Book Reviews From The Bookbag

The Bookbag

Hello from The Bookbag, a 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. We can even direct you to help for custom book reviews! Visit www.everychildareader.org to get free writing tips and www.genecaresearchreports.com will help you get your paper written for free.

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Seven Days With You by Hugo Driscoll

General Fiction

There was little in eighteen-year-old Sean Johnson's life to give him joy. He was a farmhand in the small town of Bloxford and the highlights of his life were his daily chats with his friend Tom, helping out at the animal sanctuary and a trip to the pub on a Saturday night. The downsides were the boring job and having to live with a drunken father who seemed to have no intention of getting over the death of his wife many years earlier. But it would be the animal sanctuary which brought joy into his life in the form of Sophia Hillingdon, daughter of one of the top lawyers in the country and about to go to Oxford to study law herself. It was their love of animals which would spark their love for each other. Full review...

Time of Lies by Douglas Board

General Fiction

The Labour Party has split in two. So have the Conservatives. The smaller parties have descended into squabbling and internal strife. Brexit negotiations have trundled on in dribs and drabs, held up at every turn by a slow-moving and mostly unwilling Europe. Full review...

Star Wars: Imperial Assault Activity Book and Model (Star Wars Construction Books) by Emil Fortune and Neal Manning

Crafts

Bobby, my U-Wing model, was feeling lonely. Sure, he had a few select critters from Harry Potter on his shelf, but nothing else from his world. Luckily, now he has a companion. Unluckily, however, it's a baddy – one of the AT-ST Scout Walkers those nasty Empire people like to use to stride around and attack the good rebels. But that aside, it is a very handsome companion. Full review...

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Politics and Society

A couple of years back, Reni Eddo-Lodge got fed up with white people getting defensive every time she mentioned structural racism. Basically, the problem was this: white people were happy to admit that some people were personally racially prejudiced but very keen to point out that they themselves weren't, and even keener to downplay any suggestion that they themselves were beneficiaries of a society organised and structured in racist ways. So she wrote a blog post called Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race as a kind of sayonara from even trying to explain it. Ironically, the huge response the blog post got has seen Eddo-Lodge do a great deal of talking to white people about race since it was published and this book is the culmination of it. In it, she summarises the history of race relations in the UK and puts forward her central argument that overt and extreme personal prejudice is the least of the problem and not the problem in its entirety. Full review...

My Book of Birds by Geraldo Valerio

Children's Non-Fiction

I never really caught the bird-watching habit, even with the opportunity of growing up on the edge of a village in the middle of nowhere. It was in the family, too, but I resigned myself to never seeing much that was spectacular, and once you've seen one blackbird you've seen them all, was my thinking. If I'd had this book as a youngster, who knows – I may have come out of it differently, having been shown the diversity of the bird world in snippets of text, and some quite unusual illustrations… Full review...

The Hawk of the Castle: A Story of Medieval Falconry by Danna Smith and Bagram Ibatoulline

Children's Rhymes and Verse

I don't know why I was surprised by this book – I've read enough volumes for the young audiences to know that as far as subject matter is concerned, pretty much anything goes. But this is about falconry, of all things – the use of a once-wild and still pretty much free-spirited bird of prey to hunt down animals, either for the heck of it or for the pot. An attractive girl and her father get their hawk ready, and leave the castle with all the equipment in tow – bells to hear the landed bird and what it's captured, the hood to act as blinkers for it on the way there, the lure if necessary. The story concerns just one trip out, girl, father, hound – and hawk. But while that may surprise you as a subject matter of choice, it was the whole artistic approach that won me over here… Full review...

How Harry Riddles Made a Mega Amount of Money (Shoutykid, Book 5) by Simon Mayle and Nikalas Catlow

Confident Readers

There is a child who likes his school. It just takes him to be fictional for that comment to be true. Yes, while the building is way above his older sister in Harry's estimation, and while school is way below his enjoyment of playing zombie games, he likes it. He likes it enough to worry about it being forced to close when there's a heinous sum of £7,000 to be made up – but does he like anything profitable enough to make sure he can get the place saved? Full review...

Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser

Teens

Caro believes she is destined for the river. So why hasn't the river god whispered her name? How much longer must she wait for the Old Man to do it? So when pirates burn ships and her father is arrested by the port authorities, Caro volunteers to transport a secretive cargo in order to win his release. Surely now the river god will call her? But impulsive Caro may have bitten off more than she can chew: the cargo turns out to be more than she expected, and she is drawn into a life and death political struggle in a world far removed from life aboard her father's wherry...

...plus, there is an annoying and arrogant boy called Markos. What does a girl like Caro do about a boy like Markos? Full review...

The Genesis Fleet: Vanguard by Jack Campbell

Science Fiction

The human adventure continues! As humanity spreads to the stars it takes with it both the best and the worst examples of itself. The isolation and edginess of a Spaghetti Western meets hard Sci-Fi in this tale of far-flung colonies and bullying neighbours. We follow our protagonists, each failures in their own careers (crisis management, space navy, politics and marines) as they become heroes. Full review...

Mapping the Past: A Search for Five Brothers at the Edge of Empire by Charles Drazin

History

Mapping the Past is at once a personal quest into the author's family history, and an account of some of the interesting, perhaps even amazing things the Royal Engineers have achieved over the past couple of centuries. Drazin is descended from a generation of Engineers; five brothers who all served in the Army, mostly as surveyors mapping the far flung parts of the Empire. This was despite them being both Irish and Catholic. He uncovers their pasts, the many things they undertook and how it affected them in the end. It's a story that's uplifting and extremely sad, as the First World War and the Easter Rising in 1916 seem to mark a true watershed for his family. Full review...

The Irregular: A Different Class of Spy by H B Lyle

Crime (Historical)

London 1909: Revolution is spreading throughout Russia and Europe. Meanwhile Britain, a land growing accustomed to peace, is becoming a magnet for spies and disruption. Vernon Kell, Head of War Office Counter-Intelligence, knows that the country's equilibrium depends on the discovery and disposal of the growing number of foreign spy networks. Unfortunately his masters in government can't see what he can and Kell's own agents are being killed off too fast for him to collect evidence. That's when he meets Wiggins. This is a man with a superlative background: trained by Sherlock Holmes and, years back, a star of Holmes' child Irregulars. Now Kell is getting somewhere… Let battle commence! Full review...

Dunstan: One Man Will Change the Fate of England by Conn Iggulden

Historical Fiction

The young Dunstan shows no sign of the sainthood he'll later attain. Son of a Wessex thane and sent to a monastery for education, this isn't a lad who responds to discipline. However an enquiring, intelligent mind begins to emerge and then comes the big break. Lady Elflaed calls to put a proposal to him after hearing about what she considers to be a miracle and the monks consider another in a long line of excuses. Yet Dunstan will outshine all his teachers as well as knowing seven kings and holding responsible positions in their courts, as the book's title suggests. Whether we believe in the miracles or not, Dunstan certainly had quite a life! Full review...

Errant Blood (Duncul Mysteries) by C F Peterson

Crime

When Eamon Ansgar's father passes away, he makes the decision to return to his home in the Scottish Highlands to take over control of his family's estate. He has been gone for many years, during which time he has pursued a career in the army and survived a posting in Afghanistan. Having failed to succeed at his subsequent attempt at city life, it seems village life back in Glencul is his only option. For most people in his position, returning home to the peaceful life of lordship over a castle and village would sound like a dream come true. But Duncul Castle and the village it overlooks are both keeping secrets – a mystery lurks in the cellars of Duncul, and some of Glencul's residents would kill for it. Full review...

Me, Myself and Them by Dan Mooney

General Fiction

As witty as it is unsettling, Dan Mooney offers a story with the potential to open up public conversation around mental health and the human response to distress and trauma. Full review...

Fasting and Feasting - The Life of Visionary Food Writer Patience Gray by Adam Federman

Biography

For more than thirty years, Patience Gray--author of the celebrated cookbook Honey from a Weed--lived in a remote area of Puglia in southernmost Italy. She lived without electricity, modern plumbing, or a telephone, grew much of her own food, and gathered and ate wild plants alongside her neighbours in this economically impoverished region. She was fond of saying that she wrote only for herself and her friends, yet her growing reputation brought a steady stream of international visitors to her door. This simple and isolated life she chose for herself may help explain her relative obscurity when compared to the other great food writers of her time: M. F. K. Fisher, Elizabeth David, and Julia Child. So it is not surprising that when Gray died in 2005, the BBC described her as an almost forgotten culinary star. Yet her influence, particularly among chefs and other food writers, has had a lasting and profound effect on the way we view and celebrate good food and regional cuisines. Gray's prescience was unrivalled: She wrote about what today we would call the Slow Food movement--from foraging to eating locally--long before it became part of the cultural mainstream. Full review...

