'''Read [[Features|new features]].'''
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{{newreview
|author=Annelise Freisenbruch
|title=The First Ladies of Rome: The Women Behind the Caesars
|rating=5
|genre=History
|summary=Perhaps the most shocking thing to be gleaned from this fascinating history of the women who surrounded the Caesars is how easily their reputations were created, moulded and destroyed. Any woman who put a foot out of line in a culture where men held almost all the power could be accused of a litany of crimes which bore curious similarities with those of many another woman in similar circumstances. Incest and adultery were charges regularly levied against them, and the very fact that the details were identical in almost every case should give rise to suspicion about their accuracy. And yet history has accepted and spread these scandals as fact.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099523930</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|summary=The opening chapter of this book is a roller-coaster of a read. Velvet has fainted while doing back-breaking, gruelling work in a laundry, and risks being sent to the workhouse. Quick thinking saves her job, and the reader relaxes, only to learn a shocking and shameful secret about the heroine we have already begun to like. Her fortunes soon change, in true Dickensian style, but her troubles are not over: this same secret will come back to haunt her (please excuse the pun) and put her in the power of one of the other characters.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747599211</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Brian Ruckley
|title=The Edinburgh Dead
|rating=5
|genre=Crime (Historical)
|summary=The phrase 'jack of all trades and master of none' can apply to writers as well as anything else and I've always been suspicious of authors who switch genres, as they often prove less effective when they do so. Sometimes, however, it does work and having enjoyed Brian Ruckley's fantasy writings such as [[Fall of Thanes by Brian Ruckley|Fall of Thanes]], I found that he's equally as enjoyable when writing a crime thriller.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498653</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Richard Brassey
|title=The Story of the Olympics
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=It's the story of the Olympics from earliest times – 776 BC and the first Games at Olympia right through to the 2012 Games in London and even a few hints about how things might be different for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. It's told in the form which seems to appeal to every child – the comic strip – but don't be mislead into thinking that this is light-weight or superficial. It's anything but.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444000489</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=J M Coetzee
|title=Scenes From Provincial Life
|rating=4.5
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary='Scenes from Provincial Life' is a compilation of JM Coetzee's three fictionalised memoirs: 'Boyhood' first published in 1997, 'Youth' published in 2002 and [[Summertime by J M Coetzee|Summertime]] published in 2009. In one sense they clearly belong together in this single edition and yet they were initially published separately. What strikes the reader of this compilation is the change in style and focus of the third book in the series.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846554853</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Alan Titchmarsh
|title=The Haunting
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=We don't know whether or not Harry Flint was a good history teacher – but we do know that he's disenchanted with the job and determined to make a change. His marriage to a lawyer only lasted a few months and Harry feels – rightly or wrongly – that he needs a complete change. He buys a ramshackle cottage, determined to spend some time restoring it as well as investigating his family history and the lives of the saints. Honestly – I know what you're thinking – he is rather more fun than all that sounds. Well, he is - some of the time.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340936886</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tom Angleberger
|title=Darth Paper Strikes Back: An Origami Yoda Book
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=In this follow up to ''The Strange Case of Origami Yoda'' there is a new paper finger puppet in school. Harvey has made himself a Darth Vader (Darth Paper) and it is, of course, turning him to the dark side! I hadn't read the original story to begin with, so I must admit that there were times when I wondered quite what was going on! It seems that one of the boys at school, Dwight, made an Origami Yoda finger puppet and this puppet gave his classmates amazing advice, advice that helped them in their school relationships and resolved various problems. Origami Yoda was, undoubtedly, using the force!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1419701274</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Orla Kiely
|title=Orla Kiely Numbers
|rating=3.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=This counting book (from one to ten) makes a nice partner to Orla Kiely's book about [[Orla Kiely Colours by Orla Kiely|colours]] if you're looking for a pretty gift to give to a new yummy mummy. The fabric cover is rather lovely to touch and feel, and the board book feels well constructed and able to withstand a bit of a chew from a teething baby.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405258551</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Orla Kiely
|title=Orla Kiely Colours
|rating=3.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Orla Kiely is one of the UK's most popular designers at the moment. I seem to see her designs everywhere on everything from stationery to kitchen jugs, and now her graphics are available as a baby's book of colours.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140525856X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=John L Locke
|title=Duels and Duets: Why Men and Women Talk So Differently
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Locke's subtitle ''Why Men and Women Talk So Differently'' might lead you to think that this is just another self-help ''Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'' tome. It's not. Rather than focussing upon what we all know from experience – that men and women do not communicate very well because of some fundamental difference in their respective approach to verbal expression – the New York City University Professor of Linguistics sets out to explain WHY that might be.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0521887135</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David Savage
|title=Furniture with Soul: Master Woodworkers and Their Craft
|rating=5
|genre=Crafts
|summary=David Savage is a master furniture maker and one of the artists featured in the book, so he is not – as he says himself – a neutral observer and nor can he be neutral in choosing who to include in the book. Having said that, the pictures alone will tell you that he has chosen people who create furniture of great beauty and – often – originality. It's the text that makes the book shine, though – as it seeks not to give a critical appreciation of each man and one woman's work, but to look at what makes them tick, what drives them on and how they have handled the good times as well as the bad. It is, if you like, ten in-depth biographies of artists who work in a common medium and ten shorter pieces about those we should look out for in the future.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>4770031211</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Fiona Mountain
|title=Cavalier Queen
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=We sweep back in time to a young Henrietta. Living the spoilt and pampered life of a pretty, little princess whom everyone (even her dog) loves and adores. She spends delightfully carefree days singing and dancing and playing with her little dog. But the subject of marriage is on the horizon. She's fourteen after all. Time to put away those childish things. Who has her family decided will be her future husband? The young princess has no say in the matter but hopes he will be just a little handsome and be gentle with her. It's not only a marriage of two individuals (that's almost inconsequential) it's a marriage of two nations - with strategy and long-term thinking in mind. In short, the French Royal Family want to do everything to appease other countries and hopefully keep war at bay.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848091672</amazonuk>
}}