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<metadesc>Book review site, with books from most walks of literary life; fiction, biography, crime, cookery and children's books plus author interviews and top tens.</metadesc><h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>Hello from The Bookbag, a book review site, featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - [[:Category:Fiction|fiction]], [[:Category:Biography|biography]], [[:Category:Crime|crime]], [[:Category:Cookery|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 , the charity shop 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 [[:Category:Interviews|author interviews]], and all sorts of [[:Category:Lists|top tens]] - all of which you can find on our [[Featuresfeatures]] page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the [[Book Recommendations|recommendations]] page.

There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' reviews on the siteat TheBookbag.

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==Reviews of the Best New ReviewsBooks=='''For new reviews by genre [[:Category:New Reviews|click here]].'''

'''For new features Read [[Features:Category:New Reviews|click herenew reviews by category]].'''__NOTOC__<br>

'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].''' <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1780724047|title=A Dictionary of Interesting and Important Dogs|author=Jean UrePeter J Conradi|rating=4|genre=Pets|summary=I struggle to resist a book about dogs, but I did wonder why this one was so ''thin'': given that I've never encountered a dog who wasn't interesting or important - and probably both, I was expecting a massive tome. But ''A Dictionary of Interesting and Important Dogs'' is actually ''a rich compendium of the world's most significant and beloved dogs'' and it's certainly a rich treasure trove. We begin with Peter J Conradi's four collies: Cloudy, Sky. Bradley and Max. They're consecutive rather than simultaneous dogs, but what comes over is Conradi's love for each and every one of them. I knew that I was in safe hands.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1785769294|title=Fortune CookieMan at the Window (Detective Cardilini)|author=Robert Jeffreys

|genre=Confident ReadersCrime|summary=Fudge Cassidy and the Cupcake kid are best friendsIt's when we read that a young boy is creeping reluctantly to a teacher's bedroom one October night that we realise something is badly wrong. If the names remind you of a certain film then Nowadays you'd be spot on as that's where Fudgemight's father got the idea from. They're actually chalk and cheese – Fudge is loud mouthed and opinionated and Cupcake is quiet and thoughtful – hope that something would be done about it fairly quickly but the combination works. They've just started at secondary school this was 1965 and Cupcake has rather a lot child abuse was generally regarded as malicious mischief on her platethe part of the child. Her brother Joey has muscular dystrophy and his problems are becoming more obviousThe boy would be safe that night though - albeit in the most horrific fashion. Add to this that her father couldnWhen he reached Captain Edmund't cope with s bedroom he found the problems and he now has another familyman dead on the floor, the top of his skull missing. ItThe school's just Cupcake, Joey initial reaction was that this was a dreadful accident: there had been a cull of kangaroos in some nearby fields and her mother – and not it was obviously a lot of moneystray bullet which had killed the Captain.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007224621</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Jenifer Roberts1786695227|title=The Madness of Queen Maria: The Remarkable Life of Maria I of PortugalInvisible in a Bright Light|author=Sally Gardner

|genre=BiographyConfident Readers|summary=Born The beginning of this excellent story will leave the reader more than a little confused: who is the man in 1734 in Lisbon, at that time the richest and most opulent city in Europegreen suit, Maria was destined to become what is the first female monarch in Portuguese history. Married to her uncle Infante PedroReckoning, seventeen years her senior, she had six children (outliving all but one and why are rows of them), and became Queen people in 1777. a cave? A conscientious woman, she had But stick with it – Ms Gardner is very cleverly letting us experience the misfortune to be born same disorientation as our heroine. We watch in during the 'age of reason', when church and state were vying for supremacy. Instinctively a supporter of dismay as the old religionstrange man, with a humanitarian approach who seems to state affairshave no eyes, she was no Queen Elizabethdoes his best to persuade her to answer his questions. But for some reason Celeste, no Catherine the Greatdespite her bewilderment, remains wary and wore her crown rather reluctantlygives nothing away.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>095455891X</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=David Hughes1912374854|title=Thomas Wogan is DeadViolet|author=S J I Holliday|rating=43.5|genre=Graphic NovelsThrillers|summary=Well, with a title like I've never been but understand that, need I bother travelling is all about meeting new people and forming instantaneous bonds with a plot summary? A man has a day out people in Morecambe, then the next thing he knows heoften chance situations. Well that's exactly what happens when the two main/only characters meet in the ultimate waiting room, with a strange array of animals (travel agency in Beijing - Carrie is unsuccessfully trying to get a bat, refund on an extra ticket for the Trans-Siberian train and Violet is trying to unsuccessfully buy a toad, a sea urchinticket for the same sold-out journey...)As the two team up, all waiting for... welltravelling through Mongolia, something. YupSerbia and into Russia, as you didnit could't need tellingve been the start of a beautiful friendship but this a thriller after all so it quickly becomes a tale of obsession, he's deadmanipulation and toxic friendships.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>095580888X</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Dave Eggers1912374838|title=The Wild ThingsNothing Important Happened Today|author=Will Carver

