|summary=High school teacher Anna has been hired as a tutor for the summer, helping 16 year old T.J. who has missed a fair amount of school due to illness. Leaving the USA behind, the two of them head over to the Maldives where his parents have hired a holiday home, but instead of gracefully descending into paradise, they crash land, quite literally, into a nightmare. Their pilot has a heart attack, their sea plane plummets into the ocean, and they wash up on a deserted desert island. The unlikely twosome has to band together to survive and wait out their rescue, but as weeks and then months pass, hope fades and they have to wonder what will happen if no one ever finds them.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405910216</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Kenneth Grahame
|title=The Wind in the Willows
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Looking back on my childhood the book which made the most impact and one of the few which has remained in my bookcase ever since is 'The Wind in the Willows'. I've returned to it many times over six or more decades and it's frequently brought comfort in bad times. It was the basis of my love for the countryside, which became a joy in itself rather than something to pass through on the way somewhere else as my parents would have had it. It was a good story, which - like all the best books - revealed a little more on every reading.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>019273234X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Alex T Smith
|title=Catch Us If You Can-Can
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Having met Foxy DuBois previously in the excellent [[Egg by Alex T Smith|Egg]] here she is again, as charming as ever and this time hoping to win a giant golden egg! In order to win the egg she must compete in a 'So you think you can boogie' competition (!) and, since the competition is open only to birds she must enter herself, and her unlikely dance partner, in disguise!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444903659</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jake Arnott
|title=The House of Rumour
|rating=4
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=Jake Arnott sees to be one of those authors - like [[:Category:Will Self|Will Self]] whom you'll love or loathe. Occasionally, you'll swing from one extreme to the other and I'll confess to being a little nervous when I opened the book. We really weren't ''that'' keen when we read [[The Devil's Paintbrush by Jake Arnott|The Devil's Paintbrush]]. Using the deck of Tarot cards as the structure of the book we look at the twentieth century through the life of Larry Zagorski. Imagine history being gently folded together like a cake mixture with episodes sliding against each other, flavouring that which they touch. Imagine the real - Aleister Crowley (reprising his appearance in ''The Devil's Paintbrush''), Rudolf Hess, Ian Fleming, Cyril Connolly, Jim Jones and L Ron Hubbard blended with a transexual prostitute, a British pop singer and Larry, who writes pulp science fiction.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340922729</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Charity Seraphina Fields
|title=I am not a Buddhist
|rating=3.5
|genre=Spirituality and Religion
|summary=''I am not a Buddhist'' is an individual through Buddhism and its principles seen from the point of view of one on the path. Charity Seraphina Fields attempts - through her own musings on this ancient Eastern philosophy - to explain why Buddhism is better suited to the rich West than the poorer East. For Fields, the question isn't ''Why am I suffering without all those things I want?''. The right question is actually ''Why am I still suffering even though I have everything I want?''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1475085664</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Alison Moore
|title=The Lighthouse
|rating=5
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=When we first meet Futh he's on a North Sea ferry on his way to a walking holiday in Germany. There's no sense of enthusiasm or anticipation: Futh's middle aged and recently separated, seemingly without friends or family. He always wanted a dog, but keeps stick insects. The holiday seems to be something which, when it is over, he will have done it and will then return to his new flat. It begins and will end at Hellhaus, a guesthouse run by Bernard and his wife Ester. He gets on well enough with Ester but is at a loss to understand a rather hostile encounter with Bernard. He sets out the following morning for a week of walking, thinking and remembering. Meanwhile Ester - untouched by her meeting with Futh - continues her lonely life punctuated by the occasional casual sexual encounter which she barely hides from Bernard.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907773177</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Abby McDonald
|title=The Anti-Prom
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
|summary=Bliss has spent years waiting for the perfect prom. Part of the school's social elite, it's her night, isn't it? She gets a rude awakening when she sees best friend Kaitlin and boyfriend Cameron making out in the limo. Jolene didn't even want to go to the prom - she was pushed into it by her mother, who's tired of her bad girl image. Meg's so invisible that she's stood up by a boy she's never even met, a family friend who was going with her out of pity, but obviously doesn't pity her enough to turn up. With the help of these two unlikely allies, can Bliss get revenge on Kaitlin? One thing's for sure - this will be a night no-one will forget.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406337587</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sam Hawksmoor
|title=The Hunting
