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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-->Onyi Nwabineli<!-- Ellory -->|title=Allow Me to Introduce Myself|-rating=4.5| stylegenre=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|General Fiction[[image:1542007232.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1542007232/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | stylesummary=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'vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory]]=== [[image:3stars childhood for sponsorships and influencer deals and, basically, monetary gain.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Now Anuri is in her twenties and she is slowly trying to regain her confidence and to get her life back, [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Berlin, 1989suing her step-mother to take down the content about her. Miriam Anuri is in the middle of a city freshly unitedbattling alcoholism, failing to start her PhD, with the Wall newly broken down undergoing therapy and secretly abusing people able to cross at liberty online and receiving money from them for the first time in decadesdoing so. She Most importantly, she is desperately worried about her little sister, who is in the middle new focus of such euphoria, but cannot feel it, for she has not left her fatherOphelia's apartment in weeks, nursing him as he lies dyingonline empire. One standard bed-bathCan she save her sister, however, is very different, when he gasps the name ''Frieda'' that she does not recognise – and she sees for perhaps herself and her relationship with her father at the first same time ever a tattoo for his camp inmate identity under his watch. One bombshell outside, then, and two inside?|isbn=0861546873}}{{Frontpage|author=David Chadwick|title=Headload of Napalm|rating=4. And inside her father5|genre=Thrillers|summary= It's September 1973 in Hicks, Henryk, what California. Hicks is going on, as he has a first person narrative alternating Mojave desert town of a few thousand people with her story? What will we find happened, as he remembers back to the real Frieda, its nearest neighbours of LA and Las Vegas both a young woman that shook him to significant drive away. Not much happens in Hicks. A silver mine and a defence contractor are the core when he was her literature professor? Thatmain local employers but otherwise, there's rightnot much of note other than dive bars and Joshua trees. Life is quiet, more bombshells… [[The Rabbit Girls by Anna Elloryuntil....|Full Review]]isbn= B0D321VJ76}}<!-- Tove Jansson -->{{Frontpage|-author=Tom Percival| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Wrong Shoes|rating=5[[image:0954899520.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0954899520/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  Confident Readers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Winter Book by Tove Jansson]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Tove JanssonWill'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's worldwide fame lasts on t work and doesn't have enough money for even the Moomin books, written in the 1940s and later becoming television characters most basic of the simplicitythings like food, naivety and sheer his dad can'goodness' that would later produce flowerpot men or teletubbies. Simple drawingst work because he lost his job at the college, simple stories, simple goodness. What is often forgotten outside of her native Finland is that she was working a serious writer…that she wrote for adults as well as children…and that she had cash-in-hand job on a feeling for the natural world building site and had an accident. Throw into that mix the simple fact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will's life that not only informed those child-like trolls but went far beyond any fantasy seems bleak in every direction. And yet, he still has a tiny amount of how the world might behope. [[A Winter Book by Tove Jansson He is good at art, and clings to the moments of joy when he is drawing, that feel like a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.|Full Review]]isbn=1398527122}}<!-- Whitlock -->{{Frontpage|-author=Sylvie Cathrall| styletitle=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''A Letter to the Luminous Deep|rating=5[[image:1782692177.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazonScience Fiction|summary= There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise.coAnd this is one of them.uk/dp/1782692177/ref|isbn=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]0356522776}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''0008517061|title=Death in a Lonely Place|author=Stig Abell|rating=4|genre==[[The Collective by Lindsey Whitlock]]===Crime [[image:3.5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] ''Illinois TerritoryFormer Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, Collective Homesteads of Americahas settled into his rustic life at Little Sky.'' Some people live in sunken houses, buried into hillsides to disguise how large their property is at times There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the future of austerity. Others are called Forestershis life with his vet girlfriend, for they live Livia and work in trees. When the small area the Foresters live her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise: does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to move in with Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is placed under compulsory purchase, the residents are given a pitiful amount to clear out before they get manfully cleared out. future she wants for herself and her daughter? Our hero, Elwyn, has just left For the trees for moment they’re enjoying life in the Hills, to live with an uncle and learn their ways – he's just of age to decide things for himself, present and he has decided to see how putting the other half livesfuture on the back burner... [[The Collective by Lindsey Whitlock|Full Review]]}}<!-- Andre Pronovost -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1786482126| styletitle=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths[[image:099944235X.