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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White Lies and Tiaras by Marilyn Kaye
Alice has been invited to a wedding, but she’s not that excited by this news. The groom is her childhood sweetheart, Jack, but since she’s moved on (sort of) and has a new boyfriend (sort of) there’s no real reason for her not to go. After all, the wedding is in Paris, and her best friend Lara, Jack’s cousin, will also be there. They’ve both been invited with plus-ones so Alice can take Cal, and Lara can bring Harry, and they can have some fun in the French capital when they’re not expected to be doing family-and-friend stuff with the wedding party. Full review...
The Factory Made Boy by Christine Nostlinger
Mrs Bartolotti has a rather bad habit of ordering things...things that she usually doesn't need. One day a large parcel arrives in the post. Mrs Bartolotti can't think what it can be. What has she ordered recently? She thought she'd been very good! When she opens it she finds, inside, a perfect factory-made little boy - she definitely never ordered a little boy! Conrad and Mrs Bartolotti soon grow to love each other, but what will they do when the factory realises the mistake they've made and attempt to reclaim their goods? Full review...
My Happy Life by Rose Lagercrantz and Eva Eriksson
When Dani can't sleep she doesn't count sheep, she counts all the times that she's been happy! And Dani has been happy a lot of times. She's happy because she's about to start school, though she's nervous about making new friends. But then she meets Ella, and Ella becomes the very best friend she could ever have wished for. They have so much fun together, but then one day Ella tells Dani that she is moving house, and suddenly Dani isn't happy any more. Full review...
I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Too often, people – such as myself – refer to a book as being a rollercoaster read, mostly down to a simply topsy-turvy plot. But this is the true embodiment of a white-knuckle ride. It has the anxiety of the queue as we watch three people – a couple and another young woman – get ferried across the fjord to one of western Iceland's most remote outposts, with the aim being to renovate an old building as a guesthouse. There's the crunch of the roll-cage protection bars locking us in as we find that something very malevolent is hiding in the tiny settlement. And just as the car starts we might be seeking in vain the relieved thumbs-up from those leaving the ride, telling us all is well and all survived. Full review...
Summertime of the Dead by Gregory Hughes
Yukio lives with his grandmother in Tokyo. He enjoys school, practising kenzo, and hanging out with his two best friends, twins Hiroshi and Miko. They do everything together - swimming, shopping, eating, even visiting nuns. But then the yakuza - the Japanese mafia - come into their lives. And Hiroshi and Miko are dead - blackmailed and tormented, they take their own lives. Filled with grief, Yukio vows revenge... Full review...
Alif the Unseen by G Willow Wilson
Alif lives under an alias and he has a good reason for that: he's a hakinista in an Arabian oil producing country that, to put it mildly, doesn't encourage free speech. He sells IT know-how and wizardy to any covert organisation that works against the government, their agenda unimportant as long as the aim is the downfall of their oppression. But all that's about to change as Alif falls in love and, as it's the wrong girl at the wrong time, is spurned. His response to this romantic let down is to create a computer programme that will identify her internet activity by her individual typing pattern. Unfortunately what works for him also works against him. It's captured by the notoriously dangerous government censor 'The Hand' who also wants Alif and his hidden network of colleagues. Now Alif runs to preserve his life and those who have trusted him, his only possession an ancient manuscript from his former love. Just a book, albeit one that's accompanied by myths and old wives' tales rendering it irrelevant a logical world. However, sometimes the most desperate of times requires more than logic and, sometimes, a mere book of stories may be more than it seems. Full review...
The Unprincipled: The Unvarnished Truth About Running a Marketing Agency - from Start-up to Sell-out by David Croydon
In 1985 David Croydon and a couple of his colleagues were in employment but they were spending some of the working hours setting up their own company which would be in competition with their current employers. All's fair in love and the world of sales promotion and Marketing Principles was born the following year. The title of the book is taken from the in-house newsletter published twice a year by their creative department to debunk anyone who worked for the agency and judging by what David Croydon has to say they must have had a lot of material to choose from. If I had to pick one word to describe this book it's scurrilous, so if the title of the book suggests that the content might be rather dry, then think again. Full review...