|summary=Meet MaxNothing Important Happened Today is a dark, twisted, difficult read. When I say he sometimes gets the wrong end of the stick Stories about adultscults often are, or dislikes his motherbut this is different; it's new boyfriend, or gets written with a bit feisty when he feels the need for revenge, sense of style that is quite unlike anything I am certainly understating the facts've read before. He is I can't remember ever having read a bit of novel with such an odd, distinctive narrative voice. While a rascal to say slim and relatively small book, the least. But all that might change when he finds himself travelling to a strange land slow-moving nature of roisterous animals, and ends up installed as their kingthe plot makes it feel far larger than its 276 pages.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241144221</amazonuk>

{{Frontpage|isbn= williamabbey|title=The Pursuit of William Abbey|author=Claire North|rating=3.5|genre=Paranormal|summary=When William Abbey fails to prevent the lynching of a young boy in 1880's South Africa, he finds himself cursed by the grieving mother. A naïve English Doctor, he slowly learns the weight of the curse upon him, as the shadow of the dead boy begins to follow him across the world. Never stopping, always growing – it crosses oceans and mountains in pursuit of William. As he finds himself unable to resist speaking the truths that he hears in others, he also learns that the dark shadow is deadly – and seeks to kill the one he loves the most…}}{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Jeremy Strong1643785036|title=Christmas Chaos for the Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog The Wondrous Apothecary|author=Mary E Martin

|genre=Confident ReadersGeneral Fiction|summary=TrevorThose who have known Alexander Wainwright, the landscape artist famous for his Turner prize winning ''s troublesome dogThe Hay Wagon'', and Rinaldo, Streakerrenowned conceptual artist would say that they're chalk and cheese, if not sworn enemies. If you've watched the relationship, as has had three puppies. They our narrator, art dealer Jamie Helmsworth, you'd have said that they were fatheredmagnets, according to local bully Charlie Smugg, by one of his Alsatiansdrawing and repulsing each other in equal measure. Trevor would ideally like to keep them, Wainwright was at least until Christmasthe socially acceptable end of the artistic continuum, but his parents have other ideas with Rinaldo it was all too obvious that there was but a fine dividing line between conceptual art and put them up for salepublic nuisance. Charlie Smugg declares that As time has worn on, he's entitled frequently been brought to half of the money from the sale attention of the puppies, but before they can be sold the three puppies go missing in the park police. On this latest occasion we see him charged with arson and ittheft of ''The Hay Wagon''s up to Trevor and his best friend Tina to try and track them down before Charlie demands his cash!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141327243</amazonuk>.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Sarah Beth DurstMary H.K. Choi|title=IcePermanent Record|rating=3.54

