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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]].<!-- Tanoh -->{{Frontpage|-author=Tom Percival| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Wrong Shoes|rating=5[[image:1912145561.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1912145561/refConfident Readers|summary=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Day Will's life is difficult, in a multitude of the Orphan by Dr Nat Tanoh]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Saga is eighteen ways. He is bullied because he has 'the wrong shoes', he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and, like many eighteen-year olds, his prime concerns are listening to what his mum calls ''hop-hip'', eating copious amounts doesn't have enough money for even the most basic of things like food, and learning about girls. Living in an affluent, liberal and protected suburb, his dad can't work because he has a good life. However, lost his job at the suburb is in Africacollege, where childhoods can be snatched was working a cash-in -hand job on a building site and had an instantaccident. When his friends and family are dragged Throw into that mix the conflict raging around the dictatorship fact that Saga lives underhis mum and dad are separated, he is forced to become an unlikely revolutionaryand Will's life seems bleak in every direction. Can chubby Saga really stand up to a murderous regime? And can yet, he stay one step ahead still has a tiny amount of hope. He is good at art, and clings to the soldiers desperate to stop him? [[The Day moments of joy when he is drawing, that feel like a light at the Orphan by Dr Nat Tanohend of a long, dark tunnel.|Full Review]]isbn=1398527122}}<!-- Doyle -->{{Frontpage|-author=Sylvie Cathrall| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Letter to the Luminous Deep|rating=5[[image:1408896885.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408896885/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Science Fiction| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"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=Death in a Lonely Place|author=[[The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle]]Stig Abell|rating=4|genre==Crime[[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]  Fionn is off to spend some time with his grandfather on Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the island future of Arranmore. His older sister Tara is going his life with him. Tara is well into adolescence his vet girlfriend, Livia and she can be quite dismissive her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to move in with Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her rather green younger brother. The siblings need some time away because their mother isn't coping well with reservations about whether or not this is the death of their father future she wants for herself and needs time alone to get better. Grandfather is a strange, eccentric old man who lives her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in a tiny cottage full of candles. He has a crabby but wicked sense of humour and sometimes has trouble keeping hold of his memories. But he makes the candles dance present and his eyes contain depths that hold putting the secret of future on the seasback burner. [[The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle|Full Review]]<!-- Makkai -->}}|-{{Frontpage| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|1786482126[[image:0708899137.jpg|linktitle=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0708899137/refThe Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=nosim?tagElly Griffiths|rating=thebookbag-21]]4.5|genre=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;"|===[[The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai]]=== [[image:5starwhen they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway. There was no skull.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:LGBT Fiction|LGBT Fiction]]  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'The Great Believers'' follows t, that she is pregnant with his child as a group result of friends whose lives are devastated by the AIDS crisis in Chicago during the late 1980’sone night they spent together some three months ago. Beginning in 1985 Her condition will be obvious before long, the reader follows Yale and his friends as they come to terms with the increasingly virulent illness spreading throughout their community, alongside their demonisation at the hands not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of a conservative Americasickness. Thirty years later Fiona, a devoted friend to Yale, is searching for her estranged daughter on the streets of Paris, trying to rebuild a relationship beset by memories and old hurt. [[}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai|Full Review]] <!-- Daykin -->Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|-author=Neil Lancaster| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"4.5|genre=Crime[[image:0571326781.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwIt's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police.amazon.co Neither side likes or has any respect for the other.uk/dp/0571326781/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Boy Who Hit Play by Chloe Daykin]]=== [[image:4But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death. This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Elvis Crampton Lucas was found 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, as a baby, on a bench at the zoo. is it? He knows little else about himself, other than thatThe new Deputy Police Constable doesn's where his father found him one day t think so and he took him home she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and named anyone who works with him after the first three vinyl records he took down is kept well away from the shelf! Elviswhat' life has been a happy one, but as his twelfth birthday comes around he finds himself suddenly wanting to know, and needing to know, the truth about who left him on the bench and whys happening. Elvis' quest takes him far away, to a new country, facing challenges he'd never imagined }}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008405026|title=A Stranger in his desire to know the truth. [[The Boy Who Hit Play by Chloe DaykinFamily (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|Full Review]]author=Jane Casey<!-- Sheridan -->|rating=5|-genre=Crime| stylesummary="width: 10%; verticalIt's sixteen years since nine-align: top; textyear-align: center;"|[[image:1472122372old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night.jpg|link=http://www She was never found and the investigation ground to a halt.