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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Richard Scarry's Funniest Storybook Ever by Richard Scarry
This new edition of Richard Scarry's Funniest Storybook Ever includes eleven stories about the inhabitants of Busytown. These "people" are drawn as various animals, and many of them appear in several stories. The local policeman, Sergeant Murphy is a dog wearing a helmet, riding round on a motorbike, and he is kept busy investigating everything from theft to talking bread. He is often assisted by his friends Huckle (a cat) and Lowly (a worm). Full review...
He's After Me by Chris Higgins
Anna's father has run off with a younger woman, the hated Jude. Her mother is a wreck because of it. Her little sister Livi is going off the rails and running with a bad crowd. All this mayhem is anathema to Anna, who is a reserved, cautious and hardworking girl with an ambition to study literature at university. If this is what unrestrained, rampant emotions result in, then Anna's having none of it. She's never been in love and in many ways she sees this as a blessing.
And then she meets Jem. Full review...
Mrs Rainbow by Neil Griffiths
Mrs Rainbow lives in Rainbow cottage, an amazing brightly coloured country cottage. On the inside every room is a different colour, whilst Mrs Rainbow herself wears colourful outfits and dyes her hair amazing shades from beautiful blonde through to peacock green! One day, however, she receives a visit from the local planning councillors and is told she must paint her house to match the rest of the village...grey! Full review...
Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie
Back in 1990, Salman Rushdie followed up his controversial 'Satanic Verses' with a book dedicated to his then nine year old son, Zafar, called 'Haroun and the Sea of Stories'. Now, his second son, Milan, finally gets a book of his own, although he had to wait until he was 13 for his father to get around to it. 'Luka and the Fire of Life' is very much a follow up to 'Haroun' and it is certainly helpful, although not necessary, if you have read that book as many of the events in the first book are referred to here. Full review...
A Father For Daisy by Karen Abbott
Beatrice Rossall found herself in a difficult position. Her widowed father was an elderly vicar who took in a young unmarried girl who was expecting a baby. Soon after the baby's birth the mother died and Bea's father died not long after, leaving Bea in charge of Daisy who was only a few weeks old and with the prospect that she would have no home within a matter of days. She couldn't get work because of Daisy – with a lot of people believing that she was Daisy's mother – but she wasn't going to let Daisy go to the workhouse. At the end of the nineteenth century this wasn't a good position to be in. Full review...
Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank Sinatra by Barbara Sinatra
Barbara Blakeley, born in 1926, was married firstly to Robert Oliver, an executive, with whom she had a son, and secondly to Zeppo Marx. But it was the already thrice-married and thrice-divorced Francis Albert Sinatra, whom she had idolized as a singer for a long time, with whom she would make her most enduring marriage, and vice versa. They tied the knot in 1976, and stayed together until his death in 1998. Full review...
Thoroughly Modern People: The Long Way Home by Chima Njoku-Latty
The front cover graphics are good: interesting and refreshingly modern and when I opened the book I liked the easy-on-the-eye print format. And I think that's where my positive comments end. The back cover blurb says that this book is A beautifully moving story. I found it neither beautiful nor moving, I'm afraid. Full review...
The Wheels on the Bus by Britta Teckentrup
I doubt that there are many parents who've not sung The Wheels on the Bus to their child at some point. I've heard it chanted in an attempt to get a fractious child to settle and I've often wondered why it is that no one seems to know all the words. Most parents never seem to get past the wheels going round and round but Britta Teckentrup has produced a book with cut-outs to take us through all the words as all the animals take the bus to the playground. Full review...
We Can Be Heroes by Catherine Bruton
Ben is spending the summer with his grandparents because his mother is ill again. She won't stop going out for runs and is not eating properly. She's gone back to stressing out about having the "right" cutlery and worrying about technology and health hazards. And her beautiful hair has started falling out. Ben's father was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and with his mother incommunicado, he's feeling very lonely indeed. Full review...
Bipolar Parent by Anna Burley
Anna Burley keeps telling herself that she is a responsible adult now and works on the idea that most people would see her as a normal, well-grounded person. What people don't see is the story of her childhood. She wrote it down to get rid of it, to get it out her system and rid herself of those pockets of pain which live under her skin. She's decided that she's not going to run from it all any longer. Bipolar Parent is the story of her childhood and the parent who had such an influence in making her into what she is today. Full review...
