|summary=Pippa Eastman went to Australia to get away from her domineering father, the historian Joseph Eastman and it was there that she met Jude, the son of two Ten Pound Poms. Their relationship was good, but not exactly committed on either side. It was about having fun. Familial ties were surprisingly strong though and when Joseph Eastman developed Alzheimer's Disease Pippa returned to the UK to care for him. Slightly to her surprise, Jude followed her - determined to track down the alcoholic father who had left him and his mother in Australia. It's only after her father's death that Pippa finds herself in search of her father's life - and trying to establish that he wasn't a murderer.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781762686</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Joseph Delaney
|title=The Spook's Blood: Book 10 (Wardstone Chronicles)
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=One might've thought that having bound The Devil in a massive underground pit and cut his head off, life would become a little easier for Thomas Ward, Spook in-training. Although the Fiend has undoubtedly been weakened, he has many loyal servants set on putting him back together so that he can reap terrible eternal vengeance on the few brave enough to fight him. While witch assassin Grimalkin, a dark and unlikely ally, evades the Fiend's minions and keeps his head separate from his body, it is up to Tom, Alice and The Spook to work out a way to destroy him permanently. But Grimalkin cannot run forever, and the Fiend's most powerful servants are encircling Tom and his allies, forcing them to fight with everything they have, just to survive.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0370331818</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss
|title=Diary of a Spider
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=It's not an easy life being a spider. You have to avoid vacuum cleaners, daddy longlegs, and people with big shoes. There are good things too: you get to have fun with your best friend, Fly, and spend time with your loving family. ''Diary of a Spider'' takes us through a few months in the life of a young spider, taking in the fun and adventure.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007455925</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jude Morgan
|title=The Secret Life of William Shakespeare
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Books about Shakespeare vary hugely both in terms of approach and quality. Some focus on historical fact, while others play rather more loosely with the romance of his life. Fortunately for readers, Jude Morgan's books are rather more reliably excellent. What's more, he has a track record of fiction that concerns great writers, having previously tackled the Brontës (''The Taste of Sorrow'') and the romantic poets (''Passion''). So my expectations were already quite high coming into his ''The Secret Life of William Shakespeare'' - expectations that he has again surpassed.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755358228</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tom Slaughter
|title=Boat Works
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Imagine seeing just a little bit of a boat. It's not enough for you to decide whether it's big or small, or what it does, but on the opposite page there's another clue. 'I have two oars' - and there they are for all to see. But look more closely. You can fold that second page out for yet another clue: 'I have a rope which ties me to the dock' and there's the rope, strong and hairy, with a complex knot. Now you can fold out the second clue to reveal that his is a rowboat, by the name of Nelly, tied up at the dock. Neat, eh?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1609052153</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jeremy Bullard
|title=Life On The Line
|rating=4
|genre=Travel
|summary=Jeremy Bullard began his working life as a Chartered Accountant but eventually realised that the most exciting part of the day was his journey to work on his moped. Next came a spell as a IT Consultant into which he put heart and soul and only just escaped with his sanity. A mental breakdown and a spell in The Priory convinced him that he had to rethink his life choices and high on the list was a long-distance trip on a motorbike. The first two trips - from London to Cape Town and the reverse - were aborted and we join him as he attempts his most ambitious journey. He's heading from New York to the very south of South America. Oh, and he's taking in the Galapagos and Easter Island.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0956968309</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jane Johnson
|title=The Sultan's Wife
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Alys Swann is leaving her native Holland to accomplish the marriage her mother arranged for her in London. Alys's parents are English but fled to Holland when her late father discovered he was on the wrong side during the English Civil War. The trip turns out to be more adventurous than Alys would like as she's kidnapped by pirates and delivered to Moroccan potentate Sultan Moulay Ismail who's a little mentally unstable (and that's an understatement). His plan for her is as a welcome addition to his globally sourced harem. There she meets Nus-Nus, eunuch and the Sultan's scribe, who has problems of his own. A local apothecary dies in a most unnatural way and Nus-Nus seems to be the only suspect. The royal court has always been a dangerous place but, for Nus-Nus, and indeed Alys, staying alive has suddenly become more of a challenge than it seemed before... and that's saying something.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0670918008</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jason Dean
|title=The Wrong Man
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
|summary=Ex-marine James Bishop worked for an elite protection company. The idea behind his last mission was to protect multi-millionaire Randall Brennan and his daughter Natalie but, instead, he found himself framed for murder. Who? Why? These why may be questions that need answering but that's not going to happen whilst he's serving a life sentence. However, where Bishop is concerned, that's only a minor blip compared to the task ahead.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755382692</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Garth Nix and Sean Williams
