Open main menu

Changes

no edit summary
__NOTOC__
=='''9 MAY'''=={{Frontpage|author=Tom Percival|title=The Wrong Shoes|rating=5|classgenre=Confident Readers|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-"wikitable" cellpaddinghand 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.|isbn="15"1398527122}}=='''23 MAY'''=={{Frontpage|author=Onyi Nwabineli|title=Allow Me to Introduce Myself|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Anuri spent her childhood on display to the world, thanks to her step-mother Ophelia's increasingly popular presence on social media, where she posted every step of Anuri's childhood for sponsorships and influencer deals and, basically, monetary gain. Now Anuri is in her twenties and she is slowly trying to regain her confidence and to get her life back, suing her step-mother to take down the content about her. Anuri is battling alcoholism, failing to start her PhD, undergoing therapy and secretly abusing people online and receiving money from them for doing so. Most importantly, she is desperately worried about her little sister, who is the new focus of Ophelia's online empire. Can she save her sister, and perhaps herself and her relationship with her father at the same time?|isbn=0861546873}}=='''6 JUNE'''=={{Frontpage|author=Kieran Larwood and Joe Todd-Stanton|title=Dungeon Runners: Hero Trial|rating=4|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Meet Kit. Like most of the people in his world, it seems, he is an avid fan of Dungeon Running – the sport where a team of warrior, mage and healer enter specially prepared, century-old, magical mazes, and race to the exit, perhaps bothering with the treasure or the big bad and the points they grant you along the way. Unfortunately for Kit, the only thing he's seen of the latest race on the inn TV equivalent is that one team has been retired, eaten, and a new trio of questors is needed. Possibly very unfortunately indeed for Kit, he has taken to the goading from the token bully of his world and stumbled into declaring he'll enter as a team. What chance does this friendless, muscle-free-zone have in actually managing that, and how could he possibly hope to succeed?|isbn=1839945184}}=='''13 JUNE'''=={{Frontpage|isbn=1635866847|title=The Lavender Companion|author=Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci|rating=4.5|genre=Lifestyle|summary=It's strange, the things that make you ''immediately'' feel that this is the book for you. Before I started reading ''The Lavender Companion'', I visited the author's [https://www.pinelavenderfarm.com/ website] and there's a picture of a slice of chocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally. (There's a recipe in the book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a mess of it. Notes in the margins are sanctioned. You get to fold down the corners of pages. You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem. I ''loved'' this book already.}}
=='''JUNE 274 JULY''' <!-- Koomson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1472260376.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472260376/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Tell Me Your Secret by Dorothy Koomson]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:ThrillersFrontpage|Thrillers]] Despite Dorothy Koomson regularly being suggested as an author I might like, ie people who like this author also like Dorothy Koomson, I have never read her before. Having done so I can totally see why she's the bestselling author of fifteen books. [[Tell Me Your Secret by Dorothy Koomson|Full Review]] <!-- Various-->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|Max Boucherat[[image:1529006031.jpg|linktitle=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529006031/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] The Last Life of Lori Mills| style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[Return to Wonderland by Various Authors]]rating=== [[image:4.5star.jpg5|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] In following a young girl called Alice down the rabbit hole a few years ago, when summary=We meet Lori on the first book evening she was in [[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (150th Anniversary Edition) by Lewis Carroll and Anthony Browne|hit 150 years of age]], I found that I didn't really find too much favour with it. The wacky-for-got the-sake-of-it did not gel, and I don't remember loving it more as a child. But I would suggest I am the perfect audience for this book. I had every chance house to enjoy these short stories that come at the core from a tangent, that show the benefits of the oblique glance. I've always preferred coming to an author's output through their least obvious, allegedly throw-away pieces, and it's the same with franchises herself I'd more likely go for Bree Tanner's short novella than the whole Twilight saga (although that remains just a hunch, for obvious reasons). For another thing, there was every reason no neighbour to expect some kind of greatness here – with Carroll much loved by millions, surely pieces written with that love pop in mind could only provide for success after success? [[Return to Wonderland by Various Authors|Full Review]] <!-- Foster -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471172236.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471172236/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Check Mates by Stewart Foster]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] In many ways Felix is a typical boy in Year 7babysitter poorly, enjoying playing games on his PS4 and hanging out with his friend Jake mother at the weekend. However Felix is struggling at school. He is not a problem child but he does have a problem. His ADHD makes it hard for him to concentratework, he keeps getting into trouble and his grades are slipping. When his Mum suggests that he spends more time with his grandfather Felix is horrified. Ever since Grandma died his Granddad has been grumpy and more eccentric than before. All he wants to do is sit in the dark and play chess. Felix knows that this will be extremely boring. But sometimes we learn valuable lessons where we least expect to and perhaps Granddad and Felix can help each other. [[Check Mates by Stewart Foster|Full Review]] <!just an avidly rule-- Jane O'Connor -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07GLCDXZL.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GLCDXZL/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Needlemouse by Jane O'Connor]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]]breaking eleven year old, [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] We first meet Sylvia Penton on her birthday and her boss, the Prof, is taking her out to lunch. This is her favourite day of the year, not because it's her birthday but because of the special time she gets to spend with the man she loves. He's told her that he and his wife are going to divorce - Martha is apparently having an affair - and Sylvia is convinced that the Prof will then declare his love and they can be together. She hasn't fully constructed 'together' in her own mind - she envisages it as romantic, but her imagination hasn't yet progressed to the sexual part of the relationshiplonesome. There's time though - she's only been the prof's PA for fifteen years. [[Needlemouse by Jane O'Connor|Full Review]] '''4 JULY''' <!-- Davis -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0192749218.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0192749218/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[What's That in Dog Yearscould possibly go wrong? by Ben Davis and Julia Christians]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] George and Gizmo have been together ever since George was born. Gizmo has always been Snuggled in a funblanket fort, adventurous dog and a loyal friend, but just recently, George she has noticed that he's starting to slow down a little. A visit to the vets leaves George worried that Gizmo might not be around for very much longerone main intention, and so he begins to write Gizmo a bucket list, of all the adventures that they can still have together in Gizmo's last days. But are they his last days? And who will help George is to stay calm when Gizmo is gone? [[What's That in Dog Years? by Ben Davis and Julia Christians|Full Review]] '''11 JULY''' <!