Elmer and the Hippos by David McKee
One day, just as Elmer was having a chat with Lion and Tiger, three angry elephants came by. The hippos had come to live in their river and they were worried that it would be crowded. Elmer was instructed to go and tell them to go. Elmer the patchwork elephant isn't like that though. He went to chat to the hippos and found that they'd come to this river because their river had dried up – and they really did need a river. Elmer went off to investigate the problem. Sure enough the hippos' river was completely dry. Full review...
Dork Diaries: Pop Star by Rachel Renee Russell
When I saw that both the first and second books in this series had already been put into one compendium, I wondered quite why. Were they not selling quite as I expected they would, despite their breeziness and simple charms for the beginner reader? Would the third book prove to be a major change in format, hence an early wrapping-up? Well, the answers are in here - as are all those assets, and no real surprises or alterations. Full review...
The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
I read the front cover blurb and didn't quite get it 'She borrowed a child. He stole her.' I don't mind 'not getting it' in the slightest as it just makes me want to read the book even more. So I was keen to get stuck into this debut novel. Full review...
The Wrong Blood by Manuel de Lope and John Cullen (Translator)
Although de Lope has written over a dozen novels, this is the first to be translated into English. The cover is as pretty as a picture and screams 'Spanish.' So far, so good. But I have to admit that on the whole most of the European novels I've read over the last year or so, have fallen short of the mark for me. Will this one prove to be different? Full review...
Wolf Blood by N M Browne
Trista is a Celtic warrior girl and seeress. Her visions are always horrifying, full of blood and death. And one of her premonitions tells her she must escape from the tribe who have captured and enslaved her, for their time is running out. Fleeing into the snowy forest, she runs straight into two Roman soldiers and thinks this time the game is surely up. Surely she cannot survive a second time? But one of the soldiers has a secret - he is a shapeshifter. Part wolf, part man, Morcant also has both Roman Celtic blood in his veins and he has never felt truly at home in either world. Full review...
Hurry Up And Wait by Isabel Ashdown
Ashdown won the Observer Best Debut Novels of the Year with her book Glasshopper, an excerpt of which is given at the back of this book. I decided to read it first and I must say that I immediately warmed to Ashown's style of writing. She seems to have a knack for down-to-earth language especially with teenagers and young people. So, I was really looking forward to this book but I was also conscious of the fact that it had a lot to live up to. Will she be able to deliver? Full review...
Paddington's Guide to London by Michael Bond
Some things are just a brilliant idea. Young Paddington Bear has written a guide book to his adopted home in the way that only he could do it. All his old friends are there – Mr and Mrs Brown and their children Jonathan and Judy along with their housekeeper Mrs Bird and of course we mustn't forget Paddington's old friend Mr Gruber who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of London. So, where is Paddington planning to take you? Full review...
Last Man In Tower by Aravind Adiga
Following a Man Booker winning book like The White Tiger is always going to be a daunting challenge for any writer, let alone one when that book was the author's first novel. In 'Last Man in Tower' Adiga perhaps sensibly turns to a proven structure that allows his story-telling skills to flourish. Gone are clever structural ideas, like 'The White Tiger's' letter format and instead we get a straightforward engaging story set in modern day Mumbai where a rich builder is seeking to force residents of an old apartment block to sell their flats to enable redevelopment. Full review...
Tarzan: The Greystoke Legacy by Andy Briggs
Robbie Canler is on the run. From what, it takes us a while to find out, but it's clear that it's something bad when the alternative is working for an illegal logging team in the jungle of the Congo. The work is tough at the best of times, and when things start going wrong for the team, it's definitely not the best of times. And then Jane Porter, his boss's daughter, disappears... Can she be found? And why do all these strange things keep happening to the loggers? It's almost as if there was a weird presence in the jungle. Full review...
