Changes

|author=Susan Wood and Ross MacDonaldFiona Mitchell|title=American Gothic: The Life of Grant WoodMaid's Room|rating=4.5|genre=Children's Non-General Fiction|summary=Who won In some apartments in Singapore you'll find a national prize for bomb shelter - airless and without a crayon drawing of three oak leaves before he was properly in his teens? window. Who sought acclaim as an artist It will probably house the washing machine and came to Europe to study from the greats, only other domestic paraphernalia that's got nowhere else to reject all they had to offer? go. Who instinctively knew There'll be a picture mattress on the floor of his dentist (yesthis stifling room, his dentist) would be more appealing and say more to people than with the heat increased by the tumble dryer. This is the maid's room. It'floating water lilies and frilly ballet dancers''? s possibly better than sleeping under the dining room table, but not by much. The answer Back in all cases was Grant Wood2009 there were 201, practically the most well-known painter 000 female domestic workers in America at one timeSingapore, many not earning any money for a year until they've repaid 'training' and still other fees to the bestagency, alongside Edward Hopper, at presenting his world minus any Modernist trappingsmany living in 'the maid's room'.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>14197253351473659566</amazonuk>

|author=Stuart Hill and Sandra LawrenceAllan Hailstone|title=The Atlas of MonstersBerlin in the Cold War: 1959 to 1966

|genre=Children's Non-FictionHistory|summary=There are monsters and mysterious characters, such as trolls, leprechauns, goblins and minotaurs. They're 'Berlin in the stuff of far too many stories Cold War: 1959-1966'' contains almost 200 photographs taken by author / photographer Allan Hailstone in his visits to remain mysterious, and every schoolchild should know all about them. There are monsters and mysterious characters, such as Gog and Magog, Scylla and Charybdis, and the bunyipcity during this period. They are what you find if you take The images provide an interest in this kind insight into the changing nature of thing to the next level; even if you cannot place them all on divide between East and West Berlin and a map you should have come across them. But there are monsters and mysterious characters, such as the dobhar-chu, glimpse into life in the llambigyn y dwr, and city during the girtablili. To gain any knowledge of them you really need a book that knows its stuffCold War. A book like this one…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17837069611445672901</amazonuk>

|author= Stephen FryAsa Avdic|title= Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient GreeceThe Dying Game|rating= 54|genre= ReferenceThrillers|summary= The Greek Myths are, arguablyIn a futuristic dystopian Sweden, ministry worker Anna is presented with an offer from the greatest stories ever toldformidable chairman. So old and influential they cast Except the offer, is more of an order than a shadow over western tales choice. With nothing to lose and traditionseverything to gain, yet remain relatable and readable millennia laterAnna accepts. Here comedian, actor, television presenter, actor and author Stephen Fry brings his considerable talent She is taken to these special stories and recreates them an isolated Island with other ''candidates'' for a witjob in the super-secret organisation. Anna's objective is simple, warmth she is to ''die'' and humanity that brings them into then observe her fellows through hidden chambers of the house. Once the modern age whilst still giving experiment is finished, she will report her findings back to the honour chairman. However, while this starts off smoothly at first, other contestants start disappearing and respect that such ancient and influential stories deserveAnna is faced with the terror of knowing this is not just a game anymore. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>07181887211786090201</amazonuk>

|authortitle=Lisa CuttsScoop of the Year|titleauthor=Buried SecretsTom Claver|rating=4.5|genre=CrimeThrillers|summary=You never know what goes Martin is an ambitious journalist working on the Financial Review. Martin is good at his job - accurate, dedicated, hardworking and with a good nose for a scoop. But Martin is also uninterested in a marriage: most people thought the culture that Detective Inspector Milton Bowman had the ideal lifecomes with reporting. He had has a beautiful wife and a house that had a mortgage which was smaller than most people's credit card bill. On the other hand, there werentwo daughters at home and he doesn't that many people who had a good word want to say about him waste time and when he was involved money in the pub, talking macho nonsense with the other hacks. He is a serious road traffic accident which left him minus far cry from his colleague Tom de Lacy, a leg and charismatic, silver-spooned charmer with only a few hours to live, people were more worried about the extra work than saddenedpiercing blue eyes. When his wifeTom doesn's battered body was found in their kitchen, t just grab the limelight though - he also grabs the idea promotion to industrial correspondent. And that it was a murder/suicide seemed like is the obvious answerjob Martin not only wanted, but needed.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>14711531421788036220</amazonuk>

