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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|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->reviews of books about to be published]].<!-- Laura Solomon -->{{Frontpage|-author=Sylvie Cathrall| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Letter to the Luminous Deep|rating=5[[image:9386897504.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/9386897504/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=[[Tales of Love and Disability by Laura Solomon]]=Stig Abell|rating=4|genre=Crime [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] I've always believed that less-able writers produce longer books: it takes Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a great deal little uncertainty about the future of skill and talent to write a short story which holds the reader his life with his vet girlfriend, Livia and keeps them coming back for more. There are far too many collections of short stories which are all too easy to put down and forget after you've read her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a couple lot of pieces. I've recently read a couple of novellas by Laura Solomon compromise: does Jake give up his off- [[Marsha's Deal by Laura Solomon|Marsha's Deal]] grid and [[Hell's Unveiling by Laura Solomon|Hell's Unveiling]] and enjoyed them, so I was intrigued relaxing life to see what move in with Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the future she could do with an even shorter form. [[Tales of Love wants for herself and Disability by Laura Solomon|Full Review]]her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in the present and putting the future on the back burner.}}<!-- Frances Brody -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1786482126| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)[[image:0349414327.jpg|linkauthor=http://wwwElly Griffiths|rating=4.amazon.co.uk/dp/0349414327/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalBuilders were demolishing an old house in Norwich -align: top; textthe site was going to hold seventy-align: left;"|===[[A Snapshot five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of Murder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries) by Frances Brody]]=== [[image:4a child beneath a doorway. There was no skull.5star Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Even detectives need a break and for Kate Shackleton It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, photography gives her the mental relaxation which that she needs. is pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago. When the local Photographic Society proposed an outing, Kate was keen to take the opportunity to visit Haworth and StanburyHer condition will be obvious before long, not least because the deeds Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of the Brontë Parsonage are being handed over so that it can become a museum and her parents will be there for the event. What could be better than seeing her sickness.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family, witnessing a momentous event and having the opportunity to take photographs of approach the setting for ''Wuthering Heights''? police. Nothing could go wrongNeither side likes or has any respect for the other. Or could it? [[A Snapshot But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of Murder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries) by Frances Brody|Full Review]]<!-- Harrold -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1408894319a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death.jpg|link=http://www This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408894319/ref=nosim And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date. Not much to ask, is it?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded -align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Afterwards by A F Harrold make certain that DS Max Craigie and Emily Gravett]]anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008405026|title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|author=Jane Casey [[image:5star.jpg|linkrating=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers5|Confident Readers]] genre=Crime|summary=It''Tell them what The Afterwards is about, they saids sixteen years since nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and the investigation ground to a halt.''<br>''Hopefully you know this Now, but..her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed.''<br>''It Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's a book with friendship in something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. What looked as though itwas going to be an open-and-shut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent'<br>''It's a book with death in its boss, Una Burt) are less convinced.''<br>''It's a book with betrayal in it.''<br>}}''It's a book with love in it{{Frontpage|isbn=0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet|rating=3.''<br>5''It's a book |genre=Crime|summary=Edward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with a cat in ithis upper-class friends, Robert and Stanza.''<br>''That Robert's what I knowa theatre director.''<br>''That He's what I can tell youalso self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him. Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - and he''<br>''That'll do mes drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. Most men in Robert'' To be honest, I'd be surprised if s position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that wouldna relationship had begun between them but he't do you, toos not like most men: Edward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.[[The Afterwards by A F Harrold and Emily Gravett|Full Review]]<!-- Vanston -->}}{{Frontpage|-author=Jo Callaghan| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Leave No Trace|rating=4[[image:1911569740.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911569740/ref=nosim?tagCrime|summary=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: When a man is found crucified on the top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston]]=== [[image:4starof a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]]  Something's gone horribly wrong It's their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases. It's Christmas Eve and everything But when there is very busy in Santa's grotto. The presents are all ready a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and waiting a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. Will they be loaded onto able to solve the sleigh and the reindeer are itching to get going. But Santa? Santa is just not in case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the mood. He is tired case and, potentially, out of delivering the latest toys to children who only play with them for five minutesa career?