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<metadesc>Book review site, with books from most walks of literary life; fiction, biography, crime, cookery and children's books plus author interviews and top tens.</metadesc>
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<metadesc>Expert, full book reviews from most walks of literary life; fiction, non-fiction, children's books & self-published books plus author interviews & top tens.</metadesc>
<h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>
 
Hello from The Bookbag, a [https://www.essaylib.com/book-review.php book review] 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. We can even direct you to help for [https://www.easywritingservice.com/custom-book-review/ custom book reviews]! Visit [http://www.everychildareader.org www.everychildareader.org] to get free writing tips and
 
[http://www.genecaresearchreports.com www.genecaresearchreports.com] will help you get your paper written for free.
 
  
There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' reviews at TheBookbag.
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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!
  
Want to find out more [[About Us|about us]]?
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==Reviews of the Best New Books==
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There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY: Reviews}}''' [[:Category:Reviews|reviews]] at TheBookbag.
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Want to find out more [[About Us|about us]]? __NOTOC__
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==The Best New Books==
  
 
'''Read [[:Category:New Reviews|new reviews by category]]. '''<br>
 
'''Read [[:Category:New Reviews|new reviews by category]]. '''<br>
'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- Remove -->
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{{newreview
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'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''
|author=Numba Pinkerton
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|title=The No Black Project
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'''Read [[Forthcoming Publications|reviews of books about to be published]].
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Tom Percival
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|title=The Wrong Shoes
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|rating=5
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|genre=Confident Readers
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|summary=Will's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways.  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.  Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will's life seems bleak in every direction.  And yet, he still has a tiny amount of hope.  He is good at art, and clings to the moments of joy when he is drawing, that feel like a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
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|isbn=1398527122
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Sylvie Cathrall
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|title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep
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|rating=5
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|genre=Science Fiction
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|summary= There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them.
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|isbn= 0356522776
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0008517061
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|title=Death in a Lonely Place
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|author=Stig Abell
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|rating=4
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|genre=Crime
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|summary= Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky.  There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the future of his life with his vet girlfriend, Livia and her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to move in with Livia or does Livia move to 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 present and putting the future on the back burner.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1786482126
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|title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)
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|author=Elly Griffiths
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Lifestyle
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|genre=Crime
|summary=I don't like shopping for clothes, but there's no valid reason whyI'm small, but reasonably slim - a size 10 petite usually fits me perfectly - and I'm lucky to be able to afford to buy whatever clothes I want.  The trouble is that I lack the confidence to know what is going to suit me and to be honest it's very difficult to get excited about a trip which will almost certainly end up with another pair of smart black trousers and a matching topI never feel that I look particularly good in black, but I've resorted to it because it can usually take me anywhere and is unlikely to cause offence.  So, how did I feel when I was given a copy of ''The No Black Project''?  Well, to be honest, I felt a little scared...
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|summary=Builders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway.  There was no skullWas this a ritual killing or murder?  Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson.  It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months agoHer condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1533506957</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Alex T Smith
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|isbn=0008551324
|title=Santa Claude
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|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)
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|author=Neil Lancaster
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Crime
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|summary=It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police.  Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death.  This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants.  And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of 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 - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0008405026
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|title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)
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|author=Jane Casey
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Crime
|summary=Ah Claude!  He is such an endearing little dogHe's back on an adventure with Sir Bobblysock and this time it is a Christmas adventureThere are baubles and trees and carols and reindeer and, of course, there's trouble! For who else but Claude would accidentally handcuff Santa to an armchair on Christmas Eve, and then need to deliver all the presents himself?
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|summary=It's sixteen years since nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer nightShe was never found and the investigation ground to a haltNow, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed.  Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. What looked as though it was going to be an open-and-shut case is now a complex double murder.  Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444926497</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= John Dougherty and David Tazzyman
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|isbn=0571379877
|title= Stinkbomb and Ketchup Face-and the Great Kerfuffle Christmas Kidnap
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|title=The Kellerby Code
|rating= 5
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|author=Jonny Sweet
|genre= Confident Readers
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|rating=3.5
|summary= It's Christmas Eve and Father Christmas is missingBrother and sister Stinkbomb and Ketchup Face wake up in the middle of the night expecting to find a huge pile of presents.  Instead they find a huge pile of nothingThey know something must be wrong because they have been good all year long (honestly)The only possible answer is that Father Christmas is in trouble so they have to save him and save Christmas for everyone on the island of Great Kerfuffle.  
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|genre=Crime
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192747789</amazonuk>
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|summary=Edward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his upper-class friends, Robert and Stanza.  Robert's a theatre directorHe's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for himEdward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - and he's drunkenly confided how he feels to RobertMost 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: Edward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Vladimir Aleksic and Kate Ware
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|author=Jo Callaghan
|title=Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Colouring Classic
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|title=Leave No Trace
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Crafts
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|genre=Crime
|summary=''A Christmas Carol'' has always been my favourite book by Charles DickensPerhaps it's the fact that it's a novella rather than the usual brick of a book, but the plotting has always seemed tighter and the story more fast movingI also like to idea of Ebenezer Scrooge not so much getting his comeuppance as his seeing the error of his ways.  I've read the book and seen numerous film adaptations - now I've had the opportunity to do some relaxing colouring of scenes from the classic story.  Was it fun?
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|summary=When a man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock.  It's their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold casesBut 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 projectWill they be able to solve the case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the case and, potentially, out of a career?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848695411</amazonuk>
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|isbn=139851120X
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Leigh Bardugo
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|isbn=1399613073
|title= Crooked Kingdom
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|title=Moral Injuries
|rating= 5
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|author=Christie Watson
|genre= Teens
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|rating=4.5
|summary=''They don't know who we are. Not really. They don't know what we've done, what we've managed together… so let's show them they picked the wrong damn fight.''
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|genre=Thrillers
 
