Anne Fine, Matt Whyman, Theresa Breslin, Sally Nicholls and Rowena House
This collection of short stories written by some of the leading writers for young adults today is a moving and engaging account of an aspect of the First World War not often covered in teen fiction. Each story explores how the war changed the lives of young women of that time forever as they learned to cope with loss and grief. Full review...
Queen of the Dark Things by C Robert Cargill
Colby Stevens lost his best friend to an army of fairies six months ago. And things haven't got much better since. The Seventy-Two, a powerful and angry bunch of demons want Colby to deal with the Queen of the Dark Things. But Colby knows, whatever the demons have planned for him, it isn't good. Whatever he does is playing into their plans in some way or another. Full review...
Searching for Sky by Jillian Cantor
River is everything to Sky. Since her mother and Helmut died, this girl and boy are the only two human beings on the Island. River is the only boy Sky has ever known. Their life is simple, calm and fulfilling. Until, one day, a boat comes and everything changes.
Taken back to civilisation, to the world her mother left behind, Sky is separated from River. Sky hates everything about California - its houses, its rules, its people who don't tell her the truth. And so she sets out to find River. But when she does, she discovers the truth and why it is keeping them apart. Can anything make it right? Full review...
Goblin Quest by Philip Reeve
That's the trouble with heroes. They get it into their heads (and let's face it, there's usually plenty of space in there for the occasional idea) that they absolutely must do something big and valiant to win a place in the Hall of Heroes. I shall go down in history, they announce, and future generations will sing of my bravery and my exploits. Trouble is, of course, once they've fixed on a quest, nothing on earth can stop them – not even the fact that it's the most brain-freezingly, pants-wettingly STUPID thing they could possibly have decided on. Full review...
Light-Fingered Larry by Jan Fearnley
Larry the Octopus has eight tentacles, and each and every one is used to half inch other people's stuff. As he travels through Bottlenose Bay, he fills his net with more and more loot until everyone has just had enough. Officer Pavani comes to the rescue, but will Larry manage to escape? Full review...
Koko Takes a Holiday by Kieran Shea
Pulp science fiction is not as easy a genre to carry off as you may think; it takes more than just a voluptuous catsuit-wearing alien firing off laser cannons (but that can only help). Pulp is often just that; pulp. It should be shredded and used to soak up the juices in landfill, but when it is done right, it can be excellent. When someone writes a book that is darkly funny, intelligent and a little ultraviolent, you may just have the perfect mix. A perfect mix called ‘Koko Takes a Holiday’, by Kieran Shea. Full review...
Beautiful Fools by R Clifton Spargo
Famous writers' wives have had something of a literary revival in recent years. Paula McLain's The Paris Wife and Naomi Wood's Mrs Hemingway imagine the lives of the various Hemingway women, while the vogue for flappers and The Great Gatsby has led to a spate of books about Zelda Fitzgerald. Fans of the Roaring Twenties have been spoiled for choice, what with Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler, Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck, and Guests on Earth by Lee Smith. Full review...
A Proper Family Holiday by Chrissie Manby
Chelsea can think of few things worse than a family holiday. Except maybe a family holiday to a cheap hotel in Lanza-grotty. Or a family holiday where she’ll be constantly ridiculed for her ‘posh London ways’ and her inability to manage the most obvious things in life like holding down a boyfriend or starting a family of her own. It’s going to be a long week. Full review...
Modesty Blaise - The Young Mistress by Peter O'Donnell and Enric Badia Romero
Modesty Blaise is slowly becoming like an old flame of mine – just popping back into my life every few months to regale an adventure, have a catch-up and be on her way. This latest fleeting visit shows Modesty, the most ironically-named brunette in the world of solving crime, having old flames of her own – although she calls them 'escorts'. They're prevalent in the first and title story, where her doctor lover has a patient with whip marks, which leads into a full-blown action adventure regarding art forgeries. Her American 'escort' wants to replace the doctor, but has to wait for a story all of his own, when his own prize racehorse is a target for criminals. And in the third story there are a lot of returning characters – but not all are as they might at first appear… Full review...
The Good Children by Roopa Farooki
The Saddeq family are an example of success for their friends and neighbours in Lahore. Mr Saddeq is a doctor with his own practice, sons Sully and Jakie are studying medicine in the US and UK respectively and daughters Mae and Lana have made good marriage matches. However the four 'good' children would view their success differently. Each reacts differently to the futures that their caring father and calculating mother have mapped out for them and plough their own furrows as far as they're permitted but the gravitational pull of home remains a constant through their lives and also, to some extent, for the generation that follows. Full review...
Great Britain Concise Stamp Catalogue 2014 by Stanley Gibbons
When I began collecting GB stamps back in the early seventies Collect British Stamps was my bible and I eagerly awaited each new edition. After a while I came to realise that I needed a little more depth, but not to the level provided by the Specialised Catalogue Series not least because I was still at the stage of spending the money on stamps rather than books about them. There is something to fill the gap though and that's the Great Britain Concise catalogue. It's designed to meet the needs of the dedicated amateur rather than the specialist or the casual collector and treads a very fine line between providing too much detail and too little information with elegance. Full review...
The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian England's Most Notorious Doctor by Stephen Bates
Just to fend off any accusations of a spoiler, the fate of Dr William Palmer is probably just as well-known to those with an interest in the subject as that of President Kennedy or Princess Diana. Stephen Bates’ account of ‘the Prince of Poisoners’ starts off, therefore, with an account of the proceedings on 14 June 1856 when over 30,000 people gathered outside Stafford Prison to see him keep an appointment with the hangman after being found guilty of murder. Full review...
Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston
Four years ago, a family lost their brother, their older son, their grandchild. One day he was there, and the next he was gone. Missing. Presumed kidnapped or perhaps worse. Their lives have moved on, but their hearts haven’t. Walls have gone up around them, though, to protect from the pain, the crank calls, the false leads. So when news comes that Justin Campbell has been spotted, alive and, seemingly, well, it’s quite a lot to take in. Full review...