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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Fiennders Abbey by Jean Marsh
In was the end of the nineteenth century and the family at Fiennders Abbey might lead much more leisurely lives than the staff who kept the house running as it should, but their fortunes were inextricably linked. Mary Bowden was the tweenie when we first met her – she did all the dirty jobs which were beneath those higher up the ladder – as well as being the daughter of the gamekeeper. She was also intelligent, ambitious and very attractive with her straight, milk-blonde hair. As a child she'd always been very friendly with Richard, the son of the house, but it's not a friendship which either of their mothers wishes to foster. Full review...
The Barbarian Nurseries by Hector Tobar
The Torres-Thompsons seem to have it all. A beautiful home, two healthy boys and enough money not to have to worry about practical matters. The cherry on the cake is their employment of their maid Araceli. She works like a trouper and keeps the large house spick and span. She is lucky enough to have her own private quarters (if small and rather basic) in the back garden area. She knows within herself that she should be grateful, should really be jumping up and down with glee and thanking her lucky stars to have this job. She's managed to escape the poverty and violence of Mexico after all. But as she goes about her daily housekeeping duties she feels like some alien living on another plant. Planet America. Araceli is young, single and childless and at times she misses the hustle and bustle of her old life. And here Tobar gives an excellent account of the affluent part of LA where the Torres-Thompson's live - ' ... in this house on a hill high above the ocean, on a cul-de-sac absent of pedestrians or playing children, absent of traffic ...' Full review...
Pevsner: The Early Life: Germany and Art by Stephen Games
Nikolai Pewsner – the minor changes of name came as a young adult - was born in Saxony in 1902 into a Russian-Jewish family. Just too young to avoid having to take part in the war, he had studied art history at no less than four universities by the age of 22. He then became an assistant keeper at the Dresden Gemaldegalerie, and four years later he was appointed lecturer at Gottingen University. Full review...
And Rocky Too by Jayne Woodhouse
We first met Rocky when Anna's father, the feckless Pete, brought him home as the latest in his many money-making schemes which inevitably cost the family dear. This one was to have a longer-lasting effect than most though – through his affection for Rocky, the retired racing greyhound, Pete realised that he had to support his family and Anna's brother Darren made a friend of another boy. Even Wilf, the pensioner who lived next door found hidden talents and it looked as though the family was set fair, right? Full review...
The Bex Factor by Simon Packham
Reality TV, especially the kind of talent competition where the backstory of the contestants is as much a part of the programme as their performance on stage, is a part of most young people's lives. A whole culture has grown up which dangles big breaks, lucrative contracts and happiness-ever-after to those talented few who can sing or dance, or, better still, do both at once. Fourteen-year-old Bex dreams of singing her way to stardom via the latest TV show, called 'The Tingle Factor'. All she needs to do is persuade geeky Year Ten Matthew to accompany her on the guitar. Full review...
Mr Bliss by J R R Tolkien
If you wanted to produce a classic of children's literature, it would probably look a lot like this. It would be written by a famous name as a private exercise for their children, with the author's own illustrations. It would feature a title character, with a typical Edwardian headstrong attitude, yet with an ability to create slapstick. It may well have fairytale characters as you've never seen them before. And it would be presented in a deluxe, pristine heritage edition such as this. Full review...
Babar's Celesteville Games by Laurent de Brunhoff
Babar the elephant is the king of Celesteville, and this year his country is hosting the Worldwide Games. Athletes come from all over the world to compete. There is a fairytale romance for one of Babar's children, now grown up, too. Full review...
Rapunzel by Jutta Ash
Rapunzel is the story of a young man and his wife who long for a child of their own. Unfortunately, the wife also yearns to eat the lush rapunzel that grows in the garden next door. She pleads with her husband to fetch her some which he does. However he is spotted by the witch who lives there who tells him that in return for the rapunzel they must give her their first born child. This is a baby girl who is given the name Rapunzel. The witch imprisons her at the top of a tall tower and she can only be reached by the witch climbing up her long golden tresses. Full review...
Between by Jessica Warman
Elisabeth Valcher, a spoilt, vain but popular girl, wakes up after a party to celebrate her 18th birthday on her father's yacht to discover herself dead, lying face down in the water. Luckily for Liz, who has trouble remembering exactly who she is and what happened in the run up to her death, she is soon joined by another ghost, Alex, one of the unpopular boys from her high school, who was killed a year earlier in a hit and run accident. Full review...
