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'''Read [[:Category:New Reviews|new reviews by category]]. '''<br>
 
'''Read [[:Category:New Reviews|new reviews by category]]. '''<br>
 
'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- Remove -->
 
'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- Remove -->
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{{newreview <!-- remove 24/11 -->
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|title=Parenting through the Eyes of a Child: Memoirs of My Childhood
 +
|author=Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Autobiography
 +
|summary=Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza was brought up in Nigeria and came to Britain to study for her A levels when she was 18. Her parents used their savings to give her this opportunity and called it an investment in her future. Now a qualified pharmacist, married and with a child of her own, Tabitha looks back at her childhood and reflects on the way her mother and father raised her. And she gives their parenting top marks.
 +
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524682853</amazonuk>
 +
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Minette Walters
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|author=Fiona Mitchell
|title=The Last Hours
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|title=The Maid's Room
|rating=4.5
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|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=In June 1348 the Black Death came into the country through the port of Melcombe in Dorset. Ignorant of many rules of hygiene which we'd find basic nearly seven hundred years later, the disease rages through the country. On the estate of Develish, Lady Anne Develish took control of the future of the people who lived in the demesne after her husband had ridden off to try and secure a marriage for his daughter. Two hundred bonded serfs lived on the estate and when Lady Anne realised the virulence of the plague she ordered that the estate refuse entry to anyone, including her husband and his entourage, for fear that they would bring the disease to her people.
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|summary=In some apartments in Singapore you'll find a bomb shelter - airless and without a window.  It will probably house the washing machine and the other domestic paraphernalia that's got nowhere else to go. There'll be a mattress on the floor of this stifling room, with the heat increased by the tumble dryer.  This is the maid's room. It's possibly better than sleeping under the dining room table, but not by much.  Back in 2009 there were 201,000 female domestic workers in Singapore, many not earning any money for a year until they've repaid 'training' and other fees to the agency, many living in 'the maid's room'.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1760632139</amazonuk>
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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473659566</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Javier Cercas and Frank Wynne (translator)
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|author=Allan Hailstone
|title= The Impostor
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|title=Berlin in the Cold War: 1959 to 1966
|rating= 5
+
|rating=4
|genre= Literary Fiction
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|genre=History
|summary= Enric Marco is without doubt an extraordinary man. A veteran of the Spanish Civil War, honoured for his bravery on the battlefield. A political prisoner of two fascist regimes. A survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. A prominent figure in the clandestine resistance against Franco's tyranny. A tireless warrior for social justice and the defence of human rights. A national hero. But the most extraordinary thing about Enric Marco is this: that he is really none of these things. He is an impostor. And Javier Cercas sets out to tell his story – the true story of Spain's most notorious liar.
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|summary=''Berlin in the Cold War: 1959-1966'' contains almost 200 photographs taken by author / photographer Allan Hailstone in his visits to the city during this period. The images provide an insight into the changing nature of the divide between East and West Berlin and a glimpse into life in the city during the Cold War.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857056506</amazonuk>
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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445672901</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Susan Wood and Ross MacDonald
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|author= Asa Avdic
|title=American Gothic: The Life of Grant Wood
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|title= The Dying Game
|rating=4.5
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|rating= 4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre= Thrillers
|summary=Who won a national prize for a crayon drawing of three oak leaves before he was properly in his teens?  Who sought acclaim as an artist and came to Europe to study from the greats, only to reject all they had to offer?  Who instinctively knew a picture of his dentist (yes, his dentist) would be more appealing and say more to people than ''floating water lilies and frilly ballet dancers''?  The answer in all cases was Grant Wood, practically the most well-known painter in America at one time, and still the best, alongside Edward Hopper, at presenting his world minus any Modernist trappings.
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|summary=In a futuristic dystopian Sweden, ministry worker Anna is presented with an offer from the formidable chairman. Except the offer, is more of an order than a choice. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Anna accepts. She is taken to an isolated Island with other ''candidates'' for a job in the super-secret organisation. Anna's objective is simple, she is to ''die'' and then observe her fellows through hidden chambers of the house. Once the experiment is finished, she will report her findings back to the chairman. However, while this starts off smoothly at first, other contestants start disappearing and Anna is faced with the terror of knowing this is not just a game anymore.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1419725335</amazonuk>
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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786090201</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Stuart Hill and Sandra Lawrence
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|title=Scoop of the Year
|title=The Atlas of Monsters
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|author=Tom Claver
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre=Thrillers
|summary=There are monsters and mysterious characters, such as trolls, leprechauns, goblins and minotaurs. They're the stuff of far too many stories to remain mysterious, and every schoolchild should know all about them. There are monsters and mysterious characters, such as Gog and Magog, Scylla and Charybdis, and the bunyip. They are what you find if you take an interest in this kind of thing to the next level; even if you cannot place them all on a map you should have come across them. But there are monsters and mysterious characters, such as the dobhar-chu, the llambigyn y dwr, and the girtablili. To gain any knowledge of them you really need a book that knows its stuff. A book like this one…
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|summary=Martin is an ambitious journalist working on the Financial Review. Martin is good at his job - accurate, dedicated, hardworking and with a good nose for a scoop. But Martin is also uninterested in the culture that comes with reporting. He has a wife and two daughters at home and he doesn't want to waste time and money in the pub, talking macho nonsense with the other hacks. He is a far cry from his colleague Tom de Lacy, a charismatic, silver-spooned charmer with piercing blue eyes. Tom doesn't just grab the limelight though - he also grabs the promotion to industrial correspondent. And that is the job Martin not only wanted, but needed.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783706961</amazonuk>
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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1788036220</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Stephen Fry
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|author= Maureen Orth
|title= Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece
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|title= Vulgar Favours: The Assassination of Gianni Versace
 
