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<metadesc>Book review siteExpert, with books full book reviews from most walks of literary life; fiction, biographynon-fiction, crime, cookery and children's books & self-published books plus author interviews and & top tens.</metadesc><h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>Hello from The Bookbag, a site featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - [[:Category:Fiction|fiction]], [[:Category:Biography|biography]], [[:Category:Crime|crime]], [[:Category:Cookery|cookery]] and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library, the charity shop and the bookshop. Sometimes it holds the latest releases, but at other times there'll be old favourites, books for the children, books for the home. They're sometimes our own books or books from the local library. They're often books sent to us by publishers and we promise to tell you exactly what we think about them. You might not want to read through a full review, so we'll give you a quick review which summarises what we felt about the book and tells you whether or not we think you should buy or borrow it. There are also lots of [[:Category:Interviews|author interviews]], and all sorts of [[:Category:Lists|top tens]] - all of which you can find on our [[features]] page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the [[Book Recommendations|recommendations]] page.

Reviews by readers from all the many walks of literary life. With author interviews, features and top tens. You'll be sure to find something you'll want to read here. Dig in! Find us on [[File:facebook.gif|link=https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk|alt=Facebook]] [https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk '''Facebook'''], [[File:twitter.gif|link=http://twitter.com/TheBookbag|alt=Follow us on Twitter]] [http://twitter.com/TheBookbag '''Twitter'''], [[File:instagram_classic_logo.png|link=https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/|alt=Follow us on Instagram]] [https://www.instagram.com/thebookbag.co.uk/ '''Instagram'''] and [[File:LinkedIn.png|link=https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-bookbag-1b12a264/|alt=LinkedIn]] There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' [[:Category:Reviews|reviews ]] at TheBookbag.

==Reviews of the The Best New Books==

'''Read [[Forthcoming Publications|reviews of books about to be published]].{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingauthor="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- David Edwards -->Onyi Nwabineli|-title=Allow Me to Introduce Myself| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|4.5[[image:1789018870.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789018870/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] General Fiction| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; textAnuri spent her childhood on display to the world, thanks to her step-align: left;"|===[[Something to Tell You by David Edwards]]=== [[image:4starmother 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.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dystopian Fiction|Dystopian Fiction]] Sam Murray Now Anuri is in her twenties and she is slowly trying to regain her confidence and Bert Leinster had been friends for a long timeto get her life back, suing her step-mother to take down the content about her. Bert was Sam's boss at CERNAnuri is battling alcoholism, but this never seemed failing to affect the way that the families got on. Bert's wifestart her PhD, Natalia, was Russian undergoing therapy and secretly abusing people online and seriously richreceiving money from them for doing so. Their twinsMost importantly, fifteen-year-olds Allie and Joshshe is desperately worried about her little sister, went to a private boarding school, but at weekends they were great friends with Samwho is the new focus of Ophelia's two children, Liam and Hannahonline empire. Sam's wifeCan she save her sister, Briony, was head of product research and perhaps herself and her relationship with her father at Nestléthe same time?|isbn=0861546873}}{{Frontpage|author=David Chadwick|title=Headload of Napalm|rating=4. Life was good for all eight of them, until Sam - a particle physicist - spotted that the rate at which Higgs Boson particles were hitting the earth had risen exponentially. 5|genre=Thrillers|summary= It's enough September 1973 in Hicks, California. Hicks is a Mojave desert town of a problem for Sam few thousand people with its nearest neighbours of LA and Bert to drag the head of CERN, Prof Ralph MoyeurLas Vegas both a significant drive away. Not much happens in Hicks. A silver mine and a defence contractor are the main local employers but otherwise, out there's not much of a family lunchnote other than dive bars and Joshua trees. Life is quiet, until... Then Bert started having conversations with a plant called Lily. [[Something to Tell You by David Edwards|Full Review]]isbn= B0D321VJ76}}<!-- Behrend -->{{Frontpage|-author=Tom Percival| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Wrong Shoes|rating=5[[image:1789016789.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789016789/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Confident Readers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[YouWill's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways. He is bullied because he has 're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino: Poems wrong shoes', he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and doesn't have enough money for even the Present by Don Behrend]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]]  ''You're most basic of things like food, and his dad can't work because he lost his job at the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino'' begins with ''A Modern Love Story'': ''You’re the froth college, was working a cash-in-hand job on my soy cappuccino''<br>''You’re a building site and had an accident. Throw into that mix the spread on my paleo toastfact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will''<br>''You’re the nose s life seems bleak in every direction. And yet, he still has a tiny amount of my GM-free Pinot''<br>''You’re organichope. He is good at art, my love. You’re and clings to the most!''