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'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->{{Frontpage|isbn=1780724047|title=A Dictionary of Interesting and Important Dogs|author=Peter J Conradi|rating=4|genre=Pets|summary=I struggle to resist a book about dogs, but I did wonder why this one was so ''thin'': given that I've never encountered a dog who wasn't interesting or important - and probably both, I was expecting a massive tome. But ''A Dictionary of Interesting and Important Dogs'' is actually ''a rich compendium of the world's most significant and beloved dogs'' and it's certainly a rich treasure trove. We begin with Peter J Conradi's four collies: Cloudy, Sky. Bradley and Max. They're consecutive rather than simultaneous dogs, but what comes over is Conradi's love for each and every one of them. I knew that I was in safe hands.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1785769294|title=Man at the Window (Detective Cardilini)|author=Robert Jeffreys|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's when we read that a young boy is creeping reluctantly to a teacher's bedroom one October night that we realise something is badly wrong. Nowadays you ''might'' hope that something would be done about it fairly quickly but this was 1965 and child abuse was generally regarded as malicious mischief on the part of the child. The boy would be safe that night though - albeit in the most horrific fashion. When he reached Captain Edmund's bedroom he found the man dead on the floor, the top of his skull missing. The school's initial reaction was that this was a dreadful accident: there had been a cull of kangaroos in some nearby fields and it was obviously a stray bullet which had killed the Captain.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1786695227|title=Invisible in a Bright Light|author=Sally Gardner|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=The beginning of this excellent story will leave the reader more than a little confused: who is the man in the green suit, what is the Reckoning, and why are rows of people in a cave? But stick with it – Ms Gardner is very cleverly letting us experience the same disorientation as our heroine. We watch in dismay as the strange man, who seems to have no eyes, does his best to persuade her to answer his questions. But for some reason Celeste, despite her bewilderment, remains wary and gives nothing away.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1912374854|title=Violet|author=S J I Holliday|rating=3.5|genre=Thrillers|summary=I've never been but understand that travelling is all about meeting new people and forming instantaneous bonds with people in often chance situations. Well that's exactly what happens when the two main/only characters meet in a travel agency in Beijing - Carrie is unsuccessfully trying to get a refund on an extra ticket for the Trans-Siberian train and Violet is trying to unsuccessfully buy a ticket for the same sold-out journey. As the two team up, travelling through Mongolia, Serbia and into Russia, it could've been the start of a beautiful friendship but this a thriller after all so it quickly becomes a tale of obsession, manipulation and toxic friendships.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1912374838|title=Nothing Important Happened Today|author=Will Carver|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary=Nothing Important Happened Today is a dark, twisted, difficult read. Stories about cults often are, but this is different; it's written with a sense of style that is quite unlike anything I've read before. I can't remember ever having read a novel with such an odd, distinctive narrative voice. While a slim and relatively small book, the slow-moving nature of the plot makes it feel far larger than its 276 pages.}}{{Frontpage|isbn= williamabbey|title=The Pursuit of William Abbey|author=Claire North|rating=3.5|genre=Paranormal|summary=When William Abbey fails to prevent the lynching of a young boy in 1880's South Africa, he finds himself cursed by the grieving mother. A naïve English Doctor, he slowly learns the weight of the curse upon him, as the shadow of the dead boy begins to follow him across the world. Never stopping, always growing – it crosses oceans and mountains in pursuit of William. As he finds himself unable to resist speaking the truths that he hears in others, he also learns that the dark shadow is deadly – and seeks to kill the one he loves the most…}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1643785036|title=The Wondrous Apothecary|author=Mary E Martin|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary=Those who have known Alexander Wainwright, the landscape artist famous for his Turner prize winning ''The Hay Wagon'', and Rinaldo, renowned conceptual artist would say that they're chalk and cheese, if not sworn enemies. If you've watched the relationship, as has our narrator, art dealer Jamie Helmsworth, you'd have said that they were magnets, drawing and repulsing each other in equal measure. Wainwright was at the socially acceptable end of the artistic continuum, but with Rinaldo it was all too obvious that there was but a fine dividing line between conceptual art and public nuisance. As time has worn on, he's frequently been brought to the attention of the police. On this latest occasion we see him charged with arson and theft of ''The Hay Wagon''.