|summary=Cassie lives on an Arctic research station in AlaskaPablo, a college drop-out, is working at a New York bodega. She loves the ice and the wilderness of her remote home and she He'd definitely prefer to spend her time on tracking polar bears and fending off frostbite rather than on mixing with her peers and enjoying college and home comforts back s massively in Fairbanks. Howeverdebt, things aren't all rosy. Cassiehe's avoiding his mother died when she was just a baby , and she can't help feeling a huge hole he finds his joy in her heart. Her scientist father is remote and unloving and her grandmother left the station after an argument creating unusual snacks with him when Cassie was still very young. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847386571</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Iain Smyth and Michael Terry|title=The Wide-Mouthed Frog|rating=4.5|genre=For Sharing|summary=Do you know the joke about the wide-mouthed frog? You must have heard it. Itrandom ingredients! Whilst working one evening, he's a classic. It's one surprised to discover that you really need to tell in person, the girl he is chatting with your fingers pulling your mouth wide openas he serves is a super-famous pop star and, but to hopefully spark your memoryas unlikely as it may seem, the wide-mouthed frog introduces himself to they start a number of animals until he finally comes across a crocodile relationship. With one character who eats wide-mouthed frogsis trying very hard not to be seen or noticed by anyone, and the frog does his best to disguise other who he is whilst saying seen and followed and hounded by everyone all over the world, it''Ooh, you dons an interesting clash as they come together. This isn't see many of those round herejust a love story though, do you?and actually it'' I'm hardly doing it justice, but its really just Pab's very cheesy and funny. Anywaystory, this is a book of that jokeabout the journey he takes in his life via his meet-up with Leanna Smart.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1408804964</amazonuk>0349003459

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Dr Aaron Carroll and Dr Rachel Vreeman1609809319|title=Don't Swallow Your GumLong-Haired Cat-Boy Cub|author=Etgar Keret, Aviel Basil and Sondra Silverston (translator)

|summary=Violet One day a boy is in the zoo with his father, when the man gets called away on urgent business. The boy isn't hustled into a very special hippocab and taken home first, though, no – he's given hot dog money, and taxi money, and told to just stick around on his own and enjoy himself. She is extremely small but Well, it's no surprise that does not the orphan-for-an-afternoon sensation the lad feels doesn't make her adoptive parents Albert him happy, and Mavis love her any the less. Howeverso he thinks of a species name for himself, and curls himself up into an empty cage, they are slightly worried that Violet has as if he were a very unusual habit of turning pink without warning and for no explicable reasonnew exhibit.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906847371</amazonuk> And it's then the drama begins…

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Hilary Dixon1785785516|title=When Rooks Speak of LoveFucking Good Manners|author=Simon Griffin

|genre=Literary FictionLifestyle|summary=Arthur Transcombe is Manners maketh man, they say. It certainly makes life easier if everybody abides by a middle-agedset of conventions, grey-hairedsome of which are ages old and other which have evolved over time. Manners are not about how much to tip or how you should behave if you get an invitation to Buckingham Palace, self-effacing poet. they have nothing to do with class or financial status: Unremarkable really - on they're about getting the outsidebasics right before we try to deal with more difficult matters. He hasOf course we all have more relaxed manners when we're with family and friends, however, managed but it's best if we learn to distinguish between our public and private lives and to achieve some success with his poemsact appropriately. (Being a guest speaker at ''Fucking Good Manners'' aims to help us on the Cheltenham Literary Festival is no mean feat)way. He is also a babe magnet!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904529429</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=A J Healy0008324859|title=Tommy Storm and the Galactic KnightsFowl Twins|author=Eoin Colfer|rating=3.5

|summary=Meet Tommy Storm. HeRelax, everyone – our old friend Artemis may be off planet, but the baddies aren's t getting away with skulduggery any time soon because they now have not one but two members of five teenagers snapped up from around the universe Fowl family to be a gang of heroic detectives charged contend with rescuing EVERYTHING from destruction. Not just the planetThose cute little twins are now eleven (and, frankly, cute no longer) and in this, or the solar systemtheir first independent adventure, or they meet a troll and without even trying manage to make two deadly enemies: a nobleman obsessed with immortality whatever the galaxycost (to other people), but EVERYTHINGand an unusual interrogator-nun. Nobody seems to know what's going to cause this destructionThe boys are chased, or whenkidnapped, but he arrested and his friends and their ship seem to be even killed (though not for long), all with the only people proactively going about saving the day. So it's a pity that they start this book strung up by a nasty loony who's about to kill themhelp of one trainee fairy.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847247555</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Graham McCann1472255798|title=Bounder!: The Biography of Terry-ThomasBad Fire (Bob Skinner)|author=Quintin Jardine