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472122372 Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed. Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="verticalsuicide but there's something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. What looked as though it was going to be an open-align: top; textand-alignshut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: left;"others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet|rating=[[Russian Roulette by Sara Sheridan]]===3.5[[image:4.5star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] It makes summary=Edward Jevons is a pleasant change to have a female detective who isn't a slightly eccentric grandmaworking-class young man, a world-weary cop obsessed with as many hanghis upper-upsclass friends, bad habits Robert and family traumas as her male colleagues, or Stanza. Robert's a slicktheatre director. He's also self-obsessed, skinnydemanding, sharp-shooting type who lives in a loft handsome and entitled and works out uses Edward to run errands for him. Edward has been in the gym after work, boxing love with (Stanza since their university days - and trouncing) every big burly bloke they can throw at herhe's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. Mirabelle may have somehow got herself involved Most men in crime-fighting, with all the requisite tropes of climbing through unguarded windows, contacts who are Robert's position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he's not one hundred per cent on like most men: Edward is left to stumble upon the right side two of the law, and them kissing in a refusal to faint at the sight of blood, but she dark passageway.}}{{Frontpage|author=Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No Trace|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=When a man is, as everyone around her will attest, first and foremost found crucified on the top of a lady. Indeedhill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the first encounter we have with case alongside her in thissidekick, the sixth book in this excellent seriesAI detective Lock. It's their first live case together, sees her giving a police superintendent an icy stare for his lack of mannershaving previously been very successful with several cold cases. No matter what the life-and-death crisis, But when there's no reason not is a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. Will they be politeable to solve the case in time, is thereor will Kat find herself taken off the case and, potentially, out of a career? [[Russian Roulette by Sara Sheridan|Full Review]]isbn=139851120X}}<!-- Ramirez -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1399613073| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson[[image:ETDWB.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/ETDWB/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Thrillers|summary===[[Even The Dead Will Bleed: Book 3 Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of Tell Me When I'm Dead by Steven Ramirez]]=== [[image:4medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century.5star Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Horror|Horror]] In Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the third and final part free spirit of the ''Tell Me group and she becomes a GP. When Iwe first meet them they'm Deadre at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it'' series, Dave Pulaski is headed s going to Los Angeles – seeking revenge and retributionend in tragedy. With We don't know who suffered the events of book two still weighing heavily on Dave, he struggles against tragedy or the rage burning inside him and saves Sasha – a young escapee from consequences. Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the secret testing facilitythree friends. As events come to a climax This time, and Dave finds himself pursued by both an ex-military sociopath and a group of scientifically engineered humans it's their teenage children who flay their victims alive, the stakes are higher than ever before – will Dave make it out of this alive? And what kind of world will he have left? [[Even involved.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604|title=The Dead Will BleedTrading Game: Book 3 of Tell Me When I'm Dead by Steven Ramirez|Full Review]] <!-- Ramirez -->A Confession|-author=Gary Stevenson| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|4.5[[image:DIAYG.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/DIAYG/ref=nosim?taggenre=thebookbag-21]] Autobiography| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Dead Is All You Get: Book Two If you were to bring up an image of Tell Me When Ia city banker in your mind, you'm Dead by Steven Ramirez]]=== [[image:4re unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson.5star 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.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Horror|Horror]] There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright - extremely bright - and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was, essentially, [[:Category:Thrillersa card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.}}{{Frontpage|Thrillers]]isbn=1035021803Still battling the zombie hordes who first appeared in |title=The Antique Hunter''Tell Me When I'm Dead'', Dave Pulaski thinks his prayers have been answered when the Black Dragon Security team show up s Guide to rescue him and his wife HollyMurder|author=C L Miller|rating=3. But things only get worse – with 5|genre=Crime|summary=It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the virus mutating, and the infected getting smarterEnglish country village where she grew up. When Dave discovers the truth behind the contagion it will drive him past all limits She's back now because of faith or reason – but will he able to manage dealing with this knowledge whilst protecting Holly a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya's former mentor and those closest to him? [[Dead Is All You GetCarole'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: Book Two of Tell Me When I'm Dead by Steven Ramirez|Full Review]] <!-- Ramirez -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:TMWImDArthur, she feels, let her down badly. 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.