Changes

<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]].<!-- Glenis Wilson -->{{Frontpage|-author=Sylvie Cathrall| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Letter to the Luminous Deep|rating=5[[image:0727888587.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0727888587/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=[[Dead Heat (A Harry Radcliffe Mystery) by Glenis Wilson]]===Stig Abell|rating=4[[image:3.5star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:CrimeCrime|Crime]] Of course it wasn't champion jackey Harry Radcliffe's faultsummary= Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, but that didn't stop him feeling guiltyhas settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. His attempts to solve There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the murder future of prostitute Alice Goode had left his estranged wifelife with his vet girlfriend, Annabel Livia and her partnerdaughter Diana, Sir Jeffrey as moving in danger together would mean a lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and it was Harry who had urged them relaxing life to move in with Livia or does Livia move to get away as quickly as possible Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the future she wants for the sake of themselves herself and their unborn child. her daughter? It would be quite a while before he woke For the moment they’re enjoying life in hospital to find that Jeffrey the present and Annabel had been involved in a serious car accidentputting the future on the back burner. It looked as though Jeffrey would be in a wheelchair for life and Annabel had lost the baby. On top of that there was horsebox driver John Dunston's apparent suicide. [[Dead Heat }}{{Frontpage|isbn=1786482126|title=The Janus Stone (A Harry Radcliffe MysteryDr Ruth Galloway) by Glenis Wilson|Full Review]]author=Elly Griffiths <!-- Owen -->|rating=4.5|-genre=Crime| stylesummary="width: 10%; verticalBuilders were demolishing an old house in Norwich -align: top; textthe site was going to hold seventy-align: center;"|[[image:0349003203five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway.jpg|link=http://www There was no skull.amazon.co.uk/dp/0349003203/ref=nosim Was this a ritual killing or murder?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[All Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is pregnant with his child as a result of the Lonely People by David Owen]]===one night they spent together some three months ago. Her condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness.}}{{Frontpage[[image:4.5star.jpg|linkisbn=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens0008551324|Teens]]title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil LancasterKat and Wesley are both loners, looking |rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's unusual for places anyone from the Hardie family to fit inapproach the police. Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. Kat finds this with online communities, where she feels like she can be her true self - a feminist, an activist, someone who isn't scared to speak out. WesleyBut Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's desire prepared to feel tell the police where the body of a sense of belonging sees him fall in with an altogether nastier crowdmissing person is buried and who was responsible for her death. Bullies, trolls This person, extremists. When he pulls the final trigger on a violent, targeted online bullying campaignpromises, Kat is forced to delete her entire online presence. Bereft of everything that represented her identity, Kat's physical self starts someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to fade as well. As the entire world slowly forgets that Kat ever existed, only Wesley seems an open prison to remember serve the girl whom he erased. Wesley is faced with a choice: remainder of his sentence and to get sucked further into a sinister alt-right movement or help Kat an early parole date. Not much to stop them. ask, is it? [[All the Lonely People by David Owen|Full Review]] <!The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded -- Stuart Roberts -->|-make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"0008405026|title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)[[image:1527230783.jpg|linkauthor=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1527230783/refJane Casey|rating=nosim?tag5|genre=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalIt's sixteen years since nine-align: top; textyear-align: left;"|===[[Keep Your Health old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and Fitness For Life: Don't Let Age Be A Barrier by Stuart Roberts]]=== [[image:4the investigation ground to a halt. Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] My birth certificate might suggest a higher figure, Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but I know there's something about the positioning of the bodies that I'm only 42makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. I learned What looked as though it was going to be an open-and-shut case is now a long time ago complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that I could retain that feeling by keeping my life the explanation lies in balance. This meant eating sensibly, getting quality sleep and having regular exercise which I enjoyed. There was an added bonus tooRosalie's disappearance: I was juggling four chronic conditions and living this way meant that I could keep three of them in the backgroundothers (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced. Then a silly mis-step meant that the hip problem flared up}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet|rating=3. The only way I could get more than an hour or two asleep was to take pain relief 5|genre=Crime|summary=Edward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his upper-class friends, Robert and the duodenal ulcer started to complainStanza. Because I was masking symptoms I didnRobert't dare to exercise - and the black dog of depression prowled along behind mes a theatre director. [[Keep Your Health and Fitness For Life: Don He't Let Age Be A Barrier by Stuart Roberts|Full Review]] <!s also 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 - Fox -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529123798and he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert.jpg|link=http Most men in Robert's position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he's not like most men://wwwEdward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529123798/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleauthor="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No Trace|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=[[Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] In a hotel in CairnsWhen a man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, a group of 7 grown ups go for dinner, leaving the AI detective Lock. It's their 4 children upstairs in a hotel room. When they returnfirst live case together, only 3 children remain. Wow, that's all a bit…familiarhaving previously been very successful with several cold cases. But the resemblance to the McCann case ends when thereis a second body found crucified a few days later, in many ways. Parents may be suspects Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and judgements may be made a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their choice AI Future Policing project. Will they be able to leave solve the children unsupervisedcase in time, but beyond that this is not or will Kat find herself taken off the same storycase and, potentially, not least because by the end out of this book we do know once and for all what happened to Richie. [[Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox|Full Review]]a career?