Lawson Lies Still in the Thames: The Extraordinary Life of Vice-Admiral Sir John Lawson by Gill Blanchard

Biography

Twice within three centuries, England was convulsed by internal armed struggle. During the Lancastrian-Yorkist hostilities, several powerful figures changed sides at least once. Two hundred years later, when the roundheads and cavaliers were at odds, it was not uncommon for some of their protagonists to do likewise. This book tells the life of one of the major Stuart era changelings, one who as the author says played a pivotal role in the death throes of the republican cause for which he fought hard over seventeen years. Full review...

Martin Luther:Renegade and Prophet by Lyndal Roper

History

Exactly five centuries ago in October 2017, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses against the sale of indulgences to the door of the All Saints' Church in Wittenberg. The ensuing maelstrom ripped the Christian church asunder and changed the course of history. But how was a provincial professor in a cassock able to set the Reformation in motion, despite papal and imperial authority being ranged against him? In a biography which was ten years in the making, Lyndal Roper strips away mythology to illuminate the facts underneath (for starters, it is highly unlikely that Luther actually nailed the ninety-five theses to the door). She provides a thoughtful analysis of the forces which drove the evangelical preacher and convincingly explains his contradictions – why, after decades of monastic observance did he marry a nun and develop a love of German beer and wine? Full review...

Hellfire by Karin Fossum

Crime

In July 2005 Inspector Konrad Sejer stood in the door of the caravan and surveyed the scene. The mother - she'd be in her thirties - and her four-year old son had both been brutally stabbed. There was blood everywhere and the only clue as to who had murdered them was a bloody footprint. But who would want to kill Bonnie Hayden and her son Simon? You see, Bonnie is one of those people whom you feel is due some luck. As a child she wanted to be a doctor, but when we go back to December 2004 she was working as a home help and dealing with some of the most difficult invalids in the area. Simon's father had left them and they were living a hand-to-mouth existence with both of them hating the fact that Simon had to be left at nursery so that Bonnie could go to work. Full review...

The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield and The Fan Brothers

For Sharing

Back in the nineteen sixties in a cottage on Stag Island in Southern Ontario, Canada there was a boy called Chris who loved playing with rockets. Actually they were made out of cardboard boxes, but they were rockets to Chris and he and his dog would play space games all day. He really didn't have time for anything else and he certainly didn't have time to sleep. Well, actually, there's a secret here: Chris was afraid of the dark and everyone knows that when it's very dark the worst sort of aliens come into the bedroom. Night after night his parents worked very hard to get him to sleep in his own bedroom and it was only the threat that if Chris didn't get into his own bed and go to sleep everyone would be too tired to go next door the following evening to watch something special on television. There was only the one television on the island, you see. Full review...

Bound: An Alex Verus Novel by Benedict Jacka

Fantasy

Warning: From the beginning this contains spoilers for past books. Alex Verus, seer, mage and former owner of a now incinerated London magic shop, is no longer under a death warrant but that doesn't mean that people don't want him dead. His only chance of survival isn't promising either: he's gone back to the place of nightmares. He and Anne are now working for his old apprentice master, Richard Drakh. Richard's reasons are never straightforward so it's a mystery as to why he's made Alex an offer he'd be killed to refuse. Unsurprisingly, Alex isn't the only one who wants to the answer either. Oh and remember Rachel? She's back and… well… shall we say she has issues? Full review...

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M McManus

Teens

'The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars?' Sign me up, please. But this YA mystery is more like a teenage Agatha Christie: it's twisty, complex, and at several points I began to wonder if the final reveal would be that everyone was the murderer. Full review...

The Bureau of Second Chances by Sheena Kalayil

General Fiction

Recently widowed, with a grown-up daughter forging her own life abroad, London-based optometrist Thomas Imbalil takes early retirement and returns to his native India. After a short period enjoying the peace of his house overlooking the Arabian Sea, he agrees to commute to the city for a few months to look after Chacko's Optical Store to help out an old friend. Thomas soon discovers that the eager young assistant Rani is running another business on the side, but he agrees to turn a blind eye and leave it to his friend to deal with on his return. However, it stirs up thoughts and doubts within Thomas and before long he's involved whether he wants to be or not. Full review...

