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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The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler
Alice is a little girls whose feet are planted firmly in the here and now. She's sensible. And studious. And practical. So when, one night, she overhears a conversation between her father and a vicious little fairy, she's more than a little shaken. But before she has had time to process this worrying event, Alice's father has rushed away on a business trip. Within days, the news comes that his ship has foundered and there are no survivors.
Alice finds herself packed off to stay with a mysterious uncle her father never told her about. Geryon is a strange man and his house is even stranger. Never-seen servants prepare food and clear it away. And the servants you can see are strange - Mr Black sinister, Emma an automaton. There's only one rule: Alice must not enter the Library... Full review...
Ghost Girl by Lesley Thomson
We first met Stella Darnell in The Detective's Daughter - a book which seemed to take everyone by surprise. I didn't expect to meet her again but a year after her father's death Stella hasn't moved on. She's still visiting his house regularly and cleaning it as though he could return any day. Cleaning is what she does best - and she runs her own cleaning company. Her father was Terry Darnell, Detective Chief Superintendent at Hammersmith police station and there's a folder of photographs in his darkroom. They're all unlabeled and they're of deserted streets. Is a crime involved - and why are the photographs at Terry's home? Full review...
Hate by Alan Gibbons
Six months ago, Rosie, Eve's beloved older sister, died after an unprovoked hate crime. One of the witnesses, who didn't intervene, was Anthony. Now he's moved school and ended up meeting Eve. Can she ever forgive him for his cowardice? Can he even forgive himself? Full review...
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
Three people walk along a Lagos beach as the world changes. Adaora is strolling to clear her head and try to understand why her husband hit her earlier tonight. Rap artist Anthony (known to his parents as Edgar) is having a post-gig wander. The third, Agu, is covered in blood. The fact that he's on the beach is immaterial; he just needs help. Then it happens. A boom, a bat falls stunned from the sky and then nothing is the same again. The strangers' futures all become one and the creature arrives; the creature they call Ayodele. Full review...
Love and Treasure by Ayelet Waldman
Jack and his granddaughter Natalie are both at a cross roads in their lives. She is single again after a short disastrous marriage and he is dying. Natalie comes to stay and during her visit Jack asks a favour. He asks her to embark on a mission for him involving a peacock pendant and some unfinished business from nearly 70 years ago. Full review...
Boom, Baby, Boom, Boom! by Margaret Mahy and Margaret Chamberlain
Aeroplane noises, choo-choo sounds, demonstrations of mouth opening wide. I’ve heard them all suggested to help with weaning reluctant baby eaters. Never though, has it crossed my mind to bang a drum set whilst lunch time is in session. Not even at my lowest point, when I made the rookie error of crouching to pick up dropped food enabling baby to lovingly ruffle my hair with his sweet, tiny, and Weetabix concreted fingers, did this occur to me. Obviously I’m not as cool a Mama as the Mama in 'Boom, Baby, Boom Boom!'… Full review...
Notebooks, 1922-86 by Michael Oakeshott
Michael Oakeshott is usually described as a conservative thinker. According to Perry Anderson, his work influenced John Major's style of politics; he named him in the London Review of Books in 1992 as one of four ‘outstanding European theorists of the intransigent Right’. Luke O’Sullivan, who edited this collection of notebooks, has often said that he considers such descriptions limiting. O’Sullivan is clearly enthusiastic about Oakeshott’s work and strove to enable these notebooks, spanning a period of over sixty years, to be published. Full review...
The Book of You by Claire Kendal
Clarissa is 38, secretary to a university department head and just emerging from a broken relationship. Rafe also works for the university, wants Clarissa and Clarissa wants him. He's absolutely certain she does, no matter how vehemently she denies it, no matter how fast she runs. Full review...
