Changes

|author=Minette WaltersFiona Mitchell|title=The Last HoursMaid's Room|rating=4.5|genre=Historical General Fiction|summary=In June 1348 the Black Death came into the country through the port of Melcombe some apartments in Dorset. Ignorant of many rules of hygiene which weSingapore you'd ll find basic nearly seven hundred years later, a bomb shelter - airless and without a window. It will probably house the disease rages through washing machine and the countryother domestic paraphernalia that's got nowhere else to go. On There'll be a mattress on the estate floor of Develishthis stifling room, Lady Anne Develish took control of with the future of heat increased by the people who lived in tumble dryer. This is the demesne after her husband had ridden off to try and secure a marriage for his daughtermaid's room. Two hundred bonded serfs lived on It's possibly better than sleeping under the estate and when Lady Anne realised the virulence of the plague she ordered that the estate refuse entry to anyonedining room table, but not by much. Back in 2009 there were 201, including her husband and his entourage000 female domestic workers in Singapore, many not earning any money for fear that a year until they would bring 've repaid 'training' and other fees to the disease to her peopleagency, many living in 'the maid's room'.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17606321391473659566</amazonuk>

|author= Javier Cercas and Frank Wynne (translator)Allan Hailstone|title= The ImpostorBerlin in the Cold War: 1959 to 1966|rating= 54|genre= Literary FictionHistory|summary= Enric Marco is without doubt an extraordinary man. A veteran of ''Berlin in the Spanish Civil Cold War, honoured for : 1959-1966'' contains almost 200 photographs taken by author / photographer Allan Hailstone in his bravery on visits to the battlefieldcity during this period. A political prisoner of two fascist regimes. A survivor The images provide an insight into the changing nature of the Nazi concentration camps. A prominent figure divide between East and West Berlin and a glimpse into life in the clandestine resistance against Franco's tyranny. A tireless warrior for social justice and the defence of human rights. A national hero. But city during the most extraordinary thing about Enric Marco is this: that he is really none of these things. He is an impostor. And Javier Cercas sets out to tell his story – the true story of Spain's most notorious liarCold War.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>08570565061445672901</amazonuk>

|author=Susan Wood and Ross MacDonaldAsa Avdic|title=American Gothic: The Life of Grant WoodDying Game|rating=4.5|genre=Children's Non-FictionThrillers|summary=Who won In a national prize for a crayon drawing of three oak leaves before he was properly in his teens? Who sought acclaim as futuristic dystopian Sweden, ministry worker Anna is presented with an artist and came to Europe to study offer from the greatsformidable chairman. Except the offer, only is more of an order than a choice. With nothing to reject all they had lose and everything to offer? Who instinctively knew a picture of his dentist (yesgain, his dentist) would be more appealing and say more Anna accepts. She is taken to people than an isolated Island with other ''floating water lilies and frilly ballet dancerscandidates''? The answer for a job in all cases was Grant Wood, practically the most wellsuper-known painter in America at one timesecret organisation. Anna's objective is simple, she is to ''die'' and still then observe her fellows through hidden chambers of the house. Once the bestexperiment is finished, alongside Edward Hoppershe will report her findings back to the chairman. However, while this starts off smoothly at presenting his world minus any Modernist trappingsfirst, other contestants start disappearing and Anna is faced with the terror of knowing this is not just a game anymore.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>14197253351786090201</amazonuk>

|authortitle=Stuart Hill and Sandra LawrenceScoop of the Year|titleauthor=The Atlas of MonstersTom Claver

|genre=Children's Non-FictionThrillers|summary=There are monsters and mysterious charactersMartin is an ambitious journalist working on the Financial Review. Martin is good at his job - accurate, such as trollsdedicated, leprechauns, goblins hardworking and minotaurswith a good nose for a scoop. They're But Martin is also uninterested in the stuff of far too many stories to remain mysterious, and every schoolchild should know all about themculture that comes with reporting. There are monsters He has a wife and mysterious characters, such as Gog two daughters at home and Magog, Scylla he doesn't want to waste time and Charybdismoney in the pub, and talking macho nonsense with the bunyipother hacks. They are what you find if you take an interest in this kind of thing to the next level; even if you cannot place them all on He is a far cry from his colleague Tom de Lacy, a map you should have come across themcharismatic, silver-spooned charmer with piercing blue eyes. But there are monsters and mysterious characters, such as Tom doesn't just grab the dobharlimelight though -chu, he also grabs the llambigyn y dwr, and the girtablilipromotion to industrial correspondent. To gain any knowledge of them you really need a book And that knows its stuffis the job Martin not only wanted, but needed. A book like this one…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17837069611788036220</amazonuk>