|isbn=139851120X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1399613073|title=Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson|rating=4. 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 another. [[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston|Full Review]]<!-- Keeley -->5|genre=Thrillers|-| stylesummary="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789017165Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century.jpg|link=http://www.amazon Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon.co Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GP.uk/dp/1789017165/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Coming of fuelled party and it's going to end in tragedy. We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the Spirits by Rob Keeley]]=== [[image:4starconsequences.jpg|link=Category:{ Twenty-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.}}{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[Frontpage|isbn=0241636604|title=The Trading Game:Category:Confident ReadersA Confession|Confident Readers]] author=Gary Stevenson|rating=4.5|genre=AutobiographyIn Victorian England, young Edward Fitzberranger is about |summary=If you were to be infected with scarlet fever and die. Further back still bring up an image of a city banker in timeyour mind, Sir Francis Fitzberranger is about you're unlikely to marry Tina, the love think of his lifesomeone like Gary Stevenson. In A hoodie and jeans replaces the modern day, Henry pin-stripe suit and Luke are getting on his background is the East End, where he was familiar with life. And in an alternate timelineviolence, Ellie is working for a resistance movement poverty and struggling under a Britain ruled by injustice. There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the NazisLondon School of Economics... [[The Coming of the Spirits by Rob Keeley|Full Review]]<! Stevenson is bright -extremely bright - Wilson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image: 1509885803and 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. It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/ 1509885803/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035021803| styletitle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|author=C L Miller|rating=3.5|genre===[[Snowglobe by Amy Wilson]]===Crime[[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Jago doesnIt'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. Freya't like Clementine. He knows there is something different about her s former mentor and he doesnCarole't like it. And he never lets her forget it. Clementine knows she's different toos close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and that the difference is magic. And as much as she tries circumstances seem suspicious, to ignore it, Clementine's magic is getting strongersay the least. So when Jago's bullying gets too much Arthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to the village: Arthur, she feels, it's not really surprising that Clem loses control of it and gets herself suspended from schoollet her down badly. [[Snowglobe by Amy Wilson|Full Review]]<!-- Haig -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786894327 Even though they were in business together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to be near the man or pursue the profession she loved.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786894327 /ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 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="vertical-alignAll Tomorrow's Futures: top; text-align: left;"Fictions that Disrupt| ==author=[[The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig Benjamin Greenaway and Chris Mould]]Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre==Science Fiction[[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Poor old Truth Pixie. She's cursed! She can't speak unless it's to tell the truth. You might think this is a good thing because telling lies is bad, right? But sometimes the truth isn't nice and sometimes a white lie is okay and sometimes it's better to say nothing at all. 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. [[The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig and Chris Mould|Full Review]] <!-- Vincent -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471168239.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471168239/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of Death by M B Vincent]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Dr Jess Castle, the self proclaimed failure of the prestigious Castle family has returned home to the sleepy, idyllic chocolate box town of Castle Kidbury. Rather than being delighted, her family are suspicious, especially her father, the judge. Luckily for Jess, she doesn't have to try too hard to dodge her family's suspicions as a series of gruesome local murders are taking place and that's all anyone is talking about. Jess accidentally finds herself in the thick of the investigation, 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 home, has Jess made a grave mistake getting involved? [[Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of Death by M B Vincent|Full Review]] <!-- Laura Solomon -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:9386897385.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/9386897385/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Nothing Lasting by Laura Solomon]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] We never know the man's name but let's call him ''Boyo''. It's what his mother used to call him, not least because he found it annoying. When we first meet Boyo his mother is alive, if not ''living'' as most people would understand it. She spends her days watching daytime television and drinking. Housework is a foreign country. When she dies she's not missed, firstly because she'd spent a couple of years in a mental hospital, but mainly because her ghost continues to haunt Boyo. 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 -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1444786865.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444786865/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Broken Things by Lauren Oliver]]=== [[image:4.5star.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 ''Opening up new ways 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, thinking about the very presence shape of which refuses things to allow you to adapt, to change, to growcome. 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]] 

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| stylesummary=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|summary=Charlotte Salter was expected at her husband'verticals 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 Reckoning by Clar Ni Chonghaile]]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.''

