Book Reviews From The Bookbag
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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Ancient Worlds by Michael Scott
History can be perceived as a dusty academic backwater. Often viewed as an irrelevance in our modern world, as we race through the daily events of our lives. It is a subject that has suffered greatly in our education system, where there has always been a tendency to teach the subject in isolation, only focussing on the events that have shaped our own national identity. Michael Scott's new book offers a refreshing change. Ancient Worlds is thought provoking history for the general reader. Well researched and with a persuasive argument, he explores the interactions across three differing cultures. Interactions that provide a new perspective on our modern world. Full review...
Fell by Jenn Ashworth
Now her parents have died, Annette returns to sell her old childhood home but there's work to do on the decrepit building first. As she wanders around and tries to make some order of the overgrown shambles, she's watched by the ghost of her mother, Netty; a spirit with regrets. Netty reminisces about Annette's childhood and the turning point their lives reached when the mysterious healer Timothy Richardson came to stay. It was a time that promised so much but one for which Netty now needs to make amends, even if she is beyond the grave. Full review...
Act of God by Jill Ciment
Act of God is a story about two ageing twins who find a worrying mushroom growing in their cupboard, a landlady searching for the spotlight and a Russian immigrant whose greatest fear is insignificance. What the insurance company describes as an act of God brings their already overlapped, Brooklyn lives in to sharper focus. What do you do when disaster threatens? Is it survival of the fittest or should we love thy neighbour? Full review...
The Waking Fire: Book One of Draconis Memoria by Anthony Ryan
Mercenary Clayden Torcreek is blood-blessed, i.e. one of the few able to translate a few drops of drake's blood into an extraordinary attribute. It gets even better than that: Clayden is unregistered, making him unexpected and eminently hireable when the department of Exceptional Initiatives need someone to track the fabled white drake. His recruiter and contact is covert agent Lizanne Lethbridge who is currently gathering intelligence while posing as a maid to the spoilt young Tekela. It's worth it though – Tekela's father has something of interest. The problem is that Lizanne isn't the only one interested and so staying alive becomes increasingly difficult. Out at sea naval officer Hilemore is about to put his training to good use. Meanwhile in the inhospitable interior, Clayden's expedition only has to worry about savages and drakes of the gigantic, man-eating, fire breathing variety. That's alright then! Full review...
The Silent Land by David Dunham
Rebecca's mother dies just as 1903 turns over to 1904, triggering a move and total change of life for Rebecca and her father. They reluctantly (in Rebecca's case) leave village life behind them to enter the spotlight of London society. This will influence the young lady as she becomes a woman, falls in love and marries. However these changes are nothing compared to the conflict bubbling under the surface in Europe. The hot summer of 1914 is the prelude to loss in many lives, including Rebecca's. Full review...
Squish Squash Squeeze! by Tracey Corderoy and Jane Chapman
When Mouse moves into his new house, he thinks it's going to be perfect. But then he finds there's already quite a collection of animals he'll have to share with: he discovers a big brown bear behind the piano and a crocodile crammed in the bath. When a tiger comes whizzing down the bannister it becomes a bit of a squish, a squash and a squeeze. The animals don't know what to do until they hear a rumble under the floor – it looks like they're going to have an even bigger problem. Or are they? Full review...
Trio by Sue Gee
In the winter of 1936, Steven Coulter's wife, Margaret, dies of tuberculosis, leaving their Northumberland cottage cold and empty. His work as a history teacher at Kirkhoughton Boys' School isn't enough to distract him from his grief; he spends his long evenings writing letters to Margaret. Gradually, though, as spring arrives he starts to take an interest in other things. His colleague Frank Embleton invites him to a performance by the Hepplewick Trio: Frank's sister Diana on cello; pianist Margot Heslop, whose mother died when she was young and who looks after her father, a coal mine manager, at Hepplewick Hall; and their friend George Liddell, the violinist and leader, who is a Royal College of Music graduate. Full review...
Rainbow Dust: Three Centuries of Delight in British Butterflies by Peter Marren
Peter Marren is a wildlife writer based in Wiltshire. His fascination with butterflies began when he was a child: he still remembers catching a Painted Lady in his hands at the age of five and it transferring some of its colours onto his palm. Rainbow dust, he dubbed it. 'It was a Nabokov moment because only he could put into words what most of us can only feel: the frankly sensual moment in a child's life when the full force of nature is felt for the first time.' Full review...
The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon
Subhi is ten years old. He has lived his whole life in a detention centre for refugees in Australia. He is Rohingya and his mother and sister fled persecution in their native Burma while his mother was expecting him. They left Subhi's father behind and are waiting for him to join them. Subhi believes that his father is sending him secret messages contained in tokens that wash up from the Great Sea of his imagination. And these tokens mean a great deal to Subhi because the camp isn't a very nice place. His tent sleeps fifty people. The food is inedible. Water runs out on a regular basis. There's no school because the classroom burned down. And the guards? Well, with the exception of Harvey, they are not very nice people. Full review...
