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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Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs by Giles Paley-Phillips and Liz Pichon
The idea of a dinosaur on a trampoline or playing football is just plain silly. After all, everyone knows dinosaurs died out yonks ago…didn’t they?
Nope.
No, they did not. Full review...
Monkeys in my Garden: Unbelievable but true stories of my life in Mozambique by Valerie Pixley
Valerie Pixley and her husband O'D live in Mozambique, amidst its rapidly disappearing forests. Monkeys in my Garden tells the story of what life is like in the Nhamacoa Forest and how they came to be there. It opens with a terrifying scene: armed bandits in their bedroom in the middle of the night. Full review...
Elmer and the Whales by David McKee
Elmer and Wilbur are spending some time with Grandpa Eldo, something lots of children will identify with. He tells them that in his youth, this was the time of year he’d go down to the coast for some Whale watching and, well, that sounds like a marvellous idea, so Elmer and Wilbur decide to try it for themselves. But it turns out there’s more to Grandpa Eldo’s story than he’s telling them, and Elmer and Wilbur soon find themselves on a wild adventure. Full review...
Animal Noises by Nicola Killen
Sometimes a picture book comes along that is so beautiful, it’s almost wasted on slobbering, grubby-fingered toddlers. This is one such book. Animal Noises is one of the prettiest board books I’ve ever seen. It is a lift-the-flap book of, you’ve guess it, sounds made by animals. Full review...
Celtic Warrior: The Legend of Cu Chulainn by Will Sliney
Queen Maeve wants the Brown Bull of Cooley and the lands of Ulster. With an army of 10,000 men, she marches to try to take them by force. The only man who stands between her and her goal is Cú Chulainn, the legendary hero. Can he save his country from the evil enchantress? Full review...
More Than This by Patrick Ness
Here is the boy, drowning.
And Seth does drown. He is alone; taken by the sea, arms and legs flailing and breaking, skull dashed against the rocks whilst the icy water constricts his muscles and breath. Seth is consciously aware of his final moments. His death consumes him with a heavy, confusing blur until… he awakens and finds himself in a desolate, shattered world; naked, alone, starving and alive. This place looks familiar. It looks exactly like the English village where he spent his early childhood before his brother’s accident and his family’s move to America, but it is now overgrown and devoid of human life. It is as if the whole place was simply abandoned one day. Full review...
The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer
At last! A long-awaited sequel to Nancy Farmer's acclaimed House of the Scorpion, in which she explored the life of a little boy who was created solely to provide organs for the failing body of a drug lord. Matt's story was exciting and heartbreaking - would you want to find out you were a clone? It was also incredibly thought-provoking, exploring ideas of prejudice, power, courage, love and sacrifice. And it all took place in a dystopian future in which the drug trade was all but legitimised and in which people are enslaved by microchips in the brain. Full review...
Never Go Back by Lee Child
Jack Reacher is calling on a lady friend. He's never actually met her, they've just spoken on the phone, and he likes her voice. For a drifter like Reacher with nothing better to do, that's a good enough reason to head to Virginia and maybe buy her a coffee. Except when he arrives at his old unit's headquarters, the lady he wants to meet - new commanding officer Major Susan Turner - isn't there. Instead, he finds himself accused of homicide, and brought back into the army. Someone is going to be very sorry about this.
And does anyone really think it'll be Jack? Full review...
The 100 by Kass Morgan
Nuclear war has rendered the Earth uninhabitable for centuries. The remains of human society, a colony of people that managed to escape the cataclysm, live out their lives on massive city-like spaceships. Unfortunately, the spaceships are becoming unsustainable and as resources begin to run out, the Council is forced to introduce strict new plans and measures in an attempt to protect the remaining population. With options running out, a dangerous mission is conceived as a desperate roll of the dice: one hundred juvenile delinquents are sent to the Earth to test if the planet can once more sustain life. There is no telling what the remaining radiation will do to the teenagers, but in this hardened society, this is a risk worth taking. Full review...
Lockwood and Co: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
Sensing ghosts is a risky business, even if you're as talented as Lucy. And when one simple mistake leads to the death of several children, she sets off for a new start in London. Here there is an absolute epidemic of ectoplasm, icy air and bloodthirsty beings from beyond the grave. But ghost-hunting is big business down south, and the major firms won't hire an unknown. The only agency which will take Lucy is a down-at-heel place run, in the basement of their home, by two teenagers. Full review...
Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper
I loved Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising Sequence, but as surprised as I am to say this - this book is far better. While still suitable for older children, this is definitely a book that adults will want to read as well. The book is more mature than her early works, and while obviously gifted from the start, Cooper's talents have matured as well. This book is nothing short of a masterpiece. Full review...