The Hill And The Rock by David McKee
The Hill and the Rock is a very funny book that is based on one very quirky idea. Mr and Mrs Quest are an ordinary couple but their home gets many visitors as it is at the top of the only hill for miles around. Everyone admires the view, but as Mrs Quest spends much of her time in the kitchen, her view is blighted by the large rock that stands tall just outside the window. Mrs Quest is also extremely good at nagging and she pesters her husband every day until he agrees to dig the ground that surrounds the rock so that it eventually rolls down the hill. That night Mrs Quest is much happier but is puzzled by a hissing noise that stops her from sleeping. The next night they both hear it and it slowly dawns on them that now the rock is no longer in place, all the air is seeping out from inside the hill. Full review...
Lula Does The Hula by Samantha Mackintosh
Talullah Bird, otherwise known as Tatty, Lu, or Lula, has finally been kissed! She has a boyfriend! Frikkly frik! This is exciting! Except there is an evil woman lusting after her boyfriend! Hoooo no! And her dad is weird! Hooo no again! If you think this review is annoying so far with the exclamation marks and strange words, you may want to avoid the book! Full review...
The Bear and the Wildcat by Kazuni Yumoto and Komako Sakai
This lovely picture book dives in at the deep end with its opening sentence of 'One morning, Bear was crying. His best friend, a little bird, was dead.' I must admit I initially wondered what on earth I was reading to my four year old and regretted not skimming it first to check, but as we read on together we discovered a beautiful story of friendship and loss, grief and hope. Full review...
Leviathan Wakes by James S A Corey
Humanity has managed to venture into the solar system and colonise Mars, various moons and some asteroids and stations in the (asteroid) Belt between Mars and Jupiter. Those inhabiting the Belt have evolved to be significantly thinner and elongated compared to Earthers and Martians, due the low gravity in which they live; their difference in appearance and a difference in attitude form the basis for a lot of the tension and uneasy relationships in the novel. Full review...
About Last Night by Adele Parks
I've noticed a trend in recent women's commercial fiction titles of rather dark subject matters. It seems that the light-hearted romps involving shopping and shoes are out and the subjects have grown up and become much more serious. This latest from Adele Parks certainly deals with some weighty issues. Steph and Pip have been best friends since they were at school together. They've supported each other through everything, and although they both find themselves living very different lifestyles they are still best friends. Or at least, that's what they think until Steph desperately needs Pip's help after one eventful night and Pip suddenly isn't sure if she can help her best friend. Full review...
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Katey Kontent works hard during the day as a typist at a big law firm in 1930s Manhattan, but at night she likes to sample the nightlife – jazz clubs in Greenwich Village. There on New Year's Eve 1937, she and her roommate Eve meet the charming Tinker Grey. This is the start of a year of many changes for Katey and her friends. Full review...
The Wide-Awake Princess by E D Baker
Princess Annie is Sleeping Beauty's younger sister. Her sister, Gwendolyn, was given various magical gifts at her birth making her graceful and beautiful, but then a bad fairy created the spell that Gwendolyn would prick her finger on a spinning wheel before she turned 16 and sleep for one hundred years. So far, so familiar. All of the upset over Gwendolyn's christening led to the King and Queen being very scared when their second daughter, Annabelle, was born. They invited only one fairy along and asked her advice. She cast a spell on Princess Annie that made her impervious to all magic. Although this seemed like a good idea it means that none of her family like to be too near her because her spell tends to affect their own magical enchantments, making them less beautiful, more wrinkled and aged. Annie does her best to please her parents and to try and protect her sister, but in the end the wicked fairy's magic spell comes true and Gwendolyn and everyone in the castle falls asleep. Everyone, that is, except for Annie... Full review...
A Different Sky by Meira Chand
We meet the first of the three main characters - Chinese Mei Lan on a trip with her devoted minder-nursemaid into town. The sights and smells intrigue the young girl as they are a far cry from her comfortable home and its surroundings. Rather than appreciating all that space and the beautiful objects in the family home, Mei Lan feels lonely (she's an only child) and even hemmed in. But perhaps she'll change as she grows up. Full review...
