Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"

From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to search
(68 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 11: Line 11:
 
'''Read [[:Category:New Reviews|new reviews by category]]. '''<br>
 
'''Read [[:Category:New Reviews|new reviews by category]]. '''<br>
  
'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''
+
'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].''' <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1780724047
 +
|title=A Dictionary of Interesting and Important Dogs
 +
|author=Peter 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=Man at the Window (Detective Cardilini)
 +
|author=Robert Jeffreys
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Crime
 +
|summary=It'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.  Nowadays you ''might'' hope that something would be done about it fairly quickly but this was 1965 and child abuse was generally regarded as malicious mischief on the part of the child.  The boy would be safe that night though - albeit in the most horrific fashion.  When he reached Captain Edmund's bedroom he found the man dead on the floor, the top of his skull missing.  The school's initial reaction was that this was a dreadful accident: there had been a cull of kangaroos in some nearby fields and it was obviously a stray bullet which had killed the Captain.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1786695227
 +
|title=Invisible in a Bright Light
 +
|author=Sally Gardner
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=The beginning of this excellent story will leave the reader more than a little confused: who is the man in the green suit, what is the Reckoning, and why are rows of people in a cave?  But stick with it – Ms Gardner is very cleverly letting us experience the same disorientation as our heroine. We watch in dismay as the strange man, who seems to have no eyes, does his best to persuade her to answer his questions. But for some reason Celeste, despite her bewilderment, remains wary and gives nothing away.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1912374854
 +
|title=Violet
 +
|author=S J I Holliday
 +
|rating=3.5
 +
|genre=Thrillers
 +
|summary=I've never been but understand that travelling is all about meeting new people and forming instantaneous bonds with people in often chance situations. Well that's exactly what happens when the two main/only characters meet in a travel agency in Beijing - Carrie is unsuccessfully trying to get a refund on an extra ticket for the Trans-Siberian train and Violet is trying to unsuccessfully buy a ticket for the same sold-out journey. As the two team up, travelling through Mongolia, Serbia and into Russia, it could've been the start of a beautiful friendship but this a thriller after all so it quickly becomes a tale of obsession, manipulation and toxic friendships.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1912374838
 +
|title=Nothing Important Happened Today
 +
|author=Will Carver
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=General Fiction
 +
|summary=Nothing Important Happened Today is a dark, twisted, difficult read. Stories about cults often are, but this is different; it's written with a sense of style that is quite unlike anything I've read before. I can't remember ever having read a novel with such an odd, distinctive narrative voice. While a slim and relatively small book, the slow-moving nature of the plot makes it feel far larger than its 276 pages.
 +
}}
 +
{{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…
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1643785036
 +
|title=The Wondrous Apothecary
 +
|author=Mary E Martin
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=General Fiction
 +
|summary=Those who have known Alexander Wainwright, the landscape artist famous for his Turner prize winning ''The Hay Wagon'', and Rinaldo, renowned conceptual artist would say that they're chalk and cheese, if not sworn enemies.  If you've watched the relationship, as has our narrator, art dealer Jamie Helmsworth, you'd have said that they were magnets, drawing and repulsing each other in equal measure.  Wainwright was at the socially acceptable end of the artistic continuum, but with Rinaldo it was all too obvious that there was but a fine dividing line between conceptual art and public nuisance.  As time has worn on, he's frequently been brought to the attention of the police.  On this latest occasion we see him charged with arson and theft of ''The Hay Wagon''.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Mary H.K. Choi
 +
|title=Permanent Record
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Teens
 +
|summary=Pablo, a college drop-out, is working at a New York bodega.  He's massively in debt, he's avoiding his mother, and he finds his joy in creating unusual snacks with random ingredients!  Whilst working one evening, he's surprised to discover that the girl he is chatting with as he serves is a super-famous pop star and, as unlikely as it may seem, they start a relationship.  With one character who is trying very hard not to be seen or noticed by anyone, and the other who is seen and followed and hounded by everyone all over the world, it's an interesting clash as they come together.  This isn't just a love story though, and actually it's really just Pab's story, about the journey he takes in his life via his meet-up with Leanna Smart.
 +
|isbn=0349003459
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1609809319
 +
|title=Long-Haired Cat-Boy Cub
 +
|author=Etgar Keret, Aviel Basil and Sondra Silverston (translator)
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=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 cab 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.  Well, it's no surprise that the orphan-for-an-afternoon sensation the lad feels doesn't make him happy, and so he thinks of a species name for himself, and curls himself up into an empty cage, as if he were a new exhibit.  And it's then the drama begins…
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1785785516
 +
|title=Fucking Good Manners
 +
|author=Simon Griffin
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Lifestyle
 +
|summary=Manners maketh man, they say.  It certainly makes life easier if everybody abides by a set of conventions, some 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, they have nothing to do with class or financial status:  they're about getting the basics right before we try to deal with more difficult matters.  Of course we all have more relaxed manners when we're with family and friends, but it's best if we learn to distinguish between our public and private lives and to act appropriately.  ''Fucking Good Manners'' aims to help us on the way.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=0008324859
 +
|title=Fowl Twins
 +
|author=Eoin Colfer
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=Relax, everyone – our old friend Artemis may be off planet, but the baddies aren't getting away with skulduggery any time soon because they now have not one but two members of the Fowl family to contend with. Those cute little twins are now eleven (and, frankly, cute no longer) and in this, their first independent adventure, they meet a troll and without even trying manage to make two deadly enemies: a nobleman obsessed with immortality whatever the cost (to other people), and an unusual interrogator-nun. The boys are chased, kidnapped, arrested and even killed (though not for long), all with the help of one trainee fairy.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1472255798
 +
|title=The Bad Fire (Bob Skinner)
 +
|author=Quintin Jardine
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Crime
 +
|summary=Nine years ago local councillor Marcia Brown took her own life after being accused of shoplifting from a local supermarket. It's always been assumed that she couldn't live with the shame. People were surprised that she committed suicide just before the court case when she had been adamant that she would fight to clear her name. She said that she'd been set up because she was hot on the trail of corruption in the council. Her ex-husband has contacted Alex Skinner, Solicitor Advocate as well as retired Police Constable Bob Skinner's daughter, and asked that she look into clearing Brown's name: it's something which he feels that he has to do in memory of his son who was murdered recently.
 +
}}
  
