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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<!-- Pike -->|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:0192771604|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/0192771604/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]''

| style=''"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;My name's Sebastian Cole,"|===[[The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike]]===the boy said, "But you already know that."''

[[image:4.5starAnd indeed they do.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Rayne lives in Ever since the smallsummer, hidden village of Penderin where she is a somewhat unwilling apprentice to when their friend Sarah's mother had moved her motheraway, the spell breather. Not everyone can spell breathe, you Oleg and Emma have been unable to born with find a magic spark and Rayne wishes she hadn't been born with onenew friend to take her place. She's a terrible spell breather, her attempts are always followed by disaster and she positively hates Mam's spell book with it's sharp teeth that suck your blood}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1447281357|title=Salvation Lost|author=Peter F Hamilton|rating=4|genre=Science Fiction|summary=In the twenty-third century, humanity is enjoying a comparative utopia. When a stranger finds their village one day, Mam must set off Yet life on a journey Earth is about to the great librarychange, leaving Rayne in the village as their chief spell breather, but an unfortunate mistake sees Rayne breaking her motherforever. Feriton Kane's book investigative team has discovered the worst threat ever to face mankind – and turning everyone in we've almost no time to monstersfight back. She must face her fear travel across the monster-ridden country The supposedly benign Olyix plan to harvest humanity, in order to find Mam and restore the book carry us to save their villagegod at the end of the universe. [[The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike|Full Review]] <!-- Carlie Sorosiak -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:178800387XAnd as their agents conclude schemes down on earth, vast warships converge above to gather this cargo.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.coSome factions push for humanity to flee, to live in hiding amongst the stars – although only a chosen few would make it out in time. But others refuse to break before the storm.uk/dp/178800387X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-alignAs disaster looms, animosities must be set aside to focus on just one goal: top; text-align: left;"|wiping this enemy from the face of creation. Even if it means preparing for a future this generation will never see.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1471186393|title=Photographer of the Lost|author=[[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak]]===Caroline Scott [[image:|rating=4.5star.jpg5|genre=Historical Fiction|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Cosmo's family is in crisisMay 1921. Mom and Dad argue all Edie receives a photograph through the timepost. Emmaline doesn't quite understand it because she's too little but she feels There is no letter or note with it. And Max, who There is nothing written on the back of the photograph. It is biggera picture of her husband, 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.Francis. Francis has been missing for four years. [[ITechnically, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak|Full Review]] <!-- Fegan -->|-| style=he has been "width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;missing, believed killed"|[[image:1925810097but that is not something that a young widow can believe.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co She hangs on the word 'missing', disbelieving the word killed.uk/dp/1925810097/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align1783784350|title=This Golden Fleece: top; text-align: left;"A Journey Through Britain's Knitted History|author=Esther Rutter|rating=5|genre===[[Don't Drink the Pink by B C R Fegan]]===History [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Madeline is very fond of Grandfather Gilderberry. He's always busy It was December and Esther Rutter was stuck in his workshop, creating crazy potionsher office job, writing to people she'd never met and he always has a smile on his facepreparing spreadsheets. Madeline's dad thinks he's a bit bonkers The job frustrated her and Madeline's mum thinks the same but gives him a pass because he's oldeven her knitting did not soothe her mind. But Madeline? She thinks Grandfather Gilberberry is just great. Particularly on her birthday when he unfailingly arrives with January was going to be a selection of potions time for making changes and allows her to choose one as a gift. And he always says she decided that she would travel the length and breadth of the British Isles with occasional forays abroad, discovering and telling the same thing... [[Donstory of wool't Drink s history and how it had made and changed the Pink by B C R Fegan|Full Review]] <!landscape. She'd grown up on a sheep farm in Suffolk -'' a free range child on the farm'' - Averill -->and learned to spin, knit and weave from her mother and her mother's friend. This was in her blood.