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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Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Three years after Mia lost her parents and brother, and nearly died herself, in a tragic accident in If I Stay, she's a rising star of classical music. Adam is a rock star. They haven't spoken for a long time. Until Mia plays a concert in New York, Adam attends, and she sends word for him to go backstage. Can Adam finally find out what went wrong with their relationship? Full review...
The Potter's Field by Andrea Camilleri
It was after a bad storm that a dismembered body emerged from a field of clay and everything about it - the single bullet in the base of the skull and the body cut into thirty pieces - suggested that this was a Mafia killing. But who is the dead man and why was he buried in Potter's Field? And why is it so difficult to get the anti-Mafia police interested in the case? It would be a testing case for Montalbano even without the problems caused by his second in command. Mimi Augelo (as Montalbano hears via Augelo's wife and his own girlfriend) is spending a lot of time on stakeouts - about which Montalbano knows nothing - and seems more than usually distracted by Dolores Alfano whose husband has gone missing on a sea voyage. Full review...
Tequila Sunset by Sam Hawken
Sam Hawken's Tequila Sunset is a gang land crime novel set across the border between the US and Mexico. The story centres on three people: Flip Morales is a young Latino American who gets somewhat unwillingly caught up in the Barrio Azteca gang after a stint in prison; Cristina Salas is an El Paso police officer - a single mother with an autistic child; and Matías Segura is a Mexican federal agent based in Ciudad Juárez with marriage issues. When the FBI launch a sting to catch the Azteca gang, all three will become involved with each other in a struggle against violence. Full review...
Wild Town (RSPB) by Mike Dilger
Would you like to know what about the thriving wildlife in Britain's towns and cities? What natural riches are out there, if only you know where (and how) to look? Wild Town will tell you. Divided into habitats - desert, grasslands, wetlands, forests, scrub, caves - the book describes animals, and some plants, to be found in each. You'll be amazed at what's out there. And you'll find out a lot about a teeming natural world right on your doorstep. It will tell you the best places to spot animals and plants - and, thanks to the wonderful photography, you'll have no trouble recognising them once you're there. From the iconic foxes and badgers to the less well known species of bird, amphibian and insect, it's all there in all its diversity and beauty. Full review...
Cold Days by Jim Butcher
Happy birthday Harry Dresden! And what a birthday as life becomes a little hectic for the Winter Court Knight. He returns to life in time to fight in the Winter Palace, have a near death experience at the hands of dark, mini-people, then is nearly killed again (by a friend this time) and his island of Demonreach is about to explode taking a chunk of the USA with it. He therefore has 24 hours to save some world. Oh, and you know those headaches he's been having? HIs head is on the verge of exploding too. Indeed, it's the sort of birthday that it's hardly worth reanimating for. Full review...
Old Bear Stories by Jane Hissey
The Old Bear stories are delightful. This collection brings together five stories into one book, introducing us to Old Bear, Little Bear, Jolly Tall and all the other toy friends. The toys look like all those lovely old fashioned toys that children used to have, jointed teddy bears and fuzzy rabbits, and the stories too have a sweet, old fashioned appeal. Full review...
The Winter of the Lions by Jan Costin Wagner and Anthea Bell (translator)
Detective Kimmo Joentaa braces himself for another Christmas as a widower. Whilst his colleagues celebrate, he seeks distraction but this year distraction isn't hiding that well. Larissa, a lady of the night (according to her) calls in to the police station to report a professional contra temps and becomes a little more than a crime report number. Then there's the murder. This may be a regular occurrence in Kimmo's line of work but this time it's different: the victim is the police medical examiner and, unfortunately, there will be others. Full review...
Through To You by Emily Hainsworth
Camden Pike is devastated by the death of his girlfriend Viv in a car accident, and blames himself for it. Then he meets Nina, a girl from a parallel universe. In her world, Viv is still alive, and he realises he doesn't have to let her go and he can be with this other her forever. Will he choose to give up everything he's ever known to be with the person he thought he'd lost, or let go of his girlfriend for good and stay in his own world? Full review...
