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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Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us by David Neiwert
'Profoundly humbling experiences are good for our souls,' Neiwert asserts in the first pages of his all-encompassing book about killer whales. For him, encountering orcas, one of the world's largest mammals, has been both humbling and inspiring, reminding him that humans are just one among many wondrous species and that it is wrong for us to exploit other creatures for our own benefit. After moving to Seattle, he tried for three years to see the whales, and finally gave up; it was only when he began spending time in the places where the orcas live, simply for the pleasure of it, that he started seeing them all the time. Full review...
Zero World by Jason M Hough
Memory is an important element of making us who we are. Do we avoid certain courses of action knowing that the memory of it would haunt us for the rest of our lives? Most of us would not kill, but what if you could forget that you just ended someone's life? Then you may be a sociopath, but a useful sociopath that can be trained to be an assassin who kills, forgets and kills again. This type of person may even forget that they have visited new worlds. Full review...
Whispers Through A Megaphone by Rachel Elliott
Miriam doesn’t speak. Well, that’s not strictly true. She does speak, but nothing above a whisper which makes it hard to have a conversation with her. Particularly as she hasn’t left her house in three years. But today is the day. She’s going to open that door and walk outside. She really is. Ralph has finally twigged (and with no small amount of surprise) that his wife Sadie doesn’t actually love him. And now he’s not sure if she ever really did. Having spent so much time regurgitating his every moment onto Social Media, Ralph hasn’t really had a chance to think about it. But now he has, it is so shockingly awful that he has decided to run away. And of all the places he could run away to, he has chosen the same woods that Miriam has picked to be the first place she will visit out-of-doors. And Sadie? Well, she’s had enough of reading Tweets and living vicariously through the posts of others. Sadie is going to have an adventure of her own. Full review...
Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong
Liv is starting to understand the Fae world that has existed in secret, and her place within it. But the more she understands, the less she likes it. Visions of a girl torn between two men continue to plague her – visions that are starting to feel alarmingly similar to her real life relationships with Gabriel and Ricky. Full review...
The Mark by Rosemary Hayes
'She's his mark'. Rachel's on the run. Naïve, homeless and emotional, she's easy prey. But for whom? Full review...
The Duke Can Go to the Devil by Erin Knightley
As Regency ladies go, Mei-li Bradford is anything but conventional. For most of her life, she has travelled the world with her sea-captain father and seen exotic sights and locations that others could only dream of. Her upbringing amongst sailors has clearly rubbed off on her, however. Mei-li, or May to her friends, can drink and curse like a man and has no respect for propriety and convention. She may look like a well-bred lady, but certainly does not act like one. Therefore, disaster surely beckons when an uptight Duke shows an interest in her. His stuffy ways and conventional habits are anathema to May's free-spirited nature. Full review...
Capitalism and Human Values by Tony Wilkinson
Tony Wilkinson has a first class honours degree in philosophy and has worked in government service and investment management - the ideal background for a consideration of capitalism and the human values which propel it. It's not too long ago - certainly within my lifetime - that religion largely dictated the values held by individuals, but true religious belief now seems to be the exception rather than the rule. In its place we have a society for whom consumerism is the driving force - and a widening gap between those who can afford to consume and those who cannot. As Wilkinson says Getting and spending have come to define who we are. Full review...
The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johncock
You'd be forgiven for assuming that debut novelist Benjamin Johncock is American: The Last Pilot has the literary weight of a Great American Novel, with a limitless desert setting plus the prospect of soon dominating space, and the spare yet profound writing style of Ernest Hemingway or Cormac McCarthy. Johncock is British, but you can tell he's taken inspiration from stories about the dawn of the astronaut age, including Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff and films like Apollo 13. His protagonist, Jim Harrison, is a fictional Air Force test pilot who rubs shoulders with historical figures like Chuck Yeager and John Glenn in the quest to break the sound barrier and conquer space. Full review...
The Cow Who Climbed a Tree by Gemma Merino
Tina is a really curious cow who just wants to know everything there is to know about, well, everything. Her sisters think that's just silly, and when Tina tells them that she climbed a tree and found a dragon they decide the situation has gotten out of hand. But what will they find when they looking for her in the woods? You'll just have to read the book to find out. Full review...
The Bath Monster by Colin Boyd and Tony Ross
A great book for parents and kids alike, with an excellent premise and brilliantly carried out, I can see this being a popular choice for bedtime reading. Even if your children might not be too fond of the bath for a while afterwards... Full review...
