Book Reviews From The Bookbag
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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Cold Hearts by Gunnar Staalesen
After refusing a prospective client, who afterwards viciously assaulted another prostitute, Margrethe goes missing. Her worried friend from the street visits Varg Veum, a local private investigator, in the hope that he will take the case and get to the bottom of it without the need for police involvement. Varg then investigates every lead and attempts to discover all he can about the missing woman’s unusual upbringing, racking up more trouble and past cases as well as creating dangerous enemies. Full review...
Cherry Green Story Queen by Annie Dalton and Charlie Adler
At first glance, I expected this to be a fairly typical girl's story for tweens. I certainly was not expecting a story of such beauty or depth. This is a very enjoyable read, but is it much more than light fiction. I enjoyed it so much, I wanted to share the book with my sons, but I had to be very careful to hide the cover. Being typical boys, they are not going to want to hear a story that looks so much like a girl's story. This book has something in common with 'The Arabian Nights, Tales of 1,001 Nights'. In fact it shares a direct link with the ancient book. But this story will only give us three nights of magic. Still three nights might just be enough to change the lives of six children in foster care. This also shares the basic message of 'The Allegory of the Long Spoons' a well known parable by the Rabbi Haim which has passed into the folk lore of many cultures. The basic message is that the difference between heaven and hell is not so much a difference in physical circumstances, but rather is the result of how we treat one another. Full review...
The Riddle of the Labyrinth by Margalit Fox
Meet Linear B. It's the name given to an ancient writing system discovered in 1900, and has stuck ever since then. If you need to know more, it's a linear style of writing, and is linked to Linear A. There, that's that cleared up. But it took an awful long time to clear anything more up – while people knew some things about Linear B, and why and how they got to be holding it in their hands, the actual language it contained, and its meaning, was a truly intellectual challenge. It was five whole decades of obscurity, annoyingly secretive archaeologists and more, between Sir Arthur Evans finding Linear B on copious clay tablets on Crete, and its interpretation. In between those two landmarks was an unsung American heroine, and this book is both an incredibly readable guide to everything regarding Linear B, and a study of her contribution. Full review...
Never Forget by Lisa Cutts
DC Nina Foster isn't that unusual in the police force. She's perhaps a little overweight and a little too fond of wine. Her relationships don't tend to last but then the unpredictable hours which the job demands don't help in that area. She has some good friends within the force - part camaraderie, part common interest and a lot of knowledge that that these are the people you might be relying on in an emergency. Nina does have one secret though and it relates back to her childhood. She does her best not to give what happened to her any room in her head and most of the time it works. Most people have no idea about her history. Then a frenzied stabbing pulls Nina into her first murder investigation and the Major Incident Room. Full review...
The Interpretations by David Shaw Mackanzie
The Interpretations is the second novel written by David Shaw Mackanzie. It's set in the Scottish Highlands, in the remote town of Dalmore, after the strange disappearance of one of its residents. The book is split into two parts. Part one takes place in the late 1980s while part two takes place in the early 2000s. In the first part we meet Tom Kingsmill, born and bred in Dalmore. Tom participates in a race with his local running club. Part of the race route Tom is expected to run leads over the newly-built bridge connecting Dalmore with the outside world. This bridge is the one Reverend McFarren has an obsessive hatred for. He believes the bridge is a bad omen after two teenagers jumped to their deaths just the month before. No one could have predicted the way in which the reverend's hunch is proved correct. Tom fails to finish the race - in fact, he has vanished entirely. Full review...
The Gift of Darkness by VM Giambanco
Thirteen days. These are the words etched into the door jamb of James and Annie Sinclair's bedroom while James, Annie and their two young sons lay on the bed, murdered. Newbie in the Seattle PD homicide division, Detective Alison Madison, gradually realises a truth as horrific as the scene with which she and her colleagues are faced. It all started with a historic kidnapping from 25 years earlier and now time is running out. Thirteen days… They aren't just carved words, they're a ticking clock. Thirteen days to solve the case. Thirteen days before darkness descends. Full review...