Armchair Nation: An intimate history of Britain in front of the TV by Joe Moran
All of us have a love-hate affair with television, or ‘the idiot lantern’. Hardly anybody who has ever owned a set, or been part of a family which has had one, can envisage life without it. It has been a source of endless entertainment and escape from the drudge of everyday life, while at some time it has irritated most of us beyond measure. Love it or loathe it, it has always been part of the fabric of our existence. While to a certain extent it has been superseded by online services which have supplemented if not overtaken or usurped part of its role, its iconic status is unlikely to disappear for the foreseeable future. Full review...
Straight White Male by John Niven
In Kill Your Friends, John Niven delivered a scathing and hugely entertaining satire on the music industry. In Straight White Male he's turned his attention to Hollywood and academia with similarly impressive results. Full review...
Just Right for Two by Tracey Corderoy and Rosalind Beardshaw
When we first meet Dog he is rushing joyfully through the woods clutching a big, blue suitcase festooned with stickers from his travels. In this suitcase he has put all the treasures he has collected and he is sure that these are all he needs to make him happy. But then one morning Dog meets someone. That someone is Mouse and it is through meeting Mouse that everything changes for Dog. Full review...
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
Cecelia, Tess and Rachel are three women spread across the generations, and spread across Australia. At first glance they have little in common, but as this book progresses, their lives move closer and staggering links appear between the threesome. Full review...
Crazy Rich: Power, Scandal and Tragedy Inside the Johnson & Johnson Dynasty by Jerry Oppenheimer
Back in 1885 three brothers were inspired by a speech by Joseph Lister, the pioneer of antiseptic surgery, to create a range of surgical dressings - such things were previously unheard of - and this was the beginning of Johnson & Johnson, providers of Band-Aids and baby powder. It also brought phenomenal wealth to the founders and a variety of trusts continued this down the years. The first president of the company was Robert Wood Johnson. NFL fans will be aware of his great grandson, Robert Wood Johnson IV (known as 'Woody'), owner of the New York Jets. In between the two - and afterwards - there are a string of tragedies and scandals which put you in mind of the Kennedy dynasty. Full review...
The Kills by Richard House
Richard House's Booker-longlisted The Kills is a collection of four related books, originally published in e-book format between February and June 2013. In some ways, the e-book format is the natural habitat for House's creation as it includes a largely optional multi-media component to the story. It is a hugely ambitious piece about money, murder, greed, stories and where things start and equally where, if ever, they end. Covering more countries than feature in Michael Palin's passport, the book starts with corruption and embezzlement in a US civilian company working in the re-building of Iraq, and ends with a kind of 'Tales of the Unexpected' story in Cyprus having taken in a gruesome story of murder in Naples. Full review...
Against Their Will: The Secret History of Medical Experimentation on Children in Cold War America by Allen M Hornblum, Judith L Newman and Gregory J Dober
If I told you that doctors had been using human beings in the most horrible of medical experiments, that they had done things like tie toddlers to beds to insert live pathogens into their eyes, injected children with radiation, sterilised those thought to be subhuman and even castrated a child just to get a supply of tissue for a lab experiment, you might very reasonably assume I am talking abut Nazi Germany. I am not. Full review...
Ten Little Pirates by Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty
Ten little pirates, sailing out to sea,
Looking for adventure, happy as can be.
Are they hunting treasure? Are they going far?
Ten little pirates all say, 'Arrrrrrr!
Full review...
God Versus Particle Physics: A No-Score Draw by John Davies
God Versus Particle Physics: A No Score Draw is a bold, witty and undoubtedly controversial book that questions our blind faith in science. Davies, a psychologist, analyses the subject in detail, creating some interesting and convincing arguments concluding that some of the latest theories in the realm of physics seem to border on the metaphysical, lacking any kind of demonstrable proof. He reasons that many of the arguments used by prominent atheists, demanding evidence that God exists, can also be applied to ideas such as the Big Bang, parallel universes, dark matter and the Higgs Boson, ironically known as the God particle. Full review...
Skulduggery Pleasant: Last Stand of Dead Men by Derek Landy
Kingdom of the Wicked left the magical world reeling and on the precipice of conflict, a conflict that erupts into full out war between Sanctuaries. Although the Supreme Council has vastly superior numbers, Ireland is home to some of the most powerful sorcerers in the world, including the legendary Dead Men, creating a formula for endless violence. But this is no straightforward war. Friends and former allies suddenly find themselves on opposing sides of the conflict, and not everyone is prepared to follow orders. Then there is the threat of an army of Warlocks, gathering to attack the mortal population, and thereby reveal the magical population to the world. And despite Roarhaven being the new site for the Irish Sanctuary, can its population, including the secretive Children of The Spider, really be trusted? And looming above all this chaos is the greatest threat of all: Darquesse. Valkyrie knows that she doesn't have any more second chances. If she succumbs to that sinister voice in her head, the lure of that incredible power, she will watch everyone she cares about die by her own hand. Full review...
