|summary=Irish novelist Joseph O'Connor has had quite a 2012. Earlier in the year he joined the ranks of such authors as Edna O'Brien, [[:Category:Roddy Doyle|Roddy Doyle]] and Seamus Heaney when he became a recipient of the PEN award for his outstanding contribution to Irish literature. What could possibly top that for a sense of achievement? Well this, his first book of short stories in 20 years, must come pretty close to at least equalling it, amply illustrating the reasons for the panel's decision.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846556899</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Rowan Coleman
|title=Dearest Rose
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Rose has finally escaped. For years she has put up with her bullying husband and lived with the sadness of her mother's suicide after her father left when she was a young girl. Only once, when she was heavily pregnant with her daughter Maddie, did anyone show her any warmth and kindness and treat her like a human being in her own right. That person was Frasier McCleod, an art dealer who had been trying to trace Rose's father, John Jacobs,who happened to be a very exciting artist. Although she couldn't help him, Frasier sent a postcard to thank her and it is the village pictured on that postcard that she makes her way to nine years later when she can put up with her husband's cruelty no more.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099551276</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Melissa Marr
|title=Carnival of Souls
|rating=3.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=In the City of daimons, the fighting is raging. Not war - this is much more organised. The Carnival of Souls is a once in a generation opportunity to change your future. Lower caste Kaleb and Aya, fighting the prejudice agaist women, aim to do just that. Meanwhile, in our world, Mallory knows of the City's existence but not she and her father need to run away so much. These three are about to be drawn together, and the consequences for everyone could be huge.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0061659282</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Martin Kelner
|title=Sit Down and Cheer: A History of Sport on TV
|rating=4
|genre=Sport
|summary=Like many English sports fans, the majority of the calories I burn are used up by shouting at the TV and occasionally going to the shops for more beer and crisps. Sports books tend to be about the sport itself or biographies of those who expended great effort to reach the top of their chosen sport. But in Martin Kelner's 'Sit Down and Cheer: A History of Sport on TV', there is finally a book for the less energetic among us.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140812923X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Rob Keeley
|title=The (Fairly) Magic Show and Other Stories
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Hooray! Rob Keeley has written a second book of short stories. We really enjoyed [[The Alien in the Garage and Other Stories by Rob Keeley|the first one]] here at Bookbag Towers, so we were really looking forward to reading the second.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780883013</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Marian Keyes
|title=The Mystery of Mercy Close
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Helen Walsh is a Private Investigator. She's also back home living with her elderly parents (you've heard about Mammy Walsh, right?) because she can't keep up the mortgage or her (very small) flat in Dublin and she hasn't got an office either, for much the same reason. Work is decidedly thin on the ground and to make matters even worse some of her old demons have bubbled up. She's suffered from depression before and she knows the signs: those vultures in the sky were a bit of a giveaway. An old boyfriend resurfaces too. Jay Parker was always charming but too dodgy to be a keeper. It's a difficult choice when he wants to employ Helen but Jay has cash and he's putting on three gigs in Dublin. The trouble is that one of the members of former boyband Laddz, whose comeback starts the following week, has gone missing and without Wayne Diffney a lot of money is going to have to be repaid to the punters.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718155319</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Philip C Stead and Erin E Stead
|title=Bear Has a Story to Tell
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Winter is drawing closer, and Bear has a story to tell his friends. Unfortunately, everyone is too busy to hear Bear's story as they are all trying to get ready for winter. Bear slowly, kindly, helps them all to get ready until all his friends are asleep or away, and so there is no one left to tell his story to. Will anyone want to listen when winter is finally over and they're all awake again?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849395187</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Anthony Capella
|title=Love and Other Dangerous Chemicals
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Just when you thought you’d seen (read?) everything, comes this book, the story of the chemistry of Chemistry. Dr Steven J. Fisher is an Oxford scientist whose special area of interest is the female orgasm. His latest work is attracting interest from drug companies and the public alike for it’s an elusive subject: a pill that will do for women what Viagra did for men (and I don’t mean help their cardiac problems). Currently in the clinical trial stage, the results are looking promising until there’s a new addition to his group of guinea pigs in the form of Annie, a literature post-grad from the same university. Her lover (also her PhD supervisor) is keen for her to take part in the hope that Dr Fisher can fix her problem (and it is ‘her’ problem, not theirs). Simply put, Annie would rather read a good book than have a good… well, you can fill in your own rhyme here.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857890255</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=James Carnac
|title=The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper
|rating=3.5
|genre=Crime (Historical)
|summary=The ''Autobiography'' presents itself as the Ripper’s story told from his own perspective. The son of an impoverished doctor, young Carnac has a childhood obsession with blood which a series of unfortunate events morphs into a full-blown desire to slit human throats. It’s the typical Victorian coming-of-age story (from birth, to school, then first love and finally adulthood) with a twist, in that the path Carnac’s on leads him to become not a responsible adult but the most famous murderer of the nineteenth century.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0552165395</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Kevin J Anderson
|title=The Martian War
|rating=3.5
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Suppose H G Wells was not simply a skilled writer with a spectacular imagination, but was in fact centrally involved in a fantastical adventure which formed the basis for several of his most successful novels. Kevin J Anderson has supposed exactly this in his latest novel 'The Martian War'. Real historical figures such as Percival Lowell and T H Huxley share centre stage with famous Wellsian characters like Dr Moreau and Mr Cavor in a story that borrows elements from 'War of the Worlds', 'The First Men in the Moon', 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' and 'The Invisible Man'.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781161720</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Thomas H Cook
|title=The Crime of Julian Wells
|rating=4.5
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=American travel writer Julian Wells walks out of the house he shares with his sister, wanders down to the garden lake, rows himself out to the centre and slits his wrists. He dies alone as he silently watches his life drip into the water. Devastated, his friend and frequent travel companion Philip Anders, tries to come to terms with the loss the only way he can: by attempting to understand. Julian dedicated a book to Philip, mentioning a 'crime' that Philip had witnessed. Philip had always thought it to be a flip reference to his comment from years before that it would be a crime for Julian to waste time writing a certain piece, but, in the light of tragic events, is this actually the case? Is there a crime in the author's past? As Philip retraces the essence of Julian through his words, the places they visited and people they encountered he slowly uncovers secrets and a dangerous obsession.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908800143</amazonuk>
}}