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[[Category:Reference|*]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Dee Blick1394159544|title=The Ultimate Guide to Writing and Marketing a Bestselling Book - on a Shoestring BudgetRecycling for Dummies|author=Sarah Winkler

|genre=ReferenceLifestyle|summary=I've always thought that [http://nanowrimo.org/ NANOWRIMO] is a brilliant idea. The nights are longer, the weather uninspiring: what better time to get the first draft of your novel written with support from a lot 'Recycling one ton of other people who are all trying plastic can save up to do the same thing? There is a downside for reviewers though: far too many people think that this is the end 16.3 barrels of their labours and the fledgling manuscript is uploaded onto Kindle and thereoil.''s disappointment when the book is either not well received or doesn 't sell - or sometimes both. Knowing which book it is that you have in you is a great start - but after that you need a structured plan 'Recycling one ton of action and sound advice as to what you need to do to turn your work into a bestsellerpaper can save 17 trees from being cut down.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910125040</amazonuk>}}''

{{newreview|author=Julia Cresswell (Editor)|title=Little Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins|rating=4|genre=Reference|summary=Derived from the ''Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins'', the Little Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins tells the stories behind a thousand wordsIf you send an apple core to landfill, divided into a hundred themes from ''Adventure'' through to ''Writing'' by way of the rest of the alphabet. For each word within a theme we're told in which language the it originated will take between 6 months and its original meaning - thus for ''Infant'' we find that it comes from the Latin ''in'' meaning ''not'' and ''fari'' for ''speaking''2 years to decompose. The two parts put together tell of someone who has not yet reached legal majority rather than a child who has not yet learned the value of the word 'Why?' In Italian ''infante'' means ''youth'' as well as ''foot soldier''. From this came ''infanteria'', which English adopted as ''infantry'' in the sixteenth centuryA glass bottle will take up to 1 million years.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199683638</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Elizabeth Knowles (Editor)|title=Oxford Dictionary of Quotations|rating=5|genre=Reference|summary=I have known people to be As a just a little snooty about the fact that -post-WWII baby, I have had faced a copy of the current edition dilemma: reducing, reusing and recycling is part of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations on my bookshelf for over forty years, suggesting DNA. NEVER throw away anything that it was a book for people who hadnmight ''possibly''t read come in handy now or in the original booksfuture. I long ago accepted NEVER buy anything if you can cobble together something that I would never have serve the purpose. Almost everything can be used one more time to read all and any purchase must pass the test of 'Is this absolutely essential?' On the books other hand, I suspected I was guilty of wishcycling: assuming that something must be recyclable (might) want toothpaste tubes - or feel I ought - to read 'm looking at you) and I've found dropping it in the dictionary an invaluable work of reference and source of inspiration for half a centurykerbside bin. Where else would you find over 20,000 quotations, covering centuries, every subjectYes, with wit, wisdom and food for thought? Yes - I know they're probably all there could go searching on the internet - somewhere, and get conflicting advice - but what I've got them in one volume on the shelf in front of meneeded was a recycling bible.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199668701</amazonuk>s

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Patrick Scrivenor1913750353|title=I Used to Know That: EnglishBritannica's Word of the Day|author=Patrick Kelly, Renee Kelly and Sue Macy

|genre=ReferenceChildren's Non-Fiction|summary=I doubt ''Britannica's Word of the Day'' has a sub-title: ''366 Elevating Utterances to Stretch Your Cranium and Tickle Your Humerus'' which probably tells you all that there can be anything more unnerving than reviewing a you need to know about this brilliant book written by someone who is an expert in written English. I It starts on January 1st with ''Razzmatazz''ve even worried about that first sentence. But at school I loved English Grammar and a good deal of , tells you how to pronounce it has stuck. I(''m conscious of being pedantic about mistakes other people make raz-muh- but increasingly aware TAZ''), gives you a definition and then includes the word in a sentence so that there are gaps in my own knowledge which you know how it should be pluggedused. You also get an engaging and frequently amusing illustration too. This book seemed like the ideal opportunity, but Idon'll confess that the subtitle t think I'Stuff You Forgot From School' made me nervous I was going to be back to reading ve ever encountered a school textbook.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782432566</amazonuk>word which uses the letter Z four times before!

