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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Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
Paul is gay, and confident in his sexuality. With a loving, supportive family, he doesn't have to hide his feelings. Life seems pretty good to him - but falling in love can change everything. Full review...
Jump! by Carol Thompson
Who doesn’t like to jump? Jumping on the bed, jumping with friends, jumping like a kangaroo – it’s all good! Full review...
Boris Gets Spots by Carrie Weston and Tim Warnes
The pupils in Miss Cluck’s class have an awful lot of fun at school. In fact, if our schools were like theirs, you’d want to go every single day and never make a fuss. The latest news is that Mr Gander from the farm is coming to visit! Everyone’s excited – everyone, that is, except Boris who asks if he can sit quietly inside instead. Miss Cluck is a lovely teacher so of course she says yes but in the flurry of excitement, no one really stops to ask why the big, lively bear wants to miss out on the fun. Full review...
A World Elsewhere by Wayne Johnston
Landish Druken is a great hulk of a man who lumbers through his hometown of St John's, Newfoundland. Although he thinks of himself as a writer, he has never written a word he didn't feel compelled to burn, and everyone knows him as the wayward son of accomplished sealing captain Abram Druken. Landish escaped to study literature at Princeton, where he met best friend Padgett 'Van' Vanderluyden, the 'dud' son of an industrial tycoon and a rumoured homosexual, but he broke his promise to join his father's sealing empire on his return in 1893, and now lives in poverty and disgrace. Full review...
Snowflakes by Cerrie Burnell and Laura Ellen Anderson
Mia is a little girl from the city who moves to the village of Silver Vale to live with her Grandmother in the forest. The first question you might encounter from curious readers is why this happens. And where her mummy and daddy are. What’s happened to them? Was it something bad? Did they just leave Mia behind one day, go to work and not return? It’s not too clear and the opening picture which shows a little girl, all alone, looking out of the window to the city below, is rather sad. Full review...
Harvest by Jim Crace
As harvest comes in, a village finds itself under threat. Invaded by a series of unfamiliar visitors, it will find itself utterly transformed over a short but apocalyptic seven days. We watch through the eyes of Walter Thirsk as three vagabonds escaping the enclosure of their fields are blamed for the trangressions of others, as the chartmaker Mr Quill enumerates the common land, and as Master Kent's benevolent rule is overtaken by a new owner, who comes with enforcers in the name of profit, progress and enterprise - or sheep farming as Walter quickly realises. Full review...
The Dinner Club and Other Stories by Rob Keeley
Being on home dinners gives Aidan the chance to make some money...
A bridesmaid and a page chase a runaway wedding cake...
Mia and her Dad turn detective...
These are just a few of the premises you can try out for size in Rob Keeley's third book of short stories for middle grade readers. He's really having some fun with this format. I approve. We need more short story collections for this age group. They're entertaining and they appeal particularly to reluctant readers. Short stories like this can act as a springboard to full-length novels. Full review...
Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers by Alexander McCall Smith
So. Bertie. Yes, dear Bertie finally turns seven in this book! And about time too! His birthday gifts from his parents are perhaps not everything he wished for, nor even what his dad might have wanted to get him, but Bertie's mother, Irene, has very definite ideas about what makes a good birthday present for a little boy. Fortunately for my blood pressure the odious Irene is soon whisked away to another country after winning a newspaper competition, and her stay there might be rather longer than she'd intended... Full review...
Pilgrim Soul by Gordon Ferris
It's 1947, the worst winter in memory is only just getting started, and Duncan Brodie is a crime reporter working the streets of Glasgow for the Gazette. The reason he's good at reporting is probably just natural talent and a decent education. The reason he's good at crime is that he's a trained investigator. Full review...
Something Delicious by Jill Lewis and Ali Pye
There once lived a Greedy Guzzler who was always eating and during one particular day:
'He had munched breakfast, crunched elevenses, chomped twelveses and guzzled the most enormous lunch.' Full review...
The Outline of Love by Morgan McCarthy
Persephone Triebold has spent most of her life on the Assynt Peninsula in north-west Scotland. It's isolated, rugged and under-populated. Her father opted to live there after the death of his wife, feeling that it was safe for his young daughter. She's been home-schooled and has had very little contact with other people - but makes the decision that she's going to university in London. Once there she shares a house with three other girls and develops a crush on former indie musician and Booker-winning novelist Leo Ford. She works her way into his circle of friends - and finally into his bed - but never feels that has connected with him. Part of it is that she can't get past that incident in his past which involved his sister, Ivy, her partner, a gun and a sword - and no one will talk about it. Full review...
