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| + | |summary=They told me life would be easy reviewing books; grab it, read it, review it. What they did not say that I would have to do is also play with it, build it and sit in it! There is a thin line between an interactive book and a toy. When this thin line involves a book that you can convert into a play mat and also a submarine, it is hard to understand what it is at all. Welcome to the world of the ''Convertible Submarine''. | ||
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Revision as of 13:11, 17 May 2016
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.
There are currently 16,119 reviews at TheBookbag.
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Convertible Submarine by Claire Phillip
They told me life would be easy reviewing books; grab it, read it, review it. What they did not say that I would have to do is also play with it, build it and sit in it! There is a thin line between an interactive book and a toy. When this thin line involves a book that you can convert into a play mat and also a submarine, it is hard to understand what it is at all. Welcome to the world of the Convertible Submarine. Full review...
My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
1988, Charleston, South Carolina. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disatrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act...different. She's moody. She's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she's nearby. Abby's investigation leads her to some startling discoveries - and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship enough to beat the devil? Full review...
Bird in a Cage by Frederic Dard and David Bellos (translator)
A man returns to the flat he grew up in and where his mother died without his knowledge, and finds it too desolate for the time of year it is – Christmas Eve. Bursting for more life, despite being a solitary character, he goes to a restaurant, and finds a connection with a mother with her daughter. They dine, then go to the cinema, and sit together, and things happen from there – in a gentle, no-pressure, no-names-no-packdrill way. If this isn't a reasonable start to a novella, consider the tag it has as a noir classic. And consider the fact the strange woman is the spitting image of the man's dead wife… Full review...
Apothecary Melchior and the Ghost of Rataskaevu Street by Indrek Hargla and Christopher Moseley (translator)
In fifteenth century Tallinn religion and superstition sit side by side. In the midst of this is scientifically-minded apothecary Melchior Wakenstede, known for his curiosity, logical thinking, and ability to solve murders. There are rumours of a ghost a few doors down from Melchior on Rataskaevu Street, though he's not as ready to believe in it as some of his neighbours. When several people die after saying they'd seen the ghost, Melchior can't resist looking for the connection between them and trying to discover the truth behind the tales. Full review...
These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
Jennifer Donnelly wrote one of my all-time favourite books, A Gathering Light, so I was very excited to read her latest novel and see how it compared. Like A Gathering Light, These Shallow Graves is a historical novel with a murder mystery at its heart and a feisty heroine who challenges the standards of the day. Full review...
He Runs the Moon by Wendy Brandmark
This is the first time I had read any of Wendy Brandmark's fiction, and I was intrigued at the theme of the stories. She sets out writing short stories about different cities in the US, Denver, Bronx, New York, Cambridge and Boston, but also weaves in setting the stories in different eras. So we have a collection of stories ranging from the 1950's to the 1970's. Full review...
The Parable Book by Per Olov Enquist and Deborah Bragan-Turner (translator)
It's not only springtime when a man's fancies turn to thoughts of love – he can also do it in the autumn of his life, as does the man involved here. But being a well-known author, and being beholden to silence, can he really put his thoughts on paper? It happened a long time ago, and he only met the woman concerned a couple of times, but with it being such a powerful event and such a slightly unusual circumstance, what should he do? It takes a notebook of his father's love poems to his mother, that he finds both incomplete and scorched, to give him the green light – the voice from the past that says to him, 'go for it'. And what we read here is a result. Full review...
The OMG Blog by Karen McCombie
In the first weeks of term at a new secondary school four good girls find themselves thrown together in detention. From this inauspicious beginning a firm friendship develops as the girls, encouraged by their teacher to enter a blogging competition, find that they do have one very important thing in common…their embarrassing mums. The Our Mums Grrr blog is born! Full review...
Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz
Bond is back, this time authored by international best-selling author Anthony Horowitz. It all begins with a seemingly simple mission (at least for Bond). After a few days training, James heads to Germany to race in the European championship at Nürburgring where he plans to stop the Russians using dirty tricks to secure victory. However, we're not surprised that Bond soon uncovers a much bigger and more serious plot: a scheme by Korean Sin Jai-Seong (otherwise known as Jason Sin) and SMERSH (a top-secret department of the Russian government) to undermine the American space programme whilst simultaneously murdering millions of New Yorkers and toppling the Empire State Building. As the clock ticks down, only Bond and CIA field-agent, Jeopardy Lane, can stop it. But are they already too late? Full review...