|rating= 5
 
|rating= 5
|genre= Reference
+
|genre= True Crime
|summary= The Greek Myths are, arguably, the greatest stories ever told. So old and influential they cast a shadow over western tales and traditions, yet remain relatable and readable millennia later. Here comedian, actor, television presenter, actor and author Stephen Fry brings his considerable talent to these special stories and recreates them with a wit, warmth and humanity that brings them into the modern age whilst still giving the honour and respect that such ancient and influential stories deserve.  
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|summary= What is it about true crime which makes it so fascinating to such a wide audience? I guess it's wanting to try to figure out what happened to make these people partake in the awful crimes they committed, or else the same inexplicable impulse people have to slow down when they overtake a car crash on the motorway. Whatever it is, Maureen Orth's book, Vulgar Favours, taps right on into it.  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718188721</amazonuk>
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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785943103</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Lisa Cutts
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|author= Charlotte Peacock
|title=Buried Secrets
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|title= Into The Mountain, A Life of Nan Shepherd
|rating=4.5
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|rating= 4.5
|genre=Crime
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|genre= Biography
|summary=You never know what goes on in a marriage: most people thought that Detective Inspector Milton Bowman had the ideal lifeHe had a beautiful wife and a house that had a mortgage which was smaller than most people's credit card bill.  On the other hand, there weren't that many people who had a good word to say about him and when he was involved in a serious road traffic accident which left him minus a leg and with only a few hours to live, people were more worried about the extra work than saddened.  When his wife's battered body was found in their kitchen, the idea that it was a murder/suicide seemed like the obvious answer.
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|summary= Mostly we choose what books to read, because there is so little time and so many books…  I can understand the approach, but I also think we sell ourselves short by it, and we sell the myriad lesser known authors short as wellSo while, like most other people I have my favourite genres, and favoured authors, and while, like most other people I read the reviews and follow up on what appeals, I also have a third string to my reading bow:  randomness.  It was in such a 'left-field' move that ''Into the Mountain'' was offered to me.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471153142</amazonuk>
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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1903385563</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Moira Young
+
|author= Alan Moorehead
|title= The Road to Ever After
+
|title= The Russian Revolution
|rating= 5
+
|rating= 4
|genre= Confident Readers
+
|genre= History
|summary= A grumpy old lady who can no longer drive requires a chauffeur, and we watch as she gradually softens towards him and they become friends. So far, so ''Driving Miss Daisy'', an apt comparison in a book which references several well-loved classic films. But the obvious similarity ends there. Davy, hired to take Miss Flint on her final road trip, is thirteen years old and has not the foggiest idea how to drive a car.  
+
|summary= First published in 1958, Moorhead's account is regarded as one of the most succinct accounts of its subject, and now reprinted to mark the centenary of the revolution.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1509832564</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445667320</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Benny Lindelauf, Ludwig Volbeda and Laura Watkinson (translator)
+
|author=Catherine Hewitt
|title=Tortot, the Cold Fish Who Lost His World and Found His Heart
+
|title=Renoir's Dancer: The Secret Life of Suzanne Valadon
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Teens
+
|genre=Biography
|summary=Meet Tortot.  He's a camp chef for an army, with a cold heart he sheds no tears, or at least as much as does a fish – and a brilliant way of gauging the warfare going on around himThe book even starts with him crossing the battlefield to start work for the enemy the night before they turn the tables on his previous employers and defeat them, leaving Tortot on the winning side once moreBut now he's not alone – for he has managed to also inherit an assistant, who lives in a barrel of the Emperors' favourite and most important gherkins…
+
|summary=Deep in the rural parts of France in the 1860s, you would never really expect to find someone who would come to embody a full artistic period and not just a movement at that, but a full generation of both creative and societal change.  And if you were to expect that someone, they would like as not be male.  But almost stumbling into the hedonistic culture of Montmartre came Marie-Clementine Valadon.  She started in the circus that first caught her teenaged eye, although her gymnastic career was short-livedBut what she did have from that was the poise to be an appealing model for some seriously important painters, and a natural beauty and figure to appeal to both them and their audiencesAnd what she also had, much to the surprise of many and the distaste of some, was artistic talent of her own…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782691545</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785782738</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Annabel Pitcher
+
|author= David Melling
|title=The Last Days of Archie Maxwell
+
|title= Merry Christmas, Hugless Douglas
|rating=4
+
|rating= 4.5
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
 
|summary=Archie Maxwell was shocked when his parents told him that they were getting divorced.  It wasn't that Dads leaving was that unusual: Leon's Dad had left and so had Mo's.  It was ''why'' he was leaving and Archie was embarrassed that his sister had suspected that their father was gay some time ago.  Both of his sisters are sad to see their father leave, but they don't seem to have any problem with the ''why'' and they tell their friends.  But Archie daren't tell the lads at school: the bullying is bad enough as it is.  And then there's the problem of Tia, whom he really fancies but he can't say anything about it.  What Tia really needs is a friend: it's just about the first anniversary of the day on which her brother committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train on the line which runs at the back of Archie's house.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178112728X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
 
|title= Otherworld
 
|rating= 5
 
|genre=Fantasy
 
|summary=imon would not have considered himself a hero. In fact, by all accounts, particularly that of his parents, Simon is an epic failure. He's large, he's hairy, he has a ridiculously oversized nose and he's been kicked out of boarding school and kept on a federal watch list. But Simon is sure something is up with his friend Kat. She won't speak to him. So he resorts to buying an incredibly expensive new virtual reality video game for them both - Otherworld. Otherworld engages your senses with graphics so good, you'll swear they are real, and it's here that Simon really wants to talk to Kat. But it isn't real, it's a game… until a turn of events lands Simon in Otherworld in an all together different way. This time, whatever harm his avatar suffers has real consequences. And if it dies? Simon would rather not think about that. If he wants to save Kat, he has to keep pressing on. Simon is the chosen one, this is not a game.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786073692</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Alison Ritchie and Marisa Morea
 