Lucky Me: My Life With - And Without - My Mom, Shirley MacLaine by Sachi Parker with Frederick Stroppel
Born in Los Angeles, raised in Tokyo, and schooled across Europe, Sachi Parker had already lead an eventful life before she turned 18. Add to the mix a secretive father with an explosive temper and a Hollywood icon for a mother and you have enough stories to fill a book.
And that's exactly what she's done. Full review...
Another Way to Fall by Amanda Brooke
On a crisp November day, Emma steps out of the doctor’s office, beaming from ear to ear. Finally, she has received the news she has been waiting so long to hear; her cancer is in complete remission. She can now put the last five years behind her and start get on with the rest of her life. At least that is how things would work in a perfect world. Sadly, the truth is a little different. The 'all clear' diagnosis is the first chapter of a book that Emma is writing, a book that is a coping mechanism to help her come to terms with the fact that her cancer is incurable and her options are very limited indeed. Full review...
Ostrich by Matt Greene
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon deserves every piece of praise it received, as a children's novel with plenty to interest older readers and a wonderful way of portraying Asperger's Syndrome through its narrator, Christopher Boone. Ostrich by Matt Greene follows quite similar lines, although this time the narrator, Alex, has a brain tumour. Full review...
Great Britain Concise Stamp Catalogue 2013 by Stanley Gibbons
When I began collecting GB stamps Collect British Stamps was my bible and I eagerly awaited each new edition. After a while I came to realise that I needed a little more depth, but not to the level provided by the Specialised Catalogue Series not least because I was still at the stage of spending the money on stamps rather than books about them. There is something to fill the gap though and that's the Great Britain Concise catalogue. It's designed to meet the needs of the dedicated amateur rather than the specialist or the casual collector. Full review...
Rendezvous in Russia by Lauren St John
When Skye, Laura Marlin's three-legged Siberian husky, saves an actress's life, Laura and her friend Tariq get the chance to work on a film set in Russia. Heading to St Petersburg initially seems to be the chance of a holiday of a lifetime - but as 'accidents' start piling up, Laura and Tariq realise that they could be in yet another dangerous situation. Can they save the day again? Full review...
Arclight by Josin L McQuein
Many years into the future, after terrifying monsters called the Fade have taken over most of our world, the survivors have banded together in the refuge of the Arclight. With nowhere to go, they stay within their wall of light - until a teenage girl Marina comes out of the Dark and finds them. Marina, though, has lost her memory. What is her secret, why are the Fade taking such a special interest in her, and can she help her rescuers fight back against them? Full review...
Stay Where You Are And Then Leave by John Boyne
Alfie is just five years old when the Great War breaks out in 1914. His father joins up straightaway. Cheerful letters come from Georgie for a while and Alfie's mother reads them to him. But then the letters grow miserable and frightening. Alfie's mother stops reading them aloud and hides them away - but Alfie finds them anyway. And then the letters stop altogether. Alfie is told that his father is on a secret mission and can't write, but he sees through the lie immediately. And then, one day, a chance meeting tells Alfie exactly what has happened to his father. He's home from the front but he's in hospital, suffering from a condition nobody understood at the time: shell shock. Full review...
Fortunately, the Milk... by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell
A boy and a girl are horrified to find their fridge is milkless, which means their cereal will be too dry for their breakfast. Luckily, even though mum is off working away from home, dad can nip out and fetch some. Or he could if he weren't as a result kidnapped by aliens, threatened by pirates and gods, forced to cooperate with a dinosaur in a hot-air balloon, and a lot more… Fortunately, the milk can save him and breakfast – or can it? Full review...
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
Back in 1974 six teenagers met at summer camp and did all those things which you get to do when your parents are not around to stop you. They smoked pot, drank vodka and Tangs - and talked way into the night about anything and everything. Plays were put on, animations were perfected, but most importantly friendships were made that would last for years - for some it would be a lifetime. Back in 1974, as Nixon left the White House under a particularly heavy cloud, 'The Interestings', as one of their number called them, knew that they could achieve anything they set their minds to. For three summers they returned to Spirit-in-the-Woods and then they faced the real world. Full review...
