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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The Songs of Manolo Escobar by Carlos Alba
Antonio is the second-born son to Spanish parents, living in Glasgow. He's embarrassed to be anything other than Scottish, and he tries everything to hide his family background from friends at school, refusing to speak Spanish with his parents and struggling to forge his own identity in life. In his middle age, he suddenly finds his life falling apart around him as his marriage begins to fail and his increasingly frail father becomes obsessed with the proper burial of his parents back in Spain. Antonio continues to play a rather emotionally distant part in his parents' lives, but then finds himself drawn further and further into the truth about his father's past which, ultimately, leads him to question his own past and the path his future might take. Full review...
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard
Skip is a runaway. Shipped around from one foster family to another, he finally plans an escape. Ending up homeless on the streets, he befriends an elderly homeless man called Billy. Just as Skip seems to be finding an unusual kind of stability in his life the city he lives in is suddenly bombed, and overnight his life changes again. Billy and Skip find themselves responsible for three more people: Max, Tia and the baby. Soon they're running away again, but this time to try to save their lives. Full review...
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages by Tom Holt
Imagine a world where pigs can do quantum mechanics, and where female solicitors turn into chickens. Add a dry cleaner that moves (literally, from the roof tiles to the basement) from town to town every forty-eight hours, a couple of medieval knights who've fought every day for centuries, and a magical ring (or pencil sharpener, depending on the mood it's in). Stir in a bit of property developing, a thaumaturgical detective and an old man who lives in a cloud. Result? You haven't even begun to probe the depths of this crazy, absurd, complex and hilarious book. Full review...
The Rage by Gene Kerrigan
DS Bob Tidey has been round the block a few times. He's middle-aged, has a less-than-perfect home life, but on the upside, he loves his job - especially court work and court appearances. Bob Tidey felt at home here. He's going to have his hands full shortly. Enter Vincent, the other main character. Fresh out of an Irish prison, he's strutting all over the place. You could say he's looking for trouble. Fed up with small-beer crimes, he wants to land a big one. A big one with big rewards and then he can put his feet up. Full review...
Drowning Rose by Marika Cobbold
We meet Eliza, the main character, many years after the terrible 'event'. Eliza is a grown woman now and has a fulfilling job at the V & A Museum in London. It's a far cry from her childhood in the peaceful countryside of her native Sweden but she seems happy enough. And in amidst the cheerful, jostling, Christmas crowds of the capital and its infectious atmosphere, she receives a rather worrying phone call, totally out of the blue. It stuns her, she has to catch her breath a little and it takes her back around twenty five years to that fateful day. And now Eliza is a bag of nerves. She'd tried so hard to cope, to keep the past firmly in the past but she hasn't been entirely successful. Full review...
Daily Mail Tax Guide 2011/2012 by Jane Vass
H M Revenue and Customs is now bigger than ever – it's taken on more work – but at the same time it's having to shed staff, many of them being the ones with experience and inevitably something will have to give. In the light of this the author rightly concludes that it's now more important than ever to keep a close eye on your tax affairs. Don't assume for example that your PAYE coding is correct. Full review...
Six Words and a Wish by Karen McCombie
Jem has a dad who's a clown, a best friend who's a hypochondriac, a house where it's always Christmas, and a sister who's missing – or is she? Gracie left home after something Jem said, and the younger girl has always wondered whether she's to blame for her big sister's disappearance. When her mother receives a present from Gracie on her birthday, she thinks she might finally be able to ask her. As well as hoping her sister returns, Jem also tries to form a band, helps her dad do his clown shows, and may even have found a cute boy she likes… Full review...
