Changes

[[Category:New Reviews|General Fiction]]__NOTOC__ <!{{Frontpage|author=Jenny Lecoat|title=Beyond Summerland|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary=Jean lives on Jersey with her mother where they are celebrating the end of the occupation. During the war, Jean's father was arrested for listening to a banned radio and soldiers took him away one night, leaving Jean and her mother waiting for years for news of him. As the British finally free the Channel islands from the Nazis, and the war is finally over, their hopes rise that they will finally learn what became of him. But will the truth come as a relief, or will it raise further questions around what else happened during the war? Who was the informer who told the Nazis about the radio? And what other secrets have been kept throughout the occupation?|isbn=1846976537}}{{Frontpage|author=Onyi Nwabineli|title=Allow Me to Introduce Myself|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Anuri spent her childhood on display to the world, thanks to her step-mother Ophelia's increasingly popular presence on social media, where she posted every step of Anuri's childhood for sponsorships and influencer deals and, basically, monetary gain. Now Anuri is in her twenties and she is slowly trying to regain her confidence and to get her life back, suing her step-mother to take down the content about her. Anuri is battling alcoholism, failing to start her PhD, undergoing therapy and secretly abusing people online and receiving money from them for doing so. Most importantly, she is desperately worried about her little sister, who is the new focus of Ophelia's online empire. Can she save her sister, and perhaps herself and her relationship with her father at the same time?|isbn=0861546873}}{{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=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=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's always her very helpful (and rather handsome) neighbour, William, to lend a hand…|isbn=1846976596}}{{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- Remove 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 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 going to take care of Benny, and will certainly take care of Benny's enemies, if he, Benny, and Harper (a waitress slash Private Investigator who finds herself roped into Benny's wild adventure) can figure out who exactly they are.|isbn=1662500491}}{{Frontpage|author=Katherine Howe|title=A True Account|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Hannah Masury is living in Boston, having been sent to live with a family who run an inn, and being made to work there from a young age. When she hears there is to be a hanging of some pirates in the town, she decides to go and watch. Enthralled and horrified in equal measure, Hannah finds herself embroiled in a young boy's death at the hands of two vicious pirates. She hides away, so that they don't find and kill her too, and then to escape them completely she runs away to sea, dressing as a boy and joining the notorious Ned Low's pirate ship as a cabin boy. She soon finds herself in the thick of things when there is a mutiny on board, and from there we are caught up in her rip roaring tale of life on the ocean waves.|isbn=0861547438}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1471180158|title=Maybe Tomorrow|author=Penny Parkes|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Jamie Matson works in an upper-class grocery store, for a man who's a control freak with all the subtlety of a half brick. Jamie's son, Bo, 'has his problems'. He's asthmatic and the more you read, the more you'll suspect that he's on the autistic spectrum. Sometimes Jamie needs to take time off at short notice ->she's a frequent flier in the local A&E and sometimes Bo's not fit enough to go to school. Missed shifts or the need to be away on time to pick Bo up from school are occasions when Jamie can be controlled and put in the wrong. It was going to come to a head.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0CKD1L5JL|title=Radio Free Olympia|author=Jeffrey Dunn|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary= Petr is an orphan. Rescued by the strange, reclusive Bear, he is brought up far from bustling cities and busy human society, in the forests of Washington's Olympic Peninsula. After Bear dies and a brief sojourn in human company, and armed with only a pirate radio transmitter, Petr goes on a journey through the forest, broadcasting the strange, wild and rarely heard voices he encounters.}}{{Frontpage|author=Sarah Marsh|title=A Sign of Her Own|rating=3.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=After a bout of scarlet fever as a child, Ellen Lark loses her hearing. Suddenly plunged into a world of silence, everything about her life changes. Living in a time when the use of sign language was seen as something only savages do, Ellen is sent to a school where she is taught to lip read, but physically restrained from signing. From here, she ends up in another school studying under Alexander Graham Bell who has been teaching the deaf and using a system called Visible Speech. At the same time, Bell is working on other inventions and ideas, and Ellen finds herself unwittingly caught up in a complicated tangle of espionage.|isbn=1035401614}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0BC3YTCMR|title=Good Girls Die|author=Ayura Ayira|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=''This story is not for everyone.''

