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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, the charity shop 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-->Tom Percival<!-- Andre Pronovost -->|title=The Wrong Shoes|-rating=5| stylegenre=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|Confident Readers[[image:099944235X.jpg|linksummary=http://wwwWill's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways.amazon.co.uk/dp/099944235X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style= He is bullied because he has 'the wrong shoes'vertical-align: top; text-align: left;, he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and doesn'|===[[The Man Who Killed Hitler by Andre Pronovost]]=== [[image:3start 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.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Germany is split. Some of her is in favour of Hitler Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and the Nazisdad are separated, but much isnand Will'ts life seems bleak in every direction. Some And yet, he still has a tiny amount of her hope. He is stuck good at art, and clings to the east fighting the Sovietsmoments of joy when he is drawing, but some will soon have to be on that feel like a light at the other frontend of a long, against the Americans coming into the continent to put things right as they see itdark tunnel. Finding out that the war |isbn=1398527122}}{{Frontpage|author=Sylvie Cathrall|title=A Letter to the east isn't working, due Luminous Deep|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary= There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to Hitler's tactical ineptitude and inability to heed advice, some people reckon Stalin a compelling premise. And this is five seasons away from being in Berlinone of them. The only way to shore things up, and repair the splits, is to kill Hitler|isbn= 0356522776}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008517061|title=Death in a Lonely Place|author=Stig Abell|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary= Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, and luckily has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the Baron Nicholas is the man to do it. He's aristocratic enoughfuture of his life with his vet girlfriend, he knows enough people in industry, society Livia and other circles of powerher daughter Diana, so once he's succeeded he might be able as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to keep a German presence move in Europe. But will he still be able with Livia or does Livia move to keep the "predatory American capitalists" and the blatantly communist Soviets from meeting Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the future she wants for herself and her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in the middle? [[The Man Who Killed Hitler by Andre Pronovost|Full Review]]present and putting the future on the back burner.}}<!-- Ann Cleeves -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1786482126| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths[[image:1509889566|rating=4.jpg5|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1509889566/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalBuilders were demolishing an old house in Norwich -align: top; textthe site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments -align: left;"|===[[The Long Call (Two Rivers) by Ann Cleeves]]=== [[image:4starwhen they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway. There was no skull.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, [[:Category:LGBT Fiction|LGBT Fiction]] When we first meet DI Matthew Venn heDr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's at his father's funeraldifficult as Ruth knows, although 'at' rather overstates the proximity. He sees everyone - his mother and the preacher included from a distance - but he Nelson doesn't go it, that she is pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago. He wouldn't Her condition will be welcomeobvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness. Those attending are part of the Barum Brethren and the teenage Matthew was thrown out when he told the congregation how wrong they were in their beliefs}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4. 5|genre=Crime|summary=It coincided with him leaving university and joining 's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police force. The announcement of Matthew'Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's marriage prepared to Jonathan Church was in tell the police where the local paper body of a missing person is buried and whilst who was responsible for her death. This person, he doesn't know if his father saw promises, is someone big and it, will be worth the police doing what he can't imagine that it will have gone down wellwants. [[The Long Call (Two Rivers) by Ann Cleeves|Full Review]] <!-- Day -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date. Not much to ask, is it? The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded -align: center;"|[[image:0241351391.jpg|link=http://wwwmake certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241351391/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"0008405026|title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|author=Jane Casey|rating=5|genre=[[Max Kowalski DidnCrime|summary=It't Mean It by Susie Day]]=== [[image:4s sixteen years since nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night.5star She was never found and the investigation ground to a halt.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] When Max’s dad finds himself Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in a spot of hot watertheir bed. Initially, he disappears for it looks like a few days, leaving Max in charge straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of his three younger sisters, Thelma, Louise the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and Ripleyher boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. Max has no problem with stepping up What looked as though it was going to fill his dad’s shoes be an open-and be -shut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the man explanation lies in chargeRosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, but when his dad still doesn’t come home, he starts to panic that interfering grown ups will realise that the children are home-alone, and that they will step in and separate the familyUna Burt) are less convinced.