|author= Moira YoungMaureen Orth|title= Vulgar Favours: The Road to Ever AfterAssassination of Gianni Versace

|genre= Confident ReadersTrue Crime|summary= A grumpy old lady who can no longer drive requires What is it about true crime which makes it so fascinating to such a chauffeurwide audience? I guess it's wanting to try to figure out what happened to make these people partake in the awful crimes they committed, and we watch as she gradually softens towards him and or else the same inexplicable impulse people have to slow down when they become friendsovertake a car crash on the motorway. So farWhatever it is, so ''Driving Miss Daisy'Maureen Orth's book, an apt comparison in a book which references several well-loved classic films. But the obvious similarity ends there. DavyVulgar Favours, hired to take Miss Flint taps right on her final road trip, is thirteen years old and has not the foggiest idea how to drive a carinto it. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>15098325641785943103</amazonuk>

|author=Benny Lindelauf, Ludwig Volbeda and Laura Watkinson (translator)Charlotte Peacock|title=TortotInto The Mountain, the Cold Fish Who Lost His World and Found His HeartA Life of Nan Shepherd|rating=4.5|genre=TeensBiography|summary=Meet Tortot. Mostly we choose what books to read, because there is so little time and so many books… He's a camp chef for an armyI can understand the approach, with a cold heart – he sheds no tearsbut I also think we sell ourselves short by it, or at least as much as does a fish – and a brilliant way of gauging we sell the warfare going on around himmyriad lesser known authors short as well. The book even starts with him crossing So while, like most other people I have my favourite genres, and favoured authors, and while, like most other people I read the battlefield to start work for the enemy the night before they turn the tables reviews and follow up on his previous employers and defeat themwhat appeals, leaving Tortot on the winning side once moreI also have a third string to my reading bow: randomness. But now he's not alone – for he has managed to also inherit an assistant, who lives It was in such a barrel of 'left-field' move that ''Into the EmperorsMountain'' favourite and most important gherkins…was offered to me.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17826915451903385563</amazonuk>

|author=Annabel PitcherAlan Moorehead|title=The Last Days of Archie MaxwellRussian Revolution|rating=4|genre=Dyslexia FriendlyHistory|summary=Archie Maxwell was shocked when his parents told him that they were getting divorced. It wasn't that Dads leaving was that unusual: LeonFirst published in 1958, Moorhead's Dad had left and so had Mo's. It was ''why'' he was leaving and Archie was embarrassed that his sister had suspected that their father was gay some time ago. Both of his sisters are sad to see their father leave, but they don't seem to have any problem with the ''why'' and they tell their friends. But Archie daren't tell the lads at school: the bullying account is bad enough regarded as it is. And then there's one of the problem most succinct accounts of Tiaits subject, whom he really fancies but he can't say anything about it. What Tia really needs is a friend: it's just about the first anniversary of and now reprinted to mark the day on which her brother committed suicide by throwing himself in front centenary of a train on the line which runs at the back of Archie's houserevolution.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178112728X1445667320</amazonuk>

