The Bookbag
Hello from The Bookbag, a 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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A Siege of Bitterns by Steve Burrows
Detective Chief Inspector Domenic Jejeune is new to Saltmarsh, but his reputation has come before him. Success in a high profile case has made him the poster boy for the police. There's a snag though: Jejeune isn't actually that keen on the job. He'd much rather be out birdwatching, but that doesn't bring in an income and there's a simple fact. Jejeune is very a very good detective, with insights which few other people possess. There's one advantage to the job too: Saltmarsh is situated in North Norfolk, the UK's premier birding country but sometimes Jejeune's mind is more on the birds than the job. Full Review
Night Speakers by Ali Sparkes
Three young people meet up in unusual circumstances to find that they all share a strange experience: waking at exactly 1.34am, the same time each night. Elena, Matt and Tima try to get back to sleep, but after a few days of broken sleep they are drawn outside into an adventure that tests their ingenuity to the limit. Together and completely sleep deprived, they decide to investigate this strange night waking phenomenon, and their searches take them to a different and scary world where inexplicable things are happening. Full Review
Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda
Jessa Whitworth has lost the only boy she has ever loved. Jessa Whitworth has lost her friends. Jessa Whitworth has lost herself. Many months have passed since Jessa's ex-boyfriend, Caleb, died but she still cannot find the strength to move on with her life. So when Caleb's mother asks Jessa to clean out his room, things go from bad to worse. Full Review
The Hoarder by Jess Kidd
Cathal Flood is an old, belligerent man, living in a filthy, crowded house that was once a family home. When Maud Drennan – underpaid carer and unintentional psychic is employed to look after the ancient Cathal, she assumes she'll just be the next in a long line of short-term dogsbodies for the old man. Instead, Maud finds herself drawn into the mysteries concealed within Cathal's once great house – and as Maud begins to clean and sort the rooms she uncovers secrets about the old man that awaken long-hidden memories within Maud herself. With the aid of her highly glamourous yet utterly agoraphobic landlady and a troop of holy ghosts, Maud must uncover the secrets at the heart of the house – and exactly why they were buried… Full Review
Lamellia: The Wicked Queen by Gloria D Gonsalves
Lamellia is a kingdom of mushrooms in a land far away. Many types and colours of mushroom live there and they are all ruled over by King PoliPoli, a big brown mushroom who is a wise and kind leader. King PoliPoli is married to the beautiful Queen Nobilia. But Queen Nobilia cannot conceive a baby and this makes her very sad. She sings a sad song so emotive that her sorrow infects the whole land. Full Review
Begone The Raggedy Witches: The Wild Magic Trilogy by Celine Kiernan
Aunty has died. Mup, her little brother Tipper and Mam are driving back from the hospital, and already it seems everything has changed. It was Aunty who kept the family going, who cared for them all and made sure they were happy, warm and secure. But then, as they approach the house, Mup is astonished to see the white, uncaring faces of witches above them, darting from tree to tree as they follow the car. Things are going to change even more suddenly and dramatically than she could ever have imagined. Full Review
Tin by Padraig Kenny
Christopher can't remember much about his life before he came to live with Mr Absalom. Snatches of memories sometimes surface; images of his mother and father that appear suddenly before fading into the smoke, blackness and flames of the fire. He remembers the fire most of all; his last, most powerful memory of his old life that chokes out everything else. However, his present life working for the eccentric engineer isn't all bad. He has his mechanical friends to keep him company. They are his family now. Full Review
Find Another Place by Ben Graff
Biography, Autobiography, Home and Family
When Ben Graff's grandfather Martin handed him a plastic folder of handwritten notes from his journal, he didn't take much notice of it. At the age of 24, Graff didn't realise the gravity of the pages he was holding. Full Review
A Different Dog by Paul Jennings and Geoff Kelly
Dyslexia Friendly, Confident Readers
Our hero is a boy, whose name we never learn. We know what he wants in life – with his mother exceedingly poor, and even his bed burnt to keep the two of them warm, he wants the prize offered by a down-a-mountain-and-back-up-and-down-again foot race. Winning the race and the large purse would also give him more status in the eyes of those kids that bully him, and it might even give him a voice – for he is almost mute. We quickly learn he never talks back to anyone, whatever the motivation, and can only speak aloud to himself – and, so it turns out, to a dog he rescues from a bad road accident he finds on his way up the hill to the start line… Full Review
The Beasts of Electra Drive by Rohan Quine