Stranded by Emily Barr
After her marriage ends Esther finds herself dreaming of getting away, running away for a while, to an island paradise. She decides to make a trip to Malaysia, but a day trip out to a small, remote island finds her stranded there, along with several other people, when their guide does not return to pick them up. There is no way home without a boat. Will this group of stranded strangers manage to survive, or will suspicions and tensions get the better of them as they wait to be rescued? Full review...
The Kennedy Conspiracy by Michael White
The Kennedy assassination has been a topic of interest and conspiracy ever since it happened. A little while ago, Stephen King put his own take on that period of American history by using it as the basis for his novel 11/22/63. Now Michael White has done the same, taking a similar tack to King in wondering what would happen if people could go back to that period of time, but using the concept of rebirth instead of one of time travel. Full review...
VIII by HM Castor
Hal is a young boy who believes he is destined for greatness. Despite his father's disdain for him, and preference for his older brother Arthur, Hal believe that he is the subject of a prophecy. He thinks that his 'glory will live down the ages'. Is he right? Full review...
How to Think Like Sherlock: Improve Your Powers of Observation, Memory and Deduction by Daniel Smith
Whether you're a fan of the original Conan Doyle novels, have enjoyed the recent film and television representations of Sherlock Holmes or if, like me, the name always conjures up the image of Basil Rathbone you'll be impressed by the way that Holmes can reason and deduce. You've probably wished that you were capable of some of the mental acrobatics which he performs. Much of his prowess is down to being a fictional character (of course) but it is possible to improve your powers of observation, memory and deduction by exercising your brain. Daniel Smith has some suggestions to get us started. Full review...
Maybe They'll Remember Me by Philip S Newey
When Gregory receives a letter from an ageing actress requesting his presence, he takes the only sensible action: he hops on a plane to Switzerland to visit her home. Whilst there, she reveals a multi-layered story that helps him understand more about his parents' life, and by association, his life. Full review...
The Folly of the World by Jesse Bullington
It is the 1420s, and a lot of what we now think of as The Netherlands is underwater. Crossing the deluge is a most unlikely trio – a posh man seeking something with the help of the others, including a girl who has survived his sometimes-fatal test, and a manic fellow fresh from saving himself upon the gallows, who might or might not have been down to hell in the interim. What that quest is, and how it will lead to nightmares, deaths galore and a lot of other interesting parts of the story, is for you to discover, in this absorbing cross-genre piece. Full review...
The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan
The elderly Mary McAllister is a recluse, and most of the residents of Mill River know very little about her other than that she lives alone in the grand marble house overlooking the town, never venturing out. Father O’Brien, the local priest, is the exception, having known Mary since she was young and officiated at her wedding. Only he knows her secrets and the motives behind why she stays tucked away from prying eyes. As the story moves from her early marriage to the present day, he is her constant companion and link to the outside world. Full review...
The Kingdom of Bones by Stephen Gallagher
'If you like this sort of thing…' reads a line from Stephen Gallagher's 'The Kingdom of Bones', 'then here comes the kind of thing you’ll like'. It’s describing the opening music for a theatrical number, but it’s an almost perfect tagline for The Kingdom of Bones itself. If you like Victorians, vaudeville and villainy, if you like prize-fighting and police chases and possession by the Devil, then here comes 'The Kingdom of Bones'. It’s the kind of thing that you’re really going to like. Full review...
The Return of the Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
I've recently been discovering the original works of Raymond Chandler which, like many people, I'd only really known from the Hollywood renditions. A natural, if backwards, progression from there was clearly to the writer that Chandler called 'the ace performer', the man 'who did over and over again what only the best writers ever do at all'. Full review...
