[[Category:General Fiction|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|General Fiction]]__NOTOC__ <!{{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. It's not easy being a black girl whose skin is 84% white. <!She had a crush on seventeen-year- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->old Reggie Anderson but never thought he would notice her. Then he did: Lavender was very good at math and Reggie asked if she would tutor him. She readily agreed: tutoring was something she gladly did at church: this was just an extension. She went to his house and he raped her. In shock, she even allowed him to give her a lift home.}}
<!{{Frontpage|isbn=1472263936|title=The Figurine|author=Victoria Hislop|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|summary=It was in 1968 that Helena McCloud made her first trip to Greece. She was alone: her mother, Greek by birth, had left the family home and refused to return, but Mary and Hamish (Helena's parents) felt that it would be a pity if Helena grew up without knowing her grandparents or understanding her Greek heritage. Her trip to the family apartment in up-market Kolonaki would be the first of several annual visits. She grew to love her grandmother and the family's maid, Dina, but was wary - Hepworth and frightened -of her grandfather, retired general Stamatis Papagiannis. He was proud of his close connections to the Junta and expected his family to uphold his values but saw no reason to accommodate them. His prejudices included Helena's red hair and green eyes ->inherited from her father's Scottish ancestors.}}{{Frontpage|-author=Dean Koontz|title=After Death|rating=3|genre=General Fiction| stylesummary="width: 10%; vertical-align: Michael Mace, Head of Security, at a top; textsecret biological research facility, is among 55 people who die when a virus is released in a bio-align: centerhazard accident. Finding himself in a makeshift mortuary, covered in plastic, he has a sense that something very, very bad has happened to him – and only him – as he sits up and looks around at the shrouded bodies of his dead friends and former colleagues. As he recovers his senses, he realises that there is something different about him;"he can ''feel'' everything. ''Everything''. Michael isn't ''Michael'' anymore.|isbn=1662500467}} {{Frontpage|isbn=B0BVDC2VWH|title=The Grave Listeners|author=William Frank|rating=4|genre=General Fiction[[image:1473674239.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwThe village is isolated and poor.amazonIt's surrounded by a Witching Forest.coAnd the villagers subsist largely by farming Uphegia plants - its bread-like fruit provides nutrition and its blossom provides herbal medicines.uk/dp/1473674239/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbagThe black wood of the forest provides heat and warmth, roofs on homes, and even gallows, if needed. The fear of being buried alive is an existential superstition in the village and that is the reason Volushka, a drunken, self-21]]indulgent, lazy lout of a man is tolerated. }}
{{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.
|isbn=1662507089
}}
{{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-year-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: she'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-in, 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: 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=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 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''
| style="verticalTold 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-align: top; textold narrator's deepening relationship with her older lover, depicting its all-align: left;"consuming nature, how it changed her perspective on both romantic and familial relationships and how it altered her irrevocably.|isbn=0861546490}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008506337|title=The Garnett Girls|author=[[The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth]]Georgina Moore|rating=5|genre=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''.