{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
+
{{Frontpage
<!-- Tove Jansson -->
+
|isbn=B07X6GLQ3Q
|-
+
|title=See Them Run
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
+
|author=Marion Todd
[[image:0954899520.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0954899520/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Crime
 +
|summary=D I Clare Mackay is still relatively new to St Andrew's: she was previously at Maryhill Rd station in Glasgow.  She's left quite a lot behind including a relationship that wasn't going anywhere after Tom failed to support her when the chips were down. She also left a nasty situation, of her own making but not her fault, and St Andrew's is a fresh start.  Not long into the job she's faced with a hit and run death and there's little doubt that it wasn't accidental - the card with the number five suggests murder.  Andy Robb was married to Sandra.  You could say that they had an open marriage but there seemed to be a lot of the 'open' and very little of the 'marriage' left - on both sides, but would she want him dead?
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1786540991
 +
|title=The Impossible Boy
 +
|author=Ben Brooks
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=''Oleg and Emma entered their den to find a cardboard spaceship standing where they usually sat. Slowly, the front door opened. Smoke billowed out. And out stepped a boy, dressed in a long coat with an even longer scarf, wound around his neck.''
  
  
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
+
''"My name's Sebastian Cole," the boy said, "But you already know that."''
===[[A Winter Book by Tove Jansson]]===
 
  
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]]
+
And indeed they do. Ever since the summer, when their friend Sarah's mother had moved her away, Oleg and Emma have been unable to find a new friend to take her place.
 
+
}}
Tove Jansson's worldwide fame lasts on the Moomin books, written in the 1940s and later becoming television characters of the simplicity, naivety and sheer 'goodness' that would later produce flowerpot men or teletubbies. Simple drawings, simple stories, simple goodness. What is often forgotten outside of her native Finland is that she was a serious writer…that she wrote for adults as well as children…and that she had a feeling for the natural world and the simple life that not only informed those child-like trolls but went far beyond any fantasy of how the world might be. [[A Winter Book by Tove Jansson|Full Review]]
+
{{Frontpage
 
+
|isbn=1447281357
<!-- Whitlock -->
+
|title=Salvation Lost
|-
+
|author=Peter F Hamilton
| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|
+
|rating=4
[[image:1782692177.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1782692177/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
|genre=Science Fiction
 
+
|summary=In the twenty-third century, humanity is enjoying a comparative utopia. Yet life on Earth is about to change, forever. Feriton Kane's investigative team has discovered the worst threat ever to face mankind – and we've almost no time to fight back. The supposedly benign Olyix plan to harvest humanity, in order to carry us to their god at the end of the universe. And as their agents conclude schemes down on earth, vast warships converge above to gather this cargo. Some factions push for humanity to flee, to live in hiding amongst the stars – although only a chosen few would make it out in time. But others refuse to break before the storm. As disaster looms, animosities must be set aside to focus on just one goal: wiping this enemy from the face of creation. Even if it means preparing for a future this generation will never see.
 