|author= Jason Segel and Kirsten MillerCatherine Hewitt|title= OtherworldRenoir's Dancer: The Secret Life of Suzanne Valadon|rating= 4.5|genre=FantasyBiography|summary=imon Deep in the rural parts of France in the 1860s, you would never really expect to find someone who would come to embody a full artistic period – and not have considered himself just a hero. In fact, by all accounts, particularly movement at that of his parents, Simon is an epic failure. He's large, he's hairy, he has but a ridiculously oversized nose and he's been kicked out full generation of boarding school both creative and kept on a federal watch listsocietal change. And if you were to expect that someone, they would like as not be male. But Simon is sure something is up with his friend Katalmost stumbling into the hedonistic culture of Montmartre came Marie-Clementine Valadon. She won't speak to himstarted in the circus that first caught her teenaged eye, although her gymnastic career was short-lived. So he resorts But what she did have from that was the poise to buying be an incredibly expensive new virtual reality video game appealing model for them both - Otherworld. Otherworld engages your senses with graphics so good, you'll swear they are realsome seriously important painters, and it's here that Simon really wants a natural beauty and figure to talk appeal to Kat. But it isn't real, it's a game… until a turn of events lands Simon in Otherworld in an all together different way. This time, whatever harm his avatar suffers has real consequencesboth them and their audiences. And if it dies? Simon would rather not think about that. If he wants to save Katwhat she also had, he has much to keep pressing on. Simon is the chosen onesurprise of many and the distaste of some, this is not a game. was artistic talent of her own…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17860736921785782738</amazonuk>

|author= Alison Ritchie and Marisa MoreaDavid Melling|title= The Twelve Dogs of Merry Christmas, Hugless Douglas|rating= 4.5

|summary= Christmas Hugless Douglas is approaching a large, comfy sort of bear who burst onto the picture book scene a few years ago as he searched for just the right sort of hug. His endearing, hopeful face and one little puppy is very excited about that chubby (to put it politely) body instantly melted young hearts, and to universal delight we have since been treated to several more of his first ever Christmas Dayadventures. Everywhere Douglas is hugless no longer, you'll be glad to know, but the name stuck, mostly because it's such fun to say (go on, try it!) and because he looks the preparations still bumbles through life embracing everything in sight as if cuddles are underway with every dog in town helping about to go outof fashion. However will so many eager assistants joining in the fray help or hinder and will everything ever be ready in time?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>14711661711444906844</amazonuk>

|author=Dr SeussJulia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler|title=What Was I Scared Of?A Treasury of Songs

|genre=For SharingChildren's Rhymes and Verse|summary=All Hallows' Eve Some people have all the skills, not only is upon us once more and that can only mean that we are soon to be surrounded by all types Julia Donaldson one of monstersthe most successful children's authors, ghoulies and manifestationsshe can also carry a tune. Fear notFor the past few years she has adapted many of her most popular stories into songs and plays them during open readings, or releases them as many part of these unsettling creatures will actually be children dressed up on another adventure trick or treatinga song book. But what about that pair For the first time ''A Treasury of seemingly malevolent trousers that walk by themselves? That is no child, but Songs'' brings together several of her books in one omnibus and it also has a pair CD too of haunted kecksDonaldson singing the songs. Run, run, run, but perhaps if you have them a friendly hello these pants may be nicer than you think?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>00082526021509846131</amazonuk>

|author=Lorenzo Marone and Shaun Whiteside (Translator)Alexander McCall Smith|title=The Temptation to Be HappyGood Pilot Peter Woodhouse|rating=4.5

|summary=Cesare is 77If you've never read an Alexander McCall Smith novel, widowedbut have always thought you might like to try, generally ignored by one day then this might be the offspring he likes and bothered too much by book to start with. Rather than face the daunting task of leaping into one he doesnof his now very long-running series, this is a standalone novel, and it gives a good flavour of AMS't. Stills style, the way he finds ways can write to fill evoke a feeling of time and place, and the warm optimism underlying his dayswords that is so very reassuring and comforting to read. If heIt calls itself 'a wartime romance's not taking advantage of his friend-, which it is, and yet it is much more than that besides. Focussing mainly on Val, a young woman working as a Land Girl, we see her falling in love with-benefits arrangement with aging lady of the night Rossanaan American pilot, or keeping an eye Mike Rogers. Thanks to a sheepdog on his grandson, heVal's making mischief in league with elderly neighbours like Signora Vitaliano (local mad cat woman) and Marino farm (the non-IT-literate computer guyPeter Woodhouse from the title). Their minds are diverted from their usual pursuits when lives become entwined with that of a young couple move into German soldier, and the apartment block providing Cesare with book shows us a concern variety of friendships as they grow and develop over the conviction that he has to do something, whatever the fall out or personal dangeryears.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17860728821846974097</amazonuk>