Standing in Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin
I've always had the suspicion that Ian Rankin thought too much of John Rebus to allow him to fade away and he'd certainly not kill him off, so it's an elegant solution to bring him back as a civilian attached to the police force and working on cold cases. It's purely by accident that he encounters Nina Hazlitt whose daughter Sally disappeared whilst on a trip to Aviemore many years before. Her body has never been found and her mother is still determined that she will find out what happened to her. She has some other information too - other girls have gone missing and there's a common thread. They all disappeared from close to the A9 over a period of years. Rebus is intrigued - and it won't hurt to have a look at the files, will it? Full review...
Tales for Great Grandchildren by John Jackson and Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini
I love old folk tales and fables. The treasure chest of myth and legend contains universal stories, as relevant today as they were in the ancient communities in which they were first told. They speak of love, loss, jealousy, courage, cowardice and grief. They wonder about the world in which we live. They offer explanations, some magical, some plain common sense. They're joyful. They're sad. And sometimes they're frightening. They have all the light and shade that adds up to the human experience. Full review...
Pegasus and The Origins of Olympus by Kate O'Hearn
As Emily watches her beloved Pegasus fade away due to a mysterious deadly plague she knows that she must do everything she can to save her old friend. This decision sends her on a thrilling and dangerous journey back in time to Ancient Greece and the origins of mythology. She discovers new allies from both ancient times and the modern day but also terrifying enemies who test her powers and courage. In addition Emily also has to struggle with her long running conflict with the secret government agency, the sinister C.R.U. Together with her friend Joel, Emily finds herself facing a colossal battle that she must win in order to save the Olympians in this fantasy adventure. Full review...
Unthology: No. 3 by Robin Jones and Ashley Stokes (Editors)
Unthank Books have brought out their third annual short story 'unthology'. (See what they did there?) The series is described as showcasing the unconventional, unpredictable and experimental which is correct as far as it goes. They omit words that I personally would have included; words like 'refreshing' and 'excitingly different' because, if I needed to be convinced about short stories (and, being a fan, I don't) they would be the clincher. Full review...
Seconds Away by Harlan Coben
Mickey Bolitar has had enough excitement to last him a lifetime. Helping the Abeona Shelter to rescue his girlfriend Ashley almost saw his best friend Ema killed, but it seems Mickey and his friends aren't out of the woods yet. A shooting has left Rachel - gorgeous, popular Rachel, whose smile makes Mickey's stomach flip - in hospital, her mother dead. The Chief of Police - also Rachel's boyfriend's father - is acting shady, and Rachel herself is sending Mickey cryptic text messages, begging him not to tell anyone else she's speaking to him. Full review...
Discover the Awesome World by Camilla de la Bedoyere, John Farndon, Ian Graham, Richard Platt and Philip Steele
Back in 2011 I was impressed by Discover the Extreme World by Camilla de la Bedoyere, Clive Gifford, John Farndon, Steve Parker, Stewart Ross and Philip Steele. I said that In my day it would have been called an encyclopaedia. It would have had a lot more text, been rather dull – and remained largely unread by those who received it as a worthy present, but with that book you needed to start at the opposite end of the scale. It's about visual impact. A fact is linked to a picture and the more striking the better – and only then is it explained. The text is as simple as possible – clear, unambiguous wording which drives the point home as quickly as possible. The layout encourages you to move the book so that you see the pictures better and can read the words. It's fun and (say it quietly) it's educational. Now I'm not in the habit of recycling reviews (honest!) but sometimes you know that you can't say it any better as exactly the same comments apply to Discover the Awesome World. Full review...
Crow Boy by Philip Caveney
Life is tough for Tom Afflick. He's the new boy at school — never a happy situation — and some of his classmates take every opportunity to bully him. They laugh at his accent, and once they find out his mum ran away from her English husband and is now living with the unlovely Hamish, then things go from bad to worse. He misses his friends back in Manchester, and his dad seems to be making barely any effort whatsoever to contact him. Then he makes a huge mistake: on the school trip to Mary King's Close (a real place, by the way, which you can visit next time you're in Edinburgh) he reveals that he already knows a lot about the beginnings of the plague because his class had already studied it, back in his old school. His fate is sealed, and number-one bully Gillies promises to thump him as soon as the teacher is out of sight. Full review...
