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Review of The Woke Iliad by George Boreas General Fiction Helen is a popular activist. Or should we call her a popular influencer? Or perhaps a popular franchise owner? Anyway, Helen is so popular that the United States government has made her its Ambassador of Woke. Helen runs all sorts of initiatives on behalf of the government, including the Shaming Conference and the Permissible Entertainment Committee - for indoctrinating and legislating against summer fun for any who still knew how to have it. Ouch! Full Review

Review of The Wedding Murders by Sarah Linley Thrillers Libby Steele was hoping to get a permanent job with the newspaper and the case she was covering was her big chance. It was even more important to her than the celebrity wedding she was to attend the following day with her ex-rock star boyfriend, Matthew. She was leaving her seven-year-old son, Patrick with her sister, Emma, and heading off to a grand manor house hotel in the North Yorkshire countryside. Daniel Acroyd, television presenter and former member of the rock band was marrying Vicky and Libby suspected that the wedding wasn't quite as high-profile as had been suggested as there was no ban on photos or phones. Full Review

Review of Carried Away With the Carnival by Ed Boxall For Sharing It was one of those memories we treasure from our childhoods: an outing with our grandparents. They're there to undo all the good that parents do, so the trips out were always so much fun. A young boy was going to the carnival with his Grandad, who told him: It'll be brilliant, just remember, don't let go of my hand. Full Review

Review of The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan Thrillers It was a long drive to the weekend retreat in Northumbria, right up near the Scottish borders and to make it worse the three husbands had all - for one reason or another - had to delay making the trip until the Saturday morning. Jane and Ruth had known each other for a long time but Emily was a bit of an outsider. She and Paul had married only relatively recently and she was ten years younger than the other two women. The friendship of the group went back to school days. Paul had coached rugby at the school where Mark, Toby and Rob were pupils. Mark had married Jane, and Toby is Ruth's husband. And Rob? Well, Rob's dead. Full Review

Review of Never Work With Animals by Gareth Steel Animals and Wildlife I don't often begin my reviews with a warning but with Never Work With Animals it seems to be appropriate. Stories of a vet's life have proved popular since All Creatures Great and Small but Never Work With Animals is definitely not the companion volume you've been looking for. As a TV show the author would argue that All Creatures lacked realism, as do other similar programmes. Gareth Steel says that the book is not suitable for younger readers and - after reading - I agree with him. He says that he's written it to inform and provoke thought, particularly amongst aspiring vets. It deals with some uncomfortable and distressing issues but it doesn't lack sensitivity, although there are occasions when you would be best choosing between reading and eating. Full Review

Review of The Herd by Emily Edwards General Fiction Our story opens in December 2019, before most of us had even heard of Covid or realised that whether or not we should be vaccinated would come to be a major issue. We're in Farley County Court, where Elizabeth and Jack Chamberlain are facing Bryony and Ash Kohli. As they were best friends until just a few months ago we know that whatever has happened is major and that, regardless of the outcome, this is not going to work out well for anyone. Full Review

Review of The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs Historical Fiction Eliza Acton is a poet who has never had the slightest inclination to boil an egg. When tasked with writing a cookery book, she recruits Ann Kirby, a local woman with a troubled home life. Together, they test, craft, refine and reshape the world of domestic cookery, reinventing the recipe book and changing the face of cookery writing forever. Full Review

Review of Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good by Louie Stowell Confident Readers Meet Loki. The trickster god has got into trouble again, so the other gods have decided there's only one thing for it – he must be banished. And transformed – for Loki is spending a month both in exile and in the physical form of a middle-school kid here on Earth. He's guarded by a giant and a god in disguise as his parents, and Thor has come along as well, to be the more suave, more popular and more successful brother of the two. Loki has a month to redeem his reputation, and get his moral compass pointing the right way again, or else, and to prove it he has to write the text we read in a sentient notebook, that is able to cry foul of his lies, and judge his progress. But Loki is the kind of god who insists he can do anything, so surviving a bit more virtuously for a month is going to be a walk in the park...right? Full Review