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Pleasant Court is a cul-de-sac a few minutes from the beach in Melbourne. Kids play in the street and it's the sort of place people aspire to. Certainly that's how the families who live there feel and there's a good sense of community. Ben and Essie 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 sleeping. Mia's come through that stage, but now there's Poppy, who's been the perfect baby for the first six months of her life, but is just starting to be difficult. Ben, in particular, is pleased that he can rely on Barbara to keep an eye on the situation whilst he's out at work. [[The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth|Full Review]] <!-- Walton -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Walton_Ask.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 Walton'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 that this would give the book a different approach to the music memoir. 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 be allowed to stay in Canada, 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 group, so judges are instructed 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 – 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. Instead, 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'' 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 Then Richard left in widowhood and has the hard task of dealing with her man's debtthem. Blood flows easily, and quickly, when your family's steps are haunted by a curse that spans generations. [[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 contrition, a public admission that he'd been wrong, that he was not perfect, 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 she'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]] <!-- Banks -->|-Frontpage| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|1914585402[[image:Banks_W.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/ISBN/ref=nosim?tagtitle=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[W by John Banks]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=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 Dashboard Elvis 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]] <!-- Fry -->|-Dead| 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 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%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Curtis_Water.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0995465754/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] David F Ross| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Water & Glass by Abi Curtis]]=== [[image:RA|TEstar.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[: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.co.uk/dp/147322117X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Strange Weather by Joe Hill]]=== [[image:5star4.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]] |} {{newreview|author=Michelle de Kretser|title=The Life to Come|rating=35
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=I reviewed David F Ross's book [[There'The Life to Comes Only One Danny Garvey by David F Ross|There'' tells the story s Only One Danny Garvey]] a couple of several ''interesting'' characters who are all linked years back and remember being absolutely floored by one person: Pippahow powerful and affecting it was. The novel is split into five chapters with each one focusing on It was a different persongripping, emotionally wounding read, from Cassie and her bizarre relationship with Ash to George who has finished his thesis and is in the process rereading my review of writing his first novel. Pippa, who is also a writer, appears in each of these chapters, in some cases just as a background character. However, what I found most fascinating about this novel it my main takeaway was that de Kretser tells the story of Pippa's life through all these various appearances and leaves the reader with a real sense of who she is as a person and having watched her development as a characterI might not have lavished enough praise on it.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1760296708</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview <!-- remove 29/12 -->Frontpage|titleauthor=Servants of the UndergroundLucy Ashe|authortitle=David SsembajjoClara and Olivia|rating=34.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Having experienced a terrible famine in his own countryThe year is 1933. The place? Sadler's Wells. Ballerinas Clara and Olivia are sisters, twins no less. Identical on the outside but not, Kalamchi leaves to travel and we learn, on the inside. He returns with a burning desire to feed his people - but And not only to feed their stomachs but to feed their mindson stage, tooeither. Kalamchi wants to raise his peopleBecause there's consciousness so a lot that builds a dancer. Some things that they can fight against be taught or learnt – discipline, attention to detail – and some things, that ''je ne sais quoi'', that don't come from the dictator Bamutu - chillingly known as classroom. A stage presence, a charm, a ''president for life and after deathjoie de vivre''. The difference between a hard-worker, and a star.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1848765800</amazonuk>0861544080
}}
{{newreview <!-- remove 28/12 -->Frontpage|author=Rob MurphyHeather Fawcett|title=Rotten to the CoreEmily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
|rating=4
|genre=Thrillers General Fiction|summary=It's 2009, and Russia look like being awarded the football World Cup hosting rights for the oh-so-distant 2018 tournament - that Emily Wilde is, until England stick their oar in. They have solved their hooligan probleman expert academic scholar on faerie lore, and improved their transport systemshe has travelled extensively, and so at last are valid final holders. Watching this is Franceresearched meticulously, who have to reciprocate with the Russians who helped them get France write her life'98s work, the very first encyclopaedia of faeries. Whilst she is brilliant at research and they have a planspeaking to faeries, she is not so good with people. At this stage So when she finds herself far, far North in the UEFA European championship small village of 2016 has not been awardedHrafvsnik, and while France remain favourites to get having somehow offended the jobvillage matriarch, again some upstart idea she is not sure what she has poked its head above done, nor how to redeem herself and put her final investigations for her book back on the parapet - a joint offering from Wales and Scotlandright track. Yes, these two tiny countries Enter Wendell Bambleby, separated by 200 miles her dashingly handsome and without a brilliant connection from one to the otherinsufferable rival who arrives unexpectedly, all charm and without some vital posh hotels here and theredelight, and with no serious claim much to soccer fame when it comes to winning things, are unlikely hostsEmily's frustration. But why is he here? What does he want? And what if France could persuade exactly is going on with the faerie folk around Hravsnik?|isbn=0356519120}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1398515388|title=The Boy and the world Dog|author=Seishu Hase and Alison Watts (translator)|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=First of all, it was a good idea - the earthquake, deep in the ocean floor, which created the tsunami and let Russian espionage prove it not to be sothis, in turn, with all caused the while nuclear meltdown. The result was complete and utter devastation. The deaths were uncountable, and the French around to pick up loss of livelihoods was widespread. The fact that many pets were separated from their owners came far down the pieces? All list of priorities but - six months after the UK would be damaged, meaning England tsunami - Kazumasa Nakagaki discovered a dog outside a convenience store. He wasn'18 would be dead in t a dog person but the water, and Russia would win out. And whoconvenience store owner's comment that he would call Public Health prompted Kazumasa to say open his car door and Tamon the Brits, with their devolution habits, and their first coalition government dog jumped in a long time, could not get through without damaging themselves?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1546282998</amazonuk>.
