'''Read [[Features|new features]].'''
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{{newreview
|author=Robert Knapp
|title=Invisible Romans: Prostitutes, Outlaws, Slaves, Gladiators, Ordinary Men and Women … the Romans that History Forgot
|rating=4
|genre=History
|summary=This academic title by Robert Knapp, Professor Emeritus at the University of California, will be welcomed by serious students of the Roman Empire. It goes without saying that this research provides a valuable supplement to the existing academic literature. From the meticulous attention to detail, I suspect that amassing the material was a labour of love over a lifetime of analysing more prominent Roman citizens. Clues have been inferred from classical literature, culled from epitaphs and deduced from archaeological finds (particularly Pompeii), since hardly any evidence of ordinary folks' lives has otherwise survived.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846684013</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Claudia Boldt
|summary=Such are the complexity, the sheer variety and number of permutations possible of postage stamp issues in the 21st century, that any catalogue compiler is faced with an almost impossible task. Producing a genuinely concise book is largely a matter of what to include and what to leave out.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0852598084</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Rowan Coleman
|title=Lessons in Laughing Out Loud
|rating=5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Willow Briars is in her thirties and cannot exactly claim that her life is successful. Acrimoniously divorced, having no contact with her stepdaughter and working too many hours for a tyrannical boss, she cannot help but compare her life with her twin sister Holly's. But Holly has not had to live with the trauma that Willow endured as a child even though she has always been there to support and help her. However, one day she stumbles upon and old and tucked away second hand shop with a wonderful pair of shoes in the window that seem to be calling out to her. The shoes seem to transform Willow; not only her stature and looks but also her confidence and the way she sees herself. Also, the people who know her appear to be looking at her differently too. Transformed, she feels ready to tackle anything life has to throw at her which is probably a good thing when her fifteen year old stepdaughter turns up on her doorstep, pregnant and having run away from home.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099551268</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Claudia Pineiro
|title=All Yours
|rating=4.5
|genre=Crime
|summary=Inés leads an ordinary life with her husband and daughter. So ordinary in fact, the term 'desperate housewife' could have been invented exclusively for her. She is under no illusions about marriage as an institution - but is convinced she knows all about her husband, and all about men and how to handle them – with a little help from her mother, whose observations on losing a man are always at the front of Inés' mind. When Inés follows her husband on an errand one night, she witnesses him having a violent argument with another woman; the woman then suffers a freak accident and dies. Inés takes charge of the ensuing trouble in her usual capable way, with the full confidence of someone who is always in control. But in trying to protect her husband, she comes up against much more than she bargained for.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>190473880X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ruth Rendell
|title=The Vault
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
|summary=The unthinkable has happened. Chief Inspector Wexford has retired. He's had a long career as he was already an Inspector when he first appeared in 1964 – perhaps not a good plan if you're looking for longevity in your character – but I doubt that Ruth Rendell could have anticipated quite how popular Reg Wexford would prove to be. And that's what he is now – plain Reg Wexford – with no authority to interview people and no warrant card in his pocket. He and Dora are splitting their time between Kingsmarkham and their daughter's coach house in London, but the novelty of trips here and there soon wears a little thin and Wexford finds himself at something of a loose end.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091937108</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Karin Slaughter
|title=Fallen
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
|summary=Faith Mitchell is not having a good day. A three-hour training seminar had stretched into four-and-a-half-hours, which meant that not only was she late picking up her baby daughter from her mothers' she was also starving hungry. This mattered more than it would for most of us, because Faith is diabetic. She needs to eat.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846057949</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Peter Schossow
|title=My First Car Was Red
|rating=3.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=A young boy receives a pedal car from his grandpa, but it's old, rusty and needs work. They tinker with it, do it up, and paint it bright red. Grandpa gives the young boy instructions on how to use it, then the boy and his brother, Cornelius, go off for an adventure in the car. They careen round corners, barrage through wasp nests, duck low branches in the forest, and nearly go flying off a cliff, before crashing into a creek and pushing the car back home, exhausted.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1877467685</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David McKee
|title=The Conquerors
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=The General rules the country, with his strong army and large cannon. The army stomps from country to country, conquering other people, until they've conquered all the countries except one. Rather than fighting back, this tiny little country treats the army as friends, welcoming them into their homes, with warmth and kindness.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842704680</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=D J Taylor
|title=Thackeray
|rating=4.5
|genre=Biography
|summary=Today, William Makepeace Thackeray is remembered almost exclusively as the writer of 'Vanity Fair', considered as among the greatest novels of its time. Yet he was a prolific writer, also responsible for 'Pendennis' and 'The Newcomes', as well as several sketches, essays and much poetry. However most of his work is largely forgotten today, while as a person he remains little known, and he has been somewhat overshadowed by his better-known contemporary, old friend and rival Charles Dickens, born one year later. This biography does an excellent job in rescuing him from such semi-obscurity.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099563258</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Maggie Stiefvater
|title=The Scorpio Races
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=At a young age Sean Kendrick watches his father die violently in the Scorpio Races – a race held every year on the beaches of the island where riders compete for a huge cash prize by riding the dangerous ''capaill uisce'', the water horses. Years later Sean is a four-time winner of the Scorpio Races with a prized mare – Corr – and plans to win again. Meanwhile, Puck (Kate) Connolly has been orphaned by the ''capaill uisce'' and struggles for every meal; their main source of income is her brother Gabe, but when he announces that he is leaving the island Puck realises that she has to fight for the survival of her family. Seeing no other option she enters her island pony into the races. The stakes are high as Sean and Puck compete against each other for the highest prize of them all – freedom.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407129856</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ben Kane
|title=Hannibal: Enemy of Rome
|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Thanks to his [[The Forgotten Legion by Ben Kane|Forgotten Legion]] trilogy, Ben Kane has recently bought Roman times to life in me far more than history and Latin lessons at school ever did. Having enjoyed this first trilogy, I've been eagerly awaiting his ''Hannibal'' trilogy, since he told Bookbag about it when we interviewed him. Finally, the wait is over and ''Hannibal: Enemy of Rome'' is here.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184809227X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jacqueline Yallop
|title=Obedience
|rating=4
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=The story opens with a much younger Sister Bernard - no more than a girl really. The daily lives of the nuns is regulated, with long hours for prayer, meditation and solitude. Everyone is housed, fed and watered adequately and that's as far as it goes. No little luxuries to speak of. Nothing to temper the harshness and the silence. Visits from family members are forbidden also. However, the young Sister Bernard appears to not only be coping very well with all of this but even embracing it. She doesn't grumble or complain about anything. However, even although she may appear saintly she is human, just like the rest of us and temptation does come along in the shape of a young man.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857891014</amazonuk>
}}
