'''Read [[Features|new features]].'''
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{{newreview
|author=Tony Ross
|title=My Favourite Fairy Tales
|rating=3.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Tony Ross has picked, retold and illustrated his favourite fairy tales, taking in such classics as ''Rumpelstiltskin'' and ''Beauty and the Beast'', whilst also offering up slightly lesser-known ones like ''The Hedley Kow'', ''The Musicians of Bremen'', ''Sweet Porridge'', ''Prince Hyacinth'' and ''Fairy Gifts''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842709801</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|summary=Right, first things first. If you haven't read [[Fallen by Lauren Kate|Fallen]], go read it - or at least read a [[Fallen by Lauren Kate|review]] to see whether it sounds like your cup of tea - because this review will inevitably contain significant spoilers for the earlier Lauren Kate novel.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0385618093</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David Calcutt
|title=The Map of Marvels
|rating=2.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Connor is trying to draw a map for a school project but can't find any inspiration until an old book drops on the floor. Opening it to find a map, he gets inspired and starts work on his project. He's drawn to putting a tower in which he feels will complete it, and gets upset with his younger sister Alice when she scribbles it
out after claiming she's seen a nasty face in it - so he retaliates by kicking down her tower that she'd made of stuff from her toybox. As he does so, he finds himself transported onto the ship of Sindbad, King of the Pirates, and his daughter.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192729675</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Alex Chance
|title=Savage Blood
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=The book's cover is a very good clue as to its content: weapons dripping in blood and decapitated heads. The novel starts with Professor Edward Quinn on a rather unusual journey. It seems to end abruptly and in plenty of spilled blood, gore and horrendous scenes of carnage. Meanwhile, in Atlanta, USA, Dr Cortez has been cheating on his wife. His one-night stand proves satisfactory and interesting in all sorts of ways. Suddenly, he's involved in an extremely worrying medical situation. It needs to be sorted - and quickly. Cortez is a young, modern professional but he's human also, so not without his hang-ups. The conversations between himself and his even more successful wife, are bang on. They hit the right note. Many will identify with the couple. At times you can almost hear the friction between them. And the man-to-man conversations between Charlie Cortez and his buddy Dan are terrific. Trying hard to be big shots in a social situation when really they are out of their depth. A great introduction to this part of the story, I thought.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434019364</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tarquin Hall
|title=The Case of the Missing Servant
|rating=4.5
|genre=Crime
|summary=We concentrate in and around bustling Delhi and straight away Hall gives a great description of his main character. Once seen, never forgotten apparently. And as if that were not enough to be going on with, we're also given the low-down on his 'team.' Their nicknames are very funny and all of this delightful information gives the reader a taster of what's to come later in the book. I can't resist giving one explanation. Puri has several undercover operatives (I'm smiling to myself just recalling it) one of whom is called Flush. Why? Simple. '' ... he had a flush toilet in his home, a first for anyone in his remote village in ...'' You just cannot help but smile, you really can't. And this gentle humour runs throughout the book.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099525232</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Dave Zeltserman
|title=Outsourced
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
|summary=I loved Dave Zeltserman's ''man out of jail'' series, with both [[Pariah by Dave Zeltserrman|Pariah]] and [[Killer by Dave Zeltserman|Killer]] being among the best crime thrillers I've read in a long time. All good things must come to an end, however, and with ''Outsourced'' he has branched out slightly.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846687322</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Nicole Peeler
|title=Tempest Rising
|rating=3.5
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Since the death of her boyfriend, Jason, Jane True has been something of a social outcast in Rockabill. Hated by most of the general populace, who think she had something to do with Jason's death, Jane has lived her life on pause for eight years. Only Jane's clandestine nightly swim make her feel alive, at peace, normal – which is odd, because swimming in the treacherous and freezing sea waters is about as far from normal as a girl can get. But Jane's always had an affinity for the ocean.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841499668</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Katie Davies
|title=The Great Rabbit Rescue
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Joe-Down-The-Road has a new love in his life. It's his new pet rabbit, a replacement for the old one that died of fright. As a result he keeps it guarded day and night, water-pistolling anything that might or might not be a threat to its safety. But when he leaves home to live with his dad, what becomes of the rabbit? What if it isn't the right move for Joe - or the rabbit - and they need to be reunited? Only Anna and friends can possibly help.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847385966</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=P J Parrish
|title=Paint It Black
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
|summary=The central character, PI Louis Kincaid has decamped to Florida. He doesn't really want to be there but he has no job prospects elsewhere, he's still young and he needs to do something, fill his days. Even when a well-paid job as a PI falls in his lap, he still hesitates. Then he thinks, what the hell's he got to lose, a man's got to eat etc.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847391338</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Malalai Joya
|title=Raising My Voice: The Extraordinary Story of the Afghan Woman Who Dares to Speak Out
|rating=4.5
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=Forget entertainment – this is a book to read if you have any interest in the war in Afghanistan. My particular view has developed from a British armchair, comprising part emotional reaction, a smidgeon of history and an over-reliance on British media sources. In a war zone where truth has been a casualty throughout, this book gives the general reader an authentic view of conditions in Afghanistan over the past twenty five years of continual warfare. Written by a young and hot-headed, wildly patriotic 'ordinary' woman, this is no more reliable than any other partisan view, but its value is to help put official news sources into their proper context. I found it educative in several senses.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846041503</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Dorothy Howell
|title=Shoulder Bags and Shootings
|rating=3