Destiny in the Desert: The Road to El Alamein - the Battle that Turned the Tide by Jonathan Dimbleby
El Alamein is a totemic British battle, standing as it does with others which turned the tide of our fortunes. The Allies were still smarting from the effects of Dunkirk and harbouring the knowledge that had Hitler elected to press his advantage then the situation could have been very different. Churchill is often quoted as saying that there were no victories before El Alamein and no defeats afterwards. This isn't true - 'it seemed that' is generally omitted from the beginning of the quote - but it does sum up the fact that the battle turned the tide of perception as well as the fortunes of war, which was quite an achievement for fighting which took place on land to which none of the major participants had any legitimate claim. Full review...
Eleanor's Eyebrows by Timothy Knapman and David Tazzyman
Eleanor just can't see the point of eyebrows. They don't do anything. They just sit there, two silly, scruffy, hairy, little bits of fluff! Sadly for Eleanor, her eyebrows overhear her describing them in this way, and they refuse to stay where they aren't wanted and so pack their bags and set off into the big world to find a place where someone will love them! Full review...
Mmm...Let's Eat! by Libby Koponen
Children often have a tendency to end up eating brown and white foods, not wanting to branch out into any more colourful territory for fear of the unknown of purple aubergines or blue blueberries. This book aims to get children thinking a little bit more about the colours of foods, perhaps encouraging them to try something a little bit out of the ordinary one day. Full review...
Stick Man's First Words by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
Does your child roam the house dressed as the Gruffalo? Do you know the words to Tiddler off by heart? Have you read and loved Stick Man as we at The Bookbag have? Well, this is one for the fans, a first words book full of wonderful illustrations by Axel Scheffler and based on the Stick Man story. Full review...
Mr Birdsnest and the House Next Door by Julia Donaldson and Hannah Shaw
I love Julia Donaldson's books for younger children. Everyone loves The Gruffalo and Tyrannosaurus Drip is still one of our favourites, but as the children have grown, these books have been read less frequently. I have to admit, I've missed them. Mr Birdsnest and the House Next Door gives us a chance to enjoy this brilliant author for just a little while longer. This is fun story, told in the first person, so we never know the name of the main character. We do know she is lively active young girl, perhaps with an active imagination. I would guess her to be about 10 years old with an equally active and inquisitive younger brother named Elmo. Full review...
Squiglet Pig by Joyce Dunbar and Tim Hopgood
Squiglet Pig is based on a real deep sea creature, the piglet squid. This is one of those creatures you have to see to believe. It honestly does look like it always smiling, and very much like the main character in this book. Full review...
Them by L A Weatherly
Kylie and her family had a prosperous upper middle class life - until the day Kylie's stepfather nearly beat her to death. Forced to flee, they ended up in a shelter, and are now trying to start life over with a very different set of circumstances. Kylie's Mom is working and exhausted, they live in a run down flat, and the money barely stretches to covering groceries - and as Kylie's little sister keeps reminding her - this is all her fault. Pressures build up with strange phone calls. Could Kylie's stepfather have found them? And of course there are the usual difficulties of starting a new school and trying to make friends. Full review...
Things We Need by Jennifer Close
Claire Coffey used to live in New York with a successful job and a great fiancé; her sister Martha used to be a nurse; and her brother Max should have been looking forward to finishing his final year at college before embarking on an exciting and interesting career. However, things don’t always turn out the way that one expects which is why all three siblings end up back at the family home needing the support of their parents. Full review...
A Cat Called Dog by Jem Vanston
Cats are not dogs. And dogs are not cats. Even two-legs know that. But Dog was a cat, because that was his name: he was a cat - a cat called Dog - and he was happy with that too.
