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<metadesc>Book review siteExpert, with books full book reviews from most walks of literary life; fiction, biographynon-fiction, crime, cookery and children's books & self-published books plus author interviews and & top tens.</metadesc><h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>Hello from The Bookbag, a site featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - [[:Category:Fiction|fiction]], [[:Category:Biography|biography]], [[:Category:Crime|crime]], [[:Category:Cookery|cookery]] and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library and the bookshop. Sometimes it holds the latest releases, but at other times there'll be old favourites, books for the children, books for the home. They're sometimes our own books or books from the local library. They're often books sent to us by publishers and we promise to tell you exactly what we think about them. You might not want to read through a full review, so we'll give you a quick review which summarises what we felt about the book and tells you whether or not we think you should buy or borrow it. There are also lots of [[:Category:Interviews|author interviews]], and all sorts of [[:Category:Lists|top tens]] - all of which you can find on our [[features]] page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the [[Book Recommendations|recommendations]] page.

Reviews by readers from all the many walks of literary life. With author interviews, features and top tens. You'll be sure to find something you'll want to read here. Dig in! Find us on [[File:facebook.gif|link=https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk|alt=Facebook]] [https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk '''Facebook'''], [[File:twitter.gif|link=http://twitter.com/TheBookbag|alt=Follow us on Twitter]] [http://twitter.com/TheBookbag '''Twitter'''], [[File:instagram_classic_logo.png|link=https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/|alt=Follow us on Instagram]] [https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/ '''Instagram'''] and [[File:LinkedIn.png|link=https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-bookbag-1b12a264/|alt=LinkedIn]] There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' [[:Category:Reviews|reviews ]] at TheBookbag.

==Reviews of the The Best New Books==

'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- Remove --><!-- Kidd -->*[[image:Kidd_Hoarder.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1782118497?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1782118497]] ===[[The Hoarder by Jess Kidd]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Cathal Flood is an old, belligerent man, living in a filthy, crowded house that was once a family home. When Maud Drennan – underpaid carer and unintentional psychic is employed to look after the ancient Cathal, she assumes she'll just be the next in a long line of short-term dogsbodies for the old man. Instead, Maud finds herself drawn into the mysteries concealed within Cathal's once great house – and as Maud begins to clean and sort the rooms she uncovers secrets about the old man that awaken long-hidden memories within Maud herself. With the aid of her highly glamourous yet utterly agoraphobic landlady and a troop of holy ghosts, Maud must uncover the secrets at the heart of the house – and exactly why they were buried… [[The Hoarder by Jess Kidd|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Gonsalves remove 8/2 --> *[[image:Gonsalves_Queen.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1546287663?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1546287663]] ===[[Lamellia: The Wicked Queen by Gloria D Gonsalves]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Lamellia is a kingdom of mushrooms in a land far away. Many types and colours of mushroom live there and they are all ruled over by King PoliPoli, a big brown mushroom who is a wise and kind leader. King PoliPoli is married to the beautiful Queen Nobilia. But Queen Nobilia cannot conceive a baby and this makes her very sad. She sings a sad song so emotive that her sorrow infects the whole land. [[Lamellia: The Wicked Queen by Gloria D Gonsalves|Full Review]]<br><br> <!-- Kiernan -->*[[image:Kiernan Begone.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1406366021?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1406366021]] ===[[Begone The Raggedy Witches: The Wild Magic Trilogy by Celine Kiernan]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Aunty has died. Mup, her little brother Tipper and Mam are driving back from the hospital, and already it seems everything has changed. It was Aunty who kept the family going, who cared for them all and made sure they were happy, warm and secure. But then, as they approach the house, Mup is astonished to see the white, uncaring faces of witches above them, darting from tree to tree as they follow the car. Things are going to change even more suddenly and dramatically than she could ever have imagined. [[Begone The Raggedy Witches: The Wild Magic Trilogy by Celine Kiernan|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Kenny -->*[[image:Kenny_Tin.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1911077651?