Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"

From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to search
(28 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 14: Line 14:
  
 
{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
 
{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
 
+
<!-- Alderson -->
<!-- Lisa Regan -->
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:B07H2ML6LB.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07H2ML6LB/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1473681820.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473681820/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Her Final Confession (Detective Josie Quinn Book 4) by Lisa Regan]]===
+
===[[Friends Like These by Sarah Alderson]]===
  
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
+
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]
  
Detective Josie Quinn is no longer Chief of Police, but in many ways that's something of a relief, although it does mean that she doesn't quite have the autonomy that she had. It also means that the other detectives have a habit of calling her 'boss'. It's the autonomy bit that strikes home though when she has to watch a fellow officer being arrested for a cold-blooded murder, but what other conclusion can you come to when the officer goes missing, her vehicle and phone are off the radar and there's the body of a young man in her driveway?  Josie Quinn can't believe that Gretchen - the woman she brought onto the Denton police force - could be guilty of such a crime, but she and Noah Fraley are not going to have much time to prove that Gretchen is innocent, and Gretchen doesn't seem inclined to help them. [[Her Final Confession (Detective Josie Quinn Book 4) by Lisa Regan|Full Review]]
+
Life in London isn’t always glam, especially if you’re young and underpaid. For Lizzie it’s all a bit of a balancing act. She has a nice home but it technically belongs to her room-mate’s parents. She works in the entertainment industry, but her job itself is probably not one you’d covet. She doesn’t have much spare time, but that’s because she’s been working through some self-improvement. If they could only see her now. And, well, actually, they can, although there’s a lot less of her to see than there once was. But yes, she doesn’t really have much time for the past and the people from it. [[Friends Like These by Sarah Alderson|Full Review]]
  
<!-- Roy Lewis -->
+
<!-- Torquil MacLeod -->
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:B07K6L4QKQ.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07K6L4QKQ/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:0857161873.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0857161873/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[The Woods Murder by Roy Lewis]]===
+
===[[Malice in Malmo: (Inspector Anita Sundstrom) by Torquil MacLeod]]===
  
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
 
 
Jenny Carson was just nine years old when she was murdered whilst taking a shortcut through Kenton Woods.  Her father blamed lawyer Charles Lendon for her death - not that he thought he was physically responsible, but because Lendon had refused to allow the local children to use his driveway as a shortcut to school, forcing them to cut through the woods if they were late.  Lendon wasn't a popular man - he would say that lawyers never are - partly because of his attitudes, but his incessant womanising had made him a lot of enemies.  When Lendon was murdered a couple of months after Jenny's death, there was no shortage of suspects. [[The Woods Murder by Roy Lewis|Full Review]]
 
<!-- Betty Rowlands -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:B07GX7KGVR.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GX7KGVR/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
  
 +
It was embarrassing when a leading Malmo business man was kidnapped, particularly as the police didn't know anything about it until the man was discovered afterwards, tied to a park bench in a cemetery.  He was coy about how much ransom was paid, but it was sufficient that he'd felt the pain of the digital transfers.  That would have been bad enough, but a second businessman was snatched soon afterwards and the pressure on Inspector Anita Sundström and her colleagues was to find the businessman ''and'' to capture the kidnappers before they took anyone else.  Worse was to come though when an investigative journalist was found murdered in his flat.  Was one of his victims the murderer, or was it someone he was about to expose? [[Malice in Malmo: (Inspector Anita Sundstrom) by Torquil MacLeod|Full Review]]
  
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
+
<!-- Laura Solomon -->
===[[Murder at the Manor Hotel (Melissa Craig 4) by Betty Rowlands]]===
 
 
 
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
 
 
 
Melissa Craig should have been getting on with writing her latest mystery novel but she'd been sidetracked into working on the script for a pantomime.  It wasn't a traditional panto, but a spoof for the birthday party of a local millionaire, to be held on Halloween.  It's got all the hallmarks of a mystery ''and'' a pantomime and it looks as though cast and audience are all in for a good time with the rehearsals being held in a luxury hotel.  Well, they were until one member of the cast turns up dead in the cellar at the bottom of a steep flight of stairs.  What was he doing there and why is the hotel manager acting so strangely? [[Murder at the Manor Hotel (Melissa Craig 4) by Betty Rowlands|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Hamilton -->
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1447281322.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1447281322/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1512235857.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1512235857/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Salvation by Peter F Hamilton]]===
+
===[[Vera Magpie by Laura Solomon]]===
  
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]]
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
 
 
Apparently the term ''space opera'' was coined in 1941 as a pejorative.  It was borrowed not from the high-brow musical art form, but from the common or garden 'soap opera'.  It related to a particular kind of science fiction which the coiner (one Wilson Tucker) described as a ''hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn''.  It would be fifty years later before the term started to be re-appropriated to cover – if still the same themes of distant futures, military conflict, heroism and a simplistic set of values – more literary, more expansive works.  The term is now taken as compliment. [[Salvation by Peter F Hamilton|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Susan Fletcher -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:0349007640.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0349007640/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 
  
 +
''I have murdered three husbands.''
  
