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'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Much like the missing question mark in the title it would seem, Bernadette has disappeared. Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette works as both a physical and emotional question. Bernadette Fox is the wife of Elgie Branch, a star at Microsoft in Seattle, and mother of 15 year old, Bee. The narrative begins with Bee wondering where her mother had gone, but then quickly moves to an epistolary format told in e-mails, notes and messages between the major players, including some rather obnoxious mothers at Bee's school, one of whom also works at Microsoft with Elgie. We are taken back a few weeks to when Bernadette was around and a seemingly somewhat angry mother prior to her mysterious disappearance. One of the delights about the book, which along with being very funny on issues like helicopter parenting, corporate life and, er, Canadians, is that it emerges that Bernadette is more than a wife and mother but has a past career of her own as a talented architect which she has sacrificed for one reason or another. Thus, in many ways she disappeared long before her physical disappearance. Full review...
The Forrests by Emily Perkins
This is the chronicle of the Forrest family during the life of daughter Dorothy. They move ('they' being Dorothy, father Frank, mother Lee and siblings Michael, Evelyn and little Ruthie) from New York to New Zealand at the age of seven years old. Frank hopes the migration will signal a change in his luck as well as a new life for his family. He's right in that changes follow but there are as many to shake their stability as to still it and the past remains with each of them as well as the de facto adoptee Daniel. Indeed, Dorothy grows to realise that the past is a garment that's worn in some form throughout an entire lifetime. Full review...
Honour by Elif Shafak
Jamila and Pembe are twins who, growing up among the Kurdish in Turkey, are as wrapped in the customs of their Muslim faith and heritage as they are in the love of their family. Jamila develops a talent that will make her the hub of her community. Pembe's destiny lies over the sea as she migrates to England with her husband Adem in search of a better life. However, the destiny they travel towards is oh so different from the destiny of which they dream. Full review...
Natalie and Romaine by Diana Souhami
The main focus of the book is the relationship between Natalie Barney and Romaine Brooks, two very well-off American lesbians who first met in Paris when the former was 39 and the latter 41. It was the beginning of an often mercurial partnership which lasted for fifty years. However, despite the author’s insistence, it is less a double biography than a survey of the Sapphic society life which centred on Paris for much of this period. Barney, a poet, was a flamboyant character who used to say that 'living was the first of all the arts' and often vowed to make 'my life itself into a poem'. Brooks, a painter whose self-portrait adorns the front cover, was the product of a difficult childhood, abused by her mother who far preferred her mentally unbalanced brother, often proclaimed sadly that 'my dead mother stands between me and life'. An aloof soul, she made a brief marriage with the homosexual John Ellingham Brooks but left him within a year. Full review...
The Vanguard by SJ Griffin
Sorcha Blades and her four closest friends do the best they can with what they have. Living in a post-apocalyptic world, they are from the wrong side of the tracks. Unable to live easy and glittering lives like the elite, they scam and forage and hack their way to some degree of comfort and still manage to avoid the - very unpleasant - state security apparatus for the most part. Not that there's much state left for the security apparatus to protect. Full review...
Leftovers by Stella Newman
Susie Rosen is what a magazine calls a 'leftover' - she's thirty something and lacks her dream man, job or home. You might think that she has the job of her dreams as she's an account manager in advertising, but she finds it unfulfilling - and that's on the good days. On the bad days she resurrects her plan that she's going to get promoted by Christmas and then quit. Boyfriend Jake cheated on her and although the relationship broke up some time ago she hasn't got over him. Right now life revolves around the job, minimising the effect of some of the more dreadful colleagues and her girlfriends - but some of them are proving to be not quite as reliable as she might have hoped. Full review...
What If... Humans Were Like Animals? by Paul Moran
'What If Humans Were More Like Animals' takes various unusual animal attributes and imagines what it would be like if humans had an equivalent behaviour, ability, or physical feature. For instance, if we had teeth like a shark, we wouldn't have to worry about eating too many sweets, brushing our teeth, or even chomping down on a hard object. Whenever a tooth fell out, a new one would take its place. If we had the comparative strength of a Hercules beetle, we could lift a double decker bus, and if we could jump the equivalent of a froghopper insect, we'd be able to leap over sky scrapers with ease. Not all of the animal traits would be so much fun though. We wouldn't want our parents to eat us if we were not as strong as our siblings like the vole, and while eyes on our hands like a starfish might have a few advantages, it would be very awkward as well - who wants to pick things up with their eyes? Full review...
The Ranger by Ace Atkins
Every so often I read a book which just confirms how little I know about the USA. I don't quite understand the political system. I certainly don't understand the law enforcement system (and don't like the bits I do 'get'; I fear that our UK leaders seem to think that the politicisation of law enforcement that seems to be the norm over there is actually a good idea). And every so often I come across a branch of the military that I'd never heard of. Full review...