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/099944235X/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary=''verticalBuilders were demolishing an old house in Norwich -align: top; textthe site was going to hold seventy-align: left;five 'luxury'| ===[[The Man Who Killed Hitler by Andre Pronovost]]=== [[image:3starapartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Germany is split There was no skull. Some of her is in favour of Hitler and the NazisWas this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's difficult as Ruth knows, but much isnNelson doesn't. Some , that she is pregnant with his child as a result of her is stuck to the east fighting the Soviets, but one night they spent together some three months ago. Her condition will soon have to be on the other frontobvious before long, against the Americans coming into the continent not least because Ruth is prone to put things right as they see itsudden bouts of sickness. Finding out that the war to the east isn't working, due to Hitler's tactical ineptitude and inability to heed advice, some people reckon Stalin is five seasons away from being in Berlin. }}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The only way to shore things up, and repair Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's unusual for anyone from the splits, is Hardie family to kill Hitler, and luckily approach the Baron Nicholas is police. Neither side likes or has any respect for the man to do itother. He's aristocratic enough, he knows enough people But Davie Hardie is struggling in industry, society prison and other circles of power, so once he's succeeded he might be able prepared to keep a German presence in Europetell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death. But This person, he promises, is someone big and it will he still be able to keep worth the "predatory American capitalists" and the blatantly communist Soviets from meeting in police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the middleremainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date. Not much to ask, is it? [[ The Man Who Killed Hitler by Andre Pronovost|Full Review]]new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}<!-- Ann Cleeves -->{{Frontpage|isbn=0008405026|-title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Jane Casey|rating=5[[image:1509889566.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1509889566/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="verticalIt's sixteen years since nine-align: top; textyear-align: left;"| ===[[The Long Call (Two Rivers) by Ann Cleeves]]=== [[image:4starold Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and the investigation ground to a halt.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed. Initially, [[:Category:LGBT Fiction|LGBT Fiction]] When we first meet DI Matthew Venn heit looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's at his father's funeral, although 'at' rather overstates something about the positioning of the proximitybodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. He sees everyone - his mother What looked as though it was going to be an open-and the preacher included from -shut case is now a distance - but he doesn't go itcomplex double murder. He wouldnKerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie't be welcome. Those attending s disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are part of the Barum Brethren and the teenage Matthew was thrown out when he told the congregation how wrong they were in their beliefsless convinced. It coincided with him leaving university and joining the police force}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet|rating=3. The announcement of Matthew's marriage to Jonathan Church was in the local paper and whilst he doesn't know if 5|genre=Crime|summary=Edward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his father saw itupper-class friends, he canRobert and Stanza. Robert't imagine that it will have gone down wells a theatre director. [[The Long Call (Two Rivers) by Ann Cleeves|Full Review]] <! He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him. Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - Day -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0241351391and he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert.jpg|link=http://www Most men in Robert's position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he's not like most men: Edward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241351391/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}| style{{Frontpage|author="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No Trace|rating===[[Max Kowalski Didn't Mean It by Susie Day]]===4 [[image:4.5star.jpg|linkgenre=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident ReadersCrime|Confident Readers]] summary=When Max’s dad finds himself in a spot man is found crucified on the top of hot watera hill in Nuneaton, he disappears for a few daysDCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, leaving Max in charge of his three younger sistersthe AI detective Lock. It's their first live case together, Thelma, Louise and Ripleyhaving previously been very successful with several cold cases. Max has no problem But when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with stepping up a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to fill his dad’s shoes and their AI Future Policing project. Will they be able to solve the man case in chargetime, but when his dad still doesn’t come home, he starts to panic that interfering grown ups will realise that or will Kat find herself taken off the children are home-alonecase and, and that they will step in and separate the family. So Max takes his sisters to Walespotentially, to hide out in of a friend’s cottage. It won’t be for long, surelycareer? Because his dad wouldn’t miss Christmas, would he? [[Max Kowalski Didn't Mean It by Susie Day|Full Review]]isbn=139851120X}}<!--Merritt Graves -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1399613073| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson[[image:1949272028.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1949272028/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Thrillers| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Sunlight 24 by Merritt Graves]]===Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. [[image:4starOlivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GP.