The Ascendant Stars by Michael Cobley
Space Opera has never been in more capable hands is the Guardian quote that concludes the blurb for this, Cobley's wrap up part of the Humanity's Fire trilogy that started with Seeds of Earth and continued through The Orphaned Worlds. It's hard to disagree, but it's also hard to get away – on this evidence – from the fact that Space Opera might be closer to Soap than Classical, when it comes to opera classification. Full review...
George and the Big Bang by Lucy Hawking and Stephen Hawking
John Lloyd's First Rule of the Universe is that it must contain three things – entropy, trouble, and mis-sold PPI claim adverts. However this book only contains one of those – trouble. Eric is using the Large Hadron Collider to delve into the secrets of the universe and the first micro-seconds of its existence, but he has trouble in the shape of Luddite people who think his experiment will cause the end of our solar system. He has his super-computer, Cosmos, which is able to transport him and his daughter Annie and the kid next door, our hero George, anywhere they desire throughout the universe, but there's only trouble when two of them are discovered larking about on the moon. And, as we've come to expect – this being the closing book of a trilogy – there is an evil scientist somewhere who is just intending to cause a different kind of trouble – making the big bang in the title something you might not have initially expected. Full review...
Don't Call Me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer
Fourteen-year-old Ishmael Leseur is a loser. He can't help it - how is he meant to survive with a name that school bully Barry Bagsley can twist into Fishtail Le Sewer, Fishwhale Manure, or even worse combinations? He's so fed up of being bullied that when the nerdy James Scobie moves to his school, he almost welcomes the arrival of a new target for Bagsley's scorn. But Scobie doesn't fear anything. With his help, and that of Miss Tarango, the new English teacher, can Ishmael learn to stand up for himself? Full review...
The Little Book of Talent by Daniel Coyle
When you want - or need - to master a new skill you'll be told to practice, but there's not always a lot of advice around on how to practice. Sometimes it's that hint about how to practice more effectively, how to approach the skill from a different direction which makes all the difference. Daniel Coyle has fifty two tips - most of which can be applied to just about everything from improving your golf swing to success in the business world. The tips are short - all fifty two are covered in about a hundred and twenty pages - easily read and simple to put into practice. Full review...
Eleven Eleven by Paul Dowswell
It's 2am in Paris on Tuesday 11th November 1918. Negotiations for ending World War I are almost complete and both sides will announce the Armistice at 11am. But the people actually fighting the war don't know that yet... Full review...
Winnie's Dinosaur Day by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
Winnie and Wilbur are always happy to queue up with everyone else to visit their favourite museum. There are so many things to look at and play with but best of all is the dinosaur room. Winnie is fascinated by the dinosaurs and tells Wilbur that she would love to see a real one. One time when they visit, they discover that it is actually Dinosaur Week and that there is an exciting competition to make a model or draw a picture to show what the museum's dinosaur skeleton would have looked like when it was alive. Full review...
I Am So Strong by Mario Ramos
There's no hiding the fact that the wolf is a bully. After he's had his meal (obviously it was a good one) he goes for a walk in the woods to aid the digestion and to find out what everyone thinks of him. First he meets a little rabbit, who agrees that the wolf is the strongest around here. Full of the joy of being him he strides on and gets pretty much the same response from Red Riding Hood, the three little pigs and the seven dwarfs. In fact this must be the best day ever for the wolf - until he meets 'the little toad of some sort' and finds that he's met his match. I'm not going to tell you how - you'll have to read the book to find out! Full review...
Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs
Grace is the new girl in San Francisco, who can't understand why she's seeing weird creatures whom no-one else seems to notice. Gretchen is an experienced monster-hunter. Greer is a socialite. The three of them look eerily alike - what's their connection, and can this mismatched trio of teens defend the world from the demons who seem to be appearing with ever-increasing frequency? Full review...
Sylvia Pankhurst: The Rebellious Suffragette by Shirley Harrison
To some extent, the history of the suffragettes was also the history of the Pankhurst family. Sylvia, born in 1882, was the second daughter of Dr Richard and Emmeline Pankhurst, and one of three sisters. The family had always been heavily politicised, Richard being a founder member of the Fabian Society alongside George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells, and the children had quite an austere upbringing. When their father’s health took a sudden turn for the worse in 1898, Emmeline and eldest daughter Christabel were abroad on business and Sylvia was left in charge of her younger siblings as well as having to nurse him, taking the full force of the shock when he died in her arms. With his passing the family were left strangely detached from each other. His widow became heavily involved in public work and political agitation, an increasingly remote mother from the young children who needed her. Full review...
Time's Echo by Pamela Hartshorne
Grace Trewe has temporarily moved to York to sort out the affairs of her godmother, Lucy, who died suddenly. After surviving the Indonesian tsunami the previous Christmas, Grace has decided to live life to the full and plans more travelling once Lucy's house is sold. She hasn’t a care or a tie in the world, as long as she doesn't remember little Lucas back on that Christmas beach. As it turns out, that's not the only thing she needs to avoid. Strange, horrific dreams disrupt her sleep and vivid daydreams start to attack her waking moments as 21st century York keeps fading to be replaced by its 16th century streets. Grace will be fine though; it's just stress and her oddly acquired knowledge of the past is just a coincidence, or so says seemingly kindly neighbour, historian and single father Drew. Meanwhile, 500 years before, there was a woman named Hawise who met a terrible death… Full review...
Sworn Secret by Amanda Jennings
A year ago Anna Thorne was found dead after presumably falling from the roof of her school after drinking vodka. Twelve months later, her parents, Kate and Jon, and her sister, Lizzie, are still trying to make sense of and come to terms with what has happened. They each have their own way of dealing with their grief which, rather than uniting, serves to isolate each of them. Ultimately, they are becoming three sad strangers living under the same roof. Full review...
Another Life by Keren David
Ty's cousin Archie, son of two top lawyers, has managed to get himself expelled from another boarding school. He wants to be back in London, spending time with his friends and with his cousin. But with Ty struggling to cope as he's sentenced to a spell of time in a Young Offenders Institution, Archie tries to find out more about his cousin's past. Full review...
Vanish by Sophie Jordan
Events have forced Jacinda back into the arms of the Pride. When her mother took her away from them, it was the last thing Jacinda wanted. But now she's back, she wants nothing more than to spread her wings and fly away. But it's not that easy. Severin, leader of the Pride, has her under virtual house arrest. Tamra, Jacinda's twin, is going through some tumultuous changes, and needs the support of the Pride. And there's Cassian - a permanent fixture in Jacinda's life, the one who brought her back to the Pride, who she is beginning to think cares about her for more than just her firebreathing talents. Full review...
Taken: An Alex Verus Novel by Benedict Jacka
Alex Verus, future-diviner and erstwhile Camden magic shop owner has dusted himself off after the rigours of Cursed and is good to go once more. He continues training Luna as his apprentice but all is not completely well. Alex has been asked to investigate the disappearance of apprentices by Council representative, Talisid. Now, Alex's involvement with the Council (and indeed Talisid) hasn't always been good for Alex's health in the past, but his commissioning may be a sign of his enhanced reputation and this time there's a note of self-interest: Luna may be the next to vanish. Alex receives a tip-off that Fountain's Reach (a stately home with a mysterious past) has something to do with it and, as luck would have it, it's also the venue for the next apprentice tournament which Luna has entered. The investigation begins and hopefully they'll survive to see it through to the end. Full review...