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Haley Randolph has just returned from a trip to Europe at the invitation of her boyfriend, Ty. Unfortunately, Ty has remained behind for work - as the owner/manager of a chain of department stores, he has a lot on his plate. Haley borrows his grandmother's Mercedes to get from the airport back home, but is horrified to find that there is a dead body in the boot of the car. Even worse, Haley knows the dead girl, so she's suspect number one. With her track record, the police are already deeply suspicious of her. Can she find out who the real killer was without attracting too much attention? And, more importantly, will she ever track down the killer 'Sinful' handbag that she's so desperate to own?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755347331</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Michelle Lovric
|title=The Mourning Emporium
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Two years ago in 1898, Teodora, the Undrowned Child of prophecy, saved Venice from its resurrected traitor, Bajamonte Tiepolo. Since then, she and her partner-in-prophecy Lorenzo, the Studious Son, have led a fairly uneventful existence. But now, Venice is in peril once more. Ice creeps through its lagoon, vampire eels encased menacingly within it, and black cormorants have returned to spy on the city in their great, black clouds. Teodora knows baddened magic when she sees it, and her heart sinks at the awful realisation - il Traditore is back...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842557017</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Rebecca Elliott
|title=Just Because
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Toby's best friend is his big sister, Clemmie. She can't walk, talk or move around much. Just because. He loves her dearly, and we discover all the many ways they play together. It's an utterly gorgeous tale of sibling affection.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0745962351</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Anthony Browne
|title=Play The Shape Game
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=You might have already played the shape game. It involves doing a squiggle on a piece of paper, then either you or someone else has to turn that squiggle into a full picture. Anthony Browne played it lots when he was little, and now he's playing it with 45 celebrities and you. Proceeds from the book and the auction of the artwork are going to [http://www.rainbowtrust.org.uk The Rainbow Trust Children's Charity], who provide emotional and practical support to families who have a child with a life threatening or terminal illness. A fantastic cause.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406331317</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Annie Sanders
|title=Famous Last Words
|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=The story centres on Lucy Streeter who is a very ordinary woman leading a very ordinary life. She is quite happy running her designer clothes shop and being mother to her grown up son Nat. However, one evening her life is thrown into turmoil after meeting Micah, a fortune teller, who kindly informs her that she only has a few more days to live. Normally, Lucy would dismiss this as absolute rubbish, but unfortunately too many of his other predictions seem to be coming true so she has to sit up and take notice. As she does, she comes to the sad realisation that she has not made the most of her life and there are many things that she should or could have done.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1409112764</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Robert Darnton
|title=The Case for Books: Past, Present, and Future
|rating=4
|genre=History
|summary=Reading a book, whether for study or relaxation, in the sitting room, in bed, on public transport, or almost anywhere else, has been one of everybody's favourite activities for many a long year, and not just by visitors and contributors to this site. (Therein lies a paradox, I hear you say). As Darnton points out in his introduction, the good old-fashioned book was not destroyed by newspapers (or magazines, for that matter), any more than television destroyed radio, or the internet made people abandon TV.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>158648902X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Valerio Varesi
|title=River of Shadows: A Commissario Soneri Mystery
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
|summary=Rain was falling heavily in the River Po catchment area in northern Italy and the old hands knew that it would burst its banks and there would be flooding. But even they are surprised when they see Tonna's barge setting out downstream. He knows the river well, but his course out of the mooring was erratic and when the barge was eventually found Tonna was nowhere to be seen; the barge was deserted. Was it coincidence or something more sinister when Tonna's brother appeared to commit suicide on the day of his brother's disappearance: Commisario Soneri is convinced that there is more to this than meets the eye.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906694273</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=John Brindley
|title=Blood Crime
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=Joe is lying in hospital in a meningitis-induced coma. It's the last straw for his mother - Joe has been unable to cope ever since his father died, refusing to believe in a tragic laboratory accident and accusing his ex-research partner and her new boyfriend of murder. Before he became ill, Joe's state of mind had become dangerously unstable, and now it's up to his uncle Frank, a hospital consultant, to save him. But Joe isn't lying there insensible: he's fighting the greatest battle of his life - rushing through his veins and arteries evading the aggressive bacteria, rousing his body to fight back, and trying to work out what really happened to his father and whether his own illness has anything to do with it.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184255719X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Andy Bounds
|title=The Jelly Effect: How to Make Your Communication Stick
|rating=4.5
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=This book has lots of glowing praise written all over the covers. Such lines as 'Andy Bounds taught me more about effective presenting than a lady who'd previously taught two US Presidents.' Unsurprisingly, my expectations were sky-high. But will the book deliver? I have to say at the outset that I didn't particularly take to the title (although original and presumably unforgettable). I found it detracted at first glance and didn't do the book any initial favours. And although it is explained in full I still felt it light and an Americanism too far. But that's just my personal opinion. That aside, I was keen to start reading, see what all the fuss was about ...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857080466</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Emma Donoghue
|title=Room
|rating=5
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=It's the morning of Jack's fifth birthday, but Jack is no ordinary boy. He and his Ma have been imprisoned by the character known only as 'Old Nick' in a single room for all Jack's life. True he has a television, but his mother has convinced him that those people are not real. The room is all Jack has ever known - and in it he has developed his own attachment to things like Bed, Rug, Table, Skylight and Wardrobe where he sleeps. The first victim of incarceration, it seems, is the definite article.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330519018</amazonuk>
}}