{|classLavender Daniels was three weeks short of her fifteenth birthday when The Incident happened. She was a very bright student, a bit too nerdy if truth be told, and suffered from vitiligo -"wikitable" cellpadding="15" people were afraid to hug her in case it's contagious. <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- Forman -->|-| style="width: 10It's not easy being a black girl whose skin is 84%; verticalwhite. She had a crush on seventeen-align: top; textyear-alignold Reggie Anderson but never thought he would notice her. Then he did: center;"|[[imageLavender was very good at math and Reggie asked if she would tutor him. She readily agreed:Forman_Lost.jpg|link=httptutoring was something she gladly did at church://wwwthis was just an extension.amazon She went to his house and he raped her.co In shock, she even allowed him to give her a lift home.uk/dp/1471173720/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}

{{Frontpage|isbn=B0BYF82CXT|title=Semi-Detached|author=Deborah Stone|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary=''Bill and Amanda are living in a semi-detached house, stuck in a depressing rut of boredom and disappointment, when Terry and Fiona – glamorous, successful and very much in love – move in next door. Despite their different outlooks on life, the couples befriend each other and life appears to improve for both pairs. But all is not what it seems, and their increasingly interconnected relationships are fated for tragedy.''}}{{Frontpage|author=Shalini Boland|title=The Silent Bride|rating=3|genre=General Fiction|summary= Alice and Seth are a match made in heaven. He is everything she has been searching for; handsome, accomplished, clever, funny; total and utter husband-material. She is all he could possibly want in a wife; beautiful, successful, confident… and so the inevitable proposal is eagerly accepted by Alice and the wedding is planned and set. When the much-anticipated day arrives, Alice is walked down the aisle by her father, beaming with pride and excitement as she surveys the congregation – their friends assembled to celebrate this joyful day and when Seth turns to face his approaching bride, Alice's world implodes because she has absolutely no idea who the man at the altar is, who is waiting for her to become his wife.| styleisbn="vertical1662507089}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1787636003|title=The Girls of Summer|author=Katie Bishop|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|summary=It was the summer when Rachel Evans turned eighteen that she and Caroline went backpacking around Greece and arrived on the island. Rachel wasn't exactly innocent but she was, perhaps, naive, so when thirty-four-alignyear-old Alistair Wright started to take an interest in her, she was flattered rather than wary. It was quite a while before he made any sort of physical approach to her and by that time she was obsessed by him. Alistair worked for Henry Taylor, looking after his interests on the island and in particular in the bar where all the girls either worked or partied.}}{{Frontpage|author=Amanda Craig|title=Three Graces|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary= Few styles of contemporary fiction interest me like the state-of-the-nation novel. There's something so utterly compelling about any writer who can catch hold of the atmosphere of the day and capture it, crafting an image of the country as it stands in one particular moment. To say that Amanda Craig is skilled at doing this would be embarrassingly inadequate: top; textshe's practically synonymous with the genre of contemporary social fiction at this point. She has such a gift for weaving the ongoing issues of the day into the lives of her characters in a way that feels natural and lived-alignin, never making them ciphers for social commentary but instead fully realised people, grappling with issues far larger than themselves.|isbn= 140871468X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=152915118X|title=Pineapple Street|author=Jenny Jackson|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=''Pineapple Street'' is the story of three women: left;"Sasha, Darley and Georgiana. Darley and George are sisters and Sasha is married to their brother Cord. They're Stocktons, only Sasha isn't a Stockton by birth so she isn't readily accepted into the tribe. The problem's exacerbated when the clan matriarch, Tilda, asks Cord and Sasha if they'd like to move into the Pineapple Street property. Tilda and Chip have renovated and downsized to another property, a street or so away, which they own. They won't need any of the furniture from Pineapple Street, so Sasha and Cord can move straight in. Nominally, they had a choice but that wasn't the reality. Darley and Georgiana start to call Sasha 'the gold digger'. She's living in ''their'' family home. They use it so often that they abbreviate it to 'the GD'.}}{{Frontpage|author=Emily Critchley|title=One Puzzling Afternoon|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=[[I Have Lost My Way 84 year old Edie has lived in the same small town for almost her whole life, but now she is facing a move as her son wants to move to another house and bring Edie to live with his family, as Edie is starting to lose her memory. However, Edie is tormented by Gayle Forman]]the memory of her childhood friend, Lucy, who went missing over 60 years ago, and the worry that there was a secret she was keeping for Lucy that somehow might be the thing that reveals the truth of what happened all that time ago. After 'seeing' Lucy in the high street, just as she was the last time she saw her, she starts to find pockets of memories coming back to her. And yet as she remembers the past, she is forgetting more and more in her day to day life. Will she uncover the truth about Lucy's disappearance before her move, and before her memories are gone forever?|isbn=1804181250}}{{Frontpage|author=Madelaine Lucas|title=Thirst for Salt|rating=5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary= ''Love, I'd read, was supposed to be a light and weightless feeling, but I had always longed for gravity''