|isbn=139851120X}}{{Frontpage<!-- Burge -->|isbn=1399613073|-title=Moral Injuries| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Christie Watson|rating=4.5[[image:1471407764.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471407764/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Thrillers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge]]=== [[image:5starOlivia, Laura and Anjali met on the 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 aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]], [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], [[:Category:Horror|Horror]] Martha's world has changed Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Blind in one eye after falling from a tree, Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she wakes with becomes a disturbing giftGP. She can read people through their clothes, secrets tumble from the weave, revealing insights she doesn When we first meet them they't really want, and knowledge she doesn't understand. She flees to her grandmother, Mormorre at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's cabin, seeking answers no one is prepared going to give, and stumbles into world of menaceend in tragedy. [[The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge|Full Review]] <! We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-- Alderson -->|-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. This time, it's their teenage children who are involved.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604| styletitle="widthThe Trading Game: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson[[image:1473681820.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473681820/ref=nosim?tag5|genre=thebookbag-21]] Autobiography| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; textIf you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-align: left;"|===[[Friends Like These by Sarah Alderson]]=== [[image:5starstripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Life in There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the London isn’t always glam, especially if you’re young and underpaid. For Lizzie it’s all a bit School of a balancing actEconomics. She Stevenson is bright - extremely bright - and he has a nice home but it technically belongs to her room-mate’s parentsfacility with numbers which most of us can only envy. She works in the entertainment industry He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was, but her job itself is probably not one you’d covet. She doesn’t have much spare timeessentially, but that’s because she’s been working through some self-improvementa card game which got him an internship with Citibank. If they could only see her now. And Eventually, well, actually, they can, although there’s this turned into permanent employment as a lot less of her to see than there once wastrader. But yes, she doesn’t really have much time for the past and the people from it. [[Friends Like These by Sarah Alderson|Full Review]]}}<!-- Torquil MacLeod -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1035021803| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|author=C L Miller[[image:0857161873.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co3.uk/dp/0857161873/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Malice in Malmo: (Inspector Anita Sundstrom) by Torquil MacLeod]]===Crime[[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] It was embarrassing when It'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 leading Malmo business man was kidnappedrequest for help from her beloved aunt, particularly as the police didnCarole. Freya's former mentor and Carole't know anything about it until s close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the man was discovered afterwardscircumstances seem suspicious, tied to a park bench in a cemeterysay the least. He was coy about how much ransom was paid, but it Arthur was sufficient that he'd felt the pain of reason why Freya had not been back to the digital transfersvillage: Arthur, she feels, let her down badly. That would have been bad enoughEven though they were in business together as antique hunters, but a second businessman was snatched soon afterwards and she has not felt able to be near the pressure on Inspector Anita Sundström 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 colleagues life, who was to find the businessman ''murdered) and'' to capture the kidnappers before they took anyone elseFreya and James have now divorced. Worse was to come though when an investigative journalist was found murdered in his flat. Was one of his victims the murderer, or was it someone he was about to expose? [[Malice in Malmo}}{{Frontpage|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover|title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Inspector Anita SundstromEditors) by Torquil MacLeod|Full Review]] <!-- Laura Solomon -->|-rating=5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Science Fiction[[image:1512235857.jpg|linksummary=http://www.amazon''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.co.uk/dp/1512235857/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Vera Magpie by Laura Solomon]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] ''I have murdered three husbands.'' As an opening line that must take some beating, but Vera's telling us the truth. The first two husbands, Gary and Harry were abusive, but Larry was a treasure, a keeper, and it's difficult to understand why Vera would have killed him, particularly when she was likely to get found out very quickly and now she's in prison with a mandatory life sentence. Her only friend is Shirley, a lesbian, but Vera's not one to let herself be a victim. She's not keen on having a sexual relationship with Shirley (she wouldn't risk the security of her life in prison for the sake of a fling), but she is keen on getting an education and she's studying for a degree in English Literature. [[Vera Magpie by Laura Solomon|Full Review]] <!-- Karin Fossum -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1787300943.