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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Rebellion: Tainted Realm: Book 2 by Ian Irvine
The former heir Rixium is now just plain Rix as he flees his ancestral castle in Hightspall hotly pursued by the marauding Cythonians, invading his home along with his homeland. Accompanying Rix are Glynnie, a young maidservant and her little brother Benn. Hampered by his entanglement with the enemy resulting in the brutal loss of his right hand, Rix is also still mourning his best friend Tobry, killed when hurled from a tower. Meanwhile, Rix's other friend, a Pale and therefore ex-slave of the Cythonians, Tali has been kidnapped on the orders of the evil chancellor. He isn't the only one after her, just her current possessor. The other is Lyf, the Cythonian King who needs only one more of the legendary black pearls to secure his omnipotence, i.e. the black pearl embedded in Tali's head. Tali's escape from slavery came at a price, but the future for both her and Rix seems a lot more costly. Full review...
After Tomorrow by Gillian Cross
'We were looking at a long line of people trudging down a country road. They were loaded with bundles and backpacks and babies and they all looked miserable and exhausted. Refugees, I thought automatically. But they weren't. They were people like us.'
After Armageddon Monday - the collapse of all the major banks in the UK - life has become increasingly difficult for Matt and his family. Money is worthless. Food is the main currency. People who have it are resented and hated. They're named and shamed on hoarder websites and subject to violent raids by those who don't. Matt's family has more food than most because they have an allotment and have set up a trading network. But the raiders don't care about how they got their food. They just want it. Full review...
Primrose by Alex T Smith
Princess Primrose is bored, bored, bored! Everyone is so formal, so serious and proper, and Primrose just longs to have some fun. Everyone in the palace is constantly telling her off, telling her what not to do. The Queen is worried about her, wondering how Primrose will ever learn to behave like a proper princess. In the end they decide that they must call in Grandmama, for surely if anyone can make Primrose behave it's Grandmama! Full review...
4 Bones Sleeping by Gerald Wixey
There's quite a contrast between the settings in 4 Bones Sleeping. To begin with there's the time. Just about everything that happens goes back to the end of the Second World War and just afterwards, when people were coming to terms with having won the war, but not quite knowing what to do with the peace. Then there's 1980 when we wondered if we'd won the war, but lost the peace. The places are very different too: the people involved in this story have their being in the seedier parts of London in the post-war years, but what are they all doing in a one-horse town in rural Oxfordshire? And where did the money come from which allowed Jack to own the local newspaper and make Harry the landlord of the pub? Full review...
The Sea Sisters by Lucy Clarke
Kate is as sensible, focused and down to earth as her sister Mia is reckless and unsettled, so it’s no surprise that it’s Mia who leaves London behind to go traveling. With dreams of seeing the USA, Australia and beyond, Mia sets off excitedly with her best friend Finn, but this once in a lifetime trip tragically becomes just that as some months later Mia is found dead in Bali, an apparent suicide plunge. With her life thrown into turmoil and unable to get past the things they said, and didn’t say, to each other when Mia was alive, Kate makes a rather Mia-like decision to leave it all behind too. Armed with Mia’s travel journey, she sets off to retrace her sister’s steps, stop by stop, to try and work out what Mia was going through, and what ultimately lead to her death. Full review...
The Woodpecker Menace by Ted Olinger
The Key Peninsula is a small spur of land on the Puget Sound in Washington state, shaped - you guessed it - like a key. Its resident are disparate and include both incomers and those who'd see themselves as pioneer settlers. But they're joined in a communal sense of island living. It's on a much smaller scale, but I think most British people can feel affinity with identifying as an islander. It flavours our relationship with continental Europe in so many ways. Full review...
Claude in the Spotlight by Alex T Smith
You have met Claude, haven't you? He's a funny, plump little dog whose best friend is Sir Bobblysock and the two of them frequently get themselves embroiled in all sorts of adventures. This time Claude heads, accidentally, towards a career on stage. But something is amiss in the theatre. Can Claude help save the show? Full review...
Diary Of Dorkius Maximus by Tim Collins
The Diary of Dorkius Maximus begins very much like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, only instead of journal bought by the protagonist's mother, we have a scroll bought by his father. Like Greg Heffley, the main character in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dorkius Maximus has set out to record his childhood as a record of how he rose to greatness - once he becomes a Great Roman Hero. Full review...
The Holiday Home by Fern Britton
Pru and Connie might be sisters but they're as different as chalk and cheese. It's always been like this. Pru is the elder, although not by much and she's a hard-nosed businesswoman who always gets what she wants. Husband Francis was acquired in much the same way that you might employ staff - and that's his function. He looks after Pru and their son Jeremy. Connie, on the other hand, is a homebody - married to Greg (who runs her parents' family business) and mother to Abigail their sixteen-going-on-seventeen year old daughter. There's another difference too. Francis is pure of heart and an honest man, largely unappreciated by his wife, but Greg, although Connie believes differently, is a philandering little sh.. Full review...
