The Bookbag
From TheBookbag
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.
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Return to the Middle Kingdom by Yuan-Tsung Chen
Yuan-Tsung Chen's family have lived through momentous times in China and been as close to what was happening as any one family could be. Chen Guixin, born in 1830 in the time of the Manchu government and just before the beginning of the Opium Wars was her husband's grandfather. He was a part of the Taiping Rebellion but it was his son, Chen Youren who was hailed as a hero when he marched into two former British concessions and reclaimed the land for China. He was the first foreign minister of modern China to have taken back land from the colonial powers. The author married Chen Youren's son, the journalist and artist Jack Chen, who was arrested by the Red Guards in the Cultural Revolution and who later continued his work in the USA. Full review...
Wolfblade by Jennifer Fallon
And I thought it was going to be so normal. Another average mediaeval-style fantasy novel. And at the start, that's precisely what it seems to be, a box ticked for just about every fantasy element you could want. I thought it was going to be readable, but nothing memorable. I shouldn't have underestimated this author's ability for plot twists! Full review...
Jung's People by Kay Green
These short stories offer fantasy, sci-fi, historical and contemporary angles on human personality. Kay Green used Jung's writing on dreams to delve into her own subconscious and has come up with an eclectic mix of stories. A crisp commentator's voice observes life through different lenses and perspectives. I often felt that I was trapped in a nest of boxes with the characters, not quite sure which way was out. My interest hooked, I delved into the fifteen stories and enjoyed their surprising twists and multiple layers as characters discover their tragic destiny within whatever happens to be the chance setting of their lives. I'll just give you a flavour of three of them. Full review...
Wife in the Fast Lane by Karen Quinn
Karen Quinn is the best-selling author of The Ivy League Chronicles, a fictional account of her own true-life story and a Richard and Judy Summer Read for 2005. It was really good and, unsurprisingly, I had high hopes for Wife In The Fast Lane, thinking it may also have reached the revered upper echelons of this pink-fluff covered genre. But then, as I have said before, the second novel is always harder to write; it's either streets ahead of the first (having made all your mistakes on your debut) or a bit of a let down (having written such a rip-snorter the first time, that, as the song says, Nothing Compares 2 U). Full review...
Blind Rage by Terri Persons
Bernadette Saint Claire or Cat as she is called for she has odd eyes, just like the Catahoula Leopard dogs that share the same trait, has a very special gift: not only can she converse and fully interact with the ghosts of the recently departed, she is also able to see through the eyes of the monsters she hunts. This ability, however, is no church picnic. Being immersed in the mind of a serial killer leaves Agent Saint Claire exhausted and increasingly attuned to the innermost thoughts, urges and feelings of her quarry. And that's not a nice place to be! Full review...
The Birthday Present by Barbara Vine
A young married mother is snatched while walking down her street, bundled into the back of a car, bound and gagged. As the vehicle tries to get through the London traffic, there is a dreadful accident. The woman and one of the men is killed, the other left comatose. But this is no real kidnap – instead the whole thing is a ruse invented as a sub/dom game by her lover for her birthday, now gone horribly wrong. Oh, and the boyfriend happens to be an up-and-coming Tory MP. Full review...
In the Dark by Mark Billingham
I've been a fan of Mark Billingham and his DI Tom Thorne character since his debut novel. Like many series do, though, I did feel that a couple of the more recent novels suggested that Billingham was running out of ideas of things to do with Thorne. So it was a minor relief that his latest novel In the Dark was to be a standalone one, even if early optimism was dulled by the rather clichéd tagline …it's where fear lives, which didn't seem quite in keeping with Billingham's normal style. Full review...
Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
Set in the same alternative Renaissance time line as Carey's previous three Kushiel novels, this is the first of a trilogy focusing on Imriel nó Montrève de la Courcel. Whilst it is able to stand on its own by giving some needed background information within the story, told from Imriel's point of view, it is actually a continuation of the Kushiel saga featuring Imriel's now foster mother, the anguisette former courtesan Phèdre nó Delauney. It's a tale of a young boy's quest to discover who he really is as a human being and to find his true place in the world, when all he has known before was a lie. Full review...
Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All by Christina Thompson
Subtitled an unlikely love story, this was an interesting and inspiring memoir written by an American academic, who met and fell in love with a Maori - and what a beautiful tale it tells! Referred to as a 'contact' encounter (i.e., chance meeting) it sounds almost like a fairy tale, and in part it is - but a fairy tale which includes huge amount of hard work too. Full review...
Strangled Silence by Oisin McGann
Ambitious wannabe journalst Amina Mir has landed a summer job working for The Chronicle, thanks to her war correspondent mother. Ivor is a Sinnostan veteran hors de combat because he lost an eye in a roadside bombing. He's won the lottery, but all the money in the world couldn't shake his feeling that he's being followed. Chi "No Puns Please" Sandwith is a conspiracy nut who believes in alien abductions. Full review...
Bloodchild by Tim Bowler
Will is lying in a deserted lane. He knows he's had an accident. And he is sure that he's dying. Above him there is birdsong and a tree, and girl's face. She's phoning for help. And there's another girl too, a beautiful girl with black hair. But try as he might, Will can't hold on and he submits to the darkness. He comes to in hospital with just flickering images of the accident's aftermath to cling to. Two people are sitting by the bed, apparently his parents. But Will can't remember them. He can't remember anything. Full review...
The Idea of Love by Louise Dean
You could be forgiven for thinking when picking up this book that it is going to be a very romantic read embellished with hearts and flowers along the way. The image of Cupid on the front cover along with references to Valentines day would lead you to this conclusion as well as the title – The Idea of Love. However, that's not what this novel is about at all and the author, Louise Dean, presents a very different idea of love indeed. Full review...
City of Fire by Robert Ellis
Lena Gamble is the new cop on the block and faces her first Homicide as lead detective. A young woman has been murdered and mutilated in her own bed and all the evidence points to her husband, an open and shut case. But real life is never this simple. As the case against the husband begins to fall apart Lena comes to realise that a serial rapist is targeting woman all over the city and worse, the LAPD has missed his trail. Until now that is when rape has turned to murder and the number of victims becomes apparent. Full review...
Bloodthirsty by Marshall Karp
Lomax and Briggs, our returning heroes, are relishing the chance of dabbling in the world of the movies. Having an option on the story of their first adventure bought by a Hollywood producer is making them lick their lips. However before the director who is interested in the project can get them in touch with the hot-shot impresario, said producer, Barry Gerber, is located, dumped unceremoniously and very uncomplainingly dead, in a Hollywood Hills dustbin. Full review...
An Eagle in the Airing Cupboard by Rex Harper
We first met Rex Harper in An Otter on the Aga where he told us of how he and his wife, Julie worked first to help injured or abused animals and then founded their own animal sanctuary. It was a book of laughter, sadness at the way that some people will treat animals and gratitude that there are people like Rex and Julie who devote their lives to the welfare of animals. At the end of Otter the sanctuary had been taken over by the RSPCA and An Eagle in the Airing Cupboard takes up where Otter finished and looks at a year in the life of a warden. Full review...
The City of Spirits by Paul Bajoria
London, the 1820s. Our main characters, Mog the tomboy, and her twin brother Nick, are returning to the city they were dragged up in – home to evil people who separated them almost at birth, and denied them their family, their birthright, their happiness. But, brought together by the first two books in this trilogy, they are a little upset to find their newly-discovered inheritance is worth nothing – an estate saddled with enough debt to mean their memories of poverty will stay with them much longer. Full review...
The Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser
Janek Mitter stumbled into the bathroom one morning after a night of heavy drinking. He could barely remember his own name and when he found Eva, his beautiful wife of only a few months, dead in the bath he couldn't remember what had happened. All he could say to the police was that he didn't think that he'd killed her, but he had no idea of who else might have done so and he had to accept that he might well have done it himself. Inspector Van Veeteren is normally certain about whether or not someone is the murderer but he can't reach that point in this case and besides, he has a certain liking for Mitter and his wit. Full review...
Never Take a Shark to the Dentist by Judith Barrett and John Nickle
Oh, this was fun. You might think it's fairly obvious that you shouldn't take a shark to the dentist, but what about sitting next to a porcupine on the underground? Or going shopping for shoes with a centipede? Or taking an ant on a picnic? Never Take a Shark to the Dentist is full of such absurd situations. It's not a worthy book, hiding a message behind its simple text and busy, interesting illustrations; it's sheer entertainment. And it's funny. Full review...
