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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Mr Manchester and the Factory Girl: The Story of Tony and Lindsay Wilson by Lindsay Reade
Mr Manchester, as Tony Wilson came to be known, could have been the next John Humphrys. Instead he ended up becoming the next Malcolm McLaren – or, perhaps, a far less successful version of Richard Branson. After graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in English he became a trainee news reporter for ITN, and for much of his life he worked as an anchorman for regional evening news programmes. Yet he is less remembered for this than for his championship of alternative music and punk rock, founding of Factory Records and involvement with the Hacienda Club. Although he loved the Beatles and folk music in general, he disliked much of the contemporary music scene until he saw the Sex Pistols live in the summer of 1976. Full review...
The Burning by Jane Casey
The book opens with a bunch of young women enjoying a drink-fuelled night out in the capital. And as often happens, there's always one absolutely paralytic - with drastic consequences. Casey gives her readers a sharp taste of danger early on as we accompany the unfortunate Kelly on a terrifying taxi ride. The media is stirring up a right old frenzy and calling this local serial killer The Burning Man. And yes, it's a suitably horrible title and we hear it time and time again throughout the book. Full review...
Perfect Lives by Polly Samson
The eleven short stories in Perfect Lives are about a group of people living in an English seaside town. Each story of challenged relationships, devastating discoveries and objects and people with a history is carefully and beautifully crafted, stands alone and works well in its own right, but the connections between all the stories offer an extra, fascinating dimension. Each story made me want to look at the others again to understand how they all connect, to piece together the different bits of people's lives in each story. This format also offers an opportunity to see some of the characters from several different perspectives, and perhaps make the short stories more satisfying to those who are dissatisfied by their brevity, as some of the same characters reappear, so offering some of the advantages of the novel while staying in the short story form. There are four stories told in the first person by an unnamed woman who is married with two young sons, and then one of her sons has a story of his own (Ivan Knows). There are a variety of narrative viewpoints – women, men, a little boy, a teenage girl, first and third person. Full review...
Silent Night by Charles Ellingworth
The front cover describes this book as 'astonishing' and has 'the mark of a classic.' We're introduced to one of the two female characters, Mimi: a young, German woman. It's 1944 in Eastern Germany and if I say that things are grim, I'm sure you'll appreciate that it is an understatement. Mimi is obviously an intelligent and curious individual and she's certainly not happy to be living in the back-of-beyond. But then again, things could be ten times worse for her. She could be living in Berlin picking through the rubble. Out of the blue, she encounters a man - a French national, as it happens and things change dramatically. We learn that along with his fellow countrymen, Mimi's husband is absent, not at home. So when she acknowledges her attraction for another man - and someone who is not German at that, she seems exhilarated, shocked and perhaps just a little repelled, all at the same time. Full review...
Amazon Kindle
Are ebooks the future of books? Is it the right time to get an ebook reader? We thought about it long and hard. Yes we did. We don't often think about things this long or this hard, because it hurts. But sometimes, cogitations are necessary. We wouldn't be here at Bookbag if we didn't love books but we knew that more and more people were enjoying ebooks. It was time to find out what it was really like to have up to 3,500 books in your pocket or your bag. 3,500! Yikes! Full review...
The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
If the disappearing spoon of the title doesn't pique your interest, the subtitle is bound to get your juices flowing: and Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements. As far as popular science books goes, it's got all the umm... right elements (sorry, sorry, sorry). We're taken on a tour through the periodic table, hearing exciting tales of scientific discovery and marvel. Full review...
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney
It's all change for the wimpy kid. He's still as flummoxed by school life, and the social kudos gained by certain second hand textbooks. He's still not sure why he's not getting the attention at home that's now being delivered on his younger brother. He's not certain what to do now his mother's gone back to work and the menfolk have to do the catering and cleaning - but there's nothing odd about that, for none of the males have a clue. So what is changing? Well lots of things - inside and out. Just as he and his friends are gaining muscles, deeper voices and zits, and interest in mixed-sex partying, so the school are segregating the genders, and showing educational videos you need parental permission to watch. Who is going to guide him through this time in life - especially as he's dumped his best buddy? Full review...
