Changes

<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|reviews of books about to be published]].{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingauthor="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->Tom Percival<!-- Bonnefoy -->|title=The Wrong Shoes|-rating=5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Confident Readers[[image:1910477524.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwWill's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways.amazon.co.uk/dp/1910477524/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Black Sugar by Miguel Bonnefoy He is bullied because he has 'the wrong shoes', he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and doesn't have enough money for even the most basic of things like food, and Emily Boyce (translator)]]=== [[image:4starhis dad can't work because he lost his job at the college, was working a cash-in-hand job on a building site and had an accident.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]] Miguel Bonnefoy Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will's ''Black Sugar'' is life seems bleak in every direction. And yet, he still has a sensual epic chronicling three generations tiny amount of the Otero familyhope. The tale begins with He is good at art, and clings to the disappearance moments of Captain Henry Morgan's treasure and then illustrates joy when he is drawing, that feel like a light at the power this treasure holds over peopleend of a long, dark tunnel. Multiple people become obsessed with finding this fabled treasure that has become an urban legend in the town in which the story is set. [[Black Sugar by Miguel Bonnefoy and Emily Boyce (translator)|Full Review]]isbn=1398527122}}<!-- Ruby -->{{Frontpage|author=Sylvie Cathrall|-title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"5|genre=Science Fiction[[image:1455565180.jpg|linksummary=http://www.amazonThere are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise.coAnd this is one of them.uk/dp/1455565180/ref=nosim?tag|isbn=thebookbag-21]]0356522776}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"0008517061|title=Death in a Lonely Place|author=Stig Abell|rating=4|genre==[[The Zero and the One by Ryan Ruby]]===Crime[[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=CategoryFormer Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the future of his life with his vet girlfriend, Livia and her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]] ''The Zero does Jake give up his 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 One'' is an incredibly well written and well crafted book. We meet our narrator, Owen, on the plane to New York future she wants for herself and her daughter? For the funeral of his best friend. He is still reeling after recent events, a suicide pact moment they’re enjoying life in which his friend died but he lived, the present and he is going through putting the motions of future on the funeral and consoling family whilst still trying to get to grips with his own feelings of grief and guiltback burner. So far, so simple}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1786482126|title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths|rating=4. But this is where the talent of Ryan Ruby steps 5|genre=Crime|summary=Builders were demolishing an old house in and slowly, so slowly, he reveals little tantalising clues that all is not what it seems, a throwNorwich -away comment here, a misthe site was going to hold seventy-step there, and it becomes clear that Owen is not five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a reliable narratordoorway. [[The Zero and the One by Ryan Ruby|Full Review]] <!-- Mayfield -->|-| style= There was no skull. Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn'width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1786072424t, that she is pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago.jpg|link=http://www.amazon Her condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness.co.uk/dp/1786072424/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''0008551324|title===[[The Parentations by Kate Mayfield]]Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4.5|genre=Crime [[image:4.5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] In eighteenth century London, sisters Fitzgerald, Constance It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police. Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and Verity are changed forever when they become entwined with the Fowler family - and charged with protecting a mysterious child. Fast forward he's prepared to tell the London of 2015, and police where the sisters are still waiting - with no way body of knowing if the boy a missing person is alive or deadburied and who was responsible for her death. Far away This person, a hidden pool grants those who sup from it eternal lifehe promises, but also forces them to keep a secret for two hundred years. As those years pass by, those who were granted immortality find that is someone big and it's far from a blessing - with true darkness emerging in will be worth the absence of deathpolice 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. Not much to ask, is it? The Parentations by Kate Mayfield|Full Review]]new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}<!-- Fegan -->{{Frontpage|isbn=0008405026|-title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Jane Casey|rating=5[[image:0648101908.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0648101908/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  Crime| stylesummary="verticalIt's sixteen years since nine-align: top; textyear-align: left;"|===[[Don't Ever Look Behind Door 32 by B C R Fegan old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and Lenny Wen]]=== [[image:4starthe investigation ground to a halt.