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<metadesc>Book review site, with books from most walks of literary life; fiction, biography, crime, cookery and children's books plus author interviews and top tens.</metadesc>
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<metadesc>Expert, full book reviews from most walks of literary life; fiction, non-fiction, children's books & self-published books plus author interviews & top tens.</metadesc>
<h1 id="mf-title">The Bookbag</h1>
 
Hello from The Bookbag, a book review site, featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - [[:Category:Fiction|fiction]], [[:Category:Biography|biography]], [[:Category:Crime|crime]], [[:Category:Cookery|cookery]] and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library and the bookshop. Sometimes it holds the latest releases, but at other times there'll be old favourites, books for the children, books for the home. They're sometimes our own books or books from the local library. They're often books sent to us by publishers and we promise to tell you exactly what we think about them. You might not want to read through a full review, so we'll give you a quick review which summarises what we felt about the book and tells you whether or not we think you should buy or borrow it. There are also lots of [[:Category:Interviews|author interviews]], and all sorts of [[:Category:Lists|top tens]] - all of which you can find on our [[features]] page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the [[Book Recommendations|recommendations]] page.
 
  
There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY:Reviews}}''' reviews at TheBookbag.
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Reviews by readers from all the many walks of literary life. With author interviews, features and top tens. You'll be sure to find something you'll want to read here. Dig in!
  
Want to find out more [[About Us|about us]]?
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==Reviews of the Best New Books==
 
  
'''Read [[:Category:New Reviews|new reviews by genre]]. '''<br>
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There are currently '''{{PAGESINCATEGORY: Reviews}}''' [[:Category:Reviews|reviews]] at TheBookbag.
  