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|summary=Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century.  Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon.  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'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-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.
First things first if you haven't read [[Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo]] yet, the first book in the duology, you should read it as soon as possible, buy it or borrow it before anything else and then read Crooked Kingdom. Trust me, because while Six of Crows is unimaginably clever, with diverse characters and a brilliant heist plot, Crooked Kingdom is on a whole other level.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780622309</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Elizabeth Norton
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|isbn=0241636604
|title= The Lives of Tudor Women
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|title=The Trading Game: A Confession
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|author=Gary Stevenson
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=History
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|genre=Autobiography
|summary= After a series of individual biographies on the major Tudor women, mostly royal, this book brings a new dimension in touching on the lives of individuals from all walks of life. However it is much more than a collection of lives. While the Queens and princesses naturally dominate some of the chapters, it looks beyond the surface to devote attention to serving maids, businesswomen, activists and martyrs, as well as focus on various aspects of life for women and girls in Tudor England.
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|summary=If 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-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 - extremely bright - and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid.  It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank.  Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784081752</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Henning Lohlein
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|isbn=1035021803
|title=Ludwig the Space Dog
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|title=The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder
|rating=4
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|author=C L Miller
|genre=For Sharing
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|rating=3.5
|summary=Before there was Neil Armstrong and before there was Yuri Gagarin, there was another explorer of Space – LaikaThis was no man however, but a dogLaika was one of the first animals to explore space; the less said about her fate the better, but surely her adventures would encourage other canines to explore the great beyond? Ludwig is one such Mutt and although we may not have a rocket ship to help him with his adventures, we do have a set of 3D glasses.
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|genre=Crime
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178370389X</amazonuk>
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|summary=It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up.  She's back now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, CaroleFreya's former mentor and Carole's close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to say the leastArthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to the village: Arthur, 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. After the split, she worked in a cafe, met and married James (on the rebound from the love of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Mick Inkpen and Chloe Inkpen
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|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover
|title=Fred
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|title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt
 +
|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=It's tricky being a puppyThere are so many things to try to understand, like sit, and stay, and fetch!  Whilst the pup in this story has learned all of these tricky commands, and is doing very well at being a good boy, he is having some issues around the word 'Fred'...what on earth does everyone mean when they keep shouting it at him?
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|summary=''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444929526</amazonuk>
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 +
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 lifetimeI'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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Robert Short
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|author=Sunny Singh
|title=101 Things To Do When You're Not Drinking
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|title=Hotel Arcadia
|rating=4
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|rating=3.5
|genre=Lifestyle
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|genre=Thrillers
|summary=If you're thinking about giving up alcohol long term, short term or for Dry January then you might be wondering if it's going to leave one helluva hole in your social lifeYou might be thinking about what you'll do with the time you normally spend out socialising (just having a quick one before you get the train home...) as well as the time you spend recovering from having had ''just'' one too many the night beforeSunday mornings will loom large as uncharted and largely unknown territory.  Robert Short has a few answers for you - well 101 of them in fact - in a pocket-size book which should give you some inspiration.
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|summary=The Hotel Arcadia is a luxury hotel in an unnamed city that has suddenly been violently taken over by a terrorist groupHiding 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 photographyAlthough 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780722877</amazonuk>
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|isbn=086154742X
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Gray Jolliffe
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|isbn=1529153298
|title=The First Ever Christmas: And Who to Blame
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|title=The List of Suspicious Things
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|author=Jennie Godfrey
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Humour
