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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--><!-- Carthew -->Sylvie Cathrall|-title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|5[[image:1408868601.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408868601/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=[[Only the Ocean by Natasha Carthew ]]=Stig Abell|rating=4|genre=Crime [[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Kel Crow lives Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the future of his life with a heart defect that could kill his vet girlfriend, Livia and her at any time. Her only hope is to escape the floodriddendaughter Diana, waterlogged Cornish world she lives as moving in, to leave her drugtogether would mean a lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-running family far behind, grid and get relaxing life to America move in with enough money for an operation. She has a plan: stowaway on a ship, kidnap a rich girl, exchange Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the girl for enough money future she wants for herself and her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in the journey to America present and putting the surgery that will change her lifefuture on the back burner. [[Only the Ocean by Natasha Carthew }}{{Frontpage|Full Review]]isbn=1786482126<!-- Blake -->|title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|-author=Elly Griffiths| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|4.5[[image:1509876499.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1509876499/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; textBuilders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments -align: left;"|===[[Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake]]=== [[image:4when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway.5star There was no skull.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's difficult as Ruth knows, [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] but Nelson doesn''You cannot put on a costume and become something else. You are t, that she is pregnant with his child as a queen result of Fennbirn islandthe one night they spent together some three months ago.'' Following on from [[Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake|Three Dark Crowns]] and its sequel [[One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake|One Dark Throne]], in ''Two Dark Reigns'' each of the Goddess' daughters have their own battles Her condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to fight. All her life, Katharine has dreamed of being the great Queen the island sudden bouts of Fennbirn deservessickness. Having won the crown though, she is facing trial after difficult trial and murmurs of dissent and revolution grow louder on the streets each and every day. And without evidence of her sisters' death does anyone but herself and the old queens buried under her skin, believe she is the one true Queen? [[Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake|Full Review]] <!-- Picoult -->}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|-rating=4.5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Crime[[image:1444788124.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwIt's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police.amazon Neither side likes or has any respect for the other.coBut Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death.uk/dp/1444788124/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Spark This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of Light by Jodi Picoult]]=== [[image:4starhis sentence and to get an early parole date.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] The Center Not much to ask, is the last remaining abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi and is the source of great controversy when it comes to ? The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the Proother thing that Hardie demanded -Life versus Pro-Choice debate. It make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is at The Center where one man, George Goddard, takes it upon himself to get revenge for the loss of his grandchild, kept well away from what's happening.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008405026|title=A Stranger in the form of a massFamily (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|author=Jane Casey|rating=5|genre=Crime|summary=It's sixteen years since nine-shootingyear-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. What arises is a novel that details She was never found and the lives of the remaining hostages, as well as other characters central investigation ground to the storya halt. One of these characters is Hugh McElroy Now, her mother, a hostage negotiator called in to help deflate the situationHelena, who soon discovers that his sister and daughterher father are dead in their bed. Initially, Wren, happened to be at it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the clinic bodies that daymakes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. [[A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult|Full Review]] | What looked as though it was going to be an open-| style="width: 10%; verticaland-alignshut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1784631345others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced.jpg}}{{Frontpage|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784631345/refisbn=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 0571379877| styletitle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet|rating===[[Gentleman Jack (DI Yates 7) by Christina James]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg5|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:CrimeCrime|Crime]] The investigation into the thefts of farm machinery has been going on for months summary=Edward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his upper-class friends, Robert and itStanza. Robert's getting DI Tim Yates down: he can't see where to go nexta theatre director. ItHe's almost a relief when Jack Fovarguealso self-obsessed, demanding, agricultural entrepreneur handsome and local celebrity is assaulted entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him. Edward has been in the street, but no one can understand why Fovargue is so reluctant to help the police love with Stanza since their enquiries, or to press charges, particularly when a police officer was also assaulteduniversity days - and he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. Yates is then diverted into the investigation which followed the discovery of the headless body of a woman Most men in a canal near Lincoln: itRobert's an interesting case but the downside is position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that the senior investigating officer is DI Michael Robinson. Theya relationship had begun between them but he're contemporaries but Robinson s not like most men: Edward is bumptious and inclined left to taking credit for other people's efforts. [[Gentleman Jack (DI Yates 7) by Christina James|Full Review]]stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.