Book Reviews From 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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Halo by Alexandra Adornetto
When three angels – Gabriel, Ivy and Bethany – arrive in a quiet town, their mission is to bring good to a world in danger of falling into darkness. They have to conceal their true nature – hiding the glow of their skin, their wings – a task not easy for Bethany, the least experienced of the trio. She's overwhelmed by human life, fascinated by all the experiences available to her in human form. A fascination that leads to a dangerous attraction to human boy, Xavier. Falling in love was not part of the holy mission, and Gabriel and Ivy fear Bethany won't be in the position to save anybody if she continues down the path she's on. Full review...
Nothing but the Truth: Selected Dispatches by Anna Politkovskaya
Anna Politkovskaya worked for the Russian newspaper Novaya gazeta, becoming particularly famous for her critical reports on the wars in Chechnya, on Putin, on state corruption and on life in Russia under his regime. She never avoided controversy and received a number of death threats before she was murdered in October 2006. She had reason to know these were no idle threats – one of her articles here entitled 'Is Journalism Worth the Loss of a Life?' reports the attempted murder of one of her colleagues. Full review...
Grace by Morris Gleitzman
'In the beginning there was me and Mum and Dad and the twins. And talk about happy families, we were bountiful. But it came to pass that I started doing sins. And lo, that's when all our problems began.'
This is exactly how Grace talks because she lives with her family as part of a separatist fundamental Christian sect. She goes to a church school. The school bus driver is a church Elder because she mustn't talk to or touch an outsider as outsiders are unclean. She can't eat outsider food without purifying it first - even ice cream must be microwaved. She wears her unruly, curly hair in a bun and woe is upon her when wisps free themselves from her hairpins. Full review...
The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund de Waal
'The Hare with Amber Eyes' vibrates with that rush of desire to uncover family history that often follows the death of someone you love. It is also a meticulously researched book of wide ranging scope. When I first picked it up, it looked worryingly erudite, and I had visions of becoming lost in a sea of names, places and ideas. So I was amazed to find myself reading it in one sitting, completely absorbed, and losing a whole day in the process. Edmund De Waal had me hooked from the bottom of page one when he admits to kicking the gate of the Japanese language school he was attending in frustration at his lack of fluency. He then thinks sheepishly: 'what it was to be twenty-eight and kicking a school gate.' This funny, disarming comment put me on his side from the off. Full review...
Siren by Tricia Rayburn
17-year old Vanessa has always been looked after by her more adventurous, outgoing older sister Justine. So when her sister is found dead while they're on vacation in Winter Harbor, and Justine's boyfriend Caleb goes missing, she's devastated. Desperately searching for answers to Justine's demise, she returns to Harbor seeking answers, and teams up with Caleb's brother Simon to find them. Then the weather gets strange, and other bodies start turning up… can they solve the mystery? Full review...
The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman
Cale is fourteen and his life so far has not been one to envy. Brought to the Redeemers' Sanctuary as just a toddler, he's lived within its militant religious fanaticism for all the years he can remember. Beaten, brutalised and half-starved, Cale and his fellow acolytes are being raised to fight an ongoing and bloody war against heretics. Cale is of special interest to Bosco, a Redeemer Lord Militant, and we soon realise why. Cale is intelligent, ruthless, quick, and has the ability to kill without remorse. He is an asset. Full review...
The Kydd Inheritance by Jan Jones
Nell's Kydd's father died in a hunting accident and her brother, Kit was uncontactable, seemingly lost, on his way back from India. This left her uncle, Jasper Kydd in charge of the family estate and he appeared to be doing all in his power to wreck Kydd Court and make Nell's life a misery. Her mother coped with it all by retreating into her own world, where she couldn't be reached either. When an unwelcome offer of marriage is forced upon her, Nell knows that she has to take action and that's when the very unsettling Captain Hugo Derringer arrives. He's an old friend of Kitt's, but what exactly is he doing in the area and can Nell trust him? Full review...
