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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Ratburger by David Walliams
There are lots of similarities between the style and plot of this book and those of Roald Dahl. First of all you have a child who is living in a situation so outrageously terrible that it becomes funny, and for whatever reason, all the other adults around don't seem capable of helping. The villain, while being fairly two-dimensional, has enough disgusting and frightening qualities to make readers shiver in delicious anticipation whenever they appear. And the miseries just keep piling up until it doesn't seem there's any way out. Full review...
The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling
It's hard to know how to describe my experience reading JK Rowling's new book, and her first departure from the world of Hogwarts. 'Liked it' doesn't seem appropriate, because I didn't really. I found it very bleak, depressing and disturbing to be honest. I have a friend who is reading it at the moment and she says she's really enjoying it, which just makes me shake my head because, really, this isn't the sort of book you enjoy. Full review...
Monsieur by Emma Becker
She is a twenty-year old student, with an average cleavage and a big bum. He is 45, a married cosmetic surgeon, and a friend of the family, having worked with her uncle for years. They might be an unlikely couple – at least outside the realms of erotic fiction they are – but as she puts it, she wants him to show me what a man was like, a real man, a man who could fill my body and my mind. The consequences are in this novel. Full review...
Poacher's Moon by Ann Cliff
Back in the middle of the nineteenth century it was village gossip when Judith Weaver 'took up' with Will Thorpe. Such matters are always talked about in a village but Judith's parents ran a successful bakery, whilst Will had little to recommend him. As time went on Judith left the village and Will suffered the consequences of his actions (it was, he said, only the one pheasant...) and when he returned to Kirkby he met and married someone else. Full review...
40 Uses for a Grandpa by Harriet Ziefert and Amanda Haley
It's amazing what you can do with a Grandpa - some you might well have thought about already, such as cash machine, taxi, dance partner and dictionary, but you might never have thought of using him as a basketball hoop, tailor or butler, but perhaps the most important of all forty in the book is friend. It's a delightful celebration of all that's wonderful about being a grandparent - and a grandchild. Full review...
Witch Hunt by Syd Moore
The history of witchcraft and the complexities of current social politics do not appear to be the easiest ingredients to blend smoothly into a novel. But Moore has achieved this, skilfully weaving the threads of the middle ages with the modern day. This achievement has also been mixed with some fascinating points about feminism, witchcraft and Essex stereotypes, all the while presenting them as the narrative of the protagonist, Sadie. Full review...
The Diaries of Nella Last: Writing in War and Peace by Patricia Malcolmson and Robert Malcolmson (Editors)
This work brings together a selection of some of Nella Last's diary entries from the 1940's and 1950's. She wrote from her home in Barrow-in-Furness as part of the Mass Observation project, writing a huge amount of material, some of which has already been published as Nella Last's War, Nella Last's Peace and Nella Last in the 1950s This volume brings together the three previous collections, with new material too, taking the reader through the war years and on into post-war Britain. Full review...
The Collini Case by Ferdinand von Schirach
'Later they would all remember it…the man was gigantic, and they all mentioned the smell of sweat'.
The man concerned is Fabrizio Collini, a quiet, respectable man, for thirty-four years a diligent worker at Mercedes Benz, an unexceptional person. Then, one day, he walked into a luxury Berlin hotel, up to the Brandenburg Suite and pulled a trigger. At least four times. Full review...
The Merde Factor by Stephen Clarke
Meet, if you haven't already, Paul West. Before now we've had four chances to meet him and see his struggles with all things French – their cuisine, their language, their social life and their bureaucracy – in order to run an English-styled tea-room in the trendier side of Paris. Four books then, and we might have expected him to have settled down into some form of success – were it not for the fact this is a comedy series. But no, he seems to still be in France on borrowed time, on borrowed (or sub-let) land, and things are certainly not turning out tres belle for him. Full review...
Dork Diaries: Dear Dork by Rachel Renee Russell
You can see how easy it would be for a series of children's books to settle into a stale formula, repeating the same idea time over time until the last drop of originality had dried in the sun and the coordinated covers were bleached into off-white. The characters got boring, their interactions meaningless, and the author covered old ground for the hell of it for one last buck. Now look at this series, and in particular this fifth full, proper title in it, and you'll see just how that hasn't happened. Full review...
In Glorious Technicolor: A Century of Film and How it has Shaped Us by Francine Stock
Many of us have been captivated from an early age by the world of movies, whether introduced to them by visits to the cinema, or watching them on TV, video and latterly DVD. Author and presenter Francine Stock’s lifelong love affair with the medium began when she was taken as a child to see ‘My Fair Lady’ on the large screen. A little later, for her the most memorable thing about the summer of 1970 was not the weather, but repeated viewings of ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’. Full review...
Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty and the Mad-Doctors in Victorian England by Sarah Wise
Many a family in Victorian England had a problem husband, wife, son or daughter whom they felt ought to be ‘locked away’. Only occasionally if ever was it for totally unselfish reasons connected with their mental health and well-being. More often than not it was to settle old scores, or so the family could get their hands on the victim’s fortune or business, or sometimes because, as the title of this book suggests, they were merely ‘inconvenient’. Full review...