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
+
As an opening line that must take some beating, but Vera's telling us the truth.  The first two husbands, Gary and Harry were abusive, but Larry was a treasure, a keeper, and it's difficult to understand why Vera would have killed him, particularly when she was likely to get found out very quickly and now she's in prison with a mandatory life sentence.  Her only friend is Shirley, a lesbian, but Vera's not one to let herself be a victim.  She's not keen on having a sexual relationship with Shirley (she wouldn't risk the security of her life in prison for the sake of a fling), but she is keen on getting an education and she's studying for a degree in English Literature. [[Vera Magpie by Laura Solomon|Full Review]]
===[[House of Glass by Susan Fletcher]]===
 
  
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]]
+
<!-- Karin Fossum -->
 
 
Clara suffered from ''Osteogenesis imperfecta'': these days it would probably be called brittle bone disease and whilst there is still no cure, treatments have advanced.  At the beginning of the twentieth century it meant that Clara was confined to her home, living life through a window and the tales her mother, Charlotte, brought home.  Both became far too knowledgeable about bones and the sounds they made on breaking.  Charlotte would ''list bones like continents''.  Clara would only escape the house after her mother's death - of a tumour at the age of thirty nine - and in her wanderings discovered Kew Gardens.  Her growing knowledge of tropical plants led to the offer of a job stocking a newly-built glass house at Shadowbrook in Gloucestershire. [[House of Glass by Susan Fletcher|Full Review]]
 
 
 
<!-- Rachael Blok -->
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1788547993.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788547993/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1787300943.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787300943/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Under the Ice (DCI Jansen) by Rachael Blok]]===
+
===[[The Whisperer by Karin Fossum]]===
  
 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
  
It's eleven days to Christmas and the cathedral city of St Albans is looking particularly festive with a covering of snow, but this belies the atmosphere: the body of a young girl has been found frozen in the local lakeDCI Jansen's only lead comes from Jenny Brennan - but can you put any credence on statements made by the sleep-deprived mother of a four month old child, particularly one who claims to have seen visions?  Can you believe her statements that she's been sleep-walking in the middle of the night when she find evidence that the police have missed?  When another girl goes missing the tiny city is in melt-down and for Jenny it all seems close to home.  Far too close to home. [[Under the Ice (DCI Jansen) by Rachael Blok|Full Review]]
+
When we first meet Ragna we can't understand what's going on.  She's talking to Inspector Konrad Sejer and it's obvious that she's being held in custody because of a crime which she admits she's committedOnly, as we hear about Greta's life it seems that she's more sinned against than sinning.  After a botched operation on her vocal chords she can't speak above a whisper and to add insult to injury she's been left with a horrible scar across her throat.  She's done her best to make a go of her life though: she enjoys her work in a shop and has learned ways of coping with the difficulties of communicating with people. [[The Whisperer by Karin Fossum|Full Review]]
  
<!-- Weymouth -->
+
<!-- Rachel Abbott -->
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1911490036.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911490036/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1472254899.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472254899/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[The Light Between Worlds by Laura Weymouth]]===
+
===[[And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott]]===
  
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]
  
Five years ago Evelyn, Philippa and James Hapwell escaped to the safety of their air raid shelter as bombs fell all around the streets of London. In the terrifying darkness waiting for their parents to join them, Evelyn prayed to be anywhere else.  
+
We know there's something very strange going on as soon as we join the story: we begin by hearing how it's going to end and that someone must die.  But that's just a hint: for the time being we're with two police persons.  Stephanie's the sergeant and she has Jason, the probationer with her in the squad car, but Stephanie doesn't like where they're heading. The house is stunning, but the last time she was here it was because there was a dead body at the bottom of the stairs to the pool. This time there's been a 999 call with a woman screaming for help: the omens are not good and when they enter the house they find two tangled, blood-soaked bodies in the bed.  They both look dead, but one of them moves - it's Evie Clark and she confesses to killing her partner. [[And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott|Full Review]]
A plea that was answered by The Woodlands. One moment in grey London and the next surrounded by a rich green forest, the three children were transported from one world trapped in war, to another on the brink of its own. [[The Light Between Worlds by Laura Weymouth|Full Review]]
 
  
<!-- Durant -->
+
<!-- Mick Herron -->
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1406374628.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1406374628/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1473678307.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473678307/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Clownfish by Alan Durant]]===
+
===[[The Drop: A Slough House Novella by Mick Herron]]===
  
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]
  