Wreckers by Julie Hearn
The story of Pandora, whose actions are the cause of all the ills in our world, is well-known. As Julie Hearn has one of her characters say, men remember it because they feel better if they can blame her, and that other female villain, Eve, for all their woes and crimes. But supposing Hope wasn't the last thing in that plain wooden box? What if something else, something slow and ugly and steeped in evil, skulked in the shadows right at the bottom? And what if someone today lifted the lid, as Pandora did, and allowed that last, terrible evil to escape? Full review...
Troika by Colin Pascoe
At the beginning of his story he had been what he called 'a normal person', married with a job in a care home. One day when he was out with his dog he walked into an area of absolute quiet, which then went black and all feeling left his body. It would be a month before he returned home and unsurprisingly, everything had changed. But it wasn't just the loss of his job and his wife's disbelief of his explanation for his absence that was different. He had changed too. He had knowledge that would prove to be dangerous. Full review...
The Temptress: The Scandalous Life of Alice, Countess de Janze by Paul Spicer
Happy Valley in Kenya was an idyllic setting. The high altitude made for a benign climate and the farms were owned by colonial settlers who became the 'White Mischief' set of the nineteen forties. They farmed their estates, partied the night away and extra-marital affairs were the norm. Author Paul Spicer's mother was loosely involved with the set and he uses the connection to good effect to tell the story of the life of Alice, Countess de Janzé – a beguiling and volatile woman who always thought more of her animals than of her children. Full review...
The House of Rajani by Alon Hilu
The House of Rajani is set in Jaffa, Palestine in 1895-96. The narrative alternates between the two main characters, both telling their stories in the first person. Luminsky and his wife travel from Europe to Jaffa to start a new life there. Luminsky has studied agronomy in preparation for his new life, and he and his wife have both been involved in the Zionist movement promoting an ideal of the Jewish people returning to their homeland. He is looking forward to putting his studies to good use, but is soon disappointed when he arrives by both the quality of the land occupied by Jewish colonists and their work ethic. Far from the ideal of self-sufficiency, they are buying fruit, grain and vegetables from the Palestinians. He is also frustrated by his wife’s lack of interest in having sex with him. Full review...
The Clumsies Make A Mess of the Big Show by Sorrel Anderson
This is the third book about The Clumsies, two small mice who live in Howard Armitage's office, and manage, whatever the situation, to make a mess! A big show is being put on at work, and Howard's boss wants Howard to sing. The Clumsies decide to intervene, in order to help out Howard, and chaos ensues... Full review...
Little Liberia: An African Odyssey in New York City by Jonny Steinberg
South African Steinberg has won awards with previous non-fiction books and after reading the praise from various sources (New York Times, J M Coetzee) I came to the conclusion that I was in for a serious and thought-provoking read.
The preface tells us that the two Liberian men - Rufus and the younger Jacob left Liberian soil in vastly different circumstances and for different reasons. But as they meet up years later and thousands of miles away from their homeland, their Little Liberia in New York City has a tall order: to contain and accommodate their big personalities and to a certain extent, their big egos. Can it cope? Full review...
Mouse Guard: Legends of The Guard by David Petersen
To start with, I have never heard of Mr Petersen and his Mouse Guard franchise. But I'm often up for an introduction to a fantasy cycle, and I always relish being welcomed to an author by the most esoteric, unusual, quirky and short route. My first entry to the His Dark Materials world was a collector's spin-off, and I'm just as likely to start the Twilight series, if ever, with the latest brief whimsy. And for those of a similar mind-set, this collection of tales from the pens of guest writers and illustrators, serves as an odd-shaped doorway on to this particular universe. Full review...
Wereworld: Rise of the Wolf by Curtis Jobling
Drew Ferran knows there's a monster roaming the land where his family farm – he just doesn't realise it could be inside him. Until a terrible creature attacks his beloved mother, triggering a transformation in him, and leading his father and brother to believe he’s responsible for her death. Forced to flee to the most godforsaken parts of Lyssia, Drew becomes quickly embroiled in the world of the Werelords. Can he survive? Full review...
