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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==

'''Read [[Forthcoming Publications|reviews of books about to be published]].{{Frontpage|class-"wikitable" cellpaddingisbn="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- Neal -->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:1794467440.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1794467440/refPolitics and Society|summary=nosimSometimes it's simpler to explain a book by describing what it ''isn't'' and that applies to ''The Conservative Effect: 2010-2024 - 14 Wasted Years?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Watchwords by Philip Neal]]=== [[image:4star''.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] This satisfying collection of short stories has a provenance at least as beguiling as If you're looking for an easy read which will deliver the provenance of inside story about what ''really'' happened on certain occasions, then this isn't the antique watches book for you. If that inspired it. Philip Neal lost a watch. It was a watch he was fond of and had been told was like a 1930s Cartier. Instead of mourning its loss's what you're looking for, he began to collect vintage watches that resembled it. And thatI don't think Anthony Seldon's how he became a watch collector. An eBay purchase led him to the Antique Watch Company watch repairers in Clerkenwellbook, {{amazonurl|isbn=B0BH7SKG2S|title=Johnson at 10}}, can be bettered for those tumultuous years. The eBay purchase was It's a fake, but the friendship that grew between the buyer compelling read and the repairer of watches was not and the seed of an idea should be compulsory for a book was bornanyone who thinks Johnson should return to politics. [[ Watchwords by Philip Neal |Full Review]] <!-''The Conservative Effect'' is an entirely different beast. It's the seventh book in a series which looks at the impact a government has made and co- Stephen Booth editor Sir Anthony Seldon regards this as the most important. This book follows the well-->established format: a series of experts from various fields review the state of the nation when the coalition took over in 2010, the changes that occurred and the situation in 2024.}}{{Frontpage|-author=Max Boucherat| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|The Last Life of Lori Mills[[image:0751567647.jpg|linkrating=http://www4.amazon.co.uk/dp/0751567647/ref5|genre=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] Confident Readers| stylesummary="verticalWe meet Lori on the first evening she's got the house to herself – no neighbour to pop in, babysitter poorly, mother at work, just an avidly rule-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Fall Down Dead (Cooper and Fry) by Stephen Booth]]=== [[image:4starbreaking eleven year old, on her lonesome.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] DS Dev Sharma is delighted - if delight What could possibly go wrong? Snuggled in a blanket fort, she has one main intention, and that is the right word to apply log on to a murder case Voxminer, the world-building, critter- but hecollecting game that is a hit in Lori's got a result when the husband of a murder victim is found with the knife, standing over the body, and admitting to the murderworld. DI Ben Cooper is concerned with But first Lori has a suspicious death tiny inkling that this stormy night doesn't find herself entirely on Kinder Scouther own, and then she finds something even more spooky. A party of walkers - For the New Trespassers Walking Group - got lost in the fog server she and her bestie and problems arose when one nobody else should be able to enter shows signs of the party was injuredtampering. The group split When malevolent eyes spark up to find helpon her phone screen, or at least a mobile signal, but when they're rescued they're one short and her safe place in the body of Faith Matthew was found at the bottom of Kinder Downfall. It looked like game has been doctored – well, where is a dreadful accident, but Cooper wasn't happy about the way the body had fallen. Things are not always as they seem - in either case. [[Fall Down Dead (Cooper and Fry) by Stephen Booth|Full Review]]girl to turn?|isbn=0008666482}}{{Frontpage<!-- Casey Cep -->|author=Jenny Lecoat|-title=Beyond Summerland| stylerating="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"4|genre=General Fiction[[image:1785150731.jpg|linksummary=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1785150731/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and Jean lives on Jersey with her mother where they are celebrating the Last Trial end of Harper Lee by Casey Cep]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:True Crime|True Crime]] Sometimes you begin reading a book the occupation. During the war, Jean's father was arrested for listening to a banned radio and soldiers took him away one night, leaving Jean and before you've got to the bottom her mother waiting for years for news of the first page you know that it's going to be brillianthim. You sense As the British finally free the Channel islands from the author's effortless grasp of her subject matter Nazis, and you already know that her use the war is finally over, their hopes rise that they will finally learn what became of words is almost surgical in its precisionhim. The hands holding you are safeBut will the truth come as a relief, which considering that this is a book or will it raise further questions around what else happened during the war? Who was the informer who told the Nazis about two subjects where facts are in short supply, is somewhat surprising. Our first subject is the Reverend Willie Maxwell. radio? Over seven years, six people close to And what other secrets have been kept throughout the Reverend had died, with Maxwell benefiting substantially from insurance policies which he'd taken out on their lives. [[Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cepoccupation?