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787300943/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Whisperer by Karin Fossum]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] When we first meet Ragna we can't understand what's going on. She's talking to Inspector Konrad Sejer and it's obvious that she's being held in custody because of a crime which she admits she's committed. Only, as we hear about Greta's life it seems that she's more sinned against than sinning. After a botched operation on her vocal chords she can't speak above a whisper and to add insult to injury she's been left with a horrible scar across her throat. She's done her best to make a go of her life though: she enjoys her work in a shop and has learned ways of coping with the difficulties of communicating with people. [[The Whisperer by Karin Fossum|Full Review]] <!-- Rachel Abbott -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1472254899.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472254899/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] We know there's something very strange going on as soon as we join the story: we begin by hearing how it's going to end and that someone must die. But that's just a hint: for the time being we're with two police persons. Stephanie's the sergeant and she has Jason, the probationer with her in the squad car, but Stephanie doesn't like where they're heading. The house is stunning, but the last time she was here it was because there was a dead body at the bottom of the stairs to the pool. This time there's been a 999 call with a woman screaming for help: the omens are not good and when they enter the house they find two tangled, blood-soaked bodies in the bed. They both look dead, but one of them moves - it's Evie Clark and she confesses to killing her partner. [[And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott|Full Review]] <!-- Mick Herron -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473678307.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473678307/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Drop: A Slough House Novella by Mick Herron]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] When you've done a job for any length of time, the memory, the instincts of it stay with you and they're impossible to forget. It was the same with Solomon Dortmund, a retired spy: when he watches a woman making a drop he knows exactly what he's seeing and he passes this on John Batchelor, the man charged with looking after the retired spooks. Bachelor has problems of his own: the closest he comes to a home is the back seat of his car and he's run out of people whose sofas he can commandeer for the night. The best he can do with Solomon's problem is to pass it on the someone else and hope that they'll deal with it/solve the problem/quietly forget about it. [[The Drop: A Slough House Novella by Mick Herron|Full Review]] <!-- Louise Penny -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0751566616.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0751566616/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Kingdom of the Blind (Chief Inspector Gamache) by Louise Penny]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] It came as something of a surprise when Armand Gamache was named as liquidator in the estate of a woman he'd never met. Another villager from Three Pines is also a liquidator, but the third is a stranger to them both. The mystery deepens when the will is read: given that the deceased was a cleaner it seems unlikely that she would have had the millions which she bequests at her disposal. Then a body is found. That's not Gamache's only problem though: one of his protégées, Amelia Choquet, has been expelled from the police academy for drug dealing, and the enquiry into the incident which led to his suspension as the head of the Sûreté in Quebec is dragging on and the outcome is looking increasingly ominous. [[Kingdom of the Blind (Chief Inspector Gamache) by Louise Penny|Full Review]] <!-- Kate Atherley -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1632506386.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1632506386/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Knitter's Dictionary: Knitting Know-How from A to Z by Kate Atherley]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crafts|Crafts]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] I've been knitting for well over sixty years, following patterns of varying complexity with success. I've knit Aran sweaters, socks by the dozen and I'm currently knitting blankets for a charity to sell. There hasn't been an occasion when I've been stuck and people have often come to ''me'' for help when ''they've'' been stuck. Would a knitter's dictionary really be of any help to me? I was surprised by just how much I got out of it. [[The Knitter's Dictionary: Knitting Know-How from A to Z by Kate Atherley|Full Review]] <!-- Samesh Ramjattan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789015200.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789015200/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Be Your Higher Self by Samesh Ramjattan]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Spirituality and Religion|Spirituality and Religion]] There are a lot of self-help books about: it's one of the most thriving sections of the average bookshop, but it's not always easy to find the book you need. Samesh Ramjattan has addressed this problem in ''Be Your Higher Self'', a book which allows us all to make sense of our place in the world, as most of us only glimpse our true potential and few people ever achieve it. Even with hard work and dedication, obstacles present themselves and it's difficult to understand why or how they can be overcome. Ramjattan offers us a guide to the spirit world, the chakras, karma and reincarnation as well as information about the age of Aquarius and the ego. It's a slim book - just 128 pages - so can it provide us with the answers we seek? [[Be Your Higher Self by Samesh Ramjattan|Full Review]] <!-- Laura Solomon -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:938689713X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/938689713X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Black Light by Laura Solomon]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Jim is a university student and, as the saying goes, he hasn't got his troubles to seek. His father committed suicide when he was young and somehow he's never really managed to connect with his step-father. His younger brother would be kindly described as having learning difficulties: if you were being honest you'd just say that he was very difficult, but Jim does his best with and for him. Jim's in love with a woman, but she finds him repulsive and you can understand why: the looks, the attitude, the (lack of) conversational ability and the clothing all leave a lot to be desired. Despite all that's he's not about to sit back and allow his life to drift: he's actually writing ''two'' novels and he reads excerpts from these to his friends in the pub. [[Black Light by Laura Solomon|Full Review]] <!-- Chase -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789010098.