|author= Stephen FryMaureen Orth|title= MythosVulgar Favours: A Retelling The Assassination of the Myths of Ancient GreeceGianni Versace

|genre= ReferenceTrue Crime|summary= The Greek Myths are, arguablyWhat is it about true crime which makes it so fascinating to such a wide audience? I guess it's wanting to try to figure out what happened to make these people partake in the awful crimes they committed, or else the greatest stories ever told. So old and influential same inexplicable impulse people have to slow down when they cast overtake a shadow over western tales and traditions, yet remain relatable and readable millennia latercar crash on the motorway. Here comedianWhatever it is, actorMaureen Orth's book, television presenter, actor and author Stephen Fry brings his considerable talent to these special stories and recreates them with a witVulgar Favours, warmth and humanity that brings them taps right on into the modern age whilst still giving the honour and respect that such ancient and influential stories deserveit. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>07181887211785943103</amazonuk>

|author=Lisa CuttsCharlotte Peacock|title=Buried SecretsInto The Mountain, A Life of Nan Shepherd|rating=4.5|genre=CrimeBiography|summary=You never know Mostly we choose what goes on in a marriage: most people thought that Detective Inspector Milton Bowman had books to read, because there is so little time and so many books… I can understand the approach, but I also think we sell ourselves short by it, and we sell the ideal lifemyriad lesser known authors short as well. He had a beautiful wife So while, like most other people I have my favourite genres, and favoured authors, and a house that had a mortgage which was smaller than while, like most other people's credit card bill. On I read the other handreviews and follow up on what appeals, there weren't that many people who had I also have a good word third string to say about him and when he my reading bow: randomness. It was involved in such a serious road traffic accident which 'left him minus a leg and with only a few hours to live, people were more worried about -field' move that ''Into the extra work than saddened. When his wifeMountain''s battered body was found in their kitchen, the idea that it was a murder/suicide seemed like the obvious answeroffered to me.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>14711531421903385563</amazonuk>

|author= Moira YoungAlan Moorehead|title= The Road to Ever AfterRussian Revolution|rating= 54|genre= Confident ReadersHistory|summary= A grumpy old lady who can no longer drive requires a chauffeurFirst published in 1958, and we watch Moorhead's account is regarded as she gradually softens towards him and they become friends. So far, so ''Driving Miss Daisy'', an apt comparison in a book which references several well-loved classic films. But one of the obvious similarity ends there. Davymost succinct accounts of its subject, hired and now reprinted to take Miss Flint on her final road trip, is thirteen years old and has not mark the centenary of the foggiest idea how to drive a carrevolution. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>15098325641445667320</amazonuk>

|author=Benny Lindelauf, Ludwig Volbeda and Laura Watkinson (translator)Catherine Hewitt|title=Tortot, the Cold Fish Who Lost His World and Found His HeartRenoir's Dancer: The Secret Life of Suzanne Valadon

|genre=TeensBiography|summary=Meet Tortot. He's a camp chef for an armyDeep in the rural parts of France in the 1860s, with you would never really expect to find someone who would come to embody a cold heart full artistic period – he sheds no tearsand not just a movement at that, or at least as much as does but a fish – full generation of both creative and a brilliant way societal change. And if you were to expect that someone, they would like as not be male. But almost stumbling into the hedonistic culture of gauging Montmartre came Marie-Clementine Valadon. She started in the warfare going on around himcircus that first caught her teenaged eye, although her gymnastic career was short-lived. The book even starts with him crossing But what she did have from that was the battlefield poise to start work be an appealing model for the enemy the night before they turn the tables on his previous employers some seriously important painters, and a natural beauty and defeat figure to appeal to both them, leaving Tortot on the winning side once moreand their audiences. But now he's not alone – for he has managed to And what she also inherit an assistanthad, who lives in a barrel much to the surprise of many and the Emperors' favourite and most important gherkins…distaste of some, was artistic talent of her own…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17826915451785782738</amazonuk>