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=If I tell you a secret, will you promise not to tell anyone? Well, I really don't like Christmas: it's my least favourite time of year and whilst some people count down to the day itself, I look forward to that point when I can say that it's all over for another yearIt's all too commercialised for me, with a coating of faux religionI've never found it in the least funny - that is, until I found Gray Jolliffe's ''The First Ever Christmas: And Who's to Blame''.  Amazingly, I'd never encountered Gray Jolliffe either, but I'm a convert to his skills as a cartoonist (if not to the idea of Christmas) after reading this collection of Christmas-themed cartoons from his archive.
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|summary=It's 1979 and Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister.  (A woman?  I mean, honestly...) She's not what's worrying Miv's family, thoughWomen have been disappearingWell, 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 avoidedFor 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445663503</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Benji Davies
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|isbn=1398524085
|title= The Storm Whale in Winter
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|title=Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?
|rating= 4.5
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|author=Nicci French
|genre= For Sharing
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|rating=5
|summary= The Storm Whale in Winter is a sequel to the highly popular The Storm Whale.  Noi's father embarks on one last fishing trip before the Arctic Winter sets inAll alone, with his six cats, Noi patiently waits for his father's returnAs night sets and the sea begins to freeze, Noi starts to worry and believes he can see his Dad's boat from his bedroom window.  Full of courage, he sets off out in the snow to find his DadGetting lost in the blizzard, Noi is in need of help which comes in the form of his old friend.
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|genre=Crime
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147111998X</amazonuk>
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|summary=Charlotte Salter was expected at her husband's fiftieth birthday party but never turned upHer children, sons Niall, Paul and Ollie and her daughter, Etty. are all worried but - strangely - her husband, Alec, is notShortly afterwards, Etty and Greg, find the body of Greg's father, Duncan Ackerley, in the riverIt 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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=David Long and Kerry Hyndman
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|isbn=1035906708
|title=Survivors: Extraordinary Tales from the Wild and Beyond
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|title=Diva
|rating=4
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|author=Daisy Goodwin
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|rating=4.5
|summary=There can be few people who are not captivated by stories of survival - those people who by chance, through knowledge but mostly because of their strength of will, survive against all the odds.  ''Survivors'' is a collection of such stories of people, some of whom knew that what they were doing was dangerous, but many are those who found themselves in situations which seemed impossible, but who didn't give upThe result is a wonderful mixture of the scariness of the peril and the glorious uplift of survival.  It's insightful, inspirational and all absolutely true.
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|genre=General Fiction
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571316018</amazonuk>
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|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 thirteenHer original surname was Kalogeropoulos but her father changed it to 'Callas' to make it more manageable in the StatesWhen 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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Bonnie Burton
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|author=Christopher Edge
|title=Crafting with Feminism: 25 Girl-Powered Projects to Smash the Patriarchy
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|title=Black Hole Cinema Club
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Crafts
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|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=For far too long it has been accepted that men will have free choice as to what they do and that women will somehow accommodate and adjust around themIt's been a hard fight to get to where we are now - and there's still a way to go, particularly when you read the [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/philip-davies-feminists-cake-and-eat-it-tory-mp-mens-rights-conference-anti-women-comments-a7187351.html views] of people such as Member of Parliament Philip Davis, but the cause can't always be moved forward by being deadly serious, no matter how serious the cause: sometimes what you need is a little ''whimsy''. We might take the cause seriously, but we don't take ourselves too seriously.  And besides, what's better than to unleash your creativity?
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|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?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594749272</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1839942738
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Paul Tremblay
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|author=Rachel Greenlaw
|title=A Head full of Ghosts
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|title=Compass and Blade
|rating=4
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|rating=3.5
|genre=Horror
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|genre=Teens
|summary=I don't normally go in for horror stories, mainly because I usually can't take them seriously enough to suspend disbelief. But ''A Head full of Ghosts'' appealed to me, somehow - perhaps I was just curious to read the novel that ''scared the living hell out of'' Stephen King. Or maybe I was interested to see how Paul Tremblay dealt with the schizophrenic behaviour of his teenage protagonist. And I was certainly intrigued by the highly original storyline described in the blurb: when Marjorie, a teenage girl, starts behaving erratically, her family can't cope and call in the local priest and, ultimately, a TV crew who start to film a reality show about exorcisms.  
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|summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785653679</amazonuk>
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}}
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Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. But when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear.
{{newreview
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|isbn=0008664730
|author= Sanjida O'Connell
 