The Second Life of Amy Archer by R S Pateman
Ten years ago, a little girl vanished from a playground near her London home. Her body was never found. A decade on, and her parents are different people, her mother Beth still hung up on what did, or didn’t happen that day, her father Brian trying to move on with his new family, his new daughters. On the anniversary of her disappearance, a strange visitor arrives on Beth’s doorstep saying she knows what happened to Amy Archer. She also knows a great deal about Beth’s life, and Amy’s, from that time. Things no one should know. No one could know. But the only explanation is beyond belief. Either someone is playing a cruel joke on Beth, or it’s time to start believing in miracles. Full review...
Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider
Ezra Faulkner thinks that everyone has a tragedy in their life, something which will forever define you. His happens when he loses his girlfriend, his tennis ambitions, and his social life in one night after a car accident shatters his knee. Drawn back towards his old friend Toby - whose own tragedy, years ago, was to catch a decapitated head on a theme park ride, forever dooming him to misfit status - he meets new girl Cassidy. With new friends around him and a potential new love, can Ezra rebuild his life? Full review...
America's Mistress: The Life and Times of Eartha Kitt by John L Williams
Two quotes on the back of the dust jacket testify to the power and public perception of Eartha Kitt during her lifetime. Orson Welles once called her ‘the most exciting woman in the world’, while to the CIA she was ‘a sadistic nymphomaniac’. Full review...
Paradise by Simone Elkeles
Caleb Becker has spent the last year in juvie for hitting Maggie Armstrong in his car whilst drink driving. He thinks getting out of jail is the first step to things going back to normal, but he's about to learn exactly how much can change in a year and the terrible price of a secret within his family. Full review...
The Night Rainbow by Claire King
You know, there’s no reason a book has to be happy in order to be good. The Night Rainbow is proof of this. Set geographically in France and actually in the head of a five year old girl, it follows the adventures of the summer when Pea’s (short for Peony or Pivoine, depending who you ask) pregnant mother was too miserable to care for her; the summer following the still birth of Pea’s sister and the tragic accidental death of her father. Full review...
Dead Rich by Katia Lief
Mac Macleary and his wife Karin are retired homicide detectives. He's set up in the private investigation business, while she is trying hard to be a full-time mother, while still having to actively resist having her name on the office name-plate, and not-quite-but-almost resenting not being able to join him on stake-outs. Full review...
The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell
Life may be tough in the Missouri town where Alma grew up but at least she has a job. She learns and experiences a lot as maid to the wealthy Glencross family, but many of the experiences aren't the sort she'd like to relive. To top it all off, in 1929 the Arbor, a local dance club, explodes into flames killing 42 people including Alma's younger sister Ruby. The cause remains a mystery as factions are blamed or viewed suspiciously. However Alma knows the truth, a truth that remains secret until decades later during a visit from her grandson. Full review...
Samurai by Ian Beck and Daniel Atanasov
The hero of our story is nameless. He is only the Samurai, and not even quite that. He is dishonoured, a masterless Samurai, or Ronin. We do not know his master's fate but we can only assume it is death, and that Ronin has fled the field taking his injured dog to safety. The land is desolate and barren and both the text and the superbly drawn illustrations build a feeling of darkness and despair. The path he travels on is lined with skeletons of defeated warriors lashed to wagon wheels. It gives the reader the impression of the road to hell. The young Samurai takes refuge in a ruined palace, yet another sign of devastation upon the land, seeming to exist for the next few days only to care for Cho, his dog, while awaiting the punishment of the gods for his failure. He rises from despair to help others, first to defeat a demon haunting the palace, and then undertaking a journey to find and defeat another deadly demon. Soon the young warrior comes to a village suffering under the most horrific of curses. His courage will be put to the test as he must risk even his beloved Cho to save an innocent girl and lift the curse. Full review...
Where's Tim's Ted? It's Time for Bed! by Ian Whybrow and Russell Ayto
Tim is visiting Grandad and Granny Red on the farm. It’s bed time, but Tim can’t find Ted. He makes them look for him, but they don’t really bother. Just a perfunctory peek behind the sofa and, when that doesn’t unearth the teddy, Tim is packed off to bed with the promise that they’ll look again in the morning. But it’s hard to sleep without your toy, isn’t it? So, deep in the middle of the night, Tim creeps out of bed to go searching once more. He’s not alone, though. Grandad and Granny Red might be fast asleep but others on the farm are awake, and like the Pied Piper, Tim soon finds himself with quite a following. Full review...