|Full Review]]isbn=1846976537}}{{Frontpage<!-- Weir -->|isbn=1529428289|-title=A Grave in the Woods (A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel)| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Martin Walker|rating=4[[image:1472227727.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472227727/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]Crime  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|==summary=[[Six Tudor Queens: Anna Because of Klevevarious property transactions, Queen of Secrets by Alison Weir]]=== [[image:4people 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:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] Poor They dated back to World War II and it fell to Bruno, frumpy Anne the Chief of Cleaves always gets a raw deal by historyPolice for St Denis, of all to discover the wives identities of Henry VIII she is the one who is known for being rejectedbodies and establish whether or not a crime had been committed. Anne Boleyn and Katheryn Howard were the sexy ones As if this isn't enough to worry about, Jane the dutiful one who delivered a son, Katherine of Aragon clung on to her crown and Katharine Parr clung Dordogne River - normally tranquil - is flowing at record levels. It's not just the local autumn rains that have caused the problem: various dams upstream on another river have had to her life but poor frumpy Anne release water and St Denis faces the possibility of Cleaves just rolled over and moved alonga devastating flood. Not any more! Alison Weir presents us with a different view of this young woman who saw the opportunity to live an independent life and took it. [[Six Tudor Queens: Anna of Kleve, Queen of Secrets by Alison Weir|Full Review]]}}{{Frontpage<!-- Mel Sherratt -->|isbn=152919640X|-title=The Suspect| styleauthor="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"Rob Rinder|rating=4.5[[image:0008271070.jpg|linkgenre=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008271070/refCrime|summary=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Tick Tock by Mel Sherratt]]=== [[image:3The nation's favourite daytime TV presenter, Jessica Holby, was murdered live on television and it seems that there's only one suspect.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] We're in Stoke on Trent He's celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks and his contract stated that he must not serve anything containing miso to Jessica Holby. A group She's seriously allergic and carries an EpiPen in case of young women who study at Dunwood Academy are running the cross-country courseemergencies. One of them Everything seemed as normal - Lauren Ansell as normal as they can be in a busy, live television studio - stops behind to tie her shoelace and is murdered, Brooks served a ragout to the shock Holby. Her EpiPen was nowhere to be found and devastation of her friendsshe was dead within minutes. Twins Courtney and Caitlin Piggott, Sophie Bishop and Teagan Cole cling together for support - or do do as much as they can given It was soon clear that their parents are understandably reluctant to let them out of their sightthis was no accident. One of the parents is journalist Simon Cole, boyfriend of DS Grace Allendale, who is charged with investigating the murder under the guidance of DI Nick Carter. It's a struggle to keep their professional lives separate. [[Tick Tock by Mel Sherratt|Full Review]]}}<!-- Mark Billingham -->{{Frontpage|-isbn=0008385068| styletitle="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"The Midnight Feast|author=Lucy Foley[[image:0751566977|rating=4.jpg5|linkgenre=http://wwwThrillers|summary=It's midsummer on the Dorset coast and guests gather at The Manor.amazon It's their opening weekend and splendid celebrations are promised.co It's all headed up by Francesca Meadows.uk/dp/0751566977/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Their Little Secret by Mark Billingham]]=== [[image:5star The Manor was her ancestral home and she's converted it into an impressive retreat for the wealthy and famous. Her husband, Owen, was the architect and work is still ongoing on parts of the site.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] There are times when two people come together The heat is oppressive and amongst the whole is greater than the sum of the parts guests are enemies as well as in the case of, say, Morecambe and Wisefriends. Sometimes two people come together Old scores are going to be settled and we get it won''Folie à Deux'' - t be long before a shared psychotic disorder which produces devastating consequences. One of the prime examples body is Ian Brady and Myra Hindleyfound. But }}{{Frontpage|author=Ashley Hickson- I'm getting ahead of myself as our story started with a suicideLovence|title=Wild East|rating=4. A middle-aged woman had been gulled out of £755|genre=Teens|summary=Written in verse, this is Ronny's story,000 by a man called Patrick Jenkins, but once he had the money he disappeared young black fourteen year old boy from Hackney who suddenly has to move to Norwich and ghosted his former loverstart at a mostly white school. She threw herself in front of a tube train. [[Their Little Secret The move is initiated by Mark Billingham|Full Review]] <!-- Motayne -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:147367591XRonny's mum who is worried for Ronny's safety after a tragic event, and so Ronny finds himself trying to settle in a new town, a new school, and keep himself out of trouble.jpg|link=http://www He listens to music constantly, and has always dreamed of being a rapper.amazon.co.uk/dp/147367591X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;" But now, in this new school, his teacher encourages him to be part of a poetry writing workshop group and, slowly, Ronny begins to see the connections between rap and poetry, and the power of creativity and crafting your words.