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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 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==

{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- Peter Wohlleben -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|Read [[image:1846045576.jpgForthcoming Publications|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1846045576/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21reviews of books about to be published]]. {{Frontpage| styleisbn=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''0008385068|==title=[[Walks In The Wild by Peter Wohlleben and Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp (Translator)]]===Midnight Feast[[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;"|Lucy Foley[[image:1529008123.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529008123/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|Thrillers===[[A Nearly Normal Family by M T Edvardsson and Rachel Wilson-Boyles (translator)]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] WeIt're going to hear this story through s midsummer on the viewpoints of three different people: Adam Sandell, his wife, Ulrika Dorset coast and his daughter Stellaguests gather at The Manor. Adam It's a pastor in the Church of Sweden their opening weekend and Ulrika is a lawyersplendid celebrations are promised. Stella is, well, just difficult. You sense that she It's always been difficult and there have even been occasions when Ulrika has let slip that she wishes that Stella all headed up by Francesca Meadows. The Manor was more like her best friend, Amina Bešic - ancestral home and no one has ever said that if they don't think that the other person is better. We first meet the family on Stellashe's 18th birthday and we get a sense of Adam's controlling nature. Permission has to be given converted it into an impressive retreat for a glass of wine for Stella at the celebration meal. [[A Nearly Normal Family by M T Edvardsson wealthy and Rachel Wilson-Boyles (translator)|Full Review]] <!-- Green -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0192771566famous.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 Her husband, living with her grandfather, scavenging for foodOwen, was the architect and rubbish that has washed up work is still ongoing on parts of the beach that she and her grandfather can use to make thingssite. There The heat is some sort of ban against anyone else landing on oppressive and amongst the island, and lots of suspicion around those who live there, including a great fear of anyone who gets sickguests are enemies as well as friends. But when Bonnie is on the beach one day Old scores are going to be settled and discovers not only an intact boat, but it won't be long before 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 dobody is found. [[The House of Light by Julia Green|Full Review]]}}<!-- Foster -->{{Frontpage|author=Ashley Hickson-Lovence| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Wild East[[image:1471172236.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471172236/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Check Mates by Stewart Foster]]==genre=Teens [[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]Written in verse, [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] In many ways Felix this is Ronny's story, a typical young black fourteen year old boy in Year 7, enjoying playing games on his PS4 from Hackney who suddenly has to move to Norwich and hanging out with his friend Jake at the weekend. However Felix is struggling start at a mostly white school. He The move is not a problem child but he does have a problem. His ADHD makes it hard for him to concentrate, he keeps getting into trouble and his grades are slipping. When his Mum suggests that he spends more time with his grandfather Felix is horrified. Ever since Grandma died his Granddad has been grumpy and more eccentric than before. All he wants to do is sit in the dark and play chess. Felix knows that this will be extremely boring. But sometimes we learn valuable lessons where we least expect to and perhaps Granddad and Felix can help each other. [[Check Mates initiated by Stewart Foster|Full Review]] <!-- Jane O'Connor -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:B07GLCDXZL.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GLCDXZL/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Needlemouse by Jane O'Connor]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:WomenRonny's Fiction|Womenmum who is worried for Ronny's Fiction]] We first meet Sylvia Penton on her birthday safety after a tragic event, and her bossso Ronny finds himself trying to settle in a new town, the Profa new school, is taking her and keep himself out to lunch. This is her favourite day of the year, not because it's her birthday but because of the special time she gets to spend with the man she lovestrouble. He's told her that he and his wife are going listens to divorce - Martha is apparently having an affair - music constantly, and Sylvia is convinced that the Prof will then declare his love and they can be togetherhas always dreamed of being a rapper. She hasn't fully constructed 'together' But now, in her own mind - she envisages it as romanticthis new school, but her imagination hasn't yet progressed his teacher encourages him to the sexual be part of the relationship. There's time though - she's only been the prof's PA for fifteen years. [[Needlemouse by Jane O'Connor|Full Review]]<!-- Various-->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1529006031.