|title= Theory of Mind
 
|rating= 3.5
 
|genre= General Fiction
 
|summary=Sandra works in a zoo, studying the minds of chimpanzees, mankind's nearest living relatives. Her involvment with the animals starts to affect her own relationships, in particular that with her new boyfriend Corin. His energy stimulates her, his passion excites her and his work as a TV producer fascinates her, but are his feelings real, or does he want to control her? As her feelings preoccupy her, Sandra continues her research into the emotions of chimps and whether or not they are capable of empathy. During a visit to the zoo, Sandra meets a strange and isolated child, Paul, son of one of the keepers, and she also meets Kim, a scientist who has built a killer instinct into the robots she makes. As Sandra worries about her friends and her relationship, things race to a thrilling climax - putting much more than Sandra's emotions at risk.  
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1861515480</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Lynn Guest
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|author=James Sherwood Metts
|title= The Sword of Hachiman
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|title=Planet Storyland
|rating= 4
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|rating=4.5
|genre= Historical Fiction
+
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary= Set at the dawn of the Shogun era, ''The Sword of Hachiman'' follows two warrior clans, the Minamoto and the Taira, as they struggle for power under the Emperor. At first the Taira are in uneasy control, but the three Minamoto sons, separated at birth, plan to secretly reunite in order to defeat the Taira and avenge their Father's death. The youngest, Yoshitsune, is deemed most worthy and is granted the family heirloom, the Sword of Hachiman, the War God. Initiated into love and espionage by a young Taira noblewoman, and tested in the ferocious hand to hand combat that is his birthright, we follow Yoshitsune as he meets his faithful retainer, Benkei, and as he goes behind the scenes of the Cloister court, where two extraordinary women enter his life…
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1861515634</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1736128426
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Mick Inkpen
 
