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<metadesc>Book review siteExpert, with books full book reviews from most walks of literary life; fiction, biographynon-fiction, crime, cookery and children's books & self-published books plus author interviews and & top tens.</metadesc><h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>Hello from The Bookbag, a site featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - [[:Category:Fiction|fiction]], [[:Category:Biography|biography]], [[:Category:Crime|crime]], [[:Category:Cookery|cookery]] and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library 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 [[:Category:Interviews|author interviews]], and all sorts of [[:Category:Lists|top tens]] - all of which you can find on our [[features]] page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the [[Book Recommendations|recommendations]] page.

Reviews by readers from all the many walks of literary life. With author interviews, features and top tens. You'll be sure to find something you'll want to read here. Dig in! Find us on [[File:facebook.gif|link=https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk|alt=Facebook]] [https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk '''Facebook'''], [[File:twitter.gif|link=http://twitter.com/TheBookbag|alt=Follow us on Twitter]] [http://twitter.com/TheBookbag '''Twitter'''], [[File:instagram_classic_logo.png|link=https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/|alt=Follow us on Instagram]] [https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/ '''Instagram'''] and [[File:LinkedIn.png|link=https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-bookbag-1b12a264/|alt=LinkedIn]] There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' [[:Category:Reviews|reviews ]] at TheBookbag.

==Reviews of the The Best New Books==

{'''Read [[Forthcoming Publications|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->reviews of books about to be published]].<!-- Cercas -->{{Frontpage|-author=Sylvie Cathrall| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|A Letter to the Luminous Deep[[image:0857058320.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0857058320/ref=nosim?tagrating=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Science Fiction|summary= There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them.|isbn=0356522776}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008517061|title=[[Lord Of All the Dead by Javier Cercas and Anne McLean (translator)]]==Death in a Lonely Place|author=Stig Abell|rating=4[[image:4star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:HistoryCrime|History]]summary= Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, [[:Category:Biography|Biography]] ''Lord Of All the Dead'' is has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a journey to uncover little uncertainty about the author's lost ancestor's future of his life with his vet girlfriend, Livia and death. Cercas is searching for the meaning behind her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise: does Jake give up his great uncle's death off-grid and relaxing life to move in with Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the Spanish Civil War. Manuel Mena, Cercas' great uncle, is future she wants for herself and her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in the present and putting the figure who looms large over future on the bookback burner. He died relatively young whilst fighting for Francisco Franco's forces. Cercas ruminates on why his uncle fought for this dictator}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1786482126|title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths|rating=4. The question at the centre of this book is whether it is possible for his great uncle to be a hero whilst having fought for the wrong side. [[Lord Of All the Dead by Javier Cercas and Anne McLean (translator)5|Full Review]]genre=Crime <!-|summary=Builders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - Pearson the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments ->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1401286399when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway. There was no skull.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson.uk/dp/1401286399/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago. Her condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=[[Super Sons: The PolarShield Project by Ridley Pearson and Ile Gonzalez]]===Neil Lancaster|rating=4.5[[image:4star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Graphic NovelsCrime|Graphic Novels]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] summary=It's unusual for anyone from the near future, and every coastal city – including Metropolis – is in need of a huge flood barrier, built on its coast by Wayne EnterprisesHardie family to approach the police. Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But the rising sea levels have put even those constructions under threat, forcing many people to relocate Davie Hardie is struggling in Americaprison and he's biggest exodus for decades. Superman is helping out, of course – first he was patching up prepared to tell the dams, but now he's mining police where the asteroid belt for body of a rare dust that's perfect missing person is buried and who was responsible for blocking the solar energy from making further polar ice melther death. Inland This person, in Wyndermerehe promises, the refugees from the coast are suffering bigotry is someone big and intolerance for being newcomers, but something else is much worse. A major bout of food poisoning is hitting it will be worth the citypolice doing what he wants. But it can't possibly have anything And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to do with what looks like sabotage serve the remainder of the flood barriers his sentence and the efforts to correct the climateget an early parole date. Not much to ask, can is it? Four young children begin The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to piece together clues do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that it can… [[Super Sons: The PolarShield Project by Ridley Pearson DS Max Craigie and Ile Gonzalez|Full Review]]anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}<!