When Dak's dad dies very suddenly, from a heart attack, Dak is left feeling lost and aloneHis mum is lost inside her own grief, struggling to take care of herself, let alone care for Dak, and so he escapes to the local aquarium - somewhere that both he and his dad had loved.  But then he discovers that actually, his dad has turned into a clownfish and is living at the local aquarium! What will Dak do when the aquarium's future is in question, and he may potentially lose his dad all over again? [[Clownfish by Alan Durant|Full Review]]
+
When you've done a job for any length of time, the memory, the instincts of it stay with you and they're impossible to forgetIt was the same with Solomon Dortmund, a retired spy: when he watches a woman making a drop he knows exactly what he's seeing and he passes this on John Batchelor, the man charged with looking after the retired spooks.  Bachelor has problems of his own: the closest he comes to a home is the back seat of his car and he's run out of people whose sofas he can commandeer for the night. The best he can do with Solomon's problem is to pass it on the someone else and hope that they'll deal with it/solve the problem/quietly forget about it. [[The Drop: A Slough House Novella by Mick Herron|Full Review]]
  
<!-- Carthew -->
+
<!-- Louise Penny -->
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1408868601.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408868601/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21
+
[[image:0751566616.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0751566616/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
]]
 
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[Kingdom of the Blind (Chief Inspector Gamache) by Louise Penny]]===
  
===[[Only the Ocean by Natasha Carthew ]]===
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
  
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  
+
It came as something of a surprise when Armand Gamache was named as liquidator in the estate of a woman he'd never met.  Another villager from Three Pines is also a liquidator, but the third is a stranger to them both.  The mystery deepens when the will is read: given that the deceased was a cleaner it seems unlikely that she would have had the millions which she bequests at her disposal. Then a body is found.  That's not Gamache's only problem though: one of his protégées, Amelia Choquet, has been expelled from the police academy for drug dealing, and the enquiry into the incident which led to his suspension as the head of the Sûreté in Quebec is dragging on and the outcome is looking increasingly ominous. [[Kingdom of the Blind (Chief Inspector Gamache) by Louise Penny|Full Review]]
  
Kel Crow lives with a heart defect that could kill her at any time. Her only hope is to escape the floodridden, waterlogged Cornish world she lives in, to leave her drug-running family far behind, and get to America with enough money for an operation. She has a plan: stowaway on a ship, kidnap a rich girl, exchange the girl for enough money for the journey to America and the surgery that will change her life.  [[Only the Ocean by Natasha Carthew |Full Review]]
+
<!-- Kate Atherley -->
<!-- Blake -->
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1509876499.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1509876499/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1632506386.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1632506386/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake]]===
+
===[[The Knitter's Dictionary: Knitting Know-How from A to Z by Kate Atherley]]===
  
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]]
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crafts|Crafts]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]]
  
''You cannot put on a costume and become something else. You are a queen of Fennbirn island.''
+
I've been knitting for well over sixty years, following patterns of varying complexity with success.  I've knit Aran sweaters, socks by the dozen and I'm currently knitting blankets for a charity to sell. There hasn't been an occasion when I've been stuck and people have often come to ''me'' for help when ''they've'' been stuck. Would a knitter's dictionary really be of any help to me?  I was surprised by just how much I got out of it. [[The Knitter's Dictionary: Knitting Know-How from A to Z by Kate Atherley|Full Review]]
 
Following on from [[Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake|Three Dark Crowns]] and its sequel [[One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake|One Dark Throne]], in ''Two Dark Reigns'' each of the Goddess' daughters have their own battles to fight. All her life, Katharine has dreamed of being the great Queen the island of Fennbirn deserves. Having won the crown though, she is facing trial after difficult trial and murmurs of dissent and revolution grow louder on the streets each and every day. And without evidence of her sisters' death does anyone but herself and the old queens buried under her skin, believe she is the one true Queen? [[Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake|Full Review]]
 
  
<!-- Picoult -->
+
<!-- Samesh Ramjattan -->
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1444788124.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444788124/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1789015200.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789015200/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult]]===
+
===[[Be Your Higher Self by Samesh Ramjattan]]===
  
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Spirituality and Religion|Spirituality and Religion]]
  
The Center is the last remaining abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi and is the source of great controversy when it comes to the Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice debate. It is at The Center where one man, George Goddard, takes it upon himself to get revenge for the loss of his grandchild, in the form of a mass-shooting. What arises is a novel that details the lives of the remaining hostages, as well as other characters central to the story. One of these characters is Hugh McElroy, a hostage negotiator called in to help deflate the situation, who soon discovers that his sister and daughter, Wren, happened to be at the clinic that day. [[A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult|Full Review]]
+
There are a lot of self-help books about: it's one of the most thriving sections of the average bookshop, but it's not always easy to find the book you need. Samesh Ramjattan has addressed this problem in ''Be Your Higher Self'', a book which allows us all to make sense of our place in the world, as most of us only glimpse our true potential and few people ever achieve it.  Even with hard work and dedication, obstacles present themselves and it's difficult to understand why or how they can be overcome. Ramjattan offers us a guide to the spirit world, the chakras, karma and reincarnation as well as information about the age of Aquarius and the ego. It's a slim book - just 128 pages - so can it provide us with the answers we seek? [[Be Your Higher Self by Samesh Ramjattan|Full Review]]
  
 +
<!-- Laura Solomon -->
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1784631345.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784631345/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:938689713X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/938689713X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Gentleman Jack (DI Yates 7) by Christina James]]===
+
===[[Black Light by Laura Solomon]]===
  