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] If the game wasn’t fair before, it’s definitely not fair now. Or so thinks Dorian Waters, part of the everWhen we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-expanding portion of humanity fuelled party and it's going to end in tragedy. We don't know who can’t afford suffered the nanotragedy or the consequences. Twenty-implant and genetic augmentation regimen known as Revision. And because he can’t afford Revision, he can’t get into college, he can’t get a jobfive years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. And when he sees the brilliant and mesmerizing Lena for the first This time, he knows he doesn’t have a chance with her, eitherit's their teenage children who are involved. And so, Dorian robs a house with his best friend, Ethan. Then they do it again. They’re able }}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604|title=The Trading Game: A Confession|author=Gary Stevenson|rating=4.5|genre=Autobiography|summary=If you were to keep at it until they have enough money saved bring up for their first Revision. Their initial choices an image of a city banker in self-enhancement start impacting their future choicesyour mind, which in turn impact their future Revision––on you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. A hoodie and on in a downward spiral of selfjeans replaces the pin-destruction... [[Sunlight 24 by Merritt Graves|Full Review]] <!stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice. There was no posh public school on his CV -but he had been to the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright - Stephen Booth extremely bright -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:075157628Xand he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy.jpg|link=http://www He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid.amazon It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank.co Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.uk/dp/075157628X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035021803| styletitle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|author=C L Miller|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary==[[Drowned Lives by Stephen Booth]]=== [[image:3It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] When council officer Chris Buckley is approached by an old man who wants his She's back now because of a request for help in healing a decadesfrom her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya' old family rift hes former mentor and Carole's reluctant to get involvedclose friend, Arthur Crockleford, but then Chris is reluctant dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to get involved in anything but a pint in say the pub these daysleast. It could just be Arthur was the way that he isreason why Freya had not been back to the village: Arthur, she feels, or the fact that he's just lost both his parents within three months of each otherlet her down badly. He's currently existing Even though they were in the family home and wondering when he's going business together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to be made redundant from his job with near the man or pursue the council. The short answer to that one is 'soon'profession she loved. Chris does his best to deter After the old mansplit, but it's not before he's left she worked in a lot cafe, met and married James (on the rebound from the love of papers with his neighbour. Then the old man is her life, who was murdered ) and the police come calling on ChrisFreya and James have now divorced. [[Drowned Lives by Stephen Booth|Full Review]]}}<!-- Kalpesh Ashar -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover| styletitle="widthAll Tomorrow's Futures: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Fictions that Disrupt[[image:1949395324.jpg|linkauthor=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1949395324/refBenjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Science Fiction|summary===[[Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted To Know: 4th Edition by Kalpesh Ashar]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Business and Finance|Business and Finance]] ''Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted to Know ''gives people without an accounting background, who have risen in a company, the knowledge to understand ''Opening up new ways of thinking about the accounts which show how the company is doing. The book begins by looking at why financial accounting systems are necessary, then moves on to give an excellent overview of the types of accounting systems which will be encountered and the terms used. We then look in detail at the balance sheet, the income statement and the statement of cash flows. If you understand these three sections on a set of accounts they will tell you a story. You will understand the company (or indeed any other business) but if you don't understand what's there you will be missing vital clues as to whether or not the company is thriving. [[Financial Accounting Essentials You Always Wanted To Know: 4th Edition by Kalpesh Ashar|Full Review]] <!-- Tamaki and Pugh -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1401283292.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1401283292/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:Graphic Novels|Graphic Novels]] Harleen Quinzel is new in town. She always, to me, seems new in town, even if she's been around a long time, for she always has a very fresh attitude, and seems to look out of those large eyes at everything anew each time. But here she is new in town, and the town is Gotham City. Expecting a year-long furlough from life with her mother, she finds her gran dead and herself with no option but to stay with a bunch of drag queens. She also finds school is a drag, she also finds the whole neighbourhood is being redeveloped by a large and uncaring corporation – but she also finds two characters that will have a big impact on her life. One is a civil-minded lass called Ivy, the other someone she only meets at night – a lad with a singular graffiti tag and a mind for violence and chaos, who calls himself The Joker… [[Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh|Full Review]] <!-- Tove Jansson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0954221710.