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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=Tom Percival|title="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->The Wrong Shoes|-rating=5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Confident Readers[[image:1784631345.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwWill's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784631345/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Gentleman Jack (DI Yates 7) by Christina James]]=== [[image:3 He is bullied because he has 'the wrong shoes', he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and doesn't have enough money for even the most basic of things like food, and his dad can't work because he lost his job at the college, was working a cash-in-hand job on a building site and had an accident.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] The investigation into the thefts of farm machinery has been going on for months Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and dad are separated, and itWill's getting DI Tim Yates down: life seems bleak in every direction. And yet, he can't see where to go nextstill has a tiny amount of hope. It's almost a relief when Jack FovargueHe is good at art, agricultural entrepreneur and local celebrity clings to the moments of joy when he is assaulted in the streetdrawing, but no one can understand why Fovargue is so reluctant to help that feel like a light at the police with their enquiriesend of a long, or to press charges, particularly when a police officer was also assaulteddark tunnel. Yates is then diverted into |isbn=1398527122}}{{Frontpage|author=Sylvie Cathrall|title=A Letter to the investigation Luminous Deep|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary= There are few greater joys than a book which followed the discovery of the headless body of lives up to a woman in a canal near Lincoln: it's an interesting case but the downside compelling premise. And this is that the senior investigating officer is DI Michael Robinsonone of them. They're contemporaries but Robinson is bumptious and inclined to taking credit for other people's efforts. [[Gentleman Jack (DI Yates 7) by Christina James|Full Review]]|isbn= 0356522776}}{{Frontpage<!-- Adriaan Verheul -->|isbn=0008517061|-title=Death in a Lonely Place| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Stig Abell|rating=4[[image:0692047697.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0692047697/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Clean Death by Adriaan Verheul]]=== [[image:4starFormer Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky.jpg|link=Category There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the future of his life with his vet girlfriend, Livia and her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Three very different men meet does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to move in the jungle, led there by fate. Davey sees conspiracies everywhere, Oliver seeks answers with Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the death of his father, future she wants for herself and Captain Christmas leads a community of armed men, women her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in the present and children, hidden far from justice in putting the future on the forestback burner. As the three men are brought together, the events could cause each to lose something of consequence: maybe illusion, maybe conviction, and maybe, just maybe, life itself… [[A Clean Death by Adriaan Verheul|Full Review]]}}<!-- Dhladhla -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1786482126| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths[[image:1720812675|rating=4.jpg5|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1720812675/refCrime|summary=nosim?tag=thebookbagBuilders were demolishing an old house in Norwich -21]]  | style="verticalthe site was going to hold seventy-align: top; textfive 'luxury' apartments -align: left;"| ===[[Beyond Thought by Chris Dhladhla]]=== [[image:4starwhen they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway. There was no skull.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Have you ever felt trapped by your own thoughts Was this a ritual killing or murder? That your mind is so busy processing what Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's going on in the world around you that you just candifficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't catch , that she is pregnant with his child as a moment and simply ''be''? Or that result of the outside world just won't stop pressing in upon an inner life that you'd like to one night they spent together some three months ago. Her condition will be more peaceful? [[Beyond Thought by Chris Dhladhla|Full Review]]obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness.}}<!-- M J Lee -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0008551324| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster[[image:B07HYQ99YV.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HYQ99YV/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Crime|summary===[[Where It's unusual for anyone from the Truth Lies (DI Ridpath) by M J Lee]]=== [[image:3Hardie family to approach the police.5star Neither side likes or has any respect for the other.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] DI Thomas Ridpath - call him Ridpath as But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he doesn't think Tom or Thomas suits him - looked to have s prepared to tell the police where the body of a promising future in CID until he missing person is buried and who was forced to take extended sick leave nine months agoresponsible for her death. He's backThis person, he promises, but the word ''cancer'' leaves people doubting how well you really are, or are going to stay. Perhaps is someone big and it would will be better if worth the police doing what he quietly retired? wants. His wife, Polly, would like And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to see him in a desk jobget an early parole date. Ridpath would like Not much to be back in front-line policingask, but all that's available to him is a secondment for three months as Coronerit? The new Deputy Police Constable doesn's Officer. If thatt think so and she's how it's got even prepared to be, then he'll do the best job he canother thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening. [[Where the Truth Lies (DI Ridpath) by M J Lee|Full Review]]}}<!