Of Boys, Men and Mountains - Life in the Rhondda Valley by Roy Tomkinson
Roy Tomkinson comes over as pretty sentimental about aspects of his childhood. He was born into a family of boys, and surrounded by an extended family spread along the valley. He was a child in the nineteen fifties, when post-War austerity was still a feature of life in Wales. Nevertheless, discipline, love and understanding were meted out by his parents in equal measures to provide a strong platform for his childhood adventures. Roy and his gang grew up free-ranging the valley, teaching their dogs and ferrets to catch rats, trespassing on industrial land, learning about girls, and entirely missing the growing affluence of central Britain. For them, it was idyllic, and the author makes it clear, many times, how lucky he feels to have enjoyed such a stable childhood environment. Full review...
The Sun King by Nancy Mitford
Nancy Mitford assumes that you'll need no introduction to Louis XIV, who ascended the throne when he was four years old and reigned for well over seventy two years. To put him in context his reign began before Charles I was executed in Whitehall, lasted through the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth, the reigns of Charles I, James II, William III and into the beginning of the reign of Queen Anne. He bridged the gap between the middle ages and the early modern era. Full review...
The Drowning Pool by Syd Moore
The book opens with a group of young women out on the town, letting their hair down and having fun. Moore describes all of them in a fresh and modern voice which I really liked. It came across as a breath of fresh air. The story, Sarah's story is told by Sarah herself. But it's told from the perspective of looking back after it's all happened so there's lots of why-didn't-I-see-that-coming language. Hindsight, in a word. Full review...
The Girl on Paper by Guillaume Musso
This is a modern book for modern times. I loved the reader-friendly layout with big, bold type letting the reader know exactly where we were, in terms of storyline and location. But the story itself does jump about a lot and I suspect Musso wants to give a sense of urgency, a sense of frenetic energy at times. Full review...
Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge
The Fractured Realm is a country existing in an uneasy peace. Each province is ruled by the craftsmen guilds which hold ultimate control, an ineffective Duke, and citizens who honour a multitude of demi-gods, 'The Beloved', who haunt them their entire life. This is the world Mosca Mye inhabits. An orphan, Mosca is fostered by her aunt and uncle, who think little of her and use her as a bookkeeper due to her unique, and quite illegal, ability to read and write. She runs away the night she burns their mill to the ground. Full review...
The Friar of Carcassonne: Revolt Against the Inquisition in the Last Days of the Cathars by Stephen O'Shea
It starts with a painting. The painting isn't the point: the subject is. In the Autumn of 1319 a Franciscan Friar stands before his accusers. Entitled L'Agitateur du Languedoc the artwork portrays the trial of Bernard Délicieux, the eponymous Friar of Carcassonne. Although O'Shea veers clear of telling us the outcome of the trial, one cannot help feeling that it wasn't an acquittal. Such things tended not to go down in history quite so resoundingly. Not in those days. Full review...
Playground by 50 Cent
When Butterball fills a sock with batteries and attacks geeky Maurice in the playground, his school sends him off to twice-weekly meetings with a therapist. Butterball is not impressed. It's a waste of his time and he will never, never, tell anyone the truth about that day. Besides, any problem could be easily fixed if his mother just gave up on this idea of nursing school and moved them out of the stifling suburbs and back to New York City.
But Liz has other ideas... Full review...
Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
Carmen Bianchi plays the violin; in fact she might well be the best young violinist in the world. She plays a Stradivarius worth $1.2 million, provided by the grandparents who otherwise have little to do with her and she's managed by her mother, whose word is law. Schooling is provided by a home tutor – and she doesn't even get to knock on doors because of the possible damage to her hands: she kicks instead. So far she hasn't really minded that she doesn't have a life outside of violin, but then she meets Jeremy King – a fellow competitor in the world's most prestigious violin competition – and she has to think about her priorities. Full review...
The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle
Eric Carle's latest story consists of just 50 words, 10 animal paintings and two pictures of the young artist at work. Simply, a child creates a series of vibrant paintings of animals in unusual, striking colours, including a blue horse, a green lion and a multi-coloured, polka-dotted donkey. My own favourite is the purple fox. The child says, I am a good artist. Full review...
Why Are Orangutans Orange? by Mick O'Hare
Another year has passed, and once again we're treated to another offering from New Scientist's Last Word column. We've been here before, with Penguins, Polar Bears, Tornadoes, Elephants and Hamsters. Now it's time for the orangutan to find out why he's orange. Full review...
Darkness Falls by Mia James
April's not had the best time of it lately. First her family up and moved her clear across the country and sent her to an exclusive college full of the smartest (and apparently most beautiful) kids in the country. Then, while April was struggling to fit in, she discovered Ravenwood school's terrible secret - it's run by vampires. Full review...
