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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 [[Forthcoming Publications|reviews of books about to be published]].{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingauthor="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- Vanston -->Sylvie Cathrall|-title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|5[[image:1911569749.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911569749/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Science Fiction| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them.|isbn= 0356522776}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008517061|title=Death in a Lonely Place|author=[[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston]]=Stig Abell|rating=4|genre=Crime [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]]  Something's gone horribly wrongFormer Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. It's Christmas Eve There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the future of his life with his vet girlfriend, Livia and everything is very busy her daughter Diana, as moving in Santa's grotto. The presents are all ready together would mean a lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and waiting relaxing life to be loaded onto the sleigh and the reindeer are itching move in with Livia or does Livia move to get going. But Santa? Santa is just Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not in the mood. He this is tired of delivering the latest toys to children who only play with them future she wants for five minutes. He wishes people would remember what Christmas is really about - a time for families to come together for love and friendship and goodwill to one anotherherself and her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in the present and putting the future on the back burner. [[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston|Full Review]]<!-- Keeley -->}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=1786482126| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths[[image:1789017165|rating=4.jpg5|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789017165/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalBuilders were demolishing an old house in Norwich -align: top; textthe site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments -align: left;"| ===[[The Coming when they discovered the bones of the Spirits by Rob Keeley]]=== [[image:4stara child beneath a doorway. There was no skull.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]   In Victorian England Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, young Edward Fitzberranger is about to be infected with scarlet fever and dieDr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. Further back still in time It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, Sir Francis Fitzberranger that she is about to marry Tina, the love pregnant with his child as a result of his life. In the modern day, Henry and Luke are getting on with lifeone night they spent together some three months ago. And in an alternate timeline Her condition will be obvious before long, Ellie not least because Ruth is working for a resistance movement and struggling under a Britain ruled by the Nazisprone to sudden bouts of sickness... [[The Coming of the Spirits by Rob Keeley|Full Review]]<!-- Wilson -->}}|-{{Frontpage| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|0008551324[[image: 1509885803.jpg|linktitle=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1509885803/refThe Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=nosim?tagNeil Lancaster|rating=thebookbag-21]]4.5|genre=Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Snowglobe by Amy Wilson]]=== [[image:4starIt's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Jago doesn't like Clementine. He knows there 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 something different about buried and who was responsible for her and he doesn't like it. And death. This person, he never lets her forget it. Clementine knows she's different toopromises, is someone big and that it will be worth the difference is magicpolice doing what he wants. And as much as she tries what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to ignore it, Clementine's magic is getting strongerget an early parole date. So when Jago's bullying gets too Not muchto ask, is it? The new Deputy Police Constable doesn's not really surprising t think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that Clem loses control of it DS Max Craigie and gets herself suspended anyone who works with him is kept well away from schoolwhat's happening. [[Snowglobe by Amy Wilson|Full Review]]<!-- Haig -->}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=0008405026| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|author=Jane Casey[[image:1786894327.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786894327 /ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalIt's sixteen years since nine-align: top; textyear-align: left;"| ===[[The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and Chris Mould]]=== [[image:5starthe investigation ground to a halt.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed. Initially, [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Poor old Truth Pixie. She's cursed! She can't speak unless itlooks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's to tell something about the positioning of the truthbodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. You might think this What looked as though it was going to be an open-and-shut case is now a good thing because telling lies complex double murder. Kerrigan is bad, right? But sometimes convinced that the truth isn't nice and sometimes a white lie is okay and sometimes itexplanation lies in Rosalie's better to say nothing at alldisappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced. You might not want to attract the attention of the school bully by calling him mean and nasty, for example, or you might not want to tell someone that you think their brand new haircut looks awful. [[}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0571379877|title=The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig and Chris MouldKellerby Code|Full Review]] <!