Elmer's Special Day by David McKee
My daughter has grown up loving the Elmer the Elephant stories and even though she is now six, he still remains one of her firm favourites. His brightly coloured patchwork skin, along with his wise words and thoughts, is particularly appealing. In 'Elmer's Special Day', all of the elephants become as bright and colourful as Elmer, as this is their one opportunity to paint and decorate themselves as brightly as him. They do become rather noisy and excitable though which causes some of the other jungle animals to complain. Elmer is both wise and resourceful though and soon realises that the way to keep all of the animals happy is to invite them all to join in. He does this and the outcome is truly colourful with lions, monkeys, giraffes, as well as elephants and many more animals, all uniquely decorated and wearing elephant masks. All except one elephant that is. Because this is the day when all of the other animals can shine, Elmer goes and rolls in elephant coloured berry mud until he is the one that looks like an ordinary elephant. At that moment the parade begins and it is truly enjoyable and spectacular. Full review...
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Anders Eckman is dead. The news has been delivered in the form an aerogram – remember those blue paper-cum-envelope things we used to use to write to foreign pen-pals when the notion of befriending a person you'd never met in a foreign country still seemed exotic?
This flimsy piece of paper was delivered to Eckman's employers. After all it was them that had sent him down to the Brazilian Amazon to find the enigmatic and evasive Dr Annik Swenson, and more precisely find out exactly how she was getting on with developing the drug that was costing the firm so much of their research budget. Full review...
Killing Honour by Bali Rai
Sat comes from a prosperous Sikh family in Leicester. His mother spends a lot of time at the gurdwara but his father and brother don't and are not above breaking parts of the Sikh code - they both eat meat and drink alcohol. Overall, though, Sat's family is a traditional one and so when his parents hear a rumour that his sister Jas has a boyfriend at college, they withdraw her and arrange a marriage to Taz Atwal, a wealthy local businessman. Full review...
John Shakespeare: Prince by Rory Clements
This is the third in the excellent Elizabethan murder mystery series, featuring John Shakespeare, brother of Will. An inexplicable murder is linked to a much deeper plot of political dimensions, leading Shakespeare into danger and tragedy. A series of bombings, which appear to be targeting the immigrant population causes huge unrest and fear, and leads to the uncovering of further political dimensions. Full review...
Let Not The Waves of the Sea by Simon Stephenson
The book opens after the catastrophic event and the narrator/author Simon is in the local area of Phi Phi. He describes it in glowing terms (which may sound a little strange) as he aims, on a rather arduous climb, to be rewarded with a stunning view. And immediately I'm struck with Stephenson's lilting style of writing. For example, ' ... an elderly lady carrying bags of rice over each shoulder as if they were no more than foam guesthouse pillows.' How lovely and evocative is that, I'm thinking to myself. Full review...
John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman
For part of my formative years, John Lennon was one of the four most famous people in the world. All that we have learnt about him in the thirty years or so since his death has kept his name firmly in the public eye, if not always for the best of reasons. At over 800 pages, this is one of the lengthiest biographies written about the extraordinary life and times of the former Beatle. It's also surely one of the most impartial. Full review...
The Untied Kingdom by Kate Johnson
Eve Carpenter is having a very bad day, and it is about to get worse. She comes round from a paragliding accident but everything is rather strange. Although she’s still in London, this is a city and a world she hardly recognises. There is just enough that is familiar to be totally confusing. In this world, England is a backward country with a population kept too busy fighting in a civil war to do much else. She is taken captive by a small group of soldiers who take her marching across the country with them. The leader, Major Harker, is obnoxious and scruffy, and is convinced Eve is a spy, or perhaps she is just mad. While they apparently speak the same language, they struggle to understand each other – their worlds are so different. Full review...
The Truth About Celia Frost by Paula Rawsthorne
Celia Frost has always been extremely careful, never playing with other children, always wearing gloves and long sleeves, and never getting into unwanted confrontations. For she knows from her mother that the rare disorder that she suffers from, which is not unlike haemophilia, will mean that just a small cut, a seemingly insignificant graze, can leave her bleeding uncontrollably until she dies. However, one day Celia snaps. When she humiliates a bully, the boy gets his revenge and with a small flick of a knife starts a cut that will kill her. Full review...
The Long Road Home: The Aftermath of the Second World War by Ben Shephard
In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War Europe was in tatters, and millions of its citizens were stranded far from home. How to cope with these Displaced Persons was one of the biggest issues of the immediate post-war period. In 'The Long Road Home' Ben Shephard tells their story. Full review...
