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 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" cellpaddingisbn="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- Beckett -->1009473085|title=The Conservative Effect 2010 -2024| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton (Editors)|rating=5[[image:1786491559.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786491559/refPolitics and Society|summary=nosim?tag=thebookbagSometimes it's simpler to explain a book by describing what it ''isn't'' and that applies to ''The Conservative Effect: 2010-21]]  | style="vertical2024 -align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Beneath 14 Wasted Years?''. If you're looking for an easy read which will deliver the World, A Sea by Chris Beckett]]=== [[image:3inside story about what ''really'' happened on certain occasions, then this isn't the book for you.5star.jpg|link=Category: If that's what you're looking for, I don't think Anthony Seldon's book, {{{ratingamazonurl|isbn=B0BH7SKG2S|title=Johnson at 10}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] South America, 1990, can be bettered for those tumultuous years. Ben Ronson, It's a British police officer, arrives in a mysterious forest to investigate a spate of killings of Duendescompelling read and should be compulsory for anyone who thinks Johnson should return to politics. ''The Conservative Effect'' is an entirely different beast. These silent, vaguely humanoid creatures - with long limbs and black button eyes - have a strange psychic effect on people, unleashing It's the seventh book in a series which looks at the subconscious impact a government has made and exposing their innermost thoughts and fearsco-editor Sir Anthony Seldon regards this as the most important. Ben becomes fascinated by This book follows the Duendes, but the closer he getswell-established format: a series of experts from various fields review the state of the nation when the coalition took over in 2010, the more he begins to unravel, with terrifying resultschanges that occurred and the situation in 2024... [[Beneath the World, A Sea by Chris Beckett|Full Review]] <!-- M J Lee -->}}{{Frontpage|-author=Max Boucherat| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|The Last Life of Lori Mills[[image:B07P6P4S7H.jpg|linkrating=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07P6P4S7H/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] 4.5| stylegenre="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"Confident Readers|summary===[[Where We meet Lori on the first evening she's got the Dead Fall (DI Ridpathhouse to herself – no neighbour to pop in, babysitter poorly, mother at work, Book 2) by M J Lee]]=== [[image:4starjust an avidly rule-breaking eleven year old, on her lonesome.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] It really shouldn't have happened. DI Ridpath What could possibly go wrong? Snuggled in a blanket fort, she has one main intention, conscious and that his relationship with his wife and child is hanging by a threadto log on to Voxminer, is off to collect them at his motherthe world-building, critter-collecting game that is a hit in-lawLori's house for an evening outworld. Traffic was heavy on the M60 (But first Lori has a match at Old Trafford wasntiny inkling that this stormy night doesn't helping) but it was moving steadily. Then a man wearing only a pair of blue boxers dashed out into the trafficfind herself entirely on her own, briefly put his hands on Ridpath's car and then ran into the path of an articulated lorryshe finds something even more spooky. The driver had no chance of stopping For the server she and her bestie and the naked man was killed instantly. Glancing nobody else should be able to the hard shoulder Ridpath glimpsed a man with a gunenter shows signs of tampering. This was now a crime scene When malevolent eyes spark up on her phone screen, and her safe place in the resulting seventeen-mile tail back of traffic would be the least of Ridpath's worriesgame has been doctored – well, although no one would let him forget about it in where is a hurry. [[Where the Dead Fall (DI Ridpath, Book 2) by M J Leegirl to turn?|Full Review]]isbn=0008666482}}<!-- Anstruther -->{{Frontpage|-author=Jenny Lecoat| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Beyond Summerland|rating=4[[image:1784631647.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1784631647/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] General Fiction| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Perfect Explanation by Eleanor Anstruther]]=== [[image:5starJean lives on Jersey with her mother where they are celebrating the end of the occupation.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Literary Fiction|Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Enid Campbell During the war, Jean's father was arrested for listening to a woman whobanned radio and soldiers took him away one night, on the face leaving Jean and her mother waiting for years for news of it, had everythinghim. Leading As the British finally free the Channel islands from the life of an aristocrat – full of inherited wealth Nazis, and splendourthe war is finally over, glamourous locales and high expectations. Only Enid's life has been plagued by mental illness – undiagnosed, untreated and threatening both Enid and those close to hertheir hopes rise that they will finally learn what became of him. After losing custody of her children But will the truth come as a relief, Enid sells her son to her sister for £500 – but is this an act of greed, or an act of desperationor will it raise further questions around what else happened during the war? Exploring Who was the informer who told the true story of her own grandmother, Eleanor Anstruther has found Nazis about the perfect subject for an explosive, moving and beautifully well written debut. [[A Perfect Explanation by Eleanor Anstrutherradio? And what other secrets have been kept throughout the occupation?|Full Review]]isbn=1846976537}}<!-- Delargy -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1529428289| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"A Grave in the Woods (A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel)|author=Martin Walker|rating=4[[image:1471177521.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471177521/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Crime| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[55 by James Delargy]]=== [[image:4Because of various property transactions, people were searching for the grave but when they found it, it came with three sets of bones.