The Little Ghost by Otfried Preussler and Anthea Bell
I have to admit I was slightly prejudiced about this book. The Little Ghost immediately brought back memories of Robert Bright's Georgie which I had cherished as a child. Like Georgie, Little Ghost is a wonderful friendly character, if you are looking for a fright, this book will not be at all suitable. But if you jut want a feel good adventure for younger readers, this book is just the thing. Full review...
The Excalibur Codex by James Douglas
Jamie Saintclair is an expert in tracing works of arts. But he has just as much of a knack for finding trouble as he does for recovering art work. He has just been made an offer no treasure hunter could refuse. A chance to find the legendary sword of Arthur, but he won't be dealing with knights or chivalry in this adventure, instead he will come up against the very worst of human nature. This book will take him on a quest beginning in one of humanity's darkest chapters, the rise of Nazi Germany. The evil perpetuated in this era will be mirrored by modern men who are prepared to plunge the world into darkness once again, this time in the name of British purity. Although the sword is associated with supernatural powers, there will be nothing supernatural in the evil Jamie faces, only the unbridled hatred and lust for power that comes so naturally to some men, and because of this is ever so much more terrifying than magic or monsters. What is even more disturbing is the thought that under the right circumstances, many of us could become monsters as well. Full review...
Mixed Up Nursery Rhymes by Hilary Robinson and Liz Pichon
Many children have a great fondness for traditional nursery rhymes and it doesN't take long for them to know them so well that they can join in as you are reading to them. They know that Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard and that Dr Foster went to Gloucester. However, what fun it might be to sometimes mix up these tales so that the rhymes become even stranger and funnier than the originals. Full review...
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris
After waiting till all her elder sisters' weddings were done and dusted in true ultra-orthodox Jewish style, it's now 19-year-old Chani's turn. She's only met Baruch, her fiancé, four times and he hasn't even seen her elbows but the match is made and the day eventually arrives. Baruch secretly studies forbidden gentile literature and Chani has an inquisitive streak often perceived as rebellious so God knows what the future holds. Perhaps they should take the Rabbi's marriage as an example? Or perhaps not… Full review...
Unexploded by Alison MacLeod
It's 1940 and Britain lives in fear of a Nazi invasion that could happen any day. In case the worst happens, Evelyn's husband Geoffrey has buried a little something for her and their young son Philip in the garden. He tells her the tin contains a bit of money and his favourite photo of them. As she digs it up from impulse rather than necessity, she discovers that there's no photo but what there is instead makes Evelyn doubt that she knows the man she married. The events that follow make Evelyn realise that indeed she doesn't. Meanwhile the war continues and a German does invade their lives, but not in the way that either of them could envisage. Full review...
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Fridrik, Agnes and Sigridur are accused of murdering two men one Icelandic night in 1829 before setting fire to their home. Now Agnes awaits execution, imprisoned in the farm of a lowly local family who, rumour has it, wouldn't be too great a loss if the prisoner becomes dangerous. Margrit Jonsdottir (the farmer's wife) doesn't feel threatened and sets the shocked, malnourished Agnes to work. Gradually Agnes reveals the events of that night to Margrit and Toti, a young priest. Her version seems to be a little different from what everyone else concluded, predictably… Or perhaps not so predictably. Full review...
Sounds like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital by Lloyd Bradley
As Lloyd Bradley points out in the introduction to this book, if you stand long enough on any street corner in London today, you will hear music. More often than not it will be black music, whether it is dubstep, hip hop, reggae or any other genre. Once it was in effect the original ‘underground music’ long before the term was ever recognised, it gradually became the mainstream – and here we find out how. Full review...
Little Mouse's Big Book of Beasts by Emily Gravett
You know right from the start that this is going to be a special book. The cover art is fantastic with a true 3D feel that truly pops, and when you open it, the animals jump out at you. Literally. Full review...
The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier
Quaker girl Honor Bright is seeking escape from a failed relationship. Leaving quiet Dorset for America, a developing country about which she knows little, she hopes that accompanying her sister to the US will mean a new start within the American Quaker community. But Honor soon discovers the differences between America and England – not just in terms of weather and landscape, but also in the American culture of slave keeping. Full review...
The Silence Of The Lambs by Thomas Harris
Well, I suppose I know what all the fuss is about now. Except it isn’t fuss, not any more. It’s so famous that it’s become part of our language. People who’ve never read the book or seen the film can name at least one of the characters. At twenty five, I am the same age as Silence of the Lambs (the novel) and only three years older than the film, which is incidentally the same age as my brother. I cannot remember a time when Hannibal Lecter was not the bogey man. For some years I was under the impression that Buffalo Bill was a real serial killer. There is even a rather catchy and charming song entitled It Rubs The Lotion On It’s Skin. Full review...