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
+
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
  
The investigation into the thefts of farm machinery has been going on for months and it's getting DI Tim Yates down: he can't see where to go nextIt's almost a relief when Jack Fovargue, agricultural entrepreneur and local celebrity is assaulted in the street, but no one can understand why Fovargue is so reluctant to help the police with their enquiries, or to press charges, particularly when a police officer was also assaulted.  Yates is then diverted into the investigation which followed the discovery of the headless body of a woman in a canal near Lincoln: it's an interesting case but the downside is that the senior investigating officer is DI Michael Robinson.  They're contemporaries but Robinson is bumptious and inclined to taking credit for other people's efforts. [[Gentleman Jack (DI Yates 7) by Christina James|Full Review]]
+
Jim is a university student and, as the saying goes, he hasn't got his troubles to seekHis father committed suicide when he was young and somehow he's never really managed to connect with his step-father.  His younger brother would be kindly described as having learning difficulties: if you were being honest you'd just say that he was very difficult, but Jim does his best with and for him.  Jim's in love with a woman, but she finds him repulsive and you can understand why: the looks, the attitude, the (lack of) conversational ability and the clothing all leave a lot to be desired.  Despite all that's he's not about to sit back and allow his life to drift: he's actually writing ''two'' novels and he reads excerpts from these to his friends in the pub. [[Black Light by Laura Solomon|Full Review]]
  
<!-- Adriaan Verheul -->
+
<!-- Chase -->
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:0692047697.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0692047697/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1789010098.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789010098/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[A Clean Death by Adriaan Verheul]]===
+
===[[Redemptor Domus by Gamelyn Chase]]===
  
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
  
Three very different men meet in the jungle, led there by fate. Davey sees conspiracies everywhere, Oliver seeks answers about the death of his father, and Captain Christmas leads a community of armed men, women and children, hidden far from justice in the forest. As the three men are brought together, the events could cause each to lose something of consequence: maybe illusion, maybe conviction, and maybe, just maybe, life itself… [[A Clean Death by Adriaan Verheul|Full Review]]
+
A young boy arrives at an exclusive faith school on the scenic North Wales coast, sent far from his family in the Far East. As the boy travels to the school, a family tragedy causes the boy to arrive at the school a vulnerable orphan, with an uncertain future. Plunged into a school full of danger and betrayal, the boy is seen as a trophy by friends and enemies alike. With them locked into their scheming and plotting, it comes to the boy to attempt to clean up the pit of filth that the school has become. [[Redemptor Domus by Gamelyn Chase|Full Review]]
  
<!-- Dhladhla -->
+
<!-- Sendker -->
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1720812675.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1720812675/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21
+
[[image:1846974658.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1846974658/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
]]
 
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[The Long Path To Wisdom by Jan-Philipp Sendker]]===
  
===[[Beyond Thought by Chris Dhladhla]]===
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]
  
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]]
+
On my travels around the world, I have a tendency to end up in any bookshop that is selling English-language books, and while I buy as many second-hand escapist tales as the next person, what I'm really looking for is the 'local' – the cookbook maybe, the maps definitely, but above all: the folk tales.  If I ever get to Burma, I won't need to hunt, I can read before I go. [[The Long Path To Wisdom by Jan-Philipp Sendker|Full Review]]
  
Have you ever felt trapped by your own thoughts? That your mind is so busy processing what's going on in the world around you that you just can't catch a moment and simply ''be''? Or that the outside world just won't stop pressing in upon an inner life that you'd like to be more peaceful? [[Beyond Thought by Chris Dhladhla|Full Review]]
+
<!-- Julia Jones -->
 
 
<!-- M J Lee -->
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:B07HYQ99YV.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HYQ99YV/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1899262393.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1899262393/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Where the Truth Lies (DI Ridpath) by M J Lee]]===
+
===[[Pebble (Strong Winds series) by Julia Jones]]===
  
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
+
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]
  
DI Thomas Ridpath - call him Ridpath as he doesn't think Tom or Thomas suits him - looked to have a promising future in CID until he was forced to take extended sick leave nine months ago.  He's back, but the word ''cancer'' leaves people doubting how well you really are, or are going to stayPerhaps it would be better if he quietly retired?  His wife, Polly, would like to see him in a desk jobRidpath would like to be back in front-line policing, but all that's available to him is a secondment for three months as Coroner's Officer.  If that's how it's got to be, then he'll do the best job he can. [[Where the Truth Lies (DI Ridpath) by M J Lee|Full Review]]
+
Liam isn't ''quite'' the youngest in a large family: he doesn't have the distinction of being the baby anymore and he doesn't have the ''heft'' of his older brothers and sistersHe's rather like one of the pebbles on a large shingle beach: part of the mass but easily overlooked as an individual.  So when he starts having problems with his sight no one really takes any noticeHe doesn't want to bother his mother as she's heavily involved in the Luminal Festival and when he asked his elder step-sister, Anna, if she'll take him for an eye test, she puts him off.  In fairness she's got important exams and Liam's convinced that it's just a case of getting spectacles, but Liam's eyes are changing in a rather strange way. [[Pebble (Strong Winds series) by Julia Jones|Full Review]]
  
