Book Reviews From 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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Muffin and the Birthday Surprise by Clara Vulliamy
It's Fizz and Flora's birthday, so Muffin the bear gets ready for the party, and decides to take them a big bag of sugar buns as a present. On his walk to the party, Muffin gets a little bit peckish and has a bit of a nibble of one bun, then another, then another. Erk! He puts the empty bag on the pile of presents and enjoys the party game. Will there be a way to turn an empty bag into a much-loved present? Full review...
Where Are My Lambs? by Francesca Simon and Emily Bolam
When you're just coming to terms with this thing called reading there's a big jump to be made. Gone are those nice big picture books with not too many words and in their place is something much smaller (and not nearly so easy to handle – you have to do it yourself) with a lot more words and probably just a few black and white pictures to break the page up and if you're lucky to give you a clue as to what those pesky words mean. There's a stepping stone along the way now and it might just help children who find that big leap a little daunting. Full review...
The Afterparty by Leo Benedictus
I opened the front cover and was confronted with the lines 'This book is different. You've really never read a book like this before.' Confident words, I thought but will the book live up to this lofty expectation I now had? And when I got round to reading the notes at the end of the novel, I was pleasantly surprised and also rather taken aback, I have to say. So, a refreshing take on the modern work of fiction, I thought, as I started on Chapter One. Full review...
The Tickle Ghost by Brett McKee and David McKee
It's Dylan's bedtime, but the Tickle Ghost (very possibly his dad with a sheet) is out to get him. Cue plenty of giggles and not very much going to bed. Dylan's mum shouts upstairs for them to be quieter, but when the noise continues, she heads up to sort them out. ...Will the Tickle Ghost get her too? Full review...
My Cat Just Sleeps by Joanne Partis
The little girl in this story has a pet cat who she loves, but she's noticed that whilst her cat spends his days sleeping all her friends' cats seem to lead much more exciting lives, hunting and playing and climbing and fishing...she attempts to entice him into doing something active, but he sleeps through it all until, finally, she realises that even if he is very sleepy he's also warm and cuddly and affectionate and she loves him very much. But she still wonders what it is that makes him so sleepy... Full review...
Superfrog! by Michael Foreman
Pond City is a peaceful place in the daytime. Little Frank the frog loves simply dangling his toes in the water and watching the world pass by. However, come nighttime, things take a turn for the worse: the Big Boss oversees a crime wave. When the Big Boss' creeps frighten Frank's granny and kidnap some frogspawn she'd been babysitting, enough is enough and Frank turns into Superfrog. Full review...
I Love My Mummy by Giles Andreae and Emma Dodd
Mummies are good for lots of things - wiping noses, singing in the car, helping with wee-wee's! This sweet story tells us the best things about mummies from a baby's point of view. Full review...
The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists and Secret Agents by Alex Butterworth
In deciding to write about political upheaval across Europe, including Russia, Alex Butterworth has chosen a massive topic for this entertaining book. So massive, in fact, that when I tried reading it without first looking through the pen pictures at the start of the main players I was quickly completely lost. My mistake – the short, sharp, pen pictures, which cover sixteen pages and detail all the major anarchists and secret agents are completely invaluable and helped my reading of the book enormously. Full review...
Fatou, Fetch the Water by Neil Griffiths and Peggy Collins
is waylaid by various friends who have gifts and messages for Fatou to take for her mother. As the gifts pile up in Fatou's arms, and the messages for her mother crowd her head Fatou, somehow, forgets to get any water! Full review...
Hamish Macbeth: Death of a Valentine by M C Beaton
Remembering Hamish Macbeth from the 1990s TV series, in the person of Robert Carlisle, accompanied by a Westie called Wee Jock, I'm only just beginning to get to know the real Hamish as brought to paper by M C Beaton. More robust in appearance than your man Carlisle, with a shock of red hair, he's accompanied on his rounds by an indeterminate hound called Lugs and a wildcat called Sonsie. That both animals are referred to by the locals as the beasties, and only a special few of said locals are willing to look after them in Hamish's absence, says something about their temperament. Hamish would call it exuberance. Or loyalty. Full review...
The Yearning Heart by Sylvia Broady
It is 1941 so when an unmarried Frances Bewholme becomes pregnant she is shunned by her family and sent to an isolated farm to live and work. To add to her shame and disgrace Fran's unborn baby is not just any man's; it is her brother-in-law's. Victor Renton, home on leave from the war takes advantage of Fran one night when she comes home, upset and heartbroken. Full review...
Howl: A Graphic Novel by Allen Ginsberg
I first came across Howl as a short film animating one of Ginsberg's own recordings of it. If memory serves, it was a scratchy, jazzy piece, full of spiky, spunky shapes and movements, and low on colour. Now for 2011 and for Penguin Modern Classics' first ever 'graphic novel' comes a very different animation. OK, the real moving animation is only to be seen in the movie Howl, but to call this merely an illustrated companion to the film is to be very unflattering. Full review...