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529006031/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[Return to Wonderland by Various Authors]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] In following a young girl called Alice down the rabbit hole a few years ago, when the first book she was in [[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (150th Anniversary Edition) by Lewis Carroll poetry writing workshop group and Anthony Browne|hit 150 years of age]], I found that I didn't really find too much favour with it. The wacky-for-the-sake-of-it did not gelslowly, and I don't remember loving it more as a child. But I would suggest I am the perfect audience for this book. I had every chance Ronny begins to enjoy these short stories that come at see the core from a tangentconnections between rap and poetry, that show and the benefits power of the oblique glance. I've always preferred coming to an author's output through their least obvious, allegedly throw-away pieces, creativity and it's the same with franchises – I'd more likely go for Bree Tanner's short novella than the whole Twilight saga (although that remains just a hunch, for obvious reasons)crafting your words. For another thing, there was every reason to expect some kind of greatness here – with Carroll much loved by millions, surely pieces written with that love in mind could only provide for success after success? [[Return to Wonderland by Various Authors|Full Review]] <!-- Elphinstone -->|-| styleisbn=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1471173666.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471173666/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]0241645441}}{{Frontpage| styleisbn=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''1635866847|title===[[Rumblestar (The Unmapped Chronicles) by Abi Elphinstone]]===Lavender Companion [[image:4.5star.jpg|linkauthor=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Rumblestar follows the haphazard adventures of the anxious 11-year-old Casper Tock who timetables his every movement, makes countless to do lists and is hounded by wealthy bullies with the absurdly humorous and appropriate names of Candida Cashmere Jumps and Leopold Splattercash. He stumbles across a magic portal by accident just like Lucy of Narnia fame, meets a feisty girl troubled by her past Jessica Dunham and is plunged into a perilous quest. In a kingdom where the dark mythological forces of Midnights threaten the weather Marvels (equated here to the miracle of nature) conjured by magical creatures, only unlikely heroes can battle against evil. [[Rumblestar (The Unmapped Chronicles]) by Abi Elphinstone|Full Review]] <!-- Filby -->Terry Barlin Vesci|-| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:19996835874.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999683587/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-215]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[The Evil Occupants of Easingdale Castle by Ray Filby]]==genre=Lifestyle [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Jason likes chess. HeIt's pretty good at it too - a level eight on his computer programmestrange, with level ten being Grand Master level. He's also good at systems, having contributed to the relational database things that has streamlined his schoolmake you ''s administration. Jasonimmediately's school, Easingdale Comprehensive, is very big on technology and its head, Mr Johnston, is keen to involve his pupils wherever they show promise. So Jason's friends have also helped out. Liz feel that this is great with hardware and helped with the school's card reader system. Becky has a flair book for software and has recommended lots of curriculum-enhancing appsyou. And Bill is a talented programmer... [[The Evil Occupants of Easingdale Castle by Ray Filby|Full Review]]  <!-- Caz Frear -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0062849883.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0062849883/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Stone Cold Heart by Caz Frear]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] DC Cat Kinsella is back at the Met after a secondment to the London MayorBefore I started reading 's Office: the hours were good but the job was boring. She's grateful to be back with the old team - her partner DS Luigi Parnell, boss DCI Kate Steele and DC Rénee Akwa. SheThe Lavender Companion's still not prepared to say anything about the identity of her boyfriend: the knowledge that she's in a relationship with Aiden Doyle, I visited the brother of a murder victim and moreover a murder with which her father might have had some involvement could finish her career. Kinsella and Parnell are called to the discovery of the body of a young woman: Naomi Lockhart was Australian, just twenty-two years old and her body was discovered by her flat mate, Kieran Drake, an ex-offender. [[Stone Cold Heart by Caz Frear|Full Review]] <!-- Koomson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1472260376.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472260376/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Tell Me Your Secret by Dorothy Koomson]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Despite Dorothy Koomson regularly being suggested as an author I might like, ie people who like this author also like Dorothy Koomson, I have never read her before. Having done so I can totally see why she's the bestselling author of fifteen books. [[Tell Me Your Secret by Dorothy Koomson|Full Review]] <!-- Jo Spain -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1787474372.jpg|link=httphttps://www.amazon.copinelavenderfarm.ukcom/dp/1787474372/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Boy Who Fell (Inspector Tom Reynolds) by Jo Spainwebsite]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] There were six friends: four men and two women. They're all about eighteen and they've known each other since they started school. Both girls - Hazel Brophy and Charlotte Burke - have been in relationships with one of the boys, but Charlotte was determined that it would not be sexual. Hazelthere's views were so dramatically opposite that you wondered how they could be friends. They were all partying in a derelict house when Luke Connelly was pushed to his death from a third floor window and Daniel Konaté Jones was charged with rape and murder. Daniel was loosely associated with the group but never felt himself one picture of them. He didn't come from a wealthy background, is slice of mixed race and openly gaychocolate cake on the homepage. Targets I don't come much easier than that, except for one thing. [[The Boy Who Fell (Inspector Tom Reynolds) by Jo Spain|Full Review]]<!