The Book Bags, self-styled premier bookgroup of Cheltenham, is in its 10th year and here is where you can read the reviews of the books we have read.

8 of us, our ranks having swelled with the welcome addition of J2 and M (and the sad departure of G) meet on the first Monday of each month. Here, we rip a book to shreds, which is another way of saying that we discuss, in a measured and erudite way, a book decided on at the previous meeting and read in the intervening weeks.

I'm a few reviews behind due to dodgy internet connections and moving house, but here are the most recent to read, and they're a bit patchy, I'm afraid as memory fades:

(April 2006): ARTHUR AND GEORGE, Julian Barnes

(May 2006): THE COLOUR, Rose Tremain

(June 2006): THE GLASS PALACE, Amitav Ghosh

(July 2006): WEATHERCOCK, Glen Duncan

(August 2006): DAN LENO & THE LIMEHOUSE GOLEM, Peter Ackroyd

(September 2006): NEVER LET ME GO, Kazuo Ishiguro

(October 2006): IF THIS IS A MAN / THE TRUCE, Primo Levi

(November 2006): THE PEOPLE'S ACT OF LOVE, James Meek

(December 2006): SHALIMAR THE CLOWN, Salman Rushdie

 

Our first book to be discussed in 2007 will be: THE CONSTANT GARDENER, John le Carré

TOP BOOKS (not necessarily everyone's faves but overall highest scores)
THE PEOPLE'S ACT OF LOVE, James Meek DAN LENO & THE LIMEHOUSE GOLEM, Peter Ackroyd THE KITE RUNNER, Khaled Hosseini EXPERIENCE, Martin Amis THE CORRECTIONS, Jonathan Franzen A FINE BALANCE, Rohinton Mistry ANY HUMAN HEART, William Boyd VERNON GOD LITTLE, D B C Pierre A STAR CALLED HENRY, Roddy Doyle JACK MAGGS, Peter Carey MUSIC AND SILENCE, Rose Tremain QUARANTINE, Jim Crace THE DEBT TO PLEASURE, John Lanchester THE INDUSTRY OF SOULS, Martin Booth THE POISONWOOD BIBLE, Barbara Kingsolver THE LOVELY BONES, Alice Sebold TITUS GROAN, Mervyn Peake

BOTTOM BOOKS (stinkers)
NEVER LET ME GO, Kazuo Ishiguro UNLESS, Carol Shields THE ALCHEMIST, Paulo Coehlo A HEART-BREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS, Dave Eggers A FAREWELL ANGEL, Carmen Martin Gaite A SIN OF COLOUR Sunetra Gupta AMSTERDAM, Ian McEwan DESPERADOES, Joseph O'Connor HIDEOUS KINKY, Esther Freud MAD COWS, Kathy Lette POTIKI, Patricia Grace RED DUST, Ma Jian THE AMBASSADORS, Henry James THE BLACKWATER LIGHTSHIP, Colm Toibin THE CARPENTER'S PENCIL, Manuel Rivas

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We represent the great book-buying public; we love books, and we have read some fantastic books together but it struck us that there was an inhospitable gap between the foolish anticipation encouraged by rapturous lies (critics' reviews) and the actual experience of reading it. If you, too, have been sold short, or cheated into buying a pig in a poke by phrases like "a book to buy, read and read again", "a marvel of finesse, intelligence and emotional force", or "This book is not recommended. It is prescribed", then you will understand our frustration. Hence these, The Book Bags' reviews. No axes to grind, sadly fee-free. And not always nice.