Changes

<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==

{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- Abercrombie -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|'''Read [[image:0575095865.jpgForthcoming Publications|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0575095865/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21reviews of books about to be published]]. {{Frontpage| styleisbn="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|152919640X===[[A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|linktitle=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] The chimneys of industry rise over Adua and the world seethes with new opportunities. But old scores run deep as ever. On the blood-soaked borders of Angland, Leo dan Brock struggles to win fame on the battlefield, and defeat the marauding armies of Stour Nightfall. He hopes for help from the crown. But King Jezal's son, the feckless Prince Orso, is a man who specialises in disappointments. Savine dan Glokta - socialite, investor, and daughter of the most feared man in the Union - plans to claw her way to the top of the slag-heap of society by any means necessary. But the slums boil over with a rage that all the money in the world cannot control. The age of the machine dawns, but the age of magic refuses to die. With the help of the mad hillwoman Isern-i-Phail, Rikke struggles to control the blessing, or the curse, of the Long Eye. Glimpsing the future is one thing, but with the guiding hand of the First of the Magi still pulling the strings, changing it will be quite another . . .[[A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie|Full Review]] <!-- Peter Lynas and Clare Lindley -->Suspect|-| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Rob Rinder[[image:0993340334.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co4.uk/dp/0993340334/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Bunny by Peter Lynas and Clare Lindley]]==genre=Crime [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] You might have seen Bunny The nation's favourite daytime TV presenter, Jessica Holby, was murdered live on the beach where he lived. Like many beaches it was full of sand television and Bunny didn't like sand, not least because it got between his toes and ''scratched'seems that there's only one suspect. What he really liked was juicy green grass. All the other rabbits lived on the top of the cliff, where Bunny could see a lot of tasty-looking grass. But the cliff was very high. [[Bunny by Peter Lynas and Clare Lindley|Full Review]] <!-- Thomas Knauer -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1635860334.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1635860334/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Why We Quilt by Thomas Knauer]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crafts|Crafts]] IHe've often wondered about the story that patchwork quilting began as a way for women (s celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks and myth would have it his contract stated that it was always women) he must not serve anything containing miso to make an extra blanket out of material which would otherwise go to wasteJessica Holby. This undoubtedly She''did'' happen but when you think about it, you need s seriously allergic and carries an awful lot EpiPen in case of material to make a quilt and the time could have been better spent if all that was required was beddingemergencies. Like Thomas Knauer I've come to the conclusion that it began Everything seemed as an art and has largely continued down that same road with fluctuations in popularity over the years. [[Why We Quilt by Thomas Knauer|Full Review]] <!normal -- Nicci French -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471179230.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471179230/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Lying Room by Nicci French]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] When we meet Neve Connolly it's pretty obvious that she has something to hide. She crept into the house after midnight, carefully putting her clothes into the washing machine and she as normal as they can't wait to get husband Fletcher and children Mabelbe in a busy, Connor live television studio - and Rory off on their various ways the next morning when she gets Brooks served a text telling her to come ragout to the flatHolby. He has a few hours Her EpiPen was nowhere to spare be found and can't wait to see her. Only, when she gets to the flat she finds Saul Stevenson, her boss and lover, was dead on the floorwithin minutes. The hammer It was soon clear that's been used on his brain is at his sidethis was no accident. [[The Lying Room by Nicci French|Full Review]]}}<!-- Peter Lynas and Charlie Roberts -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0008385068| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Midnight Feast|author=Lucy Foley[[image:0993340342.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/0993340342/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|Thrillers===[[Madeleine Goes to the Moon by Peter Lynas and Charlie Roberts]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Madeleine is a very lucky girl: in her room she has all a girl could ask for in the way of toys, books, games and dollies. She's a very lucky girl in another way too: she has imagination and everything in her room can be used to take her on adventures. She spends all day there: Dad thinks that she likes to be alone, but MadeleineIt's not alone midsummer on all the trips she takes. We'll find out that yesterday she was told to tidy her room, but instead of doing that she went to the moon. [[Madeleine Goes to the Moon by Peter Lynas Dorset coast and Charlie Roberts|Full Review]] <!-- Ann Patchett -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1526614960.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1526614960/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Dutch House by Ann Patchett]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]] When we first meet Danny and his elder sister, Maeve Conroy, they're both living guests gather at The Dutch House with their parents and under the gaze of the portraits of the former owners whose oil paintings still hang on the wallsManor. It's a strange family dynamic: Cyril Conroy is distant their opening weekend and the closest Danny seems to come to him is when he goes out with him on a Saturday collecting rents from properties the family owns. Elna Conroy is loving, but absent increasingly often until the point comes when the children splendid celebrations are told that she will not be returning. In other circumstances this might have affected Maeve and Danny deeply, but their primary relationship is with each otherpromised. It's a bond which only death will break. [[The Dutch House all headed up by Ann Patchett|Full Review]] <!-- Peter Lynas and Andy S Gray -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0993340350Francesca Meadows.