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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Miss Appleby's Academy by Elizabeth Gill
After forsaking her own chance of happiness to care for her aging father, Emma Appleby’s life is thrown into turmoil when he dies suddenly, leaving her fate entirely in the hands of her callous brother Laurence. Laurence and his wife view the middle-aged spinster as a burden and are keen to marry her off to an elderly neighbour to free themselves of responsibility. With seemingly nowhere to turn, Emma flees America to make a new life for herself in her childhood home of County Durham. Full review...
Cheek by Jowl: A History of Neighbours by Emily Cockayne
As Emily Cockayne emphasises at the beginning of the first chapter, almost everyone has a neighbour; if you have a neighbour, you are one yourself; and neighbours can enrich or ruin our lives. In this engaging book, she takes various case studies and anecdotes of living side by side in Britain from around 1200 to the present day. Full review...
Fractured by Teri Terry
As a teen criminal in Lorder-run Britain, Kyla was slated - her memories erased and her personality "reset". But Kyla wasn't like the other Slateds - she retained tantalising memories of her previous life. Fractured picks up Kyla's story after she's lost Ben and just as a mysterious man from her past comes back into her life. It seems that Kyla's memories represent more than just a failed slating. She has a role to play in the fight against the Lorders. But it's not as easy as that. Is Kyla a victim? A freedom fighter? A terrorist? And can the end ever justify the means? The more Kyla learns about her history, the more such questions burn. And the more danger she finds herself in... Full review...
The Coldest War (Milkweed Triptych) by Ian Tregillis
England 1963: The war is over, Hitler defeated and the Russians (Britain's ally) retain most of mainland Europe. The Briton in the street believes that it was Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain that saved the nation but ex-naval intelligence officer Raybould 'Pip' Marsh and his former friend Lord William Beauclerk know differently. The nation was saved by warlocks like Lord Will, the same warlocks that are now being murdered. However, fighting over, Pip and Will are both war-weary and want to be left alone but the Secret Intelligence Service has other ideas. For the Nazi experimental 'willpower' children are now adult and assembling in England, still equipped with the super powers of their childhood. This means Will and Pip have old scores to settle and greater evils waiting to be faced… Yes… those greater evils are back. Full review...
The Art of Leaving by Anna Stothard
Luke's a barrister and Eva? She's a romantic novel editor and habitual leaver. Be it a party or a man, she's working on the exit strategy from the moment everything starts. This makes the fact that Eva and Luke have been together for three years a little abnormal in Eva world. The other abnormality in Eva world is the blonde woman she keeps spotting in random places, almost as if she's being spied upon… Full review...
Siege by Sarah Mussi
Leah Jackson is miserable and in detention. This is particularly infuriating because the detention means she's likely to be late for her fame and fortune interview, one of the few chances kids at YOP schools have to make it into college and to get a life worth having. But Leah's worries are about to become much, much more immediate. Year 9 kids storm into the room. They're armed. And they're shooting. Leah escapes the melee by hauling herself up into the roofspace. But only just. Kids are dead. Teachers are dead. Everyone else is rounded up in the gym. Only Leah and Anton are free, but they are trapped above the ceiling tiles. Full review...
Things That Go (Baby Can See) by Leonie Lagarde
Things That Go is one of a series (more on the other books later) of books designed with the youngest readers in mind. It has just twelve pages in a substantial board and with a padded cover which will be soft in baby's hands will wipe clean. It's sturdy but not immune to being pierced if it encounters a sharp object. Each double page spread shows a method of transport in black, white and one primary colour. There's a statement of what it is: 'It's a bike' along with a very small amount of supplementary text. The picture has simple lines and it's obvious what it is. Full review...
Mateship with Birds by Carrie Tiffany
In the early nineteen fifties a lonely, middle-aged farmer observed the birds on his land and recorded what he saw in the blank pages of his milk ledger. His animals and the birds were his family and his land - difficult though it could be - a part of him. Whilst Harry watched and recorded, his neighbour, Betty, watched Harry and recorded the childhood illnesses and accidents of her two children. By day she worked in a nursing home where she was a lunchtime 'wife', sitting at the bedside of some of the old men in her care. Her daughter, Hazel, kept a nature notebook which was completely factual and accepting of birth and death in a way that can only be achieved by those who live with livestock - and deadstock - on a daily basis. Full review...