The Ottoman Motel by Christopher Currie
Simon Sawyer is 11 years old, forced on a road-trip with his parents to visit his grandmother, Iris. Iris is living in some backwater town hemmed in on three sides by corn fields, and on the fourth by the sea. The town is called Reception in a heavy-handed attempt at irony, as we learn the town actually has no reception for mobile phones and is pretty much isolated from the rest of the world but for a few dirt tracks leading out. Full review...
Homecoming by Susie Steiner
Ann and Joe Hartle are approaching their sixties and hoping to slow down a little. Their sheep farming life is starting to take its toll and it’s an enticing thought that they may be able to pass the farm on to their son Max. The only problem is that the farm is hardly making any profit and Max is not the most capable person in the world. Added to that, Max’s wife Primrose is expecting a baby and that is not without its difficulties. The Hartle’s other son, Bartholomew, is far away in London trying to run his own business and also scared about committing to his girlfriend, Ruby. The family has started to fall apart over the years but when things go badly wrong on the farm including a barn fire and a virus that spreads through the sheep and newborn lambs, there is the opportunity to pull together and start anew. Is this something that the family can do or will they fall apart even more? Full review...
The Song the Waves Sing by Val Harris
Some time has passed since we last saw the Moon family. Charlie Moon has been released from prison. His sister Olivia is in New York but Jenna is still in Cornwall, where she's turned the family home into a B&B. Their father Brendan is a reformed character and he's moved to Looe, where he's a partner in an art gallery. But everyone's life has its ups and downs: Olivia is made redundant and the only logical move is back to the UK. Then Brendan overhears a conversation and realises that his business partner is deep in an art fraud. Full review...
Happy Families by Janey Fraser
Happy families are, contrary to popular belief, not all alike. Bobbie is a working mum of two children who we’ll call ‘spirited’ for want of a better phrase. Her husband works late a lot so she’s the one left trying to juggle running the house with wrangling the children and still fitting in her own job. Andy is dad to two teens who are perfectly behaved, or at least they are during the rare moments he spends at home. His wife Pamela is a goddess, and a Perfect Parent to boot. He’s a very lucky guy. And then there’s Vanessa, who feels her mothering days are behind her until her young grand-daughter comes to stay…and doesn’t leave. Full review...
Promise of Blood (Powder Mage Trilogy) by Brian McClellan
Adamat, investigator and ex-police inspector, is summoned to the Skyline Palace for, he assumes, an audience with the king. However, when he arrives, the grounds are in darkness and a greater darkness lurks within. The King's Hielman bodyguard are all dead and the royal family won't be around for much longer as Field Marshal Tamas of the home-grown Adros Military has led a coup. Tamas wants to hire Adamat for his investigating prowess but neither Adamat, Tamas nor the mages and sorcerers under Tamas' command realise what will be unleashed as a result… or perhaps Tamas does. Meanwhile a servant girl starts the fight for the survival of herself and a small but very important child. Full review...
Open Very Carefully: A Book with Bite! by Nicola O'Byrne and Nick Bromley
Here's another brilliant picture book from Nosy Crow. If you haven't already heard of them, these newish publishers are ones to watch. They seem to be nurturing artists and writers with an ability to think outside the box, in a children's field already replete with creative talent. Full review...
Dear Thing by Julie Cohen
Everyone hopes for the happily ever after, and Claire and Ben expected that once they were married, once they had the house with a garden big enough for a swing, that the babies would naturally follow afterwards. So what happens when the babies don't? How long do you try to get pregnant? How long do you endure IVF? At what point do you say enough is enough, and let go of the dream? And what if, at that moment of feeling you simply cannot take any more, your best friend offered to be a surrogate mother, and carry your baby? Full review...
The Spark by O H Robsson
Kristoffer lives in a house on the edge of a lake in Western Norway with his dog and occasional company from his friend Mats. By profession he’s a photographer and enough business comes his way to keep him the way he wishes to live. He’s relaxed - too much so at times when you’re relying on him (always a mistake) to be punctual. There has been the occasional girlfriend - some of them pretty stunning - but none of them ever came up to Eva whom he met when they were both in their teens and working in the local hotel to earn some money. His grandfather has a summer cabin up in the mountains and Kristoffer’s happy to go up to spend time with him and take him his supplies. You might think that’s pretty idyllic - and it is. Full review...
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
Teenager Juliet Moreau has had a hard life since her father was vilified by Victorian society. Thinking him long dead, she scrapes a living as best she can – but a chance discovery at a macabre event leads to her to learn that he is alive and her life is cast into chaos. Full review...
The Mummy Shop by Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard
One small boy is feeling very cross with his mummy. She has told him to tidy his room, to help at the supermarket and then has made him go to bed when he has only just started playing. He is so cross that when he reads this advert in the paper: Full review...