Horrid Henry's Thank You Letter by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
I'm sure most of us have, at one time or another, found ourselves being forced to write a huge pile of thank you letters to distant relatives, perhaps even for gifts that we weren't all that excited to receive in the first place! This is the predicament that Henry finds himself in, and rather than knuckle down to get them over and done with he, of course, procrastinates as much as possible before coming up with an ingenious, money-making scheme! Full review...
Tales from Thimble Hall: Mrs Stopper's Bottle by Malcolm Fawbert
One night Evie and Jacob, who lived at Thimble Hall, asked their mother for a story about a bottle and strangely enough, she knew a rather good one which was about a small shop not far from where they lived. Full review...
The Sign of Fear by Molly Carr
Meet Mary Watson - a distant second to John Watson, who of course was a distant second to Sherlock Holmes. Fed up with staying at home while her new husband spends too much time at 221b Baker Street, or away with Holmes sleuthing, she gets to dabble her own feet in the underworld waters when a certain Professor Moriarty comes calling. Full review...
A Storm In The Blood by Jon Stephen Fink
A Storm In The Blood is based on a true story involving the police force and the government of the day trying to suppress racial tensions in early 20th century London. It has resonance for our modern times as we grapple with similar situations and problems. Full review...
Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin
Avery's parents have been murdered, they’ve been literally torn apart, and Avery saw the whole thing. But her minds blocked it out, all she remembers is seeing something inhumanly fast, flashes of silver, and blood, lots of blood. Whatever killed her parents is still out there, and is trying to kill her. Full review...
Sleights of Mind by Stephen Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde
I have a passing interest in both magic and neuroscience. Not only am I quite the hit with the ladies, but I was also very keen to read Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About Our Brains. Husband and wife team Stephen Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde work at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona, and as a way of promoting their field of visual neuroscience, developed the Illusion of the Year contest. From this, they slipped into the world of magic, investigating, discussing and researching the neuroscience of magic with James Randi, Mac King, Teller (of Penn and...) and Johnny Thompson. Full review...
The Traitor's Smile (Pimpernelles) by Patricia Elliott
Usual spoiler warning for Pimpernelles book one, The Pale Assassin: at the end of that book, heroine Eugenie and love interest Julien had escaped the French Revolution but been forced to leave behind Eugenie's brother Armand to face the wrath of the government over the failed attempt to rescue the King. Eugenie is being followed by Guy Deschamps, who she still trusts, despite Julien's duel with him at the end of the first book, not knowing that he's working for the Pale Assassin himself Raoul Goullet. Full review...
The Neon Court by Kate Griffin
Matthew Swift, the Midnight Mayor ostensibly in charge of things magical about and within London, is in trouble. He wakes from a summons in a burning tower block, with an associate he'd rather not be with. In their escape a person dies. Only this death is set to cause out-and-out war between two legendary magical clans, the Neon Court and the Tribe. How can Swift be diplomatic enough for both sides? How can he resolve the matter without some form of guilt? And how can he find the time, when something has peppered London with cryptic 'Bad Wolf'-style graffiti, word is out the person he woke with is a fabled Chosen One everyone will slaughter for, Swift is beset with everyone he wants to meet being blinded by his enemies, and something has forced London into perpetual night? Full review...
The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman
The Cookbook Collector is all about emotions. Concentrating on two, young, American women who are vastly different in many areas of their lives and also on their outlook on life, Goodman digs deeper to find out what makes them tick - what makes them get up in the morning. Full review...
Witchfinder: Gallows at Twilight by William Hussey
After turning from horror comic geek to a cloned Witchfinder and saviour of humanity in the space of a few short weeks, Jake Harker's magic is understandably depleted. Try as he might, the blue light fails to ingite in his hand. But Jake has no time for recuperation or for coming to terms with the loss of his mother. His father is dying, hexed by the evil witch Marcus Crowden. And the Demon Father is at large, summoning a universal coven that will threaten everything Jake has already fought to save. Full review...