'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''<!-- Remove -->
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Want to find out more [[About Us|about us]]? __NOTOC__
{{newreview
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|author=Lydia Monks
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==The Best New Books==
|title=Mungo Monkey to the Rescue
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|rating=4
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'''Read [[:Category:New Reviews|new reviews by category]]. '''<br>
|genre=For Sharing
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|summary=Fans of lift the flap books may have come across Mongo Monkey before as he has a series of adventures that always seem to entail lifting up some things and flapping others.  The interaction in the books is very enjoyable, but sometimes it feels like you are just following a monkey and his family around on a normal dayCouldn't creator Lydia Monks combine this touch and feel element with a story that actually goes somewhere? Perhaps Mungo's day out with his Dad will be key.
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'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405278188</amazonuk>
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0008385068
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|title=The Midnight Feast
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|author=Lucy Foley
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|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Thrillers
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|summary=It's midsummer on the Dorset coast and guests gather at The Manor.  It's their opening weekend and splendid celebrations are promised.  It's all headed up by Francesca Meadows.  The Manor was her ancestral home and she's converted it into an impressive retreat for the wealthy and famous.  Her husband, Owen, was the architect and work is still ongoing on parts of the siteThe heat is oppressive and amongst the guests are enemies as well as friends. Old scores are going to be settled and it won't be long before a body is found.
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jory John and Benji Davies
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|author=James Baldwin
|title=I Love You Already
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|title=Giovanni's Room
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=You may have met Bear and Duck before; one is a recluse who just wants to go to sleep, whilst the other is full of energy and just wants to play.  The friction between the two may have been resolved by the end of [[Goodnight Already by Jory John and Benji Davies]], but that does not stop Duck from wondering if Bear really likes him or not. Do our best friends really have to tell us they love us, or should we just assume by their actions that they do?
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|summary=''Giovanni's Room'' follows the narrator David, an American man living in Paris, as he navigates his torturous affair with Giovanni, an Italian bartender he meets in a gay bar. While David is engaged to Hella, who is travelling in Spain, the real tension in the novel arises not from his infidelity but from the deeper conflict within himself. It is David's crippling shame and denial of his sexuality that ultimately dooms his relationship with Giovanni.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008165998</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0141186356
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Mary Higgins Clark
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|author=Ashley Hickson-Lovence
|title=Death Wears a Beauty Mask
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|title=Wild East
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
|genre=Short Stories
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|genre=Teens
|summary=In 1972, Mary Higgins Clark began writing a novella entitled ''Death Wears a Beauty Mask.'' She struggled with the story and put it aside, where it lay forgotton for several decades. When the author rediscovered the manuscript amongst some old files, she decided that she liked it and was ready to complete the long-awaited ending. ''Death Wears a Beauty Mask'' joins some of her other works, both old and new, in an entertaining collection of short stories full of mystery and suspense.
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|summary=Written in verse, this is Ronny's story, a young black fourteen year old boy from Hackney who suddenly has to move to Norwich and start at a mostly white school. The move is initiated by Ronny's mum who is worried for Ronny's safety after a tragic event, and so Ronny finds himself trying to settle in a new town, a new school, and keep himself out of trouble. He listens to music constantly, and has always dreamed of being a rapper.  But now, in this new school, his teacher encourages him to be part of a poetry writing workshop group and, slowly, Ronny begins to see the connections between rap and poetry, and the power of creativity and crafting your words.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471143228</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0241645441
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|title=Beautiful Broken Things
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|isbn=1635866847
|author=Sara Barnard
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|title=The Lavender Companion
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|author=Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
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|genre=Lifestyle
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|summary=It's strange, the things that make you ''immediately'' feel that this is the book for you.  Before I started reading ''The Lavender Companion'', I visited the author's [https://www.pinelavenderfarm.com/ website] and there's a picture of a slice of chocolate cake on the homepage.  I don't eat cakes and desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally.  (There's a recipe in the book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a mess of it.  Notes in the margins are sanctioned.  You get to fold down the corners of pages.  You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem.  I ''loved'' this book already.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Jenny Valentine
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|title=Us in the Before and After
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|genre=Teens
|summary=Caddy and Rosie have been best friends for years and even going to different schools hasn't parted them. And this is the summer that Rosie intends to be different. She'll get a boyfriend, finally. Perhaps even lose her virginity. And experience a Significant Life Event. But the best laid plans and all that...
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|summary=Elk and Mab are best friends, or more than that even, their friendship is a once in a lifetime connection. They meet as children one day on a trip out but unfortunately they don't get each other's contact details at the time. But then chance brings them back together, and they are inseparable.   Something has happened though, something terrible and tragic, and now they must work through their grief, and their friendship, together.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>150980353X</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1471196585
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=B A Paris
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|isbn=1787333175
|title=Behind Closed Doors
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|title=You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here
|rating=4
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|author=Benji Waterhouse
|genre=Thrillers
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|rating=5
|summary=On the face of it they look like the perfect couple.  Jack is handsome and a dedicated lawyer.  He's never lost a case in his work with battered women.  He ''looks'' like a loving husband too.  His wife, Grace, is elegant and a brilliant housewifeHer sister Millie has Down's Syndrome but Grace is her guardian and they're close.  She and Jack go to see Millie at her school most weekends and she'll soon be coming to live with them when she's eighteen. You ''might'' wonder why Grace is very careful about what she says in front of Jack and why you can never get her on her own and you're probably a little bit curious as to why Grace is never available for social events during the day when she doesn't work, but there's a very simple answerGrace is a prisoner.
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|genre=Popular Science
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848454120</amazonuk>
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|summary=I was tempted to read ''You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here'' after enjoying Adam Kay's first book {{amazonurl|isbn=1509858636|title=This is Going to Hurt}}, a glorious mixture of insight into the workings of the NHS, humour and autobiography.  ''You Don't Have to be Mad...'' promised the same elements but moved from physical problems to mental illness and the work of a psychiatristI did wonder whether it was acceptable to be looking for humour in this setting but the laughter is directed at a situation rather than a person and it is always delivered with empathy and understanding.  
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|title=Hamish and the Neverpeople
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|author=Mariana Enriquez
|author=Danny Wallace
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|title=A Sunny Place for Shady People
|rating=4.5
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|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
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|genre=Short Stories
|summary=Ok. You may know this already but Hamish recently [[Hamish and the Worldstoppers by Danny Wallace|saved the world]]. And now he is about to meet the Prime Minister, who wants to say thank you. Very much. But things don't quite go to plan. The Prime Minister appears to have gone quite mad. Something about pants. And one by one, people start following him. Before he knows it, Hamish is pulled right into the thick of a second threat to humanity, this time involving the Neverpeople. The same Neverpeople he's been told his father was helping during his personal battle against evil.
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|summary=Mariana Enriquez writes horror that is disturbingly real, achieving this uncanny familiarity by basing her paranormal plots on gritty realities: her settings include an abandoned field full of disused refrigerators due to an urban planning mishap, an overcrowded homeless shelter and a crime-ridden neighbourhood where safety meetings are routine - all within Argentina. The circumstances of her characters are so plausible that the supernatural or otherworldly horror which seeps into these spaces adopts a similarly tangible texture.  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147112391X</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1803511230
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|title=Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den
 