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Spanning the period from just before World War One to the end of World War Two, Kate Atkinson's Life After Life tells the story of Ursula Todd. Or more accurately, it tells the potential stories of Ursula Todd. If you've seen the movie Sliding Doors then you will have some idea of the concept Atkinson explores; that of small changes in life leading to different outcomes, many of which lead to tragic endings but strangely the book manages to be a celebration of the spirit of Ursula and is often quite uplifting. It's a book that sounds like it is going to be much more confusing than it is though and the result is a very special book indeed. It's that rare thing of a book that has a strong literary style but which is also very readable. Full review...
Tom Gates is Absolutely Fantastic (at some things) by Liz Pichon
The Tom Gates books follow a rapidly-becoming-familiar diary format with plenty of childlike doodles for illustrations. They follow the life a very ordinary boy. In this particular book, Tom faces everyday issues common to most children from family embarrassment, minor complaints about school and a three day school activity trip. Tom gets into difficulties due to forgetfulness, day dreams a lot and spends time with his best friend. There are plenty of jokes throughout, which children will relate to as most will face these issues, but in all honesty I found the book too ordinary. I didn't feel there was enough excitement to really interest a child, I wasn't terribly impressed by the artwork and I found the odd style of print distracting - but what do I know? After all, this book was not intended for middle aged mothers, it was intended for children, and while I was an expert at choosing just the right books for my son while he was younger, he has developed his own tastes as he has grown older and finding just the right books to keep his passion for reading alive has become more of a challenge. If I were reviewing this book based only on my experience of reading it - the resulting rating would be fairly low, but instead, I am trying to see this book through my sons eyes, and he really enjoyed it. Full review...
Follow Me Down by Tanya Byrne
Adamma Okomma, daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, isn't keen on moving to boarding school, even the exclusive Crofton College in Wiltshire. However, after arriving there, she quickly makes friends with the beautiful but unpredictable Scarlett. What seems like a beautiful friendship, though, is torn apart when both girls fall for the same guy. After Scarlett goes missing, can Adamma put their problems behind her? Full review...
Briefs Encountered by Julian Clary
Choosing this book from Julian Clary was irresistible. Normally, I try not to review books where I’m already familiar with author. But I didn’t feel that seeing him live several times or watching him regularly on TV counted, as I hadn’t read either of his two previous novels. Full review...
Jobsworth: Confessions of the Man from the Council by Malcolm Philips
Local government isn’t what it used to be. People say this with regret, but reading Malcolm Philips’ memoir you will probably be left with the impression that this is a Very Good Thing. Because fun as it may have been to be working in the council in the 60s and 70s, if this entertaining account is anything to go by, it was also an awful shambles. Full review...
The Maleficent Seven by Derek Landy
The arrival of Darquesse, the sorcerer destined to destroy the civilised world, is on the horizon. For most people, the obliteration of billions of lives might be something to worry about. In times gone by, Tanith Low would've been on the forefront of the side of good, fighting to protect the world from Darquesse. But now that she has a Remnant bonded to her soul, her conscience has been erased and she has become one of the worst of the bad guys, and all she wants to do is to usher in the end of the world. There are four weapons with the power to kill gods, scattered around the world, and two teams desperately hunting them down. Tanith Low leads a group of dangerous villainous misfits determined to find the weapons and destroy them, and it is up to Dexter Vex, good friend of Skulduggery Pleasant, along with a team of renegade sorcerers, to find these weapons before the others. Full review...
The Safest Place by Suzanne Bugler
Jane and David Berry have always lived and worked in London. However, since their children have come along, the house has felt too cramped and Jane has often dreamed of moving away. When their son Sam fails to get a place at his chosen secondary school, that is the catalyst she needs to start making her dream a reality. The only problem is that the rest of the family are not quite as enthusiastic about moving as she would have hoped. David will have to commute every day to London and the children are anxious about starting a new school, particularly Sam who finds it difficult to make friends. Even Jane starts to wonder if it was a good idea, isolated in a house miles from anywhere, finding it difficult to get to know the local community. Full review...
The Great War by Peter Hart
There are certain aspects of world history that we are duty-bound to teach to each generation. World War I was called 'The Great War' for a reason; it changed the world scene irrevocably and is regarded as the single most important event of the twentieth century. The war introduced dreadful new weapons designed to slaughter as many people as possible with maximum efficiency, resulting in tens of millions of deaths. Full review...
The Last King of Lydia by Tim Leach
Ancient mythology seems to be enjoying a surge in popularity of late, with a plethora of books, movies and games based on these ancient legends and fabled heroes. There is something in the collective consciousness that enables these stories to resonate with each subsequent generation, allowing ancient wisdom to put out new roots in fresh soil. Full review...
LIGHT by Michael Grant
The dome has become transparent. The teens, and kids, in the FAYZ, are still trapped inside, but now they can see out - and their parents, and others, can see in. With interviews taking place by primitive methods, the outside world are starting to find out just how violent life has been, and this is just adding to the worries of Sam, Astrid, and the rest. How will the world receive them when they get out - or rather, if they get out? The gaiaphage, having taken human form as Caleb and Diane's rapidly-maturing daughter, is as evil as ever, and with Drake as its servant, is destroying anyone in his path. Can those left alive inside the FAYZ survive? Full review...
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...