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co 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.uk/dp/B00ESNCNG4/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover| styletitle="vertical-alignAll Tomorrow's Futures: top; text-align: left;"Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=[[Tell Me When I'm Dead: Book One 'Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of Tell Me When Ithings to come.'m Dead by Steven Ramirez]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Horror|Horror]] A recovering alcoholic, Dave Pulaski has had a long road to recovery, but finally feels like he's getting his life back. Then - a plague hits the town, turning the majority of the population into flesh-hungry monsters who crave the taste of humans. Fighting to survive - Dave's urge to hide away and drink is strong - will he fight to live when the chances of survival are so slim? With the hordes of the undead growing and the security forces outnumbered, it seems that hell has arrived for Dave... [[Tell Me When I'm Dead: Book One of Tell Me When I'm Dead by Steven Ramirez|Full Review]] <!-- Brooke Fieldhouse -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789013992.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789013992/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Gilded Ones by Brooke Fieldhouse]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]] It was a hot day in 1984 and Pulse had two job interviews for the day, but the heat wasn't the only reason why he wasn't feeling on top form. He'd had a disturbing dream the night before. He'd been following a Porsche on a difficult route, probably somewhere in the Alps when the Porsche went off the road. The passenger, a man, was dead, but the woman was still alive. ''I'm Freia...'', she said. ''It's spelled the German way.'' Of the two job interviews, the first was with an up-and-coming design studio in Brighton and it would almost certainly be good for Pulse's career. The second was with a run-down practice based in an old London house and headed by Patrick Lloyd-Lewis, whose wife, Freia, had recently died in unexplained circumstances. The link with the dream of the night before was too much for Pulse to refuse the offer of a job. He couldn't resist the lure of the mystery. [[The Gilded Ones by Brooke Fieldhouse|Full Review]] <!-- Jule -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1783099593.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1783099593/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Speaking Up by Allyson Jule]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Popular Science|Popular Science]] 'Speaking Up' has a fascinating subject matter - how language reflects and shapes our notions of gender. It looks at our use of language in media, education, religion, the workplace and personal relationships. Author Allyson Jule calls on an encyclopedic body of research from the mid twentieth century to the present day. Reading it, we feel that she has studied everything that has ever been said on gendered linguistics; she references Foucault and the Kardashians with equal rigour. [[Speaking Up by Allyson Jule|Full Review]] <!-- Sacks -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008261245.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008261245/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[You Were Made for This by Michelle Sacks]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] I'm not really sure what to say about this book. It was a really good psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns but unfortunately it just wasn't really my cup of tea. [[You Were Made for This by Michelle Sacks|Full Review]]  <!-- Webley -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1980891117.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1980891117/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[G Engleheart Pinxit 1805: A year in the life of George Engleheart by John Webley]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Art|Art]], [[:Category:History|History]] George Engleheart was one of the leading portrait miniaturists of Georgian London, with a career lasting from the 1770s to the Regency era. He was also one of the most prolific, painting nearly 5,000 miniatures altogether (over twenty of them being of King George III). Throughout most of that time he carefully recorded the names of each of his clients, and subsequently transcribed them into what is referred to as his fee book. [[G Engleheart Pinxit 1805: A year in the life of George Engleheart by John Webley|Full Review]] <!-- Hunter -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1776572033.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1776572033/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Mapmakers' Race by Eirlys Hunter]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] It's easily done. You nip off to fill everyone's water bottles, and your mum starts to fret in case you don't make it back before the train leaves. Mum gets off to find you, you make it back in good time but she doesn't, and hey presto, four children and a parrot disappearing into the unknown with no money, no home and not a parent in sight. [[The Mapmakers' Race by Eirlys Hunter|Full Review]] <!-- Ware -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1911215035.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911215035/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] I've only just got into psychological thrillers so, despite being an international best-seller, author Ruth Ware has passed me by until now. But, I can see why she's much acclaimed as I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to get started on her previous three books now. [[The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware|Full Review]] <!-- Rappaport -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786331047.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786331047/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue Russia's Imperial Family by Helen Rappaport]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:History|History]] The basic facts about the deaths of Nicholas and Alexandra, some of which were deliberately obscured at the time for various reasons, have long since been established. For the last few months of their lives in Russia the former Tsar and Tsarina, their children and few remaining servants, were held in increasingly squalid, humiliating captivity. To prevent them from being rescued, in July 1918 the revolutionary regime had them all shot and bayoneted to death in circumstances which, once the news was confirmed beyond all doubt, horrified their relatives in Europe. [[The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue Russia's Imperial Family by Helen Rappaport|Full Review]] <!