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Mr Nicholas Noo is the host of the magical Hotel of Hoo Now, her mother, Helena, and he's just welcoming his very first guestsher father are dead in their bed. They're going to be in room number one and Initially, it looks very comfortable with like a cosy fire straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and comfortable bedher boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. But Mr Noo What looked as though it was going to be an open-and-shut case is now a considerate host and he shows his guests around complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the hotel. Thereexplanation lies in Rosalie's only one ruledisappearance: donothers (such as Derwent't ever look behind door 32. Nows boss, you're going to wonder about what, exactly is in room 32, because we'll see some exciting and wonderful things as you move from room 2 to room 31Una Burt) are less convinced. Forget expensive theme parks: you'd be much better off going to the Hotel of Hoo. [[Don't Ever Look Behind Door 32 by B C R Fegan and Lenny Wen|Full Review]]}}{{Frontpage<!-- Barrie -->|isbn=0571379877|-title=The Kellerby Code| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Jonny Sweet[[image:0995590907.jpg|linkrating=http://www3.amazon.co.uk/dp/0995590907/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalEdward Jevons is a working-align: top; textclass young man, obsessed with his upper-align: left;"|===[[Silver-Tongued by David Barrie]]=== [[image:4starclass friends, Robert and Stanza. Robert's a theatre director. He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Bruno Kahn is Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - and 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 bit relationship had begun between them but he's not like Marmitemost men: people either love him or hate himEdward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway. He's }}{{Frontpage|author=Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No Trace|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=When a psychiatrist, who has managed man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to insert himself into one of the richest families in Francecase alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock. There are those who suspect that heIt's exerting undue influence over the head of the familytheir first live case together, Guy Larroquehaving previously been very successful with several cold cases. But when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, who Kat is either 'not as sharp as he used suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to be' or 'suffering from vascular dementia', depending on where you stand within the familytheir AI Future Policing project. At Will they be able to solve the vascular dementia end of case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the continuum is Guy's daughtercase and, Sabine Larroque, who's paid Samuel Bencherifpotentially, out of a freelance photographer, to dog the footsteps of Kahn and Guy Larroque's (very) young wife in the hope of finding something which she can use to free her father from their clutchescareer?|isbn=139851120X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1399613073|title=Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson|rating=4. So far5|genre=Thrillers|summary=Olivia, so very much as Laura and Anjali met on the very rich livefirst day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, until Bencherif which is found bludgeoned a bonus when you aim to death in be a passageway by cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the Theatre de l'Odeon in free spirit of the centre of Parisgroup and she becomes a GP. [[Silver When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-Tongued by David Barrie|Full Review]] <!-- Potts -->|fuelled party and it's going to end in tragedy. We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-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:1501329413.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/ISBN/ref=nosim?tag5|genre=thebookbag-21]] Autobiography| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; textIf you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-align: left;"|===[[Souvenir (Object Lessons) by Rolf Potts]]=== [[image:5starstripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]] I know a lot about There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the subject London School of this book – although please don't think for one minute that Economics. Stevenson is akin to bright - extremely bright - and he has a boast that I could have written it; far from it. But I too have a mountain facility with numbers which most of souvenirs here and thereus can only envy. They come in five kinds He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was, essentially, don't you know – including a miniature version of what you've been to see (my porcelain Field of Miracles from Pisacard game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, that has long since lost its miraculous ability to act as both memento and leaning hygrometer); pictorial representation, such this turned into permanent employment as postcards (oh so many postcards); and physical bits of the place (a particularly Klimtian bit of stone found on a beach on Jersey only this autumn past)trader. I am such a collector of souvenirs I get narked when I go to a place such as a cathedral and all that}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035021803|title=The Antique Hunter's on offer is religious product and nothing branded with the site, which is rich considering the whole souvenir industry came from religion and religious pilgrimage in the first place – you only need consider that in buying a souvenir you're trying Guide to take a bit of its source home with you, and for that very reason people sought a continuance of some kind of holiness via religious artefactMurder|author=C L Miller|rating=3. You only need consider it, I say, but rest assured all that history and everything else 5|genre=Crime|summary=It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been considered in back to the making English country village where she grew up. She's back now because of this wonderful booka request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. [[Souvenir (Object Lessons) by Rolf Potts|Full Review]] <!