|summary=Spam E-Mails can be incredibly annoying, but most of us will have had to deal with them. Fortunately, we can hit the delete button and forget about them as quickly as they came. I certainly prefer not to torture my friends by sending such rubbish on, no matter how bad my luck is supposed to become if I don't. But I wonder how many of us would react if a spam E-Mail actually was a matter of Nine years ago local councillor Marcia Brown took her own life and death, rather than just claiming to be?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749007079</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Jeanette Winterson|title=The Battle after being accused of the Sun|rating=5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=London 1601. Elizabeth I is getting on in years. Her capital city is shoplifting from a busy, bustling placelocal supermarket. Boats fill the river and people fill the streets. Jack is happy because itIt's his birthday and his present is his heartalways been assumed that she couldn's desire: an excitable black puppy named Max, who's a ''licking and a running and a leaping and a jumping and a tummy in t live with the air and a tail wagging and a barking, racing, braking, spinning energy dog of delight''shame. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>140880042X</amazonuk>}}  {{newreview|author=Jean Ure|title=Love and Kisses|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Tamsin and Katie People were surprised that she committed suicide just thirteen and worried before the court case when she had been adamant that they were boringshe would fight to clear her name. TheyShe said that she'd been best friends since forever and were set up because she was hot on the trail of corruption in the good girlscouncil. Neither missed schoolHer ex-husband has contacted Alex Skinner, skipped her homework nor had boyfriends. WellSolicitor Advocate as well as retired Police Constable Bob Skinner's daughter, that is, not so far. Up until then Tamsin had been the boffin head – consistently strong academically and looking forward to going on to university. All asked that seemed to change when she met Alex. Well, when I say look into clearing Brown'mets name: it' I should perhaps clarify and say that Alex pushed his wheelbarrow into her, from the building site where s something which he worked. Oh, and did I mention feels that he was seventeen, Polish and spoke very little English?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007281722</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Henry Mintzberg|title=Managing|rating=5|genre=Business and Finance|summary=''Study after study has shown that managers work at an unrelenting pace'' How true, though it always makes me wonder why, as a result, there's such a market for bulky management and leadership and general business books like this one. How does anyone who needs or wants to read one ever find the time to do so? This title actually has an answer to this, by providing two books in one, and it is such a simple yet effective solution that I have to start there. You can read this book in one memory of two ways. Option one is to read every word, chapter by chapter, cover to cover. If you have the time I would recommend this approach because the book is very readable, not too repetitive, and quite thought-provokinghis son who was murdered recently.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0273709305</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Kathryn FoxB07X6GLQ3Q|title=Blood BornSee Them Run|author=Marion Todd

|summary=To give support D I Clare Mackay is still relatively new to a vulnerable gang-rape victim, forensic pathologist Anya Crichton offers to drive Giverny Hart to the courthouse on the day St Andrew's: she is due to testify against the notorious Harbourn brotherswas previously at Maryhill Rd station in Glasgow. But when Anya arrives at the house she finds Giverny close to death and faces She's left quite a lot behind including a battle against time relationship that wasn't going anywhere after Tom failed to save support herwhen the chips were down. In the panicShe also left a nasty situation, Anya fails to take note of an important clue which might help tell whether it really was suicide or her own making but not her fault, and St Andrew's is a cleverly staged murderfresh start. Worse still, in trying to save Not long into the girljob she's life, Anya has interfered faced with a crime scene hit and run death and there's little doubt that it wasn't accidental - the case falls apartcard with the number five suggests murder. She blames herself for the Harbourn brothers being allowed Andy Robb was married to walk free and only hours later Sandra. You could say that they had an open marriage but there is news seemed to be a lot of another attack. A pair the 'open' and very little of sisters have been stabbed and raped resulting in the death of one'marriage' left - on both sides, while the other clings to life.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340933097</amazonuk>but would she want him dead?