|title=Troubletwisters: The Monster
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=This book really should be required reading for anyone charged with bringing up children with magical powers — especially if they've already saved the world a time or two. In a nutshell, it shows what happens when you answer all the said young people's questions with some vague promise to explain everything when the time is right. As if that's going to satisfy them.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405258632</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Alex Brummer
|title=Britain for Sale
|rating=4.5
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=Buy British, we're constantly told, and many people do - the French, the Germans, Qataris, Chinese... If you want to buy British you'd be hard pressed to use a British electricity company, the people shifting North Sea oil to you might be foreign, the trains near you may be foreign-operated, and so much of what's in the shops you buy from would of coursed be sourced from abroad, and shipped through foreign-owned ports. Whether or not the country is going to hell in a handcart, it's moving in piecemeal stages to exterior business interests, and the British citizen gets the worst of the deal.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847940757</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Michael Morpurgo
|title=Sparrow: The Story of Joan of Arc
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Joan of Arc knows she's special. She knows that she has been chosen to save France - the voices tell her so. But she also knows that she has a lot to do to convince the Dauphin and the noblemen who protect him that it's time to make a stand for their country. Can she become a heroine?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007465955</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=William Nicholson
|title=The Golden Hour
|rating=5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Maggie is nervous about committing to a live-in relationship, terrified by the idea that there must be something better out there. Dean is terrified of losing the love of his life and old Mrs Dickinson is just, well, terrified. Henry is frustrated by rabbits in his garden, Alan is frustrated by work, and Liz is frustrated by old Mrs Dickinson, who is her mother...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849163936</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Claire Merle
|title=The Glimpse
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
|summary=Ana's Dad helped invent the DNA test that helps to divide Society into two categories: Pures and Crazies. Pures are people who are 'normal', and Crazies are people who carry genes for depression, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. Having lived as a Pure all her life, when Ana finds out her test was wrong her world falls apart. Now, marrying Jasper, a Pure-boy, is her only chance of a normal life. But will Jasper still want her now she's a Crazy?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571280536</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David Vann
|title=Dirt
|rating=4.5
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=We're back in the mid-nineteen-eighties in a suburb of Sacramento and Galen lives with his mother on the family walnut farm. The farm's not what it was, largely having been left to its own devices since the death of Galen's abusive grandfather some years before. Galen's ''father'' is something of an unknown quantity - his mother won't even discuss who he was or tell Galen anything about him, but then she's able to shut her mind to most things which she finds unpleasant. ''Her'' mother has been moved from the farm to a nursing home - she's still quite active but her memory is going. Suzie-Q's sister, Helen is determined to get her hands on the family money for the benefit of her seventeen-year-old daughter, Jennifer.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434021962</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Rachel Hartman
|title=Seraphina
|rating=4.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=The Comonot Treaty is approaching its 40th anniversary but the state of play between humans and dragons is still parlous. The people in Goredd still revile and distrust the dragons who walk among them in human form. For the dragons, humans are like cockroaches - easily crushed individually, but surprisingly resilient when they band together. Humans are impulsive, emotional. Dragons are impassive, logical. It's not an easy fit and the fragile peace is at risk after the murder of a Goreddi prince. Dragons are suspected of the crime.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857531565</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Todd H Doodler
|title=Bear's Underwear Mystery: A Count-and-Find-it Adventure
|rating=3
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Bear receives a mysterious message: 'Follow the trail of underwear. Find all TEN and you'll be THERE'. He's delighted to be involved in a mystery and goes off hunting for the white pair which is number one. Once they are found he's off in search of the pair with blue stripes, then the pair with green spots, another in purple plaid and so on... Each page has a number tab for extra fun.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1609052048</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tony Robinson
|title=Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders: Romans
|rating=3.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=You could be mistaken for thinking [[:Category:Tony Robinson|Tony Robinson]] had written books like this before, for he was doing 'Horrid History'-style TV programmes before the official ones were made. This series fits so well into his erudite yet family audience-friendly manner, and this second book takes us in a primary school curriculum-suiting way into the world of Rome. A lot is in these books, from trivia for all ages (I didn't know, or had forgotten, that all those Julius Caesar reliefs and statues are of him in a wig as he was bald), to the delectable gross-out (the posh man's cuisine) to the foregrounding of the obvious difference between them and us (in a word, slavery).