[[image:5starTold from a retrospective view, a young woman unravels the year-long relationship that once defined her. Overlaid with later wisdom, the narrator relives the affair with a man twenty years her senior from its inception – the summer after finishing university – to its sorrowful end the summer after. Set against the backdrop of an isolated Australian coastal town ''Thirst for Salt'' details the 24-year-old narrator's deepening relationship with her older lover, depicting its all-consuming nature, how it changed her perspective on both romantic and familial relationships and how it altered her irrevocably.jpg|linkisbn=Category:{0861546490}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008506337|title=The Garnett Girls|author=Georgina Moore|rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:=5|genre=General Fiction|General Fiction]]summary=The love affair between Margo Garnett and poet Richard O'Leary was all-consuming, apparently on both sides. Margo was just sixteen when they fell in love. Richard was twenty-one and described by Margo's mother as 'an older man'. Her parents worried that Richard's influence would take her away from what they felt she could achieve - going to Oxford and having a glittering career. In the event, they eloped and Richard took her away from the Isle of Wight. Margo did go to Oxford and went on to become a well-respected journalist. The couple had three children: Rachel, Imogen and Sasha. Life was lived in London and holidays were spent at Sandcove, the family home on the Isle of Wight. Even then the doubts about Richard's drinking were never far from Margo's mind: ''she would never be able to leave him in charge''.

''I Have Lost My Way'' tells the story of three individuals who have each lost something important to Then Richard left them leading to them losing their way. Freya has lost her voice, Harun has lost his love and Nathaniel has lost everything. However, these three elements do not give justice to the extent of what each character has lost. In this expertly written novel, Gayle Forman writes about how these three dissimilar individuals each came to lose what was most important to them, causing them to all meet one fateful day in New York City. [[I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman|Full Review]]}}