The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen by Syrie James
'A newly discovered, incredibly rare, handwritten manuscript of a previously unknown Jane Austen Novel is to appear at auction in London. The neatly written but heavily corrected pages are for a full length work entitled 'The Stanhopes'.' Full review...
Losing It by Cora Carmack
Bliss is a drama student, but what else would you expect with a name like that? And yet, when we first meet her, I would never have guessed that was her major. She just doesn’t seem the type. She’s also not the type to pick up random men in bars, but that’s exactly what she does as the book starts. It’s her friend Kelsey’s fault. She’s determined to get Bliss out there, because that’s not where Bliss normally is. About to graduate at the end of the year, Bliss has made it through college without one key college experience: sex. And it’s time to change that. Full review...
Tamara Small and the Monster's Ball by Giles Paley-Phillips and Gabriele Antonini
On a dark and windy night Tamara Small lies awake in bed, clutching Ted. There's something stirring in the garden and when she and Ted go to look out of the window there's something moving around and making a grizzly sound. As the pair dash back to bed a monster breaks through the window and whisks them away - to the old village hall which is where the Annual Monsters' Ball is being held. And what a collection of monsters it is! I saw skeletons, goblins, ghosts and ghouls, witches in black pointy hats and a few other monsters that defy description. And what happened to Tamara? Well, she had a ball... Full review...
Peaches for Monsieur Le Curé by Joanne Harris
It’s over seven years since I read Chocolat, set in a small French town called Lansquenet. I liked it, on the whole, and often wondered what happened to Vianne, the chocolate-making and rather mystical heroine, not to mention the people whose lives she affected so deeply. A couple of years later I read The Lollipop Shoes which purported to be a sequel, but really stood alone. It was set in Paris and rather different in style. I liked it, but somehow it did not feel as if it involved the same people. Full review...
The Beastly Best Bits (Horrible Histories) by Terry Deary
Horrible Histories: The Beastly Best Bits begins with a brief introduction by a black clad executioner who looks like he has stepped of the pages of the Horrible Histories Terrifying Tudors book. Our friendly executioner will be our guide for the rest of the book, pointing out some of the most gruesome moments in history. After some classic gallows humour and a brief mention of Vlad the Impaler we begin the tour with ancient Mesopotamia. The book includes the Assyrians, Sumerians, Persians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, Vikings, Normans, Samurai Aztecs, Incas, Irish and Americans. It also covers several different periods of English history, gangsters in The Roaring 20's, the first and second world wars, and a quick section on Ruthless Rulers. Full review...
The French House by Nick Alexander
CC was trapped in a job she no longer felt able to do in a city which wasn't really her. Her boyfriend, Victor, had moved to France to live in a farmhouse he'd inherited and whilst giving everything up and moving out there to join him wasn't the most rational decision she'd ever taken it did feel like a step in the right direction. Only - there were a couple of problems. The south of France in January can be bitterly cold, particularly when you're a good way up a mountain. And it's going to feel even worse when the property you're going to lacks some of the most basic facilities - amongst them most of a roof. Full review...
Stamps of the World 2013 by Stanley Gibbons
Philatelists have long come to rely on the annual publication of Stanley Gibbons’ Stamps of the World simplified catalogue. For years it has had an unrivalled reputation for accuracy and usability for both dealers and collectors. Commemoratives, definitives, airmail stamps, postage dues, official stamps and miniature sheets are all listed (both mint and used), using the internationally recognised Stanley Gibbons catalogue number and set out according to date of issue and by country. Indeed, it’s difficult to imagine that any serious dealer or collector could be without the six volume set but many must wonder if it’s entirely necessary to make what is a substantial investment on an annual basis. Full review...
Tabitha Posy Was Ever So Nosy by Julie Fulton and Jona Jung
It's a couple of years since I met Julie Fulton's Mrs MacCready, who - in case you don't know - was ever so greedy. Remembering what a glorious romp that was, how could I resist a young friend of Julie's by the name of Tabitha Posy? Well, I didn't even try... Full review...