Disputed Land by Tim Pears
In this engaging novel, Tim Pears tackles many challenging themes: sibling rivalry, time and change in the countryside, facing terminal illness, reflections on the isolation of academic life and undertaking risky financial investment. This is not a portrayal of a rural idyll although much of the most lyrical writing concerns the colours of the Shropshire countryside and this is strengthened by reference to the layers of the archaic past that underlies this disputed borderland territory. In attempting such a multi-layered narrative in a relatively short novel, it is not surprising that for instance, the traumatic shocks in the epic tale are diminished by random, experimental shifts in the tone of the narrative. Full review...
Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste
Ethiopia 1974. Emperor Haile Selassie is an old man barely clinging on to power. Still thought of, even by those rebelling against him, as a demi-god that they daren't disrespect let alone challenge he has held the country in thrall to his aristocratic government supported by the violence and repression of the army and the police. Full review...
Department 19 by Will Hill
Jamie Carpenter lived a normal, happy, suburban life until the night strange creatures arrived at his house and men in black combats with strange, ultra-violent weapons burst in and executed his father. Since then, Jamie and his mother have lived in a succession of miserable, dour little houses and Jamie has become less and less interested in a succession of miserable, dour little schools. He resents his mother, like all good disaffected teenagers do. Full review...
The Death of Eli Gold by David Baddiel
Eli Gold is recognized as the 'the greatest living writer' - although his claim to this is slipping by by the day as he is on his death bed. He's not a nice character - his attitudes to his five wives and his children are deplorable and he has been bound up in his own 'genius'. He's a bit like the best and the worst of Saul Bellow, Philip Roth and Norman Mailer combined. Now dying in hospital in New York, the book explores this event from the perceptive of four people in his life; his eight year old, precocious daughter by his current wife; his first wife watching on the news from an old people's home in England; the angst-ridden son of his third marriage, himself a pale imitation of the author that his father is; and a mysterious fourth character who appears to have a very different motive for seeing Gold snr and who may be linked to Gold's fourth wife who died in a mutual suicide pact with her then-husband, from which Eli survived. (In fact his identity is revealed in the publisher's blurb on the jacket, but I'll let you decide if you want to know this or to let the story unfold as I did). Full review...
Walking on Dry Land by Denis Kehoe
Ana has grown up mostly in Portugal, but now lives in Dublin where she teaches film studies and is writing her PHD. However, she was born in Anglola (then a Portuguese colony), the result of an extra-marital relationship of her father, who then adopted her with his wife. When her adopted mother, Helena, dies, she decides to trace her birth mother in Angola, where her brother now lives, but has nothing much to go on but a photocopy of a photograph of two Angolan girls, one of which may, or may not, be her mother, and a name: Solange Mendes. We follow Ana as she attempts to trace her real mother while in alternating chapters exploring her parents' developing relationship and ultimately how her unusual past evolved. Full review...
Itchy Bear by Neil Griffiths and Judith Blake
Poor bear has an itch. An all-over sort of itch. And everywhere he goes to try and have a good scratch it seems he's disturbing someone! Will he ever find anywhere for a satisfying scratch?! Full review...
Wolfram: The Boy Who Went To War by Giles Milton
Giles Milton's daughter was set the task of designing an heraldic shield which represented the most important elements of her family's history. Aware that one of her grandparents is German she included the only German symbol which she knew: a Swastika. It was this incident, which was an awkward mixture of funny and disquieting which brought about 'Wolfram: The Boy Who Went To War'. It's the story of Giles' father-in-law, Wolfram Aïchele, who was nine years old when Hitler came to power and who found himself caught up in a situation which was none of his making and didn't accord with his own beliefs. He was a man who wanted to be a sculptor or to paint, but he was forced to become a soldier. Full review...
The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb
The novel opens with an elderly man as he scrapes a meagre living in Vietnam. He is really dirt-poor but I could tell that he still had his pride. He's not afraid of hard work. In fact, gruelling days of labour and very early risings have been the norm for him since he was a young boy. His passion is cooking. Nothing is too much trouble in order to create his famous Vietnamese noodle soup. And there's a terrific line on the back cover which says 'They say that the history of Vietnam can be found in a bowl of pho and Old Man Hu'ng makes the best in all Hanoi'. We get some background on Hu'ng and discover that his life has been hard, very hard. But he doesn't complain, it's simply not in his nature. Such is the pull and the draw of Gibb's lovely, lyrical writing that I was drawn right into the life of this enchanting elderly man right from the start of the book. Gibb feeds us tiny morsels about Vietnam on a regular basis: the culture, the people, the troubled history for example, but it's written in such effortless prose that it's a joy to read. And her descriptions are so apt, so poetic and so original (but without being in your face) that it all shines on the page. I gobbled it all up. Full review...