-- Webb -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1916459900.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1916459900/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Disbelieved: Skin eat cakes and Bone CSIs by Beth Webb]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Anelise desserts - Annie - has been living with her cousin Joe and her aunt, an eminent forensic scientist, since her mum died and her naturalist father went abroad on a research trip. So she does wonder sometimes whether the minor premonitions she has - who's on the other end of the ringing phone, or at the door when there's a knock - are in her imagination. But to foresee a serious accident and then for it to actually happen? And the dreadful headaches. Something's going on. Luckily for Annie, Joe is convinced and also willing to help. So they start to investigate the accident... [[Disbelieved: Skin and Bone CSIs by Beth Webb|Full Review]] <!-- Mick Herron -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:147365744X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/147365744X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Joe Country (Jackson Lamb 6) by Mick Herron]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] but I'd like to say wanted that all the old crew are in Slough House but the rate of natural (or unnatural) wastage is such as to have Health and Safety worriedcake viscerally. Roderick Ho's there though, narcissistic as ever, and so's Louisa Guy. She(There's getting over the death of Min Harper to the extent that she's not ''too'' concerned when she gets a phone call from Clare Harper, Min's wife. River Cartwright has got death on his mind too, but recipe in his case it's the impending demise of his beloved grandfather and former spookbook, the OB. Diana Taverner has taken over from Claude Whelan as First Desk at Regent Park and shewhich I's going to make changes: one of the first is a shock. An argument m avoiding with Emma Flyte sees the head dog departing the service. Meanwhile at Slough House, Catherine Standish is buying booze again, Jackson Lamb is offensive as ever and Shirley Dander and J K Coe do their best to remain unnoticed, the latter by saying nothing. [[Joe Country (Jackson Lamb 6) by Mick Herron|Full Review]] <some difficulty!!-- Laurain -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1910477672.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1910477672/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Vintage 1954 by Antoine Laurain, Jane Aitken (translator) and Emily Boyce (translator)]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Vintage 1954 starts by thrusting several completely different characters upon us, before deciding to run with them and formulate a plot. So we have an American biker, just landing in Paris but unfortunately not with the wife who shared his dream of visiting the city together. We have a goth girl who everyone recognises from an American crime show, but actually is a humble restorer of antiques. We have a cocktail barman, infatuated with the goth girl. We also have a man ruling the roost over a whole suite of individual apartments fabricated from the Haussmann-era mansion his family once owned. Finally something conspires to get them together, and drinking from the same bottle of a rare 1954 red wine. Only, one of them has a bizarre incidence in his family history that also features the same plonk – where a grandfather imbibed, and walked out the door one rainy morning, never to be seen again. But of course nobody will be doing any disappearing now, though – will they? [[Vintage 1954 by Antoine Laurain, Jane Aitken (translator) and Emily Boyce (translator)|Full Review]] <!-- Ford -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0356510441.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356510441/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] As Then I started reading the title suggests, this book is all about a girl, Teagan Frost, who has psychokinesis. Forced to secretly work for the government along with a few unique (and shady) individuals, Teagan has I was told to use her power for unimaginable tasks. All of this whilst under the pretence of working for make a moving-company. After her latest job goes wrong and her and the team escape by the skin mess of their teeth, Teagan finds herself as a murder suspect when the victim is found in such a way that only she could have committed the crimeit. The rest of the story unfolds Notes in a fast-paced race against time to clear Teagan's name and find out exactly what has happened. Is it possible that someone with a gift like Teagan's has managed to fly under the radar? [[The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford|Full Review]] <!-- Caro Ramsay -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0727887602.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0727887602/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Suffering of Strangers by Caro Ramsay]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] Roberta (please call her 'Bobby') Chisholm is sleep deprivedmargins are sanctioned. Six-week-old Sholto doesn't ''ever'' seem You get to sleep, so Bobby's like a robot. There's a little light on fold down the horizon, though: her husband James is up for a new job, which could mean quite a bit more moneycorners of pages. When he rings to tell her You suspect that he's got it he's obviously over the moon and tells Bobby to go to the local shop and get a bottle smears of champagne so that they can celebrate. For once Sholto has dropped off to sleep and when Bobby gets to the shop she's reluctant to disturb him: surely there won't butter would not be a problem if she dashes into the shop to get the bubbly? . She can keep an eye on the car through the shop window, but when she comes out, the car has gone... [[The Suffering of Strangers by Caro Ramsay|Full Review]] <!