The Love and Wars of Lina Prokofiev by Simon Morrison
This book is a biography of and based largely on the letters of Lina Prokofiev. Born Carlina Codina in Madrid in 1897, she spent most of her childhood in New York. After making her stage debut as a soprano in Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’ under the name of Lina Llubera, she met the Soviet composer and pianist Serge Prokofiev, best remembered for the children’s musical fable ‘Peter and the Wolf’. They married in 1924 and for the first thirteen years of their marriage they lived in Paris, where two sons, Oleg and Svyatoslav, were born to them. Soon after moving to Moscow in 1936 their marriage fell apart. In 1941 he left her for a writer, Mira Mendelson, 24 years his junior, whom he married six years later. Full review...
Dinosaurs in the Supermarket by Timothy Knapman and Sarah Warburton
There are dinosaurs in the supermarket!
Look, they’re everywhere!
If only grown-ups noticed them
They’d get a frightful scare.
But of course, the grown-ups are so immersed in their grocery shopping, that they don’t notice the dinosaurs hiding on the shelves, in amongst the vegetables and behind the display cases. Only one little boy is observant enough to spot the dinosaurs all around the supermarket and the fact that their antics are causing chaos. If he doesn’t do something soon, the adults may blame HIM for all the mess appearing on the walls and floors. Full review...
A Crown of Despair by Jenny Mandeville
By the age of 31 Katherine, Lady Latimer, had been married and widowed twice. Her first match to an elderly, sickening baron ended at the age of 16, as miserably as it had started two years earlier. Her second marriage to John Neville, Lord Latimer, had been more comfortable. On his death she found love for the first time in her life, but to no avail. The monarch had seen Katherine and would claim her for himself no matter what her wishes may be. This forced marriage would make her famous, for down the centuries history would recount the story of Lady Latimer using her other name: Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII. Full review...
Young Knights of the Round Table by Julia Golding
Rick is thirteen hundred years old — not bad going for a teenager. He has been living in Avalon, where time moves differently, and training (along with another two hundred human changelings) to get his revenge on the human family which abandoned him so long ago. And now he has his chance. Full review...
The Cautionary Tale of the Childe of Hale by Rachel Lyon and Vanina Starkoff
There was a giant who lived in Hale and if you care to you can visit the cottage and grave of John Middleton who reputedly topped nine feet tall and had to sleep with his feet dangling out of his cottage windows. Rachel Lyon tells the lightly-fictionalised story of how the Childe - as he was known - was taken up by the king, commanded to move to London and given every luxury. For a while he didn't regret leaving Hale at all - for once he was dry, slept in a comfortable bed and had clothes which fit him. He mixed with the royal family and the court - and life seemed good, until the day when the king commanded him to fight. This was bad enough, but even then the king's motives were not exactly as you might expect. Full review...
Beyond Belief by Mark Lingane
Joshua Richards isn't the most successful PI; clients aren't exactly lining up around the block but he lives in hope that one day his luck will change… and it does. Within a couple of weeks he has a sudden plethora of enquirers; the bad news is that none of them seem to live long enough to pay him. Meanwhile elsewhere, the Engine powering the world (literally) is dying, although the populous is blissfully oblivious. Is there a connection? Joshua Richards doesn't know, but there seems to be a huge part of himself he's not acquainted with either… at least not yet. Full review...
What The Spell by Brittany Geragotelis
Brooklyn just wants to be noticed by someone – the popular kids at her high school, the cute guy she likes, anyone other than the guidance counsellor who’s her only real friend. Luckily for her, she’s counting down the days until her sixteenth birthday - when she’ll have her powers as a witch finally unbound. When this happens, though, even though it initially seems like it will give her everything she wants, her new abilities could have caused more problems than ever. Full review...