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Chris Waringsuppl_stafl|title=I Used to Know ThatSupply Chain 20/20: MathsA Clear View on the Local Multiplier Effect for Book Lovers|author=Kim Staflund

|summary=Maths teacher Chris Waring starts this So, you've finished writing your book with the basics and gradually works his (and our) way through to about you think the level of GCSE. hard work is all done? ItYou's only 192 pages, so re convinced that all you can't expect it need to be exhaustive but the great thing is that it isn't ''exhausting''. Waring explains concepts clearly and with humour but most importantly he shows why the subject do now is important and how get it can be applied to life, covering such subjects as winning - or failing to win - the lottery published and the chances of being dealt a royal flush at poker. It's not just the examples which are new - it's a major improvement on the 'you money will learn this because I'm telling you that you have to' approach which blighted the subject for so many of us.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782432558</amazonuk>}}start rolling in?

{{newreview|author=Orin Hargraves|title=It's Been Said Before: A Guide Wrong and wrong again. You presumably wrote the book because you wanted to the Use - and Abuse of Cliches|rating=4|genre=Reference|summary=I don't usually start a review by telling you what had a book ''isn't'', but in this case it's importanttalent for delivering the written word. You knew your subject back to front. This isnNow you't a light-hearted look at re going to have to get to grips with the subjectbook supply chain, such as we found in [[Cliches: Avoid Them Like which even parts of the Plague by Nigel Fountain]] and which - laughing and blushing in equal measure - we shelved under 'trivia'. This book will publishing industry believe to be shelved under 'reference': wrong but it's a rigorous look at the problem with the clichés divided not by subject matter, but grammatically too difficult to change and with an introduction no one wants to each section which gives all be the information you need first to help in making judgements about your own writingtry. This isnThen, when you ''finally''t have a copy of the book in your hands, you're going to have to work out how to sell it - because it ''amuseis'' you, but going to be down to help you to improve your use of words.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199315736</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=William PoundstoneFrederic Gros|title=How to Predict the Unpredictable: The Art A Philosophy of Outsmarting Almost EveryoneWalking|rating=45|genre=ReferencePolitics and Society|summary=William Poundstone believes that we are all I confess I picked this one up from the library in the business my pre-lockdown forage of predicting, whether it be something as minor as playing rock, paper, scissors to pay a bar bill though to anticipating how the housing or stock markets are going to moverandom stuff. Now, I'm not particularly competitive - if whatever it is means ''have to go out an buy my own copy so that'' much I can turn down the pages I have marked and return to someone else then its varying wisdom when I'd rather let them have it - so this book didn't appeal need to . Some books draw you in slowly. This one had me on in the basis of doing better than someone elsefirst two pages, but I was interested in how it might be possible to predict what wherein Gros explains why ''walking is going to happennot a sport''. So, care to predict how it stacked up?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1780744072</amazonuk>1781688370

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=The Economist1788037812|title=Pocket World The Fraternity of the Estranged: The Fight for Homosexual Rights in Figures 2015England, 1891-1908|author=Brian Anderson|rating=4.5|genre=ReferenceBiography|summary=There are people who don't understand Originally passed in 1885, the joy of raw data: no accompanying analysis (or spin) - just law that had made homosexual relations a collection of figures relevant to a particular circumstancecrime remained in place for 82 years. If you're one of those people then But during this book will mean little to youtime, but if you want a pocket (wellrestrictions on same-sex relationships did not go unchallenged. Between 1891 and 1908, certainly handbag or briefcase) work three books on the nature of reference then this book will be a treasurehomosexuality appeared. I once gave a copy to a diplomat They were written by two homosexual men: Edward Carpenter and he kept his wife awake until John Addington Symonds, as well as the early hours as he came across another gem which she had to know without delayheterosexual Havelock Ellis. The 2015 edition is Exploring the margins of society and studying homosexuality was common on the twenty fourth European Continent, but barely talked about in the series - UK, so the publications of these men were hugely significant – contributing to the scientific understanding of homosexuality, and diplomatic (beginning the struggle for recognition and similar) spouses everywhere should prepare themselves for equality, leading to the onslaughtmilestone legalisation of same-sex relationships in 1967.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781252734</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1912242052|title=The Bee: A Natural History O Joy for me!|author=Noah Wilson-RichKeir Davidson|rating=53|genre=Animals and WildlifeArt|summary=Bees have been making a bit of a media splash of late'' Oh Joy for me!'' gives Coleridge credit for being ''the first person to walk the mountains alone, due not because he had to heightened concern about their declining numbers and general welfare. Governments have been urged to do more to protect these important creaturesfor work, with a recent EU ban on neonicotinoid pesticides hailed as a 'victory miner, quarryman, shepherd or pack-horse driver, but because he wanted to for bees'pleasure and adventure. There is no doubt that these prolific pollinators are a vital part of our ecosystem His rapturous encounters with their natural beauty, and its literary consequences, changed our view of the human fascination with bees goes back to our ancient historyworld''. But just why do we find these hardworking insects so fascinating?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782401075</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Alannah Moore1072549271|title=Create Your Own Online Store (using WordPress) in a WeekendThe Simple Act of Self-Publishing With Amazon: A Simple Step by Step Guide|author=Georgianne Landy-Kordis