The Dark Winter by David Mark
Just a couple of weeks before Christmas Detective Sergeant Aector McAvoy was with his young son in the centre of Hull when he was alerted by screaming. The noise was coming from the church and McAvoy so nearly caught the man responsible. He'd brutally murdered a young girl who had already escaped as the only survivor when her family was slaughtered during the conflict in Sierra Leone. It's a difficult time for the police with a relatively new team at the Serious and Organised Crime Squad and it's a little while before the links to two other deaths emerge. Fred Stein had been the sole survivor of the loss of one of the three trawlers from Hull which went down in early 1968. He'd been part of a documentary about the loss but had disappeared - off Iceland - in the course of the filming. He was later discovered - dead in a drifting lifeboat. Full review...
Scramasax: The Viking Sagas, Book Two by Kevin Crossley-Holland
We left Solveig finally reunited with her Viking father, after a journey that took her all the way from her Scandinavian home to Miklagard (Constantinople). There, her father is in the service of Harald Hardrada, who in turn serves the Empress Zoe. Zoe's court is a dangerous place, full of spies and prisoners and instant punishment by death - for the smallest of transgressions. So Solveig needs to learn fast if she is to persuade Harald to allow her to stay with the Viking guard. Full review...
Rabbit's Wish by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
Rabbit's best friend is Hedgehog but they don't get to spend a lot of time together because Rabbit is awake during the day and Hedgehog is awake at night. One day Rabbitt made a wish that Hedgehog could stay up all day with him - and it came true, but not in the way Rabbit was expecting. There was a downpour and Rabbit's burrow was flooded. The hill on which he lived was turned into an island as the lake rose higher and higher. His first thought as for Hedgehog and he shouted to see if he was OK - but Hedgehog had worried about Rabbit and he'd swum across to make certain that he was alright. They had a wonderful time but Rabbit worried that it was his wish that had caused the problem. Full review...
How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival by David Kaiser
In his introduction Professor Kaiser states that there are three ways in which the west coast hippies have benefited the development of Physics; they opened up deeper speculation into the fundamental philosophy behind quantum theory, they latched on to a crucial theorem of Bell, about what Einstein termed spooky interactions between particles at a distance. This might otherwise have been totally neglected. Thirdly they propounded a key idea which has become known as the 'no-cloning theorem'. Kaiser tells a lucid account as might be expected from the Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science and department chief in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's program. Incidentally he also provides an engaging insight into the American industrial-military complex and associated institutions like the Californian University at Berkley. Full review...
Do Me No Harm by Julie Corbin
Dr Olivia Somers is minding her own business, trying to raise two kids alone in the wake of her divorce, when everything goes wrong and her son, Robbie, ends up in hospital. It’s hard to work out what really happened, or even if Robbie is giving her the full story, but when there’s a further incident, this time involving a break in at their home, it becomes clear that these are no random attacks, and someone is out to get them. With the help of a friendly (and handsome) detective, Olivia tries to piece together the puzzle to work who is behind the trouble, and it’s a race against time to figure it out before the next unwelcome surprise from the culprit. Full review...
Herring on the Nile by L C Tyler
A motley crowd of oddball characters (few of whom end up being who they say they are), find themselves as travelling companions on a luxury paddle steamer, cruising up the Nile. And when a murder occurs, it soon becomes clear that only a member of the crew or one of the guests could have done the dastardly deed. A couple of amateur detectives have to work fast to discover who pulled the trigger. Sound familiar? Full review...
Woffles: A Fishy Adventure by The Curtises, James and Nick
Woffles is a big, shiny black Labrador with a very long, pink tongue and he is one happy dog. Once he's greeted you with a yodel and a wuff (and I suspect that there might be a generous lick in there too) he'll tell you all about his wonderful life. What pleases him is that he lives in the countryside - it's very green, you know and there's a complete lack of coffee shops and other things for which he has no time. He has lots of friends, but his bestie is Pip the Border Terrier and today they're off on an adventure down to the lake which is being restocked for the fishermen. And - on a boiling hot day what's better than a dip in the lake and using that long tongue to extract a few sandwiches from the fishermen's hampers? Full review...