|author=Annabel PitcherDavid Melling|title=The Last Days of Archie MaxwellMerry Christmas, Hugless Douglas|rating=4|genre=Dyslexia Friendly|summary=Archie Maxwell was shocked when his parents told him that they were getting divorced. It wasn't that Dads leaving was that unusual: Leon'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 is bad enough as it is. And then there's the problem of Tia, 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 the day on which her brother committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train on the line which runs at the back of Archie's house.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178112728X</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller|title= Otherworld|rating= 5|genre=Fantasy|summary=imon would not have considered himself a hero. In fact, by all accounts, particularly that of his parents, Simon is an epic failure. He's large, he's hairy, he has a ridiculously oversized nose and he's been kicked out of boarding school and kept on a federal watch list. But Simon is sure something is up with his friend Kat. She won't speak to him. So he resorts to buying an incredibly expensive new virtual reality video game for them both - Otherworld. Otherworld engages your senses with graphics so good, you'll swear they are real, and it's here that Simon really wants to talk 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 consequences. And if it dies? Simon would rather not think about that. If he wants to save Kat, he has to keep pressing on. Simon is the chosen one, this is not a game. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1786073692</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Alison Ritchie and Marisa Morea|title= The Twelve Dogs of Christmas|rating= 4

|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 take her books back and borrow some new ones, but also because it's the day she spends with her nephew Jonathan dad. Once inside the library, magical things occur as the books Luna and his wife Deborah at her dad discover seemingly come to life. They spend their new time together sharing stories, some that are more significant than others, until it's time for Luna to go home in the Cotswolds. Mrs Bradley is a well-known psychiatrist but Yet even once she's also a respected detective renowned for home, she still has her sharp powers newly borrowed books to escape into, and the memories of observationher day with her dad. She soon comes to hear the story |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783445483</amazonuk>}}{{newreview <!-- remove 11/11 -->|title=Under The Light of a local ghostFull Moon|author=Donna McGrath|rating=3.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=When the bad dreams and the whispers at night first start, Clara has no idea what's going on. All she knows is that the lack of sleep is making her feel ill. But a visit from her Great Aunt Selina supplies some answers. Clara's family has a country parson whose apparition can sometimes be seen slung over gift. One member of each generation has the gate leading ability to Groaning Spinney: shape-shift into the ghost will play a part in what is about to happenform of any species of animal. Jonathan Bradley has effectively become But the local squire gift comes with an ancient curse - bearers of it can only transform during the acquisition of his property and Mrs Bradley quickly becomes acquainted with some three days of the locals as they visit to give festive wishesfull moon each month.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784708321B00D9V7QOA</amazonuk>

|author= Melita ThomasStephen Norman|title= The King's Pearl: Henry VIII and His Daughter MaryTrading Down|rating= 54|genre= BiographyThrillers|summary= As the eldest surviving child of Chris Peters was happy in his work for a much-married father whose main aim multinational bank in Hong Kong and excited when he was promoted and sent back to secure London. The job had it all: a hectic trading floor, targets which were impossible and some of the royal succession with sons, Mary Tudorfastest computers in the world under his supervision. He's relationship with Henry VIII, who called her happy at home too: he and Olivia met in Hong Kong: now they're married and thinking about starting a family. But ... has he been promoted beyond his 'pearl of capabilities? There are those in the world'bank who think so, particularly when things start to go badly wrong. He was inevitably an important and often fraught onenever there for Olivia either. Life for Chris Peters was turning sour.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>144566125XB075QF8LJ8</amazonuk>

|author=Lily Murray and Chris WormellJenny Colgan|title=Dinosaurium (Welcome to the Museum)Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery|rating=54|genre=Popular ScienceWomen's Fiction|summary=One Polly, Huckle and Neil are back but in what, sadly for fans of the selling points for entities like the ''Jurassic Park'' films is that they bring all the high-energy action of dinosaur life Little Beach series, seems to be the screen, in a way that is suitable, they would say, for children last of all agesthis trilogy. But there is a very different way Never say never but by the end of going about things. This this book does feature dinosaur-on-dinosaur combat, but only in presenting the most scientific of fossil remains. It delves into author has certainly secured the evolutionary life destiny of what we have long these three much-loved to enjoy and all the major scientific developments for characters. Don't be put off if you haven't read the most inquisitive studentprevious ones, so it really won't matter particularly as the book is actually worth considering in author provides a very different way. I would say this is ideal for ''adults'' of all ageshelpful little synopsis at the start to help those, like me, that are new to these stories.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783707925075156477X</amazonuk>