+
}}
| style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|
+
{{Frontpage
===[[The Collective by Lindsey Whitlock]]===
+
|isbn=1471186393
 
+
|title=Photographer of the Lost
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]
+
|author=Caroline Scott
 
+
|rating=4.5
''Illinois Territory, Collective Homesteads of America.'' Some people live in sunken houses, buried into hillsides to disguise how large their property is at times of austerityOthers are called Foresters, for they live and work in trees. When the small area the Foresters live in is placed under compulsory purchase, the residents are given a pitiful amount to clear out before they get manfully cleared outOur hero, Elwyn, has just left the trees for the Hills, to live with an uncle and learn their ways – he's just of age to decide things for himself, and he has decided to see how the other half lives... [[The Collective by Lindsey Whitlock|Full Review]]
+
|genre=Historical Fiction
 
+
|summary=May 1921Edie receives a photograph through the post. There is no letter or note with itThere is nothing written on the back of the photograph.  It is a picture of her husband, FrancisFrancis has been missing for four years.  Technically, he has been "missing, believed killed" but that is not something that a young widow can believe.  She hangs on the word 'missing', disbelieving the word killed.  
<!-- Andre Pronovost -->
+
}}
|-
+
{{Frontpage
| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|
+
|isbn=1783784350
[[image:099944235X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/099944235X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
|title=This Golden Fleece: A Journey Through Britain's Knitted History
 
+
|author=Esther Rutter
 
+
|rating=5
| style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|
+
|genre=History
 
+
|summary=It was December and Esther Rutter was stuck in her office job, writing to people she'd never met and preparing spreadsheets.  The job frustrated her and even her knitting did not soothe her mind. January was going to be a time for making changes and she decided that she would travel the length and breadth of the British Isles with occasional forays abroad, discovering and telling the story of wool's history and how it had made and changed the landscapeShe'd grown up on a sheep farm in Suffolk - '' a free range child on the farm'' - and learned to spin, knit and weave from her mother and her mother's friendThis was in her blood.
===[[The Man Who Killed Hitler by Andre Pronovost]]===
+
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
[[image:3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]]
+
|isbn=1401286208
 
+
|title=Black Canary: Ignite
Germany is split.  Some of her is in favour of Hitler and the Nazis, but much isn'tSome of her is stuck to the east fighting the Soviets, but some will soon have to be on the other front, against the Americans coming into the continent to put things right as they see itFinding out that the war to the east isn't working, due to Hitler's tactical ineptitude and inability to heed advice, some people reckon Stalin is five seasons away from being in Berlin. The only way to shore things up, and repair the splits, is to kill Hitler, and luckily the Baron Nicholas is the man to do it.  He's aristocratic enough, he knows enough people in industry, society and other circles of power, so once he's succeeded he might be able to keep a German presence in Europe. But will he still be able to keep the "predatory American capitalists" and the blatantly communist Soviets from meeting in the middle? [[The Man Who Killed Hitler by Andre Pronovost|Full Review]]
+
|author=Meg Cabot and Cara McGee
 
+
|rating=3.5
<!-- Ann Cleeves -->
+
|genre=Confident Readers
|-
+
|summary=Meet Dinah Lance. Frustrated that her policeman father will not allow her to try and follow in his footsteps, and seemingly lumbered with being a cheerleader at school, she is desperate to find her voice. But it's actually more a case of her voice finding her, as when 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 a 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 will be into her past…
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
+
}}
[[image:1509889566.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1509889566/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
{{Frontpage
 
+
|isbn=1789017977
 
+
|title=Ronnie and Hilda's Romance: Towards a New Life after World War II
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
+
|author=Wendy Williams
 
+
|rating=4
===[[The Long Call (Two Rivers) by Ann Cleeves]]===
+
|genre=History
 
+
|summary=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 1863, but he was already many years older than Ethel and he might well have shaved a few years off his ageFor a while the family was quite well-to-do but disaster struck in the 1929 Depression and five-year-old Ronnie had to adjust to a very different lifestyle.  One thing he did inherit from his father was his need to be well-turned-out and this would stay with him throughout his life.  He joined the army at eighteen in 1942.
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:LGBT Fiction|LGBT Fiction]]
+
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
When we first meet DI Matthew Venn he's at his father's funeral, although 'at' rather overstates the proximity.  He sees everyone - his mother and the preacher included from a distance - but he doesn't go itHe wouldn't be welcome.  Those attending are part of the Barum Brethren and the teenage Matthew was thrown out when he told the congregation how wrong they were in their beliefs.  It coincided with him leaving university and joining the police force.  The announcement of Matthew's marriage to Jonathan Church was in the local paper and whilst he doesn't know if his father saw it, he can't imagine that it will have gone down well. [[The Long Call (Two Rivers) by Ann Cleeves|Full Review]]
+
|isbn=1542015421
 
+
|title=The Royal Baths Murder
<!-- Day -->
+
|author=J R Ellis
|-
+
|rating=3.5
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
+
|genre=Crime
[[image:0241351391.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241351391/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
|summary=When Damian Penrose was murdered there was no shortage of suspects: he was a deeply unpleasant man.  In fact the only surprising thing was that there wasn't more of a queue waiting to do the dirty deedWhat was a bit of a headline maker was that Penrose was a crime writer and that he was strangled in the midst of Harrogate's crime writing festivalHe went for a swim at the Royal Baths and never returned, his body being found by the receptionist.  DCI Jim Oldroyd was the man tasked with investigating the crime.  It would not be the only death, and it was only because of the quick actions of his sergeant, Andy Carter, that Oldroyd's was not one of them.
 