<!-- Laura Solomon -->
+
<!-- Hall -->
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:9386897504.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/9386897504/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1785656880.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785656880/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[Tales of Love and Disability by Laura Solomon]]===
+
===[[So Many Doors by Oakley Hall]]===
  
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]]
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]]  
  
I've always believed that less-able writers produce longer books: it takes a great deal of skill and talent to write a short story which holds the reader and keeps them coming back for more. There are far too many collections of short stories which are all too easy to put down and forget after you've read a couple of pieces.  I've recently read a couple of novellas by Laura Solomon - [[Marsha's Deal by Laura Solomon|Marsha's Deal]] and [[Hell's Unveiling by Laura Solomon|Hell's Unveiling]] and enjoyed them, so I was intrigued to see what she could do with an even shorter form. [[Tales of Love and Disability by Laura Solomon|Full Review]]
+
Vassilia Caroline Baird, known to all as V, is dead. Jack sits in his cell refusing to talk to the lawyer tasked with his defence. Starting at the murderous finale, Hall skillfully weaves together the stories of his key players, in a tale of love spanning decades and states, marriages and tragedies. By the time the truth is revealed, V will be dead but who else will lose their life?  [[So Many Doors by Oakley Hall|Full Review]]
  
<!-- Frances Brody -->
+
<!-- Anderson -->
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:0349414327.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0349414327/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:1788037812.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037812/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[A Snapshot of Murder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries) by Frances Brody]]===
+
===[[The Fraternity of the Estranged: The Fight for Homosexual Rights in England, 1891-1908 by Brian Anderson]]===
 
 
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]]
 
  
Even detectives need a break and for Kate Shackleton, photography gives her the mental relaxation which she needs. When the local Photographic Society proposed an outing, Kate was keen to take the opportunity to visit Haworth and Stanbury, not least because the deeds of the Brontë Parsonage are being handed over so that it can become a museum and her parents will be there for the event.  What could be better than seeing her family, witnessing a momentous event and having the opportunity to take photographs of the setting for ''Wuthering Heights''?  Nothing could go wrong.  Or could it? [[A Snapshot of Murder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries) by Frances Brody|Full Review]]
+
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:History|History]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]], [[:Category:Biography|Biography]]
<!-- Harrold -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1408894319.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408894319/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21
 
]]
 
  
 +
Originally passed in 1885, the law that had made homosexual relations a crime remained in place for 82 years. But during this time, restrictions on same-sex relationships did not go unchallenged. Between 1891 and 1908, three books on the nature of homosexuality appeared. They were written by two homosexual men: Edward Carpenter and John Addington Symonds, as well as the heterosexual Havelock Ellis. Exploring the margins of society and studying homosexuality was common on the European Continent, but barely talked about in the UK, so the publications of these men were hugely significant – contributing to the scientific understanding of homosexuality, and beginning the struggle for recognition and equality, leading to the milestone legalisation of same-sex relationships in 1967.  [[The Fraternity of the Estranged: The Fight for Homosexual Rights in England, 1891-1908 by Brian Anderson|Full Review]]
  
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
+
<!-- Amy Patricia Meade -->
 
 
===[[The Afterwards by A F Harrold and Emily Gravett]]===
 
 
 
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]
 
 
 
''Tell them what The Afterwards is about, they said.''<br>
 
''Hopefully you know this, but...''<br>
 
''It's a book with friendship in it.''<br>
 
''It's a book with death in it.''<br>
 
''It's a book with betrayal in it.''<br>
 
''It's a book with love in it.''<br>
 
''It's a book with a cat in it.''<br>
 
''That's what I know.''<br>
 
''That's what I can tell you.''<br>
 
''That'll do me.''
 
 
 
To be honest, I'd be surprised if that wouldn't do you, too.[[The Afterwards by A F Harrold and Emily Gravett|Full Review]]
 
<!-- Vanston -->
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1911569740.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911569740/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21
+
[[image:0727888498.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0727888498/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
]]
 
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[Cookin' The Books (Tish Tarragon Mystery) by Amy Patricia Meade]]===
  
===[[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston]]===
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]]
 
 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]]
 
 
 
 
 
Something's gone horribly wrong. It's Christmas Eve and everything is very busy in Santa's grotto. The presents are all ready and waiting to be loaded onto the sleigh and the reindeer are itching to get going. But Santa? Santa is just not in the mood. He is tired of delivering the latest toys to children who only play with them for five minutes. He wishes people would remember what Christmas is really about - a time for families to come together for love and friendship and goodwill to one another. [[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston|Full Review]]
 
<!-- Keeley -->
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
[[image:1789017165.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789017165/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21
 
]]
 
 
 
 
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
 
 
===[[The Coming of the Spirits by Rob Keeley]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]  
 