<!-- Santorella -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1914585402| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Dashboard Elvis is Dead[[image:1788038096.jpg|linkauthor=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788038096/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] David F Ross| stylerating="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Dyed Souls by Gary Santorella]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg5|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] The USA, early 1980s. Charlie (or Charles, if hesummary=I reviewed David F Ross's feeling belligerent, and he often is) is being taken back to his home by his drop-out, slutty mother. The home is called a Cottage, and while the book doesn[[There't guide us to understand it perfectly, it seems to mean he has a private room in a large self-contained bungalow, on a gated compound with round-the-clock adult supervision. s Only One Danny Garvey by David F Ross|There's Only One Danny Garvey]] a paddock with horses for the kids to ride, their own school – couple of years back and all the adults are armed with Thorazine to calm the kids down. Charlie, despite his obvious bookish intelligence, is struggling to get to grips with why remember being absolutely floored by how powerful and how he's ended up where he is, but affecting it must have something to do with his single parent mother being violent, and the fact he is no longer allowed to stay with his grandfatherwas. This book is It was a slightly woozy look at his thoughtsgripping, as he tries to build a relationship with a girl in a different Cottageemotionally wounding read, and work out his lot. He certainly has a lot rereading my review of it my main takeaway was that I might not have lavished enough praise on his plate for a thirteen-year-oldit. [[Dyed Souls by Gary Santorella|Full Review]] <!-- Simsion -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473675405.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473675405/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] When I read the blurb for this book, I found myself instantly interested in its premise of two people trying to start their lives again following serious life changes. The book did not disappoint. [[Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist|Full Review]] <!-- Forman -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Forman_Lost.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471173720/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] ''I Have Lost My Way'' tells the story of three individuals who have each lost something important to them leading to them losing their way. Freya has lost her voice, Harun has lost his love and Nathaniel has lost everything. However, these three elements do not give justice to the extent of what each character has lost. In this expertly written novel, Gayle Forman writes about how these three dissimilar individuals each came to lose what was most important to them, causing them to all meet one fateful day in New York City. [[I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman|Full Review]] <!-- Schimmelpfennig -->Frontpage|-| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Lucy Ashe[[image:0857057014.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0857057014/ref=nosim?tagtitle=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[One Clear Ice-Cold January Morning at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century by Roland Schimmelpfennig Clara and Jamie Bulloch (translator)]]===Olivia[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] First, forgive me if I don't refer to this book with its full title often. It's pointedly precise, accurate, and rather ungainly – when in fact the book it describes has only the former two attributes in any quantity. What happens in January is that a wild wolf walks across the frozen river separating Poland and eastern Germany. Which means that, when the book starts properly, mid-February, it has had time to get a lot closer to Berlin – within 80 kilometres, to be precise, for that is the road marker where one of our main characters sees it. He is trying to get back to work in Berlin for the first time in a month, and to be with his girlfriend, not knowing she has had an infidelity while he was away. Also fancying the bright lights and big city are a teenaged pair of love-birds, the boy and girl next door to each other in an eastern village, who flee an unhappy lot on the off-chance of a better one. You just know there is a chance that these characters – human and lupine alike – are sucked into one combined narrative, but you won't know quite what that will entail…[[One Clear Ice-Cold January Morning at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century by Roland Schimmelpfennig and Jamie Bulloch (translator)|Full Review]] <!-- Banks -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Banks_W.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co4.uk/dp/ISBN/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[W by John Banks]]===5[[image:4star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] On the slopes of Mt Hood in Oregon, an 1000-year old Viking is discovered frozen - three thousand miles further west than any previously known Viking exploration. Josh Kinninger is inspired by the Viking discovery - three personal catastrophes having left him angry, unmoored and with his world in turmoil. Beginning a journey westward, he's filled with a desire to wreak vengeance on the individuals he finds morally corrupt. [[W by John Banks|Full Review]] <!-- Hepworth -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473674239.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473674239/ref=nosim?tagsummary=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Pleasant Court year is a cul-de-sac a few minutes from the beach in Melbourne1933. Kids play in the street and it's the sort of The place people aspire to. Certainly that? Sadler's how the families who live there feel and there's a good sense of communityWells. Ben Ballerinas Clara and Essie Olivia are glad that Essie's mother is living next door as Essie had a mental breakdown three years ago when her first daughter was having difficulty sleepingsisters, twins no less. Mia's come through that stage, but now there's Poppy, who's been Identical on the perfect baby for the first six months of her life, outside but is just starting to be difficult. Bennot, in particularwe learn, is pleased that he can rely on Barbara to keep an eye on the situation whilst he's out at workinside. [[The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth|Full Review]] <!-- Walton -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Walton_AskAnd not on stage, either.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788038053/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ask For Blues by Malcolm Walton]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Entertainment|Entertainment]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Malcolm WaltonBecause there's book is clearly a memoir about his introduction to the Trad Jazz scene of the late 1950's and early 1960's, but he has chosen to write it in the form of a novel, claiming in his prologue lot that this would give the book builds a different approach to the music memoirdancer. His protagonist 'Martin' takes on Malcolm's mantle, and begins with his first discovery of the Salvation Army band with his grandfather. This catapults him into a love of music, initially taking piano lessons, and later delving into his true love – the trumpet. [[Ask For Blues by Malcolm Walton|Full Review]]<br><!-- Bala -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Bala_Boat.