|summary=I've run a website for over eight years now frequently meet authors who are struggling to be published by the traditional houses, but when Isuggest self-publishing they explain that they don've always shied away from any inclusion of e-commerce on t have the sitebig bucks required to go down that road with Author Solutions or Matador or their like. It seemed like too large a subject, too much complexity and choice I then ask if they've considered Kindle and the possibility of problems which could go disastrously wronganswer is, inevitably, that they wouldn't know where to start. I first encountered Alannah Moore when I read [[The Creative Personcan empathise with that. Despite having used a computer for about thirty years, running most of my life 's Website Builder by Alannah Moore|The Creative Person's Website Builder]] and was impressed by the way that she approached her subject'' a website online, so I'm still nervous when it comes to starting something new. I had the opportunity to see how like someone to create an online store in a weekend, hold my hand as I jumped at go through it for the chancefirst time. That was why I was very interested when ''The Simple Act of Self Publishing With Amazon'' came across my desk...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781571430</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Dan WaddellHigashida_Fall|title=Who Do You Think You Are?: The Genealogy Handbook|rating=4.5|genre=Reference|summary=The celebrity genealogy programme ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The makers, Wall to Wall Media, were fortunate enough to ride the ripple of family tree fascination, helping to turn it into the hobbyist tidal wave that remains today. For those not familiar with the format, each episode allows us to accompany a household name as they discover secrets, scandals and surprises about an ancestor or two. Thus we aren't only entertained; we're encouraged to delve into our own pastsFall Down Seven Times, BBC TV publications acting as tutor and motivator via this handy little reference guide.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849908249</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Michael Fogden, Marianne Taylor and Sheri L Williamson|title=HummingbirdsGet Up Eight: A Life-Size Guide to Every Species|rating=4.5|genre=Reference|summary=I've always been fascinated by hummingbirds - delicate, colourful, beautifully and brilliantly adapted to extract nectar from flowers. Perhaps most of all for me itYoung Man's their acrobatic flight - Voice From the ability to hover and manoeuvre which has me hooked: I could watch them for hours, amazed that birds whose weight can only meaningfully be given in ounces can do so much. I was drawn to this book as soon as I saw it, for a number of reasons.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782400893</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|title=Top 10 Silence of Everything 2015Autism|author=Paul Terry|rating=4.5|genre=Children's Non-Fiction|summary=The Top 10 of Everything 2015 is, as the title implies, a compilation of 'top ten' lists covering a wide variety of topics including the natural world, pop culture, sport and technology. The style of the book will appeal to its target audience of pre-teens with its use of bright colours, vibrant images, fun facts, puzzles Naoki Higashida and quizzes.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0600628868</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Stanley Gibbons|title=Great Britain Concise Stamp Catalogue 2014David Mitchell

|genre=ReferenceHome and Family|summary=When I began collecting GB stamps back in Naoki Higashida was only 13 years old when he wrote the early seventies international best-seller ''Collect British StampsThe Reason I Jump'' . The book was my bible and I eagerly awaited each new edition. After popular because it gave a while I came to realise that I needed rare glimpse into the workings of the autistic mind, as told from the unique perspective of a little more depthteenager with non-verbal autism. Naoki communicates by using an alphabet grid, but not to the level provided or by tracing letters on the [[Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue 2013: Commonwealth palm of a transcriber. Despite this slow and Empire Stamps 1840 - 1970 by Hugh Jefferies|Specialised Catalogue Series]] not least because I was still at the stage laborious method of spending the money on stamps rather than writing, he has published several books about them. There is something in his native Japan and manages to give public presentations to fill the gap though and that's the Great Britain Concise catalogueraise awareness of his condition. It's designed Fall Down 7 Times Get up 8 reintroduces us to meet the needs of the dedicated amateur rather than the specialist or the casual collector and treads Naoki as a very fine line between providing too much detail young adult in his 20s and too little information with eleganceexplains how his perspectives on life have changed since writing his first book.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0852599145</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=John SutherlandJenkins_100|title=How to be Well Read: A guide to 500 great novels and a handful of literary curiositiesBritain's 100 Best Railway Stations|author=Simon Jenkins