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0993340350/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[ The Very Rude Toytoise by Peter Lynas Manor was her ancestral home and Andy S Gray]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] It was one of those blissful days in the forest. Mrs Rabbit was collecting carrots because she wanted to make a cake. Mrs Blue Bird was gathering twigs to build a nest. Mrs Spider was busily spinning a web to catch juicy flies. Mrs Squirrel was piling up acorns. And Mr Bear sat comfortably in a chair, fishing 's converted it into an impressive retreat for lunch. What could be better? And then... [[The Very Rude Toytoise by Peter Lynas and Andy S Gray|Full Review]] <!-- Peter Lynas and Rosie Alabaster -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0993340318.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0993340318/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Recipe for Making a Snowman by Peter Lynas the wealthy and Rosie Alabaster]]=== [[image:4starfamous.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]] Who knew it? You can even get a recipe book which tells you how to make a snowman - and there's no cooking involved! MumHer husband, Dad and the two children are absolutely meticulous though: they're going to get everything rightOwen, even down to doing some mining to get the coal for the eyes, searching through the bits 'n bobs jar for buttons for was the snowman's coat architect and picking out work is still ongoing on parts of the perfect piece of headgearsite. There's quite a choice available, but The heat is oppressive and amongst the family decide on the bobble hat, presumably to keep the snowman warmguests are enemies as well as friends. The moth-eaten pair of mittens simply Old scores are going to be settled and it won't do and be long before a pair with purple and pink stripes are chosenbody is found. [[Recipe for Making a Snowman by Peter Lynas and Rosie Alabaster|Full Review]]}}<!-- Melanie Martin -->{{Frontpage|author=Ashley Hickson-Lovence| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|Wild East[[image:1789016304.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789016304/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[War and Love: A family's testament of anguish, endurance and devotion in occupied Amsterdam by Melanie Martin]]===Teens[[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:History|History]], [[:Category:Biography|Biography]] Melanie Martin read about what happened to Dutch Jews Written in occupied Amsterdam during World War II and was entranced by what she discoveredverse, particularly in ''The Diary of Ann Frank'' but then realised that her own familythis is Ronny's stories were equally fascinating. A hundred and seven thousand Jews were deported from the city during the war yearsstory, but only five thousand survived and Martin could not understand how this could be allowed to happen in a country with liberal values young black fourteen year old boy from Hackney who were resistant suddenly has to German occupation. Most people believed that the occupation could never happen: even those who thought that the Germans might reach the city were convinced that they would soon be pushed back, that the Amsterdammers would never allow what happened move to escalate in the way that it did, but initial protests melted away as the organisers became more circumspect. It's an atrocity on a vast scale, but made up of tens of thousands of individual tragedies. [[War Norwich and Love: A family's testament of anguish, endurance and devotion in occupied Amsterdam by Melanie Martin|Full Review]] <!-- Sedgwick -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1788542347.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788542347/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Snowflake, AZ by Marcus Sedgwick]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]] This is start at a deep, interesting read unlike any book I've read in quite some timemostly white school. The novelmove is initiated by Ronny's story follows a young man named Ash in the process of joining a community of sick people in the curiously named town of Snowflake, Arizona. These people are sick, but itmum who is worried for Ronny's not safety after a sickness you've heard of. Insteadtragic event, they're environmentally ill – affected by household chemicals and fabrics, pesticides, static electricity, and radiation – and their only ''cure'' is so Ronny finds himself trying to stay settle in the a new town away from the real world. Though it's about a real place, the people in it are fictional. It really is a place apart, quite literally cut off from the outside world – people are even required to decontaminate themselves thoroughly before becoming fully integrated. [[Snowflakenew school, AZ by Marcus Sedgwick|Full Review]] <!-- Moyer -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:178747920X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178747920X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Robin Hood is gone – denouncing both his former life and his love Marian, and retreating to a monastery – although no-one knows quite what led him to abandon all that he had builtkeep himself out of trouble. Marion's life since has been relatively quiet - but when her friends start dying, Marion is tasked by Father Tuck He listens to break the curse surrounding them and to save their lives. Setting off with a soldiermusic constantly, a Fey Lord and a sullen Robin Hood, she becomes tangled in a maze has always dreamed of betrayals, complicated relationships, and being a vicious struggle for the throne…[[Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer|Full Review]] <!-- Hewitt -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1509896465rapper.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1509896465/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Nightjar by Deborah Hewitt]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]] But now, [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]] ''The Nightjar'' is an unusual and exciting story. Alice Wyndham lives a normal life in London until she finds this new school, his teacher encourages him to be part of a box on her doorstep one morning poetry writing workshop group and her life , slowly, Ronny begins to unravel, fast. From that very moment, her life is flooded with magic, loss, expectation see the connections between rap and particularly, betrayal. As everything around her shifts, all that she knows, all that she thinks she knows, must change. Who can she trust? Who must she trust? Who will she trust? More importantly, can she even trust herself? [[The Nightjar by Deborah Hewitt|Full Review]] <!-- McGee -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0241365953.