Cleocatra's Kushion (Spartapuss Tales) by Robin Price
Spartapuss is now a wealthy, elderly, rather overweight cat. He is on his way back to Rome from the land of the Kitons. His son - known as SOS (Son of Spartapuss) keeps sending him messages requesting more money. SOS falls in love with the beautiful Haireena, only to have her taken from him as a gift for the emperor's retired gladiator. SOS is sent to Hades Row, and all that can save him is a ransom payment from his father... Full review...
Dark Heart Forever by Lee Monroe
Jane Jonas has been troubled by dreams lately. Dreams so vivid, it's almost like they're real. In them is a green eyed boy who believes they are each other's destiny. But in the real world, Jane has met Evan. Charming, charismatic, damaged Evan – intoxicating, incredibly attractive and just a little frightening. Jane has never been the sort to have friends, let alone boyfriends. And Evan is perfect, isn't he? Full review...
Bandit Love by Massimo Carlotto
In 2004 three criminals-turned-good are approached by a stranger to investigate a drugs haul, stolen from a fully-secure institute. Rather than be pressurised into the job by a man who cannot state what info he needs, nor for whom nor why, they let him die, leaving his ugly bling ring behind for his operators. In 2006 one of them has the nightmare of his girlfriend being kidnapped, and replaced by the same ring. Can the trio work out the identity of a man dead two years, involved somehow in the federal theft, and counter the current crime? Full review...
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Set in Western Africa in 2070, in a world which has been forever changed by Peace Bombs, released years ago by an environmental group to counteract the effects of a US nuclear bomb, teenage heroine Eiji grows up knowing she is different. The Peace Bomb has given many people superpowers, hers being to communicate with shadows. But five years ago, the warrior queen Jaa beheaded Eiji's tyrannical father, and Jaa has returned seeking Eiji's help. While her mother forbids her from leaving her town, the shadows tell Eiji that if she doesn't go with Jaa war is inevitable. What can she do? Full review...
A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler
It just takes one action, one small, apparently insignificant word or deed to change your world forever. You miss a plane and it crashes. You change your usual numbers and win the lottery. You miss a party because you have a spot, and never get to meet your soul-mate. For Jenni, things are even worse because somehow she ends up a year in the future, when the damage is done and the fallout is already destroying the safe, happy life she knew. Full review...
Tyme's End by B R Collins
Bibi feels like a fish out of water. She's right in the middle of the most difficult of teenage years, the ones in which you don't feel as though you belong anywhere. Bibi's feelings are exacerbated because she is adopted. Friends of the family took her in after her parents died and they have done their best by her. They love her and, despite everything, Bibi loves them. But she doesn't feel as though she belongs to this family and she thinks constantly of her real parents and her real home in the Middle East. Full review...
How to be a Social Entrepreneur: Make Money and Change the World by Robert Ashton
This book is aimed at those individuals amongst us who want to make a difference. They may have an idea of what they want to achieve but not sure of how to take that vital first step. This is where this book comes in, says Ashton in his conversational style. He takes the reader by the hand and guides him/her through the business maze. And before we go any further, what, exactly do we mean by the perhaps woolly phrase of 'Social Entrepreneur'? Many think it means doling out charity of some description to vulnerable individuals. Not quite. It's all about helping people to help themselves - and in doing so, they in turn are helping their families by lifting them out of poverty, joblessness or even hopelessness. And I found that the inspirational elements of this book were uplifting. Full review...
The Chinaman's Bastard by Amanda Taylor
I found the title of the book excellent and I was keen to find out more. The blurb on the back cover does its job - until the last bit, which becomes a bit irritating. It claims the book 'is very captivating'. Well, to be brutally honest, it's either captivating or it's not. The word 'very' is not needed. And sadly, no, I didn't find the book captivating at all. Full review...