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1911077651]] ===[[Tin by Padraig Kenny]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Christopher can't remember much about his life before he came to live with Mr Absalom. Snatches of memories sometimes surface; images of his mother and father that appear suddenly before fading into the smoke, blackness and flames of the fire. He remembers the fire most of all; his last, most powerful memory of his old life that chokes out everything else. However, his present life working for the eccentric engineer isn't all bad. He has his mechanical friends to keep him company. They are his family now. [[ Tin by Padraig Kenny|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Graff -->*[[image:Graff_Find.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1788034546?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1788034546]] ===[[Find Another Place by Ben Graff]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Biography|Biography]], [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]], [[:Category:Home and Family|Home and Family]] When Ben Graff's grandfather Martin handed him a plastic folder of handwritten notes from his journal, he didn't take much notice of it. At the age of 24, Graff didn't realise the gravity of the pages he was holding. [[Find Another Place by Ben Graff|Full Review]]<br><br> <!-- Jennings -->*[[image:Jennings Different.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1910646423?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1910646423]] ===[[A Different Dog by Paul Jennings and Geoff Kelly]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dyslexia Friendly|Dyslexia Friendly]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Our hero is a boy, whose name we never learn. We know what he wants in life – with his mother exceedingly poor, and even his bed burnt to keep the two of them warm, he wants the prize offered by a down-a-mountain-and-back-up-and-down-again foot race. Winning the race and the large purse would also give him more status in the eyes of those kids that bully him, and it might even give him a voice – for he is almost mute. We quickly learn he never talks back to anyone, whatever the motivation, and can only speak aloud to himself – and, so it turns out, to a dog he rescues from a bad road accident he finds on his way up the hill to the start line… [[A Different Dog by Paul Jennings and Geoff Kelly|Full Review]]<br>

<!-- Quine -->*[[image:Quine Beasts.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0992754941?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0992754941]] ===[[The Beasts of Electra Drive by Rohan Quine]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] Meet Jaymi. He's a world-class video games designer, and fresh to a new mansion in the Hollywood Hills on the basis of some recent success. But he's seen the future and he doesn't like it. His current employers, able to bring any amount of class, skill and culture to the world of gameplay, are beset on appealing to the most lunkheaded and lowest common denominators instead. Indeed, their next big thing will change the world for the worse – it will be a massively disturbing environment, where people progress through the world of the entity by spreading fake news about anyone and everyone else on the planet, whether they're playing along or not, and by getting kind of prestige points on spoiling and shaming anything beyond a user-accepted, algorithm-designed, status quo. With a much more Reithian approach, Jaymi goes freelance, and sets up a way of restoring the balance with a launch of his own, where aspects of his more humanitarian mind are played out by avatars of him in the game. He sees this as a way to improve society and get his own back – but the chance of getting revenge more quickly comes about when those avatars leave their encoded background, and become fully playable characters in reality… Read [[The Beasts Forthcoming Publications|reviews of Electra Drive by Rohan Quine|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Shaw -->*[[image:Shaw_Outwalkers.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1788450000?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1788450000]] ===[[Outwalkers by Fiona Shaw]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Newly orphaned Jake is determined to escape from his Home Academy and to find a new home with his dog, Jet. He thinks his biggest challenge is going books about to be getting out and over the wall but, when he does, he finds this is the least of his worries. The governing 'Coalition' is able to track everyone in the country via the 'hub chip' in their neck and in no time 'the hubbers' (police) are on his trail. All seems lost until Jake stumbles into a gang of ''outwalker'' kids. After proving his worth, he is permitted to join their gang and together they set out on a perilous journey north towards the heavily guarded border with Scotland.[[Outwalkers by Fiona Shaw|Full Reviewpublished]]<br>.{{newreviewFrontpage|author= Juliette ForrestSylvie Cathrall|title= TwisterA Letter to the Luminous Deep