|genre=ReferenceArt|summary=Being well read is rather like having good manners: it's In the mid-twentieth century, the railway was something that we all aspire which harked back to the Victorian age with trains being supplanted by cars and planes, but theresteam was being replaced by oil, even then and in the twenty-first-century oil is giving way to electricity. It's always a nagging doubt that there's something lacking in what cleaner, more environmentally friendly and the stations which we've achieved. That isd all rushed through as quickly as possible, of coursekeen to escape their grime, why a book with the title ''How were restored and became places to be Well Read'' pulled me admired, possibly even lingered in so successfully with its promise of being a guide to five . Simon Jenkins has chosen his hundred great novels and a handful of literary curiositiesbest railway stations. Was I going to find that ultimate list of books which I would have to read to ensure that I could think of myself as well read? No - I was going to find something far more useful and interesting.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847946402</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Taylor_Owls|title=Owls: A Sting in the TaleGuide to Every Species|author=Dave GoulsonMarianne Taylor

|genre=ReferenceAnimals and Wildlife|summary=It seems that Dave Goulson, founder I feel like I am being watched. A huge pair of the incredibly successful Bumblebee Conservation Trustpiercing orange eyes are staring right at me, did not always have natural aptitude for helping wildlife if his early recollections are anything to go bylocking me into their gaze. Despite boundless enthusiasm and a passion for In contrast with the natural world, his childhood efforts to give nature a helping hand quite frequently ended in some sort hardness of gory aftermath. For example, there was the incident with the drowned bumblebeesdeep-amber eyes, in which a young Goulson unwisely decided to dry the bedraggled victims soft grey feathers fan out on into the hotplate of the electric cookersurrounding area, intricate, detailed and beautiful. Then there was An enigma; harsh and gentle at the same time he accidentally dropped a live electrical heater into his aquarium, frying the poor fish instantly. I could go on owl is beckoning the reader to mention the beheading of turn the footless quail, the snake wrapped in sticky tape pages and the countless taxidermy experiments, but alas, time does not permit. Suffice to say that despite this unpromising start in life, things did eventually improvetake a closer look inside...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099575124</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=JVDK_ELO|title=ColorstrologyElectric Light Orchestra: Song by Song|author=Michele BernhardtJohn Van der Kiste|rating=4.5|genre=ReferenceEntertainment|summary=First impressions My memories of this book left me slightly worried that I would have little to go on to write any kind of helpful review; it was basically a little book of colour swatchespop music in the early sixties revolve around guitars and drums, resembling something of a home décor paint guidesometimes the piano with only occasional excursions into strings and brass. Flicking throughPop music rarely stands still and it wasn't long before the basic instruments were seen as constraints and The Beatles, I saw that each page represented a dayThe Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys began to experiment, allowing the reader to refer to with other groups following where they led. Amongst these groups was The Move and their birthday to gain information relating to their characterlead guitarist and songwriter, rather like a horoscopeRoy Wood. So all I had Wood wanted to go on develop the group's sound by adding more instruments but was, effectively, a painting guide to star signs. With this is mind (prevented from achieving what he wanted by cost limitations and with fairly low expectations) I began reading from because the rest of the beginning, refraining from jumping straight in to analyse my birthday characteristicsgroup didn't really share his enthusiasm.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594746915</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Hendrix_PBHell|title=The Autistic Brain Paperbacks from Hell: A History of Horror Fiction from the '70s and '80s|author=Temple Grandin and Richard PanekGrady Hendrix

|genre=ReferenceHorror|summary=Temple Grandin is a lady of many labels: professor of animal scienceDemonic possession, bestselling authormurderous babies, consultantman-eating moths… for these books, activistno plot was too ludicrous, engineerno cover art too appalling, public speaker no evil too despicable. Now horror author Grady Hendrix risks his soul and subject of an award-winning biopic. She also happens his sanity (not to be autistic, a label she earned at a very early age back in mention the days before reader's!) to relate the majority of people knew what autism was. She describes the timing true, untold story of her diagnosis as fortuitous; only a few years later fascinating and the accepted ‘treatment’ for autistic children was removal from their parents and life often forgotten era in an institutionpublishing.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846044499</amazonuk>}}

