'''Read [[Features|new features]].'''
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{{newreview
|author=Nicky Haslam
|title=Redeeming Features
|rating=3
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Nicholas Haslam, interior designer, columnist, reviewer, the man whom it was said would attend a lighted candle, let alone a party, socialite and name dropper - this is your life.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>009954623X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Scott McIntyre and Laura Raine
|summary=Jack loves spending time with his sea-loving grandfather, hearing tales of his old ocean voyages, and seeing his beautiful paintings. When other kids in the village cast doubts about whether Grandfather really has ever been to sea, Jack begins to see things in a new light. However, as he's drifting off to sleep, Jack, Grandfather and Grandfather's house are all whisked away on a fantastic voyage across the sea.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849392560</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Amy Silver
|title=All I Want For Christmas
|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=In Amy Silver's 'All I Want for Christmas', the reader meets three very different women. Bea, who runs the local delicatessen, The Honey Pot, is facing Christmas alone with her young son Luca but is determined to make it as good as she possibly can. Olivia has somewhat rashly offered to host all of her fiancé's family from Ireland and it looks like it will be chaotic. On the other hand, Chloe will be celebrating alone, as her boyfriend will be sitting down to Christmas dinner with his wife and family. Although on the surface, the three women appear to have little in common, as Christmas approaches they start to form a bond that is likely to last well beyond the festive season.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099553228</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sue Moorcroft
|title=All That Mullarkey
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Cleo and Gav seemed to have the perfect marriage. Neither of them wanted children and their lives seemed to be full of fun, enjoyment and love. But sometimes all is not as it seems as Cleo discovered the night that she'd made up her mind to go to a reunion and Gav said that she shouldn't go. She set off, but wondered if it really was worth causing so much heartache when she wasn't all that keen on going and turned back. When she got home she found that the writing was on the wall for their marriage – quite literally. It said, in marker pen on the bedroom wall 'This Marriage is Over' and Gav had gone.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906931240</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Lisi Harrison
|title=Monster High
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
|summary=I don't know about everyone else, but I'm getting a bit fed up of all the vampires, werewolves and other creepies that seem to have popped up since the explosion of hype around [[Twilight by Stephenie Meyer|Twilight]]. So, when this book landed on my doorstep, I can't say I held much hope for it.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907410635</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Julie Cohen
|title=Getting Away With It
|rating=5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Julie Cohen's latest book is a different creature to her previous novels. It's not just that it's longer, although the length allows for more characterisation and trickier, complex plots than her ''Little Black Dress'' books, but it also feels different in style. There's the same quirky side that Julie writes so well - the heroine this time is a stunt woman, some bizarre ice cream flavours and there's some interesting crop-circle action! But the book feels more serious - more grown up somehow - yet just as readable and compelling as her previous stories have been.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>075535060X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Horace McCoy
|title=They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
|rating=4.5
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=Many of us will know of the release of the film of the same title back in the 1960s. I haven't seen the film so I started reading with no ready-made opinions about the book. Likewise, I had no idea how the attention-grabbing title bore any relation to a book about dance. I was about to find out. It's both arresting and simple. The book cover and also the inside front cover are littered with praise for this book. 'The first existentialist novel to have appeared in America' says one writer. 'Takes the reader into one of America's darkest corners ...' from another source. So, I was expecting a terrific read. But did I get it?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184668739X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Clare Chambers
|title=Burning Secrets
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=Daniel, his mother and his sister Louie are escaping the city to spend six months on the isolated island of Wragge. They're all escaping something: Daniel's mother is still getting over a broken marriage; Louie is prone to black depressions and self-harming; Daniel has just been released from a youth offenders institution after a conviction for fire-setting resulting in the death of an old itinerant. There's plenty to leave behind.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007307284</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Kenneth Oppel
|title=Half Brother
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
|summary=Ben's thirteen and an only child. You'd think he was entirely used to being the centre of attention, then, wouldn't you? But this isn't really the case. Ben's parents are academics. His father is a fiercely ambitious behavioural psychologist and his mother is both completing her doctorate and acting as her husband's research assistant. Ben is used to coming second to the advance of science. He can cope with that. Usually. But then his parents up sticks and move him all the way across Canada. Why? Because his father's new university is prepared to underwrite his new project - raising a chimpanzee as human and trying to teach it American Sign Language.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0385618417</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Stephen Wynn
|title=Two Sons in a War Zone: Afghanistan: The True Story of a Father's Conflict
|rating=3.5
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=It's almost a nightly occurrence – that news item which contains the words '… has been killed in Afghanistan' and we think of a young life, or young lives cut tragically short. They're fresh-faced young men or women at what should have been the beginning of their adult life and now they are no more. You feel for them and their families, but what about the families who have people they love out in Afghanistan, who live each day with the worry that the knock will be coming to their door? Stephen Wynn has two sons who have done tours of duty in Afghanistan and who are likely to do so again. 'Two Sons in a War Zone' is his story of how he copes with the unrelenting pressure.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905570244</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Marie-Louise Jensen
|title=Sigrun's Secret
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=It must have seemed to Sigrun that she had an ideal life in Iceland, breaking and training the colts on the family farm or helping her mother, Thora, who was a healer. Life seemed to be complete when her father's ship returned home and the family was together again. It was not to last though. Sigrun's parents were hiding a dreadful secret and when it caught up with them, Sigrun, her father and Asgrim, her brother were forced into exile in Jorvik for three years. She was completely unused to the busy city life and disliked the violence and cruelty she found around her. But – at the same time – her own skills as a healer and midwife began to blossom.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192728822</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Natalie Haynes
|title=The Ancient Guide to Modern Life
|rating=4
|genre=History
|summary=Haynes starts with the positive statement that we shouldn't throw the subject of ancient history straight in the bin, so to speak. We should instead embrace it. It has lots to tell us if only we would listen. Chapter 1 entitled ''Old World Order'' certainly grabbed my attention with the line ... 'Can politicians really make a positive difference to our lives ...' In 2010 when the role of politicians is at an all-time low in the eyes of the voters, this is an excellent question to kick off with. We zoom right back in time and explore how the Athenians lived. Apparently they were rather forward-thinking and progressive people with ideas which could easily be put into use today. They also enjoyed true democracy. When Haynes was talking about politics generally I liked another sweeping statement of hers where she says ' ... that history teaches us we could offer our politicians a hefty pay cut and still get plenty of perfectly competent candidates.' My inner voice was shouting out - make an immediate start on that one please. I won't spoil all the delicious details which led up to this attention-grabbing statement but it really is food for thought.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846683238</amazonuk>
}}