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.

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	The Day of the Orphan by Dr Nat Tanoh General Fiction Saga is eighteen and, like many eighteen-year olds, his prime concerns are listening to what his mum calls hop-hip, eating copious amounts of food, and learning about girls. Living in an affluent, liberal and protected suburb, he has a good life. However, the suburb is in Africa, where childhoods can be snatched in an instant. When his friends and family are dragged into the conflict raging around the dictatorship that Saga lives under, he is forced to become an unlikely revolutionary. Can chubby Saga really stand up to a murderous regime? And can he stay one step ahead of the soldiers desperate to stop him? Full Review
	The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle Confident Readers Fionn is off to spend some time with his grandfather on the island of Arranmore. His older sister Tara is going with him. Tara is well into adolescence and she can be quite dismissive of her rather green younger brother. The siblings need some time away because their mother isn't coping well with the death of their father and needs time alone to get better. Grandfather is a strange, eccentric old man who lives in a tiny cottage full of candles. He has a crabby but wicked sense of humour and sometimes has trouble keeping hold of his memories. But he makes the candles dance and his eyes contain depths that hold the secret of the seas. Full Review
	The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai LGBT Fiction The Great Believers follows a group of friends whose lives are devastated by the AIDS crisis in Chicago during the late 1980’s. Beginning in 1985, the reader follows Yale and his friends as they come to terms with the increasingly virulent illness spreading throughout their community, alongside their demonisation at the hands of a conservative America. Thirty years later Fiona, a devoted friend to Yale, is searching for her estranged daughter on the streets of Paris, trying to rebuild a relationship beset by memories and old hurt. Full Review
	The Boy Who Hit Play by Chloe Daykin Confident Readers Elvis Crampton Lucas was found, as a baby, on a bench at the zoo. He knows little else about himself, other than that's where his father found him one day and he took him home and named him after the first three vinyl records he took down from the shelf! Elvis' life has been a happy one, but as his twelfth birthday comes around he finds himself suddenly wanting to know, and needing to know, the truth about who left him on the bench and why. Elvis' quest takes him far away, to a new country, facing challenges he'd never imagined in his desire to know the truth. Full Review
	Russian Roulette by Sara Sheridan Crime (Historical) It makes a pleasant change to have a female detective who isn't a slightly eccentric grandma, a world-weary cop with as many hang-ups, bad habits and family traumas as her male colleagues, or a slick, skinny, sharp-shooting type who lives in a loft and works out in the gym after work, boxing with (and trouncing) every big burly bloke they can throw at her. Mirabelle may have somehow got herself involved in crime-fighting, with all the requisite tropes of climbing through unguarded windows, contacts who are not one hundred per cent on the right side of the law, and a refusal to faint at the sight of blood, but she is, as everyone around her will attest, first and foremost a lady. Indeed, the first encounter we have with her in this, the sixth book in this excellent series, sees her giving a police superintendent an icy stare for his lack of manners. No matter what the life-and-death crisis, there's no reason not to be polite, is there? Full Review
	Even The Dead Will Bleed: Book 3 of Tell Me When I'm Dead by Steven Ramirez Horror In the third and final part of the Tell Me When I'm Dead series, Dave Pulaski is headed to Los Angeles – seeking revenge and retribution. With the events of book two still weighing heavily on Dave, he struggles against the rage burning inside him and saves Sasha – a young escapee from the secret testing facility. As events come to a climax, and Dave finds himself pursued by both an ex-military sociopath and a group of scientifically engineered humans who flay their victims alive, the stakes are higher than ever before – will Dave make it out of this alive? And what kind of world will he have left? Full Review
	Dead Is All You Get: Book Two of Tell Me When I'm Dead by Steven Ramirez Horror, Thrillers Still battling the zombie hordes who first appeared in Tell Me When I'm Dead, Dave Pulaski thinks his prayers have been answered when the Black Dragon Security team show up to rescue him and his wife Holly. But things only get worse – with the virus mutating, and the infected getting smarter. When Dave discovers the truth behind the contagion it will drive him past all limits of faith or reason – but will he able to manage dealing with this knowledge whilst protecting Holly and those closest to him? Full Review
	Tell Me When I'm Dead: Book One of Tell Me When I'm Dead by Steven Ramirez Horror A recovering alcoholic, Dave Pulaski has had a long road to recovery, but finally feels like he's getting his life back. Then - a plague hits the town, turning the majority of the population into flesh-hungry monsters who crave the taste of humans. Fighting to survive - Dave's urge to hide away and drink is strong - will he fight to live when the chances of survival are so slim? With the hordes of the undead growing and the security forces outnumbered, it seems that hell has arrived for Dave... Full Review