My Name Is Mina by David Almond
We first Mina in Skellig. A homeschooled, William Blake-loving, slightly precious child, she arrived in Michael's life with not a little whiff of the culture shock about her. Now, we can find out what really makes Mina tick as we read through her journal. Mina is full of contradictions. She likes to be different, individual, but she doesn't like being a misfit. She wants friends but she doesn't know how to make them or to keep them. She is both reflective and impulsive. Full review...
Out Of Range by C J Box
Will Jensen, a Wyoming Game Warden of many years standing, had long held the respect of the townsfolk of Jackson. Recently though he seemed to have been going off the rails. Not turning up for work on time; a couple of DUIs; his wife upped and left. Then one day he cooks himself 14lb of meat. No vegetables. And slowly eats his way through it, washed down with whiskey, before he goes to fetch his .44 magnum from the pick-up. Full review...
Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas
Ari is just nineteen, of Greek descent but living in Melbourne with his family. He's gay, unemployed and not in education. He wants to get away from the traditional Greek life of his parents and their friends but has no idea how to do it. He falls back on the only life that he knows: clubs, parties, anonymous sex, a cocktail of drugs and alcohol. But will even this be enough to dull the pain? Told vividly in the first person and sexually explicit it's a short book – a novella – which grabs you and has no intention of letting you go until it spits you out at the other end. Full review...
Empty Coffin: Envy by Gregg Olsen
A small town is stunned by the death of a young girl, Katelyn, and although the death is attributed to an accident, there are some who believe that suicide and homicide shouldn't be ruled out just yet. Although twins Hayley and Taylor Ryan weren't close to the girl at the time of her death, they used to be good friends and a combination of guilt and curiosity leads them to investigate the death and its true cause. They may just be teenagers, but combine the fact that they have a father who is a true crime author, with the mysterious supernatural abilities they share, the twins are more than well-equipped to discover the truth behind the death; however, they find themselves digging up more than they bargained for when tragic history, and revelations from the past begin to reveal themselves. Full review...
The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly
I read the back cover blurb with delight and couldn't help but applaud Donnelly for her ingenuity. I loved the book Little Women when I read it many years ago and television adaptations keep it fresh for new generations. So, before I'd even turned to chapter one, I was loving this book. But will it live up to my lofty expectations? Full review...
Operation Eiffel Tower by Elen Caldecott
Jack, Ruby, Lauren and Billy live in a seaside town. Jack helps out at the crazy golf course and he's got a mean shot or two up his sleeve. Lauren likes boys, Teen Thing magazine and looking down her nose at her younger siblings. Ruby's world revolves around winning a teddy on the grab-a-bear machine in the amusement arcade. Billy is just a baby so he doesn't do very much if it doesn't involve cuddling Teddy Volvo. Full review...
The Great Famine: Ireland's Agony 1845-1852 by Ciaran O Murchadha
In August 1845, reports began to circulate of the destruction of growing potatoes in the south of England, killed by a mysterious and so far unknown plant disease. As yet, the scientific aspects of what was given the name of 'blight' were not fully recognised, let alone understood. At the end of the month, small instances of failure in the potato crop in Ireland were reported, but there seemed to be no cause for alarm until the main crop was dug out in October. Only then did it become apparent that an 'awful plague' had appeared in several areas, with decomposing vegetables producing a strong, foul stench that assailed the nostrils of cultivators and passers-by alike. Full review...
The Ghost of Lily Painter by Caitlin Davies
When Annie Sweet buys a home with her family, she feels inexplicably bonded to it from first sight. As life brings unwelcome changes for her, she decides to uncover the history of her house to provide a distraction and to understand her feelings about her home. Full review...
David by Mary Hoffman
It's 1501 and Gabriele is in Florence without a penny to his name. As a greenhorn country boy, he managed to get himself robbed almost as soon as he arrived in the city. But he does have one big advantage: a renowned sculptor as a step-brother. Gabriele hopes this will be enough to find him work, but little does he dream that he will soon find himself the model for one of the world's greatest pieces of art - Michelangelo's David. Or that he'll become intimately embroiled in the deadly rivalries and politics of the city. As the statue of David is slowly created, Gabriele will have to walk the line between the republican faction and those supporting the return of the Medicis without being exposed by either. It won't be easy... Full review...