Love Like Blood by Mark Billingham

Crime

DI Nicola Tanner's lover, Susan, was brutally murdered as she entered the hallway of their home. She'd been driving Nicola's car and it seemed obvious that this was a case of mistaken identity: Nicola was working on honour killings and was convinced that many of the cases were contracted out to the same people. Was she getting too close? Tanner wants the killers and the go-betweens, but it's not as easy as it might be as there's no obvious route to take: several faiths are involved so it's not just a case of tracking the killers down through a family's place of worship. After Susan's death Tanner is angry and wants revenge - then she's frustrated when she's taken off the honour killings cases and put on compassionate leave. She has a solution though: she calls on the services of D I Tom Thorne who - in policing terms - is everything that she isn't. Full review...

Never Say Die by Anthony Horowitz

Confident Readers

Set just five weeks after the events of Scorpia Rising, Alex Rider is living in San Francisco and attempting to adjust to life as a normal high school student. Normal, however, is not a word that we associate with this particular fifteen year old. After all, this is the boy who's completed nine successful missions for M16: the teenager who has saved the world (more than once) and effectively brought down the international criminal organisation, Scorpia. And things aren't about to change. Given everything that has happened in Alex's young life, it's not surprising that the past is about to catch up with him… Full review...

Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth

Confident Readers

Rule Number One: Don't run in front of a soldier.
Rule Number Two: Never look at a soldier.
Rule Number Three: Say as little as possible.

There are two words banned in Tibet: Dalai Lama.

Tash lives in a Tibet under the Chinese occupation that began in 1950. Chinese soldiers are a constant and oppressive feature of her life. Most of Tibet's cultural and religious traditions are severely suppressed and any act of rebellion can result in you taken away by the soldiers, never to be seen again. But there is resistance. Tash's father belongs to a secret cell that tries to get information out to the wider world. But it's dangerous. And when, one day, a man self-immolates in her village as an act of protest, the Chinese authorities crack down hard. Full review...

The Space Between The Stars by Anne Corlett

Science Fiction

Jamie Allenby wakes, alone, and realises her fever has broken. But could everyone she knows be dead? Months earlier, Jamie had left her partner Daniel, mourning the miscarriage of their baby. She'd just had to get away, so took a job on a distant planet. Then the virus hit. Jamie survived as it swept through our far-flung colonies. Now she feels desperate and isolated, until she receives a garbled message from Earth. If someone from her past is still alive – perhaps Daniel – she knows she must find a way to return. She meets others seeking Earth, and their ill-matched group will travel across space to achieve their dream. But they'll clash with survivors intent on repeating humanity's past mistakes, threatening their precious fresh start. Jamie will also get a second chance at happiness. But can she escape her troubled past, to embrace a hopeful future? Full review...

The Hopkins Conundrum by Simon Edge

General Fiction

Tim Cleverley inherits a failing pub in Wales, which he plans to rescue by enlisting an American pulp novelist to concoct an entirely fabricated mystery about Gerard Manley Hopkins, who composed The Wreck of the Deutschland nearby.

In Victorian England, Gerard Manley Hopkins lives a life full of confusion and contradiction, but discovers a calling for poetry that threatens to overrule his calling to God. And, speaking of God, Five nuns leave persecution to travel to a new world – only to find themselves in more trouble that they could ever have imagined… Full review...

My Name is not Refugee by Kate Milner

For Sharing

A child's mother tells her child that they will have to leave this town: it's not safe for them any longer. She explains what will happen. The child can pack his own bag, but he has to remember that he must only take what he can carry. Initially it will be exciting and they can't live in a place where there's no water in the taps and the rubbish just piles up in the streets. It's going to be an adventure, but sometimes they're going to be on their own and it will get a bit boring, but sometimes they'll be with other people and he must remember to hold on to an adult's hand. They'll see lots of cars and lorries and sleep in some strange places. They'll hear people speaking in strange languages and taste new foods. Eventually they'll get to somewhere where they are safe and can unpack. The strange words will start to make sense.

He'll be called Refugee, but he has to remember that Refugee is not his name. Full review...