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0385542291/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Boat People by Sharon Bala]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Among the 500 Sri Lankans in a rickety boat making its way to Vancouver Island are Mahindan and his six-year-old son Sellian. When the boat arrives the Canadian authorities take all the passengers into custody, placing the women and children in a separate facility from the men. A gruelling series of hearings will decide on the fate of each individual or family: whether they will Some things that can be allowed to stay in Canada, taught or deported back to Sri Lanka. The government fears that up to half of these asylum-seekers may have links to the Tamil Tigers, a terrorist grouplearnt – discipline, so judges are instructed attention to have a firm hand. [[The Boat People by Sharon Bala|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Kidd -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Kidd_Hoarder.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1782118497/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Hoarder by Jess Kidd]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Cathal Flood is an old, belligerent man, living in a filthy, crowded house that was once a family home. When Maud Drennan detail – underpaid carer and unintentional psychic is employed to look after the ancient Cathal, she assumes she'll just be the next in a long line of short-term dogsbodies for the old man. Insteadsome things, Maud finds herself drawn into the mysteries concealed within Cathal's once great house – and as Maud begins to clean and sort the rooms she uncovers secrets about the old man that awaken long-hidden memories within Maud herself. With the aid of her highly glamourous yet utterly agoraphobic landlady and a troop of holy ghosts, Maud must uncover the secrets at the heart of the house – and exactly why they were buried… [[The Hoarder by Jess Kidd|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Makumbi -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Makumbu_Kintu.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1786073773?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1786073773]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] ''Kintu'je ne sais quoi' opens with unbridled authority and mercilessness. In just a few pages a man has been hunted down by an angry mob in Uganda. He is then brained with a concrete slab; his woman is left in widowhood and has the hard task of dealing with her man's debt. Blood flows easily, and quickly, when your familythat don's steps are haunted by a curse that spans generationst come from the classroom. [[Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Vaughan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Vaughan Scandal.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1471164993?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1471164993]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Sophie had been married to James for twelve years and two children: to be honest she was more than a little bit in awe of him. James Whitehouse was an MP and junior minister: perhaps most importantly he was a friend of the prime minister, so when he had to admit that he'd been having an affair he was confident that some contritionA stage presence, a public admission that he'd been wrong, that he was not perfectcharm, would soon have his career back on track. And it seemed as though that was the way it was going, until a friend of the 'other woman', parliamentary researcher Olivia Lytton, persuaded her to go to the police. There was no dispute that the relationship had been consensual, but after James had finished the affair there was an incident in a lift in House of Commons and the police and the Crown Prosecution Service were both of the opinion that this amounted to rape. The prosecuting counsel is Kate Woodcroft and shejoie de vivre's very determined that Whitehouse is going to be brought to book. [[Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Dean -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Dean Dark.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/178607253X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=178607253X]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Dark Pines by Will Dean]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Tuva Moodyson works for a local paper in small town Sweden - there to be near an ailing Mother, but desperate for the big break that will have her moving on to pastures new. Just outside of her town, Gavrik, two bodies lie deep in the forest - brutally murdered and their eyes ripped out. They bring back dark memories for a town that has seen this crime before - and Tuva is desperate to find the killer. At first, she's just out to write a good story - but as the crimes continue she finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into the forests outside of Gavrik, filled with stranger characters and dark secrets. Will she find the killer before they find her? [[Dark Pines by Will Dean|Full Review]] <!-- Fry -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Fry_Mythos.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0718188721/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece by Stephen Fry]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] The Greek Myths are, arguably, the greatest stories ever told. So old and influential they cast difference between a shadow over western tales and traditions, yet remain relatable and readable millennia later. Here comedian, actor, television presenter, actor and author Stephen Fry brings his considerable talent to these special stories and recreates them with a wit, warmth and humanity that brings them into the modern age whilst still giving the honour and respect that such ancient and influential stories deserve. [[Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece by Stephen Fry|Full Review]] <!-- Curtis -->|-| style="width: 10%; verticalhard-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Curtis_Water.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0995465754/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Water & Glass by Abi Curtis]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]worker, [[:Category:Dystopian Fiction|Dystopian Fiction]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Something has happened, something very nasty and on a submarine a pregnant elephant is one of only a handful of animals living below the waves. We follow Nerissa Crane, a vet, as she remembers recent events, looks after the animals and falls into a world of intrigue. It is difficult to properly review this book without giving too much away. There will be mild spoilers throughout this right from the start but I will try to avoid the main ones. [[Water & Glass by Abi Curtis|Full Review]] <!-- Hill -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Hill_Strange.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.costar.uk/dp/147322117X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|0861544080===[[Strange Weather by Joe Hill]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Strange Weather is a collection of four short novels all linked by, unsurprisingly, strange and cataclysmic weather. Each novel is distinct and showcases Hill's restrained yet vivid style which takes everyday events and makes them bitingly, acerbically macabre or blindingly beautiful, often switching from one sentence to the next. As Hill himself says ''the beauty of the world and the horror of the world were twined together'', never is this truer than in Strange Weather where moments of abject horror are coupled with raw beauty. [[Strange Weather by Joe Hill|Full Review]] |} {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Michelle de KretserHeather Fawcett|title=The Life to ComeEmily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries|rating=34