Children of Icarus by Caighlan Smith
Daedalum's children have one collective ambition. They pray to be chosen as Icarii - honoured ones between the ages of ten and sixteen who will enter the labyrinth, find their way through it to Alyssia, and become angels. Every child yearns to be chosen. Every parent yearns for their child to be chosen. Clara, our girl's best friend, is the most devout of everyone. She knows she is destined to become an angel. Our girl, though, does not want to be chosen. In her society, this is such a badge of shame that she keeps silent. And, along with Clara, chosen she is. Full review...
Nothing Tastes as Good by Claire Hennessy
As warnings against disordered eating go, this one is quite interesting. Annabel, you see, is already dead when we meet her. She got too thin and one day that was it, her body ceased to function. Her mind, however, is still sharp. Full review...
The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpence by Jennifer Bell
What exactly happened all those years ago when Granma had that car accident and lost her memory? Why is the man with the withered hands sneaking in and out of hospital rooms? And why is the policeman standing outside their house brandishing a . . . toilet brush? In this, the first in a series of three books about eleven-year-old Ivy and her fourteen-year-old brother Seb, we explore the mystery of the land beneath London, and why Ivy's family is so crucial to the future of life in both worlds. Full review...
Here I Stand by Amnesty International
Every so often Amnesty International gets together a number of great authors and produces an anthology of writing. This time, they've done it for younger readers with Here I Stand. Twenty-five contributions explore where we are with human rights in today's society: the sacrifices many made to win them; the sacrifices that still need to be made to spread them; how, where and why these rights are under attack and how deep is the need to defend them. Full review...
Lawless and the Flowers of Sin by William Sutton
Much of this book centres on, as we are accustomed to in tales of Victorian London, dastardly deeds done on a foggy night. Indeed the fog runs thick through this novel, draping the seedy events in a soupy broth of vice. Our hero, Lawless, rather ironically, is that most rare of birds, an honest detective, although as we learn he, himself, is not without his vices. What becomes clear however is that he is something of a social crusader when his eyes are opened to the misery and degradation faced by 'fallen' women. At its heart, the Flowers of Sin is a detective story, with Lawless given an impossible task to complete alongside solving a seemingly impossible crime. Along the way he meets a rag tag bunch of misfits who help, hurt and hinder our hero. There is romance and intrigue along the way as well as a sensational public trial, murder and episodes of mayhem. Full review...
I Found You by Lisa Jewell
A man is missing, and his new wife is worried. Miles away, a man is found alone and confused on a beach, and his new friend is concerned. Are the two in any way connected and what events have occurred, in the past and in the present, to lead us all here? Full review...
Silent Scream by Angela Marsons
In Silent Scream, D.I Kim Stone is called to investigate the body of a woman found dead in the bath of a house that has been set on fire. As Stone and her team start to investigate the suspicious circumstances, it becomes clear that this isn't going to be an isolated case and they are in a race against the clock to find out who could be next on the killer's hit list and why. Full review...
One is Not a Pair by Britta Teckentrup
I was the type of child that would sit indoors on a sunny day with their head in a puzzle book rather than getting anything important like Vitamin D. I may be pasty white nowadays, but at least I know my way around a good spot-the-difference book when I see one. And I spy with my little eye, one right here. Full review...
Life According to Dani by Rose Lagercrantz and Eva Eriksson
Meet Dani – and if you haven't throughout the three previous books then you certainly should. Her life has been up and down, considering she's only just finished the first year of primary school, but at the moment it's on the up, with caveats. She's in an idyllic place – staying with the best friend imaginable for the entire summer holidays, on what might as well be a private island, and in constant contact with her father. The caveats concern what happened in book three and the fact that her father has been run over, but at least he calls every night at teatime. Until, that is, the night that he doesn't… Full review...
Oh, Freedom! by Francesco D'Adamo
I don't want my children to grow up as slaves…
Oh, Freedom, set in 1850 Alabama, follows the journey of a black cotton-picking family as they attempt a perilous journey to Canada in search of freedom. Before their escape, they simply existed as slaves living on a plantation under the ownership of the infamous Captain Archer - a white man who, to their eyes, owned the world. The family knew nothing else of the world except toiling the land under the watchful master's gaze and whip from dusk till dawn. One early evening in May 1850, the family are visited by a mysterious stranger known only as Peg Leg Joe who carried a large bottle of beer, a banjo and a promise of freedom. He becomes the family's guide to lead them from the plantation along the Underground Railroad; in search of Canada for a life they have barely dared to dream of. The family knew of only one thing: the journey would be fraught with danger which Francesco D'Adamo captures brilliantly with his atmospheric writing style. Full review...
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
Twenty –two year old Tess is a restless graduate from a broken family. With the intention of finally starting her life, she moves to New York City with no real plan but a need to do something. She manages to get a job at one of the most exclusive restaurants in town as a back-waiter and Tess is thrown into the comforting commotion of New York life. It's at her new job that she becomes fascinated by two people: Simone, a know-it-all server and Jake, a handsome yet moody bartender. While the restaurant becomes her home and her colleagues her new family, Sweetbitter follows Tess through a year of her life as she grows and learns about the complexities of human relationships. Full review...