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] They dated back to World War II and it fell to Bruno, the Chief of Police for St Denis, [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] Two men enter a police station, both tell to discover the identities of the same story; they were kidnapped bodies and narrowly escaped the clutches of establish whether or not a man who intended to kill themcrime had been committed. As they escaped they ran through a graveyard and they were not the first victim. The stories matchif this isn't enough to worry about, the evidence Dordogne River - normally tranquil - is compelling and each man blames flowing at record levels. It's not just the other. Now local autumn rains that have caused the question is, who is guilty? [[55 by James Delargy|Full Review]]problem: various dams upstream on another river have had to release water and St Denis faces the possibility of a devastating flood.}}<!-- Cercas -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=152919640X| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Suspect|author=Rob Rinder[[image:0857058320.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/0857058320/ref5|genre=nosim?tagCrime|summary=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Lord Of All the Dead by Javier Cercas The nation's favourite daytime TV presenter, Jessica Holby, was murdered live on television and Anne McLean (translator)]]=== [[image:4starit seems that there's only one suspect.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:History|History]], [[:Category:Biography|Biography]]  He's celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks and his contract stated that he must not serve anything containing miso to Jessica Holby. She''Lord Of All the Dead'' is a journey to uncover the author's lost ancestor's life s seriously allergic and death. Cercas is searching for the meaning behind his great uncle's death carries an EpiPen in the Spanish Civil Warcase of emergencies. Manuel Mena, Cercas' great uncle Everything seemed as normal - as normal as they can be in a busy, is the figure who looms large over the booklive television studio - and Brooks served a ragout to Holby. He died relatively young whilst fighting for Francisco Franco's forces Her EpiPen was nowhere to be found and she was dead within minutes. Cercas ruminates on why his uncle fought for It was soon clear that this dictatorwas no accident. }}{{Frontpage|isbn=0008385068|title=The question at the centre of this book is whether it is possible for his great uncle to be a hero whilst having fought for the wrong sideMidnight Feast|author=Lucy Foley|rating=4. [[Lord Of All 5|genre=Thrillers|summary=It's midsummer on the Dead by Javier Cercas Dorset coast and Anne McLean (translator)|Full Review]] <!-- Pearson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1401286399guests gather at The Manor.jpg|link=http://www It's their opening weekend and splendid celebrations are promised.amazon It's all headed up by Francesca Meadows.co.uk/dp/1401286399/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Super Sons: The PolarShield Project by Ridley Pearson The Manor was her ancestral home and she's converted it into an impressive retreat for the wealthy and Ile Gonzalez]]=== [[image:4starfamous. Her husband, Owen, was the architect and work is still ongoing on parts of the site.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating The heat is oppressive and amongst the guests are enemies as well as friends. Old scores are going to be settled and it won't be long before a body is found.}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Graphic Novels{{Frontpage|Graphic Novels]], [[:Category:Confident Readersauthor=Ashley Hickson-Lovence|Confident Readers]]title=Wild East|rating=4.5It'|genre=Teens|summary=Written in verse, this is Ronny's the near futurestory, a young black fourteen year old boy from Hackney who suddenly has to move to Norwich and every coastal city – including Metropolis – is in need of start at a huge flood barrier, built on its coast mostly white school. The move is initiated by Wayne Enterprises. But the rising sea levels have put even those constructions under threat, forcing many people to relocate in AmericaRonny's biggest exodus mum who is worried for decades. Superman is helping outRonny's safety after a tragic event, of course – first he was patching up the damsand so Ronny finds himself trying to settle in a new town, but now he's mining the asteroid belt for a rare dust that's perfect for blocking the solar energy from making further polar ice meltnew school, and keep himself out of trouble. Inland, in Wyndermere He listens to music constantly, the refugees from the coast are suffering bigotry and intolerance for has always dreamed of being newcomers, but something else is much worse. A major bout of food poisoning is hitting the citya rapper. But it can't possibly have anything now, in this new school, his teacher encourages him to do with what looks like sabotage be part of the flood barriers a poetry writing workshop group and the efforts , slowly, Ronny begins to correct see the climateconnections between rap and poetry, can it? Four young children begin to piece together clues that it can… [[Super Sons: The PolarShield Project by Ridley Pearson and Ile Gonzalezthe power of creativity and crafting your words.|Full Review]]isbn=0241645441}}<!-- de Bois -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=1635866847| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Lavender Companion|[[image:1785903357.jpgauthor=Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785903357/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Lifestyle| stylesummary="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Confessions of a Recovering MP by Nick de Bois]]=== [It's strange, the things that make you ''immediately'' feel that this is the book for you. Before I started reading ''The Lavender Companion'', I visited the author's [imagehttps:4star//www.pinelavenderfarm.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Politics com/ website] and Society|Politics there's a picture of a slice of chocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and Society]]desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally. I should warn you (There's a recipe in advance: this may not be the best time for me to review the memoir of a Tory MP. Not only am book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a left-mess of-centre - to put it mildly - voter and so probably have next to no points of political agreement with Nick de Bois, but I, along with everyone else, am currently subject . Notes in the margins are sanctioned. You get to fold down the debacle corners of pages. You suspect that smears of parliament, government and Brexit, butter would not be a dog and pony show currently revealing in hideous technicolour the absolute dearth of competent leadership among our political classesproblem. And yes, opposition parties: I'm looking at you as well. You're just as uselessloved'' this book already.