|genre= Confident ReadersScience Fiction|summary= Twister certainly There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to her stormy name. She's so stubborn and determined that she's almost a force of nature in her own right, and she's fiercely loyal to her familycompelling premise. Her beloved father has disappeared and her mother And this is sunk in a dreary depression where she barely seems aware one of her daughter's existence: if it weren't for Aunt Honey and her wonderful cooking, and Point the dog, she would feel all alone in the worldthem. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>140718511X</amazonuk>0356522776

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Tony De Saulles0008517061|title= Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer QueensDeath in a Lonely Place|author=Stig Abell|rating= 4.5|genre= Emerging ReadersCrime|summary= Young Mel's friend Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has left and settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the beehive is now future of his life with his to look after. Unfortunately Mel lives vet girlfriend, Livia and her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a tower block lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to move in with Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not all of his neighbours agree that it this is the correct place future she wants for a hive. Things change when Mel suddenly realises he has an amazing superpower; he can become a beeherself and her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in the present and putting the future on the back burner. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192763873</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1786482126|title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=Builders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway. There was no skull. Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago. Her condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police. Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death. This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date. Not much to ask, is it? The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008405026|title=Walking WoundedA Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|author=Sheila LlewellynJane Casey

|genre=Historical FictionCrime|summary=David Reece It's sixteen years since nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was called up in 1941 never found and sent the investigation ground to fight a halt. Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in Burmatheir bed. On his return in 1946 Initially, he finds it looks like a return straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. What looked as though it was going to civilian life quite beyond him be an open-and, after a brawl, -shut case is sent to now a military psychiatric hospitalcomplex double murder. There Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, he Una Burt) are less convinced.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=Edward Jevons is treated by Daniel Cartera working-class young man, a psychiatrist whose instincts tell him that talking therapies can work obsessed with men like Davidhis upper-class friends, but who is working in Robert and Stanza. Robert's a profession enthusiastically adopting invasive procedures such as ECT theatre director. He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and lobotomyuses Edward to run errands for him. Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - and he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. Most men in Robert'Walking Woundeds position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he'' follows both s not like most men as they both try : Edward is left to come stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.}}{{Frontpage|author=Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No Trace|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=When a man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to terms the case alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock. It's their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases. But when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with traumatic experiences a potential serial killer and find a place very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. Will they be able to solve the case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the case and, potentially, out of a world moving on from WWII.career?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1473663075</amazonuk>139851120X

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn= Katherine Arden1399613073|title= The Girl in the TowerMoral Injuries|author=Christie Watson|rating= 4.5|genre= FantasyThrillers|summary= In Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the second book first day of the trilogy Katherine Arden builds on her original story medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to create something even betterbe a cardiothoracic surgeon. This book Laura is utterly wonderful a perfectionist and it a trauma doctor. Anjali is at the same time complex free spirit of the group and gentleshe becomes a GP. The [[The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden| When we first book]] set up the characters in the Petronova family but sometimes left the characters feeling meet them they're at a little thin; this book builds on the first to give depth to the family members drug and alcohol-fuelled party and their ties it's going to each otherend in tragedy. It We don's a great story but I would strongly advise reading t know who suffered the two books in order to get tragedy or the full effect of consequences. Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the plotthree friends. This time, it's their teenage children who are involved.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785031066</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Muhammad Khan0241636604|title= I am ThunderThe Trading Game: A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson|rating= 4.5|genre= TeensAutobiography|summary= Adhering If you were to the recent trend for politicised YA novelsbring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you''I am Thunder'' explores several controversial topics relating re unlikely to being a Muslim in modern Britainthink of someone like Gary Stevenson. A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice. It tells There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the story London School of Muzna, a shy teenager who Economics. Stevenson is flattered when Arif, bright - extremely bright - and he has a fellow Muslim, chooses facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to ask her out despite interest from several other girls be stupid. It was his ability at school. Howeverwhat was, her delight wavers when she discovers how Arifessentially, influenced by his manipulative brother Jameela card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, has become angered by Western culturethis turned into permanent employment as a trader.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1509874054</amazonuk>

<!I've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you're eighteen. Well, I must confess that there have been more than a few decades of technology in my lifetime. I've kept up reasonably well with what's advantageous to me but I'm left with the feeling that it's all getting away from me. Some of it is -frankly - James: remove 31/1 -->quite frightening. Of course, I could research the possibilities and the probabilities and end up down rabbit holes without really understanding whether I'm reading someone who knows what they're talking about or the latest conspiracy theorist. I needed people I knew I could trust and who could deliver information in a way I could understand.}}{{Frontpage|author=Sunny Singh|title=Hotel Arcadia|rating=3.5|genre=Thrillers *[[image:James_Righteous|summary=The Hotel Arcadia is a luxury hotel in an unnamed city that has suddenly been violently taken over by a terrorist group.jpg Hiding from the terrorists who are rampaging through, killing everyone on site, there is Sam, a wartime photographer and Abhi, the hotel manager. As Abhi continues to try to care remotely for the residents who are still alive in the hotel, he forms a bond with Sam who refuses to be cowed by events, and keeps on venturing out of her room to try to capture what's happened through her photography. Although they only ever talk over the phone, their friendship grows as Abhi tries to help her keep safe and they both wait to see if they will be rescued before they are discovered by the terrorists.|leftisbn=086154742X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529153298|title=The List of Suspicious Things|author=Jennie Godfrey|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|linksummary=https://wwwIt's 1979 and Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister. (A woman? I mean, honestly...) She's not what's worrying Miv's family, though. Women have been disappearing. Well, they've been murdered, but to have 'disappeared' doesn't sound quite so frightening. Miv's upset because she's overheard that her father wants to move the family 'Down South'. When you're from Yorkshire, Down South is a frightening, foreign place, best avoided.amazon For Miv, the move would mean leaving her best friend, Sharon, and she'll do anything to prevent that.co She's not worried about the dangers or that her Mum's stopped talking - to anyone.uk/gp/product/154628673X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1398524085|title=Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?ie|author=UTF8&tagNicci French|rating=thebookbag5|genre=Crime|summary=Charlotte Salter was expected at her husband's fiftieth birthday party but never turned up. Her children, sons Niall, Paul and Ollie and her daughter, Etty. are all worried but - strangely - her husband, Alec, is not. Shortly afterwards, Etty and Greg, find the body of Greg's father, Duncan Ackerley, in the river. It was an easy assumption for the police to make that Duncan had murdered Charlie and then committed suicide when he couldn't stand the guilt. The Salter children are not convinced but there's little else they can do but get on with their lives and wonder about what really happened.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035906708|title=Diva|author=Daisy Goodwin|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=We tend to think of Maria Callas as Greek, but she was born to Greek parents in Manhattan, New York, in December 1923 and only moved to Athens when she was thirteen. Her original surname was Kalogeropoulos but her father changed it to 'Callas' to make it more manageable in the States. When she was back in Athens - supposedly so that she could get appropriate training for her voice -21&linkCodeshe was raised under the Nazi occupation by a mother who mercilessly exploited her and made no secret of her preference for her elder sister, Jackie.