<br>moments of joy when he is drawing, that feel like a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.|isbn=1398527122}}{{FrontpageHa! How can you not laugh at this gently mocking take on love in the hipster world? [[You're the Froth On My Soy Cappuccino: Poems for the Present by Don Behrend|Full Review]] author=Sylvie Cathrall|title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep<!-- Mary Scott Huff -->|rating=5|-genre=Science Fiction| stylesummary="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them.|isbn= 0356522776}}{{Frontpage[[image:1419726625.jpg|linkisbn=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1419726625/ref0008517061|title=nosim?tagDeath in a Lonely Place|author=thebookbag-21]]Stig Abell|rating=4| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Crime|summary===[[The Mitten Handbook: Knitting Recipes to Make Your Own by Mary Scott Huff]]=== [[image:4starFormer Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[ 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:Category:Crafts|Crafts]] I love mittens does Jake give up his off- they're so convenient and much easier grid and relaxing life to get onto (and off) cold hands than a pair of fiddly gloves. They're not something you regularly see move in shops, so I knew that if I wanted new pairs I would have with Livia or does Livia move to knit them myself. Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the future she wants for herself and her daughter? Well, actually, that's my rationalisation of For the situation: moment they’re enjoying life in truth I love knitting mittensthe present and putting the future on the back burner. They have just enough technique to make them satisfying, plenty of quick work and a pair of warm mittens in a few days. Patterns, though - where do you get them from? [[The Mitten Handbook: Knitting Recipes to Make Your Own by Mary Scott Huff|Full Review]]}}{{Frontpage<!-- Evan Winter -->|isbn=1786482126|-title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Elly Griffiths|rating=4.5[[image:0356512940.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356512940/refCrime|summary=nosim?tag=thebookbagBuilders were demolishing an old house in Norwich -21]]  | style="verticalthe site was going to hold seventy-align: top; textfive 'luxury' apartments -align: left;"|===[[The Rage when they discovered the bones of Dragons by Evan Winter]]=== [[image:5stara child beneath a doorway. There was no skull.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] Every so often, as Was this a readerritual killing or murder? Inevitably, a book comes along that is utter and complete perfectionDr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. This book It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is one of those. Utter and complete perfection. Winter has created an absolute masterpiece of pregnant with his child as a novel, set in the fantasy land result of Uhmlaba the reader is instantly thrown into war, a battle for survival for the Omehi peopleone night they spent together some three months ago. Fleeing their homeland Her condition will be obvious before long, they have not least because Ruth is prone to fight to remain on the only scrap sudden bouts of land they can reachsickness. }}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The culture of the Omehi people is rich and deep but not perfect, not sanctimoniousDevil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4. They have villains, they have faults, they are 5|genre=Crime|summary=It's unusual for anyone from the invaders after all, but Winter creates a realistic and honest portrayal of a people desperate Hardie family to survive, to save themselves and their culture approach the police. Neither side likes or has any respect for future generationsthe other. [[The Rage But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of Dragons by Evan Winter|Full Review]] <!-- Sorosiak -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:178800387Xa 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.jpg|link=http://www 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.amazon.co.uk/dp/178800387X/ref=nosim Not much to ask, is it?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded -align: top; text-align: left;"|make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}{{Frontpage|isbn===[[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak]]===0008405026 [[image:4.5star.jpg|linktitle=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident ReadersA Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|Confident Readers]] author=Jane Casey|rating=5Cosmo'|genre=Crime|summary=It's family is in crisissixteen years since nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. Mom She was never found and Dad argue all the timeinvestigation ground to a halt. Emmaline doesn't quite understand it because she's too little but she feels it. And Max Now, her mother, Helena, who is bigger, does understand it and is terrified by ither father are dead in their bed. Long ago Initially, when Max was just it looks like a baby, Cosmo made a promise to protect Max forever and so he sets straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about his mission the positioning of repairing the family with everything he's gotbodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious... [[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak|Full Review]]<! What looked as though it was going to be an open-and- Linda Jones -->|-| style="widthshut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1999324803others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999324803/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet|rating=3.5|genre=[[Deadwood