-- Vincent -->author=Jonny Sweet|-rating=3.5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Crime[[image:1471168239.jpg|linksummary=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471168239/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbagEdward Jevons is a working-21]]  | style="verticalclass young man, obsessed with his upper-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Jess Castle class friends, Robert and the Eyeballs of Death by M B Vincent]]=== [[image:4starStanza. Robert's a theatre director. He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[ 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's position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he's not like most men:Category:Crime|Crime]] Dr Jess Castle, Edward is left to stumble upon the self proclaimed failure two of the prestigious Castle family has returned home to the sleepy, idyllic chocolate box town of Castle Kidburythem kissing in a dark passageway. Rather than being delighted, her family are suspicious, especially her father}}{{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 the case alongside her sidekick, the judgeAI detective Lock. Luckily for Jess, she doesn't have to try too hard to dodge her family It's suspicions as their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases. But when there is a series of gruesome local murders are taking place and that's all anyone second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is talking about. Jess accidentally finds herself in the thick suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of the investigation, and unwanted attention to her delight finds that she can actually their AI Future Policing project. Will they be useful. But with able to solve the case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the small population dwindling case and the sense , potentially, out of danger moving ever closer to home, has Jess made a grave mistake getting involvedcareer? [[Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of Death by M B Vincent|Full Review]]isbn=139851120X}}<!-- Laura Solomon -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1399613073| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson[[image:9386897385|rating=4.jpg5|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/9386897385/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Thrillers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Nothing Lasting by Olivia, Laura Solomon]]=== [[image:3and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] We never know Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the man's name but let's call him ''Boyo''group and she becomes a GP. It'When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's what his mother used going to call him, not least because he found it annoyingend in tragedy. When we first meet Boyo his mother is alive, if not ''living'' as most people would understand itWe don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. She spends her days watching daytime television and drinkingTwenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. Housework is a foreign country. When she dies sheThis time, it's not missed, firstly because she'd spent a couple of years in a mental hospital, but mainly because her ghost continues to haunt Boyotheir teenage children who are involved.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604|title=The Trading Game: A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson|rating=4. She wants him to achieve something in his life: what she has in mind is that he could be a famous arsonist. [[Nothing Lasting by Laura Solomon|Full Review]] <!-- Oliver -->5|-genre=Autobiography| stylesummary="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[If you were to bring up an image:1444786865of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson.jpg|link=http://www 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.amazon.co There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the London School of Economics.uk/dp/1444786865/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag Stevenson is bright -21]]  | style="verticalextremely bright -align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Broken Things by Lauren Oliver]]=== [[image:4and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid.5star It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank.jpg Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.}}{{Frontpage|linkisbn=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers1035021803|Thrillers]], [[:Category:Crimetitle=The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|Crime]], [[:Category:Teensauthor=C L Miller|Teens]]rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=It''This is s twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the problem with words and even stories: there is never one truthEnglish country village where she grew up. She'' Summer, Mia and Brynn are obsessed with s back now because of a novel called request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya's former mentor and Carole'The Way into Lovelorn''. They begin to believe it s close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is real, that dead and the world of Lovelorn is really materialising around themcircumstances seem suspicious, and start writing their own fan-fiction sequelto say the least. One dayArthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to the village: Arthur, she feels, Summer is violently murdered let her down badly. Even though they were in the woods where they all played and everyone thinks Mia and Brynn did itbusiness together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to be near the man or pursue the profession she loved. [[Broken Things by Lauren Oliver|Full Review]] <!-- Albertelli --> After the split, she worked in a cafe, met and married James (on the rebound from the love of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced.}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover| styletitle="widthAll Tomorrow's Futures: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)[[image:1471176398.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471176398/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Science Fiction|summary===[[What if It's Us by Becky Albertelli and Adam Silvera]]=== [[image:4.5star'Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] ''I believe in love at first sight. Fate, the universe, all of it. But not how you're thinking. I don't mean it in the our souls were split and you're my other half forever and ever sort of way. I just think you're meant to meet some people. I think the universe nudges them into your path.'' ''What If It's Us'' is one of those books that just gives you a boost when you need it. A feel good, fun and easy read. I was surprised at the collaboration of Silvera and Albertalli – one known for happy endings, the other for tragedy – but they really work together well. Each takes a character and their voices are so distinct, so real, that you are immediately sucked in. [[What if It's Us by Becky Albertelli and Adam Silvera|Full Review]] <!-- Quentin Bates --> |-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1472127765.