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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]].<!-- Nick Griffiths -->{{Frontpage|-author=Sylvie Cathrall| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|A Letter to the Luminous Deep[[image:1789018307.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789018307/refrating=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Mayhem in the Archipelago by Nick Griffiths]]==genre=Science Fiction [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them.|isbn= 0356522776}}{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:ThrillersFrontpage|Thrillers]]isbn=0008517061 In Latvia the conspirators meet |title=Death in a rather unpleasant locationLonely Place|author=Stig Abell|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary= Former Metropolitan Police detective, but it's their plans which matter to themJake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. In Moscow two men delight in all the There’s perhaps a little uncertainty in about the Baltic. In Washington the Undersecretary is a womanfuture of his life with his vet girlfriend, but the personal pressures on Livia and her are the same daughter Diana, as the men in Moscow are obliged to suffer. In Stockholm three members moving in together would mean a lot of SÄPO, the Swedish Secret Service, know that the time has come for them compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to make a move. in with Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the future she wants for herself and her daughter? They'd talk more, but their wives would get difficult For the moment they’re enjoying life in the present and there's a rather pleasing tart which mustn't be missedputting the future on the back burner. [[Mayhem in the Archipelago by Nick Griffiths|Full Review]]}}<!-- Neal -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1786482126| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths[[image:1794467440.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1794467440/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; textBuilders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments -align: left;"| ===[[Watchwords by Philip Neal]]=== [[image:4starwhen they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] This satisfying collection of short stories has There was no skull. Was this a provenance at least ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's difficult as beguiling Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is pregnant with his child as the provenance a result of the antique watches that inspired itone 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.}}Philip Neal lost a watch. It was a watch he was fond of and had been told was like a 1930s Cartier{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4. Instead of mourning its loss, he began to collect vintage watches that resembled it. And that5|genre=Crime|summary=It's how he became a watch collector. An eBay purchase led him unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the Antique Watch Company watch repairers in Clerkenwellpolice. The eBay purchase was a fake, but Neither side likes or has any respect for the friendship that grew between the buyer other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the repairer of watches was not and police where the seed body of an idea for a book missing person is buried and who was bornresponsible for her death. [[ Watchwords by Philip Neal |Full Review]] <!-- Stephen Booth -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0751567647This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0751567647/ref=nosim Not much to ask, is it?tag=thebookbag The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded -21]]make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"0008405026|title===[[Fall Down Dead A Stranger in the Family (Cooper and FryMaeve Kerrigan 11) by Stephen Booth]]=|author=Jane Casey|rating=5 [[image:4star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] DS Dev Sharma is delighted summary=It's sixteen years since nine-year- if delight is old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and the right word to apply investigation ground to a murder case - halt. Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed. Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but hethere's got a result when something about the husband positioning of a murder victim is found with the knife, standing over the body, bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and admitting to the murder. her boss DI Ben Cooper is concerned with a Josh Derwent suspicious death on Kinder Scout. A party of walkers What looked as though it was going to be an open- the New Trespassers Walking Group and- got lost in the fog and problems arose when one of the party was injuredshut case is now a complex double murder. The group split up to find helpKerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, or at least a mobile signal, but when they're rescued they're one short and the body of Faith Matthew was found at the bottom of Kinder DownfallUna Burt) are less convinced. It looked like a dreadful accident, but Cooper wasn't happy about the way the body had fallen. Things are not always as they seem - in either case. [[Fall Down Dead (Cooper and Fry) by Stephen Booth}}{{Frontpage|Full Review]]isbn=0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code<!-- Casey Cep -->|author=Jonny Sweet|-rating=3.5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Crime[[image:1785150731.jpg|linksummary=http://www.amazonEdward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his upper-class friends, Robert and Stanza.co Robert's a theatre director.uk/dp/1785150731/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag He's also self-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; textobsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him. Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days -align: left;"|===[[Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep]]=== [[image:5starhe's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating} 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: Edward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:True Crime{{Frontpage|author=Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No Trace|rating=4|True genre=Crime]] Sometimes you begin reading |summary=When a book and before you've got man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the bottom of case alongside her sidekick, the first page you know that it's going to be brilliantAI detective Lock. You sense the authorIt's effortless grasp of her subject matter and you already know that her use of words is almost surgical in its precisiontheir first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases. The hands holding you are safeBut when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, which considering that this Kat is suddenly struggling with a book about two subjects where facts are in short supply, is somewhat surprisingpotential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. Our first subject is Will they be able to solve the Reverend Willie Maxwell. Over seven yearscase in time, six people close to or will Kat find herself taken off the Reverend had diedcase and, potentially, with Maxwell benefiting substantially from insurance policies which he'd taken out on their lives. [[Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cepa career?|Full Review]]isbn=139851120X}}<!-- Weir -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1399613073| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson[[image:1472227727|rating=4.jpg5|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472227727/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Thrillers| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|==summary=[[Six Tudor Queens: Anna of KleveOlivia, Queen Laura and Anjali met on the first day of Secrets by Alison Weir]]=== [[image:4medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Poor, frumpy Anne of Cleaves always gets Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a raw deal by history, of all the wives of Henry VIII she cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is the one who a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is known for being rejected. Anne Boleyn and Katheryn Howard were the sexy ones, Jane free spirit of the dutiful one who delivered group and she becomes a son, Katherine of Aragon clung on to her crown and Katharine Parr clung on to her life but poor frumpy Anne of Cleaves just rolled over and moved alongGP. Not any more! Alison Weir presents us with When we first meet them they're at a different view of this young woman who saw the opportunity to live an independent life drug and alcohol-fuelled party and took it's going to end in tragedy. [[Six Tudor Queens: Anna of Kleve, Queen of Secrets by Alison Weir|Full Review]] <! We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-- Mel Sherratt -->five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. This time, it's their teenage children who are involved.}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=0241636604| styletitle="widthThe Trading Game: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson[[image:0008271070.jpg|link|rating=http://www.amazon.co4.uk/dp/0008271070/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Autobiography|summary===[[Tick Tock by Mel Sherratt]]=== [[If you were to bring up an image:3of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] We're in Stoke A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice. There was no posh public school on Trenthis CV - but he had been to the London School of Economics. A group of young women who study at Dunwood Academy are running the crossStevenson is bright -country course. One of them extremely bright - Lauren Ansell - stops behind to tie her shoelace and is murdered, to the shock and devastation he has a facility with numbers which most of her friendsus can only envy. Twins Courtney and Caitlin Piggott, Sophie Bishop and Teagan Cole cling together for support - or do do as much as they can given that their parents are understandably reluctant He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to let them out of their sightbe stupid. One of the parents is journalist Simon ColeIt was his ability at what was, boyfriend of DS Grace Allendaleessentially, who is charged a card game which got him an internship with investigating the murder under the guidance of DI Nick CarterCitibank. It's Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a struggle to keep their professional lives separatetrader. [[Tick Tock by Mel Sherratt|Full Review]]}}<!-- Mark Billingham -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1035021803| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|author=C L Miller[[image:0751566977.jpg|linkrating=http://www3.amazon.co.uk/dp/0751566977/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Their Little Secret by Mark Billingham]]=== [[image:5starIt's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] There are times when two people come together She's back now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya's former mentor and Carole's close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts as in the case ofcircumstances seem suspicious, to say, Morecambe and Wisethe least. Sometimes two people come together and we get ''Folie à Deux'' - a shared psychotic disorder which produces devastating consequences. One of Arthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to the prime examples is Ian Brady and Myra Hindleyvillage: Arthur, she feels, let her down badly. But - I'm getting ahead of myself Even though they were in business together as our story started with a suicideantique hunters, she has not felt able to be near the man or pursue the profession she loved. A middle-aged woman had been gulled out of £75After the split,000 by she worked in a man called Patrick Jenkinscafe, but once he had met and married James (on the money he disappeared rebound from the love of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and ghosted his former loverJames have now divorced. She threw herself in front of a tube train. [[Their Little Secret by Mark Billingham|Full Review]]}}<!-- Motayne -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover| styletitle="widthAll Tomorrow's Futures: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5[[image:147367591X.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/147367591X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Science Fiction| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Nocturna by Maya Motayne]]=== [[image:4star''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] A thief without a face, a prince who was never meant to be king, Finn and Alfie collide, as if thrown together by fate, to bring about a series of catastrophes and set in motion the release of a darkness that seeks to consume all the goodness and magic in the world. These two unlikely allies must try to put their own personal battles behind them and join forces to stop the evil from destroying everything they hold dear. [[Nocturna by Maya Motayne|Full Review]] <!