|title= The Twelve Dogs of Christmas
 
|rating= 4
 
 
|genre= For Sharing
 
|genre= For Sharing
|summary= Christmas is approaching and one little puppy is very excited about his first ever Christmas Day. Everywhere he looks the preparations are underway with every dog in town helping out. However will so many eager assistants joining in the fray help or hinder and will everything ever be ready in time?
+
|summary= Hugless Douglas is a large, comfy sort of bear who burst onto the picture book scene a few years ago as he searched for just the right sort of hug. His endearing, hopeful face and that chubby (to put it politely) body instantly melted young hearts, and to universal delight we have since been treated to several more of his adventures. Douglas is hugless no longer, you'll be glad to know, but the name stuck, mostly because it's such fun to say (go on, try it!) and because he still bumbles through life embracing everything in sight as if cuddles are about to go out of fashion.  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471166171</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444906844</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Dr Seuss
+
|author=Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
|title=What Was I Scared Of?
+
|title=A Treasury of Songs
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
+
|genre=Children's Rhymes and Verse
|summary=All Hallows' Eve is upon us once more and that can only mean that we are soon to be surrounded by all types of monsters, ghoulies and manifestationsFear not, as many of these unsettling creatures will actually be children dressed up on another adventure trick or treatingBut what about that pair of seemingly malevolent trousers that walk by themselves?  That is no child, but a pair of haunted kecks. Run, run, run, but perhaps if you have them a friendly hello these pants may be nicer than you think?
+
|summary=Some people have all the skills, not only is Julia Donaldson one of the most successful children's authors, she can also carry a tuneFor the past few years she has adapted many of her most popular stories into songs and plays them during open readings, or releases them as part of a song bookFor the first time ''A Treasury of Songs'' brings together several of her books in one omnibus and it also has a CD too of Donaldson singing the songs.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008252602</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1509846131</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Lorenzo Marone and Shaun Whiteside (Translator)
+
|author=Alexander McCall Smith
|title=The Temptation to Be Happy
+
|title=The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Cesare is 77, widowed, generally ignored by the offspring he likes and bothered too much by the one he doesn't.  Still, he finds ways to fill his daysIf he's not taking advantage of his friend-with-benefits arrangement with aging lady of the night Rossana, or keeping an eye on his grandson, he's making mischief in league with elderly neighbours like Signora Vitaliano (local mad cat woman) and Marino (the non-IT-literate computer guy).  Their minds are diverted from their usual pursuits when a young couple move into the apartment block providing Cesare with a concern and the conviction that he has to do something, whatever the fall out or personal danger.
+
|summary=If you've never read an Alexander McCall Smith novel, but have always thought you might like to try, one day then this might be the book to start with.  Rather than face the daunting task of leaping into one of his now very long-running series, this is a standalone novel, and it gives a good flavour of AMS's style, the way he can write to evoke a feeling of time and place, and the warm optimism underlying his words that is so very reassuring and comforting to readIt calls itself 'a wartime romance', which it is, and yet it is much more than that besides.  Focussing mainly on Val, a young woman working as a Land Girl, we see her falling in love with an American pilot, Mike Rogers.  Thanks to a sheepdog on Val's farm (the Peter Woodhouse from the title) their lives become entwined with that of a German soldier, and the book shows us a variety of friendships as they grow and develop over the years.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786072882</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846974097</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Chris Beckett
+
|author= Christopher Maslanka and Steve Tribe
|title= America City
+
|title=Sherlock: The Puzzle Book
 
|rating= 4
 
|rating= 4
|genre= Dystopian Fiction
+
|genre= Entertainment
|summary= ''America City'' tells the story of Holly, an ambitious Publicist who sets aside her own political beliefs in order to help the ambitious Senator Slaymaker with his Presidential campaign. Set in the 22nd century, the novel tells of an incredibly disunited United States, where the effects of climate change have created deep divisions between the affluent Northern States, and the South, which is frequently ravaged by extreme weather. Holly and Slaymaker hope to change this, working together on the plan they believe to be the solution to the problem of where to place the thousands of Americans who have been made homeless by devastating storms.
+
|summary=Who doesn't love a good puzzle, especially those really fiendish ones that get the brain working extra hard? There really is nothing to compare to that buzz we get from the ''Aha!'' moment, when everything falls into place and the solution reveals itself. If puzzles are your thing then you may wish to put your grey cells to the test with ''The Sherlock Puzzle Book,'' based on the popular TV series.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786491524</amazonuk>
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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785943030</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Jessica Townsend
+
|author= Hilary Lee-Corbin
|title=Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
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|title= Conkers and Grenades
|rating=4.5
+
|rating= 4
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|genre= Confident Readers
|summary=Morrigan Crow is a cursed child. Everyone in Jackalfax where she lives believes she is responsible for all the things that go wrong in their life. And, if that's not bad enough, the curse means she will die on her eleventh birthday. Morrigan believes there is no escape from her fate until a mysterious man appears and offers her a new life in the secret city of Nevermoor. There is only one problem – to stay in Nevermoor she needs to gain a coveted place in the Wunderous Society by competing against hundreds of other hopefuls to pass four seemingly impossible trials.
+
|summary=It's Bristol in 1916. Britain is halfway through the Great War and everyone is expected to put their shoulder to the wheel of the war effort. Mar and Appy might be boys, but they're no different. Both their fathers are away fighting and the two young boys are expected to help with household chores, look after younger siblings, earn a few extra pennies through casual jobs and concentrate on getting an education...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1510104119</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1788033515</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Lars Mytting and Paul Russell Grant (Translator)
+
|author= Krysten Ritter
|title=The Sixteen Trees of the Somme
+
|title= Bonfire
|rating=4.5
+
|rating= 4.5
|genre=General Fiction
+
|genre= General Fiction
|summary=While his grandfather lived the past was an area of certainty for Edvard. At aged 4 he'd been taken to live with his grandparents, having survived the accident that killed his parents. Now his grandfather has died revelations are coming to light showing Edvard his family history is different from what he'd believed… his mother's birthplace, his mother's name, the whereabouts of late Great-Uncle Einar… and that's without looking more deeply into the fatal accident itself. Edvard is determined to solve the puzzle, a determination that will take him away from his native Norway to an area of France synonymous with devastation and a remote Scottish island loaded with secrets.
+
|summary=It has been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence of her small town roots. Now working as an environmental lawyer in Chicago, she has a thriving career, a modern apartment, and her pick of meaningless one-night stands.But when a new case takes her back home to Barrens, Indiana, the life Abby painstakingly created begins to crack. Tasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, the town's most high-profile company and economic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens' biggest scandal from more than a decade ago involving the popular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends--just before Kaycee disappeared for good.Abby knows the key to solving any case lies in the weak spots, the unanswered questions. But as she tries desperately to find out what really happened to Kaycee, troubling memories begin to resurface and she begins to doubt her own observations. And when she unearths an even more disturbing secret--a ritual called ''The Game,'' it will threaten the reputations, and lives, of the community and risk exposing a darkness that may consume her.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857056069</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524759848</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Morag Hood
+
|author=Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet
|title=I Am Bat
+
|title=Supertato: Evil Pea Rules
|rating=5
+
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Bat is a creature with very definite opinionsHe does not like mornings, for example, but he does like cherriesIn fact, he really loves cherries, as they are his ''favourite of all things!'' What do you think might happen if somebody takes Bat's cherries? Bat won't be happy, will he?!
+
|summary=For all their heroics and lantern jaws, everyone knows that the good guy is never the best thing about a book or filmThat accolade goes to the bad guyThey are able to chew the scenery and give the type of larger than life performance a hero could only dream of. One of the best bad guys in children's fiction is not a guy at all, but a pea. An evil pea.  At last this pea is given his opportunity to shine, but where there is an Evil Pea, a Supertato cannot be far behind.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1509834613</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471144062</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Dr Seuss
+
|author= Stephen Aryan
|title=I Can Read With My Eyes Shut
+
|title= Mageborn (Age of Dread)
|rating=4.5
+
|rating= 4
|genre=Emerging Readers
+
|genre= Fantasy
|summary=''The more that you read,''<br>
+
|summary=''Magic will destroy us all''
''The more things you will know.''
 