-- Chiang -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529014484.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529014484/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Exhalation by Ted Chiang]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Over the past twenty-eight years Ted Chiang has published fifteen science fiction short stories, these magnificent stories have won twenty-seven major science fiction awards so if you are a science fiction fan it is likely that you have already come across some of the work by Ted Chiang. If you haven't than take this opportunity log on to do so now. Trust me; your imagination will be grateful. [[Exhalation by Ted Chiang|Full Review]] ''' 15 JULY'''  <!-- James -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1781128952.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781128952/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dyslexia Friendly|Dyslexia Friendly]]Voxminer, [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] This is a dyslexia-friendly, science fiction novella for young adults. It tells the tale of Hugo, an unwanted and rather lonely android, who makes a living for himself mending timeworld-travel watches. When one of his clients demands that his broken watch be mended, Hugo realises there is a mystery to be solvedbuilding, and is only too ready to help. An exciting journey of discovery unfolds, which takes Hugo out of his drab attic workroom and into a scary adventure with some amazing new friends, exploring regions of the planet never before known to exist. [[The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James|Full Review]] '''JULY 18''' <!-- Evan Winter -critter->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0356512940.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356512940/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] Every so often, as a reader, a book comes along collecting game that is utter and complete perfection. This book is one of those. Utter and complete perfection. Winter has created an absolute masterpiece of a novel, set hit in the fantasy land of Uhmlaba the reader is instantly thrown into war, a battle for survival for the Omehi people. Fleeing their homeland, they have to fight to remain on the only scrap of land they can reach. The culture of the Omehi people is rich and deep but not perfect, not sanctimonious. They have villains, they have faults, they are the invaders after all, but Winter creates a realistic and honest portrayal of a people desperate to survive, to save themselves and their culture for future generations. [[The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter|Full Review]] Lori'''1 August ''' <!-- Fegan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1925810097.jpg|link=http://wwws world.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]] '''8 AUGUST''' <!-- 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 first Lori has written a really interesting and unusual story in ''We Are The Dead''; the tag line for the novel is 'No More Heroes' and tiny inkling 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 stormy night doesn't find vengeance, in a world that has been utterly torn apart. The plot does not hang herself entirely on any one character, no one is important, anyone can die and many do, but, like ants working together, each small character achieves their her 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]] <!-- 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 then she hasn't spoken to for sixteen yearsfinds something even more spooky. Home, her refuge, Ponden Hall, where For the server 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 bestie and shadow, that nurtured her throughout her childhood? [[The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman|Full Review]] '''AUGUST 29''' <!-- Whitlock -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1782692177.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1782692177/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[The Collective by Lindsey Whitlock]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] ''Illinois Territory, Collective Homesteads of America.'' It's certainly an unusual place. Some people live in sunken houses, buried into hillsides nobody else should be able to disguise how large their property is at times enter shows signs of austerity, among other reasonstampering. Others are called ForestersWhen malevolent eyes spark up on her phone screen, for they live and work in trees – forever playing and resting in trees as children, but farming in amongst them and living between them too. These two sides hate each other – so perhaps this is less of an unusual her safe place than at first sight. Our drama kicks off when the small area the Foresters live in is placed under compulsory purchase – the residents are given a pitiful amount to clear out, before they get manfully cleared out. It's probably the Hills that are behind this, what's more. Our hero, Elwyn, game has just left the trees for the Hills, to live with an uncle and learn their ways been doctored he's just of age to decide things for himselfwell, and he has decided to see how the other half lives. This has, of course, opened himself up to no end of prejudicial judgement. But what's this – as soon as he reaches the Hills he sees where is a third way of living, in a lovely colonial-style mansion, where everything sparkles and shines with crystalline light. What does it mean that he feels destiny-bound girl to this even posher, newer and more hopeful lifeturn? [[The Collective by Lindsey Whitlock|Full Review]] '''5 SEPTEMBER'''isbn=0008666482}}<!-- McGee DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0241365953.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241365953/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[American Royals You can work your way through the newest review, category by Katharine McGee]]=== category, starting [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Newest Animals and Wildlife Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fictionhere]] Two and a half centuries ago, America won the Revolutionary War and General George Washington was offered the crown. Today, the House of Washington still sit on the thrown with Princess Beatrice next in line. Beatrice's whole life has been building up to her ruling the United States and the time for her reign is imminent. [[American Royals by Katharine McGee|Full Review]] <!-- Moyer -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:178747920X.jpg|link=httpCategory://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178747920X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbagNon-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Brightfall by Jaime Lee MoyerFiction]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star ReviewsFiction]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Robin Hood is gone – denouncing both his former life and his love Marian, and retreating to a monastery – although no-one knows quite what led him to abandon all that he had built. MarionChildren's life since has been relatively quiet - but when her friends start dying, Marion is tasked by Father Tuck to break the curse surrounding them and to save their lives. Setting off with a soldier, a Fey Lord and a sullen Robin Hood, she becomes tangled in a maze of betrayals, complicated relationships, and a vicious struggle for the throne…[[Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer|Full Review]] [[Category:Reviewer CentreBooks]]