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472127765/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Cold Breath (Gunnhildur Mystery) by Quentin Bates]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Gunna wasn't too keen when she was taken off police duties to become a bodyguard. It wasn't just the sheer inconvenience of it - away from home for however long the job took and with no contact with the family - she wasn't the only one to have doubts about the man she was guarding. Invited to Iceland by prominent politician Steinunn Strand, Ali Osman was either a saint who devoted himself to helping refugees escape the carnage in their Middle Eastern homeland, or a money-laundering gunrunner. The truth was probably a combination of the two, but whichever or whatever was correct, there's money on Osman's head and this is the reason why he and Gunna are holed up in an isolated house outside Reykjavik, with Gunna toting a gun under her fleece and with a group of armed police in a nearby house. [[Cold Breath (Gunnhildur Mystery) by Quentin Bates|Full Review]] <!-- Emmich -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0316420239.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0316420239/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel by Val Emmich]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Evan Hansen spends a lot of time indoors by himself. This worries his mother, who has engaged a therapist to try to help Evan with his extreme anxiety issues. Evan's therapist assigns him the task of writing a daily letter to himself as a way of getting Evan to think more constructively about himself and the world around him. But Connor Murphy, a rather scary boy at school, finds one of Evan's letters and gets the wrong end of the stick because Evan has mentioned Zoe, the girl he has a crush on and who is Connor's sister. [[Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel by Val Emmich|Full Review]] <!-- M C Beaton -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1472126963.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472126963/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Agatha Raisin and the Dead Ringer by M C Beaton]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] St Ethelred's Church in the idyllic Cotswold village of Thirk Magna has a team of dedicated bell ringers, with the keenest being twins Mavis and Millicent Dupin and when we first meet them they're preparing for the bishop's visit. Now you might be expecting an older, perhaps rather grey man, but this bishop is a little different. One description is 'sex on legs' and even Agatha Raisin is a little smitten - at first - but there's the merest whiff of a scandal about the bishop. It's the mystery of the bishop's ex-fiancee, local heiress Jennifer Toynby, who disappeared very suddenly and neither she nor her body have ever been found. [[Agatha Raisin and the Dead Ringer by M C Beaton|Full Review]] <!-- DiCamillo -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1406384208.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1406384208/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] It is the middle of the night when twelve year old Louisiana Elefante's granny wakes her up to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they must leave home immediately. Granny is prone to middle of the night ideas so initially Louisiana is not too worried by this but then gradually she realises that this time it is different. This time Granny intends that they will never return. Separated from her friends, Raymie and Beverly and her cat, Archie, Louisiana is devastated and desperate. She is determined that she will find her way home somehow. But as her life becomes entwined with the people living in a small Georgia town Louisiana starts to worry about the ''curse'' Granny told her was upon her head and fears that she is destined only for goodbyes. [[Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo|Full Review]] <!-- Chadwick --> |-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:0349700249.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0349700249/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[XX by Angela Chadwick]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:LGBT Fiction|LGBT Fiction]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Angela Chadwick's debut novel explores the possibility of two women being able to produce a baby girl through a process called Ovum-to-Ovum fertilisation. It centres around Rosie and Jules who take part in the first ever clinical trial that would allow them to have a child of their own without the need for a sperm donor or any other male intervention. What follows is a story that shows the harshness and at times disgraceful behaviour of the media, and the general public, when faced with a controversial technique that could lead to the demise of men. [[XX by Angela Chadwick|Full Review]] <!-- Gardner --> |-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786697173.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786697173/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Mr Tiger, Betsy and the Blue Moon by Sally Gardner]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]  Betsy K Glory lives a rather wonderful life on a peaceful island where nothing horrible ever happens. Her father, Alonso, makes the most wonderful ice cream in every flavour you could imagine. Her mother, Myrtle, is a mermaid and comes to visit regularly, although she still lives in the sea. Betsy dreams of two things: firstly, about the circus owned by a tiger and whether it would ever come to her island and secondly, about a magical ice cream made from the berries of the Gongalong bush. One scoop of this ice cream can make wishes come true. And then Mr Tiger and his circus arrive. And a journey is planned...[[Mr Tiger, Betsy and the Blue Moon by Sally Gardner|Full Review]] Tweet scheduled for 9.15clare@headofzeus.com <!-- Davies --> |-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786074443.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786074443/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Tirzah and the Prince of Crows by Deborah Kay Davies]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]] This is a quiet but remarkable story, written in a style reminiscent of E. M. Forster, ''[Tirzah and the Prince of Crows'' has no great and stirring action but rather small ripples that make a huge impact. Tirzah is a young girl of sixteen raised in a small Welsh town in the 1970s by highly religious parents as part of a strict religious community. The book follows Tirzah though a tumultuous year as she tries to decide who she wants to be, and what she wants to do with her life. [[Tirzah and the Prince of Crows by Deborah Kay Davies|Full Review]] <!-- Vivika DeNegre (Editor) -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1440248850.