Confused? Don't be. Dog may be happy but he is the confused one, not you. He is a cat. He is a cat. But he's called Dog because he behaves like one. He pokes his tongue out like a puppy. When he gets excited, he wags his tail like a puppy. And, horror of horrors, he even yaps and barks like a puppy. This kitten-cat is only one summer old, so perhaps it's not too late. Perhaps, if he were to find a tutor, he could learn to be a proper cat. A cat who understands the feline holy trinity of eating, sleeping and washing. A cat who understands his importance to two-legs. A cat who can proudly take his place among the others of the best species in the world. Full review...
Winter Damage by Natasha Carthew
The moor and all it had got was out there waiting for her in the dark, a cold rock thing, hard as nails.
But Ennor doesn't see another choice. She has to go. The fourteen-year-old girl lives with her ailing father and autistic brother, Trip, in a trailer on the frozen Cornish moor. Ennor's mother has been gone for years - after they lost the farm and Ennor's father turned to drugs, she turned to religion. And left. But now the country is falling to pieces. There are riots. There's no money to be earned. School has closed. Father is getting iller. They're behind on the rent and eviction is looming. The social are threatening to take Trip away. There's nothing else for it. Full review...
Wicked Games by Kelly Lawrence
Sometimes you read a book that is supposed to be fiction, and immediately question whether it isn’t a true story loosely fictionalised and with a few character names changed, so the author doesn’t lose face if it’s not well received. Wicked Games is no such book, because you’re told from the outset that it’s a real life erotic memoir. And, while the author still has some discretion regarding how much or how little she shares, you genuinely come away feeling like you’ve just read a startlingly intimate description of a real person’s private life. Full review...
Knight Quest (Time Hunters, Book 2) by Chris Blake
The second instalment of Blake’s 'Time Hunters' series sees our heroes Tom and Isis transported to medieval times in the hope of retrieving a second lost amulet, which is hidden in a golden sword. 'Knight Quest' is an action packed story with plenty of thrills and action, but is crammed with enough historical facts to keep fussy parents happy. Full review...
The Red Road by Denise Mina
Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard that Princess Diana was dead, right? On that August night fourteen-year-old (but she looks sixteen, as she would tell you herself) Rose Wilson snapped. She'd been pimped out by her boyfriend and let down by everyone - but that night she committed two dreadful crimes and it seemed that her life was over. Then a defence lawyer took pity on her and set out to save her from the worst consequences. Well over a decade later DI Alex Morrow is a witness in the case of Michael Brown. Brown is vicious and brutal, damaged beyond hope of salvation but Morrow knows that something is wrong when fingerprint evidence places him at the site of a murder committed the week before - when he was safely in prison. Full review...
The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby: After Iris by Natasha Farrant
A few years after Iris's death, her twin sister Bluebell is still getting used to life without her. She's also having to cope with her parents' frequent absences, the new au pair, and the cute boy who's just moved in next door. Can she solve all her problems? And are the rest of her family coping with Iris being gone any better than she is? Full review...
Before the Fall by Francis Knight
After destroying Mahala's power source, Rojan really, really wants to keep his head down. The Ministry thinks he's dead - which helps - but with the last scraps of power fast fading, people are starving and the danger of riots and chaos looms. Full review...
Wild by Emily Hughes
Wild is the story of a girl who has grown up in the forest with only the animals to care for her, but this is where she belongs and she is happy. All of the animals love her and she loves them. She learns how to speak from the birds, what to eat from the bears, how to play from the foxes, and the deer and the rabbit keep her company as she sleeps. She has no clothing, nor does she need it, Her long mane of unruly green hair covers the important bits and gives her the appearance of something that has sprung to life from the forest itself. She is creature of pure innocence. Full review...
Boy About Town by Tony Fletcher
My stepchildren, who were not even born at the time, would disagree with me fiercely. But for those of us who were growing up during the 1970s, it was a very exciting time to be a popular music fan. Tony Fletcher, who was born almost ten years after me, evidently agrees. In this memoir of his formative years, covering the years 1972 to 1980, he conveys the thrill of how it was to be a schoolkid who grew up loving and eventually becoming part of the scene. It all started with the purchase of a David Cassidy single and ended up with him becoming founder-editor of a fanzine and interviewing household names while taking his O-levels. In fact it didn’t exactly end up that way, for these days he is known best for his highly-respected biographies of The Who drummer Keith Moon and R.E.M. Full review...