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet|rating=3. So Max takes 5|genre=Crime|summary=Edward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his sisters to Walesupper-class friends, to hide out in a friend’s cottageRobert and Stanza. It won’t be for longRobert's a theatre director. He's also self-obsessed, surely? Because his dad wouldn’t miss Christmasdemanding, would he? handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him. [[Max Kowalski Didn't Mean It by Susie Day|Full Review]] <!Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days --Merritt Graves -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-alignand he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. 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: center;"|Edward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.}}{{Frontpage[[image:1949272028.jpg|linkauthor=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1949272028/refJo Callaghan|title=nosim?tagLeave No Trace|rating=thebookbag-21]]4 |genre=Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: When a man is found crucified on the top; text-align: left;"|===[[Sunlight 24 by Merritt Graves]]===of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock. [[image:4starIt's their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] If the game wasn’t fair before But when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, it’s definitely not fair now. Or so thinks Dorian Waters, part 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 ever-expanding portion of humanity who can’t afford case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the nano-implant case and genetic augmentation regimen known as Revision. And because he can’t afford Revision, he can’t get into college, he can’t get potentially, out of a jobcareer?|isbn=139851120X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1399613073|title=Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson|rating=4. And when he sees 5|genre=Thrillers|summary=Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the brilliant first day of medical school and mesmerizing Lena their friendship would keep them inseparable for the first time, he knows he doesn’t have a chance with her, eitherquarter of a century. And so Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, Dorian robs which is a bonus when you aim to be a house with his best friend, Ethancardiothoracic surgeon. Then they do it again Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. They’re able to keep at it until they have enough money saved up for their first Revision. Their initial choices in self-enhancement start impacting their future choices, which in turn impact their future Revision––on Anjali is the free spirit of the group and on in she becomes a downward spiral of self-destructionGP... [[Sunlight 24 by Merritt Graves|Full Review]] <! When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's going to end in tragedy. We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty- Stephen Booth -->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:075157628X.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/075157628X/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;"| ===[[Drowned Lives by Stephen Booth]]=== [[image:3stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] When council officer Chris Buckley is approached by an old man who wants There was no posh public school on his help in healing a decades' old family rift he's reluctant to get involved, but then Chris is reluctant CV - but he had been to get involved in anything but a pint in the pub these daysLondon School of Economics. It could just be the way that he Stevenson is, or the fact that bright - extremely bright - and he's just lost both his parents within three months has a facility with numbers which most of each otherus can only envy. He's currently existing in the family home and wondering when he's going also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be made redundant from his job stupid. It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with the councilCitibank. The short answer to that one is 'soon'Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader. Chris does his best to deter the old man, but it}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035021803|title=The Antique Hunter's not before he's left a lot of papers with his neighbourGuide to Murder|author=C L Miller|rating=3. Then the old man is murdered and the police come calling on Chris. [[Drowned Lives by Stephen Booth|Full Review]] <!-- Kalpesh Ashar -->5|-genre=Crime| stylesummary="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1949395324It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up.jpg|link=http://www.amazon She's back now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole.co Freya's former mentor and Carole's close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to say the least.uk/dp/1949395324/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align Arthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to the village: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted To Know: 4th Edition by Kalpesh Ashar]]=== [[image:4starArthur, she feels, let her down badly. Even though they were in business together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to be near the man or pursue the profession she loved.