{{newreviewRead the synapse-shattering story summaries!<br>|author=Neil DaveySee the horrific hand-painted cover imagery!<br>|title=The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate (Bluffer's Guides)|rating=4|genre=Cookery|summary=I've always been a little bit nervous about And learn the ''Bluffer'' series, on true-life tales of the basis that I would be sure to come out with a clever-sounding phrasewriters, only to be found out when someone asked the follow-up question. Betterartists, I thought to stay silent and appear ignorant than to open my mouth and prove myself a fool. But then ''The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate'' came my way and I couldn't resist - any more than I've ever been able to resist chocolatepublishers who gleefully violated every literary law but one – never be boring.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1909937045</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Browne_Many|title=The Fun Stuff and Other EssaysMany Faces of Coincidence|author=James WoodLaurence Browne|rating=43.5|genre=ReferencePopular Science|summary=The ''Fun Stuff and Other Essays'' provides, as the Browne does not mislead with this choice of title suggests, ; he does without a panoramic sampling doubt explore the many faces of James Wood’s critical writing. A popular and oft-quoted writer, the essays collected here offer stimulating insights into Wood’s chosen subjectscoincidence.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224097113</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=1903385679|title=WinterThe 100 Best Novels in Translation|author=Adam GopnikBoyd Tonkin|rating=43.5

|summary=In this collection of five essaysConsider, each one offering a unique and fascinating perspective on the season of winterif you will, Adam Gopnik takes the reader on translated fiction. Some say it's impossible – that if a captivating journey, exploring history, art book was so good in one tongue it could never survive being put into another. Samuel Beckett must have laboured over ever syllable and society, through ''Romantic WinterBreath'', ''Radical Winter''but he could translate his own works, and other equally complex pieces can cross borders. It''Recuperative Winter''s a market that has actually doubled in sales volume between 2000 and 2016 (thanks, ''Recreational Winter'' and ''Remembering WinterMillennium Trilogy''). In each essayNovels, Gopnik focuses on one or two central themesin particular, whilst also touching on surrounding ideas. For examplein translation, in Romantic Winter his central topics are art and poetry, however, issues such – as changing societythe introduction here so smartly puts it – ''a privileged means of passing border posts, technologya sort of universal passport issued by that Utopian state, sex the Republic of Letters''. We here at the 'Bag regularly try and culture are also exploredgive equal credit to the translator, without whom we wouldn't be reading what we have in relation to these pivotal notionsour hands. He also includes two sections featuring collections But all that said, do we really need one of artwork those list books about the subject? I got given a book the other year detailing 1001 places to illustrate his viewpointsgo to before I die, which add and I might even then have missed out a zero. It would take as long as a charmingfortnight's holiday to wade through, individual touch to and even though this bookis not as long as your typical Bolano housebrick, it's not a short thing.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780874472</amazonuk>Should it take our time?

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Alannah MooreFry_Mythos|title=The Creative Person's Website BuilderMythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece|author=Stephen Fry|rating=45

|summary=Creating a website is not difficultThe Greek Myths are, arguably, the greatest stories ever told. Although some technical knowledge is So old and influential they cast a help - as is familiarity with your computer - you would be surprised at the speed with which you can have your own website shadow over western tales and traditions, yet remain relatable and the sense of achievement which this will give youreadable millennia later. If you're running a big business then you might want to go Here comedian, actor, television presenter, actor and author Stephen Fry brings his considerable talent to these special stories and recreates them with a web designer but it is possible to have a site for very little in the way of expenditure. I know - we've done it wit, warmth and we've grown our little baby humanity that brings them into a business. I was lucky to have the expertise of our first tech guy when we built Bookbag, but Alanah Moore has produced a book which could give you a reasonable start modern age whilst still giving the honour and respect that such ancient and a great deal of inspirationinfluential stories deserve.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781571066</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=Mahnke_Lore|title=Telling Lies for Fun and ProfitThe World of Lore, Volume 1: A Manual for Fiction WritersMonstrous Creatures|author=Lawrence BlockAaron Mahnke|rating=4.5

