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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--><!-- Harrold -->Sylvie Cathrall|-title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|5[[image:1408894319.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408894319/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=[[The Afterwards by A F Harrold and Emily Gravett]]=Stig Abell|rating=4|genre=Crime [[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]  ''Tell them what The Afterwards is Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty aboutthe future of his life with his vet girlfriend, they said.''<br>''Hopefully you know thisLivia and her daughter Diana, but...''<br>''It's as moving in together would mean a book with friendship in it.''<br>''It's a book lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to move in with death in it.''<br>''It's a book with betrayal Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the future she wants for herself and her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in itthe present and putting the future on the back burner.''<br>''It's a book with love in it.''<br>}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1786482126''It's a book with a cat in it|title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths|rating=4.''<br>5|genre=Crime|summary=Builders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury'That's what I knowapartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway.''<br>''That's what I can tell you There was no skull.''<br>''That'll do me Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It'' To be honests difficult as Ruth knows, I'd be surprised if that wouldnbut Nelson doesn't do you, too.[[The Afterwards by A F Harrold and Emily Gravett|Full Review]]<!-- Vanston -->|-| stylethat 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="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|0008551324[[image:1911569740.jpg|linktitle=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911569740/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;"| ===[[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston]]=== [[image:4starIt's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]]  Something Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's gone horribly wrong. It's Christmas Eve and everything is very busy in Santa's grotto. The presents are all ready and waiting prepared to be loaded onto tell the sleigh and police where the reindeer are itching to get going. But Santa? Santa body of a missing person is just not in the moodburied and who was responsible for her death. He This person, he promises, is tired of delivering someone big and it will be worth the latest toys to children who only play with them for five minutespolice doing what he wants. He wishes people would remember And what Christmas he wants is really about - a time for families to come together for love be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and friendship and goodwill to one anotherget an early parole date. [[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston|Full Review]]<!-- Keeley -->| 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| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"0008405026|title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)[[image:1789017165.jpg|linkauthor=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789017165/refJane Casey|rating=nosim?tag5|genre=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalIt's sixteen years since nine-align: top; textyear-align: left;"| ===[[The Coming of old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and the Spirits by Rob Keeley]]=== [[image:4starinvestigation ground to a halt.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]   In Victorian England Now, her mother, Helena, young Edward Fitzberranger is about to be infected with scarlet fever and dieher father are dead in their bed. Further back still in time Initially, Sir Francis Fitzberranger is it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about to marry Tina, the love positioning of his life. In the modern day, Henry bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and Luke are getting on with lifeher boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. And in What looked as though it was going to be an alternate timeline, Ellie open-and-shut case is working for now a resistance movement and struggling under a Britain ruled by the Naziscomplex double murder... [[The Coming of Kerrigan is convinced that the Spirits by Rob Keeley|Full Review]]explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced.}}<!-- Wilson -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0571379877| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet[[image: 1509885803.jpg|linkrating=http://www3.amazon.co.uk/dp/ 1509885803/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; textEdward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his upper-align: left;"| ===[[Snowglobe by Amy Wilson]]=== [[image:4starclass friends, Robert and Stanza. Robert's a theatre director.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Jago doesn't like Clementine He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him. He knows there is something different about her Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - and he doesn't like it. And s drunkenly confided how he never lets her forget itfeels to Robert. Clementine knows she Most men in Robert's different too, and position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that the difference is magic. And as much as she tries to ignore it, Clementinea relationship had begun between them but he's magic not like most men: Edward is getting strongerleft to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway. So when Jago's bullying gets too much, it's not really surprising that Clem loses control of it and gets herself suspended from school. [[Snowglobe by Amy Wilson|Full Review]]<!-- Haig -->}}{{Frontpage|-author=Jo Callaghan| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Leave No Trace|rating=4[[image:1786894327.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786894327 /ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: When a man is found crucified on the top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig and Chris Mould]]=== [[image:5starof a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to 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.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] But when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Poor old Truth PixieKat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. She's cursed! She can't speak unless it's Will they be able to tell solve the truth. You might think this is a good thing because telling lies is bad, right? But sometimes case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the truth isn't nice case and sometimes , potentially, out of a white lie is okay and sometimes it's better to say nothing at allcareer?|isbn=139851120X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1399613073|title=Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson|rating=4. You might not want to attract 5|genre=Thrillers|summary=Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the attention first day of the medical school bully by calling him mean and nasty, their friendship would keep them inseparable for examplea quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, or which is a bonus when you might not want aim to tell someone that you think their brand new haircut looks awfulbe a cardiothoracic surgeon. [[The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig Laura is a perfectionist and Chris Mould|Full Review]] <!-- Vincent -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471168239a trauma doctor.jpg|link=http://www Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GP.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471168239/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-21]]  | style="verticalfuelled party and it's going to end in tragedy. We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-align: top; text-align: left;"five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. This time, it's their teenage children who are involved.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604|title=The Trading Game: A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson|rating=[[Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of Death by M B Vincent]]==4.5|genre=Autobiography [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]If you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Dr Jess Castle, the self proclaimed failure you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. A hoodie and jeans replaces the prestigious Castle family has returned home to pin-stripe suit and his background is the sleepyEast End, idyllic chocolate box town of Castle Kidburywhere he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice. Rather than being delighted, her family are suspicious, especially her father, There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the judgeLondon School of Economics. Luckily for Jess, she doesn't have to try too hard to dodge her family's suspicions as Stevenson is bright - extremely bright - and he has a series facility with numbers which most of gruesome local murders are taking place and us can only envy. He also realised that's all anyone is talking aboutmost rich people expect poor people to be stupid. Jess accidentally finds herself in the thick of the investigation It was his ability at what was, and to her delight finds that she can actually be useful. But with the small population dwindling and the sense of danger moving ever closer to homeessentially, has Jess made a grave mistake getting involved? [[Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of Death by M B Vincent|Full Review]]card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.}}<!-- Laura Solomon -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1035021803| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|author=C L Miller[[image:9386897385.jpg|linkrating=http://www3.amazon.co.uk/dp/9386897385/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Nothing Lasting by Laura Solomon]]=== [[image:3It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up. She's back now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Horror|Horror]] Freya's former mentor and Carole's close friend, Arthur Crockleford, [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] We never know is dead and the man's name but let's call him ''Boyo''circumstances seem suspicious, to say the least. It's what his mother used Arthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to call himthe village: Arthur, she feels, not least because he found it annoyinglet her down badly. When we first meet Boyo his mother is aliveEven though they were in business together as antique hunters, if she has not ''living'' as most people would understand itfelt able to be near the man or pursue the profession she loved. She spends her days watching daytime television and drinking. Housework is a foreign country. When she dies she's not missedAfter the split, firstly because she'd spent a couple of years worked in a mental hospitalcafe, but mainly because met and married James (on the rebound from the love of her ghost continues to haunt Boyolife, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced. 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 -->}}{{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:1444786865.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444786865/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Science Fiction| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Broken Things by Lauren Oliver]]=== [[image:4''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] ''This is the problem with words and even stories: there is never one truth'' Summer, Mia and Brynn are obsessed with a novel called ''The Way into Lovelorn''. They begin to believe it is real, that the world of Lovelorn is really materialising around them, and start writing their own fan-fiction sequel. One day, Summer is violently murdered in the woods where they all played and everyone thinks Mia and Brynn did it. [[Broken Things by Lauren Oliver|Full Review]] <!-- Albertelli -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471176398.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471176398/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[What if It's Us by Becky Albertelli and Adam Silvera]]=== [[image:4.5star.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}}