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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My First Car Was Red by Peter Schossow
A young boy receives a pedal car from his grandpa, but it's old, rusty and needs work. They tinker with it, do it up, and paint it bright red. Grandpa gives the young boy instructions on how to use it, then the boy and his brother, Cornelius, go off for an adventure in the car. They careen round corners, barrage through wasp nests, duck low branches in the forest, and nearly go flying off a cliff, before crashing into a creek and pushing the car back home, exhausted. Full review...
The Conquerors by David McKee
The General rules the country, with his strong army and large cannon. The army stomps from country to country, conquering other people, until they've conquered all the countries except one. Rather than fighting back, this tiny little country treats the army as friends, welcoming them into their homes, with warmth and kindness. Full review...
Thackeray by D J Taylor
Today, William Makepeace Thackeray is remembered almost exclusively as the writer of 'Vanity Fair', considered as among the greatest novels of its time. Yet he was a prolific writer, also responsible for 'Pendennis' and 'The Newcomes', as well as several sketches, essays and much poetry. However most of his work is largely forgotten today, while as a person he remains little known, and he has been somewhat overshadowed by his better-known contemporary, old friend and rival Charles Dickens, born one year later. This biography does an excellent job in rescuing him from such semi-obscurity. Full review...
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
At a young age Sean Kendrick watches his father die violently in the Scorpio Races – a race held every year on the beaches of the island where riders compete for a huge cash prize by riding the dangerous capaill uisce, the water horses. Years later Sean is a four-time winner of the Scorpio Races with a prized mare – Corr – and plans to win again. Meanwhile, Puck (Kate) Connolly has been orphaned by the capaill uisce and struggles for every meal; their main source of income is her brother Gabe, but when he announces that he is leaving the island Puck realises that she has to fight for the survival of her family. Seeing no other option she enters her island pony into the races. The stakes are high as Sean and Puck compete against each other for the highest prize of them all – freedom. Full review...
Hannibal: Enemy of Rome by Ben Kane
Thanks to his Forgotten Legion trilogy, Ben Kane has recently bought Roman times to life in me far more than history and Latin lessons at school ever did. Having enjoyed this first trilogy, I've been eagerly awaiting his Hannibal trilogy, since he told Bookbag about it when we interviewed him. Finally, the wait is over and Hannibal: Enemy of Rome is here. Full review...
Obedience by Jacqueline Yallop
The story opens with a much younger Sister Bernard - no more than a girl really. The daily lives of the nuns is regulated, with long hours for prayer, meditation and solitude. Everyone is housed, fed and watered adequately and that's as far as it goes. No little luxuries to speak of. Nothing to temper the harshness and the silence. Visits from family members are forbidden also. However, the young Sister Bernard appears to not only be coping very well with all of this but even embracing it. She doesn't grumble or complain about anything. However, even although she may appear saintly she is human, just like the rest of us and temptation does come along in the shape of a young man. Full review...
The Perfect Murder: The First Inspector Ghote Mystery by H R F Keating
'The Perfect Murder' was the first of HRF Keating's Inspector Ghote mysteries, first published in 1964. It has a kind of gentle charm and has some things in its favour, not least the believable Indian setting when the author had not visited the country in which he chose to set his character at a time when research would have been more difficult than it would today. Full review...
Noon by Aatish Taseer
'Noon' sits somewhere between a collection of related short stories and a full blown novel in that it tells four different episodes in Rehan Tabassum's life, spread over a couple of decades. It explores some large issues though. Full review...
Radiance by Louis B Jones
Mark Perdue took his daughter, Carlotta – or Lotta, as she's known – on an indulgent fantasy weekend in Los Angeles. Lotta and some other teenagers were going to live the celebrity lifestyle for a few days, with gigs, recordings and stretch limos to ferry them around. Mark's got problems of his own. He was an eminent physicist but illness has taken its toll. His wife is still suffering the emotional effects of a late-term abortion – the family called the foetus 'Noddy' – and Lotta can't reconcile how she feels about the loss of her unborn sibling, even going as far as to say that she would have given up the next ten years of her life to look after the child. And Mark? Well, on the tarmac at LAX it dawns on him that a heart attack would be a convenient way out of everything. Full review...
Closer by Maxine Linnell
This is one of those concise and powerful little books where it's best for the reader to come to it with as little knowledge of the plot as possible, so I'll feature the mood - and Mel has a lot of those. Beyond her yet-to-actually-start relationship with Raj, and her best friend Chloe, she has her family - fractious animosity with her older sister, a younger brother who only plays computer games, and little freedom it seems from her mother. At least her step-dad's a funky bloke though - although one mum finds fault with easily enough. It's hardly comfy domesticity, and is even worse when interrupted by something very disturbing. Full review...
The Watchers by Jon Steele
At over 500 pages I'm sincerely hoping that this book is going to appeal. The back cover blurb is promising, informing the reader that the author is a well-travelled cameraman/editor of many years standing. The story opens with a young Marc Rochat starting a new life in Switzerland. Everything is strange and new to him. He becomes a night-watchman at the local cathedral and carries out his duties diligently. He doesn't mind the fact that it's a rather solitary job as he more than makes up for the silence (when the bells are not ringing that is) by chatting away to all of the various bells as if they were human. Marc's conversations with his 'ladies' are utterly charming. I could listen to them all day. Full review...