}}{{Frontpage|author=Mary H.K. Choi|title=Permanent Record|rating=4|genre=Teens|summary=Pablo, a college drop-out, is working at a New York bodega. He's massively in debt, he's avoiding his mother, and he finds his joy in creating unusual snacks with random ingredients! Whilst working one evening, he's surprised to discover that the girl he is chatting with as he serves is a super-famous pop star and, as unlikely as it may seem, they start a relationship. With one character who is trying very hard not to be seen or noticed by anyone, and the other who is seen and followed and hounded by everyone all over the world, it's an interesting clash as they come together. This isn't just a love story though, and actually it's really just Pab's story, about the journey he takes in his life via his meet-up with Leanna Smart.|isbn=0349003459}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1609809319|title=Long-Haired Cat-Boy Cub|author=Etgar Keret, Aviel Basil and Sondra Silverston (translator)|rating=5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=One day a boy is in the zoo with his father, when the man gets called away on urgent business. The boy isn't hustled into a cab and taken home first, though, no – he's given hot dog money, and taxi money, and told to just stick around on his own and enjoy himself. Well, it's no surprise that the orphan-for-an-afternoon sensation the lad feels doesn't make him happy, and so he thinks of a species name for himself, and curls himself up into an empty cage, as if he were a new exhibit. And it's then the drama begins… }}{{Frontpage|isbn=1785785516|title=Fucking Good Manners|author=Simon Griffin|rating=4|genre=Lifestyle|summary=Manners maketh man, they say. It certainly makes life easier if everybody abides by a set of conventions, some of which are ages old and other which have evolved over time. Manners are not about how much to tip or how you should behave if you get an invitation to Buckingham Palace, they have nothing to do with class or financial status: they're about getting the basics right before we try to deal with more difficult matters. Of course we all have more relaxed manners when we're with family and friends, but it's best if we learn to distinguish between our public and private lives and to act appropriately. ''Fucking Good Manners'' aims to help us on the way.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008324859|title=Fowl Twins|author=Eoin Colfer|rating=5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Relax, everyone – our old friend Artemis may be off planet, but the baddies aren't getting away with skulduggery any time soon because they now have not one but two members of the Fowl family to contend with. Those cute little twins are now eleven (and, frankly, cute no longer) and in this, their first independent adventure, they meet a troll and without even trying manage to make two deadly enemies: a nobleman obsessed with immortality whatever the cost (to other people), and an unusual interrogator-nun. The boys are chased, kidnapped, arrested and even killed (though not for long), all with the help of one trainee fairy.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1472255798|title=The Bad Fire (Bob Skinner)|author=Quintin Jardine|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=Nine years ago local councillor Marcia Brown took her own life after being accused of shoplifting from a local supermarket. It's always been assumed that she couldn't live with the shame. People were surprised that she committed suicide just before the court case when she had been adamant that she would fight to clear her name. She said that she'd been set up because she was hot on the trail of corruption in the council. Her ex-husband has contacted Alex Skinner, Solicitor Advocate as well as retired Police Constable Bob Skinner's daughter, and asked that she look into clearing Brown's name: it's something which he feels that he has to do in memory of his son who was murdered recently.}}

{{Frontpage|isbn=B07X6GLQ3Q|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingtitle=See Them Run|author="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->Marion Todd<!-- S Kensington -->|rating=4|-genre=Crime| stylesummary="widthD I Clare Mackay is still relatively new to St Andrew's: 10%; verticalshe was previously at Maryhill Rd station in Glasgow. She's left quite a lot behind including a relationship that wasn't going anywhere after Tom failed to support her when the chips were down. She also left a nasty situation, of her own making but not her fault, and St Andrew's is a fresh start. Not long into the job she's faced with a hit and run death and there's little doubt that it wasn't accidental -align: top; textthe card with the number five suggests murder. Andy Robb was married to Sandra. You could say that they had an open marriage but there seemed to be a lot of the 'open' and very little of the 'marriage' left -align: center;"on both sides, but would she want him dead?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1786540991|title=The Impossible Boy|author=Ben Brooks[[image:1789018625|rating=4.jpg5|genre=Confident Readers|linksummary=http://www''Oleg and Emma entered their den to find a cardboard spaceship standing where they usually sat. Slowly, the front door opened.amazonSmoke billowed out.coAnd out stepped a boy, dressed in a long coat with an even longer scarf, wound around his neck.uk/dp/1789018625/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]''

| style=''"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;My name's Sebastian Cole,"|===[[Just Another Girl on the Road by S Kensington]]===boy said, "But you already know that."''