-- Kemmerer -->|-| style="width Freya's former mentor and Carole's close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to say the least. Arthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to the village: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1408885077Arthur, she feels, let her down badly.jpg|link=http://www Even though they were in business together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to be near the man or pursue the profession she loved. After the split, she worked in a cafe, met and married James (on the rebound from the love of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408885077/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"AllTomorrowsFutureCover|=title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt|author=[[More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer]]Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre==Science Fiction[[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Rev has just turned eighteen''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come. He is happy at home with his adoptive parents Geoff and Kristin. They are kind and supportive and have enabled Rev to leave his painful past behind - at least in part. Rev is doing well at school and has a good friend in Declan. Yes, he still wears a hoodie to hide his scars but, overall, Rev is doing well. Until, that is, he receives a letter from his biological father. And the trauma of his childhood comes hurtling back into Rev's life. [[More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer|Full Review]] <!-- McLachlan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:McLachlan Truly.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1408879743?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1408879743]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Truly, Wildly, Deeply by Jenny McLachlan]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Annie has chosen to leave school in favour of doing her A levels at a college a train ride away. She's quite excited about this new adventure and the extra layer of independence it represents. No more silly school uniform. No more being followed around by a dedicated teaching assistant. It's going to be great. And nothing is going to get in the way of Annie making the most of it - not even the wheelchair she sometimes has to use, as person with cerebral palsy. [[Truly, Wildly, Deeply by Jenny McLachlan|Full Review]] <!-- Laws -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Laws_Munich.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178803788X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Munich: The Man Who Said No! by David Laws]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] I've played Neville Chamberlain in public, you know – a full one-line in a ''Beyond the Fringe'' sketch, where he says he has a piece of paper from Hitler. I then proceeded to prove it was a paper bag, in fact, by blowing it up and immediately bursting it. That is what that paper was to many – the indicator of a lot of hot air, and only leading to an unwelcome noise, when WW2 actually struck anyway. Certainly, not everyone was keen on his appeasement with the Nazis, and this book opens with the first-person reportage of one such man, keen on showing proof to Chamberlain that he should not sign the Sudetenland away. But he only got so far before his story was cut off entirely – leaving a grand-daughter, Emma, at Cambridge but under a cloud of ignominy, to pick the last, barest threads of the story up and see just what did happen to him. Oh, and her help has just come out of prison… [[Munich: The Man Who Said No! by David Laws|Full Review]] <!-- Young -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Young_she.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1847159427?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1847159427]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[She, Myself and I by Emma Young]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Rosa is just eighteen. You'd expect her to be off to university, or going on a gap year, or about to start an apprenticeship, wouldn't you? You'd expect her life to be full of possibilities and exciting new horizons. But this is not the case for Rosa. Diagnosed with a rare and incurable neural condition when she was just ten years old, Rosa is confronting mortality. This disease will kill her, and soon... [[She, Myself and I by Emma Young|Full Review]]<!-- Woods -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0751568538.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0751568538/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[How to be Happy by Eva Woods]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Annie had hit rock bottom. Her mother was suffering from early-onset dementia and her marriage was well and truly over. She lived in a damp and depressing tenth-floor ex-council flat and had to share with someone she didn't really know just to afford the rent. And let's not get into the job with Lewisham Council and her colleagues there. Could it get any worse? Well, it looked as though it might when Polly burst into her life. She's one of those irritatingly happy, joyful people who simply won't take no for an answer and she's determined to make Annie happy. Whether she likes it or not. [[How to be Happy by Eva Woods|Full Review]] <!