}}<!-- Adriaan Verheul -->{{Frontpage|-author=Jo Callaghan| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Leave No Trace|rating=4[[image:0692047697.jpg|link|genre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0692047697/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: When a man is found crucified on the top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Clean Death by Adriaan Verheul]]=== [[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:Thrillers|Thrillers]] It's their first live case together, [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Three very different men meet in the jungle, led having previously been very successful with several cold cases. But when there by fate. Davey sees conspiracies everywhere, Oliver seeks answers about the death of his fatheris a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and Captain Christmas leads a community very high profile case that draws a lot of armed menunwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. Will they be able to solve the case in time, women or will Kat find herself taken off the case and children, hidden far from justice in the forest. As the three men are brought togetherpotentially, the events could cause each to lose something out of consequence: maybe illusion, maybe conviction, and maybe, just maybe, life itself… [[A Clean Death by Adriaan Verheula career?|Full Review]]isbn=139851120X}}<!-- Dhladhla -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1399613073| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson[[image:1720812675.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1720812675/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Beyond Thought by Chris Dhladhla]]==genre=Thrillers [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Have you ever felt trapped by your own thoughts? That your mind is so busy processing what's going on in Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the world around you that first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you just can't catch aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a moment perfectionist and simply ''bea trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GP. When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it'? Or that the outside world just won't stop pressing s going to end in upon tragedy. We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-five years later there will be an inner life eerily similar event that youwill impact the three friends. This time, it'd like to be more peaceful? [[Beyond Thought by Chris Dhladhla|Full Review]]s their teenage children who are involved.}}<!-- M J Lee -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0241636604| styletitle="widthThe Trading Game: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson[[image:B07HYQ99YV.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co4.uk/dp/B07HYQ99YV/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Autobiography|summary===[[Where the Truth Lies (DI Ridpath) by M J Lee]]=== [[If you were to bring up an image:3of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson.5star A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] DI Thomas Ridpath There was no posh public school on his CV - call him Ridpath as but he doesn't think Tom or Thomas suits him - looked had been to have a promising future in CID until the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright - extremely bright - and he was forced to take extended sick leave nine months agohas a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He's back, but the word ''cancer'' leaves also realised that most rich people expect poor people doubting how well you really are, or are going to staybe stupid. Perhaps it would be better if he quietly retired? His wifeIt was his ability at what was, Pollyessentially, would like to see a card game which got him in a desk joban internship with Citibank. Ridpath would like to be back in front-line policing, but all thatEventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035021803|title=The Antique Hunter's available Guide to him is a secondment for three months as CoronerMurder|author=C L Miller|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's Officertwenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up. If thatShe's how itback now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya's former mentor and Carole's got close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to be, then he'll do say the best job he canleast. [[Where Arthur was the Truth Lies (DI Ridpath) by M J Lee|Full Review]] <!-- Laura Solomon -->|-| style="widthreason why Freya had not been back to the village: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:9386897504Arthur, she feels, let her down badly.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/9386897504/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;" 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. 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|title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt|author==[[Tales of Love Benjamin Greenaway and Disability by Laura Solomon]]=Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction [[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 a great deal ''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of skill and talent things to write a short story which holds the reader 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 a couple of piecescome. I've recently read a couple of novellas by Laura Solomon - [[Marsha's Deal by Laura Solomon|Marsha's Deal]] and [[Hell's Unveiling by Laura Solomon|Hell's Unveiling]] and enjoyed them, so I was intrigued to see what she could do with an even shorter form. [[Tales of Love and Disability by Laura Solomon|Full Review]] <!-- Frances Brody -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0349414327.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0349414327/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Snapshot of Murder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries) by Frances Brody]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Even detectives need a break and for Kate Shackleton, photography gives her the mental relaxation which she needs. When the local Photographic Society proposed an outing, Kate was keen to take the opportunity to visit Haworth and Stanbury, not least because the deeds 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 family, witnessing a momentous event and having the opportunity to take photographs of the setting for ''Wuthering Heights''? Nothing could go wrong. Or could it? [[A Snapshot of Murder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries) by Frances Brody|Full Review]]<!-- Harrold -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1408894319.