Book Reviews From The Bookbag
The Bookbag
Hello from The Bookbag, a 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. We can even direct you to help for custom book reviews! Visit www.everychildareader.org to get free writing tips and www.genecaresearchreports.com will help you get your paper written for free.
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The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters by Nadiya Hussain
The Amirs are dysfunctional: there's really no other way of putting it. They're of Bangladeshi origin and they're the only Muslim family in the small village of Wyvernage. On the surface they look to be happy, but actually each of the sisters is struggling in her own way. For the most part they're doing it quietly, but it's not always the case. The eldest is Fatima. Her name's often abbreviated to Fatti: it's not meant unkindly, but she's well upholstered and at thirty she's unmarried. Even her mother doesn't seem to think that there's much point in trying to find a husband for her. Full review...
Defender by G X Todd
We have all become strangers to each other and, worse still: enemies. The human spirit that once tethered us together has now divided us as surely as any ocean ever could.
Defender describes a post apocalyptic world in the which destructive voices have entered people's minds. In three short weeks, these voices have persuaded people to kill their most loved ones and themselves resulting in significant proportions of the worlds population being wiped out. Those who have survived, with voices and voiceless alike, are few and far between. Full review...
Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd: Dark Globe by Julian Palacios
There were few sadder casualties of the sixties music scene than Syd (real name Roger) Barrett. The original songwriting genius and front man of Pink Floyd, he burnt out all too soon. A few months in the spotlight were followed all too soon by a pathetic postscript of a stuttering solo career, and over three decades as a largely housebound recluse. Full review...
Charisma by Jeanne Ryan
Charismatic is exactly what Aislyn was not. She was shy, to the extent that she panicked when she was in large crowds. This shyness clearly affected her, and at the beginning of the book it showed how much of an impact it would have on her future had it been left untreated. Her best friend, Evie, knows just how bad it is and has tried multiple ways to help her, but to no avail. So, naturally, when Aislyn is offered Charisma, an underground drug with a guarantee to bring her out of her shell, she accepts it. Full review...
Star Wars Rogue One: Mission Files by Jason Fry
Out of several books I've seen to tie-in to the seventh official cinema movie in the Star Wars universe, this – and the resulting review – is the greatest source of spoilers. What you get is a surprisingly mature look at the background and events to Rogue One for such a juvenile book, with some fine stills photographs, and a volume that introduces all the main characters and gears you up to understand and enjoy a lot of the events of the film. So if you don't want to know those in advance, look away now. But certainly consider this as a purchase for reading once you've watched it. Full review...
Star Wars Rogue One Book and Model: Make Your Own U-wing (Star Wars Construction Books) by Katrina Pallant and Neal Manning
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… certain spacecraft were so brilliant they just became iconic. The huge one looming over the end of the pre-title crawl, the X-Wing, the Y-Wing, the Tie Fighters, the Colonial Vipers (whoops…). But come a new series, and come a new craft, the U-wing. Will it ever have the same instant recognition – especially as out of all the lettered craft I first mentioned, it looks the least like the character concerned? Well this is an attempt at forcing that to happen, and the end results, when displayed fully eleven inches long on your mantelpiece, may well just make that attempt succeed… Full review...
Star Wars Rogue One: Art of Colouring by Lucasfilm
Colour me happy that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is around. While I've not had the chance of seeing it yet, I'm dead chuffed it takes place at a central point of the main arc of films' storylines, and not some nebulous place elsewhere in that galaxy far, far away. Yes, it does do what the 'new trilogy' did, and have much more gloss and many more technologies than the films set after it, but what is not to like? Well, the expected expenditure on tie-in books and articles, I guess – several hundred pounds on one collector's card is a little steep. But seeing as I handily mentioned colouring above, in the vernacular, why not take it literally and use this large format paperback, promising 100 Images to Inspire Creativity? Full review...
In the Field by Jesse Loncraine
In the Field is essentially a story of two mothers who have been separated from their sons. Liz and her (adult) son Orin are both Western journalists, while Christine and her 12-year-old son Paul are from a remote village in East Africa. After major surgery, Liz flies to East Africa to find her son who has gone walkabout. At the same time, Christine is mourning the loss of her own family: her husband has been killed and her son abducted by militia. Full review...