-- de Bois -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0008405026| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|author=Jane Casey[[image:1785903357.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785903357/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; textIt's sixteen years since nine-year-align: left;"| ===[[Confessions of old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and the investigation ground to a Recovering MP by Nick de Bois]]=== [[image:4starhalt. Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and Society|Politics and Society]]her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. I should warn you in advance: this may not What looked as though it was going to be the best time for me to review the memoir of an open-and-shut case is now a Tory MPcomplex double murder. Not only am I a left-of-centre - to put it mildly - voter and so probably have next to no points of political agreement with Nick de Bois, but I, along with everyone else, am currently subject to Kerrigan is convinced that the debacle of parliament, government and Brexit, a dog and pony show currently revealing explanation lies in hideous technicolour the absolute dearth of competent leadership among our political classes. And yes, opposition partiesRosalie's disappearance: I'm looking at you others (such as well. YouDerwent're just as uselesss boss, Una Burt) are less convinced.}}Sigh.{{Frontpage|isbn=0571379877Desperate cry into the void over. Sorry about that.|title=The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny SweetAt least Nick de Bois made me laugh! [[ Confessions of a Recovering MP by Nick de Bois |Full Review]]  <!-- Paige -->rating=3.5|-genre=Crime| stylesummary="width: 10%; verticalEdward Jevons is a working-align: top; textclass young man, obsessed with his upper-align: center;"|[[image:140128339Xclass friends, Robert and Stanza.jpg|link=http://www Robert's a theatre director.amazon.co He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him.uk/dp/140128339X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days -21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Meraand he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. Most men in Robert's position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he's not like most men: Tidebreaker by Danielle Paige and Stephen Byrne]]===Edward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.}}[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Graphic NovelsFrontpage|Graphic Novels]], [[:Category:Teensauthor=Jo Callaghan|Teens]], [[:Category:Confident Readerstitle=Leave No Trace|Confident Readers]]rating=4|genre=CrimeMeet Mera. She's the latest in |summary=When a line of young women intent man is found crucified on fighting against their intended destiny for one only they can see for themselves. Her father, the king top of Xebel, sees some cotton wool and a hunky man hill in an arranged marriage as Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her future – after allsidekick, Merathe AI detective Lock. It's mothertheir first live case together, the territory's warrior queen, is long deadhaving previously been very successful with several cold cases. Mera doesn't fancy the cosseting or the fella involved at all, and But when there is in fact trying to get Xebel out from under the cosh of Atlantean powera second body found crucified a few days later, for Xebel's royalty are merely puppets Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of Atlantean mastersunwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. So when she overhears her father request that her intended goes Will they be able to solve the world of us air-breathing humanscase in time, and kill the Atlantis heir, she rushes or will Kat find herself taken off to get the quest (case and the promised throne) all for herself. But of course, she has no idea what kind potentially, out of person she will meet, and how hard it will be to get the job done… [[Mera: Tidebreaker by Danielle Paige and Stephen Byrnea career?|Full Review]]isbn=139851120X}}<!-- Crosskey -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1399613073| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson[[image:1789550149|rating=4.jpg5|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789550149/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  Thrillers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Poster Boy by N J Crosskey]]=== [[image:5starOlivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dystopian Fiction|Dystopian Fiction]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] I first read 1984 in school, in Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the late seventies when 1984 still seemed like group and she becomes a long time in the futureGP. It came and went quickly enough. Some of us may have breathed When we first meet them they're at a sigh of relief that Orwelldrug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's nightmare had not (quite) come going to passend in tragedy. Others, I think, were out We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-five years later there already working on making sure will be an eerily similar event that all he got wrong was will impact the datethree friends. Crosskey hasnThis time, it't put a date on the nightmare. If she had, I suspect it would not be as far in the future s their teenage children who are 1984 was when I first read Orwellinvolved. If she had, I suspect it might hardly be in the future at all}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604|title=The Trading Game: A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson|rating=4. A lot of what happens in ''Poster Boy'5|genre=Autobiography|summary=If you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you' is already happeningre unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. Sadly. Frighteningly. In A hoodie and jeans replaces the blurbpin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, Christina Racher says "…but keep it