Hall by Linda Jones]]===Crime [[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] In late December Dylan Beaumont Edward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his upper-class friends, Robert and his sister Emily were on their way to spend the week before Christmas at their grandfatherStanza. Robert's housea theatre director. It was snowing heavily He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and you could sense that their parents were becoming annoyed at the bickering in the back of the caruses Edward to run errands for him. Emily was rather brusque with her nineEdward has been in love with Stanza since their university days -year-old brotherand he's behaviour, but then thatdrunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. Most men in Robert's your prerogative when you're position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a grown-up eleven year old. The snow was getting heavier and relationship had begun between them but he's not like most men: Edward is left to stumble upon the journey longer when Emily opened the car window just two of them kissing in a couple of inchesdark passageway. There was a dreadful smell and Dylan saw a horrible, snake-like figure clawing at the car window. [[Deadwood Hall by Linda Jones}}{{Frontpage|Full Review]]author=Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No Trace<!-- Denzil Meyrick -->|rating=4|-genre=Crime| stylesummary="width: 10%; vertical-align: When a man is found crucified on the top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1846974755of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock.jpg|link=http://www.amazon It's their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases.co.uk/dp/1846974755/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Breath on Dying Embers (DCI Daley) by Denzil Meyrick]] 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?|isbn=139851120X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1399613073|title=Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson[[image:4star|rating=4.jpg5|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:CrimeThrillers|Crime]] Few government trade missions arrive by luxury linersummary=Olivia, but Laura and Anjali met on the cruise ship ''Great Britain'' is berthed in Kinloch harbour first day of medical school and on board are high-powered international delegatestheir friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. It's hard Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to avoid be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the suspicion that 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 not going to end in tragedy. We don''entirely'' about work as t know who suffered the billionaires, entrepreneurs and their civil service minders tour tragedy or the country, golfing and sightseeing with their entourage of security personnelconsequences. It's Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event which DCI Daley hopes that will pass quicklyimpact the three friends. This time, particularly as his formal uniform is far too tight for comfort, but it's not long before one of the crew members and a local bird watcher go missingtheir teenage children who are involved. [[A Breath on Dying Embers (DCI Daley) by Denzil Meyrick|Full Review]] <!-- James -->}}{{Frontpage|-isbn=0241636604| styletitle="widthThe Trading Game: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson[[image:1781128952.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781128952/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Autobiography|summary===[[The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James]]=== [[If you were to bring up an image:4starof a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dyslexia Friendly|Dyslexia Friendly]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] This A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is a dyslexia-friendly, science fiction novella for young adults. It tells the tale of HugoEast End, an unwanted where he was familiar with violence, poverty and rather lonely android, who makes a living for himself mending time-travel watchesinjustice. When one of There was no posh public school on his clients demands that his broken watch be mended, Hugo realises there is a mystery CV - but he had been to be solved, and the London School of Economics. Stevenson is only too ready to help. An exciting journey of discovery unfolds, which takes Hugo out of his drab attic workroom bright - extremely bright - and into he has a scary adventure facility with some amazing new friends, exploring regions numbers which most of the planet never before known to existus can only envy. [[The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James|Full Review]] <!-- Stuart MacBride -->|- 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.}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|1035021803[[image:0007419449.jpg|linktitle=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0007419449/refThe Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|author=nosim?tagC L Miller|rating=thebookbag-21]]3.5|genre=Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Cold Granite (Logan McRae) by Stuart MacBride]]=== [[image:4It'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.5star Freya's former mentor and Carole's close friend, Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to say the least.jpg|link=Category Arthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to the village:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] DS Logan McRae is just back from a year's sick leave after he was attacked by a killerArthur, 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. He's just about OK After the split, she worked in a cafe, met and he's supposed to be easing himself back into married James (on the rebound from the swing love of the job in a gentle way - until three-year-old David Reidher life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover|title=All Tomorrow's body is discovered in a ditch. HeFutures: Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary='d been missing for some time and it came as no surprise that he was dead but he's Opening up new ways of thinking about the first shape of several child murders. To add things to the complications the police even have a body but no child reported missingcome. A serial killer, a child killer and abuser, is on the loose in Aberdeen and the press are missing no opportunity to bay for blood. As if that wasn't bad enough there seems to be a leak from within Force Headquarters: a local journalist, Colin Miller, quickly finds out everything that's happening. [[Cold Granite (Logan McRae) by Stuart MacBride|Full Review]] <!