Achaladair: There Is More Than Gold, in Them Thar Hills by William S Young
It's 1962 and Frank Mulholland and Tom Sommerville are two MI6 agents posted to the Scottish Highlands. Fresh from a recent mission involving Russian agents and IRA gunrunners in which they thwarted an attempt on US president John F Kennedy's life, they are enjoying life at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel with friends - the rest of their MI6 team, members of the local constabulary, and the Irish girls who work at the hotel. But their downtime is shortlived... Full review...
Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson is more cannon than man. He fires out more works than any other author of fantasy. Not only does he write an awe inspiring amount of novels, but he also writes various short fictions that go alongside them. And in here, for the first time, all the major ones are collected together. Full review...
A Fairy Tale For Christmas by Chrissie Manby
Kirsty meets Jon while working as a singer on a cruise ship. He is the impressive Director of Entertainment on board, and they fall into a relationship which Kirsty hopes will grow and develop into something special. When Jon announces he wants to return to England to his West Country seaside home, Kirsty is faced with a difficult decision: whether to follow him and cement their flourishing relationship or pursue her own career with a Cruise Line contract in the Caribbean. Full review...
Finisterre by Graham Hurley
The Second World War is almost lost but in a last, desperate roll of the dice the German High command launch Operation Finisterre. In America the apparent suicide of a scientist working on the atom bomb and off the coast of Spain the shipwreck of a German submarine, become catalysts as the plans spiral out of control, leading to a shattering climax. 'Finisterre' is a crime thriller packed with grit, suspense and style. Full review...
My Brain Is Out Of Control by Patrick Mbaya
Dr Patrick Mbaya was enjoying life as a consultant psychiatrist, husband and father. His career was going well and he enjoyed making ill people better. His marriage was solid and fulfilling and his two children were exploring their potential, often through the uplifting power of music. Life was good. But then... Full review...
Dadland: A Journey into Uncharted Territory by Keggie Carew
Keggie Carew is the second child of a most unorthodox father. On the one hand he's a left-handed stutterer with little to recommend him other than that he was a law unto himself and a complete maverick. But - born in 1919, the second world war found him being tested for SOE, Churchill's secret army, who were tasked with conducting espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe and later in South East Asia. Within a matter of months he would be parachuted into occupied France with the aim of supporting resistance groups ahead of the allied invasion of occupied France and carrying the rank of major - at the age of just 24. Later, in South East Asia he would be known as 'Lawrence of Burma' and worked with Aung San, the head of the Burma Defence Army (and father of Aung San Suu Kyi)and was at one stage plucked off the Irrawaddy by a flying boat, like James Bond. Full review...
British Airways Colouring Book by Paul Jarvis
Over the past couple of years we've seen a lot of colouring books: flowers, patterns, fantasy creatures, characters and settings from television shows, films and books and lots more, but I can't recollect that we've ever before had one which featured a company. Mind you, British Airways, is rather special; iconic and rather more long lasting than most passing celebrities. It has heritage and tradition. The British Airways Colouring Book is based on exclusive posters, photographs and artwork from the company's archives and the 46 images allow the reader to recreate these as they wish. There's a bonus too: on the facing page of each image there's a potted history. I passed the book to someone with an interest in BA and he found the book interesting and informative without even thinking of doing any colouring. Full review...
A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of the Columbine Tragedy by Sue Klebold
Sue Klebold's son Dylan was one of the shooters at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Her book opens on 20 April 1999, the day of the shootings. Klebold remembers the confusion and dread she and her husband and older son felt when they learned something was happening at Columbine. Early on they were told Dylan was a suspect, and before long they also knew he was dead, but they didn't know how he was involved or how he died. From the start, though, it was clear that there would be fallout: one of the first things they had to do, before they even cremated their son, was have a clandestine meeting with a lawyer. In the months that followed, they were essentially in hiding in their own hometown. Full review...