-- Christopher Edge -->|-| style=I ''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;loved''|[[image:1788004949this book already.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788004949/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[The Longest Night of Charlie Noon by Christopher Edge]]===}} [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] ''If you go into the woods, Old Crony will get you.'' Secrets, spies or maybe even a monster... What lies in the heart of the wood? Charlie, Dizzy and Johnny are determined to discover the truth, but when night falls without warning they find themselves trapped in a nightmare. Lost in the woods, strange dangers and impossible puzzles lurk in the shadows. As time plays tricks, can Charlie solve this mystery and find a way out of the woods? But what if this night never ends...? [[The Longest Night of Charlie Noon by Christopher Edge|Full Review]] <!-- Rachel Lynch -->Frontpage|-author=Rob Keeley| styletitle="widthChildish Spirits: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|10th anniversary special edition[[image:B07P1T8H6J.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07P1T8H6J/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 4| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|Confident Readers===[[Bold Lies (DI Kelly Porter 5) by Rachel Lynch]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] It was the smell which announced the presence of the body in the wheelhouse Around here, we're big fans of a boat and identification wasnchildren't going to be easy as the man was stark nakeds author Rob Keeley. There were all the signs of He's a brutal, cold-blooded execution but gradually the man was traced back to Allendale House, the estate ball of the former Lord Allendalehappy positivity, and then to London, where two more bodies, naked, in a staged setting in a garagehe understands children, were discovered. Senior Investigating Officer DI Kelly Porter had to go to London and was shocked to discover that the SIO he writes for ''that'' case was DCI Matt Carter, her manipulative their pleasure and untrustworthy ex-lover. It was going to be anything but easy to work alongside Matt the Tw... Ahenjoyment, well let's not go there. [[Bold Lies (DI Kelly Porter 5) by Rachel Lynch|Full Review]] <!-- Jonathan Meres -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1781128693.jpg|link=http://www.amazonto lecture or hector.co.uk/dp/1781128693/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 

The ''Childish Spirits'' series is one of his greatest achievements. It's a sequence of ghost stories centring on Ellie, a stalwart young girl who can cope with anything the spirit world throws at her, and Edward, a spoiled lordling and the first spirit Ellie encounters|isbn= 1783064617}}{{Frontpage|author=Jenny Valentine|title=Us in the Before and After|rating=5|genre=Teens|summary=Elk and Mab are best friends, or more than that even, their friendship is a once in a lifetime connection. They meet as children one day on a trip out but unfortunately they don't get each other's contact details at the time. But then chance brings them back together, and they are inseparable. Something has happened though, something terrible and tragic, and now they must work through their grief, and their friendship, together.| styleisbn="vertical1471196585}}{{Frontpage|author=Kieran Larwood and Joe Todd-alignStanton|title=Dungeon Runners: top; textHero Trial|rating=4|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Meet Kit. Like most of the people in his world, it seems, he is an avid fan of Dungeon Running – the sport where a team of warrior, mage and healer enter specially prepared, century-align: left;"old, magical mazes, and race to the exit, perhaps bothering with the treasure or the big bad and the points they grant you along the way. Unfortunately for Kit, the only thing he's seen of the latest race on the inn TV equivalent is that one team has been retired, eaten, and a new trio of questors is needed. Possibly very unfortunately indeed for Kit, he has taken to the goading from the token bully of his world and stumbled into declaring he'll enter as a team. What chance does this friendless, muscle-free-zone have in actually managing that, and how could he possibly hope to succeed?|isbn=1839945184}}{{Frontpage|author=Saima Mir|title=Vengeance|rating=[[Special Delivery by Jonathan Meres]]3.5|genre=Thrillers|summary=I was instantly intrigued by the premise of this novel – an organised crime syndicate in the north of England run by a Muslim woman. The fact that it was the second in a series I hadn't read didn't stop me – I've jumped midway into a few series before (on page and screen) and it needn't be a hindrance if it's good enough. And that wasn't a problem here. Vengeance swiftly brings you up to speed, and I never felt lost.|isbn=0861541561}}

[[image:4star{{Frontpage|author=Stuart Douglas|title=Lowe and Le Breton Mysteries - Death at the Dress Rehearsal|rating=3.jpg5|genre=Crime|summary=During location filming for his 1970's sitcom 'Floggit and Leggit', leading man Edward Lowe stumbles across the dead body of a woman on the edge of a reservoir. The police seem happy to assign it as an accidental death, but something about the whole thing bothers Lowe, and he enlists the help of a fellow actor, John Le Breton to help him investigate matters further. They travel across the country during their days off filming, uncovering more possible murders and, seemingly, a linkto death during the Second World War. But is there really a link between the deaths? And will they manage to uncover who is responsible before more people lose their lives?|isbn=Category1803368209}}{{Frontpage|isbn=B0CYV674G2|title=Swanton Morley (John Tanner)|author=David Blake|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=It seemed like an open-and-shut case. A man, covered in mud and blood - and carrying a knife, comes into the police station shouting that he hasn't killed the man. A body at the bottom of a freshly dug grave at Swanton Morley church - he's been stabbed to death. DCI John Tanner is just back from his honeymoon, which coincided with the birth of his daughter Samantha. You would think he'd be grateful for an easy answer but the words 'perverse' and 'John Tanner' were made for each other. He's sleep-deprived to the point of falling asleep at work but he's determined to keep going - probably because he can't get any sleep at home.