-- Angela Marsons -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07QPKB7N7.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QPKB7N7/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Child's Play (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] There's a prologue and we know that we're dealing with someone who is very disturbed. The descriptions are horrifying, but worst of all is the coldness of the killer. [[Child's Play (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons|Full Review]] <!-- 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. I cannot speak highly enough of this collection of short stories, they are so wide ranging in their themes and so beautifully written, Chiang has written an absolute masterpiece of a collection. If you come across Chiang's work before, take this opportunity to do so now. Trust me; your imagination will be grateful. [[Exhalation by Ted Chiang|Full Review]] <!-- Lawrence -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1444940651.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444940651/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Rose, Interrupted by Patrice Lawrence]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Rose and her brother Rudder have recently escaped from cult-like fundamentalist Christian sect, the Pilgrims, along with their mother. While Mum works endless hours at agency cleaning jobs trying to keep the rent paid on their tiny flat, Rose and Rudder are trying to navigate the worldly world. It's not easy when everything is new and the rigid rules you've always lived by are suddenly missing. [[Rose, Interrupted by Patrice Lawrence|Full Review]]<!-- Kate Atkinson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:9780552772464.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0552772461/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Started Early, Took My Dog (Jackson Brodie) by Kate Atkinson]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] I guess that most of us have made the odd impulse purchase but Tracy Waterhouse, security chief at the Merrion Centre in Leeds, blew most people's ideas of an impulse purchase out of the water one morning. Seeing a known prostitute dragging a toddler through the shopping mall whilst cursing at her, Waterhouse followed the woman and bought the girl for £3000. The difficulty of a purchase like this is knowing what to do next and Tracy's humdrum life is replaced with one of stress, fear and an overwhelming love for four-year-old Courtney. [[Started Early, Took My Dog (Jackson Brodie) by Kate Atkinson|Full Review]] <!-- Chloe Daykin -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0571349439.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0571349439/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Fire Girl, Forest Boy by Chloe Daykin]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers]] Maya has to escape. She's on the run in a country she doesn't know and has no idea who to trust. Raul is escaping too - travelling back to his home where a terrible tragedy happened, ready to stir up trouble. When their paths collide in the middle of the jungle, the sparks begin to fly. As modern world corruption meets the magic and legends of ancient times, can Maya draw on her hidden light to find the way through to the truth? [[Fire Girl, Forest Boy by Chloe Daykin|Full Review]] <!-- Angela Marsons -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07QPKB7N7.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QPKB7N7/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Child's Play (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] There's a prologue and we know that we're dealing with someone who is very disturbed. The descriptions are horrifying, but worst of all is the coldness of the killer. [[Child's Play (D I Kim Stone) by Angela Marsons|Full Review]] <!-- Gregory -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1526609169.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1526609169/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[I Hold Your Heart by Karen Gregory]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Gemma has just started her A levels at school. She's a keen student and she has a good, close set of friends. Gemma loves country music and in her spare time she enjoys writing and singing country songs. She's pretty good at it too. Home life is busy - Gemma's brother Michael has a chance at a football career and the whole family, propelled by Gemma's rather over-invested dad, is supporting him with everything they've got. Gemma hasn't had a serious boyfriend yet, so when the handsome Aaron appears and an instant attraction fizzles between them, Gemma is keen to see where romance could lead... [[I Hold Your Heart by Karen Gregory|Full Review]]<!-- 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 Years? 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 a fun, adventurous dog and a loyal friend, but just recently, George 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 longer, 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 to stay calm when Gizmo is gone? [[What's That in Dog Years? by Ben Davis and Julia Christians|Full Review]] <!