}}{{Frontpage|author=as2&campChristopher Edge|title=1634&creativeBlack Hole Cinema Club|rating=6738&creativeASIN4|genre=154628673X]]Confident Readers|summary=Lucas and his friends are all booked in for a movie marathon at their local cinema, a place that has the nickname of 'The Black Hole'. All big movie fans, they're looking forward to lots of exciting films, and many, many snacks! However, as the movie starts, they very quickly realise that something about this new film format is very different, and they are swept up into an adventure they couldn't even imagine. But as they lurch from one film genre to the next, can they figure out what on earth is going on? Will they ever get back to the cinema, and to their real lives?|isbn=1839942738}}{{Frontpage|author=Rachel Greenlaw|title=[[A Righteous Killer: Blood Murder Betrayal by Ellace James]]Compass and Blade|rating=3.5|genre=Teens|summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''

[[image:3Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks.5starMira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within.jpgBut when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear.|linkisbn=Category:{0008664730}}{{Frontpage|author=James Sherwood Metts|title=Planet Storyland|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary= Things have been a bit sticky for the Earthlings. AI and automation have been proceeding apace, often replacing jobs they're paid to do and other tasks that took time to accomplish. Just as they were beginning to get used to all this technological change and starting to think of other, new ways to spend time, along came an awful pandemic. Life was pretty much shut down and, along with it, all the many daily social interactions on which they depend so heavily.|isbn=1736128426}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children{{Frontpage|author=Matthew Tree|title=We's Non-ll Never Know|rating=4.5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary= Timothy Wyndham wants nothing more than to be different from his father, a drunk and chronic underachiever whose dreams of being exceptional at any of his artistic passions all failed miserably and who had endless crises of self confidence. So Tim applied himself to his studies, cultivated his abilities rather than his daydreams and set himself high but achievable ambitions.|isbn= B0CVFXPGP8}}{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|Childrensummary='' There's Non-Fiction]]a part of me that wants to keep this just to myself for however long I can. This secret magic of my own, all mine, at last. I just want to enjoy it for a while.''

In Within a remote mountain pass, far away from the crazy world , lies Silverton; a town under the protection of Arthur Brownthe Briar's, he can a family of witches who protect the town and the wider world from the Darklands. Though she has always wished for magic, Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be standing born into her family for generations and as such since she was young, her training as a steward revolved around letters and administration rather than spells and potions. When her grandmother suddenly dies, Ellie's cousin Audra becomes the Briar Witch, the town's leader, and Ellie takes her place beside her. As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the rare ability to communicate with the dead, putting her at the altar giving his dutifully prepared sermon heart of a maelstrom of chaos. Reeling from one minutefamily secret to another, Ellie must decide who to trust and determine what to do as the Briar witches' legacy, everything they have sacrificed to survive, is under threat.|isbn=1803364548}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529900360|title=The Ghost Orchid|author=Jonathan Kellerman|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=It hadn't been Lt Milo Sturgis's fault that Alex Delaware had been badly injured but he felt responsible and wasting bad guys with even after Alex recovered, Sturgis was reluctant to ask for his guns help on difficult cases. His assertions that there were only open-and-shut cases which didn't need the help of a psychologist only worked for a while. Finally, it was Robin, Delaware's partner, who nudged Milo into asking for help again. She knew that the involvement was something that the man she loved needed. The nextcase did look simple, though. What Two lovers were murdered in the swimming pool of a remote property in Bel Air. He was the heir to an Italian shoe empire and she is married to an extremely rich man and it's inspired thisnot the Italian. But which of them was the primary target? Two low}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529395224|title=Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: The Secret Life of a Vet|author=Sion Rowlands|rating=3.5|genre=Animals and Wildlife|summary=Siôn Rowlands fell into veterinary science accidentally. His father was a GP and Rowlands didn't want to follow in his footsteps, particularly when he considered the strain that being on-lifes, way from call put on his father's life. When he was seventeen he took the top opportunity of doing work experience with a family friend who was a vet and was convinced this was the crime ladder job for him. Before long, he was at Liverpool University. It hadn't - as with so many students - been his dream since he was a child. If anything, he'd wanted to be a professional footballer.