One World by Michael Foreman
In 'One World', a young girl is found staring up at the sun and watching it go down at the end of the day. She then watches the moon and stars come out. Although no further comment is made, she obviously finds it most awe inspiring. This makes the reader think about the sheer magnitude of the world we live in especially when we are reminded of all the creatures that share it with us. Full review...
Ox Travels by Michael Palin
Ox Travels is an anthology of travel writing compiled to raise funds for Oxfam, but it is well worth buying and reading in its own right. Its generous 432 pages offer the chance to meet 36 writers, including travel writers, journalists and novelists, with an introduction by Michael Palin and an afterword by Barbara Stocking, Oxfam's Chief Executive. Full review...
The Demon's Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan
Cynthia 'Sin' Davies is a Market girl through and through. Her whole life has been about the dance, the performance and the Market. But now the Market is at war with the magicians, Merris has pitted Sin against Mae – a tourist – for leadership of the Market, and everything is coming apart around her. Sin needs a plan, and fast. Unfortunately, Sin is more of a doer than a thinker. Thinking is where Mae excels, and the pink haired tourist is winning the race for leadership despite Sin's lifelong service to the Market. Full review...
DMD Life Art and Me by Ian A Griffiths
Ian Griffiths suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - a form of muscular dystrophy which causes muscle degeneration. It begins in early childhood with difficulty in walking and progresses to cause problems with breathing and all the voluntary muscles. Ultimately it's fatal. Men and boys – it's linked to the X chromosome so affects only males – with the disease have a life expectancy of between the late teens and mid-twenties. Ian's in his mid-twenties now and he's written 'DMD Life: art and me' to explain what it really feels like to live with the disease. And when I say 'really feels like' I do mean that. Ian doesn't gloss over anything. Full review...
Newsflesh Trilogy: Deadline by Mira Grant
Ever since the untimely death of his sister, Shaun Mason has been alive, but not much more so than the zombies that populate his post-apocalyptic world. For the man who built a career on poking dead things with a stick, just for laughs, life's just no fun anymore. Full review...
The Golden Goose by Roberta Angeletti
The eldest of the three brothers set off to cut wood and on the way he met an old man who asked if he had any food. The brother refused as he would need what he had for his lunch. He gave the same answer when he was asked for water – but as he cut wood he injured his finger and had to return home, wondering all the time if the old man had anything to do with his injury. The next day the second brother went to cut wood – and much the same thing happened, only this time it was his toe that was injured. There was but one brother left and the two older brothers thought that he was too weak to cut wood. But when the brother met the old man he was happy to share what food and water he had and – well you don't really need to tell me what happened next, do you? Full review...
The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain
I feel that I've barely finished a Chamberlain review when up pops another of her books - such seems to be proliferation. The story opens with the build-up to the death of middle-aged midwife, Noelle. Her friends, all a little younger than herself and with families of their own, are busy getting on with their daily lives. But someone - suddenly - remembers they haven't heard from Noelle for some days. It's unusual as this group of chatty friends are forever phoning, texting or popping round to each other's houses. Full review...
One Two That's My Shoe by Alison Murray
We've met Grace and Georgie before, in the excellent Apple Pie ABC. She's the owner of the scampish dog, who then snaffled her apple pie and now is skedaddling with her shoe. As with the earlier book, Alison Murray takes a familiar rhyme (this time One Two Buckle My Shoe), tweaks it slightly, and tells a fresh story through her fantastic illustrations. Full review...
The Fearsome Beastie by Giles Paley-Phillips
When night comes, the fearsome beastie roams the streets, looking for children to eat. He's quite the monster and gobbles up some little 'uns, but doesn't notice little Pete, who enlists some help to do battle with the beastie. Full review...
The Summer of the Bear by Bella Pollen
Letty Fleming, recently widowed, is driving her three children hundreds of miles north to a new and hopefully happy life on a remote Scottish island. We get a peek at the personalities of the children straight away: Alba is opinionated and strong-willed, for example. Still young she's managed to acquire a list as long as her arm of her 'hates' in the world - fish, English teachers and doors which are ajar all feature and I didn't care as I couldn't help liking her. At least she knows her own mind. What will she be like when she's grown up, for heaven's sake? Full review...