|title= Threadbear
 
|rating= 5
 
|genre= For Sharing
 
|summary= We have all had a special teddy, the teddy which is not perfect, the one that would never be classed as beautiful but the one that is loved more than any other. Threadbear is that very teddy.  The man who made him put so much stuffing in him that his arms and legs were too hard.  Sadly, because of all the extra stuffing, the squeaker in his stomach has never squeaked.  Not once. Ever.  Threadbear feels he is letting his Ben down, so he embarks on a mission to fix his squeaker.  He tries and tries but fails, until he decides that there is one special person he must meet and maybe this will be the only person who can fix his squeaker.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444924052</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Ross Montgomery and David Litchfield
+
|author=Matthew Tree
|title=The Building Boy
+
|title=We'll Never Know
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=This is the story of a boy and his Grandma. An award-wining architect, Grandma promises to build the boy a special house on a hill over the horizon, over a city and beyond the sea. But Grandma is getting old – too old to make houses. And, one day, she is gone. Without Grandma, the house is empty. It’s just rooms. But the boy has an idea – it requires a lot of work but the result is totally magical.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571314104</amazonuk>
+
|isbn= B0CVFXPGP8
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Cameron McAllister
+
|author=A G Slatter
|title= The Demon Undertaker
+
|title=The Briar Book of the Dead
|rating= 4.5
+
|rating=5
|genre= Confident Readers
+
|genre=Fantasy
|summary= Fourteen-year-old Thomas has already seen much sorrow in his young life –notably the death of his beloved father and the accidental loss of his own hand. His mother hopes to give him a new start by sending him away from Virginia to join his uncle Sir Henry Fielding, chief magistrate of London, but before the boy has even had the chance to greet his new family he is embroiled in a life and death chase through the grimy back streets of the capital in the hopes of rescuing a young noblewoman. All London is agog: what happens to the people who disappear, never to be seen again, and what exactly does the terrible masked fiend in the hearse want them for?
+
|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.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>055257404X</amazonuk>
+
 
 +
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
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Helen Peters and Ellie Snowdon
+
|isbn=1529900360
|title= A Piglet Called Truffle
+
|title=The Ghost Orchid
|rating= 5
+
|author=Jonathan Kellerman
|genre= For Sharing
+
|rating=4
|summary= Living on a farm, with her father who works as a farmer and a mother who is a farm-vet, Jasmine has spent all her young life learning how to care for animalsOn a visit to a neighbouring farm, Jasmine is excited to see the new baby piglets. Expecting to see eleven piglets, she is stunned to find one extra - a tiny little runt hiding in the cornerBeing smaller than her hand, the farmer has no sympathy and expects it to die by the end of the day.  Of course, Jasmine can't allow this to happenThe story is then set for a struggle to save the smallest piglet, called Truffle.
+
|genre=Crime
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857637738</amazonuk>
+
|summary=It hadn't been Lt Milo Sturgis's fault that Alex Delaware had been badly injured but he felt responsible and even after Alex recovered, Sturgis was reluctant to ask for his help on difficult casesHis assertions that there were only open-and-shut cases which didn't need the help of a psychologist only worked for a while.  Finally, it was Robin, Delaware's partner, who nudged Milo into asking for help again.  She knew that the involvement was something that the man she loved needed. The next case did look simple, though.  Two lovers were murdered in the swimming pool of a remote property in Bel AirHe was the heir to an Italian shoe empire and she is married to an extremely rich man and it's not the ItalianBut which of them was the primary target?
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview <!-- remove 23/10 -->
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Tony Stuart
+
|isbn=1529395224
|title= Writing Lines
+
|title=Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: The Secret Life of a Vet
|rating=4.5
+
|author=Sion Rowlands
|genre=Humour
+
|rating=3.5
|summary=George Gordon Wentworth (1946 - 2011) lived a humdrum life. He was a barely adequate teacher in a fairly world renowned independent school in Kent and kept a copious diary of his quotidian existenceMost of what he recorded was drossHowever, amongst all the utterly uninteresting tailings of his life there were some nuggets and grains to catch the attentionAuthor Tony Stuart has created these amusing anecdotes, panning them out over twenty six episodes which give us the best of Wentworth - comedy gold.
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524634441</amazonuk>
+
|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 himBefore long, he was at Liverpool UniversityIt hadn't - as with so many students - been his dream since he was a childIf anything, he'd wanted to be a professional footballer.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=John Seabrook
+
|isbn=0861541774
|title= The Song Machine: How to Make a Hit
+
|title=A Nye of Pheasants
 