|rating=3.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=Genie, Rian and Renee escaped from the Fortress in the Repossession, but their plan to spread the word about the evil people running it went wrong. Now they're on the run, with a reward on their heads, roadblocks in their way, and a whole host of fellow victims to worry about. Can they escape – or will they become the hunters in an attempt to take control of their lives back?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340997095</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Kate Maryon
|title=A Sea of Stars
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Maya wishes Mum would let her hang out with her friends and go surfing at the beach. But ever since Alfie, Maya's little brother, and the incident with the red London bus, her mother has been totally overprotective. Cat is younger than Maya by two whole years, but she has the freedom to do whatever she likes - she's even got the bus on her own into town. But Cat's mother is barely able to take care of herself, let alone her children, and Cat is about to be separated from her little brother, who she loves more than anything, to be adopted by Maya's family.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007464649</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Lisa Kleypas
|title=Dream Lake
|rating=3.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=''Dream Lake'' is the third book in a series about three brothers who grew up in a somewhat dysfunctional home. This one focuses on Alex, youngest of the three, who is a brilliant designer and builder. Unfortunately, we’re told, he’s also angry at the world, arrogant, and aggressive. He’s a very heavy drinker, too.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749953985</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Miriam Moss and Delphine Durand
|title=Scritch Scratch We Have Nits
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=There can't be many children who don't get nits at some point at school. This is a brilliant story to share with them if they're feeling a bit sensitive about it since the nits originate with the teacher! We meet the little louse who starts the trouble in the first place, and then watch as the lice babies jump around from child to child. Will everyone manage to get rid of the lice once and for all?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408319586</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Nik Rawlinson
|title=How to Publish your own eBook
|rating=3.5
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=At a time when many authors, even those with a history of good books to their credit, are struggling to find traditional publishers we've seen the explosion of self-publishing, led by the emergence of the ereader. Trees no longer need to fall before your book can be made available to the public - and nor need you find an agent who would hopefully find you a publisher. If you've written a book it could be on sale within a matter of days. There are, of course, hoops which you will need to jump through and Magbooks have come up with some information to smooth your path. It's part magazine (with some, but not too much, advertising) and part book and a short read at 114 pages. It's heralded as 'the step-by-step guide to writing, publishing and profiting from your own eBook' - but how does it live up to the claim?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178106024X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=John Yeoman and Quentin Blake
|title=Rumbelow's Dance
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Rumbelow is a little boy with a great deal of energy so walking to his grandparent's house in town is no problem for him even though it is a long way. After his mother gives him a long list of very precise directions, he sets off. Although it is a very hot day, he is so happy that he feels the need to dance rather than just walk. Before long he meets a sad-faced farmer walking along with his sad-faced pig. The farmer moans that he will never get his lazy pig to market on such a hot day. However, Rumbelow has a suggestion:
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849394601</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Kim Barnes
|title=In the Kingdom of Men
|rating=3
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=This book begins beautifully with all the characters springing to life through fantastically spare and creative description. By the time we reach Gin, living with her her grandfather in the stifling atmosphere of a strict Methodist minister’s home, the story is in full swing and we follow Gin through her teenage years as she tries hard to rebel against all the limitations placed upon her.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>009194421X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Maggie Stiefvater
|title=The Raven Boys
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=Ley lines, sleeping kings, clairvoyants and the night the dead walk . . . this intriguing book is full of ancient myths and beliefs. They give a depth and flavour to the story, which could so easily have just been a trivial tale about the rich boy who dabbles in the occult to amuse himself, and the poor girl who helps him.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407134612</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Niall Leonard
|title=Crusher
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=Finn's life isn't really going anywhere. He's working at Max Snax, a horrible fast food emporium. It's not fun. But you don't have many choices when you're a) dyslexic and b) your anger at your mother abandoning you has led to some bad behaviour and a criminal record. But Finn's dreary life is about to be turned upside down...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857532081</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ben Kane
|title=Spartacus the Gladiator
