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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Beetle Boy by M G Leonard
When Darkus's dad disappears from a locked room in the Natural History Museum, everyone's desperate to discover what happened. However, when no clues are found, the police and the newspapers rapidly lose interest and Darkus is left to solve the mystery. Luckily, he has some very special friends to help him. Full review...
Defender of the Realm by Nick Ostler and Mark Huckerby
Alfie does not feel like he's the right person to be heir to the throne. He's awkward, bullied and always in the front page of the news for his latest mishap. His brother Richard, as the papers love to remind him, would be much better suited to the part. But when their father the King suddenly dies, ready or not, suitable or not, Alfie is no longer the heir, he is the king and with that defender of the realm. Together with an unlikely ally in the anti- royalist Hayley, Alfie learns his true heritage, protecting the kingdom from all the monsters no one knows exist... Suddenly all the royal duties he'd been expecting don't seem so onerous in comparison. Alfie must quickly grow into the King the country needs, or who knows what will be left of the country? Full review...
Vertigo by Joanna Walsh
The short stories in Joanna Walsh's collection have the overall effect of disparate streams of consciousness of a woman laying bear her very soul, whilst often going about seemingly mundane activities of the ordinary and every day. The narrative voice appeared to me to be the same woman speaking throughout, playing different roles, though I'm not sure this was meant to be the case. The style of the stories is that of short vignettes, mostly written in a modernist, stream of consciousness style. Sometimes, the prose appears almost poetic. Full review...
My Book of Stories: Write Your Own Adventures by Deborah Patterson
If you happen to have two children, born five years apart, you can count on having to live through practically four full years of school holidays – and that doesn't include Bank Holidays or teacher training. Weather permitting, that's well over 1,400 days where the impetus is on to take them somewhere, or spend money. So what better and cheaper place to take them than their own imagination? And if you can't quite unlock the door that leads there, we can certainly suggest this book. Full review...
Now We Are Six by A A Milne and E H Shepard
We can see the signs in The House at Pooh Corner that Christopher Robin is growing up and now he has school work to do. But he's a lucky little boy as he has Winnie the Pooh to help him. Or is he lucky, given that Winnie is also known as 'the Bear of very little brain'? Actually, Pooh has a message for us in the introduction: he says that he walked through the book one day, looking for his friend Piglet, and sat down on some of the pages by mistake. He hopes that we won't mind. Full review...
Why We Came to the City by Kristopher Jansma
'We came to the city because we wished to live haphazardly, to reach for only the least realistic of our desires, and to see if we could not learn what our failures had to teach, and not, when we came to live, discover that we had never died. We wanted to dig deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to be overworked and reduced to our last wit.' Full review...
Supermarket Gremlins by Adam Guillain, Charlotte Guillain and Chris Chatterton
Have you ever wandered down the aisle at your local Super Marché and found some frozen peas in the bread section, or a lonely carrot hanging out with the cereal. What can be the cause of all the mistakes, spills and wobbly wheels that plague every superstore known to man, women and child? Incompetent staff and lazy customers dumping stock? Nope, these problems are all caused by the sneaky Gremlins who lurk in every shop. Full review...
Jim Reaper Son of Grim by Rachel Delahaye
It's the age-old story. Boy (Jim) fancies older girl, in a distant, can't-talk-to-her-without-dribbling sort of way. Naturally, Jim won't discuss this with his best friend Will Maggot because by some evil twist of fate, the girl is Will's sister, and everybody knows sisters are definitely off limits. Not that Fiona's given him any encouragement: in fact the only time she speaks to either of them is when she's pointing out what losers they are. Full review...
The House at Pooh Corner by A A Milne and E H Shepard
The title of the book comes from the first story, in which Winnie and Piglet build a house at Pooh corner for Eeyore, but perhaps the most famous story in this second book is at chapter six, when the game of Pooh Sticks is invented. We also meet Tigger for the first time and as with the first book Winnie-the-Pooh each chapter is a short story in its own right, except for chapters eight and nine which have a degree of continuity as Owl's house is blown down in chapter eight and a new one is found for him at the Wolery in chapter nine. It's still not overly long even if you end up reading both as a bedtime story! Full review...
Pets A Slide and Play Book by Surya Sajnani
Pets is two in one, a book and a game, and for little ones who can't or won't sit still long enough for a full story, it's a great way to introduce books while keeping it fun. Full review...
Originals: How Non-conformists Change the World by Adam Grant
Did you know that procrastination could actually aid creativity? No? Neither did I, but it's a piece of information that I shall embrace and wield in my defence from here on out, because Adam Grant says it is so. Filled with interesting snippets and fascinating cases, Originals is not just entertaining, but instructive as well. Full review...