+
}}
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
+
{{Frontpage
===[[Max Kowalski Didn't Mean It by Susie Day]]===
+
|author=Daniel Kraus
 
+
|title=Blood Sugar
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]
+
|rating=4
 
+
|genre=General Fiction
When Max’s dad finds himself in a spot of hot water, he disappears for a few days, leaving Max in charge of his three younger sisters, Thelma, Louise and RipleyMax has no problem with stepping up to fill his dad’s shoes and be the man in charge, but when his dad still doesn’t come home, he starts to panic that interfering grown ups will realise that the children are home-alone, and that they will step in and separate the familySo Max takes his sisters to Wales, to hide out in a friend’s cottage.  It won’t be for long, surely?  Because his dad wouldn’t miss Christmas, would he?  [[Max Kowalski Didn't Mean It by Susie Day|Full Review]]
+
|summary=This is a difficult read. And not because of the dark subject matter – that'll come later – but because of the way in which it's told. This might put a lot of readers off, and to be honest it'd be hard to blame them. Kraus tells the story in a distinctive voice unlike any other I've read; an erratic dialect with heavy and frequent slang. The immediate effect is disorientating and distracting, and it takes some time to feel natural. It's a struggle to acclimatise to Jody's voice, to get acquainted with his mannerisms, but the story wouldn't be the same without it, and somehow it works. It shouldn't, but it does.
 
+
|isbn=1789091934
<!--Merritt Graves -->
+
}}
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1949272028.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1949272028/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[Sunlight 24 by Merritt Graves]]===
 
 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
 
 
If the game wasn’t fair before, it’s definitely not fair now. Or so thinks Dorian Waters, part of the ever-expanding portion of humanity who can’t afford the nano-implant and genetic augmentation regimen known as Revision. And because he can’t afford Revision, he can’t get into college, he can’t get a job. And when he sees the brilliant and mesmerizing Lena for the first time, he knows he doesn’t have a chance with her, either. And so, Dorian robs a house with his best friend, Ethan. Then they do it again. They’re able to keep at it until they have enough money saved up for their first Revision. Their initial choices in self-enhancement start impacting their future choices, which in turn impact their future Revision––on and on in a downward spiral of self-destruction... [[Sunlight 24 by Merritt Graves|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Stephen Booth -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:075157628X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/075157628X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
 
 
===[[Drowned Lives by Stephen Booth]]===
 
 
 
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
 
 
 
When council officer Chris Buckley is approached by an old man who wants his help in healing a decades' old family rift he's reluctant to get involved, but then Chris is reluctant to get involved in anything but a pint in the pub these days.  It could just be the way that he is, or the fact that he's just lost both his parents within three months of each other.  He's currently existing in the family home and wondering when he's going to be made redundant from his job with the council.  The short answer to that one is 'soon'.  Chris does his best to deter the old man, but it's not before he's left a lot of papers with his neighbour.  Then the old man is murdered and the police come calling on Chris. [[Drowned Lives by Stephen Booth|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Kalpesh Ashar -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1949395324.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1949395324/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted To Know: 4th Edition by Kalpesh Ashar]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Business and Finance|Business and Finance]]
 
 
 
''Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted to Know ''gives people without an accounting background, who have risen in a company, the knowledge to understand the accounts which show how the company is doing.  The book begins by looking at why financial accounting systems are necessary, then moves on to give an excellent overview of the types of accounting systems which will be encountered and the terms used.  We then look in detail at the balance sheet, the income statement and the statement of cash flows.  If you understand these three sections on a set of accounts they will tell you a story.  You will understand the company (or indeed any other business) but if you don't understand what's there you will be missing vital clues as to whether or not the company is thriving. [[Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted To Know: 4th Edition by Kalpesh Ashar|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Tamaki and Pugh -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1401283292.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1401283292/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh]]===
 
 
 
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:Graphic Novels|Graphic Novels]]
 
 
 
Harleen Quinzel is new in town.  She always, to me, seems new in town, even if she's been around a long time, for she always has a very fresh attitude, and seems to look out of those large eyes at everything anew each time.  But here she is new in town, and the town is Gotham City.  Expecting a year-long furlough from life with her mother, she finds her gran dead and herself with no option but to stay with a bunch of drag queens.  She also finds school is a drag, she also finds the whole neighbourhood is being redeveloped by a large and uncaring corporation – but she also finds two characters that will have a big impact on her life.  One is a civil-minded lass called Ivy, the other someone she only meets at night – a lad with a singular graffiti tag and a mind for violence and chaos, who calls himself The Joker… [[Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Tove Jansson -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:0954221710.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0954221710/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[The Summer Book by Tove Jansson]]===
 