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Leah Fleming1786540991|title=Remembrance Day|rating=4|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=In the year 2000 an old lady in a wheelchair watches the unveiling of the new war memorial in the village square. There's pride in what has been achieved, in the family who are gathered around her and there are memories too. Some are good but many are not.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847561039</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewThe Impossible Boy|author=Neal Layton|title=Surf's Up (Mammoth Academy)Ben Brooks|rating=34.5

|summary=Having successfully seen off the rather unpleasant humans in earlier volumes, our favourite junior mammoths Oscar ''Oleg and Arabella have nothing much else Emma entered their den to do apart from return to Mammoth Academy for lots more double periods of Difficult Sumsfind a cardboard spaceship standing where they usually sat. They're supposed to be making presentations about what they did during Slowly, the holidays toofront door opened. Smoke billowed out. And out stepped a boy, dressed in a long coat with an even longer scarf, but Oscar hasnwound around his neck.'t done any preparation and, frankly, he can't really remember what he actually did do with all that free time other than no Difficult Sums. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>034098967X</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Mij Kelly and Louise Nisbet|title=The Happiest Man in the World or the Mouse Who Made Christmas|rating=4|genre=For Sharing|summary=Mouse doesn't like anyone and keeps herself to herself. Her things are her things and she is too selfish to share them with anyone else. One day, an old man moves in to Mouse'"My name's house. He used to be Sebastian Cole," the happiest man in the worldboy said, but now he"But you already know that."'s sad. He's fed up of having given, given, given all his life and never got anything back. He just sits quietly and mopes. This makes Mouse miserable, so one day she decides to cheer him up by giving him a clementine...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340931558</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Nick Bland|title=The Very Cranky Bear|rating=4|genre=For Sharing|summary=Moose, Lion, Zebra and Sheep head into a cave to get out of the rain, but little And indeed they do they know that Bear is fast asleep in there. When they wake him upEver since the summer, he roars at themwhen their friend Sarah's mother had moved her away, chasing them outside, so they decide Oleg and Emma have been unable to cheer him up somehow. Zebra paints stripes on him, Moose fashions antlers for him and Lion sticks find a mane of straw on him. Unsurprisingly, this makes Bear even crankier, so it's down new friend to Sheep to save the day..take her place.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340989424</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Kes Gray and Lee Wildish1447281357|title=Mum and Dad GlueSalvation Lost|author=Peter F Hamilton

|genre=For SharingScience Fiction|summary=A young boyIn the twenty-third century, humanity is enjoying a comparative utopia. Yet life on Earth is about to change, forever. Feriton Kane's parents are splitting upinvestigative team has discovered the worst threat ever to face mankind – and we've almost no time to fight back. He's going through The supposedly benign Olyix plan to harvest humanity, in order to carry us to their god at the usual emotions that children end of divorce go through: worry, feeling unsure, blaming himself, angerthe universe. And as their agents conclude schemes down on earth, denial, and then trying vast warships converge above to get them to stay togethergather this cargo. His method Some factions push for this isn't humanity to flee, to live in hiding amongst the usual response though: he looks for glue stars – although only a chosen few would make it out in time. But others refuse to stick his mum and dad togetherbreak before the storm. ThankfullyAs disaster looms, he finds some wise and kindly advice in animosities must be set aside to focus on just one goal: wiping this enemy from the processface of creation. Even if it means preparing for a future this generation will never see.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340957107</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Clara Vulliamy1471186393|title=The Bear With Sticky Paws Won't Go To Bed|rating=4|genre=For Sharing|summary=It's Pearl's bedtime, but she says she's really busy and isn't going to sleep. She just wants to play and play and play. When the bear with sticky paws rings the doorbell, he whisks her away on an amazing adventure - although as you might expect, Photographer of the bear has a little more energy than Pearl and eventually she does get a little sleepy.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408300648</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewLost|author=Stephen Mackey|title=MikiCaroline Scott|rating=4.5|genre=For SharingHistorical Fiction|summary=It's cold, dark and icy, and Miki and Penguin are trudging May 1921. Edie receives a photograph through the snowpost. But There is no letter or note with it's Midwinter Eve. There is nothing written on the back of the photograph. It is a picture of her husband, when wishes come trueFrancis. They wish Francis has been missing for a treefour years. Technically, lightshe has been "missing, someone strong to power the lights, and finally believed killed" but that is not something that a star that will shine brightly foreveryoung widow can believe. Miki is taken deep below She hangs on the ice to find word 'missing', disbelieving the star, whilst up top Penguin and new friend Polar Bear start to worry about herword killed.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>034095065X</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Kristin Cashore1783784350|title=FireThis Golden Fleece: A Journey Through Britain's Knitted History|author=Esther Rutter