|author= Chris BeckettChristopher Maslanka and Steve Tribe|title= America CitySherlock: The Puzzle Book

|genre= Dystopian FictionEntertainment|summary= Who doesn't love a good puzzle, especially those really fiendish ones that get the brain working extra hard? There really is nothing to compare to that buzz we get from the 'America City'Aha!' tells the story of Holly, an ambitious Publicist who sets aside her own political beliefs in order to help the ambitious Senator Slaymaker with his Presidential campaign. Set in the 22nd century, the novel tells of an incredibly disunited United States, where the effects of climate change have created deep divisions between the affluent Northern States' moment, when everything falls into place and the South, which is frequently ravaged by extreme weathersolution reveals itself. Holly and Slaymaker hope If puzzles are your thing then you may wish to put your grey cells to change thisthe test with ''The Sherlock Puzzle Book, working together '' based on the plan they believe to be the solution to the problem of where to place the thousands of Americans who have been made homeless by devastating stormspopular TV series.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17864915241785943030</amazonuk>

|author=Jessica TownsendHilary Lee-Corbin|title=Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan CrowConkers and Grenades|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Morrigan Crow is a cursed childIt's Bristol in 1916. Everyone in Jackalfax where she lives believes she Britain is responsible for all halfway through the things that go wrong in Great War and everyone is expected to put their lifeshoulder to the wheel of the war effort. AndMar and Appy might be boys, if thatbut they's not bad enough, the curse means she will die on her eleventh birthdayre no different. Morrigan believes there is no escape from her fate until a mysterious man appears Both their fathers are away fighting and offers her a new life in the secret city of Nevermoor. There is only one problem – two young boys are expected to stay in Nevermoor she needs to gain help with household chores, look after younger siblings, earn a coveted place in the Wunderous Society by competing against hundreds of other hopefuls to pass four seemingly impossible trialsfew extra pennies through casual jobs and concentrate on getting an education...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>15101041191788033515</amazonuk>

|author=Lars Mytting and Paul Russell Grant (Translator)Krysten Ritter|title=The Sixteen Trees of the SommeBonfire|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=While his grandfather lived the past was It has been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence of her small town roots. Now working as an area environmental lawyer in Chicago, she has a thriving career, a modern apartment, and her pick of certainty for Edvardmeaningless one-night stands. At aged 4 he'd been taken But when a new case takes her back home to live with his grandparentsBarrens, Indiana, having survived the accident that killed his parentslife Abby painstakingly created begins to crack. Now his grandfather has died revelations are coming to light showing Edvard his family history is different from what he'd believed… his mother's birthplaceTasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, his motherthe town's name, the whereabouts of late Greatmost high-Uncle Einar… profile company and thateconomic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens's without looking biggest scandal from more deeply into than a decade ago involving the fatal accident itselfpopular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends--just before Kaycee disappeared for good. Edvard is determined Abby knows the key to solve solving any case lies in the weak spots, the puzzleunanswered questions. But as she tries desperately to find out what really happened to Kaycee, troubling memories begin to resurface and she begins to doubt her own observations. And when she unearths an even more disturbing secret--a determination that ritual called ''The Game,'' it will take him away from his native Norway to an area threaten the reputations, and lives, of France synonymous with devastation the community and risk exposing a remote Scottish island loaded with secretsdarkness that may consume her.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>08570560691524759848</amazonuk>

|author=Morag HoodSue Hendra and Paul Linnet|title=I Am BatSupertato: Evil Pea Rules|rating=54

|summary=Bat For all their heroics and lantern jaws, everyone knows that the good guy is never the best thing about a creature with very definite opinionsbook or film. He does not like mornings, for example, but he does like cherriesThat accolade goes to the bad guy. In fact, he really loves cherries, as they They are his ''favourite able to chew the scenery and give the type of larger than life performance a hero could only dream of all things!'' . What do you think might happen if somebody takes BatOne of the best bad guys in children's cherries? fiction is not a guy at all, but a pea. Bat won't An evil pea. At last this pea is given his opportunity to shine, but where there is an Evil Pea, a Supertato cannot be happy, will he?!far behind.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>15098346131471144062</amazonuk>