The Poison Boy by Fletcher Moss
Life in the city of Highlions has suddenly become a lot more dangerous, even for a 'poison boy'. Dalton and Bennie were sent to a banquet to check the food, and when the book opens our hero has just recovered consciousness to find himself lying on the floor covered in Bennie's blood. His friend has been poisoned and died horribly, having literally vomited up his stomach (apologies if you're eating your tea, but this is not a book for sensitive souls), and the same poison has caused Dalton to lose his memory of the whole event. Unfortunately this is by no means the end of his troubles, as the murderer is determined to remove all witnesses. Full review...
The Antenatal Group by Amy Bratley
Five women are all looking forward to meeting their new babies in a few weeks time. Part of their preparations involve joining the local antenatal group where they get to meet each other. Little do they realise, when they turn up for their first session, how much they are going to come to rely on and care for each other. This book is partly a testament to all those lasting friendships that are formed in groups just like this all over the country. Full review...
May We Be Forgiven by A M Homes
May We Be Forgiven is not an easy book to summarise. The book is narrated by Harold, a fairly pedestrian academic teacher and aspiring writer of history and particularly the Nixon era. We don't have to wait long for the catalyst that changes his life fundamentally over the course of a year. His high flying, younger brother, George, is involved in a car accident shortly after Thanksgiving and an adulterous encounter will change the lives of Harold and George forever. AM Homes offers a biting satire of the American Dream, taking swipes at materialism, families that are more nuclear fallout than nuclear, Internet sex sites and the dependence on drugs and psychiatrists to keep people on the straight and narrow. Full review...
The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan
Anna has been working as a supervisor and taster at a chocolate factory. She’s 30, never much cared about school, and recently split with her boyfriend. Life isn’t particularly exciting, but she’s reasonably content with her lot. Then a freak accident at work, followed by a nasty infection in hospital leaves her unemployed, apathetic and with no idea what her future holds. Full review...
Zog by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
We are devotees of the Gruffalo. We have books, noisy books, costumes, jigsaws, sleepsuits and green nail polish. We have scoured coppices for Gruffalo-shaped twigs and bakers’ shops for Gruffalo birthday cakes. We have done the Gruffalo, if not to death, but to the shallow depths of my granddaughter’s infant imagination. We love the Gruffalo for his unique and appealing simplicity, and because he is the most wonderful debunker of monster-fear ever invented. Full review...
The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen
Ella and Micha haven’t seen each other for months, quite unusual for a couple who have been best friends forever. Ella’s been away at college, in Vegas, but Micha didn’t know this as she upped and left without so much as a wave goodbye, so he’s been trying to track her down. But, just as he does so, she shows up back home anyway as it’s summer break and she’s back at her dad’s, the house she grew up in, the house next door to Micha. Full review...
Dodger by James Benmore
That loveable rogue, the Artful Dodger, is one of the most memorable and amusing characters in all of English literature. Oliver Twist ended with Dodger Jack Dawkins arrested for the theft of a silver snuff box and transported to Australia. But what happened next? James Benmore explores that idea in Dodger, which takes up the story six years after the events of Oliver Twist. Full review...
Too Small for my Big Bed by Amber Stewart and Layn Marlow
This book is for kids graduating from the cot to their first big bed. Even more, it’s for all those parents who didn’t anticipate that once in the bed, there’s no going back to the security of the cot ... the child can now appear in your bedroom, night after night after night. So this is the universal problem, and here is a supportive and tactful way of addressing it. Full review...
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
As Therese Anne Fowler points out in her acknowledgements, views on the relationship between F Scott Fitzgerald and his wife and muse, Zelda, tend to split into 'Team Scott' and 'Team Zelda'. The former believe that it was Zelda's instability and possessiveness that limited Scott's creative output while the latter argue that it was Scott's debauched behaviour that led to Zelda's mental problems. Z takes a more balanced view - the truth of the matter is that they needed each other but were tragically, mutually destructive. Getting the fact-based fiction tone right is always a challenge, and this is exacerbated when the author gives a writer the narrative voice, and Zelda was a talented writer in her own right as well as a dancer, artist and general social phenomenon. However Fowler pulls it off with aplomb in what is a sensitive and engrossing story of Zelda - 'the First Flapper'. Full review...
How Dinosaurs Really Work by Alan Snow
It’s sometimes difficult to find books which appeal to reluctant readers, particularly boys. Three cheers, then, for Alan Snow who has produced a really smashing book about those ever-popular dinosaurs. Here is a book which will appeal not only to bright kids during their inevitable dinosaur phase, and also to more struggling readers, a little later on. This is exactly the sort of book kids can pore over for several weeks on end in order to become something of an authority on prehistoric animals in front of their mates. Full review...
Under Your Skin by Sabine Durrant
When household name Gaby Mortimer finds a body in the common near her London home, it is horrible and shocking, but the one thing she doesn’t expect is to become the main suspect in the murder case. After all, she was just the one who found the poor woman’s body. Surely the Police should be spending their time searching for a more likely assailant than a perhaps past her prime TV presenter? But it soon becomes clear that Gaby is the one they are fixating on, the one to whom they will try to make the limited evidence fit. And it’s going to take everything she’s got to convince them otherwise. Full review...