Review of A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham Thrillers It's May 2019 and Dr Chloe Davis, a medical psychologist, is completing a session with a new patient. Lacey is suffering mentally but Chloe has hopes of getting her through the trauma. You see, Chloe knows what it's like to have a traumatic childhood. Her father is Richard Davis, the man who murdered six girls some twenty years ago. Their bodies have never been found but Chloe found some jewellery belonging to the girls - trophies taken from their bodies - tucked away in a cupboard at home and she and her mother handed it to the police. Dick Davis is in the Louisiana State Penitentiary and Chloie has had nothing to do with him for the last twenty years. Her mother is in a care home. Full Review

Review of Escape Room by Christopher Edge Confident Readers I've seen junior variants of the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' format cover escape rooms – the process by which a character or characters start by being trapped in a specific location, and have to solve problems in order to get their way out. What I've not done (alongside experience one for myself – for that would require actual friends) is seen a prose book describing people in such an adventure, with the regular second person narrative replaced by the first. Here, Ami and four other tweenagers, all new to each other and booked into the game without any of their friends, are a team – starting out at the game's main offices, where they're told they and their quest for The Answer are a world-changer. But could watching people engage with such a pastime, despite the ramped-up threat levels, change much in the world of literature? Full Review

Review of The Boy Who Loved Boxes: A Children's Book for Adults by Michael Albanese Lifestyle There was a Boy who loved boxes. He had a box for everything and he was meticulous about storage: his parents probably couldn't believe their luck! It began with art supplies, stuffed toys and the like: all the things which most children have in abundance. The Boy's delight was in the sense of order in his room: it made him feel happy. As he grew up and became a Man, his life became more complicated and he dealt with this by getting bigger and better boxes. Look carefully at the pictures and you'll see that one of them has a padlock... Full Review

Review of Blood Games (DS Nikki Parekh 4) by Liz Mistry Crime It's the third murder in the space of a few weeks and they've all been because of machetes used on teenagers. DS Nikki Parekh and DC Sajid Malik are amongst the first to arrive on the scene at Chellow Dene Reservoir on the outskirts of Bradford. Only, this time, it's going to be different. The body appears to Nikki to be that of her beloved nephew, Haqib, and she has a very public meltdown. It isn't Haqib: there are similarities but the body is clad in designer clothes and comes from an obviously monied background. What it does mean though is that Nikki is going to be on sick leave for some time with anxiety and depression. Full Review

Review of All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes Horror In post-WWI England, Jonathan Morgan stows away on an Arctic expedition led by the famous Australis Randall. For Jonathan, this adventure represents a chance for a fresh start, and the opportunity to live life as his authentic self and true gender, without the disapproval and constraints of his parents. However, Jonathan isn't the only one fleeing the confines of his past and the shadow of the war hangs like a funeral shroud over the expedition. Guilt, mistrust and grief stalk the party and, when disaster strikes and they are forced to overwinter on land, a menacing presence waits to prey on their darkness. If Jonathan is to make it out of the Arctic winter alive, he will have to face his demons once and for all, or risk making the barren, icy landscape his tomb. Full Review

Review of Quicksilver by Dean Koontz Thrillers Meet Quinn Quicksilver. He's not had the chance to get to be a mercurial character yet, for he's lived in a nun-run orphanage since he was a three-day old foundling, and now is starting a career on a needless magazine's staff. But when this book starts he IS now subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind, for something – call it unearthly intuition, call it mind-control, call it a supernatural urge – has demanded of him that he go to a derelict diner, find a gold coin worth a fortune, cash the value of it out of his bank and prepare for going on the lam. And all this is just in time for two of those typical Men in Black types to turn up and suggest he's of interest to them. Helped to escape, he finds his flight is interrupted by other instances of him acting without being in control, the discovery that he is not unique in having some kind of burgeoning power – and a whole lot more besides. Full Review

Review of Other Parents by Sarah Stovell Women's Fiction Jo Fairburn knew that she was under intense pressure as the new head of West Burntridge First School: if she didn't live up to her retired predecessor there could well be a house price slump in that part of the town. The school had an active Parent Teacher Association and the funds which they raised were a considerable benefit to the school. There was one difficulty, though - they were devastatingly shockable, with two members, in particular, causing problems for the head. Laura Spence and Kate Monroe objected to Jo's restrictions on the toys children could bring in on Toy Day but that was just a warm-up act for their real gripe: LGBTQ education. Full Review