The Oxford Treasury of Fairy Tales by Geraldine McCaughrean and Sophy Williams
In this lovely collection of twenty fairy tales there's a brilliant range of stories. There are familiar favourites, such as 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Hansel and Gretel', but then there are others which were new to me such as 'The Three Oranges' and 'The Thirteenth Child'. There's something for everyone really, with princess stories, witches and frogs, magical items and mysterious happenings! Full review...
For the Love of Letters: The Joy of Slow Communication by John O'Connell
With the advent of mobile phones and e-mail, is there still a place for good old-fashioned letter-writing in the world today? John O'Connell certainly thinks there is, and has written a compelling argument in this book which, if you haven't put pen to paper for some time, may be enough to remind you of the benefits of slower correspondence in today's high-speed world. Full review...
The Pelican Who Couldn't by Neil Griffiths and Peggy Collins
Two pelicans stood on a rock attempting to outdo each other over what they could eat, getting more outrageous with every mouthful and with most of their fun coming from their can, can't arguments with each other. Every parent will recognise the symptoms! But beware for this is a cautionary tale and it doesn't have a happy outcome. When one pelican attempted to gobble up a shark what happened was inevitable, with just the one pelican left standing on the rock... Full review...
How To Be Danish: From Lego to Lund. A Short Introduction to the State of Denmark by Patrick Kingsley
First, the bad news. This slim volume won't actually tell you how to become a Danish person, despite the title. What it will do, though, is give you a new appreciation for the people of Denmark, and quite possibly make you want to jump on the first plane to Copenhagen to savour what is, according to the United Nations, the happiest country in the world. Full review...
Black Cats and Evil Eyes: A Book of Old-Fashioned Superstitions by Chloe Rhodes
If you had asked me I would have said that I was not in the least superstitious. I don't have a horseshoe hung outside the house, don't have any concerns about the date 'Friday the 13th' and accept that a broken mirror is an unfortunate accident rather than a blight on my life for the next seven years. After all, it's simply a matter of applying logic to the situation. There are sensible reasons for not walking under ladders or opening an umbrella is the house. Not passing someone on the stairs is just being safety conscious, isn't it? Then my husband sneezed. Full review...
The Babylon Gene by Alex Churton
Author of popular scientific philosophy, Dr Toby Ashe, is also a covert member of 'Oddballs', a multi-skilled section of British Intelligence. Their purpose is to profile and identify the rise of terrorists and their organisations before too much damage is done. Full review...
Doppler by Erlend Loe
Meet Doppler. He describes himself late in this as 'a failed man of my time. Or just a man of a failed time. Depending on how you look at it.' The typical Oslo resident, a diligent career man with a young family, he falls off his mountain bike one day and has a kind of epiphany, deciding to avoid everyone else and live alone in the forest. The book starts when he gains a companion however – he is short of food and drink and kills an elk, only to find the animal's baby latching on to him and forming an unbreakable bond… Full review...
My Mother Was An Upright Piano: Fictions by Tania Hershman
It's said that the art of short-story writing is totally different from that of novels as the writer only has ten or so pages to accomplish what others do in two to three hundred. Imagine, therefore, telling an entire story in prose conveying depth and meaning in fewer words than this review. It may be difficult but, apparently, not downright impossible as Tania Hershman has nailed it with honours. In fact her first collection The White Road was commended by the Orange Prize judges of 2009. Full review...
Elijah's Mermaid by Essie Fox
Author Augustus Lamb receives a shocking letter from his publisher and old friend Frederick Hall. Hall has discovered Lamb's small grandchildren, Lily and Elijah, in a London home for foundlings. Lamb's son Gabriel had died after a socially unacceptable liaison with beautiful Italian Isabella who subsequently disappeared. Delighted beyond words at Hall's discovery, Augustus adopts the twins, raising them in his Herefordshire country home, Kingsland House. There the children grow, happy and loved. Full review...