Pugs of the Frozen North by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre
When Shen finds himself stranded in the middle of a frozen sea, with 66 shivering pugs for company and no food, he’s desperate to find help. Little does he suspect that this is just the start of their adventure in the frozen north: with his new friend Sika, and the pugs pulling their sled, he’s suddenly part of a race to the top of the world. Will they make it in time to meet the Snowfather or will one of the other contestants beat them to it? Full review...
Fortunes of France: City of Wisdom and Blood by Robert Merle and T Jefferson Kline (translator)
1566: Brothers Pierre and Samson de Siorac have been sent from their Perigore home to further their education at Montpellier. During their time there they learn more than their ascribed logic, philosophy and medicine. Indeed Pierre's focus is on his stomach and the affairs of the heart, as befitting a lusty 15 year old. Not all of the adventures are learned, culinary or romantic though; some lessons are a lot more dangerous. Full review...
Practical Landscape Painting: Materials, Techniques & Projects by David Hollis
Almost any of us can visit the countryside and capture the view in our memory or on our camera with comparatively consummate ease. However capturing it in paint is more difficult and yet something some of us (me included) dream of. It was therefore with great excitement that I picked up this compact book of seven lessons in landscape painting. As I believe (with good evidence) that I have the artistic ability of a house brick, it would be a challenge but I also have a dream to follow. Full review...
The Tiger Prowls: a pop-up book of wild animals by Seb Braun
It's a hardback book with a striking cover and when you open it, don't expect endpapers or gentle introductions: as you lift the cover, the tiger of the title appears:
The tiger prowls, stalking through the jungle.
Paw after heavy paw crunches on the forest floor.
Full review...
Grrrrr! by Rob Biddulph
Fred has won the contest for best bear in the wood for three years in a row. He's the best at everything from catching fish, doing the hula-hoop and scaring humans, to the all-important growling competition. But everything changes when another bear arrives and decides to enter the contest. Fred's no longer the best bear in town and, to make matters worse, he's lost his 'Grrrrr'. Fred's going to need help to find his 'Grrrr' in time for the start of the competition. But will the other animals want to help him look given he's been too busy training to make friends? Full review...
The First Thing You See by Gregoire Delacourt
Arthur Dreyfuss is a fairly run of the mill young man. He likes big breasts, cars, Juplier beer and big breasts. He’s also rather keen on big breasts. A good-looking boy, even if he does say so himself
…like Ryan Gosling, only better looking
we will take him at his word, although one would had thought a better looking Ryan Gosling would have had his fill of Zepplin chested females so as to dilute his desire for them. In any event, I suspect his longings stem from the fact that a young mechanic living a quiet and uneventful life in a tiny village in rural France is unlikely to have a multitude of such femmes crossing his path in search of their daily baguette. That said, when Arthur one day opens his front door to find a rather distressed but undeniably luscious Scarlett Johansson on his doorstep, he does not question his luck. He invites her in. As you do. Full review...
Twelve Kings: The Song of the Shattered Sands by Bradley Beaulieu
When she was a young child Ceda took a blood oath to seek vengeance against the twelve kings of Sharakhai and with good reason. Now, years later, the oath hasn't been fulfilled but Ceda has plenty of other things to keep her occupied. Whether couriering suspect packages, avoiding the asirim or risking her life in the combat pits to satisfy the blood thirsty crowd. Ceda has been biding her time and that time is approaching. However, she's only one 19 year old girl whereas the kings are legion and have powers to call on that aren't altogether natural. Blood must be avenged with blood; the only question is whose blood will it be? Full review...
What I Tell You in the Dark by John Samuel
A man called Will is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate to expose his company's dodgy dealings to the press. Overcome with doubt and fear, he goes to kill himself. But, at the exact moment he attaches his noose to the back of the door, he is saved. By a curious housemate or a concerned girlfriend? No, by an Angel. Not the white-feathered guardian Angel you may expect, but one who wishes to help Will achieve his ends, and so possess the body of the hapless Will in order to finish what he started. It goes without saying that the Angel is hoping things go better than they did with the last guy he possessed – a hapless young man from Galilee called Jesus… Full review...
Brothers at Arms by Jemima Brigges
Certain decisions are pivotal points in time; key moments that define everything that follows and create waves that ripple with repercussions for years to come. Kindly squire Tom Norberry could never have foreseen the impact that taking in two orphaned relatives would have on his future happiness. This single, altruistic act of kindness would set in motion a chain of events that would eventually cause a deep household rift and threaten to sully the good family name that he had worked to hard to uphold. Full review...