|author=Kes Gray and Jim FieldAlice Hoffman|title=Oi Cat!The Rules of Magic|rating=4.5|genre=For SharingGeneral Fiction |summary=When did childrenI've read several of Alice Hoffman's books become so Meta? Back in the day each Thomas the Tank Engine adventure was separate from the other as if they lived in their own episodic wildnessnovels, although strangely, but not today. In this world of Nintendo Switches and online platforms the average adult is too scared to venture onto, we have metaphysical children books. Books that reflect back on previous outings in the series. If you are going to get the one she's most out of famous for ''Oi Cat!Practical Magic'', you best know about your which went on to be made into a film. ''Oi Frog!The Rules of Magic'' is the long-awaited prequel to that book, and tells the story of three siblings of the Owens family; Franny, Jet and Vincent. The two sisters, Franny and Jet, go on to become the two aunts in the ''Oi Dog!Practical Magic'' toostory.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>14449325191471157679</amazonuk>

|author=Cath Jones and Chris JevonsPhilip Matyszak|title=Bonkers about Beetroot24 Hours in Ancient Rome|rating=4.5|genre=For SharingHistory|summary=Sunset Safari Park rarely has any visitors and is I've never been that interested in danger of closing downAncient Rome. To tackle Blame my teachers, or our oh-so-dry visits to Roman villas with their earnest interpretation panels, or perhaps I just daydreamed through all the interesting bits… Somehow I entered adulthood with the problem Zebra calls a meeting of impression that all the animals Romans were bloodthirsty and challenges hedonistic heathens with little to recommend them to find a way to make the safari park more interesting. Penguin thinks there''Mea culpa'', you might say. So when my eye fell upon Philip Matyszak's no hope but Zebra has a totally bonkers idea – they'll grow a beetroot. They'll grow the biggest beetroot 24 Hours in the world! It should be easy because they have plenty of manure (animal poo) Ancient Rome'', and its claim to help it grow. At first it looks like Zebra's plan is going introduce readers to work. One beetroot grows so big that crowds the real Ancient Rome by examining the lives of ordinary people come , I decided it was high time to see itupdate my education. There is just one problem – And the lovely artwork on the front cover made this book all the beetroot keeps growing. Soon there won't be any room for visitors. Luckily, Zebra has another idea: an equally bonkers but totally brilliant ideamore appealing.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>18488628141782438564</amazonuk>

|author= Martin Cruz SmithDallas Campbell|title= The Girl from VeniceAd Astra: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet|rating= 4.5|genre= ThrillersPopular Science|summary= The romantic in me was immediately drawn So… you want to this book. Venice in 1945 at leave the planet? Before you do you'd better study the close whole history of the war is enticement enoughhuman space flight to get up to speed. Add That could take a backdrop of partisans, Mussolini and the desperate fight of the losing SS and my interest is certainly piqued, but present the aforementioned along while… if only there was a handy guide that could condense it all down for you. Enter Dallas Campbell with this book: An illustrated guide to leaving the mystery of a young woman found floating in the Venice Lagoon in the dead of night and resistance is futileplanet.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184983816X1471164055</amazonuk>

|author=Nathan Sharon Bennett Connolly|title=Know Your Place: Essays on Heroines of the Working Class by the Working ClassMedieval World|rating=5|genre=Politics and SocietyHistory|summary=Simple summary: ''Know Your Place'' is an anthology of essays Many women in medieval times left their mark on the working class history, but as a rule they have been neglected by the working classbiographers and historians as there is too little surviving information for them to have even brief biographies to themselves. There are twenty-three disparate pieces talking about everything you can imagine: day trips Ms Connolly has adopted an enterprising solution to the seaside, access to the arts, food poverty, pub culture, glass ceilings, housing estates, vulgarity-as-class-marker, and much moreproblem by writing a general account on a broadly thematic basis. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>19115853631445662647</amazonuk>