-- Eagle -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0571346308.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0571346308/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Secret Starling by Judith Eagle]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]Clara has lived in the crumbling Braithwaite Manor owned by her guardian, Uncle Edward, since she was a baby. It has been a lonely life as her uncle is strict and forbidding and she has been home schooled. Her only friend is Cook who looks after Clara with kindness and tells her stories of her own family and their adventures. Clara has recently become aware that something is wrong as many of the prized possessions such as paintings and porcelain are disappearing and then cook is dismissed. Shortly afterwards Uncle Edward abandons Clara in the local village with a fistful of money and disappears. Clara is now totally alone. [[The Secret Starling by Judith Eagle|Full Review]] <!-- Leah Hazard -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786331608.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786331608/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story by Leah Hazard]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] Over the past few years we've had a rash (sorry - no pun intended) of books by medical practitioners. Doctors have been at the forefront, but ''Hard Pushed'' is the first book I've seen by a midwife. It's an unusual profession in that it's one of the few callings within the medical system where most of the patients are healthy and the only one where one person comes into the system and (for the most part) more than one goes out. It's an amazing thing to be able to do - to escort new life into the world - and an enormous responsibility. Leah Hazard came to it after a career in television and ''Hard Pushed'' is the story of her career as a midwife - and the title tells more than one story. [[Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story by Leah Hazard|Full Review]] <!-- Lucinda Riley -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529014980.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529014980/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Paradise. That's what it seemed like to nine-year-old Posy Anderson. Her father delighted in indulging her and playing with her. Together they caught butterflies and examined them before her father took them off to let them go free. Her mother was rather distant, but her father more than made up for that. The only blot on the horizon was that her father was a spitfire pilot, recovering from an injury, and it seemed likely that he would have to go back to the war. Everyone thought that it was drawing to a close, but men still had to go and fight - and risk their lives. Posy was staying with her grandmother in Cornwall when the news came through that her father had been killed in action. Her mother had travelled from Suffolk to tell her what was going to happen to her. [[The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley|Full Review]] <!-- Carroll -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471160645.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471160645/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Words That Fly Between Us by Sarah Carroll]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Lucy is living in a beautiful, expensive house along with her joking, playful dad and her lovely mum. Everything should be perfect. Her dad is a property investor, making millions, and she and her mum don't lack for anything in their lives. But still, Lucy lives her life on edge, controlled by the words around her, whether they are spoken, or unspoken. You see, her dad is a bully, edging closer and closer towards physically abusing her mum, and Lucy is manipulated by him, unable to express her true feelings, or fully develop her artistic side which is where she feels her talents lie but her dad says won't ever lead to her having a successful life. [[The Words That Fly Between Us by Sarah Carroll|Full Review]] <!-- Kan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1911115847.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911115847/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Nights of the Creaking Bed by Toni Kan]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Literary Fiction| Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] ''Nights of the Creaking Bed'' is a collection of short stories by Toni Kan. The series of stories tell of the lives and lusts of an assortment of characters living in and around Lagos, Nigeria. Nigeria, in this collection, is imbued with its very own heart of darkness. Danger stalks the shadows and people are killed for nothing more than a wrong look. Kan writes with a vitality and passion that allows these cynical stories to achieve a glimmer of hope. [[Nights of the Creaking Bed by Toni Kan|Full Review]] <!-- Macdibble -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1910646482.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1910646482/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Set in a dystopian Australia, this is the story of Ella and Emery and their dogs travelling across the outback together. A red fungus has wiped out all the crops and grasses, and with the food chain grinding to a halt, society is collapsing. Ella's mum has been gone for a long time - she left for work one day and then never came home. Ella and her half brother Emery have been living at home with their dad and their dogs, hoping for the best, but one day their dad decides to go out and try to find Ella's mum. When he also fails to return, Emery decides that their best chance of survival is to set out with the dogs to travel across the outback to his grandfather's house where, he believes, there will still be food and a safe place for them to live until their father can find them again. [[The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble|Full Review]] <!-- Sara Sheridan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1472127110.