The Starlings and Other Stories by Ann Cleeves (editor)
Six authors, known collectively as 'The Murder Squad', and their six accomplices were given twelve photographs of the remote landscape of Pembrokeshire by acclaimed photographer David Wilson and asked to come up with a short story inspired by what they saw. Some of the stories will be more to your taste than others, as is only to be expected in such a varied anthology, but none are weak and if you enjoy crime short stories then this book could be a real treat. Full review...
The Past by Tessa Hadley
Tessa Hadley writes beautifully subtle stories of English family life. Her understated style has a touch of the 1950s or 1960s about it, calling to mind Elizabeth Taylor or early Margaret Drabble, and she seems to adapt classic genres like the novel of manners or the country house novel. Here she deliberately channels Elizabeth Bowen with a setup borrowed from The House in Paris: the novel is divided into three parts, titled 'The Present', 'The Past', and 'The Present'. That structure allows for a deeper look at what the house and a neighbouring cottage have meant to the central family, and paves the way for one final shocker of a secret. Full review...
Girl on a Plane by Miriam Moss
It's September 1970 and 15 year old Anna is on her way back to boarding school in England. Friends of her family joke about the recent hijackings but Anna is far more concerned about leaving her home in Bahrain and their mongrel dog, Woofa. These worries are, however, wiped from her mind when her plane is hijacked by Palestinian guerrillas and diverted to a disused airstrip in the Jordanian desert. Here they are forced to wait for days with almost no food and very little water while their captors issue their demands to the British government. If these demands are not met within three days, they will blow up the plane killing all the hostages. Full review...
Poppy Pym and the Pharaoh's Curse by Laura Wood
Poppy Pym is leaving the only home she's ever known (in Madame Pym's Spectacular Travelling Circus) to become a boarding school student at Saint Smithen's School. And, if starting school for the first time at age 11 isn't enough, Poppy and her new friends – Kip and Ingrid – find themselves in the middle of a mystery. Dangerous accidents start to occur at Saint Smithen's the moment a temporary exhibition of Egyptian artefacts enter the school. While everyone else attributes these to the Pharaoh's curse, Poppy and her friends are determined to discover who is really causing the accidents. Then, when the priceless ruby at the heart of the collection is stolen, their investigation broadens as they try to uncover the thief. Full review...
Bandaging the Blitz by Phyll MacDonald-Ross and I D Roberts
Why would anyone want to know about me, dear? she said.
Everyone has an interesting story to tell. Yet how many life stories actually make it into printed form, perhaps because the individuals involved did not feel that anyone would be interested in their lives? This was almost the case for Phyllis Macdonald-Ross, who served as a nurse in a busy London hospital during the Blitz. It was only thanks to her determined grandson and devoted husband that she finally decided to put her memoirs down on paper and submit them for publication. The result is an exciting and emotional coming-of-age story about a young nurse entering her training during one of the most turbulent times in British history. Full review...
The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands
Seventeenth century England isn't always a comfortable place to live. Apart from the obvious differences from the modern day – no National Health Service, no laws to protect orphans like Christopher from cruelty and exploitation, and a constant foul smell from poor sanitation - fear and suspicion are a daily fact of life. In 1665 Charles II has been back on the throne for several years, but not everyone is happy about his extravagant and luxurious life-style, even among those who found the Puritan rules of Cromwell's time excessively strict. There are spies everywhere, and rumours of conspiracies fill the streets. It's a time to keep your head down and avoid attention from the authorities. Full review...
The School of Art: Learn How To Make Great Art With 40 Simple Lessons by Teal Triggs and Daniel Frost
Written with an interesting approach, this book treats the reader as a new art student to The School of Art. The five professors of the school take the student through 40 different lessons, looking at a huge range of ideas right from how to draw a line, perspective and proportion, composition and aesthetics. Aimed probably at senior school children it could, however, also be used by older primary children who are particularly interested in art, and if you were working through the book with your child then a younger child could also try out some of the lesson ideas and suggestions. Full review...
No More Cuddles! by Jane Chapman
Ah, what a problem it can be, to be just so snuggly that people can't stop cuddling you! This is poor Barry's problem. A solitary monster by nature, he does like cuddles of course, but too much of anything can become trying, and so when he is leaped on by all the other little forest animals every single morning, he wonders if perhaps there is some way to transfer their cuddles to someone else? Full review...