[[image:5starRosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks.jpgMira, 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.|linkisbn=Category:{0008664730}}{{Frontpage|author=James Sherwood Metts|title=Planet Storyland|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary= Things have been a bit sticky for the Earthlings. AI and automation have been proceeding apace, often replacing jobs they're paid to do and other tasks that took time to accomplish. Just as they were beginning to get used to all this technological change and starting to think of other, new ways to spend time, along came an awful pandemic. Life was pretty much shut down and, along with it, all the many daily social interactions on which they depend so heavily.|isbn=1736128426}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:{{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|Literary Fiction]]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.''

Within 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. Reeling from one family secret to another, Ellie must decide who to trust and determine what to do as the blurb saysBriar witches' legacy, everything they have sacrificed to survive, is under threat.|isbn=1803364548}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529900360|title=The Ghost Orchid|author=Jonathan Kellerman|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=It hadn't been Lt Milo Sturgis's fault that Alex Delaware had been badly injured but he felt responsible and 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'In 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 cottage remote property in Normandy, Lina Rose Bel Air. He was the heir to an Italian shoe empire and she is writing married to an extremely rich man and it's not the Italian. But which of them was the primary target?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529395224|title=Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: The Secret Life of a Vet|author=Sion Rowlands|rating=3.5|genre=Animals and Wildlife|summary=Siôn Rowlands fell into veterinary science accidentally. His father was a GP and Rowlands didn't want to follow in his footsteps, particularly when he considered the daughter she abandoned strain that being on-call put on his father's life. When he was seventeen he took the opportunity of doing work experience with a family friend who was a vet and was convinced this was the job for him. Before long, he was at Liverpool University. It hadn't - as with so many students - been his dream since he was a babychild. If anything, he''…the whole d wanted to be a professional footballer.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0861541774|title=A Nye of ChonghailePheasants|author=Steve Burrows|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=DCI Domenic Jejeune's second novel is close friend and former colleague, Danny Maik, has taken a short holiday in Singapore to meet up with an old ally, Guy Trueman. Maik was involved in a street brawl - he would later maintain that he was facing a man armed with a knife - and he killed a Ghurka. Initially, he faced a series charge of letters addressed manslaughter but evidence came to light that suggested that he might have planned to Dianemurder the man. Now he could be facing the death penalty. Lina Domenic Jejeune can do nothing to help as any interference from another police force could provoke a diplomatic incident and wouldn't help Danny at all.}}{{Frontpage|author=Alexander McCall Smith|title=The Perfect Passion Company|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=The Perfect Passion Company is now 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 seventies younger cousin Katie if she could come and Diane look after the business, as Ness is planning to take a mother herselftrip to Canada to get away for a while. Katie is coming out of a break up with a bad boyfriend, and so jumps at the chance to come home to Edinburgh. And so begins this new story from Alexander McCall Smith, bringing us to an Edinburgh we already love, thanks to 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie novels, but with some new characters who quickly begin to charm. They have met just once since Lina gave Katie has no experience in running a business, or in match-making, but Ness has full confidence in her abilities, and there's always her up 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 adoptionBaby'' gives us a collection of knits from toys to blankets. It Some will be quick knits - others are of the 'long, cosy afternoons in front of the fire' variety. The projects are divided by the time they'll take to complete - less than five hours, five to ten hours, ten to twenty hours and more than twenty hours. All the projects are attractive, 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. He is a nice 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. Spike is going to take care of Benny, and will certainly take care of Benny's enemies, if he, Benny, and Harper (a waitress slash Private Investigator who finds herself roped into Benny's wild adventure) can figure out who exactly they are.|isbn=1662500491}}{{Frontpage|author=Adam Stower|title=Murray and Bun|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers |summary=Murray is supposed to be a humble, tidy and friendly cat, one who is able to sleep and eat and eat and sleep and, well, whatever takes his fancy next of the two. But he's 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 good meetingworld 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|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 Reckoning by Clar Ni Chonghaile|Full Review]]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}}