Trumpety Trump by Steve Smallman and Adria Meserve
Two subjects guaranteed to have any nursery age child in stitches are bums and farts. This book has plenty of both, along with some other very rude behaviour which will have children begging to hear this again and again. Although the book reads like a non stop riot of rude and raucous behaviour, it does teach children about friendship and manners as well. Adults will appreciate the moral to the story, but children will be so busy laughing, they'll hardly notice that they are learning at the same time. Full review...
My Zoo by Rod Campbell
My children have always been drawn to Rod Campbell's simple but appealing illustrations, so I was delighted to have a chance to review this book, even though my boys are now older than the expected age range. This is a very simple book. There are fifteen large die cut animals on a pastel coloured background. The illustrations have a unique quality to them that I can only describe as Rod Campbell. The animals all have friendly appearance, and a kind of gentleness to them. The front view of each animal has only the animal's name in bold black print. When you turn the page, there is a single sentence about the animal in smaller print. With a very young baby, the parent can read only the animals name, perhaps adding the sound for each animal. As the child grows older, the parents can begin reading the extra line on each animal. The fact the animals are larger than usual in these pictures, and on sturdy pages that are perfect for little hands, means this book would be ideal for babies as young as six months. I feel this would make a lovely first book for young child. As much as we loved Dear Zoo, I feel this book is even better for infants. Full review...
Russian Stories by Francesc Seres
This brilliant and varied collection of short stories is the product of a current academic interest in cross-cultural translation. Francisco Guillen Serés is a Catalan professor of Art History from Aragon. A Russophile, he has travelled widely to collect stories from those writing during the past hundred years of Russian history. These have been translated into Catalan and then into English. These unusual and delightful stories, some twenty one of them written by five writers read fluently and engagingly. They form an informative tapestry of Soviet and post-Soviet life, moving back in time with the older, earlier writers like Bergchenko, who died in the siege of Stalingrad, at the end. Ranging over mythic and symbolic tales to realistic portrayals of personal relationships; love trysts in St Petersburg, ferocious bears in the deep heart of the Taiga to the perils of becoming lost in continuous orbit in space. All aspects are impressively recounted. Full review...
Jon For Short by Malorie Blackman and Vladimir Stankovic
The book begins with a horrible dream of dark footsteps and the flash of knife blade plunging down again and again. Waking up brings no respite to the terror or pain for Jon, because his waking world is even more frightening than the nightmare. He wakes up in a darkened hospital room. There are now windows to the outside, only a small frosted glass window to the hall which lets in a tiny bit of light. The nurses seem cruel and angry. They insist on calling him Joe, No matter how often he tells them his name is Jonathan - Jon for short. The nightmare comes again and again. It starts out exactly the same, but each time it goes on just a little longer and Jon sees a bit more. The dream is not the only cause of his terror. Each time when he wakes up, another part of his body has been removed. Piece by piece he is being dismembered. Soon there will be nothing left of him - and no one will tell him why. Full review...
All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry
Four years ago, Judith and another girl disappeared. Two years ago, Judith came back alone, and unable to speak. Shunned by most of the people in her close-knit community, can she find her voice to save those around her, and herself? Full review...
Closed Doors by Lisa O'Donnell
Did you listen at doors when you were little? Did you hang from the banisters, trying to hear what was going on in the grown up world when you'd been banished to your room? In this story, eleven year old Michael finds out most of his information by listening. He's adept at creeping around and learning snippets of information, local gossip and tidbits of family dynamics. But one night, when his mum comes home screaming and covered in blood the secrets that Michael becomes privvy too are far more disturbing than what Tricia down the road has been getting up to. Full review...