The Ultimate Guide to Bicycle Maintenance by Guy Andrews
This book seemed like the answer to my husband's prayers. I've had a beautiful Gary Fisher urban bike for about ten years, but shamefully, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've even cleaned it. Well-used it certainly is, but I must confess to leaving all the maintenance to aforementioned husband. Having conceded that in this day and age I ought to be more independent that that, I dived into this book with great expectations for a fairer future … Full review...
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg
Thirty years ago, Harris Burdick walked into a book publisher's office with samples of his work. He had fourteen stories ready for publication, but just brought one picture and caption from each. Burdick was never heard of again. The publisher spent many years trying to track down Burdick, showing the pictures to people - many of whom were inspired to write their own stories. (Shh about The rights of Chris Van Allsburg to be identified as...). Full review...
Belle's Song by K M Grant
Chaucer was a fascinating bloke. Not only did he write the famous Canterbury Tales, but he also found the time and courage to be a spy for the king at a time of civil unrest and political intrigue in Britain. So a story set during one of his journeys, one which combines his secret work and some of the more memorable characters from the tales, is an intriguing proposition, metaphorically as well as literally. Add a dreamy, motherless girl whose guilt at causing her father's accident only reinforces her tendency to self-harm and obsessive behaviour, and a cracking good plot emerges. Full review...
The Taker by Alma Katsu
When Dr Luke Findley begins his nightshift at Aroostook County Hospital in St Andrews, Maine, things are quiet until Lanny McIlvrae is brought in by the police. Lanny is covered in blood and claims she has killed a man and left him in the woods. Desperate to escape, Lanny quickly asks for Luke's help, but he is not sure at first, so Lanny decides to tell Luke her life story, a story that begins in the early Puritan settlement of St Andrews in 1809 and spans nearly two hundred years, taking Lanny from her home to Boston and beyond. A story that is rich, imaginative and entirely authentic, filling the majority of the novel, and there wasn't a moment when I questioned her reliability as she tells Luke everything, chapter by chapter, as he helps her to escape, slowly drawing him and the reader into her world. Full review...
We Could be Heroes: One Van, Two Blokes and Twelve World Championships by Tom Fordyce and Ben Dirs
Meet Ben Dirs. Apart from having one of the most unfortunate names on record, he’s a fairly laid-back guy whose daily breakfast consists of two cigarettes. Compared to Dirs, his BBC colleague Tom Fordyce – a keen amateur triathlete – looks like Daley Thompson in his prime. But Tom’s ambition of winning a world championship is still completely unachievable, surely? You don’t go from BBC blogger to 100m champion, football World Cup winner, or even the number 1 snooker player on Earth, after all. On the other hand, there are some more obscure Championships out there… could these two unlikely heroes make their dreams come true, and be recognised as the best shin kickers in the world? Not if Rory McGrath has anything to do with it! In addition to the Cotswold Olympicks and their shin-kicking, Dirs and Fordyce try snail racing, wife carrying, nettle eating, and many more weird and wonderful events. The only thing they have in common is the humour which the pair see in all of them. Full review...
Spring by David Szalay
Narrated from a variety of points of view, Spring relates the relationship of James and Katherine. He is an often failed entrepreneurial character who falls for the charms of Katherine, currently working in a London luxury hotel as an interim job, and separated from her photographer-husband. The problem for James is that Katherine is only interested in the pursuit of that perfect happiness scenario and so analyses her feelings constantly - much to the distress of James. But this is a lot more than a 'males don't understand females' tale. Full review...
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
Amy Chua has firm beliefs about parenting. She brought up her two daughters, Sophia and Lulu, using a strict set of rules – including no sleepovers, no playdates, no school plays, no choice of extra curricular activity, no grades less than an A, and no being less than the number 1 student in any 'academic' subject. Then there's the piano and violin practice… On hearing she called her daughter Sophia 'garbage', an acquaintance of hers burst into tears. The thought of praising one of the girls for getting a B, as many American parents do, would no doubt have a similar affect on Chua. Mother – or monster? Full review...
Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones
Gair's father is the chief of their mount. Gair's mother is famous for being incredibly wise. His brother and sister, Ceri and Ayna, both have special gifts, and so it is just Gair who is left feeling ordinary and out of place. However, when a powerful curse begins to affect the livelihoods not just of his people but also their enemies, the Dorig, and the Giants, it is up to Gair to find a way for them all to survive... Full review...