|author=Nina StibbeJuno Dawson and Alex T Smith|title=An Almost Perfect ChristmasGrave Matter|rating=4.5|genre=Humour Dyslexia Friendly|summary=Christmas – Since Eliza died, since the time night of traditional trauma. You only have to think about the turkey for car crash that – once upon took her life, Sam is a time it was leaving it sat on broken soul. He is lost without the downstairs loo to defrost overnightgirl he loves, and if feeling as though a part of him died that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best betnight too. Nowadays it's all having to make sure it's suitably free-range But he is desperate and organic – but not too organic that you can go he cannot live without Eliza. He remembers his estranged Aunt Marie and visit it, her peculiar healing powers and get too friendly with it wonders if she might be able to want to eat ithelp him. ChristmasHowever, thoughfinding his Aunt Marie leads him to discover the Milk Man, is of course also which causes Sam in his grieving state to make a time of great boonspact with forces he doesn't understand. ItThings soon turn complicated as supernatural powers start to change Sam's cash life in hand more ways than he bargained for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, it was always a godsend for postmen with all the thank-you letters to aunties you saw twice a decade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as 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?.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>02413098241781126046</amazonuk>

|author=Andy MulliganKurt Andersen|title=DogFantasyland|rating=4|genre=Confident ReadersHistory |summary=What life can you find for yourself, when it seems to be marked out at the start that this – the only one you get – begins at such a lowly place? That's Fantasyland covers the question the dog in ''Dog'' faces, especially when a snide spider tells him he is the runt history of the litter, and instead of being bought has been selected by an adult only because he's free. He wasn't even really chosen, and they had thought America from 1517 to get a cat2017 in awesome detail. Oddly enough the mutt gets to be called Spider by TomCovering five centuries of tempestuous history, Andersen paints the lad who gets to call him his, but he's fraught with self-doubt. The spider tells him he's only going to cause harm – which he does. But the neighbourhood cat declares that Spider has something conjuring of the feline America in his mongrel mix, and tempts him across vivid relief. Discussing everything from pilgrims to her way of living. Tom himself, meanwhile, is being nudged into thinking he's beginning at a lowly place – he ignores his absent motherpoliticians, he has the privilege of a scholarship for him exhilarating gold rush to get beaten up and bullied at schoolalternative facts, and he can't see much future for himself, eitherseminal episodes are explored in forensic detail with razor sharp wit. Can Spider work out his lot, and match his life with that of Tom, or will outside agencies get in the way?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>17826917151785038656</amazonuk>

|author= Rebecca Tuhus-DubrowEmily Suvada|title= Personal StereoThis Mortal Coil|rating= 54|genre=LifestyleTeens|summary= These tiny 'Object Lessons'A life threatening virus is spreading through the United States, an already broken country with a range of books which Government that many do not trust. The top scientists are more like frantically trying to produce a long-form essayvaccine to save humanity, explore often seemingly mundane items. ''Personal Stereo'' packs but it seems a lot of information hopeless race against time as the virus mutates into new and stronger strains at a small spacefrightening pace. Split into three distinct sections: Novelty, Norm, Catarina has lived alone and Nostalgiain hiding for the past two years, 'Novelty' traces since her brilliant father was rounded up by the origin of the Sony Walkman, from its conception State and taken by two Japanese business men force to it becoming a recognised entity on work in the streets of Americanational laboratories. 'Norm' follows on His last message to her was to hide from the universal success of the personal stereoState and not to trust them an inch. Set in America, relating this to the technology which it set the groundwork forbut not an America we would recognise, such as the ubiquitous proliferation most of MP3s, the iPodcitizens are incarcerated in underground bunkers, protected by air lock doors and Smartphonesbug free conditions. Others, leading to the eventual downfall in the popularity less trusting of the Walkman. FinallyState, remain in 'Nostalgia'hiding on the surface, Tuhus-Dubrow examines our need to hark back to a simpler time, when hoping the personal stereo seemed the height of freedomvirus will not reach them and avoiding anyone who is infected. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>15013228180141379278</amazonuk>