Weatherland: Writers and artists under English skies by Alexandra Harris
The story of English culture over a thousand years can be told as the story of changing ideas about the weather. A sweeping panorama, Weatherland explores how writers and artists, looking up at the same skies and walking in the brisk air, have felt very different things. A journey through centuries and cultures, Harris walks the reader through misty moor and foggy fen, lays with them on bright sunlit beaches, treks with them to stormy summits, and introduces them to a fascinating cast of writers, artists and cultural figures along the way. Full review...
Rent a Bridesmaid by Jacqueline Wilson
This story starts with a dress – a beautiful bridesmaid dress the colour of raspberry ice cream. The dress belongs to Tilly's best friend Matty but Matty is a tomboy and, as soon as her aunt's wedding is over, she gives the dress to Tilly. It's Tilly's dream to be a bridesmaid but she doesn't know anyone who's likely to get married. That's why she and Matty dream up the perfect solution: they advertise in case anyone wants to rent-a-bridesmaid. And it works. Tilly is invited to be bridesmaid at three very different weddings. She even ends up being featured on television. This television news report proves to be important as it sparks a chain of events that help Tilly finally deal with the other issues in her life. Full review...
Forgotten History: Unbelievable Moments from the Past by Jem Duducu
The numerous highways, byways and tangents of the chronicle of our life on earth provide the raw rata for any number of alternative histories, and in this book Jem Duducu has trawled magnificently through the ages from several centuries BC up to the present day. Full review...
Build Your Own Website: Create with Code by CoderDojo
The Nanonauts want a website for their band, and who better to build it for them than the CoderDojo network of free computing clubs for young people? In this handbook, created in conjunction with the CoderDojo Foundation, children of seven plus will learn how to build a website using HTML, CSS and Javascript. Don't worry too much if some of those words don't mean anything to you - all will be made clear as you read through the book. There's also information about how to start a CoderDojo Nano club with friends - which has great benefits in terms of harnessing creativity, learning how to code - and the benefits of teamwork. Full review...
See Inside Dinosaurs by Michael Bright
What would you do if the doorbell rang and when you opened the door you saw a giant Trojan-Horse waiting for you? I for one would not drag the thing in; it would be too big and could be full of angry Greeks. The same could be said of See inside Dinosaurs by Michael Bright. You may think that you are buying one thing, but instead you are getting an impressive triceratops skeleton, or a T-Rex model, or maybe even a book. Full review...
You Were Never Really Here by Jonathan Ames
He came up with a plan, a solution, a way to live, which was to get very small and very quiet and leave no wake. So he had to be pure. He had to be holy. He had to be contained. He is Joe, an ex-Marine, ex-FBI, who has had demons drummed into him by not only his work but his abusive father, with the help of a hammer. Having left one of his own hammers behind in a hotel room, only to need it in an introductory scuffle which really places the reader in a dark and grim place, he moves on to the next job on his list – rescuing the daughter of a Senator. But are that holy lack of wake and his consummate survival skills actually going to be enough? Full review...
Forestry Flavours of the Month: The Changing Face of World Forestry by Alastair Fraser
Alastair Fraser's experience of forestry spans more than five decades and having the benefit of the long view he's ideally placed to consider the changes which have occurred over the course of his career. He also has the ability, not as common as it ought to be amongst professionals, of being able to look at what he does both from the point of view of the business and the people who work in it and are affected by it. There's a lack of tunnel vision too: he sees what's happening in forestry both in the narrow focus and where it sits globally so far as economics and politics are concerned. Full review...
The Race by Nina Allan
The Race alternates between our world and that of one set in a future Earth scarred by fracking and ecological collapse. In our world, the story follows Christy, a young aspiring writer whose mother left when she was only 15 and whose life is dominated by fear of her brother, a man capable of monstrous acts. Meanwhile, in Sapphire a world similar to our own yet very different, with the entire economy funded by illegal smart dog racing, we encounter Jenna Hoolman whose young niece is kidnapped at the tender age of 4. We also learn about Alex, a man who can help Christy uncover the truth behind her past as well as Maree, an intelligent young woman who has the power to change the world forever. Full review...
Nemesis – The Hunt For Brazil's Most Wanted Criminal by Misha Glenny
Many of us have had a 'Sliding Doors' moment. A single incident that grabs life by the shoulders and shoves it in a completely new and unexpected direction. Few can have travelled quite so far, quite so quickly as Antonio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, aka Nem. Full review...
Wings: Spitfire by Tom Palmer
Greg is fed up with playing in goal. He reckons things only happen to you there. The other players get to make them happen. The summer school isn't turning out how he'd hoped at all. The old airfield next to the school freaks Greg out … but when he starts on a model of an old Spitfire, he's propelled into an adventure that will really show him what it means to take control … Full review...
Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
Brett-Marie has never met a kitchen she doesn't want to clean. In fact, permanently armed with bicarbonate of soda and window cleaner, she's always ready to clean anything. Her husband Kent is an entrepreneur, you know, with excellent taste and expensive clothes. Yet here she is, in Borg, a rundown small town, in search of her first job for 40 years. Life takes some odd turns sometimes. Full review...