Rise of the Dust Child by James Young
An age has passed since the fall of the old world, and the rise of the malignant Dust people. Amongst the terrors of this new age, humanity still lingers within the wreckage of civilisation, held together by the promise of a better existence in the next life. But not all are satisfied by this dogma. Within the smoggy city of Fort Palmer, eight year old Doran and his friend Alena stand apart, struggling to retain the lost glory of their faith. But the unquiet dead and the forces of faith do not take kindly to those who try to fix a broken world. As the quest to save the future leads each of them down a dark path, they are cast apart - struggling to overcome the monstrous dusters and the fear within themselves, desperate to see each other again. Full review...
Lean Gains by Jonathan S Lee
I don't often begin a book by telling you what it isn't but in this case I think it's important. If you're a fairly sedentary person or a casual sportsman or woman looking to shed a few pounds then you won't get the best out of this book. You'll find some good advice about diet, but I'm afraid that much of it is going to go over your head. Of course you could always take up a sport seriously... On the other hand, if you are a serious sportsman then you could find that the advice in Lean Gains could lift you up to the next level of performance. Full review...
Radio Boy by Christian O'Connell
Meet Spike. There're two things he loves in life: Katherine Hamilton, the unattainable girl at school everyone does their best to warn him off, and radio. He is the youngest person volunteering for his local hospital station – he's read all the books and knows that's the best classroom to learn his trade in. But he's been sacked – the only listener recently was someone who'd died and not turned her radio off. Never mind, though, the horrid headmaster has always promised the school its own radio – but prime presenter will not be Spike, but the headmaster's own son, who is not only Katherine's squeeze but the biggest bully around. Is there any way for Spike to possibly get his lips to the mike and his talents on to the airwaves? Full review...
Hollywood Beauty: Vintage Secrets by Laura Slater
I have vivid memories from my youth of seeing the Hollywood beauties on the television or at the cinema and wishing that I could look like that and - of course, no matter how I tried, I never could. The look of Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Ava Gardner and Sofia Loren always eluded me. To begin with, I lacked knowledge. Despite being reasonably petite my oblong face was never going to look anything like Audrey Hepburn's. I lacked quite a few of Brigitte Bardot's attributes too. Gradually, I realised that developing my own style was the best way to go, but I'll confess that there are still elements of the stars' looks which I'd love to copy. That's where Vintage Secrets: Hollywood Beauty comes in. Full review...
A Bradford Apprenticeship by Donald Naismith
with all schools removed from their control and established as freestanding and self-governing academies. In effect this would (and possibly will) mean that what was once a national service, locally administered will become a local service, nationally administered. Donald Naismith is perhaps best known as the former Chief Education Officer of Richmond-upon-Thames, Croydon and then Wandsworth but his education and formative working years took place in his adopted home city of Bradford. In A Bradford Apprenticeship he gives us an affectionate tribute to the city which made him what he is and his thoughts on the education system. Bradford was once one of the country's leading education authorities and he values the opportunities it gave him to fine tune his thinking. Full review...
Then She Was Gone by Luca Veste
Tim Johnson took his baby daughter out one day and in the course of their walk he was attacked and the baby was stolen. But there was a problem: only Tim seemed to believe that there was a baby and the police were convinced that there was an entirely different crime and that Johnson was their only suspect. He went to prison and was largely forgotten about. Full review...
A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women: Essays on Art, Sex and the Mind by Siri Hustvedt
I must confess that A Woman Looking spoke to me on a profound, intimate level. This is in part due to the apparent similarities between me and Siri Hustvedt - we are both feminists who love art and also love science in a world which emphasises that these two passions are mutually exclusive. What Hustvedt suggests in A Woman Looking is that it is the similarities between these two areas we should emphasise and that a cohesive, inclusive approach towards art and science could help fill the gaps in both disciplines. Full review...
Tokyo Nights by Jim Douglas
Colin McCann, private detective, chronic smoker and dog lover, is charged with solving the mysterious death of the young and beautiful daughter of a wealthy businessman. The key facts of this case apparently hinge on the testimony of Charlie Davis, a ne'er do well dreamer with quick fists and a poet's heart. The only problem is that Charlie Davis has disappeared and appears to be unwilling to disclose his part in these tragic events. After some deliciously violent digging, McCann jets off to Tokyo and here is where the fun really begins… Full review...