Meet Jaymi. He's a world-class video games designer, and fresh to a new mansion in the Hollywood Hills on the basis of some recent success. But he's seen the future and he doesn't like it. His current employers, able to bring any amount of class, skill and culture to the world of gameplay, are beset on appealing to the most lunkheaded and lowest common denominators instead. Indeed, their next big thing will change the world for the worse – it will be a massively disturbing environment, where people progress through the world of the entity by spreading fake news about anyone and everyone else on the planet, whether they're playing along or not, and by getting kind of prestige points on spoiling and shaming anything beyond a user-accepted, algorithm-designed, status quo. With a much more Reithian approach, Jaymi goes freelance, and sets up a way of restoring the balance with a launch of his own, where aspects of his more humanitarian mind are played out by avatars of him in the game. He sees this as a way to improve society and get his own back – but the chance of getting revenge more quickly comes about when those avatars leave their encoded background, and become fully playable characters in reality… Full Review
Outwalkers by Fiona Shaw
Newly orphaned Jake is determined to escape from his Home Academy and to find a new home with his dog, Jet. He thinks his biggest challenge is going to be getting out and over the wall but, when he does, he finds this is the least of his worries. The governing 'Coalition' is able to track everyone in the country via the 'hub chip' in their neck and in no time 'the hubbers' (police) are on his trail. All seems lost until Jake stumbles into a gang of outwalker kids. After proving his worth, he is permitted to join their gang and together they set out on a perilous journey north towards the heavily guarded border with Scotland.Full Review
Twister by Juliette Forrest
Twister certainly lives up to her stormy name. She's so stubborn and determined that she's almost a force of nature in her own right, and she's fiercely loyal to her family. Her beloved father has disappeared and her mother is sunk in a dreary depression where she barely seems aware of her daughter's existence: if it weren't for Aunt Honey and her wonderful cooking, and Point the dog, she would feel all alone in the world. Full Review
Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens by Tony De Saulles
Young Mel's friend has left and the beehive is now his to look after. Unfortunately Mel lives in a tower block and not all of his neighbours agree that it is the correct place for a hive. Things change when Mel suddenly realises he has an amazing superpower; he can become a bee. Full Review
Walking Wounded by Sheila Llewellyn
David Reece was called up in 1941 and sent to fight in Burma. On his return in 1946, he finds a return to civilian life quite beyond him and, after a brawl, is sent to a military psychiatric hospital. There, he is treated by Daniel Carter, a psychiatrist whose instincts tell him that talking therapies can work with men like David, but who is working in a profession enthusiastically adopting invasive procedures such as ECT and lobotomy. Walking Wounded follows both men as they both try to come to terms with traumatic experiences and find a place in a world moving on from WWII. Full Review
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
In the second book of the trilogy Katherine Arden builds on her original story to create something even better. This book is utterly wonderful and it is at the same time complex and gentle. The first book set up the characters in the Petronova family but sometimes left the characters feeling a little thin; this book builds on the first to give depth to the family members and their ties to each other. It's a great story but I would strongly advise reading the two books in order to get the full effect of the plot. Full Review
I am Thunder by Muhammad Khan
Adhering to the recent trend for politicised YA novels, I am Thunder explores several controversial topics relating to being a Muslim in modern Britain. It tells the story of Muzna, a shy teenager who is flattered when Arif, a fellow Muslim, chooses to ask her out despite interest from several other girls at school. However, her delight wavers when she discovers how Arif, influenced by his manipulative brother Jameel, has become angered by Western culture. Full Review
A Righteous Killer: Blood Murder Betrayal by Ellace James
In the crazy world of Arthur Brown, he can be standing at the altar giving his dutifully prepared sermon one minute, and wasting bad guys with his guns the next. What's inspired this? Two low-lifes, way from the top of the crime ladder in this particular city, who stole millions from a shady casino, and stashed the money in his basement. Two other lowlifes, working for the drug lord who owns the casino, come for the money, kill Arthur's family, and leave him so badly knifed on his floor that he's taken for dead when he's discovered. But he's not dead, and nor is his God-given hope to redress the balance in his town, and to right some very big wrongs. Yes, truly is he the god of hell fire, and he will take some men to burn… Full Review
Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
Thomas Senlin embarks on his honeymoon with high hopes. He and his young wife Marya are travelling on a sleeper train across Ur to that engineering marvel, that fabled centre of culture, the Tower of Babel. It's a place he's read books about, taught his pupils about, and longed to visit, but the bustling and chaotic surroundings of the Tower in the desert are a long way from the quiet fishing village in which Senlin teaches. When he loses sight of Marya shortly after their arrival, he has no option but to look for her in this strange and overwhelming place. For all his background reading before the trip, he is ill-prepared for what he finds in the Tower, both its marvels and its horrors, and thus begins Thomas Senlin's arduous quest to recover his wife. Full Review