|author=Dr SeussStephen Aryan|title=I Can Read With My Eyes ShutMageborn (Age of Dread)|rating=4.5|genre=Emerging ReadersFantasy|summary=''The more that you read,''<br>''The more things you Magic will know.''''The more that you learn,''<br>''The more places you'll go.destroy us all''

This Ten years after the devastating battlemage war when mages used their immense power to tear each other apart and sundered the world itself, suspicion of those who wield magic is a classic Dr Seuss quote from this bookat an all-time high. With the recent resurrection of the Red Tower, an institution for students to learn to control and one that I painstakingly stickered onto the wall of my expand their magic, Seekers visit villages each month to test children for magical abilities. But for those children's school library! The book and their families it is very sillynot a gift, as Dr Seuss always it isa cursed For Habreel, but who will never forget the destruction during the war, the elimination of all magic will save countless lives and is also a good rhyming ode the only solution to long lasting stability. He will stop at nothing to achieve his aim; he will deal with the joys of readingdevil, crush villages and kill anyone in his way.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>00082400190356508471</amazonuk>

|author=Twigs WayLaura Wilson|title=Tea Gardens The Other Woman|rating= 4|genre= Thrillers|summary= Based on the blurb on the back, Sophie might not be the most likable heroine. She's a quote-unquote perfect woman, with the house, the husband, the children and the dog. Careers may be a little unnecessary in this scenario (Britainthe husband is successful, but her own achievements seem linked to having bagged herself a catch), though there's Heritage Series)a sort of part time hobby running her own shop, because, well, yes. So Sophie is the sort of woman, one imagines, who might rub other people up the wrong way, especially those who find their own lives lacking.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786485214</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Adrian Mourby|title=Rooms with a View: The Secret Life of Great Hotels

|genre=LifestyleTravel|summary=Tea Gardens really began in London in the late 18th century: Adrian Mourby has given us a trip to Kings Cross or St Pancras was effectively a trip flying visit to each of fifty grand hotels, from fourteen regions of the world, with the country hotels in those dayseach section being arranged chronologically rather than by region, which helps to give something of an overall picture. Men had their coffee houses, but they were not places where women could or would be seen. So what makes a hotel 'grand'? Tea The first hotel to call itself 'grand' was introduced to England in the 17th century but covent Garden in 1774 and it was not until 1784 that the high duty was reduced from 119% to 12½% and tea became ushered in the drink beginning of a period when a hotel would be a lifestyle choice rather than a refuge for the nationthose without friends and family conveniently nearby. Until then the working classes had been fuelled largely by cheap ginThe hotels we visit all began life in different circumstances and each faced a different set of challenges. OnlyWe begin in the Americas, where would this beverage be drunk? One answer was move to the pleasure gardens where the fashionable went to see United Kingdom, circumnavigate Europe, briefly visit Russia and Turkey then northern Africa, India and be seen: by Asia. Australia, it seems, does not go for the mid 1600s tea was also being served in places such as Ranelagh Gardensgrand.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>14456700111785782754</amazonuk>

|author=Gladys MitchellJoseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers|title=Murder in the Snow: A Cotswold Christmas MysteryLuna Loves Library Day

|genre=CrimeFor Sharing|summary=Adela Bradley decided Luna is always excited when library day comes around, not just because she gets to spend Christmas with take her nephew Jonathan books back and his wife Deborah at their borrow some new home in the Cotswolds. Mrs Bradley is a well-known psychiatrist ones, but shealso because it's also a respected detective renowned for the day she spends with her sharp powers of observationdad. She soon comes to hear Once inside the story of a local ghostlibrary, that of a country parson whose apparition can sometimes be seen slung over magical things occur as the gate leading books Luna and her dad discover seemingly come to Groaning Spinney: the ghost will play a part in what is about life. They spend their time together sharing stories, some that are more significant than others, until it's time for Luna to happengo home. Jonathan Bradley Yet even once she's home, she still has effectively become the local squire with her newly borrowed books to escape into, and the acquisition memories of his property and Mrs Bradley quickly becomes acquainted her day with some of the locals as they visit to give festive wishesher dad.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17847083211783445483</amazonuk>