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330533894</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Diana Hendry
|title=The Seeing
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
|summary=It's 1956 when Natalie comes storming into the quiet seaside town of Norton and slap-bang into Lizzie's life. Natalie is from the wrong side of the tracks and reserved, well-to-do Lizzie is immediately drawn to this unconventional girl who wears her poverty and neglect like a badge of courage. As the two girls grow closer over the summer, Natalie reveals a shocking secret - her odd younger brother Philip has the gift of second sight and can see "left over Nazis" lying in wait, ready to start another war when the time is right. Natalie says it's up to the three of them to rid Norton of these LONs.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>037033213X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tony Robinson
|title=Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders: Egyptians
|rating=3.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=You could be mistaken for thinking [[:Category:Tony Robinson|Tony Robinson]] had written books like this before, for he was doing 'Horrid History'-style TV programmes before the official ones were made. This series fits so well into his erudite yet family audience-friendly manner, and this launching book takes us to the strangest of worlds - yet one only a museum visit away, that of the ancient Egyptians. A lot is in these pages - complete with adult stuff glossed over (just how in-bred '''were''' those Ptolemys?!), the gross-out being relished (making mummies, and some alleged Egyptian medicines) and the obvious differences between them and us foregrounded so we can empathise with them (and at the same time remember it's harder for most of us to sleep on our roofs than they would have found it).
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330533878</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Bill Ridgers (Editor)
|title=The Economist Book of Business Quotations
|rating=4
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=It's not so much a book of business quotations as a book of business aphorisms. There's a prime example on the dust cover: J Paul Getty's 'My formula for success? Rise early, work late, strike oil.' It's arranged alphabetically by subject matter from Accountants and Accountancy ('Budget: a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions' A A Latimer) through to Work-Life Balance ('For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.' Lily Tomlin). Most entries are short and pithy and few run to as much as half a page.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846685931</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Daniel Glattauer
|title=Love Virtually
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=When Emmi sends and email to cancel a magazine subscription, she has no idea what a slight typo in the email address will lead to – a life-changing, potentially marriage-wrecking, all-consuming online love affair with the man whom she emails in error. What starts as an insignificant, casual message quickly becomes something much more important to both her and Leo as two people who have never met start to share their secrets and wishes, dreams and fears with each other, not just because they can but, it seems, because they have to.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857050958</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David Wiesner
|title=The Three Pigs
|rating=3
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Everyone knows the story of the Three Little Pigs, but in this version, when the wolf comes along and huffs and puffs, he actually blows the little pigs right out of the story. In fact, they float across a number of pages before eventually ending up in the middle of ''Hey diddle diddle!'' However, they don't find this nursery rhyme to their liking so they move on to a story about a prince who kills a dragon. Having just escaped from their own dangerous enemy, the three pigs realise that they can't possibly leave the dragon to be slain, so they take him with them right the way back to their own story where, with the help of their new friend, they definitely don't allow the wolf in.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849394059</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Matthew Crow
|title=My Dearest Jonah
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
|summary=Jonah and Verity start to write to each other as part of a pen-pal scheme. They may only meet on paper but, as they reveal themselves and their pasts through their letters, they become the only constant in each of their existences, and what existences. Jonah has a troubled past (to put it mildly) including a stint in prison and a father serving a life sentence. Verity is the product of working class parents with aspirations which she has failed or refused to meet, splitting her working life between the local coffee shop and the local strip joint. Their futures begin to appear a lot brighter than their pasts but then clouds gather to prove that appearances can be deceptive.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908248254</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Victoria Lamb
|title=Witchstruck
|rating=3
|genre=Teens
|summary=Meg Lytton comes from a family of witches. Her mother, who died in childbirth, renounced her gift in order to marry. But Meg's Aunt Jane continued to practise and has taught Meg to hone her skills. Sent to serve the Princess Elizabeth - in confinement at Woodstock, suspected of treason against her sister - Meg soon finds that her royal mistress has a strong interest in the occult and encourages her to continue. Elizabeth is beset by danger and must tread a delicate path through intrigues and religion. Meg, too, walks in peril. The ruthless witchfinder Marcus Dent has taken an uncomfortably close interest in her and if he were to discover her secret, he would send her straight to her death.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>055256611X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Siobhan Rowden