A History of Football in 100 Objects by Gavin Mortimer
Given how long it's been played and how many books have been written about it, any new history of football needs to have some kind of hook to make it stand out. Gavin Mortimer may have found that, by presenting his history as A History of Football in 100 Objects. This prompts the question as to whether the whole of football could be reduced down to a mere century of objects. But then, if From 0 to Infinity in 26 Centuries by Chris Waring can make a history of maths worth reading, I guess anything is possible. Full review...
Rage Within (Dark Inside) by Jeyn Roberts
We left Aries, Michael, Clementine and Mason in a world they can barely recognise. After a series of devastating earthquakes many people changed. They became murderous monsters that the normal survivors called Baggers. There are few normal people left and they must hide in ruined cities, avoiding death at the hands of the Baggers. And in Rage Within, the battle for survival is about to get even tougher. The Baggers are organising themselves, clearing the streets of bodies and setting up worker camps for captured survivors. Full review...
God's Gift by John E Flannery
An ex-soap actor, Tommy Armstrong now hosts a successful Saturday night chat show. It covers entertainment and current affairs. Recently divorced, single Tommy enjoys bedding his researchers and then firing them. It's something to do, after all, no? And particularly enjoyable if they're willing to take it up the bum. Tommy likes bums. Irritatingly, the Dirty Bitch, aka Susan, Tommy's ex-wife, has forgotten all about bums and become a born-again Christian. Her new partner is a 21st century Mary Whitehouse, leading a campaign to clean up the media. Full review...
Bitter Seeds (The Milkweed Triptych) by Ian Tregillis
It's 1939 and Lt Commander Raybould 'Pip' Marsh of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service travels to Portugal to smuggle out Krasnopolsky, a fascist with a secret. However things don't go to plan. Krasnopolsky nerves are justified as, in the time it takes to order drinks, he spontaneously combusts. Marsh is too late to extinguish him but manages to retrieve Krasnopolsky's case to take back home. He finds the surprises keep on coming: it contains film footage of people becoming 'insubstantial' whilst walking through walls, others absorbing bullets and some bursting into flames with no apparent side-effects (unlike poor Mr Krasnopolsky). Marsh realises the Nazis' unconventional weapons need an unconventional response and so calls on Lord William Beauclerk who happens to be a warlock. Operation Milkweed is on so let other-worldly battle commence. Full review...
Ripley's Believe It or Not 2013 by Robert Leroy Ripley
You know it's getting near Christmas when you spot the annual Ripley's Believe It or Not, the celebration of all that's macabre, shocking, gruesome and frequently downright revolting - and that's just the people. Just wait until you get to the non-human items. We don't usually cover annuals at Bookbag because they've frequently gone out of fashion before too many months have passed, but these books can be read year after year and they're still going to make the average adult feel rather unwell. Yes - you're right. Kids are going to love it. Full review...
It Happened In Venice by Molly Hopkins
Evie is a tour guide who leads groups around Europe, but when we first meet her in Barbados she’s there for pleasure, not work. She’s back with Rob, her boyfriend who also works on the tour circuit. She’s just about forgiven him for cheating on her and this holiday and their subsequent moving in together with be a fresh start. Full review...
How to be Gorgeous: Smart Ways to Look and Feel Fabulous by Fiona Foden
The first point that author Fiona Foden stresses is that this is a book about how to be gorgeous, but she goes on to explain that this isn't just about having glossy hair, great skin and a wonderful dress (although she does admit that these help). It's about looking amazing, but still being you. It's about having confidence in who you are and having a positive energy about you. It's about having great friends - and being a great friend, in fact being the sort of person that everyone wants to know. She promises that most of what she suggests is not going to break the Bank - somethings are virtually, if not totally, free and it's all easy. So how does it live up to the promises? Full review...
The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally
Expectations ahead of Thomas Keneally's 'The Daughters of Mars' are understandably high. He regularly features on the Booker shortlist and has won the prize in the past with Shindler's Ark. While his subject matter, World War I, is hardly the most original, his slant on the story is, and this is a book that deserves to sit with the very best of the many books on that subject, including All Quiet on the Western Front and Birdsong. It's that good and that powerful. Full review...
Where Have You Been? by Joseph O'Connor
Irish novelist Joseph O'Connor has had quite a 2012. Earlier in the year he joined the ranks of such authors as Edna O'Brien, Roddy Doyle and Seamus Heaney when he became a recipient of the PEN award for his outstanding contribution to Irish literature. What could possibly top that for a sense of achievement? Well this, his first book of short stories in 20 years, must come pretty close to at least equalling it, amply illustrating the reasons for the panel's decision. Full review...
Dearest Rose by Rowan Coleman
Rose has finally escaped. For years she has put up with her bullying husband and lived with the sadness of her mother's suicide after her father left when she was a young girl. Only once, when she was heavily pregnant with her daughter Maddie, did anyone show her any warmth and kindness and treat her like a human being in her own right. That person was Frasier McCleod, an art dealer who had been trying to trace Rose's father, John Jacobs,who happened to be a very exciting artist. Although she couldn't help him, Frasier sent a postcard to thank her and it is the village pictured on that postcard that she makes her way to nine years later when she can put up with her husband's cruelty no more. Full review...
Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr
In the City of daimons, the fighting is raging. Not war - this is much more organised. The Carnival of Souls is a once in a generation opportunity to change your future. Lower caste Kaleb and Aya, fighting the prejudice agaist women, aim to do just that. Meanwhile, in our world, Mallory knows of the City's existence but not she and her father need to run away so much. These three are about to be drawn together, and the consequences for everyone could be huge. Full review...
Sit Down and Cheer: A History of Sport on TV by Martin Kelner
Like many English sports fans, the majority of the calories I burn are used up by shouting at the TV and occasionally going to the shops for more beer and crisps. Sports books tend to be about the sport itself or biographies of those who expended great effort to reach the top of their chosen sport. But in Martin Kelner's 'Sit Down and Cheer: A History of Sport on TV', there is finally a book for the less energetic among us. Full review...
The (Fairly) Magic Show and Other Stories by Rob Keeley
Hooray! Rob Keeley has written a second book of short stories. We really enjoyed the first one here at Bookbag Towers, so we were really looking forward to reading the second. Full review...
The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes
Helen Walsh is a Private Investigator. She's also back home living with her elderly parents (you've heard about Mammy Walsh, right?) because she can't keep up the mortgage or her (very small) flat in Dublin and she hasn't got an office either, for much the same reason. Work is decidedly thin on the ground and to make matters even worse some of her old demons have bubbled up. She's suffered from depression before and she knows the signs: those vultures in the sky were a bit of a giveaway. An old boyfriend resurfaces too. Jay Parker was always charming but too dodgy to be a keeper. It's a difficult choice when he wants to employ Helen but Jay has cash and he's putting on three gigs in Dublin. The trouble is that one of the members of former boyband Laddz, whose comeback starts the following week, has gone missing and without Wayne Diffney a lot of money is going to have to be repaid to the punters. Full review...
Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C Stead and Erin E Stead
Winter is drawing closer, and Bear has a story to tell his friends. Unfortunately, everyone is too busy to hear Bear's story as they are all trying to get ready for winter. Bear slowly, kindly, helps them all to get ready until all his friends are asleep or away, and so there is no one left to tell his story to. Will anyone want to listen when winter is finally over and they're all awake again? Full review...
Love and Other Dangerous Chemicals by Anthony Capella
Just when you thought you’d seen (read?) everything, comes this book, the story of the chemistry of Chemistry. Dr Steven J. Fisher is an Oxford scientist whose special area of interest is the female orgasm. His latest work is attracting interest from drug companies and the public alike for it’s an elusive subject: a pill that will do for women what Viagra did for men (and I don’t mean help their cardiac problems). Currently in the clinical trial stage, the results are looking promising until there’s a new addition to his group of guinea pigs in the form of Annie, a literature post-grad from the same university. Her lover (also her PhD supervisor) is keen for her to take part in the hope that Dr Fisher can fix her problem (and it is ‘her’ problem, not theirs). Simply put, Annie would rather read a good book than have a good… well, you can fill in your own rhyme here. Full review...
The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper by James Carnac
The Autobiography presents itself as the Ripper’s story told from his own perspective. The son of an impoverished doctor, young Carnac has a childhood obsession with blood which a series of unfortunate events morphs into a full-blown desire to slit human throats. It’s the typical Victorian coming-of-age story (from birth, to school, then first love and finally adulthood) with a twist, in that the path Carnac’s on leads him to become not a responsible adult but the most famous murderer of the nineteenth century. Full review...
The Martian War by Kevin J Anderson
Suppose H G Wells was not simply a skilled writer with a spectacular imagination, but was in fact centrally involved in a fantastical adventure which formed the basis for several of his most successful novels. Kevin J Anderson has supposed exactly this in his latest novel 'The Martian War'. Real historical figures such as Percival Lowell and T H Huxley share centre stage with famous Wellsian characters like Dr Moreau and Mr Cavor in a story that borrows elements from 'War of the Worlds', 'The First Men in the Moon', 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' and 'The Invisible Man'. Full review...
The Crime of Julian Wells by Thomas H Cook
American travel writer Julian Wells walks out of the house he shares with his sister, wanders down to the garden lake, rows himself out to the centre and slits his wrists. He dies alone as he silently watches his life drip into the water. Devastated, his friend and frequent travel companion Philip Anders, tries to come to terms with the loss the only way he can: by attempting to understand. Julian dedicated a book to Philip, mentioning a 'crime' that Philip had witnessed. Philip had always thought it to be a flip reference to his comment from years before that it would be a crime for Julian to waste time writing a certain piece, but, in the light of tragic events, is this actually the case? Is there a crime in the author's past? As Philip retraces the essence of Julian through his words, the places they visited and people they encountered he slowly uncovers secrets and a dangerous obsession. Full review...