+
|author=Steve Burrows
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Entertainment
+
|genre=Crime
|summary= The popular music business has always been about – well, business – and some might say that music comes a poor second. Ever since the advent of the 78 r.p.m. disc, record companies have competed with each other and sought new ways of marketing their goods. The songwriter, or if you like the person or partnership at the controls of ‘the song machine’, has long been a vital link in the chain. In today’s climate of increasingly free music, how much does this still hold true?
+
|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 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 wouldn't help Danny at all.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>009959045X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Megan Shepherd and Levi Pinfold
+
|author=Alexander McCall Smith
|title=The Secret Horses of Briar Hill
+
|title=The Perfect Passion Company
|rating= 4
+
|rating=4.5
|genre= Confident Readers
+
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Megan Shepherd has written a stunning tale, which is exquisitely illustrated by the artwork of Levi Pinfold. Secret Horses tells the story of a young girl and her friendship with a magical winged horse. When Emmaline is evacuated from Nottingham during the Second World War, she enters a fantasy world of discovery behind the silvery glass of the mirrors in her new country home at Briar Hill. An old sprawling mansion once owned by a wealthy family, Briar Hill has become a children’s hospital run by Nuns. Emmaline and the other children are struggling to recover from a serious illness and have been quarantined away from their families. To add to their plight, they worry about their fathers away at war and their mothers left at home to face bombing raids and the scarcity of food. Emmaline and her friends are carefully nursed by the Nuns through the harsh and snowy winter of 1941. This is a story of bravery and fortitude, good and evil and how one small child can find light even in the darkest of places.
+
|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 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…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406367583</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1846976596
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Julia Donaldson and Sebastien Braun
+
|isbn=0811771741
|title= Spinderella
+
|title=InstaKnits for Baby
|rating= 4.5
+
|author=Melissa Leapman
|genre= For Sharing
+
|rating=4
|summary= From high above the classroom, Spinderella watches in fascination the classroom activities at Scuttleton Primary SchoolShe wants to be able to do two things: play football and countHowever, her family of spiders are only interested in flies, flies and fliesThey also have no desire to learn how to count ''Down with numbers'' they all cry.  Unperturbed by their lack of enthusiasm, Spinderella goes in search of numbers and playing football.  Along the way she meets a familiar wish granting character (no spoilers here) and her journey begins.
+
|genre=Crafts
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140528272X</amazonuk>
+
|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' varietyThe projects are divided by the time they'll take to complete - less than five hours, five to ten hours, ten to twenty hours and more than twenty hoursAll the projects are attractive, modern and useableI perhaps show my age when I wonder about 'social-media-worthy projects' but that's me being picky.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=David Beckler
+
|author=Dean Koontz
|title= The Road More Travelled: Tales of those seeking refuge
+
|title=The Bad Weather Friend
|rating= 5
+
|rating=4.5
|genre= Short Stories
+
|genre=Paranormal
|summary= ''The Road More Travelled'' is an anthology of short stories - and one poem - written in response to the refugee crisis as it exploded across our TV screens and newspapers throughout 2015. To the horror of the authors, the language used by many was aggressive and dehumanising, describing this mass of desperate people as a swarm or a horde. The stories together form a response to this othering.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993147224</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1662500491
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Lou Treleaven
+
|author=Adam Stower
|title= Letter to Pluto
+
|title=Murray and Bun
|rating= 5
+
|rating=4.5
|genre= For Sharing
+
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary= Letter to Pluto is a story told through an inter-planetary pen-pal friendship.  Set in the year 2317, writing with a pen and sending letters has certainly become a dying art-form.  However, Jon’s teacher, Mrs Hall, decides it is important to keep the art of letter writing aliveThe only difference is that Jon’s pen-pal lives a long way away.  75 billion km to be precise.  On Pluto.  At first the idea of writing at all is bad enough, but when Jon finds out that his pen-pal is a girl he nearly quits the programmeEncouraged by his teacher’s bribes of merit awards for his best writing, Jon soon learns that Pluto is not as boring, small and smelly as he first thought.
+
|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 twoBut 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 whiffsThis 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…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848862318</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0008561249
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Katarina Bivald
+
|isbn=B0C47LV1PC
|title= The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend
+
|title=Fragility
|rating= 4
+
|author=Mosby Woods
|genre= General Fiction
+
|rating=4
|summary= The USA is an odd place at times, and not just during election season. There are all sorts of nooks and crannies, places that time forgot, places that ‘’people’’ forgot. Broken Wheel, Iowa is one such place. You’d have no reason to go unless you knew someone there. And Sara does, her pen-pal Amy. Invited by Amy to come for a visit, and with time on her hands due to a recent redundancy, Sara packs her bags (and her books) and buys a plane ticket from her native Sweden to the US of A.
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>009959367X</amazonuk>
+
|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.
}}
+
 