The Dog with No Name by Neil Griffiths and Janette Louden
Ella and Harry had been nagging their parents forever about getting a dog, but it wasn't until after the death of the goldfish and the Russian hamster, which they'd only seen five times because it was nocturnal, that their parents relented. Off they went to the dog rescue centre and after what seemed like ages and lots of red tape they had their very own dog. He'd not been in the centre long and had no name but the whole family fell for him and brought him home. Full review...
When The Sky Fell Apart by Caroline Lea
That was the order in which things happened: the sky fell apart, Jersey's beaches were bombed, Clement the island's butcher went up in flames where he stood and then the arrival of the German army. This will change the life of the island including herbalist Edith, neglected child Claudine, former fisherman Maurice and English Doctor Carter. Each of the four lives on the perimeter of the island's community but each will come to depend on the other three in order to continue living. Full review...
The Senility of Vladimir P by Michael Honig
In the not-too-distant future, Vladimir Putin is slowly succumbing to dementia, hidden from the world at large in a secluded private nursing home. Nikolai Ilyich Sheremetev has what sounds like the most difficult job in the world: he's the old man's nurse. Full review...
My Life in Houses by Margaret Forster
Love them or loathe them, the houses we live in have a way of defining our lives. Author Margaret Forster decided to take this idea a stage further when writing her autobiography. Instead of putting herself centre-stage, she allows the houses that she has lived in to tell her story instead. From humble beginnings in a council-house on the notorious Raffles estate, we see Margaret's fortunes improve as her writing career blossoms. Student digs in Oxford, a shared house on Hampstead Heath, a villa in the Algarve and a remote cottage in the Lake District all have their time in the spotlight; but it soon becomes clear that only one very special house can earn the most precious title: HOME. Full review...
Thin Ice (Officer Gunnhildur) by Quentin Bates
Gunnhildur's family life is a bit complicated. Her son Gisli is now the father of two children, only they're not the traditional year or two apart, but just a few weeks and there are - as you might have gathered - two mothers involved. He's now living not with the one that Gunna might have expected but doing his best to maintain contact with the other, and his other son, of course. At work, two small-time crooks have robbed Reykjavik's most infamous drug dealer of a couple of hundred thousand euros, but couldn't get away as their getaway driver failed to turn up. Two women - mother and daughter - have disappeared along with the mother's car and a thief has died in suspicious circumstances. Full review...
Polly and the Puffin by Jenny Colgan
Polly was in bed when there was LOUD bang from downstairs. It wasn't the storm which was raging outside. It wasn't a monster or an alien from outer space. It was a puffin who had crashed through the front door and he had a broken wing. Polly's mummy got the first aid kit out whilst Polly went to get the puffin some food and the next day they went to see the vet. By then Polly had decided that the puffin would be called Neil and the vet asked her if she would be able to look after Neil until his wing was better, on the strict understanding that he would then have to return to the wild. Full review...
Blood Brothers by Ernst Haffner and Michael Hofmann (translator)
It's Berlin, and the Nazis are on their way to power, even if they will never cross these pages themselves. The city – huge, glamorous, bustling, vicious in the way it can swallow people – is home to a countless hoard of teenagers, but we focus on just a few, most of whom have been in some corrective institution or other before now. They call themselves the Blood Brothers, even if all they share is the most unglamorous drudgery of going from one doss-house to another, balancing the cost of a few cigarettes with that of a warm room for a few hours or some stale rolls to eat. But en route to them is another 'Borstal' escapee, Willi. Surely his fate is going to be nothing if not more of the same? Full review...
Promises of Blood by David Thorne
I love getting in on the ground floor. Thanks to this very website I was one of the first in this country to read the Twilight series and was smitten from the start. We'll ignore the films, the books are worth a look! In a completely different genre, but no less a lucky fluke it was through here that I stumbled across East of Innocence by David Thorne and put in an old-fashioned baggsy for whatever followed. On reading the second of the series Nothing Sacred by David Thorne I commented that I hoped that in the next outing Connell would see him up against, or siding with, some kick-ass-don't-take-it female. So far his women do tend to be 'birds or victims' . I'm pleased to say he's moving in the right direction… women are central to this story one way and another. For the first time he's given us female characters who (despite their plot-device roles, which is varied and not always predictable) are stronger than they look – strong in a number of different ways – he hasn't simply opted for my "kick-ass" option, he's more subtle than that. Full review...
Little Home Bird by Jo Empson
Little bird loves everything about his home. All his favourite things are there or very nearby; his favourite branch, his favourite view and his favourite music too. All is happy in his little world until autumn draws near and his older brother tells him that they do in fact have two homes and the time has come to travel far to the south to move to their second home. Little bird is saddened by this news and knows that he will miss all his special, favourite things. Then little bird has a good idea! He will take his favourite things with him and then wherever he goes it will always feel like home. So we accompany little bird on his long journey and discover how he finds happiness in his new home in ways he had not expected. Full review...