Review of The Hunt for the Nightingale by Sarah Ann Juckes Confident Readers Jasper is a little boy who has some struggles, and whilst we're never told why exactly, we can see that he has anxiety and panic attacks, and has difficulty dealing with change and big emotions. His big sister, Rosie, has been a huge support to him, talking him down when things were difficult, encouraging him, and writing a book with him, all about birds, that he can read when he gets scared to help him calm down. His parents seem completely caught up in their business, and so it is Rosie he always turns to. Even though she has gone away to University now, she has promised him that she will still be there when he needs her. But now he can't find Rosie. She hasn't come home when she said she would, and she isn't answering her phone. His parents won't speak to him or when they do, he doesn't understand or take in what they're saying. Nothing seems to be right, and the only way he feels he can find any peace is if he can find Rosie, and if they can find the nightingale and listen to its song, as they do together every Spring. Full Review

Review of Red is My Heart by Antoine Laurain, Le Sonneur and Jane Aitken (translator) Literary Fiction Antoine Laurain books have always been black and white and read in my house. And so was this one, although I could have spelled that more accurately – this one was, and is, black and white and red. Yes, he has an artistic collaborator on this piece, and I think it's possible to say not one page lacks the influence of some striking visual ideas. Full Review

Review of One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner Crime It's five years since the stag weekend. Five of them had set out: Tim (the groom) and his four groomsmen, Scot, Miguel (who was usually called Miggy), Neil and Josh. The first night they had plenty of alcohol - too much really - and in the night Scot managed to wander off. The remaining four searched for him in vain and it was decided that Tim, who was experienced in survival techniques, would go for help. When help didn't come the remaining three finally made their way back to town. Scott followed soon after but there was no sign of Tim. Every year, Tim's father, Martin, and the four friends have been back to continue the search although they do now acknowledge that they're looking for 'remains' rather than for Tim. Full Review

Review of Bitter Flowers by Gunnar Staalesen Crime Varg Veum is a Norwegian Private Investigator who has just finished a stint in rehab and is now returning to work. However, the quiet job he's supposedly taken on caretaking someone's house quickly turns into a murder investigation, and a mystery around a missing woman. Varg finds himself not only investigating these, but also looking into an old, cold case of an eight year old girl who disappeared one night and was never found. Somehow, these disparate cases appear to be linked, but what is the link, and how can Varg possibly unravel the truth? Full Review

Review of The Gold Lion and the Tournament of Sentinels by Kia Ahankoob Graphic Novels When Myriad created Duniva he endowed his children with different powers, each with its own strength and weakeness, in the hope they would complement each other and collaborate, creating a dynamic and prosperous society. Each power is contained within a magical ring belonging to one of eight countries led by Myriad's children and their descendants. But it didn't quite work out like that. Rivalries developed. Enmities grew out of them and the eight countries went to war. Having fought themselves into an endless and ruinous stalemate and finding the cost of war too high, a solution is proposed. Each of the eight countries will send their greatest warriors, known as sentinels, to a single combat tournament. The winner will take possession of all the rings and become the supreme ruler of Duniva. Full Review

Review of Dragon Storm: Tomas and Ironskin by Alastair Chisholm and Eric Deschamps Confident Readers Meet Tomas. Happy to work with his father in the blacksmith's forge, he's almost of the age to become a full apprentice, and help with the new batch of dragonswords is certainly needed. Not that there are any dragons, of course – they vanished centuries ago. Except... Strange signals from within the forge furnace, and a peculiar invite to become an apprentice clerk instead, are things for Tom to puzzle over – until it all comes out in the wash, that yes dragons do still exist in this world, and that Tom is rare in the ability to summon them, share magical attributes, and ride with them... Full Review

Review of Something to Hide: An Inspector Lynley Novel by Elizabeth George Crime It's late July and Deborah St James is at a meeting with Dominique Shaw, Undersecretary for the school system, a representative from the NHS, Mr Oh from Barnardos, someone from Orchid House whose name she didn't catch but would later turn out to be Zawadi and Narissa Cameron, a filmmaker. It follows on from the success of Deborah's book London Voices: the meeting is an exploration of the possibility of the idea behind the book being used to highlight an area which is causing concern in some communities. Deborah's uncertain about quite how successful she could be as the problem seems to occur in Nigerian and Somali communities as she relies on getting the trust of the people she speaks to and photographs. Full Review