|genre=FantasyHistory|summary=Possessed of great beauty, the kind that drives men madIt was December and Esther Rutter was stuck in her office job, Fire is used writing to people trying to kill her. She isnshe't used to them doing it by accidentd never met and preparing spreadsheets. When a poacher in the woods outside The job frustrated her and even her home accidentally shoots knitting did not soothe her, Fire is hard pressed mind. January was going to keep be a time for making changes and she decided that she would travel the temperamental Lord Archer from killing him. But as sure as Fire is length and breadth of the man did not mean to cause her harmBritish Isles with occasional forays abroad, she is discovering and telling the story of wool's history and how it had made unsure by and changed the strange fog that exists landscape. She'd grown up on a sheep farm in Suffolk - '' a free range child on the manfarm'' - and learned to spin, knit and weave from her mother and her mother's mindfriend. This was in her blood.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905200129</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Justin Scroggie1401286208|title=Eye SpyBlack Canary: Uncovering the Secrets of the World Around YouIgnite|author=Meg Cabot and Cara McGee|rating=43.5|genre=TriviaConfident Readers|summary=Signs are everywhereMeet Dinah Lance. I wasn't really one of those who thought our roads were littered Frustrated that her policeman father will not allow her to try and follow in his footsteps, and seemingly lumbered with too many traffic signs until the day I was driven past being a pair of speed regulation signscheerleader at school, positioned at the exit end of she is desperate to find her voice. But it's actually more a one-way street but facing the illegal way up it. Not all signs, case of courseher voice finding her, are quite as unnecessarywhen she gets frustrated or plain dissed at school her vocal outcry can shatter glass better than any opera singer. You could almost call it a weapon, or indeed as blatantly visiblea power. But in order for her to call herself a superhero, there has to be a whole path of steps for her to take – one of which is where this pictorial guide to countless coded messages, signifiers and other similar factoids comes in.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340994487</amazonuk>will be into her past…

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Jose Saramago 1789017977|title=Small MemoriesRonnie and Hilda's Romance: Towards a New Life after World War II|author=Wendy Williams

|genre=AutobiographyHistory|summary=Having Ronnie Williams was the son of Thomas Henry Williams (known as Harry) and Ethel Wall. There's some doubt as to whether or not they were ever married or even Harry's birthdate: he claimed to have been born in 1922 and lived through so much of the twentieth century1863, with an author's view of change but he was already many years older than Ethel and people, Jose Saramago has certainly experienced he might well have shaved a lotfew years off his age. Civil Wars For a while the family was quite well-to-do but disaster struck in the neighbouring Spain; the growth of his country 1929 Depression and five-year- which still left it as western Europe's poorestold Ronnie had to adjust to a very different lifestyle. Here One thing he allows us witness did inherit from his father was his need to be well-turned-out and this would stay with him throughout his mind drifting through his childhood, in life. He joined the country and army at eighteen in Lisbon, and provides a subtle and gentle memoir1942.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184655148X</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Eoin Colfer1542015421|title=And Another Thing ... Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Part Six of Three (Hitchhikers Guide 6) The Royal Baths Murder|author=J R Ellis