-- Adeyemi -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1509871357.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1509871357/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] ''They killed my mother. They took our magic. They tried to bury us. Now we rise.'' These impassioned words belong to Zelie, the firecracker heroine of Tomi Adeyemi's stunning debut YA fantasy novel, ''Children of Blood and Bone''. Already optioned for a movie it tells the story of the beleaguered Maji people persecuted for their supernatural powers. Once extolled as Diviners, imbued with godlike gifts and marked by their distinctive white hair and dark skin, the Maji have been the victims of genocide which has ripped away the magic of the survivors and cast them into the depths of despair. Considered a threat by the paler skinned ruling class, who fear the unknown, they have been labelled as 'maggots', oppressed, subjugated and classified as second class citizens (a universal theme which invites a comparison with the atrocities of today and the holocausts of the past). As Adeyemi explains, ''We live in a time where men, women, and children of colour are being dehumanized and oppressed and unjustly murdered. Though my book is an epic fantasy, it's directly tied to all of that pain.'' Indeed Adeyemi includes scenes reminiscent of the worst ravages of slavery to illustrate that horror and elicit empathy from the reader. [[Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi|Full Review]] <!-- Killeen -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1474942385.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1474942385/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Sarah, a Jewish girl in Nazi Germany as WWII is about to break out, finds herself alone after her mother is shot as they try to escape the country. She meets a mysterious man and, in a fit of dangerous altruism, saves him from arrest by the soldiers. This reckless act changes everything for Sarah, who finds herself recruited as a spy and sent to infiltrate a girl's school full of the daughters of the great and good of the Reich. Her mission? To befriend the daughter of a nuclear scientist and get access to his research. Sarah might be Jewish but she is also blonde-haired and blue-eyed. But will this be enough to maintain her cover? The tiniest slip could be fatal... [[Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen|Full Review]] <!-- Kristjansson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Kristjansson_Kin.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786489937/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Kin by Snorri Kristjansson]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Unnthor Reginsson is the uncrowned king of the valley; retired Viking farmer and rumoured owner of a large hoard of gold. He is gathering his clan, a grand reunion after ten years of absence. It is time for strengthening family bonds, feasting, telling tall tales and remembering shared history. [[Kin by Snorri Kristjansson|Full Review]] <!-- McCaughrain -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1406375659.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1406375659/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Flying Tips for Flightless Birds by Kelly McCaughrain]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Flying tips for flightless birds is a quirky and complex story, told with an elegant simplicity that hooks you from the first few pages. A gentle but gripping exploration of the highs and lows of being a young person, of love, friends and the relationship we have with ourselves and others. [[Flying Tips for Flightless Birds by Kelly McCaughrain|Full Review]] <!-- Faulks 7/3 -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B079RJFN42.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079RJFN42/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Seer's Curse by J J Faulks]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Although ''The Seer's Curse'' is billed as a pre-teen novel, I would say that it would appeal to a wide audience interested in fantasy and mythology, as well as just a good tale. [[The Seer's Curse by J J Faulks|Full Review]] <!-- Marilyn Bennett -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B079LS2VKW.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079LS2VKW/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Marilyn Bennett]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Lorraine has one of those voices which makes you stop whatever you're doing so that you can listen ''properly''. She has some disadvantages though. She's a checkout operator for Fresh and Co and frankly it's not the best place to be if you're hoping to be the next big superstar. Her manager is her mother, but that's not ''quite'' as much of a disadvantage as you might think as Natalie definitely has Lorraine's best interests at heart and she's street smart. But Lorraine (actually, it's Lolly to her Mum) has one really big advantage too: she sounds just like the superstar she idolises and that lady has been indulging in some illegal substances and needs a body/voice double at pretty short notice. It's the perfect opportunity for Lorraine. [[Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Marilyn Bennett|Full Review]]<!-- Montgomery -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0571333486.