Sir Henry Neville Was Shakespeare: The Evidence by John Casson and William D Rubinstein
Debunking the Bard of Avon on the grounds that he did not write the plays attributed to him is nothing new. This scholarly work, based on several years' research and new evidence, is by no means the first to suggest otherwise, and provides a compelling argument as to who really was the author. Full review...
This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell
Maggie O'Farrell's globe-trotting seventh novel opens in 2010 with Daniel Sullivan, an American linguistics professor. He lives with his wife Claudette, a French actress who retreated from the limelight, and their two children in a remote home in Donegal. It was 10 years ago that he first came here and met Claudette by chance when her van had a flat tire; he struck up a conversation with her son Ari and gave the boy tips for dealing with his stutter. Now, preparing to fly back to Brooklyn for his father's ninetieth birthday party, he's caught short by a long-lost voice he hears on the radio. It belongs to Nicola Janks, a former lover he last saw 24 years ago; when he learns that she died soon after they were together, he determines to figure out whether he played a role, even if he doesn't like what he finds. Full review...
The Fifth Gospel by Ian Caldwell
Conspiracy thrillers are many and varied. They often promise a lot but leave you feeling frustrated and disappointed. The Fifth Gospel is the rare exception. In a genre filled with mediocrity it soars above the competition. The care and quality that Ian Caldwell brings to his writing is exceptional and his storytelling is gifted. Set in the heart of the Vatican, he weaves a tale around the discovery of a missing gospel. The religious and political intrigues, handled with great subtlety, are twisted into a complex narrative full of intimate details. Full review...
These Days of Ours by Juliet Ashton
Not everything that looks like love is love'. Kate and Charlie were childhood sweethearts, so what went wrong? How has he ended up marrying her wayward cousin and Kate marrying her wayward cousin's pretentious ex-boyfriend? How can they still be four friends? Follow Kate through her life where she experiences all kinds of love in all kinds of places and learns that not everything that looks like love is love, but that just sometimes what looks like love might be the real deal. Full review...
Darkmouth: Chaos Descends by Shane Hegarty
Poor Finn just never gets a break. Like it or not he's a trainee Legend Hunter – which sounds quite jolly until you realise he doesn't spend his life in a nice quiet library looking up fairy tales from the distant past. Quite the opposite: Legends are the most vicious, bloodthirsty monsters you can imagine, and his village in Ireland just happens to be the place they use as a portal on their frequent attempts to conquer Earth. Full review...
Sea Journal by Lisa Woollett
Over the course of a year Lisa Woollett invites us to go with her on her visits to various beaches in the British Isles, although 'visits' might make what happens sound a little too formal. Woollett knows her local beaches, and some further afield, in much the same way that a gardener knows their own plot. She's aware of minute changes, how the phase of the moon will affect the tide, what she can expect to find in the strandline and where it's come from. She delights in every variation of the weather and she's a mine of wonderful information from ancient myths to up-to-the-minute science. Full review...
Daughter of the Wolf by Victoria Whitworth
We're in the Dark Ages in an England ruled by rival Kings served by Lords. One of the lords is Radmer of Donmouth, the King's Wolf, guardian of the estuary gateway to Northumbria. When the king sends Radmer on a mission to Rome, Donmouth is left in the safekeeping of his only daughter, Elfrun, whose formidable grandmother wants her to take the veil, while treacherous Tilmon of Illingham covets her for his son. This is the story of daughters in a man's world: Wynn, determined to take over from her father, the smith, Saethryth, wilful daughter of the village steward, whose longing for passion will set off a tragic sequence of events and Auli, whose merchant venturer father plies his trade up and down the coast, spying for the Danes. Above all, it is the story of Elfrun of Donmouth, uncertain of her father's fate and not knowing whom she can trust, or love… Full review...
The Ancient Egyptians by Imogen Greenberg and Isabel Greenberg
There was more to the Ancient Egyptians than keeping the entrails of their dead in a jar, but that is a pretty cool fact anyway. As a civilisation they knocked around for centuries until Cleopatra had a nasty incident with an Asp. Cramming all the information on one of the most complex and intriguing peoples of all time is a big ask; making it assessable to children is even bigger. Imogen Greenberg and Isabel Greenberg have attempted this in The Ancient Egyptians. Full review...
Six Tudor Queens: Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: Six Tudor Queens 1 by Alison Weir
1501: A ship comes into port on the English coast with an important passenger. The Spanish Infanta Catalina steps ashore to become the wife of King Henry VII's heir, Prince Arthur and produce future heirs for the English crown. That's the plan but that's not how the story actually goes, on any level. For Catalina will be more famous as Katherine of Aragon, wife of Arthur's brother, Henry VIII. As for producing heirs… Full review...
Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Steve and Jocelyn had moved to Black Spring before their boys were born. Now Tyler and Matt are teenagers and none of them could consider living anywhere else. Would this be due to the beautiful surroundings or the closeness of the small town's camaraderie? No, it has more to do with a 17th century witch's curse. The same witch who still moves around the town, spying on the good folk – and the bad - from within their homes. They've come to an understanding with her over the years, but now the young people want to experiment and nothing will be the same again. Full review...
Different Class by Joanne Harris
St Oswald's Grammar School For Boys is in crisis. A murdered schoolboy, a procession of new Head Masters, a(nother) new Head Master, a Crisis Intervention Team and a potential merger with St Oswald's all female counterpart, Mulberry House. Roy Straitley is not altogether dismayed at the prospect of delaying his retirement; St Oswald's has been his life, man and boy and a crisis is a crisis after all is said and done, isn't it? It's probably his duty to stay and right the ship. So when the latest of the new Head Masters and his duo of crisis managers walk into the staff room, Straitley can't quite believe his old eyes. The new Head is an ex-pupil of St Oswald's; a boy who, in his time at the esteemed old School caused such an uproarious scandal that one of the Masters ended up in prison! Full review...
The Hanging Club by Tony Parsons
When the three yobbos who kick to death a young husband and father are given a perfunctory sentence, DC Wolfe finds it hard to hold his true feelings in check. Confounded by the injustice of the British Courts and legal system, DC Wolfe spends a good while soul searching and wondering why he invests so much of his life in fighting crime, finding murderers and bringing them to justice when the integrity of the criminal justice system is so sorely lacking. Luckily for DC Wolfe he has his bright and funny daughter Scout to keep him from looking too hard into the darkness that DC Wolfe knows lives inside every dutiful cop; until the videos start being posted on the internet. Full review...
The Case of the Missing Bronte by Robert Barnard
Superintendent Perry Trethowan was returning to London from Northumberland with his family when their car broke down in the Yorkshire Dales and they were stranded in a small village for the night. When they had a drink in the local pub they were joined by a local resident, Miss Edith Wing, who had what might be an extraordinary document in her possession. Could this be a lost Bronte novel? The provenance of the manuscript suggested that it could well be genuine, but was it - and Miss wing - the real thing or was it a very clever forgery? Perry suggested visiting a local expert for an opinion and in doing so sends Miss wing into mortal danger. Full review...
Dodgers by Bill Beverly
Judging a book by its cover can mislead. It can especially mislead if you don't look closely at the cover and are just grabbed by the feel or style of the design of the thing. Being misled is not necessarily a bad thing. For reasons best left in the depths of my addled brain, the styling of Dodgers had me thinking 'noir'. I was expecting late fifties, early sixties. If I'd looked closer, I'd have seen that it is much more contemporary than that. Then again… Full review...
Orphan X (Evan Smoak) by Gregg Hurwitz
1-855-2-Nowhere is the number you can call when you're in danger. The only payment needed for a very violent but terminal solution is that you pass the number on to someone else in trouble. Evan Smoak, the man attached to the phone number, has been trained. A strategic thinker and total expert in the fields of espionage and killing, he was kidnapped as a pre-teen to take part in a covert programme. That was long ago though and now life is different. Normally everything runs like clockwork but one day that clock stops and a countdown of a different sort begins. Evan is Orphan X and Orphan X is himself in trouble. Full review...
No, Thanks! I'm Quite Happy Standing!: Marie Sharp 4 by Virginia Ironside
Retired art teacher Marie Sharp is wondering whether it's time to move house to be nearer her son Jack and grandson Gene. The wondering doesn't take up all her time though. For a start there's the new, new-age lodger Robin and, talking about men, Marie is getting on really well with her ex-husband David. This single life in which they dib into each other's worlds on a regular basis seems the perfect way forward. However not all is rosy: friend Penny's drinking too much plus a holiday in India has unexpected conclusion. Oh and there's the burglaries too. Who says that retirement is relaxing and uneventful? Full review...
The Detective and the Devil (Charles Horton 4) by Lloyd Shepherd
1855: Only a few years after the notorious Highways Murderer left his mark on London's docks, Constable Charles Horton is called back to the area. The disturbing murder of a clerk and his family bears the trademark of the serial killer but Horton's sure he's already dead; Horton saw him die. At this point the hunt for a devil incarnate begins, taking Horton and his wife Abigail to the other side of the world and the darker side of an untouchable Victorian institution: The East India Company. Full review...