  
 +
Tish Tarragon is working towards opening her literary cafe, Cookin' The Books, when the opportunity to cater for the Library fundraiser comes her way.  It's a bit of a poisoned chalice, in more ways than one, as the head of the library committee, Binnie Broderick is difficult.  In fact, when she's poisoned at the meal Tish has catered, there's no shortage of suspects.  It's not just that she feels herself to be superior (she's a Darlington, you see), but that she actively goes out of her way to make life difficult for anyone she encounters.  The town might be heaving a collective sigh of relief (except not in front of the sheriff, obviously) but Tish is worried that the fact that Binnie died face down in a meal she'd prepared might mean that people will not be all that keen to come to her cafe once it's opened. [[Cookin' The Books (Tish Tarragon Mystery) by Amy Patricia Meade|Full Review]]
  
In Victorian England, young Edward Fitzberranger is about to be infected with scarlet fever and die. Further back still in time, Sir Francis Fitzberranger is about to marry Tina, the love of his life. In the modern day, Henry and Luke are getting on with life. And in an alternate timeline, Ellie is working for a resistance movement and struggling under a Britain ruled by the Nazis...  [[The Coming of the Spirits by Rob Keeley|Full Review]]
+
<!-- Catriona McPherson -->
<!-- Wilson -->
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image: 1509885803.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/ 1509885803/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21
+
[[image:1473682355.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473682355/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
]]
 
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[A Step So Grave (Dandy Gilver) by Catriona McPherson]]===
  
===[[Snowglobe by Amy Wilson]]===
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]]
  
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  
+
Dandy Gilver and family had made the arduous journey to Wester Ross, but Dandy had mixed feelings even when they arrived.  They were there to meet the family of Mallory, her son Donald's fiancee.  It wasn't that Dandy thought Donald to be rather ''young'' at twenty three to be contemplating matrimony, but that Mallory was rather ''old'' for him at thirty.  There was also a niggling worry because Donald wasn't the sharpest pin in the cushion. All the doubts had faded into insignificance though when they arrived at Applecross: they might have come to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of Lady Lavinia, Mallory's mother, but it soon became obvious that Donald was smitten by the mother rather than the daughter.  Dandy and Hugh were considering whether or not they should try to put an end to the engagement when the news arrived that Lady Lavinia had been found dead. [[A Step So Grave (Dandy Gilver) by Catriona McPherson|Full Review]]
  
Jago doesn't like Clementine. He knows there is something different about her and he doesn't like it. And he never lets her forget it. Clementine knows she's different too, and that the difference is magic. And as much as she tries to ignore it, Clementine's magic is getting stronger. So when Jago's bullying gets too much, it's not really surprising that Clem loses control of it and gets herself suspended from school.  [[Snowglobe by Amy Wilson|Full Review]]
+
<!-- Suri -->
<!-- Haig -->
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:1786894327.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786894327 /ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
+
[[image:0356512002.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356512002/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
  
  
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri]]===
  
===[[The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig and Chris Mould]]===
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]]
  
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]]
+
Mehr is a girl trapped between two cultures. Her father comes from the ruling classes of the empire but her mother's people were outcasts, Amrithi nomads who worshipped the spirits of the sands. Caught one night performing these forbidden rites, Mehr is brought to the attention of the Emperor's most feared mystics, who force her into their service by way of an arranged marriage. [[Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri|Full Review]]
 
 
Poor old Truth Pixie. She's cursed! She can't speak unless it's to tell the truth. You might think this is a good thing because telling lies is bad, right? But sometimes the truth isn't nice and sometimes a white lie is okay and sometimes it's better to say nothing at all. You might not want to attract the attention of the school bully by calling him mean and nasty, for example, or you might not want to tell someone that you think their brand new haircut looks awful.   [[The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig and Chris Mould|Full Review]]
 
  
 
<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
 
<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
 
|}
 
|}

Revision as of 12:03, 10 December 2018

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.

1473681820.jpg


Friends Like These by Sarah Alderson

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Thrillers

Life in London isn’t always glam, especially if you’re young and underpaid. For Lizzie it’s all a bit of a balancing act. She has a nice home but it technically belongs to her room-mate’s parents. She works in the entertainment industry, but her job itself is probably not one you’d covet. She doesn’t have much spare time, but that’s because she’s been working through some self-improvement. If they could only see her now. And, well, actually, they can, although there’s a lot less of her to see than there once was. But yes, she doesn’t really have much time for the past and the people from it. Full Review

0857161873.jpg


Malice in Malmo: (Inspector Anita Sundstrom) by Torquil MacLeod

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime

It was embarrassing when a leading Malmo business man was kidnapped, particularly as the police didn't know anything about it until the man was discovered afterwards, tied to a park bench in a cemetery. He was coy about how much ransom was paid, but it was sufficient that he'd felt the pain of the digital transfers. That would have been bad enough, but a second businessman was snatched soon afterwards and the pressure on Inspector Anita Sundström and her colleagues was to find the businessman and to capture the kidnappers before they took anyone else. Worse was to come though when an investigative journalist was found murdered in his flat. Was one of his victims the murderer, or was it someone he was about to expose? Full Review

1512235857.jpg


Vera Magpie by Laura Solomon

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews General Fiction

I have murdered three husbands.