far from anyone who might be tempted to turn its fiction into reality"poverty and injustice. My only response to that is: too late! [[Poster Boy by N J Crosskey|Full Review]] <!There was no posh public school on his CV -but he had been to the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright - Lucie Whitehouse extremely bright -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008268991and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy.jpg|link=http://www He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008268991/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"1035021803|title=The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|author=C L Miller|rating=3.5|genre=[[Critical Incidents by Lucie Whitehouse]]=Crime|summary== [[image:4It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] When you reach She's back now because of a certain stage in life the phrase 'going homerequest for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya's former mentor and Carole' when it refers to your childhood home s close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is best if it means a short dead and hopefully harmonious visitthe circumstances seem suspicious, to say the least. The woman who used to be DCI Robin Lyons, but Arthur was now just Robin Lyonsthe reason why Freya had not been back to the village: Arthur, she feels, went home with let her thirteen-year-old daughter after she was dismissed from the Metdown badly. She was going home to the room which she'd had Even though they were in business together as a child: antique hunters, she would have has not felt able to be near the bottom bunk and Elena - Lennie to those who knew her well - would have man or pursue the top bunkprofession she loved. The room was redolent of After the time split, she'd shared worked in a cafe, met and married James (on the rebound from the room with love of her brother Luke - life, who was murdered) and Freya and they weren't good memoriesJames have now divorced. [[Critical Incidents by Lucie Whitehouse|Full Review]] <!-- Martine -->}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover| styletitle="widthAll Tomorrow's Futures: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Fictions that Disrupt[[image:1529001579.jpg|linkauthor=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529001579/ref=nosim?tagBenjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Science Fiction|summary===[[A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine]]=== [[image:4''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] The problem with Martine's fiction debut is that she makes the two commonest errors in SF writing: she tries to be too clever and she wants her fictional languages to be complex and rich and errs on the side of making them unpronounceable by most readers. I can see why she does both, but it's a disappointment because they're the blocks against which the brilliance of the book stumbles. [[A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine|Full Review]] <!-- Lee -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0874869722.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0874869722/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[When Spring Comes to the DMZ by Uk-Bae Lee]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] There is a place on this earth that, at the time of writing, is resplendent with life. In the spring seals gambol in the river – not venturing too far, for fear of being slashed open on the razor wire the humans have put in place. In the autumn, salmon come upstream, looking doleful as well they might, for they will spawn and die, if they reach their birthing grounds. Mountain goats gambol prettily among the hills – if the landmines men left behind do not prevent them from doing so. This is a snapshot of life in the DMZ, the demilitarized zone between the two countries with Korea in their name, and it's the world's least welcome wildlife sanctuary. [[When Spring Comes to the DMZ by Uk-Bae Lee|Full Review]] <!-- O'Reilly -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:147367235X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/147367235X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[M for Mammy by Eleanor O'Reilly]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] The Augustts are, like all families, a bit complicated. A loving irish family, their love binds them together – but all express that in very different ways. However, when misfortune strikes the family they are forced to work together in order to understand each other again, as with a family as complicated as the Augustts it's not always what is spoken that makes the most sense. Things are shaken up further when Granny Mae-Anne moves in and takes charge. Full of stern words and common sense, she's a force of nature who must try her hardest to hold the family together. [[M for Mammy by Eleanor O'Reilly|Full Review]] <!-- James Wallman -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0753552655.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0753552655/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Time and How to Spend It: The 7 Rules for Richer, Happier Days by James Wallman]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Most things you can replace, but one of the things which you simply can't replace is time. Even though we know this, we fail to use what we have wisely. We have more leisure time, but that's not how it feels: a high value is put on how we spend our working hours, but there's a low value on leisure. Unfortunately we now know how to work and not how to ''live'': we need to ''learn'' how to spend our leisure time wisely and James Wallman has taken on the onerous task of teaching us how to do this. [[Time and How to Spend It: The 7 Rules for Richer, Happier Days by James Wallman|Full Review]] <!-- Jonnes -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1609809173.