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
Daniel Murphy ('Murph') is 18, in the American army and about to embark on his first tour of duty in Iraq. By his side is John Bartle, three years older and more experienced in the army. However neither of them has any notion of the sort of life or job they will face when they get there. The fighting is dirty, unpredictable and not set out in any text book. Their commanding officer, Sergeant Sterling, is sadistic and without any apparent humanity. But everything will be alright: Bartle has made a promise to Murph's mother, a promise that will ricochet from the US to Iraq and back again. Full review...
Roman Games (Plinius Secundus) by Bruce Macbain
Sextus Ingentius Verpa isn't the most popular person in Rome. He may be a high ranking politician with the Emperor Domitian's ear but this also means he's a spy, ambitious and not always using his power and position for good. When Verpa is discovered, unceremoniously and repeatedly stabbed in his well-guarded bedroom, there are many who sigh with relief. However, the murderer must still be found and so Domitian appoints Gaius Plinius Secundus (or Pliny the Younger as history will dub him) to investigate. Pliny isn't a natural but reluctantly takes on the task because Domitian says so; Pliny has no choice. Domitian also says that the culprit must be found before the end of the Roman Games, giving Pliny 15 days. Over these 15 pressurised days he'll dig into Rome's filthy underbelly of cults, prostitution and other things he wasn't expecting, including practically adopting his own, personal rude poet. Full review...
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan's Sweet Tooth is part spy novel but more a love story and a tale of deception and half truths. It's also, more subtly, a book about the power, role and importance of fiction. Set in the 1970s, with frequent musical and political references to the UK at that time, Serena Frome is a beautiful, Cambridge-educated daughter of an Anglican bishop with a taste for unsuitable romances. From an early affair with a man who turns out to be homosexual, to an affair with an older lecturer she moves on to a surprise job at MI5 where she had a crush on one of her bosses, again and awkward, repressed and unattractive individual before encountering talented author Tom Haley as part of her job with whom she once again falls in love. Few of these men are what they seem, and neither for that matter is Serena when she has to hide her job from Haley. Full review...
Spell It Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling by David Crystal
Are you a speller? I must confess I'm not much of one myself, so the main thing I was after from this book was an insight into the peculiarities of English spelling, and some hints and tips for remembering the rules. Oh, and a fun, entertaining read at the same time (this is Crystal, after all).
I was not disappointed.
(Even if I can still only spell disappointed with the help of my spellchecker) Full review...
The Betrayal of Trust: A Simon Serrailler Novel by Susan Hill
After the wettest summer for a hundred years we'll all be familiar with what happened in Lafferton. Heavy rain caused a landslip on the moors, blocking the nearby road. Thankfully, what we're not familiar with was the presence of a shallow grave and the skeleton of a teenage girl. The sharp eyes of one of the forensic team spotted that something wasn't quite right in another area - and a second grave was revealed. It was easy to identify the first body - the young girl had gone missing from the town sixteen years before - but the second body proved more difficult. And, in a time of financial cuts and staff shortages it's down to Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler to tackle the cold case on his own with just a little help on the new murder case. Full review...
El Clasico - Barcelona v Real Madrid: Football's Greatest Rivalry by Richard Fitzpatrick
Nothing divides opinion quite like football and no-one expresses their joy and disappointment like football fans. For many fans, the most important matches of their entire season are the ones against their local rivals; the derby matches. English football has a number of these, but only the matches between Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain have elevated themselves above mere derby status and earned their own name: El Clásico – the Classic. Full review...