|summary=''The Life to Come'' tells the story of several ''interesting'' characters who are all linked by one person: Pippa. The novel Emily Wilde is split into five chapters with each one focusing an expert academic scholar on a different personfaerie lore, from Cassie and her bizarre relationship with Ash to George who she has finished his thesis travelled extensively, and is in researched meticulously, to write her life's work, the process very first encyclopaedia of writing his first novelfaeries. Pippa Whilst she is brilliant at research and speaking to faeries, who she is also a writernot so good with people. So when she finds herself far, appears far North in each the small village of these chaptersHrafvsnik, in some cases just as a background character. Howeverhaving somehow offended the village matriarch, she is not sure what I found most fascinating about this novel was that de Kretser tells she has done, nor how to redeem herself and put her final investigations for her book back on the story of Pippa's life through all these various appearances right track. Enter Wendell Bambleby, her dashingly handsome and leaves the reader with a real sense of insufferable rival who she is as a person arrives unexpectedly, all charm and having watched her development as a characterdelight, much to Emily's frustration. But why is he here? What does he want? And what exactly is going on with the faerie folk around Hravsnik?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1760296708</amazonuk>0356519120

{{newreview <!-- remove 29/12 -->Frontpage|isbn=1398515388|title=Servants of The Boy and the UndergroundDog|author=David SsembajjoSeishu Hase and Alison Watts (translator)|rating=34.5

|summary=Having experienced a terrible famine First of all, it was the earthquake, deep in the ocean floor, which created the tsunami and this, in his own countryturn, Kalamchi leaves to travel caused the nuclear meltdown. The result was complete and learnutter devastation. He returns with a burning desire to feed his people - but not only to feed their stomachs but to feed their minds The deaths were uncountable, tooand the loss of livelihoods was widespread. Kalamchi wants to raise his people's consciousness so The fact that they can fight against many pets were separated from their owners came far down the dictator Bamutu list of priorities but - chillingly known as six months after the tsunami - Kazumasa Nakagaki discovered a dog outside a convenience store. He wasn't a dog person but the convenience store owner'president for life s comment that he would call Public Health prompted Kazumasa to open his car door and after death''Tamon the dog jumped in.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848765800</amazonuk>