''The more that you learn,''<br>
 
''The more places you'll go.''
 
  
This is a classic Dr Seuss quote from this book, and one that I painstakingly stickered onto the wall of my children's school library!  The book is very silly, as Dr Seuss always is, but is also a good rhyming ode to the joys of reading.
+
Ten years after the devastating battlemage war when mages used their immense power to tear each other apart and sundered the world itself, suspicion of those who wield magic is at an all-time high. With the recent resurrection of the Red Tower, an institution for students to learn to control and expand their magic, Seekers visit villages each month to test children for magical abilities. But for those children and their families it is not a gift, it is a cursed For Habreel, who will never forget the destruction during the war, the elimination of all magic will save countless lives and is the only solution to long lasting stability. He will stop at nothing to achieve his aim; he will deal with the devil, crush villages and kill anyone in his way.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008240019</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356508471</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Twigs Way
+
|author= Laura Wilson
|title=Tea Gardens (Britain's Heritage Series)
+
|title= The Other Woman
 +
|rating= 4
 +
|genre= Thrillers
 +
|summary= Based on the blurb on the back, Sophie might not be the most likable heroine. She's a quote-unquote perfect woman, with the house, the husband, the children and the dog. Careers may be a little unnecessary in this scenario (the husband is successful, but her own achievements seem linked to having bagged herself a catch), though there's a sort of part time hobby running her own shop, because, well, yes. So Sophie is the sort of woman, one imagines, who might rub other people up the wrong way, especially those who find their own lives lacking.
 +
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786485214</amazonuk>
 +
}}
 +
{{newreview
 +
|author=Adrian Mourby
 +
|title=Rooms with a View: The Secret Life of Great Hotels
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Lifestyle
+
|genre=Travel
|summary=Tea Gardens really began in London in the late 18th century: a trip to Kings Cross or St Pancras was effectively a trip to the country in those daysMen had their coffee houses, but they were not places where women could or would be seen. Tea was introduced to England in the 17th century but it was not until 1784 that the high duty was reduced from 119% to 12½% and tea became the drink of choice for the nationUntil then the working classes had been fuelled largely by cheap ginOnly, where would this beverage be drunk?  One answer was the pleasure gardens where the fashionable went to see and be seen: by the mid 1600s tea was also being served in places such as Ranelagh Gardens.
+
|summary=Adrian Mourby has given us a flying visit to each of fifty grand hotels, from fourteen regions of the world, with the hotels in each section being arranged chronologically rather than by region, which helps to give something of an overall pictureSo what makes a hotel 'grand'? The first hotel to call itself 'grand' was in covent Garden in 1774 and it ushered in the beginning of a period when a hotel would be a lifestyle choice rather than a refuge for those without friends and family conveniently nearbyThe hotels we visit all began life in different circumstances and each faced a different set of challengesWe begin in the Americas, move to the United Kingdom, circumnavigate Europe, briefly visit Russia and Turkey then northern Africa, India and Asia.  Australia, it seems, does not go for the grand.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445670011</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785782754</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Gladys Mitchell
+
|author=Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers
|title=Murder in the Snow: A Cotswold Christmas Mystery
+
|title=Luna Loves Library Day
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
+
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Adela Bradley decided to spend Christmas with her nephew Jonathan and his wife Deborah at their new home in the CotswoldsMrs Bradley is a well-known psychiatrist but she's also a respected detective renowned for her sharp powers of observation. She soon comes to hear the story of a local ghost, that of a country parson whose apparition can sometimes be seen slung over the gate leading to Groaning Spinney: the ghost will play a part in what is about to happen. Jonathan Bradley has effectively become the local squire with the acquisition of his property and Mrs Bradley quickly becomes acquainted with some of the locals as they visit to give festive wishes.
+
|summary=Luna is always excited when library day comes around, not just because she gets to take her books back and borrow some new ones, but also because it's the day she spends with her dad.  Once inside the library, magical things occur as the books Luna and her dad discover seemingly come to life.  They spend their time together sharing stories, some that are more significant than others, until it's time for Luna to go home.  Yet even once she's home, she still has her newly borrowed books to escape into, and the memories of her day with her dad.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784708321</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783445483</amazonuk>
 +
}}
 +
{{newreview <!-- remove 11/11 -->
 +
|title=Under The Light of a Full Moon
 +
|author=Donna McGrath
 +
|rating=3.5
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=
 +
When the bad dreams and the whispers at night first start, Clara has no idea what's going on. All she knows is that the lack of sleep is making her feel ill. But a visit from her Great Aunt Selina supplies some answers. Clara's family has a gift. One member of each generation has the ability to shape-shift into the form of any species of animal. But the gift comes with an ancient curse - bearers of it can only transform during the three days of the full moon each month.
 +
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00D9V7QOA</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Melita Thomas
+
|author=Stephen Norman
|title= The King's Pearl: Henry VIII and His Daughter Mary
+
|title=Trading Down
|rating= 5
+
|rating=4
|genre= Biography
+
|genre=Thrillers
|summary= As the eldest surviving child of a much-married father whose main aim was to secure the royal succession with sons, Mary Tudor's relationship with Henry VIII, who called her his 'pearl of the world', was inevitably an important and often fraught one.
+
|summary=Chris Peters was happy in his work for a multinational bank in Hong Kong and excited when he was promoted and sent back to London.  The job had it all: a hectic trading floor, targets which were impossible and some of the fastest computers in the world under his supervision.  He's happy at home too: he and Olivia met in Hong Kong: now they're married and thinking about starting a family.  But ... has he been promoted beyond his capabilities?  There are those in the bank who think so, particularly when things start to go badly wrong.  He was never there for Olivia either.  Life for Chris Peters was turning sour.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>144566125X</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B075QF8LJ8</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Lily Murray and Chris Wormell
+
|author= Jenny Colgan
|title=Dinosaurium (Welcome to the Museum)
+
|title= Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery
|rating=5
+
|rating= 4
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre= Women's Fiction
|summary=One of the selling points for entities like the ''Jurassic Park'' films is that they bring all the high-energy action of dinosaur life to the screen, in a way that is suitable, they would say, for children of all ages. But there is a very different way of going about things.  This book does feature dinosaur-on-dinosaur combat, but only in presenting the most scientific of fossil remains.  It delves into the evolutionary life of what we have long loved to enjoy and all the major scientific developments for the most inquisitive student, so the book is actually worth considering in a very different way.  I would say this is ideal for ''adults'' of all ages.
+
|summary= Polly, Huckle and Neil are back but in what, sadly for fans of the Little Beach series, seems to be the last of this trilogy. Never say never but by the end of this book, the author has certainly secured the destiny of these three much-loved characters. Don't be put off if you haven't read the previous ones, it really won't matter particularly as the author provides a helpful little synopsis at the start to help those, like me, that are new to these stories.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783707925</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>075156477X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Kes Gray and Jim Field
+
|author= Alice Hoffman
|title=Oi Cat!
+
|title= The Rules of Magic
|rating=4.5
+
|rating= 5
|genre=For Sharing
+
|genre= General Fiction
|summary=When did children's books become so Meta?  Back in the day each Thomas the Tank Engine adventure was separate from the other as if they lived in their own episodic wildness, but not today.  In this world of Nintendo Switches and online platforms the average adult is too scared to venture onto, we have metaphysical children books.  Books that reflect back on previous outings in the series.  If you are going to get the most out of ''Oi Cat!'', you best know about your ''Oi Frog!'' and ''Oi Dog!'' too.
+