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0954221710/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Summer Book by Tove Jansson]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[Literary Fiction]] Tove Jansson's short novel about Summer is several worlds away from the Moomintrolls she is most famous for outside her native Scandinavia. Book yourself an afternoon this Summer, and take yourself and The Summer Book somewhere quiet, preferably within sight and sound of the sea, settle back and prepare to be transported. [[The Summer Book by Tove Jansson|Full Review]] <!-- Lynda La Plante -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785768506.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785768506/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Dirty Dozen (Jane Tennison 5) by Lynda La Plante]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Jane Tennison had worked hard to get a place on the Flying Squad and she felt that she was there on merit. The Squad wondered who she'd slept with to get the place and bets were being taken as to who she'd sleep with in the first week. What none of them - Jane included - knew was that she was there as an experiment, in the hope that a female presence would have a calming effect. The job had been advertised and Jane was the only female who applied who ticked all the boxes. She doesn't tick all the boxes for the head of the Squad, DCI Murphy. He wanted someone with at least ten years' experience, and the appropriate set of genitals - and he's determined that Jane will fail. [[The Dirty Dozen (Jane Tennison 5) by Lynda La Plante|Full Review]] <!-- Coleman -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785032461.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785032461/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]] Trudy Heaton is going home, to a house where her roots burrow back through the centuries and to a mother she hasn't spoken to for sixteen years. Home, her refuge, Ponden Hall, where she can heal herself and try to come to terms with the traumatic loss of her husband. She needs to build bridges with her mother and convince her grieving son that his father is dead. Where better than the house full of light and shadow, that nurtured her throughout her childhood? [[The Girl at the Window by Rowan Coleman|Full Review]] <!-- Shackle -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473225213.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473225213/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[We Are The Dead by Mike Shackle]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] Mike Shackle has written a really interesting and unusual story in ''We Are The Dead''; the tag line for the novel is 'No More Heroes' and that is what makes this story so different. There are villains galore but no specific heroes; rather the story is scattered with characters doing their own small part to survive, to fight back, and to find vengeance, in a world that has been utterly torn apart. The plot does not hang on any one character, no one is important, anyone can die and many do, but, like ants working together, each small character achieves their own part of a much larger plot that is rich and complex and keeps the reader glued to the story. [[We Are The Dead by Mike Shackle|Full Review]] <!-- Vibrant Publishers -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1946383627.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1946383627/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Cost Accounting & Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know by Vibrant Publishers]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Business and Finance|Business and Finance]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]] I'm capable of drawing up a profit and loss account (income statement in the USA) and a balance sheet and I do so for my own business and for another organisation. The accounts give me ''broadly'' what I need: I know whether we're making a profit or a loss and I can look at the expenses and see what looks as though it could be trimmed back in future years. My problem was that the accounts didn't really give me any help in making decisions, which was why I turned to ''Cost Accounting and Management'', part of Vibrant Publishers' Self-Learning and Management series. Cost accounting provides the information required by authorities external to the company ''and'' to those within it who need to make decisions, so don't worry that you're going to have to draw up two sets of accounts! [[Cost Accounting & Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know by Vibrant Publishers|Full Review]] <!-- Steve Burrows -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786075776.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786075776/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Dance of Cranes by Steve Burrows]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] DCI Domenic Jejeune is no longer with Lindy Hey, the estrangement being of his making, not hers. He hasn't explained to her that he is doing this - and leaving for his native Canada - because he thinks that this will keep her safe from his nemesis, Ray Hayes. Lauren Salter has been promoted to sergeant and now has her first murder case. It looks as though there's an obvious suspect, but Salter isn't so certain. Sgt Danny Maik is (unofficially) keeping an eye on Lindy Hey, whilst Jejeune embarks on a treacherous journey to rescue his brother, Damian, who has gone missing in one of Canada's largest national parks. [[A Dance of Cranes by Steve Burrows|Full Review]] <!-- Oates -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1785656775.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785656775/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Triumph of the Spider Monkey by Joyce Carol Oates]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Bobby is an angry, damaged man - damage that came from being abandoned as a baby in a bus station locker, and then being thrown from one foster home or detention centre to another, never far from violence or abuse. Eager to succeed as a musician, he arrives in Hollywood to find his dream - but it soon becomes clear that his paranoid delusions and seething rage will enable a capacity for acts of extreme violence. Unpublished for 40 years, this edition of ''The Triumph of the Spider Monkey'' comes combined with a connected novella – ''Love, Careless Love''. [[The Triumph of the Spider Monkey by Joyce Carol Oates|Full Review]] <!-- Pike -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0192771604.