 {{newreview <!-- remove 28/12 -->Frontpage|author=Rob MurphyChristopher Bowden|title=Rotten to the CoreMr Magenta

|genre=Thrillers General Fiction|summary=ItChristopher Bowden's 2009, and Russia look like being awarded the football World Cup hosting rights for the oh-so-distant 2018 tournament - that latest novel isa patient untangling of a seemingly ordinary woman's life, until England stick their oar in. They have solved their hooligan problem, and improved their transport system, and so at last are valid final holderscarried out by her nephew after she has died. Watching this is France, The aunt who have to reciprocate with the Russians who helped them get France '98, always provided a safe harbour and they have a plan. At this stage the UEFA European championship little bit of 2016 has not been awarded, and while France remain favourites indulgence to get the job, again some upstart idea has poked its head above the parapet - a joint offering from Wales and Scotland. Yes, these two tiny countries, separated by 200 miles and without young nephew had had a brilliant connection from one to the other, much more interesting life than that nephew Stephen had ever realised and without some vital posh hotels here and there, and with no serious claim it seems to soccer fame when it comes him an obligation to winning things, are unlikely hosts. But what if France could persuade the world it was a good idea - and let Russian espionage prove find it not to be so, with all the while the French around to pick up the pieces? All of the UK would be damaged, meaning England '18 would be dead in the water, and Russia would win out. And who's to say the Brits, with their devolution habits, and their first coalition government in a long time, could not get through without damaging themselves?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1546282998</amazonuk>B0B6Z9VJDW

{{newreview <!-- remove 28/12 -->Frontpage|author=Paul StidolphJennifer Mason|title=Forests in the SaharaPartitions of Unity

|genre=Thrillers General Fiction|summary=''Everyone I speak to thinks you are going to come to some sort of sticky end.'' Those are not the most promising words a man can hear from his new partnerHere at Bookbag Towers, we first met Elizabeth Cromwell, but she doesn't lie dominatrix and unintentional detective in this instance. He is Jeffrey Harvey[[Preposterous: An Elizabeth Cromwell Mystery by Jennifer Mason|Preposterous]], when she investigated and unravelled a young Cambridge professor, who has been dabbling with some extra-curricular work, creating GM trees that can keep vast quantities series of water purifieddisappearances. Get an iceberg or three worth In ''Partitions of H2O near AfricaUnity'', where clean water is still she sets her mind to solving a scarce resource, and the trees can do their bit and the water will advance the place and make Jeffrey a well-respected global entrepreneur. If, that is, he can get round all the problems in his life - fractions in the start-up involved in the project, a finance officer embezzling the funds for gambling - oh, and a man ready to accuse Jeffrey of murder and theft of research data on a case reaching back several years. It seems the lovely girlfriend was right to see no shortage of possible sticky ends...|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1546282351</amazonuk>B09LQR9FRF

{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Ellen WilesWill Carver|title=The Invisible CrowdDaves Next Door|rating= 4|genre= General Fiction|summary=This novel follows the plight of Eritrean Yonas Kelati Five strangers come together in one moment as he tries a suicide bomber prepares to make detonate his vest on a life for himself in EnglandLondon tube line. He and a good friendAs their fates overlap, Gebrethe story is told in backwards order, escape from prison only leading up to be thrown into captivity againthe fateful moment.|isbn= 1914585186}} {{Frontpage|author=Jennifer Mason|title=Preposterous: trafficked An Elizabeth Cromwell Mystery|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary=''A struggling poetry zine, a mom-and-pop mobile diner in the Northern California redwoods, a shellfish factory where they have to earn their ‘payment’ to 400-meter hurdler who just missed the malicious Aziz 2004 Olympics, a women's track coach with a yen for entering bullwhips, a billionaire with a state-of-the UK illegally-art S&M dungeon, a man serving a life sentence in Alabama, an enigmatic signature, K(s, x), on a cheap oil painting, an erotic art dealer in Georgia...'' This is just a sample of the cast of characters and settings in Preposterous. When Yonas escapesAs you can see, the some keeping up will be required! The basic premise of this mystery story really startsgoes like this...|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0008228817</amazonuk>B09STS96HS