|summary= I've read several of Alice Hoffman's novels, although strangely, not the one she's most famous for ''Practical Magic'', which went on to be made into a film.  ''The Rules of Magic'' is the long-awaited prequel to that book, and tells the story of three siblings of the Owens family; Franny, Jet and Vincent.  The two sisters, Franny and Jet, go on to become the two aunts in the ''Practical Magic'' story.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444932519</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471157679</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Cath Jones and Chris Jevons
+
|author= Philip Matyszak
|title=Bonkers about Beetroot
+
|title=24 Hours in Ancient Rome
|rating=5
+
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
+
|genre=History
|summary=Sunset Safari Park rarely has any visitors and is in danger of closing down. To tackle the problem Zebra calls a meeting of all the animals and challenges them to find a way to make the safari park more interesting. Penguin thinks there's no hope but Zebra has a totally bonkers idea – they'll grow a beetroot. They'll grow the biggest beetroot in the world! It should be easy because they have plenty of manure (animal poo) to help it grow. At first it looks like Zebra's plan is going to work. One beetroot grows so big that crowds of people come to see it. There is just one problem – the beetroot keeps growing. Soon there won't be any room for visitors. Luckily, Zebra has another idea: an equally bonkers but totally brilliant idea.
+
|summary= I've never been that interested in Ancient Rome. Blame my teachers, or our oh-so-dry visits to Roman villas with their earnest interpretation panels, or perhaps I just daydreamed through all the interesting bits… Somehow I entered adulthood with the impression that all Romans were bloodthirsty and hedonistic heathens with little to recommend them. ''Mea culpa'', you might say. So when my eye fell upon Philip Matyszak's ''24 Hours in Ancient Rome'', and its claim to introduce readers to the real Ancient Rome by examining the lives of ordinary people, I decided it was high time to update my education. And the lovely artwork on the front cover made this book all the more appealing.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848862814</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782438564</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Martin Cruz Smith
+
|author= Dallas Campbell
|title= The Girl from Venice
+
|title= Ad Astra: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet
|rating= 4.5
+
|rating= 5
|genre= Thrillers
+
|genre= Popular Science
|summary= The romantic in me was immediately drawn to this book. Venice in 1945 at the close of the war is enticement enough. Add a backdrop of partisans, Mussolini and the desperate fight of the losing SS and my interest is certainly piqued, but present the aforementioned along with the mystery of a young woman found floating in the Venice Lagoon in the dead of night and resistance is futile.
+
|summary= So… you want to leave the planet? Before you do you'd better study the whole history of human space flight to get up to speed. That could take a while… if only there was a handy guide that could condense it all down for you. Enter Dallas Campbell with this book: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184983816X</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471164055</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Nathan Connolly
+
|author= Sharon Bennett Connolly
|title=Know Your Place: Essays on the Working Class by the Working Class
+
|title= Heroines of the Medieval World
|rating=5
+
|rating= 5
|genre=Politics and Society
+
|genre= History
|summary=Simple summary: ''Know Your Place'' is an anthology of essays on the working class by the working class. There are twenty-three disparate pieces talking about everything you can imagine: day trips to the seaside, access to the arts, food poverty, pub culture, glass ceilings, housing estates, vulgarity-as-class-marker, and much more.  
+
|summary= Many women in medieval times left their mark on history, but as a rule they have been neglected by biographers and historians as there is too little surviving information for them to have even brief biographies to themselves. Ms Connolly has adopted an enterprising solution to the problem by writing a general account on a broadly thematic basis.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1911585363</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445662647</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Nina Stibbe
+
|author=Juno Dawson and Alex T Smith
|title=An Almost Perfect Christmas
+
|title= Grave Matter
|rating=4.5
+
|rating= 4.5
|genre=Humour
+
|genre= Dyslexia Friendly
|summary=Christmas – the time of traditional trauma.  You only have to think about the turkey for that – once upon a time it was leaving it sat on the downstairs loo to defrost overnight, and if that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Nowadays it's all having to make sure it's suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, and get too friendly with it to want to eat it. Christmas, though, is of course also a time of great boons. It's cash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, it was always a godsend for postmen with all the thank-you letters to aunties you saw twice a decade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as a child, and as for the makers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, did they even try and sell them any other time of the year?
+
|summary= Since Eliza died, since the night of the car crash that took her life, Sam is a broken soul. He is lost without the girl he loves, feeling as though a part of him died that night too. But he is desperate and he cannot live without Eliza. He remembers his estranged Aunt Marie and her peculiar healing powers and wonders if she might be able to help him. However, finding his Aunt Marie leads him to discover the Milk Man, which causes Sam in his grieving state to make a pact with forces he doesn't understand. Things soon turn complicated as supernatural powers start to change Sam's life in more ways than he bargained for.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241309824</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781126046</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author=Andy Mulligan
+
|author= Kurt Andersen
|title=Dog
+
|title= Fantasyland
|rating=4
+
|rating= 4
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|genre= History
|summary=What life can you find for yourself, when it seems to be marked out at the start that this – the only one you get – begins at such a lowly place?  That's the question the dog in ''Dog'' faces, especially when a snide spider tells him he is the runt of the litter, and instead of being bought has been selected by an adult only because he's free.  He wasn't even really chosen, and they had thought to get a cat. Oddly enough the mutt gets to be called Spider by Tom, the lad who gets to call him his, but he's fraught with self-doubt.  The spider tells him he's only going to cause harm – which he does.  But the neighbourhood cat declares that Spider has something of the feline in his mongrel mix, and tempts him across to her way of living.  Tom himself, meanwhile, is being nudged into thinking he's beginning at a lowly place – he ignores his absent mother, he has the privilege of a scholarship for him to get beaten up and bullied at school, and he can't see much future for himself, either. Can Spider work out his lot, and match his life with that of Tom, or will outside agencies get in the way?
+
|summary= Fantasyland covers the history of America from 1517 to 2017 in awesome detail. Covering five centuries of tempestuous history, Andersen paints the conjuring of America in vivid relief. Discussing everything from pilgrims to politicians, the exhilarating gold rush to alternative facts, seminal episodes are explored in forensic detail with razor sharp wit.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782691715</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785038656</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
{{newreview
|author= Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow
+
|author= Emily Suvada
|title= Personal Stereo
+
|title= This Mortal Coil
|rating= 5
+
|rating= 4
|genre=Lifestyle
+
|genre= Teens
|summary= These tiny 'Object Lessons', a range of books which are more like a long-form essay, explore often seemingly mundane items. ''Personal Stereo'' packs a lot of information into a small space. Split into three distinct sections: Novelty, Norm, and Nostalgia, 'Novelty' traces the origin of the Sony Walkman, from its conception by two Japanese business men to it becoming a recognised entity on the streets of America. 'Norm' follows on from the universal success of the personal stereo, relating this to the technology which it set the groundwork for, such as the ubiquitous proliferation of MP3s, the iPod, and Smartphones, leading to the eventual downfall in the popularity of the Walkman.  Finally, in 'Nostalgia', Tuhus-Dubrow examines our need to hark back to a simpler time, when the personal stereo seemed the height of freedom.  
+
|summary= A life threatening virus is spreading through the United States, an already broken country with a Government that many do not trust. The top scientists are frantically trying to produce a vaccine to save humanity, but it seems a hopeless race against time as the virus mutates into new and stronger strains at a frightening pace. Catarina has lived alone and in hiding for the past two years, since her brilliant father was rounded up by the State and taken by force to work in the national laboratories. His last message to her was to hide from the State and not to trust them an inch. Set in America, but not an America we would recognise, most of the citizens are incarcerated in underground bunkers, protected by air lock doors and bug free conditions. Others, less trusting of the State, remain in hiding on the surface, hoping the virus will not reach them and avoiding anyone who is infected.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1501322818</amazonuk>
+
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141379278</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
}}