[[image:4starAnd indeed they do.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical FictionEver since the summer, when their friend Sarah's mother had moved her away, Oleg and Emma have been unable to find a new friend to take her place.}}{{Frontpage|Historical Fiction]]isbn=1447281357|title=Salvation LostWhen Sergeant Farr and Corporal Valentine first encountered Katrinka Badeau she was just eighteen years old and fleeing from a farmhouse and |author=Peter F Hamilton|rating=4|genre=Science Fiction|summary=In the twenty-third century, humanity is enjoying a group of German deserters who had raped hercomparative utopia. Despite being outnumbered she was giving just Yet life on Earth is about as good as she got when Farr and Valentine intervened and finished the group off. It was 1944 and Farr and Valentine were part of the Jedburgh unitto change, EDMOND, lead by Major Willoughby Nyeforever. Nye recognised Katrinka immediately - he'd worked on her fatherFeriton Kane's merchant ship investigative team has discovered the worst threat ever to face mankind – and Katrinka had once had a crush on Nyewe've almost no time to fight back. When he offered her a job with his unitThe supposedly benign Olyix plan to harvest humanity, in order to carry us to their god at the end of the universe. And as their agents conclude schemes down on earth, she acceptedvast warships converge above to gather this cargo. [[Just Another Girl on Some factions push for humanity to flee, to live in hiding amongst the Road by S Kensington|Full Review]] <!-- Patrice Lawrence-->|-| style="widthstars – although only a chosen few would make it out in time. But others refuse to break before the storm. As disaster looms, animosities must be set aside to focus on just one goal: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1444940651wiping this enemy from the face of creation.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.coEven if it means preparing for a future this generation will never see.uk/dp/1444940651/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"1471186393|title=Photographer of the Lost|author=Caroline Scott|rating=4.5|genre=[[Rose, Interrupted by Patrice Lawrence]]===Historical Fiction[[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Rose and her brother Rudder have recently escaped from cult-like fundamentalist Christian sect, the Pilgrims, along May 1921. Edie receives a photograph through the post. There is no letter or note with their motherit. While Mum works endless hours at agency cleaning jobs trying to keep the rent paid There is nothing written on their tiny flat, Rose and Rudder are trying to navigate the worldly worldback of the photograph. It's not easy when everything is new and the rigid rules you've always lived by are suddenly a picture of her husband, Francis. Francis has been missingfor four years. [[RoseTechnically, Interrupted by Patrice Lawrence|Full Review]]he has been "missing, believed killed" but that is not something that a young widow can believe. She hangs on the word 'missing', disbelieving the word killed. <!-- David Edwards -->}}|-{{Frontpage| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|1783784350[[image:1789018870.jpg|linktitle=httpThis Golden Fleece://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789018870/ref=nosim?tagA Journey Through Britain's Knitted History|author=thebookbag-21]] Esther Rutter| stylerating="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"5|===[[Something to Tell You by David Edwards]]genre===History[[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dystopian Fiction|Dystopian Fiction]] Sam Murray It was December and Esther Rutter was stuck in her office job, writing to people she'd never met and Bert Leinster had been friends for a long timepreparing spreadsheets. Bert was Sam's boss at CERN, but this never seemed to affect the way that the families got onThe job frustrated her and even her knitting did not soothe her mind. Bert's wife, Natalia, January was Russian going to be a time for making changes and seriously rich. Their twins, fifteen-year-olds Allie she decided that she would travel the length and Josh, went to a private boarding school, but at weekends they were great friends breadth of the British Isles with Sam's two childrenoccasional forays abroad, Liam discovering and Hannah. Samtelling the story of wool's wife, Briony, was head of product research at Nestléhistory and how it had made and changed the landscape. Life was good for all eight of them, until Sam She'd grown up on a sheep farm in Suffolk - '' a particle physicist - spotted that free range child on the rate at which Higgs Boson particles were hitting the earth had risen exponentially. Itfarm''s enough of a problem for Sam - and Bert learned to drag the head of CERNspin, Prof Ralph Moyeur, out of a family lunch. Then Bert started having conversations with a plant called Lilyknit and weave from her mother and her mother's friend. This was in her blood. [[Something to Tell You by David Edwards|Full Review]]}}<!