As an opening line that must take some beating, but Vera's telling us the truth. The first two husbands, Gary and Harry were abusive, but Larry was a treasure, a keeper, and it's difficult to understand why Vera would have killed him, particularly when she was likely to get found out very quickly and now she's in prison with a mandatory life sentence. Her only friend is Shirley, a lesbian, but Vera's not one to let herself be a victim. She's not keen on having a sexual relationship with Shirley (she wouldn't risk the security of her life in prison for the sake of a fling), but she is keen on getting an education and she's studying for a degree in English Literature. Full Review

1787300943.jpg


The Whisperer by Karin Fossum

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime

When we first meet Ragna we can't understand what's going on. She's talking to Inspector Konrad Sejer and it's obvious that she's being held in custody because of a crime which she admits she's committed. Only, as we hear about Greta's life it seems that she's more sinned against than sinning. After a botched operation on her vocal chords she can't speak above a whisper and to add insult to injury she's been left with a horrible scar across her throat. She's done her best to make a go of her life though: she enjoys her work in a shop and has learned ways of coping with the difficulties of communicating with people. Full Review

1472254899.jpg


And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime, Thrillers

We know there's something very strange going on as soon as we join the story: we begin by hearing how it's going to end and that someone must die. But that's just a hint: for the time being we're with two police persons. Stephanie's the sergeant and she has Jason, the probationer with her in the squad car, but Stephanie doesn't like where they're heading. The house is stunning, but the last time she was here it was because there was a dead body at the bottom of the stairs to the pool. This time there's been a 999 call with a woman screaming for help: the omens are not good and when they enter the house they find two tangled, blood-soaked bodies in the bed. They both look dead, but one of them moves - it's Evie Clark and she confesses to killing her partner. Full Review

1473678307.jpg


The Drop: A Slough House Novella by Mick Herron

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Thrillers

When you've done a job for any length of time, the memory, the instincts of it stay with you and they're impossible to forget. It was the same with Solomon Dortmund, a retired spy: when he watches a woman making a drop he knows exactly what he's seeing and he passes this on John Batchelor, the man charged with looking after the retired spooks. Bachelor has problems of his own: the closest he comes to a home is the back seat of his car and he's run out of people whose sofas he can commandeer for the night. The best he can do with Solomon's problem is to pass it on the someone else and hope that they'll deal with it/solve the problem/quietly forget about it. Full Review

0751566616.jpg


Kingdom of the Blind (Chief Inspector Gamache) by Louise Penny

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime

It came as something of a surprise when Armand Gamache was named as liquidator in the estate of a woman he'd never met. Another villager from Three Pines is also a liquidator, but the third is a stranger to them both. The mystery deepens when the will is read: given that the deceased was a cleaner it seems unlikely that she would have had the millions which she bequests at her disposal. Then a body is found. That's not Gamache's only problem though: one of his protégées, Amelia Choquet, has been expelled from the police academy for drug dealing, and the enquiry into the incident which led to his suspension as the head of the Sûreté in Quebec is dragging on and the outcome is looking increasingly ominous. Full Review

1632506386.jpg


The Knitter's Dictionary: Knitting Know-How from A to Z by Kate Atherley

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crafts, Reference

I've been knitting for well over sixty years, following patterns of varying complexity with success. I've knit Aran sweaters, socks by the dozen and I'm currently knitting blankets for a charity to sell. There hasn't been an occasion when I've been stuck and people have often come to me for help when they've been stuck. Would a knitter's dictionary really be of any help to me? I was surprised by just how much I got out of it. Full Review

1789015200.jpg


Be Your Higher Self by Samesh Ramjattan

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Spirituality and Religion

There are a lot of self-help books about: it's one of the most thriving sections of the average bookshop, but it's not always easy to find the book you need. Samesh Ramjattan has addressed this problem in Be Your Higher Self, a book which allows us all to make sense of our place in the world, as most of us only glimpse our true potential and few people ever achieve it. Even with hard work and dedication, obstacles present themselves and it's difficult to understand why or how they can be overcome. Ramjattan offers us a guide to the spirit world, the chakras, karma and reincarnation as well as information about the age of Aquarius and the ego. It's a slim book - just 128 pages - so can it provide us with the answers we seek? Full Review

938689713X.jpg


Black Light by Laura Solomon

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews General Fiction

Jim is a university student and, as the saying goes, he hasn't got his troubles to seek. His father committed suicide when he was young and somehow he's never really managed to connect with his step-father. His younger brother would be kindly described as having learning difficulties: if you were being honest you'd just say that he was very difficult, but Jim does his best with and for him. Jim's in love with a woman, but she finds him repulsive and you can understand why: the looks, the attitude, the (lack of) conversational ability and the clothing all leave a lot to be desired. Despite all that's he's not about to sit back and allow his life to drift: he's actually writing two novels and he reads excerpts from these to his friends in the pub. Full Review