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0861541774|title=A Nye of Pheasants|author=Steve Burrows|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=DCI Domenic Jejeune's close friend and former colleague, Danny Maik, has taken a short holiday in this particular citySingapore to meet up with an old ally, Guy Trueman. Maik was involved in a street brawl - he would later maintain that he was facing a man armed with a knife - and he killed a Ghurka. Initially, who stole millions he faced a charge of manslaughter but evidence came to light that suggested that he might have planned to murder the man. Now he could be facing the death penalty. Domenic Jejeune can do nothing to help as any interference from another police force could provoke a shady casinodiplomatic incident and wouldn't help Danny at all.}}{{Frontpage|author=Alexander McCall Smith|title=The Perfect Passion Company|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=The Perfect Passion Company is a dating agency in Edinburgh, run by Ness and stashed operating as an alternative to all the money online apps in his basementproviding a more personal, tailored service. Two other lowlifes Ness has asked her younger cousin Katie if she could come and look after the business, working as Ness is planning to take a trip to Canada to get away for a while. Katie is coming out of a break up with a bad boyfriend, and so jumps at the drug lord chance to come home to Edinburgh. And so begins this new story from Alexander McCall Smith, bringing us to an Edinburgh we already love, thanks to 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie novels, but with some new characters who owns quickly begin to charm. Katie has no experience in running a business, or in match-making, but Ness has full confidence in her abilities, and there's always her very helpful (and rather handsome) neighbour, William, to lend a hand…|isbn=1846976596}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0811771741|title=InstaKnits for Baby|author=Melissa Leapman|rating=4|genre=Crafts|summary=Melissa Leapman's ''InstaKnits for Baby'' gives us a collection of knits from toys to blankets. Some will be quick knits - others are of the 'long, cosy afternoons in front of the fire' variety. The projects are divided by the casinotime they'll take to complete - less than five hours, come for five to ten hours, ten to twenty hours and more than twenty hours. All the moneyprojects are attractive, kill Arthurmodern and useable. I perhaps show my age when I wonder about 'social-media-worthy projects' but that's familyme being picky.}}{{Frontpage|author=Dean Koontz|title=The Bad Weather Friend|rating=4.5|genre=Paranormal|summary=Benny is having a terrifically bad day. He loses his job, he loses his fiancee, and his house gets trashed. Oh, and someone has delivered a really weird, disturbing coffin-sized object to his home, and leave him so badly knifed on it's possible that whoever or whatever was inside is the thing that has trashed his floor house! The thing is, Benny is the very last person to deserve all this bad luck. He is a nice person. A really nice person. So fortunately for Benny it turns out that hethe delivery to his house is a new friend, a bad weather friend called Spike, who has been sent to help him since Benny is clearly under attack from nefarious forces for being a good person. Spike is going to take care of Benny, and will certainly take care of Benny's taken for dead when enemies, if he, Benny, and Harper (a waitress slash Private Investigator who finds herself roped into Benny's discoveredwild adventure) can figure out who exactly they are.|isbn=1662500491}}{{Frontpage|author=Adam Stower|title=Murray and Bun|rating=4. 5|genre=Confident Readers |summary=Murray is supposed to be a humble, tidy and friendly cat, one who is able to sleep and eat and eat and sleep and, well, whatever takes his fancy next of the two. But he's not deada bad magician's cat, so his favourite bun has been turned into a hyperactive sticky rabbit called Bun, and nor is his God-given hope to redress the balance in his towncatflap they both use can chuck them out, not into the regular back garden, but into a world of frightening adventure and to right some very big wrongswhiffs. Yes This time round it drops them into a Viking land, truly where a troll hunter is expected – well, one much bigger than Murray was, to be honest, but he the god of hell fire, 's turned up and he will take some men 'll have to burn… [[A Righteous Killer: Blood Murder Betrayal by Ellace Jamesdo…|isbn=0008561249}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0C47LV1PC|title=Fragility|author=Mosby Woods|rating=4|Full Review]]genre=Literary Fiction<br>|summary= Can you make a ''Yo birthing person'' joke? And if you could, is the question should you make it? Or is the question if you did, would it land? The catch is that the answer for both could well be.... no.