|title=The Curse of the Bogle's Beard
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=This is the book that takes the disgusting granny stereotype to its farthest lengths. Barnaby's gran is fond of purple to look queenly, digs her nose in his ear when she talks to him, and is rather hairy, very burpy and incredibly bossy. She also has nothing good to say about her daughter's choice of husband - Barnaby's father - who has decided to ignore the invitation to inherit the family's pickled vegetable factory and has in fact vanished. Could an old diary Barnaby's found of someone's very brave and very beetrooty life hold a clue? Will Barnaby overcome his nerves to explore Nan's mansion on his own? And quite how far will she go at preserving certain things?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407124897</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=N K Jemisin
|title=The Killing Moon: Dreamblood: Book 1
|rating=4
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=Ehiru is a Gatherer. He visits those who are dying to help them pass away peacefully. He sends their souls to a safe place for eternity, while taking their dreamblood to heal others. Most people in his city, Gujaareh, are happy with this. Then he Gathers a foreigner who's unwilling, and claims that the order of priests he belongs to are corrupt... could this barbarian be correct?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356500764</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Debbie Singleton and Holly Swain
|title=The King who Wouldn't Sleep
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=
'Many years ago, in a palace far across the sea, there lived a king, a queen and, of course, a beautiful princess'.
In fact the princess is so beautiful and the king loves her so much that he resolves to watch over her every single day and night until he is able to find her the perfect suitor. In true traditional tale style, princes travel from far and wide to try and win the hand of the princess and, more importantly, the approval of the king. Unfortunately, even though there are all sorts of princes – tall, short, strong, weak, blond, bald and so on – not one is good enough for the king's much loved daughter.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849390061</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Julia Green
|title=Tilly's Moonlight Fox
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=
It's a difficult time for Tilly. She's just moved house, losing contact with her best friend as a result, and now her mother, who is expecting a baby, is too ill to leave her bed or even spend much time with her. Tilly is a sensitive, generous girl who tries hard not to get in the way or be a nuisance because she understands that her father needs to give all his time to his wife, and to sorting out their new home. Lonely, unhappy and frightened by all the bewildering things that are happening, she finds herself thrown back on her own company, unable to share her worries.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192757911</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Quintin Jardine
|title=Funeral Note: A Bob Skinner Mystery
|rating=4.5
|genre=Crime
|summary=When a man's body was exhumed from a shallow grave in Edinburgh the initial reaction was that it was murder - I mean, why else would you dispose of the body in that way? But then, why would you bury it with obvious care and tell the police where it's buried? When the postmortem showed that the man had died from natural causes it seemed that it was case closed - but Chief Constable Bob Skinner didn't always think in straight lines. He had more pressing problems to deal with though. It seemed obvious that an Inspector on his force was corrupt and on the personal front it looked as though his marriage was heading for the rocks.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755356969</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Alan Clark
|title=Rory's Boys
|rating=5
|genre=Humour
|summary=Rory Blaine, grandson of Lady Sybil Blaine is gay, free, single and loving it, as he tells himself a dozen times a day. He may be middle aged but he's still got it. He's a partner in a successful advertising firm and so, so over having been thrown out of home when he was a teenager; yes, over it – totally and completely. When he hears his grandmother is dying, he decides it's time to remind her (and her considerable wealth) of his existence. The tardy but intensive attention seems to pay off when he's left the ancestral pile. But the stately home wasn't left to him quite in the way that he thought. There are so many strings attached it resembles a marionette: if he wants to keep it he must transform it into the first retirement home for elderly gay gentlemen and he also seems to have acquired his first resident, whether he's wanted or not.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906413886</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Helen Simpson
|title=A Bunch of Fives
|rating=5
|genre=Short Stories
|summary=I will come straight out with it at the top of this review and state that I am a big fan of Helen Simpson. So this book, which is a selection of five stories from each of her five collections, is right up my street. All I’ve got to do now is convince you that you need to read it too!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099561573</amazonuk>
}}