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Business After the split, she worked in a cafe, met and Finance|Business and Finance]] ''Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted to Know ''gives people without an accounting backgroundmarried James (on the rebound from the love of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have risen in a company, the knowledge to understand the accounts which show how the company is doingnow divorced. The book begins by looking at why financial accounting systems are necessary, then moves on to give an excellent overview of the types of accounting systems which will be encountered }}{{Frontpage|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover|title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=''Opening up new ways of thinking about the terms used. We then look in detail at the balance sheet, the income statement and the statement shape of cash flowsthings to come. If you understand these three sections on a set of accounts they will tell you a story. You will understand the company (or indeed any other business) but if you don't understand what's there you will be missing vital clues as to whether or not the company is thriving. [[Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted To Know: 4th Edition by Kalpesh Ashar|Full Review]] <!-- Tamaki and Pugh -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1401283292.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1401283292/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:Graphic Novels|Graphic Novels]] Harleen Quinzel is new in town. She always, to me, seems new in town, even if she's been around a long time, for she always has a very fresh attitude, and seems to look out of those large eyes at everything anew each time. But here she is new in town, and the town is Gotham City. Expecting a year-long furlough from life with her mother, she finds her gran dead and herself with no option but to stay with a bunch of drag queens. She also finds school is a drag, she also finds the whole neighbourhood is being redeveloped by a large and uncaring corporation – but she also finds two characters that will have a big impact on her life. One is a civil-minded lass called Ivy, the other someone she only meets at night – a lad with a singular graffiti tag and a mind for violence and chaos, who calls himself The Joker… [[Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh|Full Review]] <!-- Tove Jansson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0954221710.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0954221710/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Summer Book by Tove Jansson]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[Literary Fiction]] Tove Jansson's short novel about Summer is several worlds away from the Moomintrolls she is most famous for outside her native Scandinavia. Book yourself an afternoon this Summer, and take yourself and The Summer Book somewhere quiet, preferably within sight and sound of the sea, settle back and prepare to be transported. [[The Summer Book by Tove Jansson|Full Review]] <!-- Lynda La Plante -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785768506.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785768506/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Dirty Dozen (Jane Tennison 5) by Lynda La Plante]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Jane Tennison had worked hard to get a place on the Flying Squad and she felt that she was there on merit. The Squad wondered who she'd slept with to get the place and bets were being taken as to who she'd sleep with in the first week. What none of them - Jane included - knew was that she was there as an experiment, in the hope that a female presence would have a calming effect. The job had been advertised and Jane was the only female who applied who ticked all the boxes. She doesn't tick all the boxes for the head of the Squad, DCI Murphy. He wanted someone with at least ten years' experience, and the appropriate set of genitals - and he's determined that Jane will fail. [[The Dirty Dozen (Jane Tennison 5) by Lynda La Plante|Full Review]] <!-- Coleman -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785032461.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785032461/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]] Trudy Heaton is going home, to a house where her roots burrow back through the centuries and to a mother she hasn't spoken to for sixteen years. Home, her refuge, Ponden Hall, where she can heal herself and try to come to terms with the traumatic loss of her husband. She needs to build bridges with her mother and convince her grieving son that his father is dead. Where better than the house full of light and shadow, that nurtured her throughout her childhood? [[The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman|Full Review]] <!-- Shackle -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473225213.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473225213/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[We Are The Dead by Mike Shackle]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] Mike Shackle has written a really interesting and unusual story in ''We Are The Dead''; the tag line for the novel is 'No More Heroes' and that is what makes this story so different. There are villains galore but no specific heroes; rather the story is scattered with characters doing their own small part to survive, to fight back, and to find vengeance, in a world that has been utterly torn apart. The plot does not hang on any one character, no one is important, anyone can die and many do, but, like ants working together, each small character achieves their own part of a much larger plot that is rich and complex and keeps the reader glued to the story. [[We Are The Dead by Mike Shackle|Full Review]] <!-- Vibrant Publishers -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1946383627.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1946383627/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Cost Accounting & Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know by Vibrant Publishers]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Business and Finance|Business and Finance]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] I'm capable of drawing up a profit and loss account (income statement in the USA) and a balance sheet and I do so for my own business and for another organisation. The accounts give me ''broadly'' what I need: I know whether we're making a profit or a loss and I can look at the expenses and see what looks as though it could be trimmed back in future years. My problem was that the accounts didn't really give me any help in making decisions, which was why I turned to ''Cost Accounting and Management'', part of Vibrant Publishers' Self-Learning and Management series. Cost accounting provides the information required by authorities external to the company ''and'' to those within it who need to make decisions, so don't worry that you're going to have to draw up two sets of accounts! [[Cost Accounting & Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know by Vibrant Publishers|Full Review]] <!