Mum's Cronky Car by Anita Pouroulis and Jon Lycett-Smith
Mum's car is, well, not the most recent model. In fact it's falling apart and wouldn't even start if it didn't get a push from Dad. The journey to school in this patchwork car held together by bits of string and willpower is full of uncertainty. When they stop at the traffic lights will the car move again - and when it just dies in traffic what can they do? Then one day something rather magical happens. They're stalled in traffic, wondering what to do next, when the car drifts into the sky and flies them all to the school gates. Suddenly this isn't an old wreck but an adventure. Full review...
Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher
"Zoe" has a terrible secret. She feels responsible for the death of a boy. It burns and burns and she has a huge need to confess but has no-one to confess to. And so she decides to become the pen pal of a prisoner on death row in Texas. Her letters to Stuart tell both her story and his. Zoe is a pseudonym - as is her address in "Fiction Road" - but the tale she tells in midnight writing sessions in the garden shed, is true. It's the story of family tension, of a love triangle, and of a grief and guilt almost too big to bear... Full review...
The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri
The rain was dreadful and when he left for work Montalbano had only driven a matter of yards before he found that part of the road had been washed away, but it led to an encounter with a strange young woman, who - in turn - made Montalbano curious about a yacht in the harbour. He should have been concentrating on the corpse found floating in a dinghy at the harbour mouth but it was the Vanna which seemed to keep surfacing in his thoughts. Well, when he wasn't thinking about Lieutenant Belladonna - Laura - at the Harbour authority that is. She wasn't strange at all. Full review...
The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech
Naomi lives with her foster parents, Nula and Joe. She is afraid of dogs - one of her arms is useless after the dog attack that killed her father when she was just a baby. Nula and Joe aren't demonstrative, but Nula knows deep in her soul that she is loved and wanted. Best friend Lizzie is a perfect foil for Naomi. She's garrulous while Naomi is introspective. Outgoing while Naomi is reserved. She's openhearted while Naomi is cautious. Their friendship is the whole made by two very disparate halves. And then, one day, a boy falls out of a tree. Finn is nothing like anyone either girl has met before. And before she knows it, Naomi is beginning to question her friendship with Lizzie. Full review...
Elmer, Rose and Super El by David McKee
Elmer, the patchwork elephant, his cousin Wilbur and some of their friends were listening to a distant noise. Elmer agreed that it sounded like a herd of elephants but it wasn't his herd. He and Wilbur set off to find out what was happening. It was the herd of pink elephants, which included Elmer's friend, Rose and Old who was celebrating his hundredth birthday. As Old stood at the top of the cliff all the other elephants began stamping their feet - and the cliff gave way. Old was left stranded on a column of rock which was crumbling ominously. This was a job for Super El. Full review...
The Cook by Wayne Macauley
Frasier’s Law states that if you flick through the TV channels long enough, no matter what time of day or night you will eventually stumble across Kelsey Grammar enjoying a cappuccino in Café Nervosa in the greatest sitcom spin off of them all. Full review...
The Valentine's Card by Juliet Ashton
Orla, a primary school teacher, is still at home in Ireland while actor boyfriend Sim works over in London, but although it’s hard to be apart, there are some benefits to doing the long distance thing, not least Sim’s awesome card writing skills. So when Valentine’s day comes around, Orla is excited for what the day might bring. She’s expecting a little something in the post, but she’s not expecting the phone call that comes, nor the news that comes with it. Sim has died, suddenly. And it’s not just his life that is over. On the verge of a proposal, Orla feels her life is finished too. She flees to London to recover some of Sim’s possessions, taking with her the as yet unopened Valentine’s card he sent, with its unfulfilled promises. Full review...
It's Time For Bed by Adele Geras and Sophy Williams
It's bedtime for Little Hare but in the way of all small children he looks for ways to delay THAT moment. Mouse isn't in bed yet and a lullaby has to be sung to him. Then it's Bird who also needs a lullaby, as does Frog... Eventually Little Hare gets to bathtime - but then the ducks need a lullaby too. And when nearly EVERYONE - animals and toys - has had their lullaby - there's the inevitable drink of water and the last lullaby is for Little Hare. Full review...