{{newreview
+
''Fragility'' is set as the city of Portland, Oregon, cautiously begins to emerge from the restrictions imposed during the covid pandemic
|author= Lisa Hall
 
|title= Tell Me No Lies
 
|rating= 4
 
|genre= Thrillers
 
|summary= Steph, husband Mark and son Henry have just moved into a new house. That always leads to a fresh start, but even more so here as there are a few dodgy incidents in the past they are trying to move on from. Fingers crossed it’s all going to work out well. As a freelancer, Steph doesn’t have regular colleagues, but the neighbours seem nice enough even if some of the other mums at the school gate are a little stand offish at first. With Mark away a lot with work it’s up to Steph to make the house a home and get Henry settled in the run up to Christmas.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008205191</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{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?

Latest revision as of 07:59, 8 May 2024

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Review of

The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival

5star.jpg Confident Readers

Will's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways. 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. Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will's life seems bleak in every direction. And yet, he still has a tiny amount of hope. He is good at art, and clings to the moments of joy when he is drawing, that feel like a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. Full Review

0356522776.jpg

Review of

A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall

5star.jpg Science Fiction

There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them. Full Review

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Review of

Death in a Lonely Place by Stig Abell

4star.jpg Crime

Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the future of his life with his vet girlfriend, Livia and her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to move in with Livia or does Livia move to 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 present and putting the future on the back burner. Full Review

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Review of

The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway) by Elly Griffiths

4.5star.jpg Crime

Builders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway. There was no skull. Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago. Her condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness. Full Review

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Review of

The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie) by Neil Lancaster

4.5star.jpg Crime

It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police. Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death. This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of 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 - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening. Full Review

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Review of

A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11) by Jane Casey

5star.jpg Crime

It's sixteen years since nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and the investigation ground to a halt. Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed. Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. What looked as though it was going to be an open-and-shut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced. Full Review

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Review of

The Kellerby Code by Jonny Sweet

3.5star.jpg Crime

Edward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his upper-class friends, Robert and Stanza. Robert's a theatre director. He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him. Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - and 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: Edward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway. Full Review

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Review of

Leave No Trace by Jo Callaghan

4star.jpg Crime

When a man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock. It's their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases. 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? Full Review

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Review of

Moral Injuries by Christie Watson

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. 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'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-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. Full Review

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Review of

The Trading Game: A Confession by Gary Stevenson

4.5star.jpg Autobiography

If 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-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 - extremely bright - and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader. Full Review

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Review of

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C L Miller

3.5star.jpg Crime

It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up. She's back now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya's former mentor and Carole's close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to say the least. Arthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to the village: Arthur, 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. After the split, she worked in a cafe, met and married James (on the rebound from the love of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced. Full Review

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Review of

All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt by Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)

5star.jpg Science Fiction

Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.