<!-- Bancroft -->''Fragility'' is set as the city of Portland, Oregon, cautiously begins to emerge from the restrictions imposed during the covid pandemic}}{{Frontpage*[[image:Bancroft_Senlin2.jpg|leftisbn=1529431735|linktitle=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0356510816?ieThe Winter Visitor|author=UTF8&tagJames Henry|rating=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0356510816]]4|genre===[[Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft]]===Crime[[image:4.5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] Thomas Senlin embarks on his honeymoon with high hopes. He It's February 1991 and his young wife Marya are travelling on a sleeper train across Ur to that engineering marvel, that fabled centre of cultureEssex is bitingly cold, which made Bruce Hopkins' return all the Tower of Babelmore surprising. It He's d been exiled on the Costa del Sol as a wanted drug smuggler for a place decade. The return has come about because he's read books about, taught his pupils about, and longed to visit, but the bustling and chaotic surroundings of the Tower in the desert are had a long way letter from the quiet fishing village in which Senlin teaches. When he loses sight of Marya shortly after their arrival, he has no option but to look for her in this strange and overwhelming place. For all his background reading before the trip, he is illex-prepared for what he finds in the Towerwife, both its marvels and its horrors, and thus begins Thomas Senlinsaying that she's arduous quest to recover his wife. [[Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Stewart -->*[[image:Stewart_Rebel2.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1526300230?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1526300230]]===[[Rebel Voices: The Rise of Votes for Women by Louise Kay Stewart ill and Eve Lloyd Knight]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] hasn''Rule breakers. Risk takers. Rebel women. Law makers. A celebration of women rallying around the globe t long to win the votelive.'' Let It's just get straight hard to it. I loved ''Rebel Voices: The Rise of Votes for Women''. And I can't let a review pass without a brief note on the fabulous production values. The cover feel any sympathy when Hopkins is stunning and deeply impactful as you can see. It has that lovelyabducted, bookish smell. The paper is thick stripped to his underwear and heavysent to a watery grave in the boot of a stolen Ford Sierra. Everything about Is it tells you that this is a book with interesting and important information. It simply begs warning from a Spanish gang or a problem closer to be picked up and read. Full marks to Wren and Rook for this investment. [[Rebel Voices: The Rise of Votes for Women by Louise Kay Stewart and Eve Lloyd Knight|Full Review]]home?<br>}}{{Frontpage<!-- Ure -->|author=Alex Bell and Tim McDonagh*[[image:Ure_Star.jpg|left|linktitle=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0008164533?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0008164533]]The Glorious Race of Magical Beasts|rating===[[Star Quality (Dance Trilogy 2) by Jean Ure]]===4[[image:5star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Maddy, Caitlynsummary=Eli is a busy lad – by day an apprentice in the wondrous library we start by visiting with him, Roz and Alex have all just been tested to go to in the evening a helper at the prestigious City Ballet School full timedessert cafe his gran owns and runs. Caitlyn Eli lives with his lovely gran, Roz and Alex all get their acceptance about a week later, but Maddy's too – for there is a little slower in coming. It was obviously delayed generation missing in the postfamily. She was never actually worried that she wouldn't be accepted: well A few short years ago, sheEli's an exceptional dancer and her family is ballet royalty. Where else would she be but City Ballet School? Caitlyn still can't quite believe parents were both lost to the opportunity she's been giventitular race, particularly as she's not been dancing anywhere near as long as a globe-trotting adventure where all entrants have to navigate the world in the otherscompany of a magical beast. It means so much This has made the race anathema to her. [[Star Quality (Dance Trilogy 2) by Jean Ure|Full Review]]<br> <!-- Ahmed -->*[[image:Ahmed_Love.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1471407144?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1471407144]] ===[[Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Love, Hate and Other Filters tells the story of Maya, pair – but when a bad incident at the eatery leads to a Muslim of Indian heritage. Like many other American teenagersconfession from gran, she Eli knows his only hope is struggling to convince her parents dare to allow her to move away to attend university. Howeverenter what he most hates, in Maya's case, things are more complicated than usual, after instances with the sole aim the prize of Islamophobia make her parents extra protectivemagic at the end – the only thing to possibly save his gran. [[Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed|Full Review]]isbn=0571382231}}