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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|reviews of books about to be published]].{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingauthor="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->Tom Percival<!-- Reeve -->|title=The Wrong Shoes|-rating=5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Confident Readers[[image:0192766082.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwWill's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways.amazon.co.uk/dp/0192766082/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Legend 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 Kevin: A Roly-Poly Flying Pony Adventure (Legend of Kevin 1) by Philip Reeve things like food, and Sarah McIntyre]]=== [[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:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Meet Kevin. He's a flying pony Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will's life seems bleak in every direction. And yet, and he's still has a little on the plump sidetiny amount of hope. He loves biscuits too much is whygood at art, but he's happily living in and clings to the middle moments of nowherejoy when he is drawing, in that feel like a light at the wild, wet hills end of the Outermost West. Now meet Max. He's a simple human beinglong, not flying anywhere, and wishing for a pet dark tunnel.|isbn=1398527122}}{{Frontpage|author=Sylvie Cathrall|title=A Letter to share his time in his top-floor flat with, something his Byronically goth sister and parents don't agree with. One night, however, the wild and wet hills the Luminous Deep|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary= There are wilder and wetter few greater joys than usual, and an enormous storm blows Kevin out of his nest, and on a book which lives up to the balcony outside Max's windowa compelling premise. The two are bound to become friends, but they might not be able to relax just yet, for the bad weather has not finished… [[The Legend And this is one of Kevin: A Roly-Poly Flying Pony Adventure (Legend of Kevin 1) by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyrethem.|Full Review]]isbn= 0356522776}}<!-- Elizabeth Haynes --> {{Frontpage|-isbn=0008517061| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Death in a Lonely Place|author=Stig Abell|rating=4[[image:191240804X.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/191240804X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Murder Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the future of Harriet Monkton by Elizabeth Haynes]]=== [[imagehis life with his vet girlfriend, Livia and her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{ratingdoes 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 future she wants for herself and her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in the present and putting the future on the back burner.}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime {{Frontpage|isbn=1786482126|title=The Janus Stone (HistoricalDr Ruth Galloway)|Crime (Historical)]], [[:Category:True Crimeauthor=Elly Griffiths|True rating=4.5|genre=Crime]] |summary=Builders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury'But that's just it''apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway. There was no skull. Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, she saidDr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. ''It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn''not'' Harriett, that she is it? Not our Harrietpregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago. It's some manufactured creatureHer condition will be obvious before long, that exists only for this blessed inquest: something not least because Ruth is prone to be summed up like a spirit, to be examined and pored over, to be sneered at and judgedsudden bouts of sickness. Harriet deserves to be remembered as she was to us, not picked at like carrion.''}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324And that was the problem: it seemed that there were two Harriets|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police. There was Neither side likes or has any respect for the one her friends - other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a fellow teacher, her would-be lover, her seducer missing person is buried and the man who was responsible for her landlord who was also her lover - knewdeath. Some spoke of her as kindlyThis person, he promises, virtuous is someone big and pious, but that was before her body was found behind it will be worth the chapel which she regularly attended in Bromleypolice doing what he wants. She'd been poisoned - or had taken her own lifeAnd 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. After the inquest was opened another Harriet would emergeNot much to ask, one who was about six months pregnant and who had obviously not been living the chaste life expected of a young, unmarried woman in 1843. is it? [[The Murder of Harriet Monkton by Elizabeth Haynes|Full Review]] <!new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded -- Vallance -->|-make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"0008405026|title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)[[image:1848126603.jpg|linkauthor=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1848126603/refJane Casey|rating=nosim?tag5|genre=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalIt's sixteen years since nine-align: top; textyear-align: left;"|===[[You Only Live Once by Jess Vallance]]=== [[image:4starold Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Gracie Dart is She was never found and the investigation ground to a studioushalt. Now, her mother, Helena, responsible student with a colour coded timetable and French verbs covering her wallsfather are dead in their bed. She's hardworking and smart but once her final school exams are overInitially, Gracie has it looks like a revelation. After she mistakenly thinks shestraightforward murder/suicide but there's contracted a fatal illness (something about the perils positioning of looking up symptoms on the internet) Gracie decides to start living bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her lifeboss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. Her studies are finished for the summer so Gracie wants What looked as though it was going to say yes to every opportunity that comes her way, be an open-and just like her meticulous study timetable-shut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, Gracie Dart doesn't do anything by half measuresUna Burt) are less convinced. [[You Only Live Once by Jess Vallance|Full Review]]}}<!