-- Hlad -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529311446.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529311446/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Long Flight Home by A L Hlad]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] September 1940 - as WWII rages on, bombs rain down on Britain, destroying the homes and lives of a people on the edge. In Epping Forest, Susan Shepherd and her grandfather Bertie live together raising homing pigeons with the birds proving a comfort for Susan following the loss of her parents. These pigeons are more than just birds to Susan though – in each one, and especially in Duchess, she sees a distinct personality and forms a close bond. Meanwhile, young pilot Ollie Evans leaves Maine to head to Britain and join the Royal Air Force. Working with the National Pigeon Service, he soon meets Susan and is tasked with air-dropping hundreds of homing pigeons into German-occupied France, where many will not survive. As the mission is planned, the bond between Ollie and Susan grows stronger, but when Ollie's plane is downed behind enemy lines, it may be Duchess who provides an unexpected lifeline and ensures that hope of a reunion for Susan and Ollie remains… [[The Long Flight Home by A L Hlad|Full Review]] <!-- Peter Wohlleben -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1846045576.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1846045576/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[Walks In The Wild by Peter Wohlleben and Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp (Translator)]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Animals and Wildlife|Animals and Wildlife]], [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] ''An instruction manual for the forest'' is how Wohlleben's publisher described the idea for this book, and that's basically what it is – although right at the end the author says that it is not intended to be a reference book, but an appetiser. [[Walks In The Wild by Peter Wohlleben and Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp (Translator)|Full Review]] <!-- M T Edvardsson and Rachel Wilson-Boyles -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529008123.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529008123/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Nearly Normal Family by M T Edvardsson and Rachel Wilson-Boyles (translator)]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] We're going to hear this story through the viewpoints of three different people: Adam Sandell, his wife, Ulrika and his daughter Stella. Adam's a pastor in the Church of Sweden and Ulrika is a lawyer. Stella is, well, just difficult. You sense that she's always been difficult and there have even been occasions when Ulrika has let slip that she wishes that Stella was more like her best friend, Amina Bešic - and no one has ever said that if they don't think that the other person is better. We first meet the family on Stella's 18th birthday and we get a sense of Adam's controlling nature. Permission has to be given for a glass of wine for Stella at the celebration meal. [[A Nearly Normal Family by M T Edvardsson and Rachel Wilson-Boyles (translator)|Full Review]] <!-- Green -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0192771566.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0192771566/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The House of Light by Julia Green]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Bonnie is growing up on a slightly strange island, living with her grandfather, scavenging for food, and rubbish that has washed up on the beach that she and her grandfather can use to make things. There is some sort of ban against anyone else landing on the island, and lots of suspicion around those who live there, including a great fear of anyone who gets sick. But when Bonnie is on the beach one day and discovers not only an intact boat, but a young boy cowering beneath, rather than turn him in to the authorities she takes him home and hides him, smuggling him boiled eggs and blankets in the shed whilst she tries to figure out what to do. [[The House of Light by Julia Green|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:5starI've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you're eighteen.jpg Well, I must confess that there have been more than a few decades of technology in my lifetime. I've kept up reasonably well with what's advantageous to me but I'm left with the feeling that it's all getting away from me. Some of it is - frankly - quite frightening. Of course, I could research the possibilities and the probabilities and end up down rabbit holes without really understanding whether I'm reading someone who knows what they're talking about or the latest conspiracy theorist. I needed people I knew I could trust and who could deliver information in a way I could understand.}}{{Frontpage|author=Sunny Singh|title=Hotel Arcadia|linkrating=Category:3.5|genre=Thrillers |summary=The Hotel Arcadia is a luxury hotel in an unnamed city that has suddenly been violently taken over by a terrorist group. Hiding from the terrorists who are rampaging through, killing everyone on site, there is Sam, a wartime photographer and Abhi, the hotel manager. As Abhi continues to try to care remotely for the residents who are still alive in the hotel, he forms a bond with Sam who refuses to be cowed by events, and keeps on venturing out of her room to try to capture what's happened through her photography. Although they only ever talk over the phone, their friendship grows as Abhi tries to help her keep safe and they both wait to see if they will be rescued before they are discovered by the terrorists.