Revision as of 15:52, 16 November 2017

The Bookbag

Hello from The Bookbag, a site featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - fiction, biography, crime, cookery and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library and the bookshop. Sometimes it holds the latest releases, but at other times there'll be old favourites, books for the children, books for the home. They're sometimes our own books or books from the local library. They're often books sent to us by publishers and we promise to tell you exactly what we think about them. You might not want to read through a full review, so we'll give you a quick review which summarises what we felt about the book and tells you whether or not we think you should buy or borrow it. There are also lots of author interviews, and all sorts of top tens - all of which you can find on our features page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the recommendations page.

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.

Parenting through the Eyes of a Child: Memoirs of My Childhood by Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza

4star.jpg Autobiography

Tabitha Ochekpe Omeiza was brought up in Nigeria and came to Britain to study for her A levels when she was 18. Her parents used their savings to give her this opportunity and called it an investment in her future. Now a qualified pharmacist, married and with a child of her own, Tabitha looks back at her childhood and reflects on the way her mother and father raised her. And she gives their parenting top marks. Full review...

The Maid's Room by Fiona Mitchell

5star.jpg General Fiction

In some apartments in Singapore you'll find a bomb shelter - airless and without a window. It will probably house the washing machine and the other domestic paraphernalia that's got nowhere else to go. There'll be a mattress on the floor of this stifling room, with the heat increased by the tumble dryer. This is the maid's room. It's possibly better than sleeping under the dining room table, but not by much. Back in 2009 there were 201,000 female domestic workers in Singapore, many not earning any money for a year until they've repaid 'training' and other fees to the agency, many living in 'the maid's room'. Full review...

Berlin in the Cold War: 1959 to 1966 by Allan Hailstone

4star.jpg History

Berlin in the Cold War: 1959-1966 contains almost 200 photographs taken by author / photographer Allan Hailstone in his visits to the city during this period. The images provide an insight into the changing nature of the divide between East and West Berlin and a glimpse into life in the city during the Cold War. Full review...

The Dying Game by Asa Avdic

4star.jpg Thrillers

In a futuristic dystopian Sweden, ministry worker Anna is presented with an offer from the formidable chairman. Except the offer, is more of an order than a choice. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Anna accepts. She is taken to an isolated Island with other candidates for a job in the super-secret organisation. Anna's objective is simple, she is to die and then observe her fellows through hidden chambers of the house. Once the experiment is finished, she will report her findings back to the chairman. However, while this starts off smoothly at first, other contestants start disappearing and Anna is faced with the terror of knowing this is not just a game anymore. Full review...

Scoop of the Year by Tom Claver

4star.jpg Thrillers

Martin is an ambitious journalist working on the Financial Review. Martin is good at his job - accurate, dedicated, hardworking and with a good nose for a scoop. But Martin is also uninterested in the culture that comes with reporting. He has a wife and two daughters at home and he doesn't want to waste time and money in the pub, talking macho nonsense with the other hacks. He is a far cry from his colleague Tom de Lacy, a charismatic, silver-spooned charmer with piercing blue eyes. Tom doesn't just grab the limelight though - he also grabs the promotion to industrial correspondent. And that is the job Martin not only wanted, but needed. Full review...