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408894319/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Afterwards by A F Harrold and Emily Gravett]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]  ''Tell them what The Afterwards is about, they said.''<br>''Hopefully you know this, but...''<br>''It's a book with friendship in it.''<br>''It's a book with death in it.''<br>''It's a book with betrayal in it.''<br>''It's a book with love in it.''<br>''It's a book with a cat in it.''<br>''That's what I know.''<br>''That's what I can tell you.''<br>''That'll do me.'' To be honest, I'd be surprised if that wouldn't do you, too.[[The Afterwards by A F Harrold and Emily Gravett|Full Review]]<!-- Vanston -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1911569740.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911569740/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]]  Something's gone horribly wrong. It's Christmas Eve and everything is very busy in Santa's grotto. The presents are all ready and waiting to be loaded onto the sleigh and the reindeer are itching to get going. But Santa? Santa is just not in the mood. He is tired of delivering the latest toys to children who only play with them for five minutes. He wishes people would remember what Christmas is really about - a time for families to come together for love and friendship and goodwill to one another. [[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston|Full Review]]<!-- Keeley -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789017165.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789017165/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Coming of the Spirits by Rob Keeley]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]   In Victorian England, young Edward Fitzberranger is about to be infected with scarlet fever and die. Further back still in time, Sir Francis Fitzberranger is about to marry Tina, the love of his life. In the modern day, Henry and Luke are getting on with life. And in an alternate timeline, Ellie is working for a resistance movement and struggling under a Britain ruled by the Nazis... [[The Coming of the Spirits by Rob Keeley|Full Review]]<!-- Wilson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image: 1509885803.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/ 1509885803/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Snowglobe by Amy Wilson]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Jago doesn't like Clementine. He knows there is something different about her and he doesn't like it. And he never lets her forget it. Clementine knows she's different too, and that the difference is magic. And as much as she tries to ignore it, Clementine's magic is getting stronger. 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 -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786894327.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786894327 /ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig and Chris Mould]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=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]] 

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| stylegenre="verticalCrime|summary=Charlotte Salter was expected at her husband's fiftieth birthday party but never turned up. Her children, sons Niall, Paul and Ollie and her daughter, Etty. are all worried but -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=[[LouisianaWe 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 's Way Home 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 Kate DiCamillo]]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.''

[[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}}{{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}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|Confident Readers]]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.''

It 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 middle of 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 night when twelve year old Louisiana Elefantetown's granny wakes leader, and Ellie takes her up place beside her. As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the rare ability to tell communicate with the dead, putting her that at the day heart of a maelstrom of reckoning has arrived chaos. Reeling from one family secret to another, Ellie must decide who to trust and determine what to do as the Briar witches' legacy, everything they must leave home immediatelyhave sacrificed to survive, is under threat. Granny is prone |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 middle 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 night ideas so initially Louisiana 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 too worried by 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 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 child. If anything, he'd wanted to be a professional footballer.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0861541774|title=A Nye of Pheasants|author=Steve Burrows|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=DCI Domenic Jejeune's close friend and former colleague, Danny Maik, has taken a short holiday in 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 charge of manslaughter but then gradually she realises evidence came to light that suggested that this time it is differenthe might have planned to murder the man. This time Granny intends that they will never return Now he could be facing the death penalty. Separated Domenic Jejeune can do nothing to help as any interference from her friendsanother 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 a dating agency in Edinburgh, Raymie run by Ness and Beverly 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 her catlook after the business, Archie, Louisiana as Ness is devastated and desperateplanning to take a trip to Canada to get away for a while. She Katie is determined that she will find her way coming out of a break up with a bad boyfriend, and so jumps at the chance to come home somehowto Edinburgh. But as 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. 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 life becomes entwined with 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 people living 'long, cosy afternoons in a small Georgia town Louisiana starts 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 worry twenty hours and more than twenty hours. All the projects are attractive, modern and useable. I perhaps show my age when I wonder about the 'social-media-worthy projects'cursebut 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' Granny told her s possible that whoever or whatever was upon her head and fears 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 she 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 destined only clearly under attack from nefarious forces for goodbyesbeing a good person. [[Louisiana Spike is going to take care of Benny, and will certainly take care of Benny's Way Home by Kate DiCamilloenemies, 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 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}}