Harlem Nocturne by Bruce Crowther
Just before the beginning of the Second World War and half a world away from Europe the World's Fair is taking place in New York. The British king and queen are expected and there's a Joe Louis title fight on the horizon. Daniel Leland lives in Harlem. He used to be with the NYPD but was retired after he was shot by robbers: the bullet is still in his body and perilously close to his spine. Right now he makes his living as a small-time private detective, but business seems to be looking up when he's offered an investigation - and a very large retainer - by a manufacturer who might be suffering espionage. Before long there's a murder to add into the equation too. Full review...
Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton
When four friends go out together to hunt a bird they have a specific plan in mind as to how they will do it. One of the friends, however, isn't really in on the plan and is just tagging along for the fun of it, and he finds himself getting shushed along the way each time he shouts out 'hello birdy!' Full review...
So What! by Tracey Trussell and Neil Price
Girls can be horrid sometimes. You know how it is - one girl in the playground says quite innocently that their mum bought them some new sandals at the weekend and another, louder, bigger, bossier one says 'so what!' And then perhaps every time that quieter girl opens her mouth to say something the other girl is there to shout her down with a 'so what!' This book captures those feelings, and demonstrates a way to deal with any 'so what' nonsense that comes your way! Full review...
Slow Getting Up by Nate Jackson
Sporting autobiographies are often written by those sports men and women who made it to the very pinnacle of their profession. Their stories surround past glories and how they lifted themselves up above the great to become the very best. However, for every superstar footballer or tennis player, there needs to be a lot more average Joes and Joettes for them to shine against. And who is to say that being an average player in a professional league is not an achievement in itself? Nate Jackson was one such ‘average’ player in the NFL – but would you call him that to his face? Full review...
The Atlantis Gene by AG Riddle
Clocktower agent David Vale is on the tail of a large terrorist organisation. He's been after them since 9/11, but the huge scope of the organisation makes them difficult to pin down or predict. His only leads are a few cryptic messages from the 1940s and research scientist Dr Kate Warner, who has become intricately connected with the terrorists without knowing it. Full review...
Barbapapa's Ark by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor
Barbapapa’s Ark is the fourth book in the popular series about a shape-shifting pink blob, his wife and seven children. It follows on from the previous book, in which Barbapapa and his family built themselves a beautiful house in a peaceful valley. One day, after a picnic, the family decide to take a leisurely ride along the river, but are horrified to see sick and injured animals suffering from the effects of pollution. Over time, more and more animals come to Barbapapa for help. He decides that the only way to teach the humans a lesson is to take the animals to a new, green planet where they will be safe. Full review...
Princess DisGrace: First Term at Tall Towers by Lou Kuenzler
We all know how princesses are supposed to be, don’t we? Pretty, dainty, delicate and feminine, with perfect manners and charm, of course. Unfortunately, it seems that nobody pointed this out to Princess Grace of Cragland; a scruffy, grubby, ungainly girl with spindly legs and huge feet. Her clumsiness earns her the nickname 'Princess Dis-Grace' from her fellow classmates, including her obnoxious cousin, Princess Precious. Can Grace rise to the challenge and become the well-groomed, elegant princess that she is expected to be in her first term at Tall Towers? Full review...
A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson
It seems that Dave Goulson, founder of the incredibly successful Bumblebee Conservation Trust, did not always have natural aptitude for helping wildlife if his early recollections are anything to go by. Despite boundless enthusiasm and a passion for the natural world, his childhood efforts to give nature a helping hand quite frequently ended in some sort of gory aftermath. For example, there was the incident with the drowned bumblebees, in which a young Goulson unwisely decided to dry the bedraggled victims out on the hotplate of the electric cooker. Then there was the time he accidentally dropped a live electrical heater into his aquarium, frying the poor fish instantly. I could go on to mention the beheading of the footless quail, the snake wrapped in sticky tape and the countless taxidermy experiments, but alas, time does not permit. Suffice to say that despite this unpromising start in life, things did eventually improve... Full review...