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1609809173/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Eiffel's Tower for Young People by Jill Jonnes]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Non-Fiction|Children's Non-Fiction]] Brash and elegant, sophisticated, controversial and vibrant, the 1889 World's Fair in Paris encompassed the best, the worst and the beautiful from many countries and cultures. The French Republic laid out model villages from all their colonies, put on art shows, dance performances, food festivals and concerts to stun the senses. And towering above it all, the most popular and the most hated monument to French accomplishment and daring – the Eiffel Tower. [[Eiffel's Tower for Young People by Jill Jonnes|Full Review]] <!-- Johnson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471178471.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471178471/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew by Milly Johnson]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] I liked this book. Whilst not necessarily a page-turner, this was a thoroughly enjoyable heart-warming read from the Queen of chick lit, Milly Johnson. [[The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew by Milly Johnson|Full Review]] <!-- Kate Tough -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:034914365X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/034914365X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Keep Walking Rhona Beech by Kate Tough]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Life has just hidden behind a corner and stuck a foot out as Rhona Beech came past. She and Mark had been together for nine years and it was beginning to feel ''settled''. Then Mark announced that he'd got a job in Canada and he was going whether Rhona wanted to come with him or not. The ''not'' bit of the sentence was the way it worked out and Rhona was left on her own. Well, she wasn't completely on her own: she had friends and family, but it's not the same as having that special someone in your life, that someone who makes you part of a couple. So Rhona had to start again, rejoining a world that bore little resemblance to the one she'd left nine years ago - and there's a lot of difference between being in the middle of your twenties and the middle of your thirties. [[Keep Walking Rhona Beech by Kate Tough|Full Review]] <!-- Kerry Watts -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786817926.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786817926/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Heartlands (D I Jessie Blake) by Kerry Watts]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] The story had begun some twenty years earlier when two boys raped and killed Sophie Nicholl. Jack Mackay was - on the face of it - from a decent family, but he was the ringleader. Daniel Simpson was a follower, but he still raped Sophie and he could have stopped what happened but didn't. Sophie's body was found in a shallow grave by an enthusiastic cocker spaniel a few days later and the boys were arrested, tried and sentenced to five years in a young offenders institution. There were those who thought that the sentence was too lenient, even for fifteen-year-old boys and Sophie's elder brother, Tom, was one of these. He wasn't going to let the matter rest. [[Heartlands (D I Jessie Blake) by Kerry Watts|Full Review]] <!-- Hitchcock -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1788004388.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788004388/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Boy Who Flew by Fleur Hitchcock]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]   Athan Wilde earns some money to supplement his family's meagre income by working for Mr Chen who is both mentor and friend. Mr Chen's wonderful imagination and sense of the future has led him to create some fantastic inventions for making life easier and work less back breaking. His latest endeavour is something on an entirely different level, however - it's a.... ''flying machine''! Imagine that! [[The Boy Who Flew by Fleur Hitchcock|Full Review]] <!-- David Hewson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:178029106X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178029106X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Savage Shore by David Hewson]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Reggio, in Calabria. It's a strange place, closer to Africa than Rome as Emmanuel kept reminding himself. He was an illegal immigrant and like most of his kind he was simply looking for a way to earn a decent living with a little dignity. Back in Nigeria he was an independent man and now he is no better than the monkey who sits in a cage on the bar he tends. The area is ruled by the Mafia. Further afield there are the Camorra and the Cosa Nostra, but here it's the 'Ndrangheta and the local boss is known as Lo Spettro - the ghost - as he's rarely seen, but he's one of the Bergamotti clan, but even that's not their real name. [[The Savage Shore by David Hewson|Full Review]] <!-- Cara Hunter -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0241283493.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241283493/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[No Way Out by Cara Hunter]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] It was the end of the Christmas holidays and Felix House in an elite area of Oxford was on fire. Two children were dragged from the inferno: one, a toddler, was pronounced dead at the scene and the other, a boy on the cusp of his teens, died in hospital some days later. But where were the parents? Were their bodies in what remained of the house and which was being steadily cleared, or had they left the children at home alone? For DI Adam Fawley it's one of his most disturbing cases. He's still not got over the death of ''his'' son and there's every sign that his marriage is on the rocks. For his team it's just a heartbreaking, exhausting case. [[No Way Out by Cara Hunter|Full Review]] <!-- Reeves -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1788312201.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788312201/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]'