Darkness Rising: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
Maya has lived her whole life in strange little rural town, Salmon Creek. Although 'little' means a population of less than 200 and 'rural' really does mean in the middle of nowhere, Maya is happy living where she does. Sure, she gets more contact with cougars than she does with people some days, but she's always loved nature and she's always been content at Salmon Creek. Full review...
Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon
On a stormy night, two very different Princesses save the life of a drowning man.
The first, Lenia, is a mermaid, Princess of the sea. Tired of life underwater, she dreams of her eighteenth birthday when she's allowed to spend one day in the realm of humans. Though it's stormy and dangerous, she can't resist a trip to the surface, where a boat is sinking, human men drowning all around her. When Lenia lays her eyes on one man in particular, she knows she has to save him. Carrying him to the shore, she calls out to a human girl on the cliffs to do what she cannot – to bring him to real shelter and warmth. Full review...
The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Calcutta, 1916. Lieutenant Peake sacrifices his life to save two twin babies from a terrifying and murderous demon.
Sixteen years later, the separated twins meet again. Sheere has spent her childhood moving from place to place with her grandmother - never staying still, always hypervigilant. Ben has lived in a Calcutta orphanage and has a band of friends - the Chowbar Society - who are all about to be released from care to make their way in the world. Full review...
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Conor wakes up from his nightmare at 12.07am. To. The yew tree from the churchyard has uprooted itself, transformed into a huge monster and is waiting at his window, full of threat. Conor, though, is unimpressed. Nothing could be as frightening as his nightmare. Nothing could be as frightening as his waking life, for that matter. So he snorts in contempt. But the monster shrugs off this reaction and tells Conor he must listen to three stories and then tell one of his own. And that fourth story must be The Truth. Full review...
Looking For Alaska by John Green
When Miles Halter leaves his safe, comfortable life in Florida for Culver Creek – a boarding school his father used to attend – he's looking for what French poet Francois Rabelais called the Great Perhaps. Miles thinks he's found it in Alaska Young – beautiful, flirty, sexy, but messed up Alaska. Her mood changes like the flip of a switch. She smokes and drinks too much. Miles couldn't be more in love with her. Full review...
Ophelia in Pieces by Clare Jacob
Barrister Ophelia Dormandy had been working hard – well, overworking – for the last six months and on the eve of her thirty-ninth birthday she decided that she would go home early and cook a decent meal for her husband and herself. She even decided that she would wear the red dress which Patrick liked. But when she got home Patrick and their son, Alex, were eating ice creams. He didn't seem in the least interested in dinner and then admitted that he was having an affair. Ophelia threw him out – and then began the long haul of trying to be a decent single parent in a job where the hours were long and the money uncertain. Full review...
The Children's Crusade by Elliott Hall
We back-track several years to get the low-down and history on Felix. It's interesting, very interesting. He's like some sort of American 007 but not all of his plans have been successful. Some have back-fired and he has the scars to prove it. In fact although in his prime years, Felix could be healthier and is forced to take regular medication. And throughout the story Hall tells us why that is. Chapter Two, which sees Felix in Nevada opens with the no-nonsense line I came to Las Vegas to kill a man. But who? And why? We get the answers all in Hall's good time. Full review...
Farmer Buckley's Exploding Trousers by Stephanie Pain
The history of science is filled with many miraculous discoveries. ...It's also filled with exploding trousers, self-experimentation, a coachman's leg that becomes a museum piece and gas-powered radios. Farmer Buckley's Exploding Trousers regales us with fifty odd events on the way to scientific discovery. Part popular science book, part trivia, each article is a treat to read, either as a fun-sized nugget, or when reading from cover to cover. Full review...
Castle by J Robert Lennon
In the late winter of 2006 Erich Loesch returns to Gerrysburg, NY (Pop 2310 and falling) and buys six hundred or so acres of undeveloped land on the edge of the county.