The King's Jockey by Lesley Gray
In June 1913 Emily Wilding Davison ran out in front of the King's horse at the Epsom Derby: she died of her injuries. Her actions are often quoted in history books and whether you think her to be a suffragette martyr or a deluded woman, few are ignorant of her or what she did. But how many people remember the jockey who was up on that fateful day? Few will know his name, or that what happened at the Derby would haunt him for years to come as he believed himself responsible for killing Emily Davison. The King's Jockey is the story of Herbert 'Bertie' Jones, of the life which brought him to the Derby and of what happened in the years afterwards. Full review...
The Brave Beast by Chris Judge
Poor old Beast just wants a quiet life, resting in his peaceful garden after a long day’s work. Unfortunately, his peace is soon shattered by a cry of help from some islanders who have fled their homes after hearing a scary noise. Beast is asked to investigate; after all, he is the biggest and bravest beast around, isn’t he? Full review...
I Got a Crocodile by Nicola Killen
A lonely child wishes for a little brother or sister to play with, but ends up with a crocodile instead. The crocodile is messy and intrusive and soon starts making a nuisance of himself, causing trouble at teatime, bathtime and bedtime. Can the crocodile and the child get over their differences and become friends in the end? Full review...
Outsiders by Roberto Saviano, Carlo Lucarelli, Valeria Parrella, Piero Colaprico, Wu Ming, Simona Vinci
Outsiders is a collection of six pieces of writing by Italian authors. The pieces have been collated from a supplement to an Italian daily newspaper and six have been chosen around the theme of outsiders for translation into English. Thus, the pieces themselves were not written around this specific theme but have rather had this theme imposed on them in this collection. Since the outsider is often used in various forms by writers to observe the status quo, this is not a big leap of imagination. Full review...
Through Dead Eyes by Chris Priestley
After an unfortunate episode at school, Alex has joined his father on a business trip to Amsterdam. He had been hoping to spend some time with his father, but instead he is palmed off on Angelien, daughter of his father's new girlfriend. But Angelien is pretty and so Alex is quite happy to be shown around by her. When her boyfriend Dirk isn't around, that is. At an antique market, Alex finds himself drawn to an ancient-looking mask. He can't help but buy it. And once bought, he can't help but put it on. Full review...
The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer
For many of us, the Elizabethan age which comprised almost half of the Tudor era seems bathed in sunlight, the gilded era of Queen Elizabeth's 'sceptred isle'. It was the period in which Gloriana presided over Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the literary epoch of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser and Sidney. Full review...
Burden of the Desert by Justin Huggler
Journalist Zoe Temple can't believe her luck when she's sent to Iraq to cover the birth of an emerging nation, not thinking that such luck can sometimes run out. Mahmoud earns his money driving journalists from story to story, sometimes only just escaping intact. However, the most dangerous thing he will ever do is fall in love. Rick Benes is one of the American soldiers on the news, his only ambition being to get his platoon home safely as Iraq's birth pangs are violent and unrelenting. And then there's Adel, a young Iraqi lad who never dreamt of violence; not until the day that Benes killed his family. Full review...
The Chicken and the Egg by Allan Plenderleith
Flo the chicken lived on a farm where every chicken laid one egg every day, except for Flo, that is. She tried everything - you'll see from the pictures that she really did try everything, but nothing worked. Then one day it rained and all the other chickens went into the coop but there was no room for Flo - so there was nothing left for her to do but hide under a tree. As the rain came down, so did something else and a really BIG egg landed right next to Flo. The other chickens were just a bit sceptical (the egg was bigger than Flo), but Flo was the maternal type and she loved that egg and cared for it all through the year. Then came the night when a predator came calling at the farm and Flo wouldn't leave her egg... Full review...
Thinking the Twentieth Century by Tony Judt and Timothy Snyder
In emulating historians from his geographical area of interest, Timothy Snyder poses questions to, and discusses ideas with, the highly esteemed British historian and writer Tony Judt, best known for his 2005 Postwar. This collaboration of the older and the younger thinker engenders the spoken book Thinking the Twentieth Century, a rather intriguing exploration of said time period. Each of its ten chapters begins with Judt’s narrative of a specific point in his personal life, and continues into debates of specific facets of history; a healthy mix of thematic and chronological approaches is used for the latter. Full review...