I've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you're eighteen. Well, I must confess that there have been more than a few decades of technology in my lifetime. I've kept up reasonably well with what's advantageous to me but I'm left with the feeling that it's all getting away from me. Some of it is - frankly - quite frightening. Of course, I could research the possibilities and the probabilities and end up down rabbit holes without really understanding whether I'm reading someone who knows what they're talking about or the latest conspiracy theorist. I needed people I knew I could trust and who could deliver information in a way I could understand.}}{{Frontpage|author=Sunny Singh|title=Hotel Arcadia|rating=3.5|genre=Thrillers |summary=The Hotel Arcadia is a luxury hotel in an unnamed city that has suddenly been violently taken over by a terrorist group. Hiding from the terrorists who are rampaging through, killing everyone on site, there is Sam, a wartime photographer and Abhi, the hotel manager. As Abhi continues to try to care remotely for the residents who are still alive in the hotel, he forms a bond with Sam who refuses to be cowed by events, and keeps on venturing out of her room to try to capture what's happened through her photography. Although they only ever talk over the phone, their friendship grows as Abhi tries to help her keep safe and they both wait to see if they will be rescued before they are discovered by the terrorists.|isbn=086154742X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529153298| styletitle="verticalThe List of Suspicious Things|author=Jennie Godfrey|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|summary=It's 1979 and Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister. (A woman? I mean, honestly...) She's not what's worrying Miv's family, though. Women have been disappearing. Well, they've been murdered, but to have 'disappeared' doesn't sound quite so frightening. Miv's upset because she's overheard that her father wants to move the family 'Down South'. When you're from Yorkshire, Down South is a frightening, foreign place, best avoided. For Miv, the move would mean leaving her best friend, Sharon, and she'll do anything to prevent that. She's not worried about the dangers or that her Mum's stopped talking -align: top; textto anyone.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1398524085|title=Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?|author=Nicci French|rating=5|genre=Crime|summary=Charlotte Salter was expected at her husband's fiftieth birthday party but never turned up. Her children, sons Niall, Paul and Ollie and her daughter, Etty. are all worried but - strangely - her husband, Alec, is not. Shortly afterwards, Etty and Greg, find the body of Greg's father, Duncan Ackerley, in the river. It was an easy assumption for the police to make that Duncan had murdered Charlie and then committed suicide when he couldn't stand the guilt. The Salter children are not convinced but there's little else they can do but get on with their lives and wonder about what really happened.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035906708|title=Diva|author=Daisy Goodwin|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=We tend to think of Maria Callas as Greek, but she was born to Greek parents in Manhattan, New York, in December 1923 and only moved to Athens when she was thirteen. Her original surname was Kalogeropoulos but her father changed it to 'Callas' to make it more manageable in the States. When she was back in Athens - supposedly so that she could get appropriate training for her voice -align: left;"she was raised under the Nazi occupation by a mother who mercilessly exploited her and made no secret of her preference for her elder sister, Jackie.}}{{Frontpage|author=Christopher Edge|title=Black Hole Cinema Club|rating=4|genre=[[Women Confident Readers|summary=Lucas and his friends are all booked in for a movie marathon at their local cinema, a place that has the nickname of Westminster: 'The MPs Who Changed Politics by Black Hole'. All big movie fans, they're looking forward to lots of exciting films, and many, many snacks! However, as the movie starts, they very quickly realise that something about this new film format is very different, and they are swept up into an adventure they couldn't even imagine. But as they lurch from one film genre to the next, can they figure out what on earth is going on? Will they ever get back to the cinema, and to their real lives?|isbn=1839942738}}{{Frontpage|author=Rachel Reeves]]Greenlaw|title=Compass and Blade|rating=3.5|genre=Teens|summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''

[[image:5starRosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. But when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father.jpgDesperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear.|linkisbn=Category:0008664730}}{{Frontpage|author=James Sherwood Metts|title=Planet Storyland|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary= Things have been a bit sticky for the Earthlings. AI and automation have been proceeding apace, often replacing jobs they're paid to do and other tasks that took time to accomplish. Just as they were beginning to get used to all this technological change and starting to think of other, new ways to spend time, along came an awful pandemic. Life was pretty much shut down and, along with it, all the many daily social interactions on which they depend so heavily.|isbn=1736128426}}{{Frontpage|author=Matthew Tree|title=We'll Never Know|rating=4.5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary= Timothy Wyndham wants nothing more than to be different from his father, a drunk and chronic underachiever whose dreams of being exceptional at any of his artistic passions all failed miserably and who had endless crises of self confidence. So Tim applied himself to his studies, cultivated his abilities rather than his daydreams and set himself high but achievable ambitions.|isbn= B0CVFXPGP8}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics and Society{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|Politics and Society]]summary='' There's a part of me that wants to keep this just to myself for however long I can. This secret magic of my own, all mine, at last. I just want to enjoy it for a while.''