{{newreview<!-- remove 11/11 -->|authortitle= Melita ThomasUnder The Light of a Full Moon|titleauthor= The King's Pearl: Henry VIII and His Daughter MaryDonna McGrath|rating= 3.5|genre= BiographyConfident Readers|summary= As When the eldest surviving child of a much-married father whose main aim was to secure bad dreams and the royal succession with sonswhispers at night first start, Mary TudorClara has no idea what's relationship with Henry VIII, who called going on. All she knows is that the lack of sleep is making her feel ill. But a visit from her his Great Aunt Selina supplies some answers. Clara'pearl s family has a gift. One member of each generation has the ability to shape-shift into the form of any species of animal. But the world', was inevitably gift comes with an important and often fraught oneancient curse - bearers of it can only transform during the three days of the full moon each month.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>144566125XB00D9V7QOA</amazonuk>

|author=Lily Murray and Chris WormellStephen Norman|title=Dinosaurium (Welcome to the Museum)Trading Down|rating=54|genre=Popular ScienceThrillers|summary=One Chris Peters was happy in his work for a multinational bank in Hong Kong and excited when he was promoted and sent back to London. The job had it all: a hectic trading floor, targets which were impossible and some of the selling points for entities like fastest computers in the world under his supervision. He's happy at home too: he and Olivia met in Hong Kong: now they'Jurassic Park'' films is that they bring all the high-energy action of dinosaur life to the screen, in re married and thinking about starting a way that is suitable, they would say, for children of all agesfamily. But there is a very different way of going about things. .. has he been promoted beyond his capabilities? This book does feature dinosaur-on-dinosaur combat, but only There are those in presenting the most scientific of fossil remainsbank who think so, particularly when things start to go badly wrong. It delves into the evolutionary life of what we have long loved to enjoy and all the major scientific developments He was never there for the most inquisitive student, so the book is actually worth considering in a very different wayOlivia either. I would say this is ideal Life for ''adults'' of all agesChris Peters was turning sour.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783707925B075QF8LJ8</amazonuk>

|author=Kes Gray and Jim FieldJenny Colgan|title=Oi Cat!Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery|rating=4.5|genre=For SharingWomen's Fiction|summary=When did children's books become so Meta? Back Polly, Huckle and Neil are back but in what, sadly for fans of the day each Thomas Little Beach series, seems to be the Tank Engine adventure was separate from last of this trilogy. Never say never but by the other as if they lived in their own episodic wildness, but not today. In end of this world of Nintendo Switches and online platforms the average adult is too scared to venture ontobook, we have metaphysical children books. Books that reflect back on previous outings in the series. If you are going to get author has certainly secured the most out destiny of these three much-loved characters. Don't be put off if you haven'Oi Cat!'t read the previous ones, it really won't matter particularly as the author provides a helpful little synopsis at the start to help those, like me, you best know about your ''Oi Frog!'' and ''Oi Dog!'' toothat are new to these stories.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444932519075156477X</amazonuk>

|author=Cath Jones and Chris JevonsAlice Hoffman|title=Bonkers about BeetrootThe Rules of Magic|rating=5|genre=For SharingGeneral Fiction |summary=Sunset Safari Park rarely has any visitors and is in danger I've read several of closing down. To tackle Alice Hoffman's novels, although strangely, not the problem Zebra calls a meeting of all the animals and challenges them to find a way to make the safari park more interesting. Penguin thinks thereone she's no hope but Zebra has a totally bonkers idea – theymost famous for ''Practical Magic''ll grow , which went on to be made into a beetrootfilm. They ''ll grow the biggest beetroot in the world! It should be easy because they have plenty The Rules of manure (animal poo) to help it grow. At first it looks like ZebraMagic''s plan is going the long-awaited prequel to work. One beetroot grows so big that crowds book, and tells the story of three siblings of people come the Owens family; Franny, Jet and Vincent. The two sisters, Franny and Jet, go on to see it. There is just one problem – become the two aunts in the beetroot keeps growing. Soon there won't be any room for visitors. Luckily, Zebra has another idea: an equally bonkers but totally brilliant idea'Practical Magic'' story.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>18488628141471157679</amazonuk>