-- Bennett -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0571379877| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet[[image:1786487861|rating=3.jpg5|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786487861/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalEdward Jevons is a working-align: top; textclass young man, obsessed with his upper-align: left;"|===[[Foundryside by class friends, Robert and Stanza. Robert Jackson Bennett]]=== [[image:5star's a theatre director.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] Sancia Grado is just about He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to pull off the biggest heist of her fugitive life run errands for more money than she him. Edward has ever seen before been in all her gruelling years on Tevannelove with Stanza since their university days - and he's streets. The job: steal a small wooden box from a safe deep inside the Waterwatch-patrolled harbour and deliver it untouched drunkenly confided how he feels to the clientRobert. Fearless and quick, she is the best thief Foundryside has to offer and has never interfered with jobs before. Yet once she has the box Most men in her possession, she canRobert't shake the uneasy apprehensive feeling of what lies within. For Sancia is no ordinary thief, with the magical ability to scrive and understand everything she touches shes position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he's about not like most men: Edward is left to discover stumble upon the two of them kissing in a secret that will sent her fleeing for her life, unearthing myths that are it transpires more truth than fairy-tale. Working against the clock, Sancia will work to save her world and prevent a descent into destruction. [[Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett|Full Review]]dark passageway.}}<!-- Stone -->{{Frontpage|author=Jo Callaghan|-title=Leave No Trace| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"4|genre=Crime[[image:1789014921.jpg|linksummary=http://www.amazon.coWhen a man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock.uk/dp/1789014921/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[What It's Left Unsaid by Deborah Stone]]=== [[image:4startheir first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]  Sasha has But when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with a lot on her plate. Husband Jeremy is distant potential serial killer and absent and the marriage needs work. Son Zac is entering a rebellious adolescent phase and it's hard very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to know how their AI Future Policing project. Will they be able to redirect him. Mother Anniesolve the case in time, an alcoholic, is beginning or will Kat find herself taken off the journey into dementia case and has never been an easy person at the best , potentially, out of times. Thank heavens for her lovely dog, Sebastian, and his unconditional love. [[What's Left Unsaid by Deborah Stonea career?|Full Review]]isbn=139851120X}}<!-- Marion Leigh -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1399613073| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson[[image:1789014190.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789014190/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  Thrillers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Holiday Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to Die For by Marion Leigh]]=== [[image:4starbe a cardiothoracic surgeon.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] It was Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the holiday free spirit of a lifetime: Petra Minx was accompanying her childhood friend, Carlo, to his cousin's wedding in South Africa the group and taking the opportunity to see as much of the country as she could whilst she was therebecomes a GP. Petra works for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Carlo is from Interpol, so When we first meet them they're hoping for at a holiday free from crime, although Carlo does seem to have rather more interest in diamond smuggling than the average tourist drug and alcohol-fuelled party and Petrait's boss doesngoing to end in tragedy. We don't seem to appreciate know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that she's on vacationwill impact the three friends. ItThis time, it's not asking much for her to track down a young girl their teenage children who's the daughter of an influential friend and check that she's OK, is it? Then there are Megan and Hilary: they're on a gap year, but Petra can't help but think that they're getting themselves into dangers they don't understandinvolved.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604|title=The Trading Game: A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson|rating=4. Still, it's not going 5|genre=Autobiography|summary=If you were to spoil bring up an image of a wedding city banker in a vineyardyour mind, is it? you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. The bride does seem strangely uninvolved in A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the proceedingsEast End, where he was familiar with violence, thoughpoverty and injustice... [[A Holiday There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to Die For by Marion Leigh|Full Review]] <!the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright -extremely bright - Ellis -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789014204and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy.jpg|link=http://www.amazon He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid.co It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.uk/dp/1789014204/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035021803| styletitle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|author=C L Miller|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary==[[The Place Where Love Should Be by Elizabeth Ellis]]=== [[image:4starIt'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:General Fiction|General Fiction]]   She's back now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya's former mentor and Carole'Edward s close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is six weeks old dead and I’ve had no sleep. I had thirty stitches in my perineumthe circumstances seem suspicious, to say the wounds still tug and itchleast. They Arthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to do the stitches twice because the first lot became infected. The old-school midwife told me I wasn’t paying enough attention to personal hygiene. I must shower twice a dayvillage: Arthur, she feels, or better still, take a salt bathlet her down badly. Do Even though they really expect me to do that? Have they ever tried were in business together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to shower when be near the man or pursue the profession she loved. After the split, she worked in a baby is crying cafe, met and you’re so tired you can barely stand and your partner is banging around downstairs because he’s late for work again?''married James (on the rebound from the love of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced.}}{{FrontpageI think most women have felt like this shortly after having a baby. Many of them simply managed to put one foot in front of the other until things calmed down but some will have found it harder and developed post-natal depression|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover[[The Place Where Love Should Be by Elizabeth Ellis|Full Review]] <!-- Stein -->title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt|-author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"5|genre=Science Fiction[[image:1912624044.jpg|linksummary=http://www''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.amazon.co.uk/dp/1912624044/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Unrest by Jesper Stein]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] DCI Steen is assigned a puzzling case – the tortured body of a man found in a cemetery in Copenhagen but left there during a riot – a riot that had the area swarming in police. How could anyone have been murdered and left in the open with so many police on site? Unless the killer is one of them… As the case becomes more and more complicated, it soon begins to take a toll on Steen's already troubled personal life. He won't stop until the killer is caught, whatever the consequences. But the consequences may turn out to be greater than expected – especially for Axel himself… [[Unrest by Jesper Stein|Full Review]] <!-- Watson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0993454682.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0993454682/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Rockstar Retirement Programme: How to retire like a rockstar by Dominic Watson]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Even with a birthday fast approaching, I'm still a bit young to be reading about retirement. My next life change in the pipeline will be a big one, and it does involve leaving the 9 to 5 behind for a yacht and the silky blue waters of the Caribbean, but only for a year, and then I will be back, tanned and refreshed but barely 40 and with many working years still to come. Also, I like work. My job is interesting, I get to travel, what we do matters and it's not badly rewarded. So no, I'm not planning to retire just yet. But as the premise of this book is about planning (and if not now, then when?) I was still intrigued. [[Rockstar Retirement Programme: How to retire like a rockstar by Dominic Watson|Full Review]] <!-- Lynda La Plante -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785764667.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785764667/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Murder Mile (Jane Tennison 4) by Lynda La Plante]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] It was February 1979 in the strike-ridden 'Winter of Discontent' when a body was discovered in Peckham. It was to be the first of two bodies in two days, but the first - that of a young woman - would remain unidentified for some time. The second - an older lady - was found in the boot of her car by her son. Jane Tennison has been promoted to Sergeant and finds herself in the midst of an investigation hindered by press articles about police incompetence and pressure to get a quick result. Four days later and another body to add to the count, the police have named their suspect, but Tennison has her doubts. [[Murder Mile (Jane Tennison 4) by Lynda La Plante|Full Review]] <!-- Val McDermid -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:140870935X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/140870935X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Broken Ground by Val McDermid]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] As the Officer in Charge of the Historic Cases Unit, DCI Karen Pirie rarely finds herself at the scene of the crime, but for once, she's in the right place at the right time when a body is dug up in the Highlands. Initially it looks as though the death dates back to WWII, but the fact that the dead man is wearing a pair of Nikes means that the case is Karen's. A little while later she'd come to think that she'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time when she overheard a conversation in a cafe. Intervening, she thought that she'd prevented a crime, but what she said would come back to haunt her. [[Broken Ground by Val McDermid|Full Review]] <!-- LaPlante -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785659626.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785659626/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Half Moon Bay is a small town on the west coast of America, a little down from San Francisco. Jane has just moved there, to start a new life after losing everything when her teenage daughter was killed and her husband left her. Although she has begun to find a little peace in the quiet, seaside town, one day a child goes missing, bringing back painful memories for Jane of her grief and loss and, also, rousing the suspicions of the local townsfolk that she is somehow involved in the disappearance. [[Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante|Full Review]] <!-- Hunt -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B079RJSJS7.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079RJSJS7/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Phantom by Leo Hunt]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Sixteen-year-old Nova is an undercity dweller and a leecher - a futuristic kind of pickpocket who uses tech hacks to steal byts from hapless corps workers. The higher up in the city you live, the more sunlight you see and the easier your life. For leechers like Nova, four hundred storeys below the surface, life is tough. But with the help of the hacking program Phantom, invented by legendary anti-corps hacker the Moth, Nova can sneak up to the city, leech some byts and at least make rent. v[[Phantom by Leo Hunt|Full Review]] <!-- Claire Askew -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:147367302X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/147367302X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[All the Hidden Truths (Three Rivers) by Claire Askew]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] As a news item, school shootings always terrify me: the deaths are bad enough, but even the young people who survive are always going to be scarred by the fact that this was done to them by one of their number. It doesn't end on the day, either. School shootings cast a very long shadow. May the 14th had the makings of being a normal day until Ryan Summers used three modified starting pistols to shoot thirteen fellow students - and one last bullet to kill himself. We follow the story through the lives of three women: Moira Summers, the mother of the murderer, Helen Birch, the newly-promoted detective inspector who will investigate the killings and Ishbel Hodgekiss, the mother of one of the victims. [[All the Hidden Truths (Three Rivers) by Claire Askew|Full Review]] <!