|isbn=0241645441}}{{Frontpage|isbn=1635866847|title=The Lavender Companion|author=[[Nocturna by Maya Motayne]]Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci|rating=4.5|genre==Lifestyle[[image:4star.jpg|linksummary=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [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 [https:Category:Fantasy|Fantasy//www.pinelavenderfarm.com/ website]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] A thief without and there's a face, picture of a prince who was never meant to be king, Finn slice of chocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and Alfie collide, as if thrown together by fate, to bring about desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally. (There's a series of catastrophes and set recipe in motion the release of a darkness that seeks to consume all book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the goodness book and magic I was told to make a mess of it. Notes in the worldmargins are sanctioned. These two unlikely allies must try You get to put their own personal battles behind them and join forces to stop the evil from destroying everything they hold dearfold down the corners of pages. You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem. I ''loved'' this book already. [[Nocturna by Maya Motayne|Full Review]]}}<!-- Eagle -->{{Frontpage|-author=Rob Keeley| styletitle="widthChildish Spirits: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"10th anniversary special edition|rating=4[[image:0571346308.jpg|linkgenre=http://wwwConfident Readers|summary=Around here, we're big fans of children's author Rob Keeley.amazon.co.uk/dp/0571346308/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Secret Starling by Judith Eagle]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]]Clara has lived in the crumbling Braithwaite Manor owned by her guardianHe's a ball of happy positivity, he understands children, and he writes for their pleasure and enjoyment, Uncle Edward, since she was a baby. It has been a lonely life as her uncle is strict and forbidding and she has been home schooled. Her only friend is Cook who looks after Clara with kindness and tells her stories of her own family and their adventures. Clara has recently become aware that something is wrong as many of the prized possessions such as paintings and porcelain are disappearing and then cook is dismissed. Shortly afterwards Uncle Edward abandons Clara in the local village with a fistful of money and disappears. Clara is now totally alone. [[The Secret Starling by Judith Eagle|Full Review]] <!-- Leah Hazard -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1786331608.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1786331608/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story by Leah Hazard]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Lifestyle|Lifestyle]], [[:Category:Politics and Society|Politics and Society]] Over the past few years we've had a rash (sorry - no pun intended) of books by medical practitioners. Doctors have been at the forefront, but ''Hard Pushed'' is the first book I've seen by a midwife. It's an unusual profession in that it's one of the few callings within the medical system where most of the patients are healthy and the only one where one person comes into the system and (for the most part) more than one goes out. It's an amazing thing to be able to do - to escort new life into the world - and an enormous responsibility. Leah Hazard came to it after a career in television and ''Hard Pushed'' is the story of her career as a midwife - and the title tells more than one story. [[Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story by Leah Hazard|Full Review]] <!-- Lucinda Riley -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529014980.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529014980/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Paradise. That's what it seemed like to nine-year-old Posy Anderson. Her father delighted in indulging her and playing with her. Together they caught butterflies and examined them before her father took them off to let them go free. Her mother was rather distant, but her father more than made up for that. The only blot on the horizon was that her father was a spitfire pilot, recovering from an injury, and it seemed likely that he would have to go back to the war. Everyone thought that it was drawing to a close, but men still had to go and fight - and risk their lives. Posy was staying with her grandmother in Cornwall when the news came through that her father had been killed in action. Her mother had travelled from Suffolk to tell her what was going to happen to her. [[The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley|Full Review]] <!-- Carroll -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471160645.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471160645/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Words That Fly Between Us by Sarah Carroll]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]] Lucy is living in a beautiful, expensive house along with her joking, playful dad and her lovely mum. Everything should be perfect. Her dad is a property investor, making millions, and she and her mum don't lack for anything in their lives. But still, Lucy lives her life on edge, controlled by the words around her, whether they are spoken, or unspoken. You see, her dad is a bully, edging closer and closer towards physically abusing her mum, and Lucy is manipulated by him, unable to express her true feelings, or fully develop her artistic side which is where she feels her talents lie but her dad says won't ever lead to her having a successful life. [[The Words That Fly Between Us by Sarah Carroll|Full Review]] <!