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1440248850/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Modern Patchwork Home: Dynamic Quilts and Projects for Every Room by Vivika DeNegre (Editor)]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crafts|Crafts]] The problem with a craft which is largely based on traditional designs is that what results from your labours is also traditional, or - depending upon what light you shine on it - old-fashioned. Vivika DeNegre has curated a collection of patterns from today's top designers. As a word of warning, if you read ''Modern Patchwork Magazine'' you may well find that there's nothing new in the book, but if you're new to the magazine this could well prove to be a delightful collection from the back catalogue. [[Modern Patchwork Home: Dynamic Quilts and Projects for Every Room by Vivika DeNegre (Editor)|Full Review]] <!-- Lange -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:161963502X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/161963502X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Chaos of Now by Erin Lange]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Eli, a talented hacker, is one of those people who manage to fly below the radar. When new friends offer him the chance to enter a prestigious competition he soon realises this golden opportunity has a sting in its tail. How many people can hand on heart say that they have not made mistakes? Most people are fortunate not to have a permanent online reminder, the very presence of which refuses to allow you to adapt, to change, to grow. Eli has a few mistakes skulking online, moments of madness that if discovered would change his life forever. [[The Chaos of Now by Erin Lange|Full Review]] <!-- Clár Ní Chonghaile -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1787198146.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787198146/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[The Reckoning by Clar Ni Chonghaile]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]] As the blurb says, ''In a cottage in Normandy, Lina Rose is writing to the daughter she abandoned as a baby''…the whole of Chonghaile's second novel is a series of letters addressed to Diane. Lina is now in her seventies and Diane is a mother herself. They have met just once since Lina gave her up for adoption. It was not a good meeting. [[The Reckoning by Clar Ni Chonghaile|Full Review]] <!-- Michael Pronko -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07GCYRY61.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GCYRY61/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Moving Blade (Detective Hiroshi 2) by Michael Pronko]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] The funeral is a good time to rob a house in Tokyo - and even better when they're famous as most people will be there. Bernard Mattson had been famous - one of the great political thinkers - and renowned for his support of the American bases in Japan. One of the great tragedies of his murder was that he was just a few days short of meeting up with his daughter Jamie: they hadn't been estranged, but when Mattson and her mother divorced she took the teenager to the USA and father and daughter just drifted apart. Jamie and her mother came back for the funeral, but her mother departed as soon (or even before) she decently could, leaving Jamie to settle her father's affairs. The only problem is that an awful lot of people seem very interested in Bernard Mattson's legacy - and they're prepared to be violent to get their hands on it. [[The Moving Blade (Detective Hiroshi 2) by Michael Pronko|Full Review]] <!-- John Clare -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789552354.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789552354/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Storytelling: The Presenter's Secret Weapon by John Clare]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Business and Finance|Business and Finance]] I was a little bit nervous when I picked up ''Storytelling: The Presenter's Secret Weapon''. After all, the majority of presentations which I've seen or given were in a business context and what was required was absolute professionalism, not an act put on for light entertainment. I needn't have worried though: the book is an essential guide to preparing and giving your presentation, with or without what has now come to be known as The Dreaded PowerPoint. I've been making presentations successfully (but I'll say more about this later) in various professional situations for some forty or more years and I did wonder if the book would be able to teach me anything. It did.  <!-- Priestley -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1408873109.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408873109/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 

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 - 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 |summary=The Hotel Arcadia is a luxury hotel in an unnamed city that has suddenly been violently taken over by a terrorist group. 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.|isbn=086154742X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529153298|title=The List of Suspicious Things|author=Jennie Godfrey|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|summary=It'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. For Miv, the move would mean leaving her best friend, Sharon, and she'll do anything to prevent that. She's not worried about the dangers or that her Mum's stopped talking - to anyone.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1398524085|title=Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?|author=Nicci French|rating=5|genre=Crime| stylesummary="verticalCharlotte 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 -align: top; textstrangely -align: left;"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 - she 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=Christopher Edge|title=Black Hole Cinema Club|rating=4|genre=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=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.''

Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, 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. But 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.|isbn=0008664730}}{{Frontpage|author=James Sherwood Metts|title=Planet Storyland|rating=4.5|genre=[[Treasure 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 Golden Skull (Maudlin Towers) by Chris Priestley]]many daily social interactions on which they depend so heavily.|isbn=1736128426}}{{Frontpage|author=Matthew Tree|title=We'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|summary='' There's 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.''