 
 
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[Literary Fiction]]
 
 
 
Tove Jansson's short novel about Summer is several worlds away from the Moomintrolls she is most famous for outside her native Scandinavia. Book yourself an afternoon this Summer, and take yourself and The Summer Book somewhere quiet, preferably within sight and sound of the sea, settle back and prepare to be transported. [[The Summer Book by Tove Jansson|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Lynda La Plante -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1785768506.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785768506/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[The Dirty Dozen (Jane Tennison 5) by Lynda La Plante]]===
 
 
 
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
 
 
 
Jane Tennison had worked hard to get a place on the Flying Squad and she felt that she was there on merit.  The Squad wondered who she'd slept with to get the place and bets were being taken as to who she'd sleep with in the first week.  What none of them - Jane included - knew was that she was there as an experiment, in the hope that a female presence would have a calming effect.  The job had been advertised and Jane was the only female who applied who ticked all the boxes.  She doesn't tick all the boxes for the head of the Squad, DCI Murphy.  He wanted someone with at least ten years' experience, and the appropriate set of genitals - and he's determined that Jane will fail. [[The Dirty Dozen (Jane Tennison 5) by Lynda La Plante|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Coleman -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1785032461.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785032461/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman]]===
 
 
 
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]]
 
 
 
Trudy Heaton is going home, to a house where her roots burrow back through the centuries and to a mother she hasn't spoken to for sixteen years.  Home, her refuge, Ponden Hall, where she can heal herself and try to come to terms with the traumatic loss of her husband.  She needs to build bridges with her mother and convince her grieving son that his father is dead.  Where better than the house full of light and shadow, that nurtured her throughout her childhood? [[The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Shackle -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1473225213.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473225213/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[We Are The Dead by Mike Shackle]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]]
 
 
 
Mike Shackle has written a really interesting and unusual story in ''We Are The Dead''; the tag line for the novel is 'No More Heroes' and that is what makes this story so different. There are villains galore but no specific heroes; rather the story is scattered with characters doing their own small part to survive, to fight back, and to find vengeance, in a world that has been utterly torn apart. The plot does not hang on any one character, no one is important, anyone can die and many do, but, like ants working together, each small character achieves their own part of a much larger plot that is rich and complex and keeps the reader glued to the story. [[We Are The Dead by Mike Shackle|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Vibrant Publishers -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1946383627.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1946383627/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[Cost Accounting & Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know by Vibrant Publishers]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Business and Finance|Business and Finance]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]]
 
 
 
I'm capable of drawing up a profit and loss account (income statement in the USA) and a balance sheet and I do so for my own business and for another organisation.  The accounts give me ''broadly'' what I need: I know whether we're making a profit or a loss and I can look at the expenses and see what looks as though it could be trimmed back in future years.  My problem was that the accounts didn't really give me any help in making decisions, which was why I turned to ''Cost Accounting and Management'', part of Vibrant Publishers' Self-Learning and Management series.  Cost accounting provides the information required by authorities external to the company ''and'' to those within it who need to make decisions, so don't worry that you're going to have to draw up two sets of accounts! [[Cost Accounting & Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know by Vibrant Publishers|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Steve Burrows -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1786075776.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786075776/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[A Dance of Cranes by Steve Burrows]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]
 
 
 
DCI Domenic Jejeune is no longer with Lindy Hey, the estrangement being of his making, not hers.  He hasn't explained to her that he is doing this - and leaving for his native Canada - because he thinks that this will keep her safe from his nemesis, Ray Hayes.  Lauren Salter has been promoted to sergeant and now has her first murder case.  It looks as though there's an obvious suspect, but Salter isn't so certain.  Sgt Danny Maik is (unofficially) keeping an eye on Lindy Hey, whilst Jejeune embarks on a treacherous journey to rescue his brother, Damian, who has gone missing in one of Canada's largest national parks. [[A Dance of Cranes by Steve Burrows|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Oates -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1785656775.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785656775/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[The Triumph of the Spider Monkey by Joyce Carol Oates]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
 
 
 
Bobby is an angry, damaged man - damage that came from being abandoned as a baby in a bus station locker, and then being thrown from one foster home or detention centre to another, never far from violence or abuse. Eager to succeed as a musician, he arrives in Hollywood to find his dream - but it soon becomes clear that his paranoid delusions and seething rage will enable a capacity for acts of extreme violence. Unpublished for 40 years, this edition of ''The Triumph of the Spider Monkey'' comes combined with a connected novella – ''Love, Careless Love''. [[The Triumph of the Spider Monkey by Joyce Carol Oates|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Pike -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:0192771604.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0192771604/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]
 