|author=Aimee Carter
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=Simon Thorn doesn't see his mother often. Instead, he lives with his Uncle Darrell in his small New York apartment. But to be honest, an unusual family structure is the least of Simon's worries. Simon has a secret: he can talk to animals. You might think this to be a singular talent and something to be happy about. But Simon's ability makes him relate to animals differently to other children and, as we all know, any kind of difference is like a red rag to bullies. And Simon is firmly on the radar of the school bullies.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408858010</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jonny Lambert
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|author=Onyi Nwabineli
|title=Little Why
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|title=Allow Me to Introduce Myself
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Many of us have felt the pain of insistent question asking from the back of the car; are we there yet or why is the sky blue?  In 2016 we can attach our children to multimedia devices so that they learn all they need to know from the Matrix whilst we get on with drivingHowever, curious young minds will keep asking questionsSometimes it is better to give them an answer, rather than just telling later.
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|summary=Anuri spent her childhood on display to the world, thanks to her step-mother Ophelia's increasingly popular presence on social media, where she posted every step of Anuri's childhood for sponsorships and influencer deals and, basically, monetary gain.  Now Anuri is in her twenties and she is slowly trying to regain her confidence and to get her life back, suing her step-mother to take down the content about herAnuri is battling alcoholism, failing to start her PhD, undergoing therapy and secretly abusing people online and receiving money from them for doing soMost importantly, she is desperately worried about her little sister, who is the new focus of Ophelia's online empire. Can she save her sister, and perhaps herself and her relationship with her father at the same time?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848691831</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0861546873
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Marian Keyes
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|author=David Chadwick
|title=Making It Up As I Go Along
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|title=Headload of Napalm
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Entertainment
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|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Oh, how the book reviewing gods like to give, and equally like to take away. Here before me is a brand, spanking new collection of journalism by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but it's a proof copy, so there's no photo of the author. Even if over the years I have stopped reading her novels, I have always turned to the author picture to remind myself such sights exist in this world. Himself is a lucky man, for sure.  But beyond sounding like a letch, what can I say about this – the beauty's third large dose of essays, web columns and other journalism?  I can start with agreeing that I am not the target audience, but it's easy enough to see from these pages exactly what the target is. So much like that test you do – you know the one, that formulates decisions about the age and commonality of all things in space to come up with how many billions of planets are likely to have alien life on – you can narrow things down quite readily here, and still come up with a huge number.
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|summary= It's September 1973 in Hicks, California. Hicks is a Mojave desert town of a few thousand people with its nearest neighbours of LA and Las Vegas both a significant drive away. Not much happens in Hicks. A silver mine and a defence contractor are the main local employers but otherwise, there's not much of note other than dive bars and Joshua trees. Life is quiet, until....
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718182529</amazonuk>
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|isbn= B0D321VJ76
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Robert Crawford
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|author=Tom Percival
|title= Young Eliot: From St Louis to The Waste Land
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|title=The Wrong Shoes
|rating= 5
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|rating=5
|genre= Biography
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|genre=Confident Readers
|summary= Did T.S. Eliot like ice-cream? I should really be asking, of course, whether ''Tom'' liked ice-cream, since Robert Crawford in his marvellous biography insists on bringing us into intimate and personal contact with this so closed and impersonal of poets. For many of us, to wonder what this literary giant's favourite flavour of ice-cream was seems a somehow unsuitable curiosity – irreverent or frivolous even – as if to think about his taste for such ordinary pleasures would distract from the appreciation for his very momentous achievements in poetry. It is, however, Crawford's aim to make these kinds of commonplace aspects of T.S. Eliot's life and personality much more familiar to us, as he draws our attention to the poet's childhood years and youth.
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|summary=Will's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways.  He is bullied because he has 'the wrong shoes', he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and doesn't have enough money for even the most basic of things like food, and his dad can't work because he lost his job at the college, was working a cash-in-hand job on a building site and had an accident.  Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will's life seems bleak in every direction. And yet, he still has a tiny amount of hope. He is good at art, and clings to the moments of joy when he is drawing, that feel like a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>009955495X</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1398527122
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Julia Bradbury
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|author=Sylvie Cathrall
|title=Unforgettable Walks
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|title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep
|rating=4
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|rating=5
|genre=Travel