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1787333175|title=You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here|author=Benji Waterhouse|rating=5|genre=Popular Science|summary=I was tempted to read ''You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here'' after enjoying Adam Kay's first book {{amazonurl|isbn=1509858636|title=This is Going to Hurt}}, a glorious mixture of insight into the workings of the NHS, humour and autobiography. ''You Don't Have to be Mad...'' promised the same elements but moved from physical problems to mental illness and the work of a psychiatrist. I did wonder whether it was acceptable to be looking for humour in this setting but the laughter is directed at a situation rather than a person and it is always delivered with empathy and understanding. }}{{Frontpage|author=Onyi Nwabineli|title=Allow Me to Introduce Myself|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Anuri spent her childhood on display to the world, thanks to her step-mother Ophelia's increasingly popular presence on social media, where she posted every step of Anuri's childhood for sponsorships and influencer deals and, basically, monetary gain. Now Anuri is in her twenties and she is slowly trying to regain her confidence and to get her life back, suing her step-mother to take down the content about her. Anuri is battling alcoholism, failing to start her PhD, undergoing therapy and secretly abusing people online and receiving money from them for doing so. Most importantly, she is desperately worried about her little sister, who is the new focus of Ophelia's online empire. Can she save her sister, and perhaps herself and her relationship with her father at the same time?|isbn=0861546873}}{{Frontpage|author=David Chadwick|title=Headload of Napalm|rating=4.5|genre=Thrillers|summary= It's September 1973 in Hicks, California. Hicks is a Mojave desert town of a few thousand people with its nearest neighbours of LA and Las 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, there's not much of note other than dive bars and Joshua trees. Life is quiet, until....|isbn= B0D321VJ76}}{{Frontpage|author=Tom Percival|title=The Wrong Shoes|rating=5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Will's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways. He is bullied because he has 'the wrong shoes', he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and doesn't have enough money for even the most basic of things like food, and his dad can't work because he lost his job at the college, was working a cash-in-hand job on a building site and had an accident. Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will's life seems bleak in every direction. And yet, he still has a tiny amount of hope. He is good at art, and clings to the moments of joy when he is drawing, that feel like a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.|isbn=1398527122}}{{Frontpage|author=Sylvie Cathrall|title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary= There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them.|isbn= 0356522776}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008517061|title=Death in a Lonely Place|author=Stig Abell|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary= Former Metropolitan Police detective, Jake Johnson, has settled into his rustic life at Little Sky. There’s perhaps a little uncertainty about the future of his life with his vet girlfriend, Livia and her daughter Diana, as moving in together would mean a lot of compromise:does Jake give up his off-grid and relaxing life to move in with Livia or does Livia move to Little Sky despite her reservations about whether or not this is the future she wants for herself and her daughter? For the moment they’re enjoying life in the present and putting the future on the back burner.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1786482126|title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)|author=Elly Griffiths|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=Builders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway. There was no skull. Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago. Her condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008551324|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)|author=Neil Lancaster|rating=4.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police. Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death. This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date. Not much to ask, is it? The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008405026|title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)|author=Jane Casey|rating=5|genre=Crime|summary=It's sixteen years since nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and the investigation ground to a halt. Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed. Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. What looked as though it was going to be an open-and-shut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced.} Star Reviews]] [[}{{Frontpage|isbn=0571379877|title=The Kellerby Code|author=Jonny Sweet|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=Edward Jevons is a working-class young man, obsessed with his upper-class friends, Robert and Stanza. Robert's a theatre director. He's also self-obsessed, demanding, handsome and entitled and uses Edward to run errands for him. Edward has been in love with Stanza since their university days - and he's drunkenly confided how he feels to Robert. Most men in Robert's position would stay away from Stanza or tell Edward that a relationship had begun between them but he's not like most men:CategoryEdward is left to stumble upon the two of them kissing in a dark passageway.