|author= Martin Cruz SmithPhilip Matyszak|title= The Girl from Venice24 Hours in Ancient Rome|rating= 4.5|genre= ThrillersHistory|summary= The romantic I've never been that interested in me was immediately drawn Ancient Rome. Blame my teachers, or our oh-so-dry visits to this book. Venice in 1945 at Roman villas with their earnest interpretation panels, or perhaps I just daydreamed through all the close of interesting bits… Somehow I entered adulthood with the war is enticement enoughimpression that all Romans were bloodthirsty and hedonistic heathens with little to recommend them. Add a backdrop of partisans''Mea culpa'', you might say. So when my eye fell upon Philip Matyszak's ''24 Hours in Ancient Rome'', Mussolini and its claim to introduce readers to the desperate fight real Ancient Rome by examining the lives of the losing SS and ordinary people, I decided it was high time to update my interest is certainly piqued, but present education. And the aforementioned along with lovely artwork on the mystery of a young woman found floating in front cover made this book all the Venice Lagoon in the dead of night and resistance is futilemore appealing.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184983816X1782438564</amazonuk>

|author=Nathan ConnollyDallas Campbell|title=Know Your PlaceAd Astra: Essays on An illustrated guide to leaving the Working Class by the Working Classplanet|rating=5|genre=Politics and SocietyPopular Science|summary=Simple summary: So… you want to leave the planet? Before you do you''Know Your Place'' is an anthology d better study the whole history of essays on the working class by the working classhuman space flight to get up to speed. There are twenty-three disparate pieces talking about everything That could take a while… if only there was a handy guide that could condense it all down for you can imagine. Enter Dallas Campbell with this book: day trips to the seaside, access An illustrated guide to leaving the arts, food poverty, pub culture, glass ceilings, housing estates, vulgarity-as-class-marker, and much moreplanet. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>19115853631471164055</amazonuk>

|author=Nina StibbeSharon Bennett Connolly|title=An Almost Perfect ChristmasHeroines of the Medieval World|rating=4.5|genre=Humour History|summary=Christmas – the time of traditional trauma. You only have to think about the turkey for that – once upon a time it was leaving it sat Many women in medieval times left their mark on the downstairs loo to defrost overnighthistory, and if that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Nowadays it's all having to make sure it's suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you can go as a rule they have been neglected by biographers and visit it, and get historians as there is too friendly with it little surviving information for them to want have even brief biographies to eat itthemselves. Christmas, though, is of course also a time of great boons. It's cash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, it was always a godsend for postmen with all Ms Connolly has adopted an enterprising solution to the thank-you letters to aunties you saw twice problem by writing a decade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as general account on a child, and as for the makers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, did they even try and sell them any other time of the year?broadly thematic basis.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>02413098241445662647</amazonuk>