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{{newreview <!-- remove 28/12 -->Frontpage|author=Paul StidolphChristopher Bowden|title=Forests in the SaharaMr Magenta
|rating=4
|genre=Thrillers General Fiction|summary=Christopher Bowden''Everyone I speak to thinks you are going to come to some sort s latest novel is a patient untangling of sticky end.a seemingly ordinary woman'' Those are not the most promising words a man can hear from his new partners life, but carried out by her nephew after she doesn't lie in this instancehas died. He is Jeffrey Harvey, a young Cambridge professor, The aunt who has been dabbling with some extra-curricular work, creating GM trees that can keep vast quantities of water purified. Get an iceberg or three worth of H2O near Africa, where clean water is still always provided a scarce resource, safe harbour and the trees can do their a little bit and the water will advance the place and make Jeffrey of indulgence to a young nephew had had a well-respected global entrepreneur. If, much more interesting life than 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, nephew Stephen had ever realised and a man ready it seems to accuse Jeffrey of murder and theft of research data on a case reaching back several years. It seems the lovely girlfriend was right him an obligation to see no shortage of possible sticky ends..find it all out.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1546282351</amazonuk>B0B6Z9VJDW
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Ellen WilesJennifer Mason|title=The Invisible CrowdPartitions of Unity|rating= 4|genre= General Fiction|summary=This novel follows the plight of Eritrean Yonas Kelati as he tries to make a life for himself Here at Bookbag Towers, we first met Elizabeth Cromwell, dominatrix and unintentional detective in England. He [[Preposterous: An Elizabeth Cromwell Mystery by Jennifer Mason|Preposterous]], when she investigated and unravelled a good friendseries of disappearances. In ''Partitions of Unity'', Gebre, escape from prison only she sets her mind to be thrown into captivity again: trafficked in solving a shellfish factory where they have to earn their ‘payment’ to the malicious Aziz for entering the UK illegallymurder.. When Yonas escapes, the story really starts.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0008228817</amazonuk>B09LQR9FRF
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{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Tony PeakeWill Carver|title= North FacingThe Daves Next Door|rating= 4.5|genre= General Fiction|summary=At school in Pretoria in 1962, Paul Harvey struggles to fit in - desperate to join the popular group no matter what it may take. His focus on surviving the perils of school so intense, that he fails to see the turbulence in both South Africa and the larger world - with the arrest of Nelson Mandela and the Cuban Missile Crisis affecting the actions of the adults around him. A new and charismatic teacher decides to educate the boys in the unstable situation in the world outside - and a growing awareness of both that and his sexuality pushes Paul Harvey into decisions that he later comes to regret - and their weight pushes him to return to South Africa in the present day - a man in his sixties keen to make sense of a troubled and utterly fascinating past. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0995590028</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Fiona Mitchell|title=The Maid's Room|rating=5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=In some apartments Five strangers come together in Singapore you'll find one moment as a bomb shelter - airless and without suicide bomber prepares to detonate his vest on a windowLondon tube line. It will probably house the washing machine and the other domestic paraphernalia that's got nowhere else to go. There'll be a mattress on the floor of this stifling roomAs their fates overlap, with the heat increased by the tumble dryer. This story is the maid's room. It's possibly better than sleeping under the dining room table, but not by much. Back in 2009 there were 201,000 female domestic workers told in Singaporebackwards order, many not earning any money for a year until they've repaid 'training' and other fees leading up to the agency, many living in 'the maid's room'fateful moment.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1473659566</amazonuk>1914585186}}{{newreviewFrontpage|titleauthor=Scoop of the YearJennifer Mason|authortitle=Tom ClaverPreposterous: An Elizabeth Cromwell Mystery