	The Gilded Ones by Brooke Fieldhouse Crime, Literary Fiction It was a hot day in 1984 and Pulse had two job interviews for the day, but the heat wasn't the only reason why he wasn't feeling on top form. He'd had a disturbing dream the night before. He'd been following a Porsche on a difficult route, probably somewhere in the Alps when the Porsche went off the road. The passenger, a man, was dead, but the woman was still alive. I'm Freia..., she said. It's spelled the German way. Of the two job interviews, the first was with an up-and-coming design studio in Brighton and it would almost certainly be good for Pulse's career. The second was with a run-down practice based in an old London house and headed by Patrick Lloyd-Lewis, whose wife, Freia, had recently died in unexplained circumstances. The link with the dream of the night before was too much for Pulse to refuse the offer of a job. He couldn't resist the lure of the mystery. Full Review
	Speaking Up by Allyson Jule Popular Science 'Speaking Up' has a fascinating subject matter - how language reflects and shapes our notions of gender. It looks at our use of language in media, education, religion, the workplace and personal relationships. Author Allyson Jule calls on an encyclopedic body of research from the mid twentieth century to the present day. Reading it, we feel that she has studied everything that has ever been said on gendered linguistics; she references Foucault and the Kardashians with equal rigour. Full Review
	You Were Made for This by Michelle Sacks Thrillers I'm not really sure what to say about this book. It was a really good psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns but unfortunately it just wasn't really my cup of tea. Full Review
	G Engleheart Pinxit 1805: A year in the life of George Engleheart by John Webley Art, History George Engleheart was one of the leading portrait miniaturists of Georgian London, with a career lasting from the 1770s to the Regency era. He was also one of the most prolific, painting nearly 5,000 miniatures altogether (over twenty of them being of King George III). Throughout most of that time he carefully recorded the names of each of his clients, and subsequently transcribed them into what is referred to as his fee book. Full Review
	The Mapmakers' Race by Eirlys Hunter Confident Readers It's easily done. You nip off to fill everyone's water bottles, and your mum starts to fret in case you don't make it back before the train leaves. Mum gets off to find you, you make it back in good time but she doesn't, and hey presto, four children and a parrot disappearing into the unknown with no money, no home and not a parent in sight. Full Review
	The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware Thrillers I've only just got into psychological thrillers so, despite being an international best-seller, author Ruth Ware has passed me by until now. But, I can see why she's much acclaimed as I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to get started on her previous three books now. Full Review
	The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue Russia's Imperial Family by Helen Rappaport History The basic facts about the deaths of Nicholas and Alexandra, some of which were deliberately obscured at the time for various reasons, have long since been established. For the last few months of their lives in Russia the former Tsar and Tsarina, their children and few remaining servants, were held in increasingly squalid, humiliating captivity. To prevent them from being rescued, in July 1918 the revolutionary regime had them all shot and bayoneted to death in circumstances which, once the news was confirmed beyond all doubt, horrified their relatives in Europe. Full Review
	Take Me In by Sabine Durrant Thrillers It's not pleasant, the first time Marcus and Tessa meet Dave. They've taken their toddler, Josh, to Greece on holiday and in the blink of an eye something awful happens. Tessa isn't there, Marcus isn't looking, but Dave steps in and disaster is averted. Just. They're grateful to him, of course they are, but after the usual hand shakes and weeping hugs and the offer to buy lunch for everyone, they're a little relieved to return to their villa and live out the rest of their week in peace. Just a tight little 3-person family unit. Because although Dave is a nice chap, and although of course they owe him a great deal, he is a little, well, intense. Full Review
	Go Ask Fannie Farmer by Elisabeth Hyde General Fiction Eighty-one-year-old Murray Blaire hoped for the best when he waited for his three children to arrive one Friday night. He might be a retired lawyer, a state legislator, elected congressman and now an amateur farmer but he knew that there could be trouble when Ruth and George arrived. Ruth, a corporate lawyer, would find fault and want to talk about him going into a retirement home. George, a nurse, would argue and Lizzie, a professor of English Literature, who lived locally and kept and visited him regularly, would be unpredictable. Murray hoped that all would go smoothly, but that simply wasn't going to happen. Full Review
	Riddle of the Runes by Janina Ramirez Confident Readers The name Janina Ramirez is well known: her television programmes on cultural history, especially of early medieval times, are both lively and informative. She shares her extensive learning with a light hand (and a frequent giggle) and her enthusiasm encourages students and viewers alike to explore further the subjects she discusses. But how will that translate into children's fiction? Will her academic desire for accuracy make the story dull and fact-packed? Will she hold up the action to display her considerable knowledge? Nope, not a bit of it! Full Review
	The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French Fantasy The Grey Bastards is an absolute triumph! Fantasy, action and adventure cleverly wrapped around a super plot and well written characters, this book is so much fun. A word of caution though, this is not suitable for all readers. As the tittle suggests there is a lot of bad language, a LOT of bad language, thrown around all the time in general speech. In addition to this there is also some sex and sexual language too, there is some violence but this is not actually very explicit and not as constant as the language and bawdy jokes. If this bothers you then this is not the book for you. For anyone who doesn't mind then this is an absolute must read. Full Review