The Thread by Victoria Hislop
I read and enjoyed Hislop's 'The Island' so I was looking forward to reading this book. The Prologue is May 2007 and readers are treated to a vivid coastal description of the area which is to play such a big part in the novel. Lines such as 'With the lifting haze, Mount Olympus gradually emerged far away across the Thermaic Gulf and the restful blues of sea and sky shrugged off their pale shroud.' Full review...
WCS Ultimate Adventure: Mars! (Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure) by David Borgenicht
How many endings do you prefer your books to have? This claims 24, is the reason I ask. I can't be sure that the original Fighting Fantasy books of old didn't have a lot more, as well as the combat process, but in this style of choose-your-own-adventure franchise, two dozen isn't too bad at all. It's a younger-styled decision-making read, for the under-thirteens, and follows Borgenicht's seeming lifelong plan to get all sorts of survival info, either vital or trivial, into as many books as possible. Full review...
Watson's Choice by Gladys Mitchell
Sir Bohun (that's pronounced 'Boon', in case you're wondering) Chantrey is not the brightest or most sensitive of men, but Sherlock Holmes is one of his great passions in life is Sherlock Holmes. To celebrate the great man's anniversary he throws a party at which the guests are invited to come as characters from the stories. Our heroine, Mrs Bradley, and her secretary Laura Menzies are among the guests but not everyone there is interested in Sherlock Holmes. Quite a few are interested in Chantrey's money and his announcement that he is to marry his poverty-stricken nursery governess provokes anger in certain quarters. Then the Hound of the Baskervilles makes an unscheduled appearance... Full review...
A Stitch in Time by Penelope Lively
Hunting for fossils on the Dorset coast is a pleasure which has delighted generations of families. And when Maria is taken by her father and mother to Lyme Regis for the summer holidays, she quickly becomes fascinated by the myriads of long-dead creatures which are still visible, fixed forever in the local grey-blue stone. Her interest in the history of the area leads her to make a friend – a rare occurrence for Maria, who can be painfully shy at times, and it involves her in a mystery. What sad event prevented Harriet from finishing the sampler? And how is it that Maria is aware of a dog barking, when no one else can hear it? Full review...
WCS Junior SurviveoPedia HC (Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook Junior Editions) by David Borgenicht
You probably recall all the Worst-Case Scenario books that were a big publishing phenomenon about a decade ago. They itemised things that might be a cause for concern, whether in the office, or the dating world, or the jungle. And then they seemed to run out of info, and vanish. But worry not, for the main instigator, David Borgenicht, is back, with a range of similar books for the junior audience. And here he offers a large format encyclopaedia pictorially warning us about dangers in the world around us, and offering advice for us to memorise so we can escape as best we can. Full review...
No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod
No Great Mischief is a novel which captures the essence of belonging and the need to be a part of one's history. This is the story of a small part of Clann Calum Ruadh, the people of Red Calum, emigrants to Canada. It sweeps from contemporary Toronto to evoke Cape Breton in the fifties and back to the clearances of Scottish history. MacLeod tells the tale with the dignity and stature of an ancient myth, holding up to our gaze what it means to be a part of a race, a family and a place. Full review...
Ten Things We Shouldn't Have Done by Sarah Mlynowski
April doesn't want to move to Cleveland with her dad and his new wife. She doesn't want to move to Paris with her mum either. So April decides the best thing to do is to move in with her best friend Vi, and Vi's mum. But, Vi's mum has recently landed herself the role as Mary Poppins in a travelling theatre, so she's not going to be home. That's not going to stop April from staying in Westport, armed with a couple of fake emails addresses the plan is set. Full review...
Temporary Perfections by Gianrico Carofiglio
This is the fourth book in the popular Guido Guerrieri series. The front cover is eye-catching, as is the title. As early as p.9 I could see that Carofiglio has a nice line in wit and irony. Ergo - 'When you appear before the Court of Cassation, you feel you're in an orderly world, part of a justice system that works ... the world is not orderly and justice is not served.' Full review...
CRYPT: The Gallows Curse by Andrew Hammond
A warning: do not begin to read this book while eating your lunch, as this unfortunate reviewer did. There's nothing quite like the description of people in an underground train being ripped apart, then having their faces chewed off by bugs, to put you off your egg and cress. In fact, you may develop a strong aversion to the whole of London Transport by the time you've finished this book, which will definitely not please Uncle Boris. Full review...