-- Behrend -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1401286208| styletitle="widthBlack Canary: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Ignite|author=Meg Cabot and Cara McGee[[image:1789016789.jpg|linkrating=http://www3.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789016789/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Confident Readers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[You're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino: Poems for the Present by Don Behrend]]=== [[image:4starMeet Dinah Lance. Frustrated that her policeman father will not allow her to try and follow in his footsteps, and seemingly lumbered with being a cheerleader at school, she is desperate to find her voice. But it's actually more a case of her voice finding her, as when she gets frustrated or plain dissed at school her vocal outcry can shatter glass better than any opera singer.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]]  ''You're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino'' begins with ''A Modern Love Story'': ''You’re the froth on my soy cappuccino''<br>could almost call it a weapon, or a power. But in order for her to call herself a superhero, there has to be a whole path of steps for her to take – one of which will be into her past…}}''You’re the spread on my paleo toast''<br>{{Frontpage|isbn=1789017977|title=Ronnie and Hilda''You’re the nose of my GM-free Pinot''<br>s Romance: Towards a New Life after World War II|author=Wendy Williams''You’re organic, my love. You’re the most!''<br>|rating=4|genre=HistoryHa! How can you not laugh at this gently mocking take on love in |summary=Ronnie Williams was the hipster world? son of Thomas Henry Williams (known as Harry) and Ethel Wall. [[YouThere's some doubt as to whether or not they were ever married or even Harry're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccinos birthdate: Poems for the Present by Don Behrend|Full Review]]  <!-- Mary Scott Huff -->|-| style="width: 10%; verticalhe claimed to have been born in 1863, but he was already many years older than Ethel and he might well have shaved a few years off his age. For a while the family was quite well-to-align: top; textdo but disaster struck in the 1929 Depression and five-align: center;"|[[image:1419726625year-old Ronnie had to adjust to a very different lifestyle.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1419726625/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag One thing he did inherit from his father was his need to be well-turned-21]]out and this would stay with him throughout his life. He joined the army at eighteen in 1942.}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"1542015421|title===[[The Mitten Handbook: Knitting Recipes to Make Your Own by Mary Scott Huff]]Royal Baths Murder|author=J R Ellis|rating=3.5|genre=Crime [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=CategoryWhen Damian Penrose was murdered there was no shortage of suspects:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crafts|Crafts]] I love mittens - they're so convenient and much easier to get onto (and off) cold hands than a pair of fiddly gloveshe was a deeply unpleasant man. TheyIn fact the only surprising thing was that there wasn're not something you regularly see in shops, so I knew that if I wanted new pairs I would have t more of a queue waiting to knit them myselfdo the dirty deed. Well, actually, What was a bit of a headline maker was that'Penrose was a crime writer and that he was strangled in the midst of Harrogate's my rationalisation of the situation: in truth I love knitting mittenscrime writing festival. They have just enough technique to make them satisfying, plenty of quick work and He went for a pair of warm mittens in a few daysswim at the Royal Baths and never returned, his body being found by the receptionist. DCI Jim Oldroyd was the man tasked with investigating the crime. PatternsIt would not be the only death, though - where do you get and it was only because of the quick actions of his sergeant, Andy Carter, that Oldroyd's was not one of them from? [[The Mitten Handbook: Knitting Recipes to Make Your Own by Mary Scott Huff|Full Review]].}}<!-- Evan Winter -->{{Frontpage|-author=Daniel Kraus| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Blood Sugar[[image:0356512940.