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0571333486/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Max and the Millions by Ross Montgomery]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Ten year old Max likes being alone – it's easier than trying to cope with the feedback from his hearing aid when he's surrounded by loud noise or attempting to swivel his head fast enough to lip read when several people are speaking at once. However, when he discovers a civilisation of millions behind the door of the school janitor's room, Max has to learn to lead a team. Max finds a way to communicate with Luke, the tiny boy who's Prince (and almost King) of one of the three tribes now living on the floor of the caretaker's room. Supported by his roommate, Sasha, Max has to find a way to bring the three feuding tribes together and find a safe place for them to live before the school's Headteacher disposes of the little people for good. [[Max and the Millions by Ross Montgomery|Full Review]] <!-- Miles -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0553447580.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0553447580/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|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 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 - to anyone.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1398524085|title=Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?|author=Nicci French| stylerating="vertical5|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 -align: top; textstrangely -align: left;"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=[[Anatomy 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 - she was raised under the Nazi occupation by a Miracle by Jonathan Miles]]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 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 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:3Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks.5starMira, 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.jpgBut when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate 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}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:{{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|Literary Fiction]]genre=Fantasy|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.''

Look closely 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's cousin Audra becomes the Briar Witch, the town's leader, and Ellie takes her place beside her. As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the rare ability to communicate with the dead, putting her at the cover heart of a maelstrom of chaos. Reeling from one family secret to another, 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 MilesKellerman|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-and-shut cases which didn't need the help of a psychologist only worked for a while. Finally, it was Robin, Delaware's third novel 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 youit'll see s not the Italian. But which of them was the primary target?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529395224|title=Letting the Cat Out of the central drama depictedBag: white wheelchair tracks snake up from 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 bottom 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 stop threeformer colleague, Danny Maik, has taken a short holiday in Singapore to meet 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 -quarters 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 way death penalty. Domenic Jejeune can do nothing to help 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, run by Ness and operating as an alternative to all the toponline apps in providing a more personal, where they are replaced by footprintstailored service. On 23 August 2014 Ness has asked her younger cousin Katie if she could come and look after the business, wheelchair-bound veteran Cameron Harris stands as Ness is planning to take 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 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 walks outside the BizIsabel Dalhousie novels, but with some new characters who quickly begin to charm. Katie has no experience in running a business, or in match-E-Bee convenience store making, but Ness has full confidence in Biloxiher abilities, and there's always her very helpful (and rather handsome) neighbour, William, Mississippito 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. In Some will be quick knits - others are of the rest 'long, cosy afternoons in front of the novel we find out how fire' variety. The projects are divided by the time they'll take to complete - less than five hours, five to ten hours, ten to twenty hours and more than twenty hours. 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 got loses his fiancee, and his house gets trashed. Oh, and someone has delivered a really weird, disturbing coffin-sized object to his home, and 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 point and what others – ranging bad luck. He is a nice person. A really nice person. So fortunately for 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 his doctor nefarious forces for being a good person. Spike is going to representatives take care of the Roman Catholic Church – Benny, and will make 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 sleep and eat and eat and sleep and, well, whatever takes his recoveryfancy next of the two. Was But he's a bad magician's cat, so 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 miracleViking land, or an explainable medical phenomenon? [[Anatomy of where a Miracle by Jonathan Milestroll hunter is expected – well, one much bigger than Murray was, to be honest, but he's turned up and he'll have to do…|isbn=0008561249}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0C47LV1PC|title=Fragility|author=Mosby Woods|rating=4|genre=Literary Fiction|Full Review]]summary= Can you make a ''Yo birthing person'' joke? And if you could, is the question should you make it? Or is the question if you did, would it land? The catch is that the answer for both could well be.... no.

<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->''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?