-- Durrant -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:147360835X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/147360835X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Take Me In by Sabine Durrant]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] It's not pleasant, the first time Marcus and Tessa meet Dave. They've taken their toddler, Josh, to Greece on holiday and in the blink of an eye something awful happens. Tessa isn't there, Marcus isn't looking, but Dave steps in and disaster is averted. Just. They're grateful to him, of course they are, but after the usual hand shakes and weeping hugs and the offer to buy lunch for everyone, they're a little relieved to return to their villa and live out the rest of their week in peace. Just a tight little 3-person family unit. Because although Dave is a nice chap, and although of course they owe him a great deal, he is a little, well, intense. [[Take Me In by Sabine Durrant|Full Review]] <!-- Elisabeth Hyde -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473679737.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473679737/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Go Ask Fannie Farmer by Elisabeth Hyde]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Eighty-one-year-old Murray Blaire hoped for the best when he waited for his three children to arrive one Friday night. He might be a retired lawyer, a state legislator, elected congressman and now an amateur farmer but he knew that there could be trouble when Ruth and George arrived. Ruth, a corporate lawyer, would find fault and want to talk about him going into a retirement home. George, a nurse, would argue and Lizzie, a professor of English Literature, who lived locally and kept and visited him regularly, would be unpredictable. Murray hoped that all would go smoothly, but that simply wasn't going to happen. [[Go Ask Fannie Farmer by Elisabeth Hyde|Full Review]] <!-- Ramirez -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0192766333.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0192766333/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Riddle of the Runes by Janina Ramirez]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] The name Janina Ramirez is well known: her television programmes on cultural history, especially of early medieval times, are both lively and informative. She shares her extensive learning with a light hand (and a frequent giggle) and her enthusiasm encourages students and viewers alike to explore further the subjects she discusses. But how will that translate into children's fiction? Will her academic desire for accuracy make the story dull and fact-packed? Will she hold up the action to display her considerable knowledge? Nope, not a bit of it! [[Riddle of the Runes by Janina Ramirez|Full Review]] <!-- French -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0356511642.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356511642/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| styleisbn="vertical1529153298|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 -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 -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=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 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 Grey Bastards by Jonathan French]]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:5starRosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks.jpgMira, 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. 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}}{{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:{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|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.''

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 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 Grey BastardsGhost 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-and-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 absolute triumph! Fantasy, action 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 adventure cleverly wrapped around Wildlife|summary=Siôn Rowlands fell into veterinary science accidentally. His father was a super plot GP and well written charactersRowlands 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 book is was the job for him. Before long, he was at Liverpool University. It hadn't - as with so much funmany students - been his dream since he was a child. If anything, he'd wanted to be a professional footballer. }}{{Frontpage|isbn=0861541774|title=A word Nye of caution thoughPheasants|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 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 - and he killed a Ghurka. Initially, this 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 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 not suitable for a dating agency in Edinburgh, run by Ness and operating as an alternative to all readersthe online apps in providing a more personal, tailored service. As Ness has asked her younger cousin Katie if she could come and look after the tittle suggests there business, as Ness is planning to take a trip to Canada to get away for a lot while. Katie is coming out of a break up with a bad languageboyfriend, 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 the 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 LOT 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 bad languagethe 'long, thrown around all cosy afternoons in front of the fire' variety. The projects are divided by the time in general speechthey'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 loses his fiancee, and his house gets trashed. In addition 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 there 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 nefarious forces for being a good person. Spike is also some sex going to take care of Benny, and sexual language toowill certainly take care of Benny's enemies, if he, Benny, there 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 some violence but this supposed to be a humble, tidy and friendly cat, one who is not actually very explicit 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 his favourite bun has been turned into a hyperactive sticky rabbit called Bun, and the catflap they both use can chuck them out, not as constant as into the language regular back garden, but into a world of frightening adventure and bawdy jokeswhiffs. If this bothers 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'll 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'' joke? And if you could, is the question should you make it? Or is the question if you then this did, would it land? The catch is not that the book answer for youboth could well be.... For anyone who doesn't mind then this is an absolute must readno. [[The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French|Full Review]]

<!-- 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?