Within a remote mountain pass, far away from the world, lies Silverton; a town under the protection of the Briar's, a family of witches who protect the town and the wider world from the Darklands. Though she has always wished for magic, Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her family for generations and as such since she was young, her training as a steward revolved around letters and administration rather than spells and potions. When her grandmother suddenly dies, Ellie'Women in Westminster have changed s cousin Audra becomes the Briar Witch, the culture of politics town's leader, and Ellie takes her place beside her. As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the perception rare ability to communicate with the dead, putting her at the heart of a maelstrom of chaos. Reeling from one family secret to another, Ellie must decide who to trust and determine what women can to doas the Briar witches''legacy, everything they have sacrificed to survive, is under threat.|isbn=1803364548}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529900360|title=The Ghost Orchid|author=Jonathan Kellerman|rating=4 |genre=Crime|summary=It hadn't been Lt Milo Sturgis'Women s fault that Alex Delaware had been badly injured but he felt responsible and even after Alex recovered, Sturgis was reluctant to ask for his help on difficult cases. His assertions that there were only open-and-shut cases which didn't need the help of Westminster: The MPs Who Changed Politicsa psychologist only worked for a while. Finally, it was Robin, Delaware'' chronicles s partner, who nudged Milo into asking for help again. She knew that the battles involvement was something that the 491 women who have been elected over man she loved needed. The next case did look simple, though. Two lovers were murdered in the course swimming pool of a remote property in Bel Air. He was the past century have fought heir to an Italian shoe empire and she is married to an extremely rich man and highlights their victoriesit's not the Italian. It is remarkable that But which of them was the primary target?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529395224|title=Letting the history Cat Out of female Members the Bag: The Secret Life of Parliament began a Vet|author=Sion Rowlands|rating=3.5|genre=Animals and Wildlife|summary=Siôn Rowlands fell into veterinary science accidentally. His father was a GP and Rowlands didn't want to follow in 1918his footsteps, particularly when he considered the same year in which women were first given strain that being on-call put on his father's life. When he was seventeen he took the opportunity of doing work experience with a family friend who was a vet and was convinced this was the right job for him. Before long, he was at Liverpool University. It hadn't - as with so many students - been his dream since he was a child. If anything, he'd wanted to vote but be a professional footballer.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0861541774|title=A Nye of Pheasants|author=Steve Burrows|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=DCI Domenic Jejeune's close friend and former colleague, Danny Maik, has taken a decade before all women were given suffrage on equal terms short holiday in Singapore to meet up with menan old ally, Guy Trueman. Although Constance de Markievicz Maik was involved in a street brawl - he would later maintain that he was facing a man armed with a knife - and he killed a Ghurka. Initially, he faced a charge of manslaughter but evidence came to light that suggested that he might have planned to murder the man. Now he could be facing the first female elected death penalty. Domenic Jejeune can do nothing to Parliamenthelp as any interference from another police force could provoke a diplomatic incident and wouldn't help Danny at all.}}{{Frontpage|author=Alexander McCall Smith|title=The Perfect Passion Company|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=The Perfect Passion Company is a dating agency in Edinburgh, it was only run by Ness and operating as an alternative to all the online apps in 1919 that Nancy Astor became providing a more personal, tailored service. Ness has asked her younger cousin Katie if she could come and look after the first women business, as Ness is planning to take her seat in a trip to Canada to get away for a while. Katie is coming out of a break up with a bad boyfriend, and so jumps at the House of Commons chance to come home to Edinburgh. And so begins this new story from Alexander McCall Smith, bringing us to an Edinburgh we already love, thanks to 44 Scotland Street and pave the way Isabel Dalhousie novels, but with some new characters who quickly begin to charm. Katie has no experience in running a business, or in match-making, but Ness has full confidence in her abilities, and there's always her very helpful (and rather handsome) neighbour, William, to lend a hand…|isbn=1846976596}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0811771741|title=InstaKnits for Baby|author=Melissa Leapman|rating=4|genre=Crafts|summary=Melissa Leapman's ''InstaKnits for women Baby'' gives us a collection of knits from toys to blankets. Some will be quick knits - others are of the future. It was not 'long after , cosy afternoons in 1924 that front of the fire' variety. The projects are divided by the first female MPtime they'll take to complete - less than five hours, five to ten hours, Margaret Bondfieldten to twenty hours and more than twenty hours. All the projects are attractive, was appointed into modern and useable. I perhaps show my age when I wonder about 'social-media-worthy projects' but that's me being picky.