The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe
If Night falls, all fall, so says the old legend. Oldest, first and greatest of all the Derai Houses on the Wall, the house of Night is proud of its role as holders of the Keep of the Winds, primary defence on the Shield Wall of Night – a range of mountains that separates the lands of the original inhabitants of the planet the Derai know as Haarth from the regions of the Dark Swarm that threaten Derai and Haarth-folk alike. Full review...
Diaries Volume 1 by Christopher Isherwood
In January 1939 Christopher Isherwood left England for America in the company of poet WH Auden. This hefty volume covers his diaries from that date until August 1960, when he celebrated his fifty-sixth birthday. A 49-page introduction setting out the background leads us into the entries, which are divided into three sections – The Emigration, to the end of 1944; The Post-war Years, to 1956; and The Late Fifties. After these we have a chronology and glossary, or to put it more accurately a section of brief biographies of the main characters mentioned, these two sections comprising over a hundred pages altogether. Full review...
The Vernham Chronicles by John Saunders
Set amidst the rolling British countryside around Vernbury Vale is the little village of Vernham. Anyone who lives in a village will recognise it immediately, with its cobbled streets and Tudor buildings. There was some damage during the war (which might, or might not have been down to a lighthouse folly constructed by a local landowner on his lake) but the gaps have been filled with some beautiful, er, mock Tudor buildings. Almost unique and nearly beautiful as the village is, it's not the star of The Vernham Chronicles. The stars are the people who live in Vernham. Full review...
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
It's been fourteen years since First Night and the zombie apocalypse. Those humans who survived the disease that created the undead live in pocket communities, fenced off from the horrors of the outside world. Resources are scarce and all citizens must find a job as soon as they turn fifteen, else their rations are cut in half. Benny Imura has just turned fifteen and so he needs work badly. He tries out as a locksmith, a fence technician, a portraitist and a carpet coat salesman. Nothing works out and so Benny has no option but the last resort - an apprenticeship in the family business of zombie hunting, under the tutelage of his older brother Tom. Full review...
The de Lacy Inheritance by Elizabeth Ashworth
Set in England in 1192, the novel is full of details of life in this period, and resists the temptation to get overtly bogged down in excessive political detail, which makes this a very accessible read to those (like myself) who are not too knowledgeable about this particular historical period. Returning from the Crusades, Richard is forced to leave his family and atone for the sins which he believes has lead to him being afflicted with leprosy. Undertaking a quest to his grandmother's nearby cousin (who is childless, so grandmother wants Richard to present her case for inheriting his lands), Richard finds refuge here. This point struck me as odd - almost jarring in it's unlikelihood. Not only does Richard find help/support/refuge here (whilst remaining unknown to all except the cousin and his wife), but he's virtually welcomed with open arms. Would an itinerant leper be treated in this way? It did add a note of discord to the narrative - as if the quest for inheritance was more important that his trials as a leper. Full review...
Primeval: Extinction Event by Dan Abnett
There are rifts in time and space that allow for prehistoric animals to enter our modern world, and it's up to Professor Nick Cutter and his team to track them down and send them back. It's a manageable job, until two animals best described as "demon pigs" hit Oxford Street in London. Cutter feels his days might be easier if he had anyone to share his hush-hush scientific secrets with. Little does he know he's about to be forced to do that, and face something much worse, when his Russian counterparts come demanding help. Full review...
Beautiful Creatures by Lulu Taylor
Everyone has heard of the Beaufort twins Octavia and Flora, but few have ever seen them, and on the night of their twenty-first birthday party the girls are finally launched into society amongst a crowd anxious to see the two girls who are about to inherit a vast fortune. Octavia and Flora have been kept out of the public eye for their entire young lives by their aunt Frances after their father died and their mother seemingly abandoned them. Now that the girls have come of age Frances has no choice but to hand over the girls' vast inheritance from their father and take a step back from running their lives. Full review...