|summary=If I was going to write Every country, every town, every village has a folktale – a list of authors I admire - wellstory passed down through generations that often focuses on the dark and unexplained. No matter how the modern world moves on, I wouldnthere't begin it now. There are so many that I'd s a still be doing it at the end a part of November. But if I did take it upon myself everyone that is vulnerable to write a list, Lawrence Block would probably be on top of itgood tale. Hugely prolific and vastly varied when it comes From ghosts to thrillers and crime storieswerewolves, he's someone who seems able to turn his hand to so many different types by way of novel or short story with excellent results every time. He's created my two favourite crime-solvers, alcoholic ex-cop Matt Scudder wendigos and gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarrelves, and author Aaron Mahnke delivers the contrast between the grittiness of the former series and the cosiness of the latter would place him high on my list of favourites even without his other work. Throw in the comic capers of Evan Tanner, whose sleep-centre was destroyed by shrapnel and now works for a mysterious department going across reader legends from all over the world and stirring up trouble, and stamp-collecting assassin Keller, and youwhilst examining how they've got four excellent series become part of novels. Then there's our collective imaginations, still striking fear into the short stories, which feature all hearts of these characters and many others, often rivalling Roald Dahl for darkness and clever plot twistsof us today.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0688132286</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Stanley GibbonsFowler_Forgotten|title=Great Britain Concise Stamp Catalogue 2013The Book of Forgotten Authors|author=Christopher Fowler

|summary=When I began collecting GB stamps ''Collect British StampsAbsence doesn't make the heart grow fonder' was my bible and I eagerly awaited each new edition. After a while I came to realise that I needed a little more depth, but not to the level provided by the [[Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue 2013: Commonwealth and Empire Stamps 1840 - 1970 by Hugh Jefferies|Specialised Catalogue Series]] not least because I was still at the stage of spending the money on stamps rather than books about them. There is something to fill the gap though and that's the Great Britain Concise catalogue. Itmakes people think you's designed to meet the needs of the dedicated amateur rather than the specialist or the casual collectorre dead.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0852598998</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|title=Sea Monsters: The Lore and Legacy of Olaus MagnusThere's Marine Map|author=Joseph Nigg|rating=4.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=A confession. When reading hardbacks I take the paper covertruth in that statement, if there is oneyou know, off, to keep it pristine. Sometimes but there's a second benefitconundrum when it's applied to authors. Shakespeare is dead: Dickens is dead, with [[Longbourn by Jo Baker]] as an example of having an embossed illustration underneath, or suchlike. But with this book I wonbut we haven't buried what they've written: that lives on until... when? Is it until fashion decrees that they should be aloneno more? Or is it, for the cover folds out into an amazing artwork, such as has only two extant original copies. It's a coloured replica of a large map of in the northern seas and Scandinavia, dating from 1539, and is in a category case of three major artful scientific papers from where the whole some children'here be dragons' cliché about maps comes from. Its creator, Olaus Magnus, followed it up years later with a commentary of all the sea creatures he drew s authors that they are on itlife support through licensing deals and astute marketing? Christopher Fowler has unearthed (exhumed?) ninety-nine authors who were once hugely popular, but Magnus has waited centuries for this delicious volume to commentate on both togetherwhose works have disappeared, in such a lovely fashionsometimes quite literally.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782400435</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Peter Roberts and Shelley EvansAngell_Triang|title=The Book of Fungi: A LifeTri-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around The Worldang Collectables|author=Dave Angell|rating=43.5|genre=Popular ScienceReference|summary=Fungi are A guide to the fifth order of trains produced by the natural kingdom and it’s estimated that there are approximately one and a half million species, found throughout Tri-ang company from its inception until the worldcompany became Hornby. ‘’The Book of Fungi’’ looks at six hundred of A very personal guide to the known fungi and each is pictured at its actual size in full colour and there’s a scientific explanation of its distribution, habitat, form, spore colour and edibility. The tone collecting of the book is academic but don’t let this put you off - before I began reading my knowledge was broadly restricted to knowing that it was better to discover fungus growing outside your house than attached to the structure inside - and I found it interesting, entertaining (which I didn’t expect) and accessiblemodel trains.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908005858</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Naoki Higashida and David MitchellChase_Orchids|title=The Reason I JumpBook of Orchids: One Boy's Voice A life-size guide to six hundred species from around the Silence of Autismworld|author=Mark Chase, Maarten Christenhusz and Tom Mirenda