}}Sigh.{{Frontpage|author=Rob KeeleyDesperate cry into the void over. Sorry about that.|title=Childish Spirits: 10th anniversary special editionAt least Nick de Bois made me laugh! [[ Confessions of a Recovering MP by Nick de Bois |Full Review]]  <!-- Paige -->rating=4|-genre=Confident Readers| stylesummary="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:140128339XAround here, we're big fans of children's author Rob Keeley.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.coHe's a ball of happy positivity, he understands children, and he writes for their pleasure and enjoyment, not to lecture or hector.uk/dp/140128339X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Mera: Tidebreaker by Danielle Paige and Stephen Byrne]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Graphic Novels|Graphic Novels]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Meet Mera. She's the latest in a line of young women intent on fighting against their intended destiny for one only they can see for themselves. Her father, the king of Xebel, sees some cotton wool and a hunky man in an arranged marriage as her future – after all, Mera's mother, the territory's warrior queen, is long dead. Mera doesn't fancy the cosseting or the fella involved at all, and is in fact trying to get Xebel out from under the cosh of Atlantean power, for Xebel's royalty are merely puppets of Atlantean masters. So when she overhears her father request that her intended goes to the world of us air-breathing humans, and kill the Atlantis heir, she rushes off to get the quest (and the promised throne) all for herself. But of course, she has no idea what kind of person she will meet, and how hard it will be to get the job done… [[Mera: Tidebreaker by Danielle Paige and Stephen Byrne|Full Review]] <!-- Crosskey -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1789550149.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1789550149/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Poster Boy by N J Crosskey]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Dystopian Fiction|Dystopian Fiction]], [[:Category:Thrillers|Thrillers]] I first read 1984 in school, in the late seventies when 1984 still seemed like a long time in the future. It came and went quickly enough. Some of us may have breathed a sigh of relief that Orwell's nightmare had not (quite) come to pass. Others, I think, were out there already working on making sure that all he got wrong was the date. Crosskey hasn't put a date on the nightmare. If she had, I suspect it would not be as far in the future are 1984 was when I first read Orwell. If she had, I suspect it might hardly be in the future at all. A lot of what happens in ''Poster Boy'' is already happening. Sadly. Frighteningly. In the blurb, Christina Racher says "…but keep it far from anyone who might be tempted to turn its fiction into reality". My only response to that is: too late! [[Poster Boy by N J Crosskey|Full Review]] <!-- Lucie Whitehouse -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008268991.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008268991/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Critical Incidents by Lucie Whitehouse]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] When you reach a certain stage in life the phrase 'going home' when it refers to your childhood home is best if it means a short and hopefully harmonious visit. The woman who used to be DCI Robin Lyons, but was now just Robin Lyons, went home with her thirteen-year-old daughter after she was dismissed from the Met. She was going home to the room which she'd had as a child: she would have the bottom bunk and Elena - Lennie to those who knew her well - would have the top bunk. The room was redolent of the time she'd shared the room with her brother Luke - and they weren't good memories. [[Critical Incidents by Lucie Whitehouse|Full Review]] <!-- Martine -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529001579.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529001579/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] The problem with Martine's fiction debut is that she makes the two commonest errors in SF writing: she tries to be too clever and she wants her fictional languages to be complex and rich and errs on the side of making them unpronounceable by most readers. I can see why she does both, but it's a disappointment because they're the blocks against which the brilliance of the book stumbles. [[A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine|Full Review]] <!-- Lee -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0874869722.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0874869722/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[When Spring Comes to the DMZ by Uk-Bae Lee]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:For Sharing|For Sharing]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] There is a place on this earth that, at the time of writing, is resplendent with life. In the spring seals gambol in the river – not venturing too far, for fear of being slashed open on the razor wire the humans have put in place. In the autumn, salmon come upstream, looking doleful as well they might, for they will spawn and die, if they reach their birthing grounds. Mountain goats gambol prettily among the hills – if the landmines men left behind do not prevent them from doing so. This is a snapshot of life in the DMZ, the demilitarized zone between the two countries with Korea in their name, and it's the world's least welcome wildlife sanctuary. [[When Spring Comes to the DMZ by Uk-Bae Lee|Full Review]] <!-- O'Reilly -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:147367235X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/147367235X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[M for Mammy by Eleanor O'Reilly]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] The Augustts are, like all families, a bit complicated. A loving irish family, their love binds them together – but all express that in very different ways. However, when misfortune strikes the family they are forced to work together in order to understand each other again, as with a family as complicated as the Augustts it's not always what is spoken that makes the most sense. Things are shaken up further when Granny Mae-Anne moves in and takes charge. Full of stern words and common sense, she's a force of nature who must try her hardest to hold the family together. [[M for Mammy by Eleanor O'Reilly|Full Review]] <!