}}{{Frontpage|author=Dean Koontz|title=The Bad Weather Friend|rating=4.5|genre=Paranormal|summary=Benny is having a cabinet position terrifically bad day. He loses his job, he loses his fiancee, and since then women MPs have endeavoured his house gets trashed. Oh, and someone has delivered a really weird, disturbing coffin-sized object to fight gender inequality his home, and campaign it's possible that whoever or whatever was inside is the thing that has trashed his house! The thing is, Benny is the very last person to deserve all this bad luck. He is a nice person. A really nice person. So fortunately for female rights. Within 100 years there Benny it turns out that the delivery to his house is a new friend, a bad weather friend called Spike, who has been sent to help him since Benny is clearly under attack from nefarious forces for being a gradual revolution good person. Spike is going to take care of change in politics Benny, and will certainly take care of Benny's enemies, if he, Benny, and Harper (a waitress slash Private Investigator who finds herself roped into Benny's wild adventure) can figure out who exactly they are.|isbn=1662500491}}{{Frontpage|author=Adam Stower|title=Murray and Bun|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers |summary=Murray is supposed to be a humble, tidy and friendly cat, one who is able to date Britain sleep and eat and eat and sleep and, well, whatever takes his fancy next of the two. But he's a bad magician's cat, so his favourite bun has been led by two female Prime Ministers. Howeverturned into a hyperactive sticky rabbit called Bun, such great landmarks have overshadowed and the other female MPs whose early achievementscatflap they both use can chuck them out, which have paved not into the way for subsequent women politiciansregular back garden, are consistently overlookedbut into a world of frightening adventure and whiffs. In This time round it drops them into a Viking land, where a troll hunter is expected – well, one much bigger than Murray was, to be honest, but he's turned up and he'Women of Westminster: The MPs Who Changed Politicsll have to do…|isbn=0008561249}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0C47LV1PC|title=Fragility|author=Mosby Woods|rating=4|genre=Literary Fiction|summary= Can you make a ''Yo birthing person'' Rachel Reeves brings joke? And if you could, is the forgotten stories into question should you make it? Or is the spotlight to document question if you did, would it land? The catch is that the history of British female political history from 1919 to 2019answer for both could well be.... no. [[Women of Westminster: The MPs Who Changed Politics by Rachel Reeves|Full Review]]

<!''Fragility'' is set as the city of Portland, Oregon, cautiously begins to emerge from the restrictions imposed during the covid pandemic}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529431735|title=The Winter Visitor|author=James Henry|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=It's February 1991 and Essex is bitingly cold, which made Bruce Hopkins' return all the more surprising. He'd been exiled on the Costa del Sol as a wanted drug smuggler for a decade. The return has come about because he's had a letter from his ex-wife, saying that she's ill and hasn't long to live. It's hard to feel any sympathy when Hopkins is abducted, stripped to his underwear and sent to a watery grave in the boot of a stolen Ford Sierra. Is it a warning from a Spanish gang or a problem closer to home?}}{{Frontpage|author=Alex Bell and Tim McDonagh|title=The Glorious Race of Magical Beasts|rating=4|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Eli is a busy lad – by day an apprentice in the wondrous library we start by visiting with him, and in the evening a helper at the dessert cafe his gran owns and runs. Eli lives with his lovely gran, too – for there is a generation missing in the family. A few short years ago, Eli's parents were both lost to the titular race, a globe- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->trotting adventure where all entrants have to navigate the world in the company of a magical beast. This has made the race anathema to the pair – but when a bad incident at the eatery leads to a confession from gran, Eli knows his only hope is to dare to enter what he most hates, with the sole aim the prize of magic at the end – the only thing to possibly save his gran.|isbn=0571382231}}