}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=1401286208| styletitle="widthBlack Canary: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Ignite|author=Meg Cabot and Cara McGee[[image:1077651538.jpg|linkrating=http://www3.amazon.co.uk/dp/1077651538/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Confident Readers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Years of Fading Magic by Kenelm Averill]]=== [[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.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]]  But it''What if you could subtly change the lives of ordinary people around you?'' Jessica Turner was one of the s actually more radical teens to come out of Eastfield. A youth spent hanging out with a close crowd case of friends was characterised by Jessica's role as trendsetterher voice finding her, as influencer, as leader. Strangely charismatic, Jessica invited fascination and obsession. Nobody who met her, forgot when she gets frustrated or plain dissed at school hervocal outcry can shatter glass better than any opera singer. Or the days they spent in the EnclosureYou could almost call it a weapon, or a clearing in Eastfield woods that Jessica felt gave her power. But the group went its separate waysin order for her to call herself a superhero, as adolescent groups do, and there has to be a whole path of steps for her influence faded...[[The Years to take – one of Fading Magic by Kenelm Averill|Full Review]]which will be into her past…}}<!-- Paula Daly -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1789017977| styletitle="widthRonnie and Hilda's Romance: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Towards a New Life after World War II|author=Wendy Williams[[image:1787632105.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787632105/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  4| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|History===[[Clear My Name by Paula Daly]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Tess Gilroy works for Innocence UK, a charity investigating Ronnie Williams was the cases son of prisoners who can convince them that they've been wrongly convicted Thomas Henry Williams (known as Harry) and they're just moving on to their next caseEthel Wall. SheThere's somewhat surprised when Clive, the head of the charity, announces that shesome doubt as to whether or not they were ever married or even Harry'll s birthdate: he claimed to have someone shadowing her. Avril's been born in her mid twenties 1863, but he was already many years older than Ethel and rather gauche as he might well as prone to putting her foot in ithave shaved a few years off his age. One of For a while the reasons they're now going family was quite well-to look at -do but disaster struck in the case of Carrie Kamara is that she's female 1929 Depression and Innocence have never yet taken up the case of five-year-old Ronnie had to adjust to a woman: such impressions mattervery different lifestyle. [[Clear My Name by Paula Daly|Full Review]]  <! One thing he did inherit from his father was his need to be well-turned- Georgianne Landy-Kordis out and this would stay with him throughout his life. -->He joined the army at eighteen in 1942.}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=1542015421| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|The Royal Baths Murder|author=J R Ellis[[image:1072549271.jpg|linkrating=http://www3.amazon.co.uk/dp/1072549271/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-alignWhen Damian Penrose was murdered there was no shortage of suspects: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Simple Act he was a deeply unpleasant man. In fact the only surprising thing was that there wasn't more of Self-Publishing With Amazon: A Simple Step by Step Guide by Georgianne Landy-Kordis ]]=== [[image:4a queue waiting to do the dirty deed.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Business What was a bit of a headline maker was that Penrose was a crime writer and Finance|Business that he was strangled in the midst of Harrogate's crime writing festival. He went for a swim at the Royal Baths and Finance]]never returned, [[:Category:Reference|Reference]], [[:Category:Self-Publishing|Self Publishing]] I frequently meet authors who are struggling to his body being found by the receptionist. DCI Jim Oldroyd was the man tasked with investigating the crime. It would not be published by the traditional housesonly death, but when I suggest self-publishing they explain that they don't have and it was only because of the big bucks required to go down quick actions of his sergeant, Andy Carter, that road with Author Solutions or Matador or their like. I then ask if theyOldroyd've considered Kindle and the answer is inevitably that they wouldn't know where to starts was not one of them. I can empathise with that. Despite having used a computer for about thirty years, running most }}{{Frontpage|author=Daniel Kraus|title=Blood Sugar|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary=This is a difficult read. And not because of my life ''andthe dark subject matter – that'll come later – but because of the way in which it' s told. This might put a website on linelot of readers off, Iand to be honest it'm still nervous when it comes d be hard to starting something newblame them. I like someone to hold my hand as I go through it for Kraus tells the first time. That was why story in a distinctive voice unlike any other I was very interested when ''ve read; an erratic dialect with heavy and frequent slang. The Simple Act of Self Publishing With Amazon'' came across my deskimmediate effect is disorientating and distracting, and it takes some time to feel natural. Author Georgianne Landy-Kordis doesnIt't profess s a struggle to acclimatise to be a computer expert: sheJody's simply someone who has done this many times and shevoice, to get acquainted with his mannerisms, but the story wouldn's giving us t be the benefit of her experience same without it, and without any added chitchatsomehow it works. It shouldn't, but it does. [[The Simple Act of Self-Publishing With Amazon: A Simple Step by Step Guide by Georgianne Landy-Kordis |Full Review]]isbn=1789091934 <!