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356512940/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 4| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"General Fiction|summary===[[The Rage This is a difficult read. And not because of Dragons by Evan Winter]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] Every so often, as a reader, a book comes along the dark subject matter – that is utter and complete perfection. This book is one 'll come later – but because of thosethe way in which it's told. Utter and complete perfection. Winter has created an absolute masterpiece of This might put a novel, set in the fantasy land lot of Uhmlaba the reader is instantly thrown into warreaders off, a battle for survival for and to be honest it'd be hard to blame them. Kraus tells the Omehi peoplestory in a distinctive voice unlike any other I've read; an erratic dialect with heavy and frequent slang. Fleeing their homelandThe immediate effect is disorientating and distracting, they have and it takes some time to fight feel natural. It's a struggle to acclimatise to Jody's voice, to remain on get acquainted with his mannerisms, but the only scrap of land they can reach. The culture of story wouldn't be the Omehi people is rich same without it, and deep but not perfect, not sanctimonioussomehow it works. They have villains, they have faults, they are the invaders after allIt shouldn't, but Winter creates a realistic and honest portrayal of a people desperate to survive, to save themselves and their culture for future generations. [[The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winterit does.|Full Review]] <!-- Sorosiak -->|-| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|1789091934[[image:178800387X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178800387X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]  Cosmo's family is in crisis. Mom and Dad argue all the time. Emmaline doesn't quite understand it because she's too little but she feels it. And Max, who is bigger, does understand it and is terrified by it. Long ago, when Max was just a baby, Cosmo made a promise to protect Max forever and so he sets about his mission of repairing the family with everything he's got... [[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak|Full Review]]<!-- Linda Jones -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1999324803.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999324803/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Deadwood Hall by Linda Jones]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] In late December Dylan Beaumont and his sister Emily were on their way to spend the week before Christmas at their grandfather's house. It was snowing heavily and you could sense that their parents were becoming annoyed at the bickering in the back of the car. Emily was rather brusque with her nine-year-old brother's behaviour, but then that's your prerogative when you're a grown-up eleven year old. The snow was getting heavier and the journey longer when Emily opened the car window just a couple of inches. There was a dreadful smell and Dylan saw a horrible, snake-like figure clawing at the car window. [[Deadwood Hall by Linda Jones|Full Review]] <!-- Denzil Meyrick -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1846974755.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1846974755/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Breath on Dying Embers (DCI Daley) by Denzil Meyrick]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Few government trade missions arrive by luxury liner, but the cruise ship ''Great Britain'' is berthed in Kinloch harbour and on board are high-powered international delegates. It's hard to avoid the suspicion that it's not ''entirely'' about work as the billionaires, entrepreneurs and their civil service minders tour the country, golfing and sightseeing with their entourage of security personnel. It's an event which DCI Daley hopes will pass quickly, particularly as his formal uniform is far too tight for comfort, but it's not long before one of the crew members and a local bird watcher go missing. [[A Breath on Dying Embers (DCI Daley) by Denzil Meyrick|Full Review]] <!-- James -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1781128952.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781128952/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dyslexia Friendly|Dyslexia Friendly]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] This is a dyslexia-friendly, science fiction novella for young adults. It tells the tale of Hugo, an unwanted and rather lonely android, who makes a living for himself mending time-travel watches. When one of his clients demands that his broken watch be mended, Hugo realises there is a mystery to be solved, and is only too ready to help. An exciting journey of discovery unfolds, which takes Hugo out of his drab attic workroom and into a scary adventure with some amazing new friends, exploring regions of the planet never before known to exist. [[The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James|Full Review]] <!-- Stuart MacBride -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0007419449.