Vulgar Favours: The Assassination of Gianni Versace by Maureen Orth

5star.jpg True Crime

What is it about true crime which makes it so fascinating to such a wide audience? I guess it's wanting to try to figure out what happened to make these people partake in the awful crimes they committed, or else the same inexplicable impulse people have to slow down when they overtake a car crash on the motorway. Whatever it is, Maureen Orth's book, Vulgar Favours, taps right on into it. Full review...

Into The Mountain, A Life of Nan Shepherd by Charlotte Peacock

4.5star.jpg Biography

Mostly we choose what books to read, because there is so little time and so many books… I can understand the approach, but I also think we sell ourselves short by it, and we sell the myriad lesser known authors short as well. So while, like most other people I have my favourite genres, and favoured authors, and while, like most other people I read the reviews and follow up on what appeals, I also have a third string to my reading bow: randomness. It was in such a 'left-field' move that Into the Mountain was offered to me. Full review...

The Russian Revolution by Alan Moorehead

4star.jpg History

First published in 1958, Moorhead's account is regarded as one of the most succinct accounts of its subject, and now reprinted to mark the centenary of the revolution. Full review...

Renoir's Dancer: The Secret Life of Suzanne Valadon by Catherine Hewitt

4.5star.jpg Biography

Deep in the rural parts of France in the 1860s, you would never really expect to find someone who would come to embody a full artistic period – and not just a movement at that, but a full generation of both creative and societal change. And if you were to expect that someone, they would like as not be male. But almost stumbling into the hedonistic culture of Montmartre came Marie-Clementine Valadon. She started in the circus that first caught her teenaged eye, although her gymnastic career was short-lived. But what she did have from that was the poise to be an appealing model for some seriously important painters, and a natural beauty and figure to appeal to both them and their audiences. And what she also had, much to the surprise of many and the distaste of some, was artistic talent of her own… Full review...

Merry Christmas, Hugless Douglas by David Melling

4.5star.jpg For Sharing

Hugless Douglas is a large, comfy sort of bear who burst onto the picture book scene a few years ago as he searched for just the right sort of hug. His endearing, hopeful face and that chubby (to put it politely) body instantly melted young hearts, and to universal delight we have since been treated to several more of his adventures. Douglas is hugless no longer, you'll be glad to know, but the name stuck, mostly because it's such fun to say (go on, try it!) and because he still bumbles through life embracing everything in sight as if cuddles are about to go out of fashion. Full review...

A Treasury of Songs by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

4star.jpg Children's Rhymes and Verse

Some people have all the skills, not only is Julia Donaldson one of the most successful children's authors, she can also carry a tune. For the past few years she has adapted many of her most popular stories into songs and plays them during open readings, or releases them as part of a song book. For the first time A Treasury of Songs brings together several of her books in one omnibus and it also has a CD too of Donaldson singing the songs. Full review...

The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse by Alexander McCall Smith

5star.jpg General Fiction

If you've never read an Alexander McCall Smith novel, but have always thought you might like to try, one day then this might be the book to start with. Rather than face the daunting task of leaping into one of his now very long-running series, this is a standalone novel, and it gives a good flavour of AMS's style, the way he can write to evoke a feeling of time and place, and the warm optimism underlying his words that is so very reassuring and comforting to read. It calls itself 'a wartime romance', which it is, and yet it is much more than that besides. Focussing mainly on Val, a young woman working as a Land Girl, we see her falling in love with an American pilot, Mike Rogers. Thanks to a sheepdog on Val's farm (the Peter Woodhouse from the title) their lives become entwined with that of a German soldier, and the book shows us a variety of friendships as they grow and develop over the years. Full review...

Sherlock: The Puzzle Book by Christopher Maslanka and Steve Tribe

4star.jpg Entertainment

Who doesn't love a good puzzle, especially those really fiendish ones that get the brain working extra hard? There really is nothing to compare to that buzz we get from the Aha! moment, when everything falls into place and the solution reveals itself. If puzzles are your thing then you may wish to put your grey cells to the test with The Sherlock Puzzle Book, based on the popular TV series. Full review...

Conkers and Grenades by Hilary Lee-Corbin

4star.jpg Confident Readers

It's Bristol in 1916. Britain is halfway through the Great War and everyone is expected to put their shoulder to the wheel of the war effort. Mar and Appy might be boys, but they're no different. Both their fathers are away fighting and the two young boys are expected to help with household chores, look after younger siblings, earn a few extra pennies through casual jobs and concentrate on getting an education... Full review...

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

4.5star.jpg General Fiction

It has been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence of her small town roots. Now working as an environmental lawyer in Chicago, she has a thriving career, a modern apartment, and her pick of meaningless one-night stands.But when a new case takes her back home to Barrens, Indiana, the life Abby painstakingly created begins to crack. Tasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, the town's most high-profile company and economic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens' biggest scandal from more than a decade ago involving the popular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends--just before Kaycee disappeared for good.Abby knows the key to solving any case lies in the weak spots, the unanswered questions. But as she tries desperately to find out what really happened to Kaycee, troubling memories begin to resurface and she begins to doubt her own observations. And when she unearths an even more disturbing secret--a ritual called The Game, it will threaten the reputations, and lives, of the community and risk exposing a darkness that may consume her. Full review...

Supertato: Evil Pea Rules by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet

4star.jpg For Sharing

For all their heroics and lantern jaws, everyone knows that the good guy is never the best thing about a book or film. That accolade goes to the bad guy. They are able to chew the scenery and give the type of larger than life performance a hero could only dream of. One of the best bad guys in children's fiction is not a guy at all, but a pea. An evil pea. At last this pea is given his opportunity to shine, but where there is an Evil Pea, a Supertato cannot be far behind. Full review...

Mageborn (Age of Dread) by Stephen Aryan

4star.jpg Fantasy

Magic will destroy us all

Ten years after the devastating battlemage war when mages used their immense power to tear each other apart and sundered the world itself, suspicion of those who wield magic is at an all-time high. With the recent resurrection of the Red Tower, an institution for students to learn to control and expand their magic, Seekers visit villages each month to test children for magical abilities. But for those children and their families it is not a gift, it is a cursed For Habreel, who will never forget the destruction during the war, the elimination of all magic will save countless lives and is the only solution to long lasting stability. He will stop at nothing to achieve his aim; he will deal with the devil, crush villages and kill anyone in his way. Full review...