|genre=Science FictionCrime|summary=Of all When Damian Penrose was murdered there was no shortage of suspects: he was a deeply unpleasant man. In fact the big books announced for this year, this one must have raised only surprising thing was that there wasn't more eyebrows than manyof a queue waiting to do the dirty deed. Why try What was a bit of a headline maker was that Penrose was a crime writer and write a new Hitchhikerthat he was strangled in the midst of Harrogate's Guide to crime writing festival. He went for a swim at the Galaxy bookRoyal Baths and never returned, when way before his body being found by the end, its creator Douglas Adams receptionist. DCI Jim Oldroyd was proving quite hopeless at such a task? the man tasked with investigating the crime. And why approach an Irishman, Eoin Colfer, when It would not be the originals - tempered with their humour which could only be described as Monty Python doing a sci-fi Terry Pratchettdeath, and with their cups it was only because of the quick actions of tea and dressing gownshis sergeant, Andy Carter, could only be described as very English? Well the answer is most evident - Colfer is a world-beater when it comes to knocking up a storythat Oldroyd's was not one of them.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718155149</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Harlan CobenDaniel Kraus|title=Tell No OneBlood Sugar|rating=54

|summary=I've been meaning to get around to reading some or all of Harlan Coben's work, because if the reviews are to be believed and you are a fan of the 'Bloody Knife /Blunt Instrument' thriller, the man This is quite simply not capable of turning out a duff novel. But you know how it is, what with one thing and another and a bulging pile of books to be difficult read and reviewed, I just somehow hadn't managed to give him my full attention. Until now.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1409117022</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=John Peel and Sheila Ravenscroft|title=Margrave And not because of the Marshes|rating=4.5|genre=Entertainment|summary=John Peel was without doubt one dark subject matter – that'll come later – but because of the most important disc jockeys of all timeway in which it's told. Born in Merseyside in 1939, he began his career in mid-60s America before returning home to join Radio London and then become one This might put a lot of the original Radio 1 teamreaders off, where he stayed until his death 37 years later. I admired the man for his passion for playing the music nobody else would give the time of day (even if I didn't always enjoy it myself) and his readiness to say exactly what he thought, even if be honest it was not what his employers at the BBC wanted 'd be hard to hear, and I always enjoyed reading his columns in the music weeklies and later Radio Timesblame them. Nevertheless I found much of his show unlistenable towards Kraus tells the end, recall some of his rather curmudgeonly remarks on air (guest slots on Radio 1's Round Table review programme come to mind), and thought his build-'em-up, knock-'em-down stance rather irritating after story in a while. So distinctive voice unlike any other I approached this book 've read; an erratic dialect with an open mind as a fan, but not an uncritical one.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0552551198</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Luca Turin heavy and Tania Sanchez |title=Perfumes: The A - Z Guide|rating=5|genre=Lifestyle|summary=Wonderful, wonderful, wonderfulfrequent slang. The only thing that could be conceivably better than reading ''Perfumes'' would be to read it while sampling the scents it reviews, but even without the olfactory component, ''Perfumes'' immediate effect is a delight: Turin (a lyrical scientist) disorientating and Sanchez (an analytically enthusiastic collector) not only treat perfume creation as high artdistracting, but turn perfume criticism into an art form (or at least a sophisticated genre of writing) tooand it takes some time to feel natural. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846681278</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=David Malouf |title=Ransom|rating=5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary=Taking his theme from a small part of HomerIt's Iliad, Malouf tells the story of the king of Troy, Priam's grief-stricken voyage into the Greek camp a struggle to acclimatise to ransom TroyJody's wealth for the body of his fallen sonvoice, Hector, killed by the equally grief-stricken Achilles whose great friend Hector had killed in battle before Achilles took to get acquainted with his cruel revenge. Malouf tells the story in sparsemannerisms, yet lyrical and poetic fashion suggesting but the personal stories behind the epic themes that Homer related. It is an exquisitely written piece managing to be both deeply moving as well as a great piece of story telling.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0701184159</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Steven M Gillon|title=The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After|rating=4.5|genre=History|summary=The assassination of President Kennedy came at a pivotal moment in my life and for more than forty years Iwouldn've read most of what has been written about t be the eventsame without it, and somehow it works. Itshouldn's been of variable qualityt, but the books fed the curiosity of people entranced by the charismatic young President who died so publicly. I'd come to the point of wondering if there was anything new to be said, but Stephen Gillom has looked at what happened from an unusual and largely overlooked angle – the first twenty four hours of Lyndon Johnson's Presidencyit does.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>046501870X</amazonuk>1789091934