[[image:4Within a remote mountain pass, far away from the world, lies Silverton; a town under the protection of the Briar's, 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 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 heart of a maelstrom of chaos.5starReeling from one family 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.jpg|linkisbn=Category:{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 even after Alex recovered, Sturgis was reluctant to ask for his 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 next case did look simple, though. 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 not the Italian. But which of them was the primary target?}}} Star Reviews]] [[{{Frontpage|isbn=1529395224|title=Letting the Cat Out of the Bag:Category:Confident ReadersThe Secret Life of a Vet|author=Sion Rowlands|Confident Readers]] (If multiple categories use the same format, separated by comma + space)rating=3.5Sponge |genre=Animals and Mildew are not 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-call put on his father's life. When he was seventeen he took the biggest fans opportunity of their schooldoing work experience with a family friend who was a vet and was convinced this was the job for him. Before long, Maudlin Towershe was at Liverpool University. Who would be? Ithadn's run downt - as with so many students - been his dream since he was a child. If anything, he'd wanted to be a professional footballer. It}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0861541774|title=A Nye of Pheasants|author=Steve Burrows|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=DCI Domenic Jejeune's gloomyclose friend and former colleague, Danny Maik, has taken a short holiday in Singapore to meet up with an old ally, Guy Trueman. You 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, 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 cando nothing to help as any interference from another police force could provoke a diplomatic incident and wouldn't move 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 operating as an alternative to all the online apps in providing a more personal, tailored service. Ness has asked her younger cousin Katie if she could come and look after the business, as Ness is planning to take a trip to Canada to get away for gargoyles a while. Katie is coming out of a break up with a bad boyfriend, and so jumps at the 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 that's discounting the teachersIsabel Dalhousie novels, but with some new characters who quickly begin to charm. But when they find out that Katie has no experience in running a business, or in match-making, but Ness has full confidence in her abilities, and there's no money left 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 school might close time they realise that'll take to complete - less than five hours, five to ten hours, tatty ten to twenty hours and morose as more than twenty hours. All the Maudlin Towers isprojects are attractive, it is modern and useable. I perhaps show my age when I wonder about 'social-media-worthy projects'but that's me 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 it''s possible that whoever or whatever was inside is the thing that has trashed his house! The thing is, Benny is the very last person to deserve all this bad luck. So they set their minds on He is a rescue missionnice person. A really nice person. So fortunately for Benny it turns out that the 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. [[Treasure Spike is going to take care of Benny, and will certainly take care of the Golden Skull Benny's enemies, if he, Benny, and Harper (Maudlin Towersa waitress slash Private Investigator who finds herself roped into Benny's wild adventure) by Chris Priestleycan 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 a bad magician's cat, so his favourite bun has been turned into a hyperactive sticky rabbit called Bun, and the catflap they both use can chuck them out, not into the regular back garden, but into a world of frightening adventure and whiffs. This time round it drops them into a Viking land, where a troll hunter is expected – well, one much bigger than Murray was, to be honest, but he's turned up and he'll have to do…|isbn=0008561249}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0C47LV1PC|title=Fragility|author=Mosby Woods|rating=4|genre=Literary Fiction|Full Review]]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.

<!''Fragility'' is set as the city of Portland, Oregon, cautiously begins to emerge from the restrictions imposed during the covid pandemic}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529431735|title=The Winter Visitor|author=James Henry|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=It's February 1991 and Essex is bitingly cold, which made Bruce Hopkins' return all the more surprising. He'd been exiled on the Costa del Sol as a wanted drug smuggler for a decade. The return has come about because he's had a letter from his ex-wife, saying that she's ill and hasn't long to live. It's hard to feel any sympathy when Hopkins is abducted, stripped to his underwear and sent to a watery grave in the boot of a stolen Ford Sierra. Is it a warning from a Spanish gang or a problem closer to home?}}{{Frontpage|author=Alex Bell and Tim McDonagh|title=The Glorious Race of Magical Beasts|rating=4|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Eli is a busy lad – by day an apprentice in the wondrous library we start by visiting with him, and in the evening a helper at the dessert cafe his gran owns and runs. Eli lives with his lovely gran, too – for there is a generation missing in the family. A few short years ago, Eli's parents were both lost to the titular race, a globe- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->trotting adventure where all entrants have to navigate the world in the company of a magical beast. This has made the race anathema to the pair – but when a bad incident at the eatery leads to a confession from gran, Eli knows his only hope is to dare to enter what he most hates, with the sole aim the prize of magic at the end – the only thing to possibly save his gran.|isbn=0571382231}}