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472127110/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Indian Summer: a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery by Sara Sheridan]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Life has changed dramatically for Mirabelle, our favourite fifties sleuth, since the war, and not always for the better. When she first settled in Brighton she was alone, rudderless and secretly grieving for Jack, the lover who died before he could leave his wife. As time went by she found in herself an ability to solve crimes, made friends including an ebullient and determined young woman called Vesta who refused to let a little thing like racial prejudice stop her doing what she wanted, and even found consolation in the arms of a rather charming policeman. [[Indian Summer: a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery by Sara Sheridan|Full Review]] <!-- Gomes -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008291845.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008291845/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[We Are Not Okay by Natalia Gomes]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Set in a typical American town, ''We Are Not Okay'' tells the story of four teenage girls facing the difficulties brought on by high school and growing up as a girl in today's society. The novel is told from four different perspectives, those of Lucy, Ulana, Trina and Sophia, whose friendship statuses vary from BFFs to sworn enemies. The reader is presented with a glimpse into each of their lives, but more importantly their minds, and at times the thoughts of those characters could have been taken directly from my own. Gomes has created a heartbreakingly real and relevant novel that focuses on prominent topic areas which are becoming ingrained in our society, particularly in relation to the ''Me Too Movement''. ''We Are Not Okay'' reminds the reader of the importance of phrases like ''I'm With Her''. [[We Are Not Okay by Natalia Gomes|Full Review]]  <!-- Doescher -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683691172.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683691172/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Mean Girls by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:2.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, all the Star Wars films were crunched up against Shakespeare, and the marriage seemed a perfectly suitable one. So much so – so easily did the plots and characters converse in Shakespearean dialogue, and behave with Shakespearean stage directions – that the producers tried again, with [[William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future! by Ian Doescher|Back to the Future]] no less. And that worked. But simultaneously they put a real test out. A film I can't even really remember seeing was transcribed into the original Elizabethan lingo. A cult following I had never followed whatsoever was given the brand new, yet oh so ancient, dressing. Here was the true challenge – would I manage to enjoy this, based on little foreknowledge? Oh damn those shiny gold stars for letting the game away… [[William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Mean Girls by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] <!-- Jane Casey -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008149038.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008149038/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Cruel Acts by Jane Casey]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] They called him 'the white knight' because he picked the women up when they were in difficulties. But they called him a serial killer too, because he murdered them and everyone heaved a sigh of relief when he went down for life. Then one of the jurors self-published his story of the trial which explained how he and another juror had looked up Stone's history and found a trail of violence. After that, he explained, they knew that Stone was guilty. The juror got two months for contempt of court and Stone was released on bail pending a retrial. [[Cruel Acts by Jane Casey|Full Review]] <!-- Doescher -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:168369094X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/168369094X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future! by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] A long time ago, in a publishing house far away, [[:Category:Ian Doescher|someone]] thought it wonderfully wacky to rewrite the story of Star Wars in Shakespearean pentameter, colliding two entirely different genres and styles in such a clever way they seemed perfectly suited. It was then duly repeated for all the other films in the main Star Wars cycle, and clearly someone's buffing their quills ready for Episode Nine, the title of which became public knowledge the day before I write. In the hiatus, however, the effort has been made to see if the same shtick works with other texts, and to riff on other seemingly unlikely source materials in iambs. And could we have anything more suitably unsuitable-seeming than Back to the Future, with its tales of time travel, bullying, and parent/child strife like no other? [[William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future! by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] <!-- Crossan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1408868121.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408868121/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Toffee by Sarah Crossan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]''

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 am not 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 say 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|title=The 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 ammean, 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 - to 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 Marla isnthen committed suicide when he couldn't who 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 thinks could get appropriate training for her voice - 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=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 'The 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 isvery 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 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. ''

Rosevear, 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'I am s father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a girl trying wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to forgetguide 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.|isbn=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}}{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|summary=''She is There's a woman trying 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 rememberenjoy it for a while.''