1789010098.jpg


Redemptor Domus by Gamelyn Chase

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews General Fiction

A young boy arrives at an exclusive faith school on the scenic North Wales coast, sent far from his family in the Far East. As the boy travels to the school, a family tragedy causes the boy to arrive at the school a vulnerable orphan, with an uncertain future. Plunged into a school full of danger and betrayal, the boy is seen as a trophy by friends and enemies alike. With them locked into their scheming and plotting, it comes to the boy to attempt to clean up the pit of filth that the school has become. Full Review

1846974658.jpg


The Long Path To Wisdom by Jan-Philipp Sendker

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Short Stories, General Fiction

On my travels around the world, I have a tendency to end up in any bookshop that is selling English-language books, and while I buy as many second-hand escapist tales as the next person, what I'm really looking for is the 'local' – the cookbook maybe, the maps definitely, but above all: the folk tales. If I ever get to Burma, I won't need to hunt, I can read before I go. Full Review

1899262393.jpg


Pebble (Strong Winds series) by Julia Jones

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Teens, Confident Readers

Liam isn't quite the youngest in a large family: he doesn't have the distinction of being the baby anymore and he doesn't have the heft of his older brothers and sisters. He's rather like one of the pebbles on a large shingle beach: part of the mass but easily overlooked as an individual. So when he starts having problems with his sight no one really takes any notice. He doesn't want to bother his mother as she's heavily involved in the Luminal Festival and when he asked his elder step-sister, Anna, if she'll take him for an eye test, she puts him off. In fairness she's got important exams and Liam's convinced that it's just a case of getting spectacles, but Liam's eyes are changing in a rather strange way. Full Review

1785656880.jpg


So Many Doors by Oakley Hall

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime, Crime (Historical), Thrillers

Vassilia Caroline Baird, known to all as V, is dead. Jack sits in his cell refusing to talk to the lawyer tasked with his defence. Starting at the murderous finale, Hall skillfully weaves together the stories of his key players, in a tale of love spanning decades and states, marriages and tragedies. By the time the truth is revealed, V will be dead but who else will lose their life? Full Review

1788037812.jpg


The Fraternity of the Estranged: The Fight for Homosexual Rights in England, 1891-1908 by Brian Anderson

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews History, Reference, Biography

Originally passed in 1885, the law that had made homosexual relations a crime remained in place for 82 years. But during this time, restrictions on same-sex relationships did not go unchallenged. Between 1891 and 1908, three books on the nature of homosexuality appeared. They were written by two homosexual men: Edward Carpenter and John Addington Symonds, as well as the heterosexual Havelock Ellis. Exploring the margins of society and studying homosexuality was common on the European Continent, but barely talked about in the UK, so the publications of these men were hugely significant – contributing to the scientific understanding of homosexuality, and beginning the struggle for recognition and equality, leading to the milestone legalisation of same-sex relationships in 1967. Full Review

0727888498.jpg


Cookin' The Books (Tish Tarragon Mystery) by Amy Patricia Meade

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime

Tish Tarragon is working towards opening her literary cafe, Cookin' The Books, when the opportunity to cater for the Library fundraiser comes her way. It's a bit of a poisoned chalice, in more ways than one, as the head of the library committee, Binnie Broderick is difficult. In fact, when she's poisoned at the meal Tish has catered, there's no shortage of suspects. It's not just that she feels herself to be superior (she's a Darlington, you see), but that she actively goes out of her way to make life difficult for anyone she encounters. The town might be heaving a collective sigh of relief (except not in front of the sheriff, obviously) but Tish is worried that the fact that Binnie died face down in a meal she'd prepared might mean that people will not be all that keen to come to her cafe once it's opened. Full Review

1473682355.jpg


A Step So Grave (Dandy Gilver) by Catriona McPherson

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime (Historical)

Dandy Gilver and family had made the arduous journey to Wester Ross, but Dandy had mixed feelings even when they arrived. They were there to meet the family of Mallory, her son Donald's fiancee. It wasn't that Dandy thought Donald to be rather young at twenty three to be contemplating matrimony, but that Mallory was rather old for him at thirty. There was also a niggling worry because Donald wasn't the sharpest pin in the cushion. All the doubts had faded into insignificance though when they arrived at Applecross: they might have come to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of Lady Lavinia, Mallory's mother, but it soon became obvious that Donald was smitten by the mother rather than the daughter. Dandy and Hugh were considering whether or not they should try to put an end to the engagement when the news arrived that Lady Lavinia had been found dead. Full Review

0356512002.jpg


Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

Mehr is a girl trapped between two cultures. Her father comes from the ruling classes of the empire but her mother's people were outcasts, Amrithi nomads who worshipped the spirits of the sands. Caught one night performing these forbidden rites, Mehr is brought to the attention of the Emperor's most feared mystics, who force her into their service by way of an arranged marriage. Full Review