Loesch grew up in Gerrysburg, but he's been away a long time. The place hasn't changed much except through long, slow decline. There are vacant lots where he remembers homes, businesses, amenities. There are one or two people who remember him, or remember his family. They remember what happened to the family, or heard about what happened to him afterwards. Full review...
The Map of Time by Felix J Palma
Like a lot of readers I cannot resist a book with an immediate hook that draws you into the story quickly and in a seemingly effortless fashion. From the very first page of 'The Map of Time' Felix Palma had me firmly in his grasp and continued to hold me there for the entirety of the novel. Not once did I become bored or distracted as I relished every word, page and chapter of this remarkable book. Full review...
Out Of Africa by Karen Blixen
It's more than a quarter of a century since I first saw the film Out of Africa and it's one of the few that have stayed with me over the intervening years. It wasn't just the story, but the personality of Karen Blixen and the wonderful landscape of the Ngong Hills, south of Nairobi, in Kenya's Rift Valley. I remember looking for this book at the time, but being unable to find it, so the opportunity to read it now was too good to miss. Full review...
Divine Freaks by Fiona Dunbar
Unless you really love science, Mr Wesley's Biology lessons can occasionally seem a little dull. Still, a spot of boredom might have been better, in Kitty Slade's opinion, than the mean grey-faced man who turned up, began to dissect a rat, then just as suddenly disappeared again. Leaving her, of course, to explain to her mystified teacher just why she had leapt from her seat, shoved him aside and lunged at thin air. The rest of the class didn't mind: watching Kitty dash about the room screaming was way more fun than anything Mr Wesley could do. Things got a little heated after that, however, and Kitty stormed out of school, convinced she was losing her mind. Full review...
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Rachel Miller and Darcy Rhone had been friends forever. Rachel was the older by just four months, but it was Darcy who sailed through life getting everything that she wanted. Rachel might have reached her teens first, got her driving licence first and then gone on to become an attorney, but on the eve on Rachel's thirtieth birthday Darcy is the one who is having a whale of a time, with her glamorous PR job and very presentable fiancé. Rachel is very obviously still single – and then an ill-considered birthday fling puts everything in jeopardy and – to cap it all - she begins to realise that her friendship with Darcy might not have been all she thought. Full review...
Access All Areas: Selected Writings 1990-2010 by Sara Wheeler
This is a great book to acquire if your general knowledge of historical adventurers is as haphazard as mine. Somewhere along the line, I'd missed out on Scott and Shackleton, and it's very satisfying indeed to fill those gaps from such a reliable informant. One brisk section, for example, managed to encapsulate both Antartica's history and further outlook, along with sufficient atmospheric detail to ensure we mortals understood just what it feels like to sleep in Scott's hut during a wintry gale. Full review...
The Wedding Wallah by Farahad Zama
Finishing 'The Wedding Wallah' is like leaving India at the end of a short holiday with myriad impressions of foreignness. I'll remember the crowds of Mumbai, the smells of cooking in small rooms, the colours and textures of saris, the dangerous forest. This may not be the greatest literature published this year – not even the finest romantic fiction – but the sheer novelty of the Indian world portrayed makes it five stars for enjoyment in my book. I imagined Farahad Zama as a female writer beavering away in rural India. Turns out I was wrong: the author is a male investment banker in London with two books previously published in this series. Oops. Full review...
Little Princess: I Want A Party! by Tony Ross
The Little Princes is quite a famous character among young children having starred in many stories as well as her own TV series. In her latest book, 'I Want a Party!', she is set on having a do even though there is nothing to actually celebrate. And of course, if you are familiar with this series of books, you will know that what the little princess wants, she usually gets. Having brushed aside her parents' objections, she sets about writing invitations, preparing party food with the Cook, making party hats with the Prime Minister and planning games with the General. Full review...