-- James Wallman -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0753552655.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0753552655/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Time and How to Spend It: The 7 Rules for Richer, Happier Days by James Wallman]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]] Most things you can replace, but one of the things which you simply can't replace is time. Even though we know this, we fail to use what we have wisely. We have more leisure time, but that's not how it feels: a high value is put on how we spend our working hours, but there's a low value on leisure. Unfortunately we now know how to work and not how to ''live'': we need to ''learn'' how to spend our leisure time wisely and James Wallman has taken on the onerous task of teaching us how to do this. [[Time and How to Spend It: The 7 Rules for Richer, Happier Days by James Wallman|Full Review]] <!-- Jonnes -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1609809173.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1609809173/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Eiffel's Tower for Young People by Jill Jonnes]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Non-Fiction|Children's Non-Fiction]] Brash and elegant, sophisticated, controversial and vibrant, the 1889 World's Fair in Paris encompassed the best, the worst and the beautiful from many countries and cultures. The French Republic laid out model villages from all their colonies, put on art shows, dance performances, food festivals and concerts to stun the senses. And towering above it all, the most popular and the most hated monument to French accomplishment and daring – the Eiffel Tower. [[Eiffel's Tower for Young People by Jill Jonnes|Full Review]] <!-- Johnson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471178471.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471178471/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew by Milly Johnson]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] I liked this book. Whilst not necessarily a page-turner, this was a thoroughly enjoyable heart-warming read from the Queen of chick lit, Milly Johnson. [[The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew by Milly Johnson|Full Review]] <!-- Kate Tough -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:034914365X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/034914365X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Keep Walking Rhona Beech by Kate Tough]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Life has just hidden behind a corner and stuck a foot out as Rhona Beech came past. She and Mark had been together for nine years and it was beginning to feel ''settled''. Then Mark announced that he'd got a job in Canada and he was going whether Rhona wanted to come with him or not. The ''not'' bit of the sentence was the way it worked out and Rhona was left on her own. Well, she wasn't completely on her own: she had friends and family, but it's not the same as having that special someone in your life, that someone who makes you part of a couple. So Rhona had to start again, rejoining a world that bore little resemblance to the one she'd left nine years ago - and there's a lot of difference between being in the middle of your twenties and the middle of your thirties. [[Keep Walking Rhona Beech by Kate Tough|Full Review]] <!-- Kerry Watts -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786817926.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786817926/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Heartlands (D I Jessie Blake) by Kerry Watts]]===

[[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:Crime|Crime]]

{{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', leading man Edward Lowe stumbles across the dead body of a woman on the edge of a reservoir. The story had begun some twenty years earlier when two boys raped 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 killed Sophie Nicholl, seemingly, a link to death during the Second World War. Jack Mackay was 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=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 mud and blood - on and carrying a knife, comes into the police station shouting that he hasn't killed the man. A body at the face bottom of it a freshly dug grave at Swanton Morley church - he's been stabbed to death. DCI John Tanner is just back from a decent familyhis 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 ringleaderwork of a psychiatrist. Daniel Simpson 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 followerperson 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 raped Sophie has a tiny amount of hope. He is good at art, and clings to the moments of joy when he could have stopped what happened 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 didnNelson 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. SophieNeither 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 shallow grave by 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 enthusiastic cocker spaniel 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 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: 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 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 boys were arrestedfirst day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, tried 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 sentenced 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 a young offenders institutionfacility with numbers which most of us can only envy. There were those who thought He also realised that the sentence most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was too lenient, even 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 fifteen-year-old boys help from her beloved aunt, Carole. Freya's former mentor and SophieCarole's elder brotherclose friend, Arthur Crockleford, Tomis dead and the circumstances seem suspicious, to say the least. Arthur was one of thesethe reason why Freya had not been back to the village: Arthur, she feels, let her down badly. He wasn't going Even though they were in business together as antique hunters, she has not felt able to let 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 matter restlove of her life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced. [[Heartlands }}{{Frontpage|isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover|title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (D I Jessie BlakeEditors) by Kerry Watts|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 - DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->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}}