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0007419449/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Cold Granite (Logan McRae) by Stuart MacBride]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] DS Logan McRae is just back from a year's sick leave after he was attacked by a killer. He's just about OK and he's supposed to be easing himself back into the swing of the job in a gentle way - until three-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch. He'd been missing for some time and it came as no surprise that he was dead but he's the first of several child murders. To add to the complications the police even have a body but no child reported missing. A serial killer, a child killer and abuser, is on the loose in Aberdeen and the press are missing no opportunity to bay for blood. As if that wasn't bad enough there seems to be a leak from within Force Headquarters: a local journalist, Colin Miller, quickly finds out everything that's happening. [[Cold Granite (Logan McRae) by Stuart MacBride|Full Review]] <!-- Angela Marsons -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07QPKB7N7.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QPKB7N7/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Child's Play (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] There's a prologue and we know that we're dealing with someone who is very disturbed. The descriptions are horrifying, but worst of all is the coldness of the killer. [[Child's Play (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons|Full Review]] <!-- Chiang -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529014484.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529014484/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Exhalation by Ted Chiang]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Over the past twenty-eight years Ted Chiang has published fifteen science fiction short stories. These magnificent stories have won twenty-seven major science fiction awards so if you are a science fiction fan it is likely that you have already come across some of the work by Ted Chiang. I cannot speak highly enough of this collection of short stories, they are so wide ranging in their themes and so beautifully written, Chiang has written an absolute masterpiece of a collection. If you come across Chiang's work before, take this opportunity to do so now. Trust me; your imagination will be grateful. [[Exhalation by Ted Chiang|Full Review]] <!-- Lawrence -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1444940651.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444940651/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Rose, Interrupted by Patrice Lawrence]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Rose and her brother Rudder have recently escaped from cult-like fundamentalist Christian sect, the Pilgrims, along with their mother. While Mum works endless hours at agency cleaning jobs trying to keep the rent paid on their tiny flat, Rose and Rudder are trying to navigate the worldly world. It's not easy when everything is new and the rigid rules you've always lived by are suddenly missing. [[Rose, Interrupted by Patrice Lawrence|Full Review]]<!-- Kate Atkinson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:9780552772464.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0552772461/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Started Early, Took My Dog (Jackson Brodie) by Kate Atkinson]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] I guess that most of us have made the odd impulse purchase but Tracy Waterhouse, security chief at the Merrion Centre in Leeds, blew most people's ideas of an impulse purchase out of the water one morning. Seeing a known prostitute dragging a toddler through the shopping mall whilst cursing at her, Waterhouse followed the woman and bought the girl for £3000. The difficulty of a purchase like this is knowing what to do next and Tracy's humdrum life is replaced with one of stress, fear and an overwhelming love for four-year-old Courtney. [[Started Early, Took My Dog (Jackson Brodie) by Kate Atkinson|Full Review]] <!-- Chloe Daykin -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0571349439.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0571349439/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Fire Girl, Forest Boy by Chloe Daykin]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers]] Maya has to escape. She's on the run in a country she doesn't know and has no idea who to trust. Raul is escaping too - travelling back to his home where a terrible tragedy happened, ready to stir up trouble. When their paths collide in the middle of the jungle, the sparks begin to fly. As modern world corruption meets the magic and legends of ancient times, can Maya draw on her hidden light to find the way through to the truth? [[Fire Girl, Forest Boy by Chloe Daykin|Full Review]] <!-- Angela Marsons -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07QPKB7N7.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QPKB7N7/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Child's Play (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] There's a prologue and we know that we're dealing with someone who is very disturbed. The descriptions are horrifying, but worst of all is the coldness of the killer. [[Child's Play (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons|Full Review]] <!-- Gregory -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1526609169.