Shakespeare's Secret Booke: Deciphering Magical and Rosicrucian Codes by David Ovason
One group of people that were convinced the Chilean miners, Los 33, would be relieved of their ordeal, were numerologists. For hundreds of years, it seems, they have held the number thirty-three in good stead. It represents a lot of expression of the ego, or the soul, or the transformation of the spirit from one world to another. It doesn't boil down to just the 33 years Christ was supposed to have held His human incarnation, but refers to many ethereal, magical, alchemical transformations from state to state. And who can deny the Chilean mine was 2010's most vivid embodiment of hell - and that the 33 were reborn in coming back to life on earth? Full review...
Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen
Right from the fantastic prologue, which tells us this is the story of the girls with their short skirts and bright eyes and big-city dreams, this is a book which had me completely and utterly hooked straight away. Cordelia Gray and her friend Letty Haubstadt run away from their small hometown in Ohio just after Cordelia's wedding, Letty determined to become a star in New York while Cordelia seeks the infamous bootlegger Darius Grey, convinced he's her father. Meanwhile, in the Big Apple itself, flapper Astrid Donal wants to get her boyfriend Charlie to commit to her but isn't sure if she can trust him. This first book in the Bright Young Things series follows the three girls over a few weeks which will change all of their lives. Full review...
Death of a Pirate: British Radio and the Making of the Information Age by Adrian Johns
If you are inclined to take your cues from the weekly reviews, as the witty poet Gavin Ewart once expressed the matter, you will doubtless find currently articles as varied as; Russell Brand predicting the imminent decline of the BBC, various interpretations of liberalism and how these struggle for expression in Coalition Government policy. There are concerns too about the legislation governing the internet and references back to the Sixties battles between, on the one hand, the unbridled self-expression of the free market and, on the other, the virtues of self-restraint in such matters as the re-examination of the Lady Chatterley trial, now fifty years ago. An unusual and quite intriguing book, Death of a Pirate, about the development of intellectual property and piracy in radio touches on all these contemporary concerns in a dramatic way. It combines the history of modern broadcasting with a crime story and consequent trial. Full review...
The Inheritance Trilogy: The Broken Kingdoms by N K Jemisin
Ten years after the events of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, godlings are able to roam free and there are once again three gods – or are there? While people still worship bright Itempas, he was cast down by the Nightlord at the end of book one to wander the Earth, unable to die permanently but with no other powers unless he was protecting a mortal. Oree, an artist who can see magic but is otherwise blind, has known godlings for years and has even been the lover of one of them, but has never met anyone quite like her new lodger Shiny. With godlings dying, something which hasn't happened for many years, can narrator Oree and Shiny find out what's going on before Nahadoth destroys the entire city of Shadow in revenge for his murdered children? Full review...
In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff
'Never Judge… ' Every time I look into the Bookbag to see if there's anything I fancy, I should remind myself: 'Never judge a book by its cover'. Pintoff's first novel in the Simon Ziele series, indeed her first published novel, 'In The Shadow of Gotham' is yet another of those ill-served by both its title and its cover.
In fairness Americans are probably more familiar with Gotham as a nickname for New York City than we Brits – to whom it simply conjures up variations on a theme of Batman. Full review...
Hector and the Secrets of Love by Francois Lelord
Professor Cormorant has gone AWOL. Tasked with developing drugs to cure a lot of ills, by making us fall in love, he has fled with his secrets, his prototypes, and a few samples that may or may not be dangerous. It is down to Hector, a psychiatrist, to chase him down, work out where Cormorant is in his researches, and if possible help bring the trade secrets back to the company his girlfriend, and now himself, works for. With the exotic far East his destination, a partner left behind, and time on his hand to muse on the subject of love, will Hector find more than just a bunch of chemicals in a syringe? Full review...