 
 
Rayne lives in the small, hidden village of Penderin where she is a somewhat unwilling apprentice to her mother, the spell breather. Not everyone can spell breathe, you have to born with a magic spark and Rayne wishes she hadn't been born with one. She's a terrible spell breather, her attempts are always followed by disaster and she positively hates Mam's spell book with it's sharp teeth that suck your blood. When a stranger finds their village one day, Mam must set off on a journey to the great library, leaving Rayne in the village as their chief spell breather, but an unfortunate mistake sees Rayne breaking her mother's book and turning everyone in to monsters. She must face her fear travel across the monster-ridden country to find Mam and restore the book to save their village. [[The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Carlie Sorosiak -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:178800387X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178800387X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]
 
 
 
Cosmo's family is in crisis. Mom and Dad argue all the time. Emmaline doesn't quite understand it because she's too little but she feels it. And Max, who is bigger, does understand it and is terrified by it. Long ago, when Max was just a baby, Cosmo made a promise to protect Max forever and so he sets about his mission of repairing the family with everything he's got...  [[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Fegan -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1925810097.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1925810097/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
 
 
===[[Don't Drink the Pink by B C R Fegan]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]]
 
 
Madeline is very fond of Grandfather Gilderberry. He's always busy in his workshop, creating crazy potions, and he always has a smile on his face. Madeline's dad thinks he's a bit bonkers and Madeline's mum thinks the same but gives him a pass because he's old. But Madeline? She thinks Grandfather Gilberberry is just great. Particularly on her birthday when he unfailingly arrives with a selection of potions and allows her to choose one as a gift. And he always says the same thing...  [[Don't Drink the Pink by B C R Fegan|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Averill -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1077651538.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1077651538/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21
 
]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
 
 
===[[The Years of Fading Magic by Kenelm Averill]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]]
 
 
 
''What if you could subtly change the lives of ordinary people around you?''
 
 
 
Jessica Turner was one of the more radical teens to come out of Eastfield. A youth spent hanging out with a close crowd of friends was characterised by Jessica's role as trendsetter, as influencer, as leader. Strangely charismatic, Jessica invited fascination and obsession. Nobody who met her, forgot her. Or the days they spent in the Enclosure, a clearing in Eastfield woods that Jessica felt gave her power. But the group went its separate ways, as adolescent groups do, and her influence faded...[[The Years of Fading Magic by Kenelm Averill|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Paula Daly -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1787632105.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787632105/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
===[[Clear My Name by Paula Daly]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]
 
 
 
Tess Gilroy works for Innocence UK, a charity investigating the cases of prisoners who can convince them that they've been wrongly convicted and they're just moving on to their next case.  She's somewhat surprised when Clive, the head of the charity, announces that she'll have someone shadowing her.  Avril's in her mid twenties and rather gauche as well as prone to putting her foot in it.  One of the reasons they're now going to look at the case of Carrie Kamara is that she's female and Innocence have never yet taken up the case of a woman: such impressions matter. [[Clear My Name by Paula Daly|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
 
|}
 

Revision as of 10:15, 17 November 2019

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, 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 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.

There are currently 16,084 reviews at TheBookbag.

Want to find out more about us?

Reviews of the Best New Books

Read new reviews by category.

Read the latest features.

1780724047.jpg

Review of

A Dictionary of Interesting and Important Dogs by Peter J Conradi

4star.jpg Pets

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. Full Review

1785769294.jpg

Review of

Man at the Window (Detective Cardilini) by Robert Jeffreys

4.5star.jpg Crime

It'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. Nowadays you might hope that something would be done about it fairly quickly but this was 1965 and child abuse was generally regarded as malicious mischief on the part of the child. The boy would be safe that night though - albeit in the most horrific fashion. When he reached Captain Edmund's bedroom he found the man dead on the floor, the top of his skull missing. The school's initial reaction was that this was a dreadful accident: there had been a cull of kangaroos in some nearby fields and it was obviously a stray bullet which had killed the Captain. Full Review

1786695227.jpg

Review of

Invisible in a Bright Light by Sally Gardner

4.5star.jpg Confident Readers

The beginning of this excellent story will leave the reader more than a little confused: who is the man in the green suit, what is the Reckoning, and why are rows of people in a cave? But stick with it – Ms Gardner is very cleverly letting us experience the same disorientation as our heroine. We watch in dismay as the strange man, who seems to have no eyes, does his best to persuade her to answer his questions. But for some reason Celeste, despite her bewilderment, remains wary and gives nothing away. Full Review

1912374854.jpg

Review of

Violet by S J I Holliday

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

I've never been but understand that travelling is all about meeting new people and forming instantaneous bonds with people in often chance situations. Well that's exactly what happens when the two main/only characters meet in a travel agency in Beijing - Carrie is unsuccessfully trying to get a refund on an extra ticket for the Trans-Siberian train and Violet is trying to unsuccessfully buy a ticket for the same sold-out journey. As the two team up, travelling through Mongolia, Serbia and into Russia, it could've been the start of a beautiful friendship but this a thriller after all so it quickly becomes a tale of obsession, manipulation and toxic friendships. Full Review