-- Steve Burrows -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786075776.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786075776/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Dance of Cranes by Steve Burrows]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] DCI Domenic Jejeune is no longer with Lindy Hey, the estrangement being of his making, not hers. He hasn't explained to her that he is doing this - and leaving for his native Canada - because he thinks that this will keep her safe from his nemesis, Ray Hayes. Lauren Salter has been promoted to sergeant and now has her first murder case. It looks as though there's an obvious suspect, but Salter isn't so certain. Sgt Danny Maik is (unofficially) keeping an eye on Lindy Hey, whilst Jejeune embarks on a treacherous journey to rescue his brother, Damian, who has gone missing in one of Canada's largest national parks. [[A Dance of Cranes by Steve Burrows|Full Review]] <!-- Oates -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785656775.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785656775/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Triumph of the Spider Monkey by Joyce Carol Oates]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Bobby is an angry, damaged man - damage that came from being abandoned as a baby in a bus station locker, and then being thrown from one foster home or detention centre to another, never far from violence or abuse. Eager to succeed as a musician, he arrives in Hollywood to find his dream - but it soon becomes clear that his paranoid delusions and seething rage will enable a capacity for acts of extreme violence. Unpublished for 40 years, this edition of ''The Triumph of the Spider Monkey'' comes combined with a connected novella – ''Love, Careless Love''. [[The Triumph of the Spider Monkey by Joyce Carol Oates|Full Review]] <!-- Pike -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0192771604.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0192771604/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Rayne lives in the small, hidden village of Penderin where she is a somewhat unwilling apprentice to her mother, the spell breather. Not everyone can spell breathe, you have to born with a magic spark and Rayne wishes she hadn't been born with one. She's a terrible spell breather, her attempts are always followed by disaster and she positively hates Mam's spell book with it's sharp teeth that suck your blood. When a stranger finds their village one day, Mam must set off on a journey to the great library, leaving Rayne in the village as their chief spell breather, but an unfortunate mistake sees Rayne breaking her mother's book and turning everyone in to monsters. She must face her fear travel across the monster-ridden country to find Mam and restore the book to save their village. [[The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike|Full Review]] <!-- Carlie Sorosiak -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:178800387X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178800387X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Cosmo's family is in crisis. Mom and Dad argue all the time. Emmaline doesn't quite understand it because she's too little but she feels it. And Max, who is bigger, does understand it and is terrified by it. Long ago, when Max was just a baby, Cosmo made a promise to protect Max forever and so he sets about his mission of repairing the family with everything he's got... [[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak|Full Review]] <!-- Fegan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1925810097.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1925810097/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Don't Drink the Pink by B C R Fegan]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Madeline is very fond of Grandfather Gilderberry. He's always busy in his workshop, creating crazy potions, and he always has a smile on his face. Madeline's dad thinks he's a bit bonkers and Madeline's mum thinks the same but gives him a pass because he's old. But Madeline? She thinks Grandfather Gilberberry is just great. Particularly on her birthday when he unfailingly arrives with a selection of potions and allows her to choose one as a gift. And he always says the same thing... [[Don't Drink the Pink by B C R Fegan|Full Review]] <!-- Averill -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1077651538.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1077651538/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Years of Fading Magic by Kenelm Averill]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]]  ''What if you could subtly change the lives of ordinary people around you?'' Jessica Turner was one of the more radical teens to come out of Eastfield. A youth spent hanging out with a close crowd of friends was characterised by Jessica's role as trendsetter, as influencer, as leader. Strangely charismatic, Jessica invited fascination and obsession. Nobody who met her, forgot her. Or the days they spent in the Enclosure, a clearing in Eastfield woods that Jessica felt gave her power. But the group went its separate ways, as adolescent groups do, and her influence faded...[[The Years of Fading Magic by Kenelm Averill|Full Review]] <!-- Paula Daly -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1787632105.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787632105/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Clear My Name by Paula Daly]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Tess Gilroy works for Innocence UK, a charity investigating the cases of prisoners who can convince them that they've been wrongly convicted and they're just moving on to their next case. She's somewhat surprised when Clive, the head of the charity, announces that she'll have someone shadowing her. Avril's in her mid twenties and rather gauche as well as prone to putting her foot in it. One of the reasons they're now going to look at the case of Carrie Kamara is that she's female and Innocence have never yet taken up the case of a woman: such impressions matter. [[Clear My Name by Paula Daly|Full Review]]  <!