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789010098/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Redemptor Domus by Gamelyn Chase]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] A young boy arrives at an exclusive faith school on the scenic North Wales coast, sent far from his family in the Far East. As the boy travels to the school, a family tragedy causes the boy to arrive at the school a vulnerable orphan, with an uncertain future. Plunged into a school full of danger and betrayal, the boy is seen as a trophy by friends and enemies alike. With them locked into their scheming and plotting, it comes to the boy to attempt to clean up the pit of filth that the school has become. [[Redemptor Domus by Gamelyn Chase|Full Review]] <!-- Sendker -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1846974658.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1846974658/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Long Path To Wisdom by Jan-Philipp Sendker]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] On my travels around the world, I have a tendency to end up in any bookshop that is selling English-language books, and while I buy as many second-hand escapist tales as the next person, what I'm really looking for is the 'local' – the cookbook maybe, the maps definitely, but above all: the folk tales. If I ever get to Burma, I won't need to hunt, I can read before I go. [[The Long Path To Wisdom by Jan-Philipp Sendker|Full Review]] <!-- Julia Jones -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1899262393.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1899262393/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| stylegenre="verticalThrillers |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 -align: top; textto 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's fiftieth birthday party but never turned up. Her children, sons Niall, Paul and Ollie and her daughter, Etty. are all worried but - strangely -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=[[Pebble (Strong Winds series) 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 Julia Jones]]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:Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. But when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear.|isbn=0008664730}}{{Frontpage|author=James Sherwood Metts|title=Planet Storyland|rating=4.5star5|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.jpgLife was pretty much shut down and, along with it, all the many daily social interactions on which they depend so heavily.|linkisbn=Category:{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:Teens{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|Teens]]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, [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]all mine, at last. I just want to enjoy it for a while.''

Liam isnWithin a remote mountain pass, far away from the world, lies Silverton; a town under the protection of the Briar't ''quites, 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 youngest in heart of a large maelstrom of 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 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 doesnfelt 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 have 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 distinction swimming pool of being a remote property in Bel Air. He was the baby anymore heir to an Italian shoe empire and she is married to an extremely rich man and he doesnit't have s not the Italian. But which of them was the primary target?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529395224|title=Letting the Cat Out of the ''heft'' Bag: The Secret Life of his older brothers a Vet|author=Sion Rowlands|rating=3.5|genre=Animals and sistersWildlife|summary=Siôn Rowlands fell into veterinary science accidentally. HeHis 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 rather like one 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 pebbles on 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 large shingle beach: part professional footballer.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0861541774|title=A Nye of the mass but easily overlooked as 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 individualold ally, Guy Trueman. So when Maik was involved in a street brawl - he would later maintain that he starts having problems was facing a man armed with his sight no one really takes any noticea knife - and he killed a Ghurka. Initially, he faced a charge of manslaughter but evidence came to light that suggested that he might have planned to murder the man. Now he could be facing the death penalty. He doesnDomenic Jejeune can do nothing to help as any interference from another police force could provoke a diplomatic incident and wouldn't want help Danny at all.}}{{Frontpage|author=Alexander McCall Smith|title=The Perfect Passion Company|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=The Perfect Passion Company is a dating agency in Edinburgh, run by Ness and operating as an alternative to bother his mother all the online apps in providing a more personal, tailored service. Ness has asked her younger cousin Katie if she could come and look after the business, as sheNess is planning to take a trip to Canada to get away for a while. Katie is coming out of a break up with a bad boyfriend, and so jumps at the 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. Katie has no experience in running a business, or in match-making, but Ness has full confidence in her abilities, and there's always her very helpful (and rather handsome) neighbour, William, to lend a hand…|isbn=1846976596}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0811771741|title=InstaKnits for Baby|author=Melissa Leapman|rating=4|genre=Crafts|summary=Melissa Leapman's heavily involved ''InstaKnits for Baby'' gives us a collection of knits from toys to blankets. Some will be quick knits - others are of the 'long, cosy afternoons in front of the fire' variety. The projects are divided by the Luminal Festival 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 asked loses his fiancee, and his elder stephouse gets trashed. Oh, and someone has delivered a really weird, disturbing coffin-sistersized object to his home, Annaand it's possible that whoever or whatever was inside is the thing that has trashed his house! The thing is, if she'll take him Benny is the very last person to deserve all this bad luck. He is a nice person. A really nice person. So fortunately for an eye testBenny it turns out that the delivery to his house is a new friend, a bad weather friend called Spike, she puts who has been sent to help him offsince Benny is clearly under attack from nefarious forces for being a good person. In fairness sheSpike is going to take care of Benny, and will certainly take care of Benny's got important exams enemies, if he, Benny, and LiamHarper (a waitress slash Private Investigator who finds herself roped into Benny's convinced that itwild 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 just 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 case world of getting spectaclesfrightening 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 Liamhe's eyes are changing in 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 rather strange way''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. [[Pebble (Strong Winds series) by Julia Jones|Full Review]]

<!''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}}