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|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=I've long been a fan of Julia Bradbury's walking programmes on television - I credit her with sparking my own interest in walking - so the news that there would shortly be another series of programmes ''and'' a book to accompany the series was music to my ears.  This time she's looking at Britain's best walks with a view and she roams through Dorset, the Cotswolds, Anglesey, the Yorkshire Dales, the Lakes, Cumbria, the South Downs and the Peak District. Unless you're in Scotland there's something reasonably close to just about everyone, with a good spread around all points of the compass.
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|summary= There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784298840</amazonuk>
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|isbn= 0356522776
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Adrian Barnes
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|isbn=1786482126
|title=Nod
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|title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)
 +
|author=Elly Griffiths
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Dystopian Fiction
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|genre=Crime
|summary=For anyone who has suffered from insomnia, the idea of a world with no sleep is an unsettling place as it feels so realThe thought of having to drag yourself to work after a night with no sleep is bad enough, but what about two nights, or three, or four? Society will crumble if everyone missed five meals in a row, but what would happen if we all missed five nights of sleep?  If you end up in the land of Nod, we are all in trouble.
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|summary=Builders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway.  There was no skullWas this a ritual killing or murder?  Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson.  It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago. Her condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783298227</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jane L Gibson
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|author=Joan Didion
|title=The Gessami Residence
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|title=The Year of Magical Thinking
|rating=3
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|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
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|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Jenny Walker has been a widow for three years.  She's had support from her parents (Dad's still a bit protective), her two sons, who are at university, and her three girl friends. The four women have had a meal together every week but now they've decided to go on holiday for a fortnight.  One of the women - Rose - is in the business so she's in charge of making the arrangements and she insists that they have to turn up at the airport before they find out their destination. Ibiza wasn't ''quite'' what they were expecting, but then three of the four women are unattached (Amanda is married - in an unenthusiastic sort of way) and they all like to drink and flirt. What couldn't go right?
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|summary=This book is Joan Didion's heartbreaking autobiographical account of the grief she endured following her husband's sudden death. Books that shed light on taboo topics like death are such a beautiful and necessary resource to help people feel less alone. Didion unpicks unpleasant feelings surrounding death like self-pity, denial and delusion and makes them utterly normal, lends them a human face to wear.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784625035</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0007216858
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Jo Cotterill and Cathy Brett
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|isbn=0008551324
|title= Electrigirl
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|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)
|rating= 4
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|author=Neil Lancaster
|genre= Confident Readers
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|rating=4.5
|summary= Holly Sparkes is an ordinary 11-year-old schoolgirl, until she is struck by a mysterious bolt of lightning and then everything changes and she becomes extraordinary! Just like one of the characters in her brother's much loved comics Holly has developed superpowers. Holly can generate a massive amount of electricity in seconds, a skill that can, as Holly discovers, cause mayhem unless she can learn to control it. Her brother Joe, an expert in these things, decides to become her mentor and together they resolve to use Holly's new powers to good effect. They get the opportunity sooner than they expect with the arrival in their town of the company CyberSky and the sinister Professor Macavity.
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|genre=Crime
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192743554</amazonuk>
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|summary=It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police.  Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death.  This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date.  Not much to ask, is it?  The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Adriana Trigiani
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|isbn=1739526910
|title=All The Stars In The Heavens
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|title=Where I've Not Been Lost
|rating=4
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|author=Glen Sibley
 +
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=It was 1935 and Loretta Young wanted fame and success in Hollywood.  Part of it was being young (just twenty one) and beautiful but she was also conscious that the money she brought in mattered to her family.  She was hungry for love too: her father had left when she was young.  Her step-father had done little better and there was a ''need'' for a man she could love and look up to. She developed a reputation for falling in love with her leading men: first it was Spencer Tracy but on the set of ''The Call of the Wild'' she fell for Clark Gable - and he for her.
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|summary=''One year after a suicide attempt blows apart musician Brian O’Malley's life, he arrives in an unfamiliar Devon town to recover. Living with an unexpected housemate at his former manager’s holiday home, he dreams of reconnecting with everything he has lost. But as those tentative plans falter, he becomes swept up in a local world of unlikely friendships, mobile discos and surprising romantic possibilities.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471136345</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Ben Bailey Smith and Sav Akyuz