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0241365953/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[American Royals by Katharine McGee]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Two and a half centuries agopoetry, America won the Revolutionary War and General George Washington was offered the crown. Today, the House power of Washington still sit on the thrown with Princess Beatrice next in line. Beatrice's whole life has been building up to her ruling the United States creativity and the time for her reign is imminentcrafting your words. [[American Royals by Katharine McGee|Full Review]] <!-- Nicola Monaghan -->|-| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|0241645441[[image:0857308025.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VRSX3SN/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Dead Flowers (Dr Sian Love) by Nicola Monaghan]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] It was more than a little bit of a surprise to Dr Sian Love (and the rest of the relatives) when her uncle Bobby left her his home - a former pub called The Loggerheads in the Narrow Marsh area of Nottingham. Then it was a shock when she found two bodies in the cellar before she'd even got settled in - and managed to break a bone in her foot in the course of making the discovery. They'd been there for some time, but who - exactly - were the man and the woman, wrapped in each other's arms? Having spent ten years on the Murder Squad, ending up as a DCI she knows what's going to happen next, but she's not prepared for quite how personal it's all going to get. [[Dead Flowers (Dr Sian Love) by Nicola Monaghan|Full Review]] <!-- Renee Watson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1526613689.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1526613689/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Some Places More Than Others by Renee Watson]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]  Amara's twelfth birthday is coming up and she wants nothing more for it than a trip to New York to meet her father's side of the family. But her father hasn't spoken to Amara's grandfather for many years - Amara doesn't know why - and both her parents are resistant to the idea. But Amara is nothing if not persistent and a school family history project provides her with the perfect wedge. Eventually, her parents give in and off she goes... with a secret mission from her mother: to bring her father and Grandpa Earl back together again. [[Some Places More Than Others by Renee Watson|Full Review]] <!-- Graves -->Frontpage|-| styleisbn="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|1635866847[[image:194927201X.jpg|linktitle=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/194927201X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] The Lavender Companion| styleauthor="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci===[[Lakes of Mars by Merritt Graves]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] Aaron Sheridan doesn't want to live anymore. His entire family is dead by his own hand, killed in a shuttle crash. Unable to deal with the guilt, he signs up for the Fleet expecting a fatal deployment to the Rim War, but instead ends up at their most prestigious command school, Corinth Station... [[Lakes of Mars by Merritt Graves|Full Review]] <!-- Ryan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:191280493X4.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/191280493X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 5| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Coming of Age by Danny Ryan]]==genre=Lifestyle [[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Autobiography|Autobiography]]  It''He began writing novels and poetry at s strange, the age of twelve, but it was to take him a further forty-eight years to realise things that he wasn’t very good at either. Consistently unpublished for all that time, he remains a shining example of hope over experience...make you ''  immediately''This a memoir from someone you have never heard of - but will feel like that this is the book for you have. Before I started reading '' [[Coming of Age by Danny Ryan|Full Review]]  <!-- Maxwell N Andrews -->|-| style=The Lavender Companion''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;, I visited the author''|s [[image:1983376353.jpg|link=httphttps://www.amazonpinelavenderfarm.co.ukcom/dp/1983376353/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21website]]  | style=and there''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[Lighthouse s a picture of the Netherworlds by Maxwell N Andrews]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] The phrase about never trusting a book by its cover is something I put slice of chocolate cake on a par with comments about Marmitethe homepage. You're supposed to love it or hate it and Idon'm halfway between, t eat cakes and likewise the old adage is halfway true. From the cover of this desserts - but I had a child-friendly fantasy, what with wanted that name and that attractive artwork of an attractive girl reaching for an attractive water plantcake viscerally. That was only built on by (There's a recipe in the initial fictionalised quotesbook, which I'm avoiding with their non-standard spelling, as if texts of scripture in this some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book's world predated our standardised literacy. But why was and I two chapters in and just finding more and more characters, both human and animal, and more and more flashbacks, and no proof that this was what I'd bought in for? [[Lighthouse told to make a mess of the Netherworlds by Maxwell N Andrews|Full Review]] <!-- Ellory -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1542007232.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1542007232/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory]]=== [[image:3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Berlin, 1989it. Miriam is Notes in the middle of a city freshly united, with the Wall newly broken margins are sanctioned. You get to fold down and people able to cross at liberty for the first time in decadescorners of pages. She is in the middle You suspect that smears of such euphoria, but cannot feel it, for she has butter would not left her father's apartment in weeks, nursing him as he lies dyingbe a problem. One standard bed-bath, however, is very different, when he gasps the name I ''Friedaloved'' that she does not recognise – and she sees for the first time ever a tattoo for his camp inmate identity under his watch. One bombshell outside, then, and two inside..this book already. [[The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory|Full Review]]}}<!-- Tove Jansson -->{{Frontpage|-author=Rob Keeley| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-alignChildish Spirits: top; text-align: center;"|10th anniversary special edition[[image:0954899520.