-- Kan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1911115847.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911115847/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Nights of the Creaking Bed by Toni Kan]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Literary Fiction| Literary Fiction]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] ''Nights of the Creaking Bed'' is a collection of short stories by Toni Kan. The series of stories tell of the lives and lusts of an assortment of characters living in and around Lagos, Nigeria. Nigeria, in this collection, is imbued with its very own heart of darkness. Danger stalks the shadows and people are killed for nothing more than a wrong look. Kan writes with a vitality and passion that allows these cynical stories to achieve a glimmer of hope. [[Nights of the Creaking Bed by Toni Kan|Full Review]] <!-- Macdibble -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1910646482.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1910646482/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] Set in a dystopian Australia, this is the story of Ella and Emery and their dogs travelling across the outback together. A red fungus has wiped out all the crops and grasses, and with the food chain grinding to a halt, society is collapsing. Ella's mum has been gone for a long time - she left for work one day and then never came home. Ella and her half brother Emery have been living at home with their dad and their dogs, hoping for the best, but one day their dad decides to go out and try to find Ella's mum. When he also fails to return, Emery decides that their best chance of survival is to set out with the dogs to travel across the outback to his grandfather's house where, he believes, there will still be food and a safe place for them to live until their father can find them again. [[The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble|Full Review]] <!-- Sara Sheridan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1472127110.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472127110/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Indian Summer: a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery by Sara Sheridan]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime (Historical)|Crime (Historical)]] Life has changed dramatically for Mirabelle, our favourite fifties sleuth, since the war, and not always for the better. When she first settled in Brighton she was alone, rudderless and secretly grieving for Jack, the lover who died before he could leave his wife. As time went by she found in herself an ability to solve crimes, made friends including an ebullient and determined young woman called Vesta who refused to let a little thing like racial prejudice stop her doing what she wanted, and even found consolation in the arms of a rather charming policeman. [[Indian Summer: a Mirabelle Bevan Mystery by Sara Sheridan|Full Review]] <!-- Gomes -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008291845.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008291845/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[We Are Not Okay by Natalia Gomes]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]], [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]] Set in a typical American town, ''We Are Not Okay'' tells the story of four teenage girls facing the difficulties brought on by high school and growing up as a girl in today's society. The novel is told from four different perspectives, those of Lucy, Ulana, Trina and Sophia, whose friendship statuses vary from BFFs to sworn enemies. The reader is presented with a glimpse into each of their lives, but more importantly their minds, and at times the thoughts of those characters could have been taken directly from my own. Gomes has created a heartbreakingly real and relevant novel that focuses on prominent topic areas which are becoming ingrained in our society, particularly in relation to the ''Me Too Movement''. ''We Are Not Okay'' reminds the reader of the importance of phrases like ''I'm With Her''. [[We Are Not Okay by Natalia Gomes|Full Review]]  <!-- Doescher -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683691172.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683691172/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Mean Girls by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:2.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, all the Star Wars films were crunched up against Shakespeare, and the marriage seemed a perfectly suitable one. So much so – so easily did the plots and characters converse in Shakespearean dialogue, and behave with Shakespearean stage directions – that the producers tried again, with [[William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future! by Ian Doescher|Back to the Future]] no less. And that worked. But simultaneously they put a real test out. A film I can't even really remember seeing was transcribed into the original Elizabethan lingo. A cult following I had never followed whatsoever was given the brand new, yet oh so ancient, dressing. Here was the true challenge – would I manage to enjoy this, based on little foreknowledge? Oh damn those shiny gold stars for letting the game away… [[William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Mean Girls by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] <!-- Jane Casey -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008149038.