Kiss Me Quick by Danny Miller
The jacket cover is certainly eye-catching, a nice sepia-tinged photograph of Brighton seafront. The Prologue opens in the year 1939, also in the Brighton area. A young Jack Regent is enjoying the start of what appears to be a new life. He's apparently paid the price for previous 'events' and is now a reformed character. Or is he? The next couple of pages would suggest otherwise. But then again, Jack's smart, very smart. He makes sure that he doesn't get his hands dirty. He leaves that for others. For the mugs. Full review...
The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett
It's Eastern Europe during World War II and orphaned Roma brothers Andrej and Tomas are journeying through war-ravaged countryside carrying a precious and secret bundle. It's an odd kind of journey because they really don't have anywhere to go. They have a great deal to avoid, however, such as soldiers with rifles, bombs, and villagers who would decry them on sight. As Andrej trudges on, worrying about Tomas, he is thinking it's just another night, just another village in ruins. But he's wrong. The boys stumble across a zoo. The cages are still standing, intact and locked. And the animals have no food and water. But they are alive. And they can talk. Full review...
Grandville Mon Amour by Bryan Talbot
The first book in this series didn't end particularly well for DI LeBrock, the badger who works for Scotland Yard. At least the main problem, 'Mad Dog' Mastock, was sentenced to the guillotine. But in the prologue here he bursts out of his quandary, and once more causes problems for LeBrock - this time by slaughtering some Parisian prostitutes. Are they linked? What might their story be? And is there a darker part of the past yet to come out of some secretive hiding place, and cause even more danger and peril? Full review...
Willow of the Woods: Litter to Glitter by Helen Bailey and Kirsten Richards
Willow is a wood sprite who lives with her friends in Windybottom. Unfortunately one day, they notice a really terrible smell that is so bad that no one can concentrate in their lessons and the school concert has to be cancelled. The rank smells of rotten eggs, smelly cabbage and pongy feet have turned the usually idyllic Windybottom into 'Stinkybottom'. My daughter found this description very funny! Full review...
Entice by Carrie Jones
When I got this book I didn't realise it was the third book in a series, and to start with this put me off; I thought I'd be the one stood outside the window watching everyone else at the party and not understand what was going on. However, as I started to read I started to feel more included than I thought I would (there is a nice little reminder paragraph at the start that filled me on what I had missed). So, although I recommend you start with the first book in the series, Entice does have its own legs and is very capable of standing on them. Full review...
The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
I first read this book many years ago at Primary school, and it hasn't lost any of its charm over the years. At times it feels like science fiction; this strange, enormous metal man who falls off a cliff, breaking into pieces and then slowly puts himself back together, his hand crawling around looking for his eye, then searching for the rest of his body piece by piece. At other times it feels like some sort of folklore fairytale, with the space-bat-angel-dragon threatening the world, and the people of the world relying on the Iron Man's bravery and intelligence in thwarting him. I love how poetic the language feels, for example as Hughes describes the Iron Man falling apart 'His great iron ears fell off and his eyes fell out. His great iron head fell off. All the separate pieces tumbled, scattered, crashing, bumping, clanging, down on to the rocky beach far below. A few rocks tumbled with him. Then silence.' The language makes it a joy to read aloud, but it also works perfectly as a story to be read alone by a confident reader. Full review...
The Atmospheric Railway: New and Selected Stories by Shena Mackay
This volume of short stories, first published in 2008 but new in paperback, has a lot to offer those familiar with Shena Mackay's previous work and readers coming to her stories for the first time, with a generous thirty six stories - thirteen recent stories collected in book form for the first time are combined with twenty three from Shena Mackay's previous collections. Full review...