Getting To Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury
Negotiation is a tough thing, but given how often we do it (for many people, there are things to negotiate on a daily basis) you’d think we’d be better at it. This book starts with the line Like it or not, you are a negotiator and that’s the bare truth of it. Full review...
I'm Dougal Trump... and it's not my fault! by Dougal Trump
Dougal Trump is worried about dying. You might be surprised that a young boy is already writing (and rewriting) his will, but that's because you haven't met his sister Sibble (it's Sybil! - sorry Sibble), the mysterious creature in the shed, or the even more mysterious person who left the creature there with a note saying 'If it dies so will you.' If you were in his circumstances, wouldn't you be worried about your life expectancy? Full review...
Girl in a Green Gown: The History and Mystery of the Arnolfini Portrait by Carola Hicks
The Arnolfini marriage portrait, as it is generally if perhaps inaccurately known, painted by Flemish artist Jan van Eyck, signed and dated 1434, has long been one of the most popular and enigmatic paintings of its time. Of modest size, a little less than three feet high, it is one of the oldest surviving panel pictures to be painted in oils rather than tempera. It is also regarded as the first work of art which simultaneously celebrates both middle-class comfort and monogamous marriage. Full review...
Kitty Slade: Raven Hearts by Fiona Dunbar
Thirteen-year old Kitty Slade is a normal girl in many ways; she bickers with her younger brother and sister, enjoys having fun and watching DVDs. However she is different in one very important way… Kitty can see ghosts. Not only can she see ghosts but she also uses their help to solve mysteries. In the fourth book in this popular series, Kitty and the rest of her family are staying on a caravan site on the Yorkshire Moors when they hear that a local man has disappeared without trace and he is not the first person to do so either. Kitty also learns of a terrifying ghost hound that is said to prey on humans on the bleak moors. Can Kitty solve both these mysteries with the help of the strange ghost called Lupa with whom she forms an uneasy but growing friendship? Full review...
Matilda: Wife of the Conqueror, first Queen of England by Tracy Borman
Writing the biography of any woman who lived as long ago as the eleventh century, even someone as illustrious as a Queen, is a pretty thankless task. There will always be huge gaps in the knowledge available. For example we do not know when Matilda was born, and likewise we do not have a precise date for her marriage, although we do know when she died. No lifelike images of her are known, though evidence suggests that she was quite short of stature. In a male-dominated society, there are approximate records of when her sons were born, but not her daughters. Even more confusingly perhaps, many of the stories passed down to us throughout history are quite probably false. It is hardly surprising that this appears to be the first full-length life of her yet to appear in English. Full review...
The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds by Alexander McCall Smith
So, here we are with Isabel Dalhousie in her ninth story, and I'm assuming that you know who she is by now because really, if you don't, then you'd better not start with book number nine and instead you should really go all the way back to the beginning of the series and The Sunday Philosophy Club. If, on the other hand, you are well acquainted with Isabel then settle yourself down for another good read from the master of gentle, funny fiction. Full review...
Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett
Harry Curren lives with Miles (one of his brothers) and their widowed father in a small Tasmanian fishing community. Their mother has been killed in a car accident but life goes on even if it's more damaged and disjointed than before. Miles still goes out on his father's fishing boat to ensure their income and Harry spends his time at school, outside amusing himself or being with his other brother, Joe, who, for some reason, lives with their grandfather. Full review...
After The Fall by Charity Norman
It’s the middle of the night when five year old Finn falls from the balcony at his home in a remote part of New Zealand. Leaving his twin brother and older sister in the care of a neighbour, his mother Martha stays with him as a helicopter races him to the nearest hospital. But as he is rushed into surgery, she is taken to one side for questioning, with first nursing staff then the police and social workers raising concerns. Was Finn really sleep walking, something he is prone to do? But if so, how did he come to have suspicious bruises on one side of his body, not in keeping with how he landed? And if it wasn’t the accident Martha is saying it was, was his mother involved or is she covering for someone? Full review...