-- S Kensington -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789018625.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789018625/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Just Another Girl on the Road by S Kensington]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] When Sergeant Farr and Corporal Valentine first encountered Katrinka Badeau she was just eighteen years old and fleeing from a farmhouse and a group of German deserters who had raped her. Despite being outnumbered she was giving just 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 unit, EDMOND, lead by Major Willoughby Nye. Nye recognised Katrinka immediately - he'd worked on her father's merchant ship and Katrinka had once had a crush on Nye. When he offered her a job with his unit, she accepted. [[Just Another Girl on the Road by S Kensington|Full Review]] <!-- Patrice 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]] <!-- David Edwards -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789018870.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789018870/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Something to Tell You by David Edwards]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dystopian Fiction|Dystopian Fiction]] Sam Murray and Bert Leinster had been friends for a long time. Bert was Sam's boss at CERN, but this never seemed to affect the way that the families got on. Bert's wife, Natalia, was Russian and seriously rich. Their twins, fifteen-year-olds Allie and Josh, went to a private boarding school, but at weekends they were great friends with Sam's two children, Liam and Hannah. Sam's wife, Briony, was head of product research at Nestlé. Life was good for all eight of them, until Sam - a particle physicist - spotted that the rate at which Higgs Boson particles were hitting the earth had risen exponentially. It's enough of a problem for Sam and Bert to drag the head of CERN, Prof Ralph Moyeur, out of a family lunch. Then Bert started having conversations with a plant called Lily. [[Something to Tell You by David Edwards|Full Review]] <!-- Behrend -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789016789.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789016789/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[You're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino: Poems for the Present by Don Behrend]]=== [[image:4star.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>''You’re the spread on my paleo toast''<br>''You’re the nose of my GM-free Pinot''<br>''You’re organic, my love. You’re the most!''<br> Ha! How can you not laugh at this gently mocking take on love in the hipster world? [[You're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino: Poems for the Present by Don Behrend|Full Review]]  <!-- Mary Scott Huff -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1419726625.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1419726625/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Mitten Handbook: Knitting Recipes to Make Your Own by Mary Scott Huff]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{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 gloves. They're not something you regularly see in shops, so I knew that if I wanted new pairs I would have to knit them myself. Well, actually, that's my rationalisation of the situation: in truth I love knitting mittens. They have just enough technique to make them satisfying, plenty of quick work and a pair of warm mittens in a few days. Patterns, though - where do you get them from? [[The Mitten Handbook: Knitting Recipes to Make Your Own by Mary Scott Huff|Full Review]] <!-- Evan Winter -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0356512940.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356512940/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Rage 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 that is utter and complete perfection. This book is one of those. Utter and complete perfection. Winter has created an absolute masterpiece of a novel, set in the fantasy land of Uhmlaba the reader is instantly thrown into war, a battle for survival for the Omehi people. Fleeing their homeland, they have to fight to remain on the only scrap of land they can reach. The culture of the Omehi people is rich and deep but not perfect, not sanctimonious. They have villains, they have faults, they are the invaders after all, 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 Winter|Full Review]] <!-- Sorosiak -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[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]] <!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->|}}