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. Full Review

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Review of

Hotel Arcadia by Sunny Singh

3.5star.jpg Thrillers

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. Full Review

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Review of

The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey

5star.jpg General Fiction

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. Full Review

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Review of

Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? by Nicci French

5star.jpg Crime

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. Full Review

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Review of

Diva by Daisy Goodwin

4.5star.jpg General Fiction

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. Full Review

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Review of

Black Hole Cinema Club by Christopher Edge

4star.jpg Confident Readers

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? Full Review

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Review of

Compass and Blade by Rachel Greenlaw

3.5star.jpg Teens

I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.

Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. But when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear. Full Review

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Review of

Planet Storyland by James Sherwood Metts

4.5star.jpg Confident Readers

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. Full Review

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Review of

We'll Never Know by Matthew Tree

4.5star.jpg Literary Fiction

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. Full Review

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Review of

The Briar Book of the Dead by A G Slatter

5star.jpg Fantasy

There's a part of me that wants to keep this just to myself for however long I can. This secret magic of my own, all mine, at last. I just want to enjoy it for a while.

Within a remote mountain pass, far away from the world, lies Silverton; a town under the protection of the Briar's, a family of witches who protect the town and the wider world from the Darklands. Though she has always wished for magic, Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her family for generations and as such since she was young, her training as a steward revolved around letters and administration rather than spells and potions. When her grandmother suddenly dies, Ellie's cousin Audra becomes the Briar Witch, the town's leader, and Ellie takes her place beside her. As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the rare ability to communicate with the dead, putting her at the heart of a maelstrom of chaos. Reeling from one family secret to another, Ellie must decide who to trust and determine what to do as the Briar witches' legacy, everything they have sacrificed to survive, is under threat. Full Review

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Review of

The Ghost Orchid by Jonathan Kellerman

4star.jpg Crime

It hadn't been Lt Milo Sturgis's fault that Alex Delaware had been badly injured but he felt responsible and even after Alex recovered, Sturgis was reluctant to ask for his help on difficult cases. His assertions that there were only open-and-shut cases which didn't need the help of a psychologist only worked for a while. Finally, it was Robin, Delaware's partner, who nudged Milo into asking for help again. She knew that the involvement was something that the man she loved needed. The next case did look simple, though. Two lovers were murdered in the swimming pool of a 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? Full Review

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Review of

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: The Secret Life of a Vet by Sion Rowlands

3.5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

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. Full Review

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Review of

A Nye of Pheasants by Steve Burrows

4star.jpg Crime

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 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 wouldn't help Danny at all. Full Review

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Review of

The Perfect Passion Company by Alexander McCall Smith

4.5star.jpg General Fiction

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 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… Full Review

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Review of

InstaKnits for Baby by Melissa Leapman

4star.jpg Crafts

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 the time they'll take to complete - less than five hours, five to ten hours, ten to twenty hours and more than twenty hours. All the projects are attractive, modern and useable. I perhaps show my age when I wonder about 'social-media-worthy projects' but that's me being picky. Full Review

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Review of

The Bad Weather Friend by Dean Koontz

4.5star.jpg Paranormal

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. Full Review

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Review of

Murray and Bun by Adam Stower

4.5star.jpg Confident Readers

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… Full Review

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Review of

Fragility by Mosby Woods

4star.jpg Literary Fiction

Can you make a Yo birthing person joke? And if you could, is the question should you make it? Or is the question if you did, would it land? The catch is that the answer for both could well be.... no.

Fragility is set as the city of Portland, Oregon, cautiously begins to emerge from the restrictions imposed during the covid pandemic Full Review

{{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?