King Arthur and a World of Other Stories by Geraldine McCaughrean
The prolific, award winning author Geraldine McCaughrean has collected together twenty four stories from around the world in this highly impressive collection, garnered from four earlier collections. It includes the familiar from the Western tradition (Wilhelm Tell, Pygmalion, King Arthur) to those that are completely new to me, from Bolivia, Togo, Japan, the Middle East. The stories are no more than five pages long, making them ideal for bedtime reading (or hometime reading in a school). Full review...
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante
This is a beautifully-presented book with its eye-catching front cover and poetic title. Jennifer has had a busy and fulfilling professional life as a well-respected medical surgeon. Until now. She's gradually losing bits of her mind to Alzheimer's. Her family is supportive and keep popping in on a regular basis plus there's now a live-in carer, Magdalena, so that daily life and daily chores are just about covered. Full review...
The Elephant's Journey by Jose Saramago and Margaret Jull Costa
This novel is inspired by a real event – the marriage gift of an elephant from Dom João III of Portugal to his cousin Maximilian, the Hapsburg Archduke of Austria. When the gift was accepted, the elephant Solomon, his mahout Subhro and numerous soldiers, oxen and porters, walked from Lisbon to Vienna to deliver the present, arriving in 1552. This is the story of that journey. Full review...
J K Rowling: the Mystery of Fiction by Lindsey Fraser
Easily one of the most renowned authors of the 21st century, J.K. Rowling's incredibly successful Harry Potter series shook the core of the literary world. It provoked a reaction, the likes of which have never been seen before, and likely never will. A unique set of factors combined in order for the Harry Potter books to reach the level of success they enjoyed, and these factors are explored in this biography of Rowling. It is difficult not to be fascinated by the person who is responsible for the phenomenon that is Harry Potter, and although writing is a profession that doesn't have a typical path by which it can be reached, Rowling's story is anything but orthodox, and her personal 'rags to riches' story only enhances the Harry Potter legacy. Full review...
Cross My Palm by Sara Stockbridge
Fortune teller Rose Lee lives on the edge of London society in 1860, making her living by entertaining (and sometimes deceiving) the rich by reading their palms. She fears the fate she has read for herself in her own palm which is perhaps what makes her cautious of delivering the whole truth to the ladies that employ her. On one particular night Rose is called to the house of Lady Quayle, a woman of high society, who delights in having her fortune read, taking everything Rose tells her as gospel. One of the guests present is Emily, a young girl and friend of Lady Quayle's daughter Tabitha. Full review...
Strong Winds Trilogy: The Salt-Stained Book by Julia Jones and Claudia Myatt
Donny and his mother left their bungalow on the outskirts of Leeds and headed off to Suffolk to meet Donny's great aunt. It was never going to be easy as Skye, Donny's mother, was deaf and just about mute. She and Donny communicated by signing and usually they managed quite well, but when Skye had a breakdown in a car park in Colchester, their camper van was towed away and fourteen-year-old Donny was taken into care. He couldn't understand why none of the officials would believe him – in fact, were they all that they seemed? And why will no one let him see his mother? Full review...
Free Radicals by Michael Brooks
We often have an image of scientists as quietly plodding away, with small breakthrough after small breakthrough. When the big breakthroughs come, they downplay things, and insist upon logical and level-headed caution. It's all very mild-mannered and polite. ...Or is it? The history of science is splattered with radicals, who'll do anything for success. There are those who mercilessly put down their rivals, those who use drugs to stimulate their breakthroughs, those who put themselves in harm's way in the pursuit of truth, and those who just plain go about things their own way, regardless of what anyone else says. Full review...
Waterline by Ross Raisin
Raisin has an enviable portfolio for one so young, having been named Sunday Times Young Writer Of The Year 2009 and his previous novel receiving fulsome praise. No pressure then with this book. The story opens with all members of the Little family paying their respects to Cathy. Some have travelled further than others as they all squeeze into Mick's modest house, somewhere in Glasgow. A less-than-posh part. Mick is obviously numb with the shock of it all (even although his wife's death was not sudden - she had been ill for some time). It's clear that some of the family, distant members, feel uncomfortable and don't quite know how to act. Full review...
Wanted: The Perfect Pet by Fiona Roberton
What Henry wants most in the world, more than chips, more than a trip to the moon, is a dog. He has 27 different sorts of frogs but they, he claims, are boring. What he really, really wants is a dog, and so he decides to advertise to try and find one. Full review...
Stealing Phoenix by Joss Stirling
Phoenix is a thief. She's a very good one, thanks to having some rather useful psychic abilities. Working for the cruel and dominating Seer, she's forced to follow his instructions to bring him whatever he wants – just as the rest of their community of savants are. Then she's told to get something from Yves Benedict, and for the first time in her life, fails to take what she wants. Yves has powers of his own… and he may be the one who's stolen her heart. Can Yves and his family rescue her from the Seer? Full review...