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0954899520/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 4| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|Confident Readers===[[A Winter Book by Tove Jansson]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]]Around here, [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Tove Janssonwe's worldwide fame lasts on the Moomin books, written in the 1940s and later becoming television characters re big fans of the simplicity, naivety and sheer children'goodnesss author Rob Keeley. He' that would later produce flowerpot men or teletubbies. Simple drawingss a ball of happy positivity, simple storieshe understands children, simple goodness. What is often forgotten outside of her native Finland is that she was a serious writer…that she wrote and he writes for adults as well as children…and that she had a feeling for the natural world their pleasure and the simple life that enjoyment, not only informed those child-like trolls but went far beyond any fantasy of how the world might be. [[A Winter Book by Tove Jansson|Full Review]] <!-- Whitlock -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:1782692177to lecture or hector.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1782692177/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[The Collective by Lindsey Whitlock]]===

[[imageThe ''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.|isbn=1471196585}}{{Frontpage|author=Kieran Larwood and Joe Todd-Stanton|title=Dungeon Runners:3Hero Trial|rating=4|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Meet Kit. Like most of the people in his world, it seems, he is an avid fan of Dungeon Running – the sport where a team of warrior, mage and healer enter specially prepared, century-old, magical mazes, and race to the exit, perhaps bothering with the treasure or the big bad and the points they grant you along the way. Unfortunately for Kit, the only thing he's seen of the latest race on the inn TV equivalent is that one team has been retired, eaten, and a new trio of questors is needed.5star 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.jpg What chance does this friendless, muscle-free-zone have in actually managing that, and how could he possibly hope to succeed?|linkisbn=Category:{1839945184}}{{Frontpage|author=Saima Mir|title=Vengeance|rating=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}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]]

{{Frontpage|author=Stuart Douglas|title=Lowe and Le Breton Mysteries - Death at the Dress Rehearsal|rating=3.5|genre=Crime|summary=During location filming for his 1970's sitcom 'Floggit and Leggit'Illinois Territory, Collective Homesteads leading man Edward Lowe stumbles across the dead body of a woman on the edge of Americaa reservoir.'' Some 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 link to 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 live lose their lives?|isbn=1803368209}}{{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 sunken housesmud 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, buried 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 hillsides 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 disguise how large their property be looking for humour in this setting but the laughter is directed at times 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 austerityAnuri's childhood for sponsorships and influencer deals and, basically, monetary gain. Others 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 called Forestersthe 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 they live 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 trees-hand job on a building site and had an accident. When Throw into that mix the small area 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 Foresters live in moments of joy when he is placed under compulsory purchasedrawing, that feel like a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.|isbn=1398527122}}{{Frontpage|author=Sylvie Cathrall|title=A Letter to the residents Luminous Deep|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|summary= There are given 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 pitiful amount 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 clear out before hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments - when they get manfully cleared outdiscovered 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. Our heroIt's difficult as Ruth knows, Elwynbut 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 just left any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the trees 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 Hillspolice 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 live 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 uncle 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.}}{{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 learn 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 ways – 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 just not like most men: Edward 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 age unwanted attention to decide things 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 himselfa 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: A 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 decided 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|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 see how the other half livesvillage: Arthur, 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. [[The Collective by Lindsey Whitlock}}{{Frontpage|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover|title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|Full Review]]summary=''Opening up new ways of thinking about the shape of things to come.''

<!I've heard it said that '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 - DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE her husband, Alec, is not. Shortly afterwards, Etty and Greg, find the body of Greg's father, Duncan Ackerley, in the river. It was an easy assumption for the police to make that Duncan had murdered Charlie and then committed suicide when he couldn't stand the guilt. The Salter children are not convinced but there's little else they can do but get on with their lives and wonder about what really happened.}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035906708|title=Diva|author=Daisy Goodwin|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=We tend to think of Maria Callas as Greek, but she was born to Greek parents in Manhattan, New York, in December 1923 and only moved to Athens when she was thirteen. Her original surname was Kalogeropoulos but her father changed it to 'Callas' to make it more manageable in the States. When she was back in Athens -supposedly so that she could get appropriate training for her voice ->she was raised under the Nazi occupation by a mother who mercilessly exploited her and made no secret of her preference for her elder sister, Jackie.}}{{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}}