Books Burn Badly by Manuel Rivas
I normally start with a brief summary of the novel I’m reviewing, but Rivas’ sprawling epic is close to impossible to do anything ‘brief’ with. While it starts in 1881, it’s the book burning witnessed by Hercules the boxer during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 which gives this novel its title and it floats through several other eras, eventually finishing more than a century after it started. Along the way, we meet a young washerwoman who sees souls in the river, Olinda the matchgirl, Gabriel the stammerer, and the Judge of Oklahoma, star of a series of Western novels Gabriel’s father reads. Full review...
The Devil's Triangle by Mark Robson
A rebellious boat journey into the Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, prompted by Sam's annoyance at his father's obsession with the area's notoriety, turns out to be very ill-advised as Sam and his friend, Callum, find themselves lost and stranded on an island that is terrifyingly different from anything they have witnessed before. Meanwhile, Sam's twin sister Niamh is caught up in the search for the boys, co-ordinated by their father, Matthew, who is desperate to rescue Sam and Callum from the same mysterious phenomenon that took his wife nine years ago. As the search for the boys threatens to disintegrate under allegations that Matthew may be responsible for their disappearance, Niamh goes on the run, desperate to keep searching for her brother, but with only their rather ambiguous twin bond to guide her. Full review...
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
The title of this novel first caught my eye. How can food feel emotions?
Actually, it is Rose who discovers that when she is eating she can taste the feelings of the person who cooked or prepared the food. I was a bit worried that this initial gimmick of the book from which the title is taken would become annoying, but really this is another very well-written and readable novel about growing up in a dysfunctional family. Rose is about to turn 9 at the beginning, and comes home to find her mother making her birthday cake. She can't resist tasting the cake, and at first it is delicious: 'Warm citrus-baked batter lightness enfolded by cool deep dark swirled sugar'. But then she has 'the sensation of shrinking, of upset, tasting a distance I somehow knew was connected to my mother'. Full review...
Patrick Bronte: Father of Genius by Dudley Green
There have been many biographies about Charlotte Brontë and her siblings, but very little about their father. It is tempting to speculate whether he would be quite so deserving of one if he had not been the father of such a famous family. Yet Dudley Green, a retired Classics teacher, has demonstrated here that he did lead an interesting life himself. Born in rural Ireland in 1777, he spent his early years there before arriving in England in 1802 and settled in Yorkshire seven years later, where he remained the rest of his days. Full review...
Stormtide by Bill Knox
Webb Carrick is a Chief Officer in the Scottish Fisheries Protection Service and he's out in the North Atlantic where he strays into the middle of a feud between shark hunters and local fishermen. It's a little time since it happened but they're still angry about the death of a young woman. The consensus of opinion is that she discovered she was pregnant and committed suicide from the pier. One of the shark hunters is held to be responsible. It all threatens to come to a head when Carrick boards a fishing boat and finds her skipper dead on the deck. Full review...
Cure by Robin Cook
New York City Medical Examiner Laurie Montgomery is returning to work after her maternity leave. It's been longer than usual because her son had a potentially fatal neuroblastoma but this is now in complete remission, but leaving him and going back to work is not going to be easy. It's not going to be easy for whoever is looking after JJ either. Laurie is just a little bit neurotic about leaving him. She's lost a bit of confidence with regard to the job too so it's perhaps fortunate that her first case is what looks like an open and shut case of a natural death. Laurie's not so certain though – although quite a few people would like her to make up her mind that no further investigation is needed. Full review...
The Hunger Trace by Edward Hogan
We're plunged into a crisis straight away. Some of the animals from the wildlife park have escaped and are now running amok. They are Maggie's responsibility and she has to try to round them up without danger to either human or themselves. It's a tough, physical duty so it's a good job she can rely on her neighbour Louisa as an extra pair of hands. Christopher is unreliable to say the least, he's never there when you need him. But is Louisa any better? Full review...
Where Would I Be Without You? by Guillaume Musso
I love the cover, which I think angles this book firmly towards women. With that old Beach Boys hit from the Sixties as the title, it encapsulates everything you need to know when choosing this book. It's not really crime fiction, in that it lacks a whodunnit aspect in favour of following the protagonists, a French cop and a Scottish master criminal, through a romantic entanglement and into the jaws of death. The interest is in which of the two men will gain command of the other – and who is really driving the action – when both their attentions are focused on the same girl. Full review...
Best Bedtime Stories Ever by Richard Scarry
Richard Scarry's style is instantly recognisable. I grew up reading his books so this collection is a trip down memory lane! Here there are six stories, about Huckle the cat, Lowly the worm, Mr Raccoon and Mr Frumble the pig, plus a counting section at the back. The stories are a mix of the usual text plus picture format as well as those full page spreads that Scarry is known for where he labels different parts of the picture and there are hundreds of little details to spot. Full review...