|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Given Ben Kane's tendency to write strong characters who rebel against their Roman leaders, it's perhaps slightly predictable that he should take on the story of Spartacus, who led a slaves' rebellion against Rome. This is, perhaps, the only thing you can say about Kane's writing that is predictable.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099561921</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David Belbin
|title=Student
|rating=3.5
|genre=Teens
|summary=When Allison secured her place in Nottingham University, she thought of it as a way to escape a miserable home life, with an absent father, drunk mother and un-committing boyfriend. She thought university would be a place for intellectual debate, and the creation of loyal friendships and love. However, she quickly realises that student life isn't like those rosy pictures you get on prospectuses. In ''Student'', we see a university experience defined by a trinity of drugs, lust and study, one that changes Allison and everyone around her.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907869530</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Hazel Osmond
|title=The First Time I Saw Your Face
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Mack Stone used to be a journalist on a tabloid paper and was not averse to dishing the dirt on whoever he happened to be writing about. He has left that world behind though and is now attempting to work freelance and only write in a more ethical way. However, one day he receives a call from his old boss who has one last job for him to do. When Mack is not keen, he reveals that he has information about Mack's mother – a sordid little secret that he would have no qualms about publicising to the world if Mack does not agree. If Mack wants to protect his family, it seems that he has little choice but to agree.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849164193</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Chris Mould
|title=Pirates 'n' Pistols
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Out of all the unusual careers focused on in primary school activity – you know the ones, astronaut, footballer, dinosaur hunter, Olympic torch relay bodyguard, that sort of thing – that of pirate seems to be the most bizarre. Yes it brings an easy stereotype when it comes to fancy dress time, but why the tales of skulduggery, piracy and fatal thievery are so common and so popular among that age group is a bit beyond me. It's nothing to aspire too, really, is it? Still, for those still of that age, here is a very good, entertaining and commendably presented anthology of short tales of seafaring, treasure hunting, and their consequences.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340999349</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Neil Root
|title=Frenzy!: How the tabloid press turned three evil serial killers into celebrities
|rating=4
|genre=History
|summary=It was forever thus. Only last year, 2011, did the ''News of the World'' and the ''Sunday Mirror'' stop being the double-headed monster of tabloid journalism, and very little was different in the 1950s, beyond the inclusion of boobies, and the fact the ''Mirror'' was then just the ''Sunday Pictorial''. Both formed a duopoly for those in their audience seeking all the salacious details of the scandals of the day, and the crimes and criminals people would talk about over their breakfasts. Three men stood out in those days for the ways in which they achieved their notoriety, and this book is an account of their goings-on, and how the press reported the stories – at times paying large fortunes for the privilege.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099557762</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Alan Tyers and Beach
|title=I Kick Therefore I am: The Little Book of Premier League Wisdom
|rating=4
|genre=Sport
|summary=You remember Ronnie Matthews, don't you? He's the footballer who celebrated his one – and so far, only – international match by booing his way through the Faroe Islands' national anthem, then getting a red card for chatting up the lineswoman. He still thinks he contributed well to a vital friendly, however. He's the player whose career in piddling his way through continuously lesser and lesser clubs for far too long has only been matched in the recent game by Steve Claridge. And still he's bucking the trend – he's the only author smart enough to realise that four-hundred page, ghost-written biogs are unnecessary, for he's crammed all his life, career, philosophy and response to Twitter into an hour's read.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408832763</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Katie McGarry
|title=Pushing the Limits
|rating=5
|genre=Teens
|summary=Echo used to be popular. Until a particular night when something happened, leaving her with scars on her arms and a blank space where her memory of that night should be. As if having a stepmother who used to be her babysitter and a brother who died in Afghanistan wasn't already making life hard enough, she's trying to work out if she'll ever recall what she went through. Then she meets Noah, who shares a therapist with her and is nearly as damaged as she is. Torn away from his beloved younger brothers after their parents died, he's desperate to become their legal guardian when he turns eighteen – but with a hot temper and a dubious academic record over the past couple of years, is there any way a judge would choose him over the foster parents they're currently living with? Could these two broken teenagers help each other to heal?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184845077X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Joseph Mitchell
|title=Up In The Old Hotel
|rating=5
|genre=Travel
|summary=One of the joys of reviewing books is when you stumble across something, know you are going to love it, ask for it, have it delivered and then spend a week or so being absolutely entranced. It could so easily have been a disappointment.