One Hundred Names For Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing by Diane Ackerman
Diane Ackerman's husband, Paul West, had been in hospital for three weeks with a kidney infection and was just rejoicing in the fact that he was to go home the next day. As Diane watched , Paul suffered a massive stroke. The effects were catastrophic, but worst of all, the man who had been a brilliant wordsmith was robbed of his power of speech and lost his extensive vocabulary. It's eight years since this happened and the intervening years have been a constant battle to improve Paul's speech and restore some joy to his life. There have been ups – and many downs – but despite a brain scan indicating that Paul might well be a vegetable he has since his stroke written books. His vocabulary will never be back to what it was, but it remains impressive and, strangely enough, many of the words which he finds easiest to use are those which he encountered a number of years ago. Full review...
The Cure by Rachel Genn
We get the background on Eugene early on in the story; a troubled childhood with an alcoholic father who was often not at home. Instead he was working on a building site in London and drinking away much of his wages. His wife and children didn't appear to benefit much - either financially or emotionally. Eugene still bears plenty of invisible scars from that time and now grown up, would like to carve out his own path and thinks a fresh start would be a good idea. Although it's not altogether a fresh start as he chooses to work on the same construction site as his father and even lives in the same lodgings in the East End. Is this his own unique way of exorcising some ghosts? Full review...
Listening to Britain: Home Intelligence Reports on Britain's Finest Hour, May-September 1940 by Paul Addison and Jeremy A Crang
The Home Intelligence Department had been set up by the government to assess home morale by studying immediate reactions to specific events and to find out public opinion on important issues, including pacifism. One reason for this was 'to provide a basis for publicity', that is, to plan propaganda and test its effectiveness. The reports drew on various sources, including Mass Observation, a market research style Wartime Social Survey, staff listening to conversations on the way to work, and visiting pubs and other places where lots of people went and talked to each other. Full review...
Dangerous to Know by Katy Moran
Jack and Bethany are in love. But Bethany's mother thinks Jack is a bad influence. He comes from a bad family - a broken home, one brother was a drug dealer, the other smoked too much dope and ended up sectioned - and he just isn't the sort of boy Bethany's mother wants her daughter to spend time with. It's not all snobbery though - Bethany's father is terminally ill and the family has too much on its plate to be thinking of first love affairs. Says Bethany's mother. But not Bethany. Full review...
Ultraviolet by R J Anderson
Alison wakes up to find herself sectioned in a secure psychiatric unit for teenagers. Arriving home with blood on your hands and gibbering endless confessions to having killed a girl who's gone missing will do that. But there isn't any proof and Tori is still missing so both the police and Alison's doctors want to get to the bottom of what happened.
The thing is, Alison herself can't explain what happened. Full review...
The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell
When Bel Bel's foal was born she called him Thowra, which meant 'wind'. Like her he was a creamy, silver brumby. They're the wild horses of Southern Australia and Bel Bel knew that her foal would not have an easy life. As a stallion he would have to fight to keep his own herd of mares and foals but his main enemy would be man. The brumbies were regularly captured and herded away but the creamy, silver brumbies were the biggest prizes of all. 'The Silver Brumby' is Thowra's story as he matures from young foal to adult stallion. Full review...
Magus of Stonewylde by Kit Berry
Stonewylde is a mysterious self-contained community that exists in the heart of modern England but operates in isolation from the rest of the world, offering a very alternative lifestyle. Pagan culture is an intrinsic part of Stonewylde, with its various seasonal festivals, unique style of living, and most importantly its reverence of nature. Society in the community is also pretty unorthodox, being based upon an autocracy ruled by the Magus, a figure who is blessed with Earth Magic, during each of the eight seasonal festivals, that gives him the power to run Stonewylde. Full review...
Polar Bear Pirates and Their Quest to Engage the Sleepwalkers: Motivate Everyday People to Deliver Extraordinary Results by Adrian Webster
I'd like to introduce you to the polar bear pirates. They're the people who believe in life before death – the people who can deliver extraordinary results despite being just ordinary people like you and me. Well, me anyway. They're the manager who can motivate their staff to achieve those extraordinary results – even if their staff are sleepwalkers who live on planet complacency, amps or vamps. We won't mention the potholers. This is a management book like no other – you're going to laugh, cry just occasionally when you realise that you've been seen through and come away with plenty to think about. Full review...