Stories of World War One by Tony Bradman
World War One, or the Great War as it was known at the time, was a cataclysmic war. Millions died and life was changed forever for the survivors - for the women of Britain, and for the working classes and ruling classes alike. 2014 is the centenary of its outbreak and the redoubtable Tony Bradman has gathered together a dozen of our best writers for young people to create an anthology of short stories to commemorate the anniversary. Full review...
He Texted: The Ultimate Guide to Decoding Guys by Lisa Winning and Carrie Henderson-McDermott
This book, despite the title, is about more than texting. It is about the whole digital world and how guys and gals interact within it (Companies’ House stalkerage aside). From how long to wait to text back, to how to respond to friend requests and what to do with the power when you’re unleashed on his Facebook wall, this book promises to provide hilarious and essential advice on how to navigate the perplexing world that is trouser-shaped. Full review...
ZOM-B Mission by Darren Shan
Ok. Have an obligatory warning about possible spoilers for the series so far. If you don't want any, then run along and read our review of the first book. Otherwise, read this review at your own risk. Full review...
Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes
Hitler Youth Ronaldo! Which way to the street? With these words a very misguided Nazi Fuhrer asks for his first directions in the Berlin of 2011. Mistakenly believing the lad to be a party junior member with his own name on his football shirt, he also thinks for a while it is still 1945. He's soon informed of the truth, but still makes some unfortunate conclusions – that the street kiosks selling Turkish language newspapers are a sign of a Soviet-beating alliance between the two countries, that people eat granola bars because the war still leads to a bread shortage, and that people making an ironic speech bubble with their fingers in the air is all that is left of the Hitler salute. But yes, after a long hiatus neither he nor our author is particularly concerned with explaining, that man is back – and if he has his way he's going to be just as popular this time round… Full review...
A Well-Tempered Heart by Jan-Philipp Sendker
Ten years on from the previous episode, Julia Win, successful corporate lawyer specialising in intellectual property rights is exhausted, unhappy and alone. Somewhat distant in all senses of the word, if not exactly estranged, from her mother and brother, she has recently left a relationship that should have worked but just didn't and her only real connection is with her artist friend Amy Lee. Full review...
101 Places in Italy : A Private Grand Tour by Francis Russell
Initially I struggled to describe this book. It's not a guide book: maps are intended only to give you a rough idea of where the towns, cities and villages are - even major rivers are not shown. There are no opening times of museums or other details which the visitor might need and whilst it's a tremendous help to the tourist there's a sense throughout the book of their being people who are best avoided if at all possible. November and February seem to be the best months for your visit in many cases. The 101 places you'll visit in the book are given no wider importance than the works of art within them. Finally I accepted that the subtitle of the book - A Private Grand Tour was the most appropriate. Full review...
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
Austin is confused. He's in love with both his girlfriend Shann and his best friend Robby. As if that wasn't a big enough problem, he and Robby have just managed to let loose an army of preying mantises which may bring about the end of the world. Who said Ealing, Iowa was boring? Full review...
Something Like Happy by John Burnside
How do you pick a name for a short story collection? It seems to me the ...and other stories add-on is like picking a favourite child, a promotion of one portion of the content above the rest. John Burnside has got a title story here, but such is the mood of the book that he seems to have nailed the matter, and picked the most apposite name. Something Like Happy could in a way be the title for practically every piece here. Full review...
The Happy Puppy Handbook: Your Definitive Guide to Puppy Care and Early Training by Pippa Mattinson
Unfortunately far too many people acquire puppies because of the aww... factor. They look gorgeous, cuddly, cute - rather like an animated soft toy - and there are people who have to have one. Now. The reality is that bringing a puppy into your home - into your life - requires about the same level of planning as moving home and the best guide which I've seen to preparing for a puppy and the early stages of living with one is Pippa Mattinson's The Happy Puppy Handbook. Do get it well in advance. If you're only thinking about getting a puppy it might even put you off - but then it will be well worth the cover price if it saves you a great deal of expense and even more heartache. Full review...