Finding Poland by Matthew Kelly
Looking at any historical map of Poland anyone may see how its borders have changed over the centuries. Where will you find the Polish home? One answer must be that it is founded deep in the hearts of the Polish people who fought for the liberty and the integrity of the Polish homeland. Now consider the promontory of land around Vilnius, or Wilno as it was then known, which was contained inside Poland in 1921. It was an area in which the small market town of Hruzdowa, comprising some 52 buildings and just large enough to warrant a town hall, was situated. These wild borderlands – known as the Kresy - were fought over for centuries by Austrians, Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Lithuanians. It was here that Matthew Kelly's great-grandfather, who had imbibed the values and élan of the dashing officer class, Rafal Ryzewscy, came to teach with his clever young wife, Hanna. They were deeply committed to progress through education and to peaceably raising their two little daughters. However, the dreadful and calamitous year of 1939, was approaching when Hitler and Stalin partitioned Poland in the most cynical pact. Full review...
Busy Monsters by William Giraldi
Charles Homar loves his Gillian. He's proved it to us, if not to her, by going after her possessive, jealous state trooper of an ex with the intent to kill - if only ended up rescuing a cat instead. But lo and behold, she's declared she's off to discover the real love of her life - the giant squid. Failing to stop this, Charlie spends too long with a Nessie obsessive, then goes on a hunt of his own - for Bigfoot, all the while, chapter by chapter, sending his narrative of the same to a magazine as essays for one of those autobiographical, frivolous columns. Full review...
The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks
Since watching the film of 'The Notebook' years ago I've always fancied reading some Nicholas Sparks books but never quite got around to it until I saw this, his newest offering. Here we have the tale of two childhood sweethearts whose love was always threatened by the fact that they were from opposite sides of the tracks - he from the rough, poor family that is forever on the wrong side of the law, and she from one of the better, respected families in the town. After life forces them apart they go on to live very different lives, but it seems that neither one has ever forgotten that early passion. Drawn back together for the funeral of an old friend they are both forced to look at the choices they've made in their lives and where they go to from here. Full review...
Pocket World in Figures 2012 by The Economist
There are some books which it's very difficult to review and Pocket World in Figures 2012 is a perfect example. Each year The Economist completely updates all the figures and reissues them in a format which, even if it won't fit into every pocket, is certainly going to be no problem in a briefcase or readily available in a desk drawer. And it is the type of book which you're going to want to have readily available. It's not a reference book to have tucked away on a shelf – once you find that it is superbly easy to use you're going to want to have it to hand. The problem is that the book is a very similar format every year, just as essential as the year before and still the book which it's unwise to loan to anyone as there's a strong chance it won't return. Full review...
Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars by Sonia Faleiro
In 2005, there were 1,500 dance bars in Bombay, so called because they employed women to dance to popular music. Bar dancers could earn a lot of money compared to women in other traditional female jobs outside the sex industry, such as cleaners. Many of them also slept with men for money, but because her job was dancing not sex, a bar dancer could also see herself as infinitely superior to sex workers, whether street prostitutes, those working in brothels or call girls. Full review...
How to Forget by Marius Brill
If you are a fan of the BBC's 'Hustle' series, you will absolutely love Marius Brill’s 'How to Forget'. It’s a funny, clever and twisted tale of grifters and con tricks with a bit of magic thrown in for good measure. Brill gives us a cast of strange characters: there's an ethically dubious brain scientist, a dodgy Derren Brown-type TV celebrity whose interests are guarded by two violent but somewhat hapless Hasidic Jewish thugs, an equally violent FBI agent and a female British copper. At the heart of the story though is an apparently naïve British magician, Peter, and a supreme grifter, Kate, in whose life Peter finds himself entangled. Full review...
Frederick by Leo Lionni
The story of Frederick starts by introducing a chatty family of field mice who live in a stone wall alongside a meadow not far from a barn and a granary. Unfortunately, the farmers have moved away meaning that there are not such rich pickings to collect for the winter. However, by working hard night and day the little family look like they could collect enough to see them through the long hard winter. Frederick is the only mouse who seems to see things slightly differently though. Instead of working as hard as his brothers and sisters, he spends his days staring at the meadow seemingly half asleep. Not surprisingly, the other hard working mice are none too pleased so they challenge Frederick. His answer amazes them when he claims that he is collecting supplies of a different sort – sun rays for the cold dark days ahead, colours for the grey winter and words for the long days when they might run out of things to say. Full review...
Fated by S G Browne
Clever and very funny, this is the sort of book where you immediately feel in safe hands. S.G. Browne has gone to town (New York), satirising just about every aspect of modern life, and my reading was continually interrupted by bells clanging loudly in recognition in my head. Full review...