Dozy Bear and the Secret of Sleep by Katie Blackburn and Richard Smythe
There's nothing worse than sleep deprivation. I remember when my daughter was just a few months old and I was getting up with her four or five times a night I would sometimes find myself shopping in Tesco with absolutely no recollection of how I got there (or quite what I was shopping for). Sadly, this won't help with those squawky newborns, but once your little one gets a bit older this is certainly worth a try, especially if your bedtime routine tends to resemble feeding time at the zoo! Full review...
50 Things You Should Know About: Wild Weather by Anna Claybourne
Oh, this takes me back. Out of all the things we learn at school and profess to never want to need as an adult, the water cycle is one that I had forgotten about, until now. It forms the basis of a lot of our weather, after all – the way landmasses and seas warm the air above them differently, thus causing motion in the shape of winds and altering atmospheric pressure, that we call weather. And from the gentlest high pressure, that someone somewhere will always deem too hot, to the most furious electrical storm, weather is certainly something a lot of people like to talk about. Is this book the ideal place to learn the basics of such a thing? Full review...
Edward IV & Elizabeth Woodville: A True Romance by Amy Licence
Given the current resurgence in popularity of biographies dealing with the Yorkists, the time is right for an account of the marriage of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, a union that proved so divisive in the era of York vs Lancaster. With several of the great nobility declaring allegiance to one side and then another in turn during the Wars of the Roses, it was a divisive era to start with. Full review...
Mog and the Baby and Other Stories by Judith Kerr
I've never been a fan of cats. I'm more of a dog person. Mog, however, has weaseled her way into my heart, and although I certainly wouldn't want her as a pet in my house, we love reading her stories. This collection of Mog and the Baby, Mog's Bad Thing, and Mog on Fox Night is perfect for a nice afternoon bumper storytime together with your little one, or you can just read them one by one over three nights. Full review...
Spring According to Humphrey by Betty G Birney
Spring, of all things, is a dead end. The class, given the homework task of finding signs of spring, are just failing and failing, what with the bad weather. And nobody can come up with any useful ideas for the class theme at the school's Family Fun Day, as being clowns has been nicked by someone else. How can a humble classroom pet hamster help everyone and everything – especially when he has been gazumped himself? For the very child tasked with looking after Humphrey for the weekend has been sent a package containing what is alleged to be a sign of spring – although to our hero the two tiny tadpoles in a tank look like two specks in gunk… Full review...
The Reluctant Journal of Henry K Larsen by Susin Nielsen
Susin Nielsen is adept at conveying how you shouldn't judge someone on a first impression and how it's who you are that matters not what you look like. When we first meet Henry he is in counselling and dealing with an emotional trauma by speaking in a monotonous robot voice. His family has been fragmented by the cataclysmic 'IT' which he refuses to talk about. Ripped away from his comfortable life in Port Salish, Henry is struggling to readjust whilst living with his dad in a cramped apartment in Kitsilano, Vancouver, Canada. Gradually he starts to come out of his shell as he discovers new friends and interests but the road to recovery is not straightforward. Luckily he has his journal, albeit reluctantly. Full review...
The Seriously Extraordinary Diary of Pig by Emer Stamp
Hello. I is very happy to be giving a positive verdict on a third adventure for Pig, who speaks Pig, his best friend Duck, who speaks Pig but in a Duck font, and their best friend Cow who speaks bad. This time the Chickens who was the evil ones is not hardly even mentioned, and the Cat that scared Pig and everyone else in his second book is barely thought of, but there is another bad character to make up for it. But first I is having to report that Pig and Cow and Duck are making a big trouble for themselves, which is causing them to try and save the day and by mistake making the bad character notice Cow. And when I tells you the big trouble happens because Cow tries to hide Cow on the Farmer's roof you will knows just what a silly diary this series is. Full review...
Waltzing in Vienna by C G Metts
Filmmaker C G Metts has written four nonfiction books, several of them of local interest to South Carolina natives and visitors. This is his first novel, however, and you may be surprised to learn that it is an enjoyable chick lit/women's fiction romp. Three girlfriends meet up again in Charleston; in their early forties, they're facing turning points in their professional and personal lives. As they reminisce about summers spent together at Folly Beach during college and resume their communal marijuana smoking habit, they summon the courage to decide what they want from middle age and refresh their sex lives. Full review...
Strictly No Crocs by Heather Pindar and Susan Batori
You can’t go wrong with a good crocodile story. Not that these crocodiles are good, oh no, after being banned from attending Zebra’s party they have grand plans to sneak in and eat everyone there! Once they are secretly dressed up as a leopard, a parrot and a bee (!) their plans don’t go quite as they’d wished… Full review...