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008149038/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Cruel Acts by Jane Casey]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]] They called him 'the white knight' because he picked the women up when they were in difficulties. But they called him a serial killer too, because he murdered them and everyone heaved a sigh of relief when he went down for life. Then one of the jurors self-published his story of the trial which explained how he and another juror had looked up Stone's history and found a trail of violence. After that, he explained, they knew that Stone was guilty. The juror got two months for contempt of court and Stone was released on bail pending a retrial. [[Cruel Acts by Jane Casey|Full Review]] <!-- Doescher -->|-| style=''width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;''|[[image:168369094X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/168369094X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style=''vertical-align: top; text-align: left;''|===[[William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future! by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]] A long time ago, in a publishing house far away, [[:Category:Ian Doescher|someone]] thought it wonderfully wacky to rewrite the story of Star Wars in Shakespearean pentameter, colliding two entirely different genres and styles in such a clever way they seemed perfectly suited. It was then duly repeated for all the other films in the main Star Wars cycle, and clearly someone's buffing their quills ready for Episode Nine, the title of which became public knowledge the day before I write. In the hiatus, however, the effort has been made to see if the same shtick works with other texts, and to riff on other seemingly unlikely source materials in iambs. And could we have anything more suitably unsuitable-seeming than Back to the Future, with its tales of time travel, bullying, and parent/child strife like no other? [[William Shakespeare's Get Thee Back to the Future! by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] <!-- Crossan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1408868121.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408868121/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"| ===[[Toffee by Sarah Crossan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Teens|Teens]] ''I am not who I say I am,'' ''and Marla isn't who she thinks she is. ''  ''I am a girl trying to forget.'' ''She is a woman trying to remember.'' Allison has finally had enough and has run away from home. The burning red weal on her face provides a clue to why. She's on her way to Bude to find Kelly-Anne, who was the first to run away from home, but Kelly-Anne isn't answering her phone. Night is closing in and so Allison takes refuge in a shed in the garden of what looks to be an empty house. But the house isn't empty. Marla lives in it and Marla doesn't remember things very well. She mistakes Allison for her friend, Toffee. And because Allison doesn't much want to be Allison any more and because Marla is so happy to see Toffee - why shouldn't Allison ''become'' Toffee? [[Toffee by Sarah Crossan|Full Review]]<!-- Bowling -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1911077686.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.conot to lecture or hector.uk/dp/1911077686/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[In The Shadow of Heroes by Nicholas Bowling]]===

[[image:4The ''Childish Spirits'' series is one of his greatest achievements.5star.jpgIt'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|linkisbn=Category:{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}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category{{Frontpage|author=Kieran Larwood and Joe Todd-Stanton|title=Dungeon Runners:Hero 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. 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|Confident Readers]]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}}

Life {{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 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 slave 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 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 ancient Rome could 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 harsh grateful for an easy answer but the words 'perverse' and degrading'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 Cadmus has 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 easier 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 mostbasic 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. Taken Throw into that mix the household 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 scholar Tullus 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 babydoorway. 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 keenness 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 learn 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 excellent memory have made 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 invaluable 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.}}{{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 masterupper-class friends, who treats 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 more . 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 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 secretary perfectionist and perhaps even a member 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 familyLondon 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, rather than a despisedcard game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, barely human creaturethis turned into permanent employment as a trader. [[In }}{{Frontpage|isbn=1035021803|title=The Shadow 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: 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 Heroes by Nicholas Bowlingher life, who was murdered) and Freya and James have now divorced.}}{{Frontpage|Full Review]]isbn=AllTomorrowsFutureCover|title=All Tomorrow's Futures: Fictions that Disrupt|author=Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram (Editors)|rating=5|genre=Science Fiction|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}}