The Other Woman by Laura Wilson

4star.jpg Thrillers

Based on the blurb on the back, Sophie might not be the most likable heroine. She's a quote-unquote perfect woman, with the house, the husband, the children and the dog. Careers may be a little unnecessary in this scenario (the husband is successful, but her own achievements seem linked to having bagged herself a catch), though there's a sort of part time hobby running her own shop, because, well, yes. So Sophie is the sort of woman, one imagines, who might rub other people up the wrong way, especially those who find their own lives lacking. Full review...

Rooms with a View: The Secret Life of Great Hotels by Adrian Mourby

4star.jpg Travel

Adrian Mourby has given us a flying visit to each of fifty grand hotels, from fourteen regions of the world, with the hotels in each section being arranged chronologically rather than by region, which helps to give something of an overall picture. So what makes a hotel 'grand'? The first hotel to call itself 'grand' was in covent Garden in 1774 and it ushered in the beginning of a period when a hotel would be a lifestyle choice rather than a refuge for those without friends and family conveniently nearby. The hotels we visit all began life in different circumstances and each faced a different set of challenges. We begin in the Americas, move to the United Kingdom, circumnavigate Europe, briefly visit Russia and Turkey then northern Africa, India and Asia. Australia, it seems, does not go for the grand. Full review...

Luna Loves Library Day by Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers

4star.jpg For Sharing

Luna is always excited when library day comes around, not just because she gets to take her books back and borrow some new ones, but also because it's the day she spends with her dad. Once inside the library, magical things occur as the books Luna and her dad discover seemingly come to life. They spend their time together sharing stories, some that are more significant than others, until it's time for Luna to go home. Yet even once she's home, she still has her newly borrowed books to escape into, and the memories of her day with her dad. Full review...

Under The Light of a Full Moon by Donna McGrath

3.5star.jpg Confident Readers

When the bad dreams and the whispers at night first start, Clara has no idea what's going on. All she knows is that the lack of sleep is making her feel ill. But a visit from her Great Aunt Selina supplies some answers. Clara's family has a gift. One member of each generation has the ability to shape-shift into the form of any species of animal. But the gift comes with an ancient curse - bearers of it can only transform during the three days of the full moon each month. Full review...

Trading Down by Stephen Norman

4star.jpg Thrillers

Chris Peters was happy in his work for a multinational bank in Hong Kong and excited when he was promoted and sent back to London. The job had it all: a hectic trading floor, targets which were impossible and some of the fastest computers in the world under his supervision. He's happy at home too: he and Olivia met in Hong Kong: now they're married and thinking about starting a family. But ... has he been promoted beyond his capabilities? There are those in the bank who think so, particularly when things start to go badly wrong. He was never there for Olivia either. Life for Chris Peters was turning sour. Full review...

Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

4star.jpg Women's Fiction

Polly, Huckle and Neil are back but in what, sadly for fans of the Little Beach series, seems to be the last of this trilogy. Never say never but by the end of this book, the author has certainly secured the destiny of these three much-loved characters. Don't be put off if you haven't read the previous ones, it really won't matter particularly as the author provides a helpful little synopsis at the start to help those, like me, that are new to these stories. Full review...

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

5star.jpg General Fiction

I've read several of Alice Hoffman's novels, although strangely, not the one she's most famous for Practical Magic, which went on to be made into a film. The Rules of Magic is the long-awaited prequel to that book, and tells the story of three siblings of the Owens family; Franny, Jet and Vincent. The two sisters, Franny and Jet, go on to become the two aunts in the Practical Magic story. Full review...

24 Hours in Ancient Rome by Philip Matyszak

4.5star.jpg History

I've never been that interested in Ancient Rome. Blame my teachers, or our oh-so-dry visits to Roman villas with their earnest interpretation panels, or perhaps I just daydreamed through all the interesting bits… Somehow I entered adulthood with the impression that all Romans were bloodthirsty and hedonistic heathens with little to recommend them. Mea culpa, you might say. So when my eye fell upon Philip Matyszak's 24 Hours in Ancient Rome, and its claim to introduce readers to the real Ancient Rome by examining the lives of ordinary people, I decided it was high time to update my education. And the lovely artwork on the front cover made this book all the more appealing. Full review...

Ad Astra: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet by Dallas Campbell

5star.jpg Popular Science

So… you want to leave the planet? Before you do you'd better study the whole history of human space flight to get up to speed. That could take a while… if only there was a handy guide that could condense it all down for you. Enter Dallas Campbell with this book: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet. Full review...

Heroines of the Medieval World by Sharon Bennett Connolly

5star.jpg History

Many women in medieval times left their mark on history, but as a rule they have been neglected by biographers and historians as there is too little surviving information for them to have even brief biographies to themselves. Ms Connolly has adopted an enterprising solution to the problem by writing a general account on a broadly thematic basis. Full review...

Grave Matter by Juno Dawson and Alex T Smith

4.5star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

Since Eliza died, since the night of the car crash that took her life, Sam is a broken soul. He is lost without the girl he loves, feeling as though a part of him died that night too. But he is desperate and he cannot live without Eliza. He remembers his estranged Aunt Marie and her peculiar healing powers and wonders if she might be able to help him. However, finding his Aunt Marie leads him to discover the Milk Man, which causes Sam in his grieving state to make a pact with forces he doesn't understand. Things soon turn complicated as supernatural powers start to change Sam's life in more ways than he bargained for. Full review...

Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen

4star.jpg History

Fantasyland covers the history of America from 1517 to 2017 in awesome detail. Covering five centuries of tempestuous history, Andersen paints the conjuring of America in vivid relief. Discussing everything from pilgrims to politicians, the exhilarating gold rush to alternative facts, seminal episodes are explored in forensic detail with razor sharp wit. Full review...

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

4star.jpg Teens

A life threatening virus is spreading through the United States, an already broken country with a Government that many do not trust. The top scientists are frantically trying to produce a vaccine to save humanity, but it seems a hopeless race against time as the virus mutates into new and stronger strains at a frightening pace. Catarina has lived alone and in hiding for the past two years, since her brilliant father was rounded up by the State and taken by force to work in the national laboratories. His last message to her was to hide from the State and not to trust them an inch. Set in America, but not an America we would recognise, most of the citizens are incarcerated in underground bunkers, protected by air lock doors and bug free conditions. Others, less trusting of the State, remain in hiding on the surface, hoping the virus will not reach them and avoiding anyone who is infected. Full review...