}}{{Frontpage|author=Jo Callaghan|title=Leave No Trace|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=When a man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock. It's their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases. But when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. Will they be able to solve the case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the case and, potentially, out of a career?|isbn=139851120X}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1399613073|title=Moral Injuries|author=Christie Watson|rating=4.5|genre=Thrillers|summary=Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GP. When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's going to end in tragedy. We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. This time, it's their teenage children who are involved.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=0241636604|title=The Trading Game:Dyslexia FriendlyA Confession|author=Gary Stevenson|rating=4.5|genre=Autobiography|summary=If you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice. There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright - extremely bright - and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035021803|Dyslexia Friendly]]title=The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder|author=C L Miller|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=It's twenty years since Freya Lockwood has been back to the English country village where she grew up. She's back now because of a request for help from her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya's former mentor and Carole's close friend, [[Arthur Crockleford, is dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to say the least. Arthur was the reason why Freya had not been back to the village:CategoryArthur, she feels, let her down badly. Even though they were in business together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to be near the man or pursue the profession she loved. After the split, she worked in a cafe, met and married James (on the rebound from the love of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover|title=All Tomorrow's Futures:Confident ReadersFictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|Confident Readers]]summary=''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.''

How do I've heard it said that 'technology' is what happens after you explain '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 children 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 dementia? Injuries or illnesses 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 obviousrampaging through, killing everyone on site, but when there is Sam, a wartime photographer and Abhi, the hotel manager. As Abhi continues to try to care remotely for the problem is residents who are still alive in the brain which isnhotel, 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't functioning quite s happened through her photography. Although they only ever talk over the phone, their friendship grows as it used 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 it isnhave 'disappeared' doesn't as easy sound quite so frightening. Miv's upset because she's overheard that her father wants to graspmove the family 'Down South'. Frank was When you're from Yorkshire, Down South is a normal nine year old frightening, foreign place, best avoided. For Miv, the move would mean leaving her best friend, Sharon, and like many nine year olds what he wanted 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 a new bikeexpected 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. HeShortly afterwards, Etty and Greg, find the body of Greg'd s father, Duncan Ackerley, in the river. It was an easy assumption for the police to make that Duncan had his for about seventy-eight years murdered Charlie and then committed suicide when he didncouldn't want to raise stand the seat any moreguilt. Mum pointed out that it wasnThe Salter children are not convinced but there't his birthday or Christmas any time soon s little else they can do but get on with their lives and bikes cost a lot 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 moneyMaria Callas as Greek, which didnbut 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 't grow on treesCallas' to make it more manageable in the States. His sister Lottie had 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 solution: Frank could help mother who mercilessly exploited her and made no secret of her with preference for her paper roundelder 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'. Frank agreed despite thinking 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 it would take him a thousand years 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 save up the money for a bike AND he had cinema, and to get up at six otheir real lives?|isbn=1839942738}}{{Frontpage|author=Rachel Greenlaw|title=Compass and Blade|rating=3.5|genre=Teens|summary=''clock I can hear the song of the sea. The call of the deep, the answering beat in the morningmy heart. [[Special Delivery by Jonathan Meres|Full Review]]''

<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->Rosevear, a remote and partially forgotten island, survives on luring ships into the rocks and plundering the wrecks. Mira, like her mother before her, is one of the seven who swim out to survey the ruins – rescuing any survivors and any treasure that lies within. But when the Council Watch lays a trap to end the wrecking, they capture the island's leader and Mira's father. Desperate to save him from death, Mira makes a bargain with a wreck survivor who is as charming as he is secretive and with only coordinates to guide her, she sets off in search of a family secret that lies buried deep in the sea. With only nine days to unearth what might save her father, as her journey takes her from the watched streets of foreign islands to the heart of the smuggler's territory, Mira must be determined to stop at nothing to save the future of her home and the ones she holds most dear.|isbn=0008664730}}