|author=Andy MulliganJuno Dawson and Alex T Smith|title=DogGrave Matter|rating=4.5|genre=Confident ReadersDyslexia Friendly|summary=What life can you find for yourselfSince Eliza died, when it seems to be marked out at since the night of the start car crash that this – the only one you get – begins at such took her life, Sam is a lowly place? That's broken soul. He is lost without the question the dog in ''Dog'' facesgirl he loves, especially when feeling as though a snide spider tells part of him died that night too. But he is the runt of the litter, desperate and instead of being bought has been selected by an adult only because he's freecannot live without Eliza. He wasn't even really chosen, remembers his estranged Aunt Marie and her peculiar healing powers and they had thought wonders if she might be able to get a cathelp him. Oddly enough the mutt gets to be called Spider by TomHowever, the lad who gets to call him finding his, but he's fraught with self-doubt. The spider tells Aunt Marie leads him he's only going to cause harm – discover the Milk Man, which he does. But the neighbourhood cat declares that Spider has something of the feline causes Sam in his mongrel mix, and tempts him across grieving state to her way of living. Tom himself, meanwhile, is being nudged into thinking he's beginning at make a lowly place – pact with forces he ignores his absent mother, he has the privilege of a scholarship for him to get beaten up and bullied at school, and he candoesn't see much future for himself, eitherunderstand. Can Spider work out his lot, and match his Things soon turn complicated as supernatural powers start to change Sam's life with that of Tom, or will outside agencies get in the way?more ways than he bargained for.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17826917151781126046</amazonuk>

|author= Rebecca Tuhus-DubrowKurt Andersen|title= Personal StereoFantasyland|rating= 54|genre=LifestyleHistory |summary= These tiny 'Object Lessons', a range of books which are more like a long-form essay, explore often seemingly mundane items. ''Personal Stereo'' packs a lot of information into a small space. Split into three distinct sections: Novelty, Norm, and Nostalgia, 'Novelty' traces Fantasyland covers the origin history of the Sony Walkman, America from its conception by two Japanese business men 1517 to it becoming a recognised entity on the streets of America2017 in awesome detail. 'Norm' follows on from the universal success Covering five centuries of the personal stereo, relating this to the technology which it set the groundwork fortempestuous history, such as Andersen paints the ubiquitous proliferation conjuring of MP3s, the iPod, and Smartphones, leading to the eventual downfall America in the popularity of the Walkmanvivid relief. Finally, in 'Nostalgia', Tuhus-Dubrow examines our need Discussing everything from pilgrims to hark back to a simpler timepoliticians, when the personal stereo seemed the height of freedom. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1501322818</amazonuk>}}{{newreview <!-- remove 2/11 -->|author=Marjorie Orr|title=By the Light of a Lie|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=Tire Thane was devastated when her best friendexhilarating gold rush to alternative facts, Erica, was killed seminal episodes are explored in a hit-and-run accident (if, indeed, it was an accident) but she really couldn't understand why she should have been in Hammersmith. She'd left her getting into a taxi at 11 o'clock the night before outside the theatre in St Martin's Lane and she was on her way home to Hampstead to review papers ready for a court appearance the following morning. Then she died three hours later and miles out of her way. The police didn't seem likely to pursue the case on the grounds that it had probably been an accident, but being an investigative journalist made Tire suspicious and she wasn't going to leave her friend unavengedforensic detail with razor sharp wit.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>09562587271785038656</amazonuk>

|author= Melissa CarusoEmily Suvada|title= The Tethered MageThis Mortal Coil|rating= 4.5|genre= FantasyTeens|summary= The Raverran Empire A life threatening virus is run by a doge and spreading through the council of sevenUnited States, the governing group formed by the aristocratic families of Eruviaan already broken country with a Government that many do not trust. The Empire thrives from tradetop scientists are frantically trying to produce a vaccine to save humanity, culture but it seems a hopeless race against time as the virus mutates into new and the obedience of the cities surrounding Raverrastronger strains at a frightening pace. The Empire Catarina has obtained this power lived alone and dominance in hiding for the past two years, since her brilliant father was rounded up by harnessing and controlling the magic of Eruvia State and all taken by force to work in the ''mage-marked'' that possess itnational laboratories. For years His last message to her was to hide from the Raverran empire has known peaceState and not to trust them an inch. Set in America, but with whispers not an America we would recognise, most of a rebellionthe citizens are incarcerated in underground bunkers, protected by air lock doors and bug free conditions. Others, less trusting of the discovery of a fire-warlock and State, remain in hiding on the disappearance of childrensurface, hoping the Empire's authority over Eruvia is in danger virus will not reach them and war avoiding anyone who is looming on the horizoninfected.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>03565106110141379278</amazonuk>