1912374838.jpg

Review of

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

4star.jpg General Fiction

Nothing Important Happened Today is a dark, twisted, difficult read. Stories about cults often are, but this is different; it's written with a sense of style that is quite unlike anything I've read before. I can't remember ever having read a novel with such an odd, distinctive narrative voice. While a slim and relatively small book, the slow-moving nature of the plot makes it feel far larger than its 276 pages. Full Review

Williamabbey.jpg

Review of

The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North

3.5star.jpg Paranormal

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… Full Review

1643785036.jpg

Review of

The Wondrous Apothecary by Mary E Martin

4star.jpg General Fiction

Those who have known Alexander Wainwright, the landscape artist famous for his Turner prize winning The Hay Wagon, and Rinaldo, renowned conceptual artist would say that they're chalk and cheese, if not sworn enemies. If you've watched the relationship, as has our narrator, art dealer Jamie Helmsworth, you'd have said that they were magnets, drawing and repulsing each other in equal measure. Wainwright was at the socially acceptable end of the artistic continuum, but with Rinaldo it was all too obvious that there was but a fine dividing line between conceptual art and public nuisance. As time has worn on, he's frequently been brought to the attention of the police. On this latest occasion we see him charged with arson and theft of The Hay Wagon. Full Review

0349003459.jpg

Review of

Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi

4star.jpg Teens

Pablo, a college drop-out, is working at a New York bodega. He's massively in debt, he's avoiding his mother, and he finds his joy in creating unusual snacks with random ingredients! Whilst working one evening, he's surprised to discover that the girl he is chatting with as he serves is a super-famous pop star and, as unlikely as it may seem, they start a relationship. With one character who is trying very hard not to be seen or noticed by anyone, and the other who is seen and followed and hounded by everyone all over the world, it's an interesting clash as they come together. This isn't just a love story though, and actually it's really just Pab's story, about the journey he takes in his life via his meet-up with Leanna Smart. Full Review

1609809319.jpg

Review of

Long-Haired Cat-Boy Cub by Etgar Keret, Aviel Basil and Sondra Silverston (translator)

5star.jpg Confident Readers

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 cab 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. Well, it's no surprise that the orphan-for-an-afternoon sensation the lad feels doesn't make him happy, and so he thinks of a species name for himself, and curls himself up into an empty cage, as if he were a new exhibit. And it's then the drama begins… Full Review

1785785516.jpg

Review of

Fucking Good Manners by Simon Griffin

4star.jpg Lifestyle

Manners maketh man, they say. It certainly makes life easier if everybody abides by a set of conventions, some 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, they have nothing to do with class or financial status: they're about getting the basics right before we try to deal with more difficult matters. Of course we all have more relaxed manners when we're with family and friends, but it's best if we learn to distinguish between our public and private lives and to act appropriately. Fucking Good Manners aims to help us on the way. Full Review

0008324859.jpg

Review of

Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer

5star.jpg Confident Readers

Relax, everyone – our old friend Artemis may be off planet, but the baddies aren't getting away with skulduggery any time soon because they now have not one but two members of the Fowl family to contend with. Those cute little twins are now eleven (and, frankly, cute no longer) and in this, their first independent adventure, they meet a troll and without even trying manage to make two deadly enemies: a nobleman obsessed with immortality whatever the cost (to other people), and an unusual interrogator-nun. The boys are chased, kidnapped, arrested and even killed (though not for long), all with the help of one trainee fairy. Full Review

1472255798.jpg

Review of

The Bad Fire (Bob Skinner) by Quintin Jardine

4.5star.jpg Crime

Nine years ago local councillor Marcia Brown took her own life after being accused of shoplifting from a local supermarket. It's always been assumed that she couldn't live with the shame. People were surprised that she committed suicide just before the court case when she had been adamant that she would fight to clear her name. She said that she'd been set up because she was hot on the trail of corruption in the council. Her ex-husband has contacted Alex Skinner, Solicitor Advocate as well as retired Police Constable Bob Skinner's daughter, and asked that she look into clearing Brown's name: it's something which he feels that he has to do in memory of his son who was murdered recently. Full Review

B07X6GLQ3Q.jpg

Review of

See Them Run by Marion Todd

4star.jpg Crime

D I Clare Mackay is still relatively new to St Andrew's: she was previously at Maryhill Rd station in Glasgow. She's left quite a lot behind including a relationship that wasn't going anywhere after Tom failed to support her when the chips were down. She also left a nasty situation, of her own making but not her fault, and St Andrew's is a fresh start. Not long into the job she's faced with a hit and run death and there's little doubt that it wasn't accidental - the card with the number five suggests murder. Andy Robb was married to Sandra. You could say that they had an open marriage but there seemed to be a lot of the 'open' and very little of the 'marriage' left - on both sides, but would she want him dead? Full Review

1786540991.jpg

Review of

The Impossible Boy by Ben Brooks

4.5star.jpg Confident Readers

Oleg and Emma entered their den to find a cardboard spaceship standing where they usually sat. Slowly, the front door opened. Smoke billowed out. And out stepped a boy, dressed in a long coat with an even longer scarf, wound around his neck.