|isbn=086154742X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529153298|title=The List of Suspicious Things|author=Jennie Godfrey|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|summary=It's 1979 and Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister. (A woman? I mean, honestly...) She's not what's worrying Miv's family, though. Women have been disappearing. Well, they've been murdered, but to have 'disappeared' doesn't sound quite so frightening. Miv's upset because she's overheard that her father wants to move the family 'Down South'. When you're from Yorkshire, Down South is a frightening, foreign place, best avoided. For Miv, the move would mean leaving her best friend, Sharon, and she'll do anything to prevent that. She's not worried about the dangers or that her Mum's stopped talking - to anyone.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1398524085|title=Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?|author=Nicci French|rating=5|genre=Crime|summary=Charlotte Salter was expected at her husband's fiftieth birthday party but never turned up. Her children, sons Niall, Paul and Ollie and her daughter, Etty. are all worried but - strangely - her husband, Alec, is not. Shortly afterwards, Etty and Greg, find the body of Greg's father, Duncan Ackerley, in the river. It was an easy assumption for the police to make that Duncan had murdered Charlie and then committed suicide when he couldn't stand the guilt. The Salter children are not convinced but there's little else they can do but get on with their lives and wonder about what really happened.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035906708|title=Diva|author=Daisy Goodwin|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=We tend to think of Maria Callas as Greek, but she was born to Greek parents in Manhattan, New York, in December 1923 and only moved to Athens when she was thirteen. Her original surname was Kalogeropoulos but her father changed it to 'Callas' to make it more manageable in the States. When she was back in Athens - supposedly so that she could get appropriate training for her voice - she was raised under the Nazi occupation by a mother who mercilessly exploited her and made no secret of her preference for her elder sister, Jackie.}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:{{Frontpage|author=Christopher Edge|title=Black Hole Cinema Club|rating=4|genre=Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]summary=Lucas and his friends are all booked in for a movie marathon at their local cinema, a place that has the nickname of 'The Black Hole'. All big movie fans, they're looking forward to lots of exciting films, and many, many snacks! However, as the movie starts, they very quickly realise that something about this new film format is very different, and they are swept up into an adventure they couldn't even imagine. But as they lurch from one film genre to the next, can they figure out what on earth is going on? Will they ever get back to the cinema, [[:Category:and to their real lives?|isbn=1839942738}}{{Frontpage|author=Rachel Greenlaw|title=Compass and Blade|rating=3.5|genre=Teens|Teens]]summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''

In many ways Felix is Rosevear, a typical boy in Year 7remote and partially forgotten island, enjoying playing games survives on his PS4 luring ships into the rocks and hanging plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out with his friend Jake at to survey the weekendruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. However Felix is struggling at schoolBut when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. He Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is not a problem child but as charming as he does have is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a problemfamily secret that lies buried deep in the sea. His ADHD makes it hard for him With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to concentratethe heart of the smuggler's territory, he keeps getting into trouble Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and his grades are slippingthe ones she holds most dear.|isbn=0008664730}}{{Frontpage|author=James Sherwood Metts|title=Planet Storyland|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary= Things have been a bit sticky for the Earthlings. When his Mum suggests AI and automation have been proceeding apace, often replacing jobs they're paid to do and other tasks that he spends more took time to accomplish. Just as they were beginning to get used to all this technological change and starting to think of other, new ways to spend time , along came an awful pandemic. Life was pretty much shut down and, along with it, all the many daily social interactions on which they depend so heavily.|isbn=1736128426}}{{Frontpage|author=Matthew Tree|title=We'll Never Know|rating=4.5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary= Timothy Wyndham wants nothing more than to be different from his grandfather Felix is horrified. Ever since Grandma died father, a drunk and chronic underachiever whose dreams of being exceptional at any of his Granddad has been grumpy artistic passions all failed miserably and more eccentric than beforewho had endless crises of self confidence. All he wants So Tim applied himself to do is sit in the dark his studies, cultivated his abilities rather than his daydreams and play chessset himself high but achievable ambitions. Felix knows |isbn= B0CVFXPGP8}}{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Briar Book of the Dead|rating=5|genre=Fantasy|summary='' There's a part of me that wants to keep this will be extremely boringjust to myself for however long I can. This secret magic of my own, all mine, at last. But sometimes we learn valuable lessons where we least expect I just want to and perhaps Granddad and Felix can help each otherenjoy it for a while. [[Check Mates by Stewart Foster|Full Review]]''