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1526609169/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[I Hold Your Heart by Karen Gregory]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Gemma has just started her A levels at school. She's a keen student and she has a good, close set of friends. Gemma loves country music and in her spare time she enjoys writing and singing country songs. She's pretty good at it too. Home life is busy - Gemma's brother Michael has a chance at a football career and the whole family, propelled by Gemma's rather over-invested dad, is supporting him with everything they've got. Gemma hasn't had a serious boyfriend yet, so when the handsome Aaron appears and an instant attraction fizzles between them, Gemma is keen to see where romance could lead... [[I Hold Your Heart by Karen Gregory|Full Review]]<!-- Davis -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0192749218.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0192749218/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[What's That in Dog Years? by Ben Davis and Julia Christians]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] George and Gizmo have been together ever since George was born. Gizmo has always been a fun, adventurous dog and a loyal friend, but just recently, George has noticed that he's starting to slow down a little. A visit to the vets leaves George worried that Gizmo might not be around for very much longer, and so he begins to write Gizmo a bucket list, of all the adventures that they can still have together in Gizmo's last days. But are they his last days? And who will help George to stay calm when Gizmo is gone? [[What's That in Dog Years? by Ben Davis and Julia Christians|Full Review]] <!-- Hlad -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529311446.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529311446/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Long Flight Home by A L Hlad]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] September 1940 - as WWII rages on, bombs rain down on Britain, destroying the homes and lives of a people on the edge. In Epping Forest, Susan Shepherd and her grandfather Bertie live together raising homing pigeons with the birds proving a comfort for Susan following the loss of her parents. These pigeons are more than just birds to Susan though – in each one, and especially in Duchess, she sees a distinct personality and forms a close bond. Meanwhile, young pilot Ollie Evans leaves Maine to head to Britain and join the Royal Air Force. Working with the National Pigeon Service, he soon meets Susan and is tasked with air-dropping hundreds of homing pigeons into German-occupied France, where many will not survive. As the mission is planned, the bond between Ollie and Susan grows stronger, but when Ollie's plane is downed behind enemy lines, it may be Duchess who provides an unexpected lifeline and ensures that hope of a reunion for Susan and Ollie remains… [[The Long Flight Home by A L Hlad|Full Review]] <!-- Peter Wohlleben -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1846045576.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1846045576/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[Walks In The Wild by Peter Wohlleben and Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp (Translator)]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Animals and Wildlife|Animals and Wildlife]], [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] ''An instruction manual for the forest'' is how Wohlleben's publisher described the idea for this book, and that's basically what it is – although right at the end the author says that it is not intended to be a reference book, but an appetiser. [[Walks In The Wild by Peter Wohlleben and Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp (Translator)|Full Review]] <!-- M T Edvardsson and Rachel Wilson-Boyles -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529008123.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529008123/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Nearly Normal Family by M T Edvardsson and Rachel Wilson-Boyles (translator)]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] We're going to hear this story through the viewpoints of three different people: Adam Sandell, his wife, Ulrika and his daughter Stella. Adam's a pastor in the Church of Sweden and Ulrika is a lawyer. Stella is, well, just difficult. You sense that she's always been difficult and there have even been occasions when Ulrika has let slip that she wishes that Stella was more like her best friend, Amina Bešic - and no one has ever said that if they don't think that the other person is better. We first meet the family on Stella's 18th birthday and we get a sense of Adam's controlling nature. Permission has to be given for a glass of wine for Stella at the celebration meal. [[A Nearly Normal Family by M T Edvardsson and Rachel Wilson-Boyles (translator)|Full Review]] <!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->|}}