Joseph Mitchell is one of those men, one feels one should have heard of, should know about. Not just that, he is one of those, one wishes one could have known.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>009956159X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jim Holt
|title=Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=In ''The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'' Douglas Adam’s famously suggested that the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything was forty-two, although it quickly turns out nobody knows what the ultimate question is, rendering the answer meaningless. In ''Why Does the World Exist?'', Jim Holt explores potential answers to what could be considered the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything – why is there something, rather than nothing? And the answer’s certainly not forty-two.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682444</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Charlotte Kandel
|title=The Enchanted Riddle
|rating=3
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Daphne, a thirteen-year-old orphan in London in the 1920s, has two dreams. She longs to find a family and to become a ballerina – but both seem equally impossible. Then a package from an anonymous sender, with a magical pair of stockings and a strange riddle, seems to give her the opportunity to make her dreams come true. Can she get the happiness and success she's always longed for, or will the interference of others stop her from achieving it?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905537336</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tony Ross
|title=I Didn't Do It! (Little Princess)
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=There's mud all over the floor and the Queen blames the Little Princess. 'I didn't do it!' the Little Princess responds with a very disgruntled look upon her face. A little later, the Cook tells her off for eating all the chocolate cake; the Gardener thinks that she has trampled all over the radishes; the Prime Minister claims that he has taken the bell from his bicycle and the Admiral blames her for sinking all his ships. To each accusation, the Little Princess replies:
''I didn't do it!''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849394644</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Nikki Gemmell
|title=The Bride Stripped Bare
|rating=3
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=A young woman, newly married. Discovering her husband is not all he seems. That he has secrets. That she has needs, wants, desires. That she will need to take things into her own hands if she is ever to be satisfied in her new role as wife.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007163541</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Renae Lucas-Hall
|title=Tokyo Hearts - A Japanese Love Story
|rating=3
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Takashi is a student in his final year at university. He works pretty hard, but his heart belongs to Haruka, who was a fellow student until she had to leave when her father was taken ill. As a rule they meet once a week in a cafe - but Takashi fears that Haruka only sees him as a friend, particularly when he discovers that she's seeing a wealthy ex-boyfriend on a regular basis. Jun's good-looking too and Takashi realises that he has little to offer, particularly as Haruka loves shopping for designer goods. They're in fashionable Tokyo where style, sophistication and fashion are a way of life. How will it work out, particularly when Haruka is planning on moving to Kyoto - which is also where the ex-boyfriend lives - and earthquakes seem to be happening regularly in the capital?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781487693</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Emma Barnes
|title=Wolfie
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Lucie has always wanted a dog and then one day her Uncle Joe arrives at her front door with one especially for her. However Lucie’s new pet is very big, with pointed ears, sharp teeth, a silvery coat and glinting eyes. Lucie realises instantly that her present is in fact a wolf but, incredibly, no-one else thinks so. Not only is the animal a wolf but a talking wolf with magical powers that becomes a trusted and wise friend to the little girl. Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult to hide a talking wolf from family, friends, teachers and especially from the horrible bully who lives next door. Gradually Lucie realises that her new friend is in great danger and she resolves to help Wolfie before it is too late.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905537271</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David Smith
|title=Free Lunch - Easily Digestible Economics
|rating=4
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=Reading David Smith's new book Free Lunch brought to mind an episode of the Freakonomics podcast broadcast earlier this year. In it, listeners were first asked to imagine that the interest rate on their bank account was 1% per year and the rate of inflation was 2% per year. In a year's time would they be able to buy more, buy about the same or buy less using money from that account?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781250111</amazonuk>
}}