Strange Meetings: The Lives of the Poets of the Great War by Harry Ricketts
The majority of recent books on the War Poets tend to focus on their lives during and immediately after the conflict. This enterprising account, borrowing its name from the poem by Wilfred Owen, takes a different approach in spanning a full fifty years or more. It begins with the first meeting of Siegfried Sassoon and Rupert Brooke at one of Eddie Marsh’s breakfasts in July 1914. Marsh was a tireless supporter of modern painters and after that promising new writers, particularly poets. The journey, or rather account of meetings, takes us to the western front and back to England, culminating in a reunion of two of the longest-lived, Sassoon and David Jones, in 1964. Full review...
Esme's Egg by Neil Griffith and Chistine Grove
Every day in the laying season Esme the hen laid an egg and every day Farmer Ferguson came along and removed it. Esme tried being a little bit devious but wherever she laid her egg Farmer Ferguson came along and took it away. Nothing daunted, Esme decided that she was going to follow her egg and so began a trip which involved a van and a warehouse and another van and finally a supermarket before Farmer Ferguson arrived to take Esme and six chicks back to the farm. Full review...
Krent Able's Big Book of Mischief by Krent Able
It's come to my attention recently that Knockabout books, with their growing library of graphic titles, have no intention in being at all literary – not for them the gently observant characterisation of some original graphic novels. Instead they seem to have a wilful regard for going even further than their house name suggests – wild, wacky and not afraid to present an upsetting image. With Krent Able they have the collaborator who will surely help them live up to that ethos like no other. Taken from the Stool Pigeon musical magazine, with some extra cartoons, are these strips of depravity, death in unlikely ways and revolting selections of body parts and fluids. Full review...
Where's the Meerkat? Journey Through Time by Paul Moran
It seems that one way for creators to keep kids poring over the pages of their books is to do what the people behind this have done – take most of the words out. There are a few hundred, giving us some brief story about a bunch of meerkats using a time machine, partly by accident, and therefore visiting several different major historical points in time, but one can ignore them, for it is the artwork that one has to scour for ten meerkats, a squirrel and a hawk. And that search is what is going to keep the young of all ages engaged in for quite some time… Full review...
Andy Bates: Modern Twists on Classic Dishes by Andy Bates
I do tire of cook books which regurgitate what are essentially the same recipes time after time. Sometimes food writers rework their own recipes - a tweak here, a change of emphasis there and you can have the same dish many times over, so it's a real breath of fresh air when you find a book which seems to have new ideas, or genuinely new approaches to classic dishes. Andy Bates has a classical background (working in a Michelin starred restaurant by the time he was seventeen and time in France to hone his skills) but his business is a stall in London's Whitecross street market. So - a perfect combination of technical knowledge, experience and knowing what people really want to eat. Full review...
Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor by Simon Callow
Once a towering presence on stage and screen, the star of fifty films and forty plays, Charles Laughton seems largely forgotten these days. As an actor of a younger generation and keen admirer of his work, Callow is well placed to bring him back to the fore. He notes in his preface that the man has increasingly slipped out of public consciousness, and even within his own profession he is virtually unknown to anybody under the age of forty Full review...
Dominion by C J Sansom
It's 1952 and twelve years since Churchill became Minister of War and Halifax took over from Chamberlain as Prime Minister. Churchill had thought that he might be able to run the war from that position but, Halifax, the appeaser, held sway and Britain surrendered to Germany in the aftermath of Dunkirk. Russia fought on, but it was a war of attrition rather than one which looked to come to a clear conclusion. The British people are under a violent, authoritarian rule and British Jews face a grim future. Winston Churchill - aged and possibly infirm - is the head of the Resistance organisation, but he's forced to live his life in hiding and on the run. Full review...