-- Aaron -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690613.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690613/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Garrison Girl (Attack on Titan) by Rachel Aaron]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dystopian Fiction|Dystopian Fiction]] ''You want me to be like everyone else and spend my life hiding inside the walls where it's safe, but that's an illusion. So long as there are titans out there… no one is safe'' In the dystopian world of Attack on Titan, humanity hides behind the safety of high impenetrable walls to keep out the enemies outside. Known as titans, these enemies are impossibly tall human like creatures, with sharp hungry teeth and regenerative powers. Difficult to kill and innumerable they roam the Earth looking for prey, and whilst the walls have always kept them out, that has begun to change… [[Garrison Girl (Attack on Titan) by Rachel Aaron|Full Review]]  <!-- Bennett -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471407535.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471407535/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Island by M A Bennett]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] A contemporary take on the savage classic ''Lord of the Flies'': a group of mismatched, modern-day teenagers must fight to survive on a deserted island. Link is a fish out of water. Newly arrived from America, he is finding it hard to settle into the venerable and prestigious Osney School. Who knew there could be so many strange traditions to understand? And what kind of school ranks its students by how fast they can run round the school quad - however ancient that quad may be? When Link runs the slowest time in years, he immediately becomes the butt of every school joke. And some students are determined to make his life more miserable than others... [[The Island by M A Bennett|Full Review]] <!-- Ruffles -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1444937685.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444937685/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Reeling from a tragedy and unable to cope, unemployed actor Arlo decides to get on a plane and go somewhere new. [[Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles|Full Review]] <!-- Scott -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0593072286.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0593072286/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Treachery of Spies by Manda Scott]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] When Inspector Inès Picaut is called to investigate the horrific murder of a strikingly beautiful elderly lady, she's puzzled – whilst the identity of the woman has been erased, it's clear that she has been killed in the same way that traitors to the resistance were executed in World War Two. Solving the mystery will lead Inès deep into the history of this woman – and back to a time when the men and women of 1940s France were engaged in a desperate, brutal fight for survival against their Nazi oppressors. As more and more secrets come to light, Inès discovers that there are many in the present who would rather their past stay buried – and many who would kill to keep secrets safe… [[A Treachery of Spies by Manda Scott|Full Review]] <!-- Rutger -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1538761858.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1538761858/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| stylesummary="verticalIt'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 Anomaly by Michael Rutger]]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:Horror{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|Horror]]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.''

Tomb Raider meets Indiana Jones within an XWithin 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-Files episodewitch 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, for the Youtube eratown's leader, and Ellie takes her place beside her. Join As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the rare ability to communicate with the dead, putting her at the intrepid (if rather inept) team heart of a maelstrom of internet adventurers 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 head out 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-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 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 yet another search 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 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 meet up with an anomalyold 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 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 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 younger 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. 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 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' only to s always her very helpful (spoilersand rather handsome) actually find oneneighbour, 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. Imagine if Some will be quick knits - others are of the 'long, instead cosy afternoons in front of 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 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 scared by their own actingpicky.}}{{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. Oh, and someone has delivered a really weird, disturbing coffin-sized object to his home, Derek Acorah and Yvette Fielding actually found something; it's possible that whoever or whatever was inside is the thing that has trashed his house! The thing is, Benny is the starting point of very last person to deserve all this bookbad luck. Deep in He is a cave within nice person. A really nice person. So fortunately for Benny it turns out that the Grand Canyon our team 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 going to take care of Benny, and will certainly take care of adventurers find themselves trapped in 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 Stephen King plot with added levels humble, tidy and friendly cat, one who is able to sleep and eat and eat and sleep and, well, whatever takes his fancy next of paranoia 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 conspiracy thrown the catflap they both use can chuck them out, not into the blendregular 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 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 did, would it land? The Anomaly by Michael Rutger|Full Review]]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?