Sleeper Agent by Sean Gibbons
Zach has been in contact with aliens for some time. They've been beefing up his mental and physical abilities so that he can fulfill his destiny as the saviour of civilisation in the inevitable Vrotogore invasion. His friends don't know this, though, and so his girlfriend Cass has become his ex. She's fed up with his frequent and unexplained absences, and has taken up with Jeremy, a particularly unpleasant character with some quite revolting habits and an exceedingly aggressive manner. Then there's Hooper - a geeky genius inventor who likes a drink more than is strictly good for him. Full review...
Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor
I loved Jon McGregor's previous two novels, 'If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things' and 'So Many Ways to Begin'. They're both lyrical, poetically observed works so I was really looking forward to reading his latest book. It is, unfortunately, quite a different sort of story... Full review...
Talk to the Tail: Adventures in Cat Ownership and Beyond by Tom Cox
Are you a cat person weaned on Dewey the library cat, or Marilyn Edwards' rural tales or Doreen Tovey's precious Siamese stories? Do you enjoy cosy, slightly twee reminiscences of much loved felines? If so, look away now… 'Talk to the Tail' is that rare bird: a cat eulogy written by a man. As such it features rather more incidents involving fights, bottom washing, urine stained rugs and feline sexual exploits than your average book about cats. O.K. I'm exaggerating slightly, but reader be warned; the mad cat man is a different beast to the mad cat woman. It's less furry babies and more furry nightmares. Full review...
Not Quite White by Simon Thirsk
The story alternates between the two main characters: Welsh Gwalia (that's a she, by the way) and English Jon Bull (and you get an idea of the fun Thirsk has with his names and also characters) as the two meet up for the first time. Lots of Welsh names such as Gwenfer and Gwenlais and also lots of (mainly) unpronounceable place names including the glorious - wait for it - Llanchwaraetegdanygelyn. Thirsk has also scattered Welsh vocabulary all over the place: but many of the words are easily understood (Anti for Auntie and Yncl for Uncle etc) so you don't really have to keep referring to the comprehensive Appendix, unless you want to. Full review...
Death and the Maiden by Frank Tallis
Just to clear the confusion out of the way, this book has nothing to do with the novel of the same name by Gladys Mitchell. Both take their name from an early Schubert piece, in which Death entices the Maiden to leave the world of men. The maiden resists. It was a common enough theme at the time: the death of beauty. Full review...
Waking Up In Toytown by John Burnside
After years of alcoholism and borderline insanity, John Burnside decides to become normal. This involves moving to Surrey, working in an office and settling into a numbing daily routine he hopes will prevent him drifting back towards bad habits. These memoirs chronicle the failure of his bid for normality and subsequent disillusionment with the project. It's a solipsistic account but the writing is powerful and it draws you in. Full review...
Ghost of a Chance by Rhiannon Lassiter
Eva Chance is used to being ignored by her family, apart from her frail grandfather, who she adores. So she's barely even surprised when they don't set a place for her at a dinner party. But when nearly everyone is ignoring her she grows increasingly concerned – and that's when she realises she's dead. Can she solve the mystery of her murder before either malevolent ghosts or human criminals can do any more damage to her family, aided only by Kyra, who bullied her when she was alive, Kyra's brother Kyle, and a ghost called Maggie she may or may not be able to trust? Full review...
Equations of Life by Simon Morden
It's a book that is certainly not short of action. We are not told what the Armageddon event was, although aspects of it are hinted at. Perhaps that will become explained later in the series. What we do know is that it has wiped out Japan, and one of the first victims of the event in London appears to have been the Congestion Charge as it is now a heaving metropolis with gridlock traffic (although this and the masses of people seem to mysteriously evaporate as the story unfolds). Full review...