-- Georgianne Landy-Kordis -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1072549271.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1072549271/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Simple Act of Self-Publishing With Amazon: A Simple Step by Step Guide by Georgianne Landy-Kordis ]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Business and Finance|Business and Finance]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]], [[:Category:Self-Publishing|Self Publishing]] I frequently meet authors who are struggling to be published by the traditional houses, but when I suggest self-publishing they explain that they don't have the big bucks required to go down that road with Author Solutions or Matador or their like. I then ask if they've considered Kindle and the answer is inevitably that they wouldn't know where to start. I can empathise with that. Despite having used a computer for about thirty years, running most of my life ''and'' a website on line, I'm still nervous when it comes to starting something new. I like someone to hold my hand as I go through it for the first time. That was why I was very interested when ''The Simple Act of Self Publishing With Amazon'' came across my desk. Author Georgianne Landy-Kordis doesn't profess to be a computer expert: she's simply someone who has done this many times and she's giving us the benefit of her experience and without any added chitchat. [[The Simple Act of Self-Publishing With Amazon: A Simple Step by Step Guide by Georgianne Landy-Kordis |Full Review]] <!-- S Kensington -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789018625.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789018625/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=We tend to think of Maria Callas as Greek, but she was born to Greek parents in Manhattan, New York, in December 1923 and only moved to Athens when she was thirteen. Her original surname was Kalogeropoulos but her father changed it to 'Callas' to make it more manageable in the States. When she was back in Athens - supposedly so that she could get appropriate training for her voice - she was raised under the Nazi occupation by a mother who mercilessly exploited her and made no secret of her preference for her elder sister, Jackie.}}{{Frontpage|author=Christopher Edge|title=Black Hole Cinema Club|rating=4|genre=[[Just Another Girl 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 Road by S Kensington]]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:4starRosevear, 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:Historical Fiction{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|Historical Fiction]]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.''

When Sergeant Farr 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 Corporal Valentine the wider world from the Darklands. Though she has always wished for magic, Ellie Briar is the first encountered Katrinka Badeau non-witch to be born into her family for generations and as such since she was just eighteen years old 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 fleeing from a farmhouse 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 group maelstrom of German deserters 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 raped herbeen badly injured but he felt responsible and even after Alex recovered, Sturgis was reluctant to ask for his help on difficult cases. His assertions that there were only open-and-shut cases which didn't need the help of a psychologist only worked for a while. Finally, it was Robin, Delaware's partner, who nudged Milo into asking for help again. Despite being outnumbered She knew that the involvement was something that the man she loved needed. The next case did look simple, though. Two lovers were murdered in the swimming pool of a remote property in Bel Air. He was giving just about as good as the heir to an Italian shoe empire and she got 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 Farr 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 Valentine intervened and finished was convinced this was the group offjob for him. Before long, he was at Liverpool University. It hadn't - as with so many students - been his dream since he was 1944 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 Farr 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 planned to 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 Valentine were part 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, 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, and so jumps at the Jedburgh unitchance 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, EDMONDto 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, lead cosy afternoons in front of the fire' variety. The projects are divided by Major Willoughby Nyethe 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. Nye recognised Katrinka immediately 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, heloses his fiancee, and his house gets trashed. Oh, and someone has delivered a really weird, disturbing coffin-sized object to his home, and it'd worked on her fathers 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 merchant ship wild adventure) can figure out who exactly they are.|isbn=1662500491}}{{Frontpage|author=Adam Stower|title=Murray and Katrinka had once had Bun|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers |summary=Murray is supposed to be a crush on Nyehumble, 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. When But he offered her 's a job with bad magician's cat, so his unitfavourite 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, she acceptedbut into a world of frightening adventure and whiffs. [[Just Another Girl on 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 Road by S Kensington|Full Review]]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?