<!Within a remote mountain pass, far away from the world, lies Silverton; a town under the protection of the Briar's, a family of witches who protect the town and the wider world from the Darklands. Though she has always wished for magic, Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her family for generations and as such since she was young, her training as a steward revolved around letters and administration rather than spells and potions. When her grandmother suddenly dies, Ellie's cousin Audra becomes the Briar Witch, the town's leader, and Ellie takes her place beside her. As challenges come her way left, right and centre, Ellie uncovers the rare ability to communicate with the dead, putting her at the heart of a maelstrom of chaos. Reeling from one family secret to another, Ellie must decide who to trust and determine what to do as the Briar witches' legacy, everything they have sacrificed to survive, is under threat.|isbn=1803364548}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529900360|title=The Ghost Orchid|author=Jonathan Kellerman|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=It hadn't been Lt Milo Sturgis's fault that Alex Delaware had been badly injured but he felt responsible and even after Alex recovered, Sturgis was reluctant to ask for his 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?}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1529395224|title=Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: The Secret Life of a Vet|author=Sion Rowlands|rating=3.5|genre=Animals and Wildlife|summary=Siôn Rowlands fell into veterinary science accidentally. His father was a GP and Rowlands didn't want to follow in his footsteps, particularly when he considered the strain that being on-call put on his father's life. When he was seventeen he took the opportunity of doing work experience with a family friend who was a vet and was convinced this was the job for him. Before long, he was at Liverpool University. It hadn't - as with so many students - been his dream since he was a child. If anything, he'd wanted to be a professional footballer.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0861541774|title=A Nye of Pheasants|author=Steve Burrows|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=DCI Domenic Jejeune's close friend and former colleague, Danny Maik, has taken a short holiday in Singapore to meet up with an old ally, Guy Trueman. Maik was involved in a street brawl - he would later maintain that he was facing a man armed with a knife - and he killed a Ghurka. Initially, he faced a charge of manslaughter but evidence came to light that suggested that he might have 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.}}{{Frontpage|author=Alexander McCall Smith|title=The Perfect Passion Company|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=The Perfect Passion Company is a dating agency in Edinburgh, run by Ness and operating as an alternative to all the online apps in providing a more personal, tailored service. Ness has asked her younger cousin Katie if she could come and look after the business, as Ness is planning to take a trip to Canada to get away for a while. Katie is coming out of a break up with a bad boyfriend, and so jumps at the chance to come home to Edinburgh. And so begins this new story from Alexander McCall Smith, bringing us to an Edinburgh we already love, thanks to 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie novels, but with some new characters who quickly begin to charm. Katie has no experience in running a business, or in match-making, but Ness has full confidence in her abilities, and there's always her very helpful (and rather handsome) neighbour, William, to lend a hand…|isbn=1846976596}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0811771741|title=InstaKnits for Baby|author=Melissa Leapman|rating=4|genre=Crafts|summary=Melissa Leapman's ''InstaKnits for Baby'' gives us a collection of knits from toys to blankets. Some will be quick knits -others are of the 'long, cosy afternoons in front of the fire' variety. The projects are divided by the time they'll take to complete - DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE less than five hours, five to ten hours, ten to twenty hours and more than twenty hours. All the projects are attractive, modern and useable. I perhaps show my age when I wonder about 'social-media->worthy projects' but that's me being picky.}}{{Frontpage|author=Dean Koontz|title=The Bad Weather Friend|rating=4.5|genre=Paranormal|summary=Benny is having a terrifically bad day. He loses his job, he loses his fiancee, and his house gets trashed. Oh, and someone has delivered a really weird, disturbing coffin-sized object to his home, and it's possible that whoever or whatever was inside is the thing that has trashed his house! The thing is, Benny is the very last person to deserve all this bad luck. He is a nice person. A really nice person. So fortunately for Benny it turns out that the delivery to his house is a new friend, a bad weather friend called Spike, who has been sent to help him since Benny is clearly under attack from nefarious forces for being a good person. Spike is going to take care of Benny, and will certainly take care of Benny's enemies, if he, Benny, and Harper (a waitress slash Private Investigator who finds herself roped into Benny's wild adventure) can figure out who exactly they are.|isbn=1662500491}}{{Frontpage|author=Adam Stower|title=Murray and Bun|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers |summary=Murray is supposed to be a humble, tidy and friendly cat, one who is able to sleep and eat and eat and sleep and, well, whatever takes his fancy next of the two. But he's a bad magician's cat, so his favourite bun has been turned into a hyperactive sticky rabbit called Bun, and the catflap they both use can chuck them out, not into the regular back garden, but into a world of frightening adventure and whiffs. This time round it drops them into a Viking land, where a troll hunter is expected – well, one much bigger than Murray was, to be honest, but he's turned up and he'll have to do…|isbn=0008561249}}