Mr Gum and the Secret Hideout by Andy Stanton
Mr Gum is out for revenge. So often has he tried to get the best of Lamonic Bibber, the town our heroes live in, and so often he has failed. This time, however, he is well prepared. He has a secret hideout (the clue was in the title), he has Billy William the Third with him - his accomplice who's stupid and evil enough to laugh at a person getting their eyebrows burnt off, before realising said person is himself, and he has a ready-made supply of stinky, rotting meat and animal parts to help in his vengeance. Just what all this adds up to is well worth the wait in the eighth entry in this expanding series of books. Full review...
I Am Spartapuss by Robin Price
This is a slightly strange book. It's history, disguised as the diary of a slave-cat in Ancient Rome, and full of groanworthy puns. As I read it, I found myself unsure, at times, whether it was really very clever, or just irritatingly silly. It somehow managed to be both. The blurb on the back describes it as a 'witty Roman romp', which is exactly what it is. It's Ancient Rome - approximately - in a universe where cats rather than humans are in charge. Indeed, humans don't seem to exist at all, although other animals and some birds feature in the book. There's plenty of romping, and it's certainly witty. Full review...
From Blood by Edward Wright
While I'm not mad about the title, the book's cover is atmospherically good - it says to the reader 'please pick me up and read me.' So I did. The book opens in 1960s America with the Prologue. A bunch of radical thinkers are angry. They turn this pent-up anger into a well-oiled, well-ordered act of violence. Lives are lost. But the perpetrators are clever and most of them escape justice. They do what many around the world have done before them; they go underground. But several key members are still at large ... Full review...
A Class Act by Kate Lace
Tilly de Liege (that's pronounced 'de Lee', by the way) met Ainsley Driver quite by accident and they just seemed to get on with each other really well. Both were about to do A levels and were hoping to go on to university, but there was a snag. Tilly was from the wrong side of the tracks. She wasn't in the least bit worried about the fact that Ainsley lived in a council house on quite the worst estate in town but when he found out that she lived in the local manor house and went to a private school something snapped. It didn't seem to be about money – as the de Lieges really didn't have any - more about the fact that she hadn't said. Full review...
Running Scared: For 22 Years He Was a Fugitive - The Corrupt Cop Busted by God by Robert Leon Davis
Robert Davis was the eldest of nine children all living with their grandmother in New Orleans – on welfare. His grandmother was a good, honest woman and Davis loved and respected her, but money was so tight that he resorted to thieving to bring some extra food in for the family. He knew that she would be deeply upset about it, but hunger is hunger. In your heart you can't blame him and it seems that all is coming good when Davis becomes a respected police officer in the mid nineteen-seventies. He's living with a good, decent woman and looks set to have a good career. Great, you think, sometimes life is fair and it works out. Full review...
Taking the Lead by Sarah Monk
Theodora English had left her home in London to move to a tiny Cornish village with her boyfriend Michael, only for him to dump her soon afterwards. You'd expect her to head straight back to London, but you'd be wrong. She buys the cottage next door, moves in and starts getting to know the locals. Full review...
The Darkfall Switch by David Lindsley
The book opens on a sultry, hot summer's day in central London. Imagine the stifling heat is the subliminal message here, especially for those passengers on the underground - ' ... as if they were all joined in some macabre dance as the train rattled along the tunnel. Everybody pressed against others.' Suddenly there's a problem with the infrastructure. A big problem. As the experts frantically work behind the scenes to get London moving again - the unthinkable happens. People lose their lives in what appears to be a power cut. Full review...
Benny Allen Was A Star: A New York Music Story by Alan Lorber
Alan Lorber has written a fictional and I suspect a semi autobiographical account of his years as a top music arranger in the 1950's and early 1960's, a period of huge change in the music industry culminating with the breakthrough of the Beatles in America. Rather than simply writing a factual narrative of his involvement during this period he decided to tell the story of the fictional Benny Allen, a classically trained musician who almost by accident gets involved in the music publishing business and then goes on to produce some hugely successful orchestrations on many of the top hit records of the time. Full review...