Allison has finally had enough 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 has run away the wider world from homethe Darklands. The burning red weal on 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 face provides training as a clue to whysteward revolved around letters and administration rather than spells and potions. SheWhen her grandmother suddenly dies, Ellie's cousin Audra becomes the Briar Witch, the town's on leader, and Ellie takes her place beside her. As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the rare ability to Bude communicate with the dead, putting her at the heart of a maelstrom of chaos. Reeling from one family secret to find Kellyanother, Ellie must decide who to trust and determine what to do as 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'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-Anneand-shut cases which didn't need the help of a psychologist only worked for a while. Finally, it was Robin, Delaware's partner, who nudged Milo into asking for help again. She knew that the involvement was something that the man she loved needed. The next case did look simple, though. Two lovers were murdered in the swimming pool of a remote property in Bel Air. He was the heir to an Italian shoe empire and she is married to an extremely rich man and it's not the Italian. But which of them was the primary target?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529395224|title=Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: The Secret Life of 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 his footsteps, particularly when he considered the 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 first 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 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 short holiday in Singapore to run away from homemeet up with an old ally, Guy Trueman. 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 Kelly-Anne isnevidence came to light that suggested that he might have planned to murder the man. Now he could be facing the death penalty. Domenic Jejeune can do nothing to help as any interference from another police force could provoke a diplomatic incident and wouldn't answering 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, run by Ness and operating as an alternative to all the online apps in providing a more personal, tailored service. Ness has asked her phoneyounger cousin Katie if she could come and look after the business, as Ness is planning to take a trip to Canada to get away for a while. Night Katie is closing in coming out of a break up with a bad boyfriend, and so Allison takes refuge jumps at the 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 the Isabel Dalhousie novels, but with some new characters who quickly begin to charm. Katie has no experience in running a shed 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 Baby'' gives us a collection of knits from toys to blankets. Some will be quick knits - others are of the garden 'long, cosy afternoons in front of what looks the fire' variety. The projects are divided by the time they'll take to complete - less than five hours, five to ten hours, ten to be an empty housetwenty hours and more than twenty hours. But All the projects are attractive, 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 terrifically bad day. He loses his job, he loses his fiancee, and his house isn't emptygets trashed. Marla lives in Oh, and someone has delivered a really weird, disturbing coffin-sized object to his home, and it and Marla doesn't remember things s possible that whoever or whatever was inside is the thing that has trashed his house! The thing is, Benny is the very welllast person to deserve all this bad luck. He is a nice person. A really nice person. She mistakes Allison So fortunately for her Benny it turns out that the delivery to his house is a new friend, a bad weather friendcalled Spike, Toffeewho has been sent to help him since Benny is clearly under attack from nefarious forces for being a good person. And because Allison doesn Spike is going to take care of 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't much want 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 Allison any more a humble, tidy and because Marla friendly cat, one who is able to 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 happy his favourite bun has been turned into a hyperactive sticky rabbit called Bun, and the catflap they both use can chuck them out, not into the regular back garden, but into a world of frightening adventure and whiffs. This time round it drops them into a Viking land, where a troll hunter is expected – well, one much bigger than Murray was, to see Toffee - why shouldnbe honest, but he's turned up and he't Allison ll have to do…|isbn=0008561249}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0C47LV1PC|title=Fragility|author=Mosby Woods|rating=4|genre=Literary Fiction|summary= Can you make a ''becomeYo birthing person'' Toffeejoke? And if you could, is the question should you make it? [[Toffee by Sarah Crossan|Full Review]]Or is the question if you did, would it land? The catch is that the answer for both could well be.... no.

<!''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}}