-- Laura Solomon -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0008405026| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|author=Jane Casey[[image:9386897504.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/9386897504/ref5|genre=nosim?tagCrime|summary=thebookbag-21]]  | style="verticalIt's sixteen years since nine-align: top; textyear-align: left;"|===[[Tales of Love old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and Disability by Laura Solomon]]=== [[image:4starthe investigation ground to a halt.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] I've always believed that less-able writers produce longer books: Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed. Initially, it takes looks like a great deal of skill and talent to write a short story which holds straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the reader bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and keeps them coming back for moreher boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. There are far too many collections of short stories which are all too easy What looked as though it was going to put down be an open-and forget after you've read -shut case is now a couple of piecescomplex double murder. I've recently read a couple of novellas by Laura Solomon - [[MarshaKerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's Deal by Laura Solomon|Marshadisappearance: others (such as Derwent's Deal]] and [[Hell's Unveiling by Laura Solomonboss, Una Burt) are less convinced.}}{{Frontpage|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]]isbn=0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code<!-- Frances Brody -->|author=Jonny Sweet|-rating=3.5| stylegenre="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Crime[[image:0349414327.jpg|linksummary=http://www.amazonEdward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his upper-class friends, Robert and Stanza.co Robert's a theatre director.uk/dp/0349414327/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag He's also self-21]]  | style="verticalobsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him. Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days -align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Snapshot of Murder (Kate Shackleton Mysteries) by Frances Brody]]=== [[image:4and he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[ Most men in Robert's position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he's not like most men:Category:Crime (Historical)Edward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.}}{{Frontpage|Crime (Historical)]]author=Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No TraceEven detectives need a break and for Kate Shackleton, photography gives her the mental relaxation which she needs. |rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=When a man is found crucified on the local Photographic Society proposed an outingtop of a hill in Nuneaton, Kate was keen DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to take the opportunity to visit Haworth and Stanburycase alongside her sidekick, 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. AI detective Lock. What could be better than seeing her familyIt's their first live case together, witnessing a momentous event and having the opportunity to take photographs of the setting for ''Wuthering Heights''? Nothing could go wrongpreviously been very successful with several cold cases. 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;"|But when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. Will they be able to solve the case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the case and, potentially, out of a career?[[image:1408894319.jpg|linkisbn=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408894319/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21139851120X}}]]{{Frontpage|isbn=1399613073|title=Moral Injuries| styleauthor="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Christie Watson|rating=4.5 |genre===[[The Afterwards by A F Harrold and Emily Gravett]]===Thrillers[[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]  ''Tell Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them what The Afterwards inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is aboutruthlessly ambitious, they said.''<br>''Hopefully which is a bonus when you know this, butaim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GP. When we first meet them they''<br>''Itre at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's a book with friendship going to end in ittragedy. We don''<br>''Itt know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. This time, it's a book with death in ittheir teenage children who are involved.''<br>''It's a book with betrayal in it.''<br>}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604''It's a book with love in it.''<br>|title=The Trading Game: A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson''It's a book with a cat in it|rating=4.''<br>5''That's what I know.''<br>|genre=Autobiography''That's what I can tell |summary=If you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you.''<br>''That'll do mere unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson.'' To be honest, I'd be surprised if that wouldn't do you, too.[[The Afterwards by A F Harrold hoodie and Emily Gravett|Full Review]]<!jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice. There was no posh public school on his CV -but he had been to the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright - Vanston extremely bright -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1911569740and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy.jpg|link=http://www He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid.amazon It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank.co Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.uk/dp/1911569740/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=Crime|summary==[[Santa Goes on Strike by Jem Vanston]]=== [[image:4starIt's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]]  Something's gone horribly wrong She's back now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. It Freya's Christmas Eve former mentor and everything is very busy in SantaCarole's grotto. The presents are all ready close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and waiting to be loaded onto the sleigh and the reindeer are itching circumstances seem suspicious, to get going. But Santa? Santa is just not in say the moodleast. He is tired of delivering Arthur was the latest toys reason why Freya had not been back to children who only play with them for five minutesthe village: Arthur, she feels, let her down badly. He wishes people would remember what Christmas is really about - a time for families Even though they were in business together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to come together for love and friendship be near the man or pursue the profession she loved. After the split, she worked in a cafe, met and goodwill to one another. [[Santa Goes married James (on Strike by Jem Vanston|Full Review]]the rebound from the love of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced.}}<!-- Keeley -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover| styletitle="widthAll Tomorrow's Futures: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)[[image:1789017165.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789017165/ref5|genre=nosim?tagScience Fiction|summary=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Coming ''Opening up new ways of thinking about the Spirits by Rob Keeley]]=== [[image:4starshape of things to come.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]]  | 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:5starI've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you're eighteen.jpg 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.|linkisbn=Category:086154742X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529153298|title=The List of Suspicious Things|author=Jennie Godfrey|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|summary=It's 1979 and Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister. (A woman? I mean, honestly...) She's not what's worrying Miv's family, though. Women have been disappearing. Well, they've been murdered, but to have 'disappeared' doesn't sound quite so frightening. Miv's upset because she's overheard that her father wants to move the family 'Down South'. When you're from Yorkshire, Down South is a frightening, foreign place, best avoided. For Miv, the move would mean leaving her best friend, Sharon, and she'll do anything to prevent that. She's not worried about the dangers or that her Mum's stopped talking - to anyone.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1398524085|title=Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?|author=Nicci French|rating=5|genre=Crime|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 - 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.}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:{{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|Confident Readers]] summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''

Betsy K Glory lives Rosevear, a rather wonderful life remote and partially forgotten island, survives on a peaceful island where nothing horrible ever happensluring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Her fatherMira, Alonsolike her mother before her, makes is one of the seven who swim out to survey the most wonderful ice cream in every flavour you could imagineruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. Her motherBut when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, Myrtlethey 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 a mermaid secretive and comes with only coordinates to visit regularlyguide her, although she still lives sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. Betsy dreams 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 two things: firstlythe smuggler's territory, about Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the circus owned by ones she holds most dear.|isbn=0008664730}}{{Frontpage|author=James Sherwood Metts|title=Planet Storyland|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary= Things have been a tiger bit sticky for the Earthlings. AI and automation have been proceeding apace, often replacing jobs they're paid to do and whether 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 would ever come , 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 her island 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 secondlywho had endless crises of self confidence. So Tim applied himself to his studies, about a magical ice cream made from the berries cultivated his abilities rather than his daydreams and set himself high but achievable ambitions.|isbn= B0CVFXPGP8}}{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Gongalong bush. One scoop Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|summary='' There's a part of me that wants to keep this ice cream just to myself for however long I can make wishes come true.This secret magic of my own, all mine, at last. I just want to enjoy it for a while.''

And then Mr Tiger 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 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 felt responsible and even after Alex recovered, Sturgis was reluctant to ask for his circus arrivehelp 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. And Two lovers were murdered in the swimming pool of a journey remote property in Bel Air. He was the heir to an Italian shoe empire and she is married to an extremely rich man and it's not the Italian. But which of them was the primary target?}}{{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 evidence came to light that suggested that he might have plannedto murder the man. Now he could be facing the death penalty. 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[[Mr Tiger|summary=The Perfect Passion Company is a dating agency in Edinburgh, run by Ness and operating as an alternative to all the online apps in providing a more personal, tailored service. Ness has asked her younger cousin Katie if she could come and look after the business, as Ness is planning to take a trip to Canada to get away for a while. Katie is coming out of a break up with a bad boyfriend, Betsy and so jumps at the Blue Moon 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 ''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 Sally Gardnerthe 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|Full Review]]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 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|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.

<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->''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?