Review of Shadebringer by Grayson W Hooper Fantasy Clyde Robbins signs up for the US Army during the Vietnam War. He's not really that invested in the fight against Communism, nor is he particularly interested in a career in the military. If he's honest - which Clyde usually is, with himself at least - he hasn't got many choices and this one, at least, gets him out of the rut he's in. He's good in training and is quickly put onto a non commissioned officer training course. He's chuffed with himself. Full Review

Review of The Mermaid in the Millpond by Lucy Strange and Pam Smy Confident Readers There is no mermaid in the millpond. That at least is what Bess is telling herself. Neither will there be a friend for her in amongst all the other kids, who have had their entire childhoods sold to the mill-owners by the London workhouse they used to call home. Bess knows there is no time for friendship in a hand-to-mouth, every man for himself kind of existence. But despite herself Bess does find a bit of a kindred spirit in the slight little Dot, and despite everything that life has taught her about betrayal and how befriending people only leads to harm, there might be a glimmer of companionship in the tired-out mill workers. But surely that doesn't mean there is any truth in the existence of the mermaid? Full Review

Review of Staggering Hubris by Josh Berry Humour Members of Parliament like us to believe that the country is run by politicians, headed by the Prime minister - the primus inter pares (that's for those of you who are Eton and Oxbridge educated) but the reality is that the prime movers are the special advisers - the SPADS - who are the driving force behind the government. We are in the privileged position of having access to the memoirs of Rafe Hubris, the man who was behind the skilful control of the Covid crisis which was completely contained by the end of 2020. You might not know the name now but he will certainly be the man to watch. Full Review

Review of Otter's Coat: The Real Reason Turtle Raced Rabbit: A Cherolachian Tortoise and Hare by Cordellya Smith For Sharing When the world was made, the animals were given gifts. Bear was given strength so that he could become a protector. Water Spider received a strong web that even fire could not burn. Owl had excellent sight so that he could see the present and the future. Rabbit developed intelligence - but, unfortunately, not the ability to use it well. He liked to trick other animals. He was also jealous which was how he came to be in a race with Turtle. You might think that's not a fair contest but wait and see. Things are not always as they seem. I'll tell you how it came about. Full Review

Review of Walking on Sunshine by Giovanna Fletcher Women's Fiction Mike's wife, Pia, who he was with for seventeen years, has died. And whilst he is dealing with his grief, so are their best friends, Vicky and Zaza. But Pia left them all some 'rules' to follow, knowing that she was dying and that they would need help to carry on living. Whilst some of the rules are around practicalities such as clearing out her wardrobe, another one that Mike discovers one day encourages him to take one of their trips away, and Vicky and Zaza, struggling with their grief and their own life troubles, decide to drop everything in their own lives, and go along with him. Full Review

Review of Making a Living: How to Craft Your Business by Sophie Rochester Crafts Starting a creative business has never been easier. If not now, when? I know that I'm not alone in having wondered whether or not I could turn my hobby into a business. There's a lot of motivation to do so: I make more items than we can sensibly use and there are a lot of people who have been delighted to accept what I make as gifts. Selling would offset the costs, which can be quite considerable and it could be fun to do, couldn't it? But where to start? What do I need to think about? Well, the first thing anyone who is considering turning a crafting hobby into a business should do is to read Making a Living. Full Review

Review of A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske Historical Fiction Robin Blyth is nudged into a job in the Civil Service, much to his chagrin. There he meets Edwin Courcey and learns that the streets of London are threaded with magic. Desperate to remove a curse that threatens to swallow him, Robin follows Edwin to the countryside, where the hedgegrows bristle with incantations and the people shimmer with power. There they uncover a sinister plot that threatens the lives of all magicians in the British Isles. Full Review

Review of Healthy Vegan The Cookbook: Vegan Cooking Meets Nutrition Science by Niko Rittenau and Sebastian Copien Cookery Emotionally, I am a vegan. Mentally, I am a vegan. I read How to Love Animals in a Human-Shaped World by Henry Mance and was appalled by the way in which we treat animals in our search for (preferably cheap) food. Practically, I am not a vegan. It worked for a while apart from the odd blip with regard to cheese but then a perfect storm of those events which you hope don't occur too often in your lifetime tempted me back to animal-based protein. It wasn't the taste - I know that I can get plant-based food that tastes just as good as anything plundered from the animal kingdom - it was the ease of being able to get sufficient protein when meals were often snatched in a few spare moments. Full Review