|rating=4
|genre=ThrillersGeneral Fiction|summary=Martin is an ambitious journalist working on ''A struggling poetry zine, a mom-and-pop mobile diner in the Financial Review. Martin is good at his job Northern California redwoods, a 400- accuratemeter hurdler who just missed the 2004 Olympics, dedicated, hardworking and a women's track coach with a good nose yen for bullwhips, a scoop. But Martin is also uninterested in the culture that comes billionaire with reporting. He has a wife and two daughters at home and he doesn't want to waste time and money in state-of-the pub-art S&M dungeon, talking macho nonsense with the other hacks. He is a far cry from his colleague Tom de Lacyman serving a life sentence in Alabama, an enigmatic signature, K(s, x), on a charismaticcheap oil painting, silver-spooned charmer with piercing blue eyesan erotic art dealer in Georgia... Tom doesn't ' This is just grab a sample of the limelight though - he also grabs the promotion to industrial correspondentcast of characters and settings in Preposterous. And that is the job Martin not only wantedAs you can see, but neededsome keeping up will be required! The basic premise of this mystery story goes like this...|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1788036220</amazonuk>B09STS96HS
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{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Alexander McCall SmithB0B2N7MVYM|title=The Good Pilot Peter WoodhouseCalculations of Rational Men|author=Daniel Godfrey
|rating=5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=If youIt've never read an Alexander McCall Smith novel, but have always thought you might like to try, one day then this might be s the book to start with10th of December 1962 when we first meet Dr Joseph Marr. Rather than face the daunting task of leaping into one of his now very long-running series, this is a standalone novel, and it gives a good flavour of AMS's style, the way he can write Just to evoke a feeling of time and placeput what happens in context, and the warm optimism underlying his words that Cuban missile crisis is so still very reassuring and comforting to readfresh in people's minds. It calls itself 'The world has barely had a wartime romance', which it is, and yet it is much more than that besideschance to breathe out. Focussing mainly on ValBut for Joe Marr, a young woman working as a Land Girl, we see her falling in love with an American pilot, Mike Rogers. Thanks to a sheepdog on Valit's farm (not the Peter Woodhouse from the title) their lives become entwined with missile crisis that of a German soldier, and 's at the book shows us a variety front of friendships as they grow and develop over the yearshis mind.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846974097</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Krysten Ritter|title= Bonfire|rating= 4.5|genre= General Fiction|summary=It has He's been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence convicted of her small town rootsmurder. Now working as an environmental lawyer in Chicago With the current state of medical knowledge, she it's hard to think otherwise than that the prosecution would never have been brought but Joe Marr has a thriving careerspent his first few days in HMP Queen's Bench, a modern apartment, and her pick of meaningless one-night stands.But when a relatively new case takes her back home to Barrens, Indiana, the life Abby painstakingly created begins to crackprison. Tasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, the town He's most high-profile company and economic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens' biggest scandal from more than a decade ago involving the popular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends--just before Kaycee disappeared for good.Abby knows the key getting used to solving any case lies in the weak spotshis roommate, the unanswered questions. But as she tries desperately to find out what really happened to KayceeMervyn, troubling memories begin to resurface and she begins learning to doubt her own observations. And when she unearths an even more disturbing secret--a ritual called ''The Game,'' it will threaten the reputations, and lives, be wary of the community and risk exposing a darkness that may consume herMcArthur brothers.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524759848</amazonuk>
}}
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