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0192771604/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Rayne lives in the small, hidden village of Penderin where she is a somewhat unwilling apprentice to her mother, the spell breather. Not everyone can spell breathe, you have to born with a magic spark and Rayne wishes she hadn't been born with one. She's a terrible spell breather, her attempts are always followed by disaster and she positively hates Mam's spell book with it's sharp teeth that suck your blood. When a stranger finds their village one day, Mam must set off on a journey to the great library, leaving Rayne in the village as their chief spell breather, but an unfortunate mistake sees Rayne breaking her mother's book and turning everyone in to monsters. She must face her fear travel across the monster-ridden country to find Mam and restore the book to save their village. [[The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike|Full Review]] <!-- Carlie Sorosiak -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:178800387X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178800387X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Cosmo's family is in crisis. Mom and Dad argue all the time. Emmaline doesn't quite understand it because she's too little but she feels it. And Max, who is bigger, does understand it and is terrified by it. Long ago, when Max was just a baby, Cosmo made a promise to protect Max forever and so he sets about his mission of repairing the family with everything he's got... [[I, Cosmo by Carlie Sorosiak|Full Review]] <!-- Fegan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1925810097.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1925810097/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Don't Drink the Pink by B C R Fegan]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Madeline is very fond of Grandfather Gilderberry. He's always busy in his workshop, creating crazy potions, and he always has a smile on his face. Madeline's dad thinks he's a bit bonkers and Madeline's mum thinks the same but gives him a pass because he's old. But Madeline? She thinks Grandfather Gilberberry is just great. Particularly on her birthday when he unfailingly arrives with a selection of potions and allows her to choose one as a gift. And he always says the same thing... [[Don't Drink the Pink by B C R Fegan|Full Review]] <!-- Averill -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1077651538.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1077651538/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Years shape of Fading Magic by Kenelm Averill]]=== [[image:4starthings to come.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] ''

I've heard it said that 'What technology' is what happens after you're eighteen. Well, I must confess that there have been more than a few decades of technology in my lifetime. I've kept up reasonably well with what's advantageous to me but I'm left with the feeling that it's all getting away from me. Some of it is - frankly - quite frightening. Of course, I could research the possibilities and the probabilities and end up down rabbit holes without really understanding whether I'm reading someone who knows what they're talking about or the latest conspiracy theorist. I needed people I knew I could trust and who could deliver information in a way I could understand.}}{{Frontpage|author=Sunny Singh|title=Hotel Arcadia|rating=3.5|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 subtly change get appropriate training for her voice - she was raised under the Nazi occupation by a mother who mercilessly exploited her and made no secret of her preference for her elder sister, Jackie.}}{{Frontpage|author=Christopher Edge|title=Black Hole Cinema Club|rating=4|genre=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, and to their real lives ?|isbn=1839942738}}{{Frontpage|author=Rachel Greenlaw|title=Compass and Blade|rating=3.5|genre=Teens|summary=''I can hear the song of the sea. The call of ordinary people around you?the deep, the answering beat in my heart.''

Jessica Turner was Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the more radical teens seven who swim out to come out of Eastfieldsurvey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. A youth spent hanging out with But when the Council Watch lays a close crowd of friends was characterised by Jessicatrap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's role as trendsetterfather. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as influencer, charming as leader. Strangely charismatiche is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, Jessica invited fascination and obsessionshe sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. Nobody who met With only nine days to unearth what might save herfather, forgot as her journey takes her. Or from the watched streets of foreign islands to the days they spent in heart of the Enclosuresmuggler's territory, a clearing in Eastfield woods that Jessica felt gave Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her powerhome and the ones she holds most dear. But |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 group went its separate waysEarthlings. AI and automation have been proceeding apace, often replacing jobs they're paid to do and other tasks that took time to accomplish. Just as adolescent groups dothey 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 her influence faded, along with it, all the many daily social interactions on which they depend so heavily.|isbn=1736128426}}{{Frontpage|author=Matthew Tree|title=We'll Never Know|rating=4.5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary= Timothy Wyndham wants nothing more than to be different from his father, a drunk and chronic underachiever whose dreams of being exceptional at any of his artistic passions all failed miserably and who had endless crises of self confidence.[[So Tim applied himself to his studies, cultivated his abilities rather than his daydreams and set himself high but achievable ambitions.|isbn= B0CVFXPGP8}}{{Frontpage|author=A G Slatter|title=The Years Briar Book of Fading Magic by Kenelm Averillthe Dead|Full Review]]rating=5|genre=Fantasy|summary='' There's a part of me that wants to keep this just to myself for however long I can. This secret magic of my own, all mine, at last. I just want to enjoy it for a while.''

<!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}}