"My name's Sebastian Cole," the boy said, "But you already know that."

And indeed they do. Ever since the summer, when their friend Sarah's mother had moved her away, Oleg and Emma have been unable to find a new friend to take her place. Full Review

1447281357.jpg

Review of

Salvation Lost by Peter F Hamilton

4star.jpg Science Fiction

In the twenty-third century, humanity is enjoying a comparative utopia. Yet life on Earth is about to change, forever. Feriton Kane's investigative team has discovered the worst threat ever to face mankind – and we've almost no time to fight back. The supposedly benign Olyix plan to harvest humanity, in order to carry us to their god at the end of the universe. And as their agents conclude schemes down on earth, vast warships converge above to gather this cargo. Some factions push for humanity to flee, to live in hiding amongst the stars – although only a chosen few would make it out in time. But others refuse to break before the storm. As disaster looms, animosities must be set aside to focus on just one goal: wiping this enemy from the face of creation. Even if it means preparing for a future this generation will never see. Full Review

1471186393.jpg

Review of

Photographer of the Lost by Caroline Scott

4.5star.jpg Historical Fiction

May 1921. Edie receives a photograph through the post. There is no letter or note with it. There is nothing written on the back of the photograph. It is a picture of her husband, Francis. Francis has been missing for four years. Technically, he has been "missing, believed killed" but that is not something that a young widow can believe. She hangs on the word 'missing', disbelieving the word killed. Full Review

1783784350.jpg

Review of

This Golden Fleece: A Journey Through Britain's Knitted History by Esther Rutter

5star.jpg History

It was December and Esther Rutter was stuck in her office job, writing to people she'd never met and preparing spreadsheets. The job frustrated her and even her knitting did not soothe her mind. January was going to be a time for making changes and she decided that she would travel the length and breadth of the British Isles with occasional forays abroad, discovering and telling the story of wool's history and how it had made and changed the landscape. She'd grown up on a sheep farm in Suffolk - a free range child on the farm - and learned to spin, knit and weave from her mother and her mother's friend. This was in her blood. Full Review

1401286208.jpg

Review of

Black Canary: Ignite by Meg Cabot and Cara McGee

3.5star.jpg Confident Readers

Meet Dinah Lance. Frustrated that her policeman father will not allow her to try and follow in his footsteps, and seemingly lumbered with being a cheerleader at school, she is desperate to find her voice. But it's actually more a case of her voice finding her, as when 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 a 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 will be into her past… Full Review

1789017977.jpg

Review of

Ronnie and Hilda's Romance: Towards a New Life after World War II by Wendy Williams

4star.jpg History

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 1863, but he was already many years older than Ethel and he might well have shaved a few years off his age. For a while the family was quite well-to-do but disaster struck in the 1929 Depression and five-year-old Ronnie had to adjust to a very different lifestyle. One thing he did inherit from his father was his need to be well-turned-out and this would stay with him throughout his life. He joined the army at eighteen in 1942. Full Review

1542015421.jpg

Review of

The Royal Baths Murder by J R Ellis

3.5star.jpg Crime

When Damian Penrose was murdered there was no shortage of suspects: he was a deeply unpleasant man. In fact the only surprising thing was that there wasn't more of a queue waiting to do the dirty deed. What was a bit of a headline maker was that Penrose was a crime writer and that he was strangled in the midst of Harrogate's crime writing festival. He went for a swim at the Royal Baths and never returned, his body being found by the receptionist. DCI Jim Oldroyd was the man tasked with investigating the crime. It would not be the only death, and it was only because of the quick actions of his sergeant, Andy Carter, that Oldroyd's was not one of them. Full Review

1789091934.jpg

Review of

Blood Sugar by Daniel Kraus

4star.jpg General Fiction

This is a difficult read. And not because of the dark subject matter – that'll come later – but because of the way in which it's told. This might put a lot of readers off, and to be honest it'd be hard to blame them. Kraus tells the story in a distinctive voice unlike any other I've read; an erratic dialect with heavy and frequent slang. The immediate effect is disorientating and distracting, and it takes some time to feel natural. It's a struggle to acclimatise to Jody's voice, to get acquainted with his mannerisms, but the story wouldn't be the same without it, and somehow it works. It shouldn't, but it does. Full Review