|summary=Imagine if you willOne in seven flowering plants on earth is an orchid: there are 26, a world where 000 species in 749 genera. They flourish in remarkable habitats such as deserts and the normal laws of physics have been slightly changed. You swirl around almost weightlesslyArctic circle, in fact, with no control over your limbsall areas but the most inhospitable. Sounds seem either deafeningly loud or hopelessly muffled. Sensory input floods your system, overwhelming you with bright There's a wide range of colours, patterns shapes and odours that attack you from every sidescents: they're dramatic, without warning. Communication is almost impossible. You open your mouth delicate and ingenious in the wrong words come outways that they've developed not just to survive but to thrive. People talk down Tom Mirenda describes them as ''masters of manipulation'' and ''famous for lying and cheating their way to you their many evolutionary successes'', yet his love of them is as if you were a childobvious as his respect for the insight they give us into the processes which shaped our world. Welcome He hopes that understanding how that has come about will inspire us to Naoki’s worldconserve what we have.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444776754</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Richard MabeyEdwards_Story|title=The Ash and the BeechStory of Classic Crime in 100 Books (British Library Crime Classics)|author=Martin Edwards

|summary=It's easy to be confused by the various 'The Ash and The Beechages'of crime writing: if you have an interest in the genre you' is an updated version ll almost certainly have heard of the Golden Age of Mabey’s popular Crime, generally acknowledged as being the period between the first and second world wars. 'Classic Crime'Beechcombings'', which has been given a new foreword on the other hand extends the time frame at either end and afterword by covers books published in the author in light first half of the recent issues concerning ash die-backtwentieth century. Throughout my adult life, there's been just one genre of books which currently threatens Britain’s ash population. Mabey expands on this topic by examining has fascinated me, and that's crime, so I could hardly resist the history chance of reading ''The Story of British treesClassic Crime in 100 Books'' particularly as the author, particularly Martin Edwards is an accomplished author within the Beech crime genre and how it has managed to survive and adapt over an acknowledged expert on the centuries despite threats from war, felling, disease and storms. He raises some important and thought-provoking ideas and questions whether our constant intervention in such cases serves to do more harm than goodsubject.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099587238</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Gavin MortimerDK_Childrens|title=A History of Cricket in 100 ObjectsChildren's Illustrated Thesaurus|author=DK|rating=4.5|genre=SportReference|summary=[[A History One of Football in 100 Objects by Gavin Mortimer|A History of Football in 100 Objects]] was a brave attempt, but was slightly let down by being a little too clinicalthe most valuable literary skills which children can learn is how to use reference books. Being As a game imbued child every question which I began with ''how do you spell...?'' would be answered with passion''EXACTLY as it says in the dictionary''. This was fine, but the book lacked this which took some of family's Collins Little Gem Dictionary didn't encourage exploration, not least because the edge off itfont was small and difficult to read. CricketFortunately, whilst inspiring passion amongst devotees, has a slightly those times have now changed and reference book for children are now much more laid back following; one that may work better in this formatinviting. That said, being Not every book comes with a game that has been played for five centuries, narrowing set of instructions but it down 's worth studying the ''How to just 100 objects is no less an undertaking than for football.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846689406</amazonuk>..'' section, not least because similar systems are used in other reference books.

{{newreview|author=Polly Morland|title=The Society of Timid Souls: Or, How Move on to be Brave|rating=3.5|genre=Reference|summary='I see no reason why the shy and timid in any community couldn’t get together and help each other.' The above words were uttered in 1943 by a gentleman called Bernard Gabriel. Mr Gabriel was a piano player who founded a unique club, ''The Society of Timid Souls'' that encouraged timid performers and fear-wracked musicians to come in out of the cold 'to play, to criticise and be criticised in order to conquer that old bogey of stage fright.' The method evidently worked, as many a timid soul claimed to be cured by these unorthodox methods and club membership grew considerably in the years that followed.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781251908</amazonuk>}}[[Newest Science Fiction Reviews]]