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|isbn=0008405026
|title= I Am Bear
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|title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)
|rating= 5
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|author=Jane Casey
|genre= For Sharing
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|rating=5
|summary= The first time we meet Bear he is bare! Imagine – a naked animal, in the forest with his bottom on display. Squirrel is so shocked he's dropped his nuts. Ooh matron.  
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|genre=Crime
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406359254</amazonuk>
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|summary=It's sixteen years since nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night.  She was never found and the investigation ground to a halt.  Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed.  Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious.  What looked as though it was going to be an open-and-shut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced.
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Kaui Hart Hemmings
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|isbn=1529077745
|title= The Possibilities
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|title=The Dark Wives (D I Vera Stanhope)
|rating= 3.5
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|author=Ann Cleeves
|genre= General Fiction
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|rating=4.5
|summary= Sarah's son has just died in an avalanche and as such this is a book very much about bereavement and grieving and what next. It's odd to think that a basis of personal tragedy made this an intriguing read, but that was the case.
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|genre=Crime
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099597780</amazonuk>
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|summary=A man walking his dog in the early morning discovered the body of a man in the park near Rosebank, a care home for troubled teens. The dead man was Josh - one of the care workers who was due to work a shift the night before but who had never turned up.  D I Vera Stanhope is called in to investigate the murder - but her only clue is the disappearance of one of the residents, fourteen-year-old Chloe Spencer.  Some people believe that Chloe was responsible for the death but Vera thinks this is unlikely as the girl's diary makes it clear that she adored Josh. She knows that she has to find Chloe to discover what happened to Josh.
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Leo Tolstoy
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|isbn=1399613073
|title=War and Peace
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|title=Moral Injuries
 +
|author=Christie Watson
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
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|genre=Thrillers
|summary=1805: Napoleon Bonaparte is on the way to conquering Europe while what's left of Europe (including the Russian army led by Tsar Alexander) stands in his wayPrince Andrei Bolkonsky quickly gets a reputation as military hero although few know this is allied to his death wishMeanwhile back in Russia the remaining aristocracy have no doubt that their motherland will win and so they continue with daily lifePierre, the illegitimate son of Count Bezukhoff buries his life in wine, women, song and more wine but the death of his father takes him on a journey to find happiness, the long way round12-year-old Natasha Rostov dreams of love and happiness, searching with age-related exuberance and inexperienceThe older generation are there to help and hinder as they take their places as pawns and puppeteers in the manipulation and social climbing that's become second nature… that is until the tide of war changes.
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|summary=Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a centuryOlivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeonLaura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctorAnjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GPWhen we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's going to end in tragedyWe don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences.  Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends.  This time, it's their teenage children who are involved.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184990846X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jo Weaver
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|isbn=0241636604
|title=Little One
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|title=The Trading Game: A Confession
|rating=3.5
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|author=Gary Stevenson
|genre=For Sharing
+
|rating=4.5
|summary=There is a subtle balance needed when finding a book to read to a toddler; one that takes into account the needs of the child, but perhaps also the needs of the adultDo you really want to be stuck reading an ugly book about a pair of underpants for several months? (Oops we seem to have lost that book!) However, a book with striking visuals that strikes a chord with a parent may not always chime with a childIs a children's book always meant to be just for kids?
+
|genre=Autobiography
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444922734</amazonuk>
+
|summary=If you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson.  A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice.  There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the London School of EconomicsStevenson is bright - extremely bright - and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with CitibankEventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Kelley Armstrong
+
|author=Leanne Egan
|title= City of the Lost
+
|title=Lover Birds
|rating= 3.5
 
|genre= Crime
 
|summary= Detective Casey Duncan has a dark past, and it's about to catch up with her. When her best friend Diana is attacked by an abusive ex, the two women realise they have to disappear, fast. And they need sanctuary. Diana's heard of a hidden town that's so remote it's almost impossible to reach. A town that desperately needs a new detective.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751562521</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Serge Bloch
 
|title=3, 2, 1... Draw!
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Teens
|summary=I can't draw.  I've never been able to draw.  A blank sheet of paper and a pencil frightens me.  I thought I was probably a little bit old to change my ways but then I discovered ''3, 2, 1... Draw!'' and there might have been a movement within the tectonic plates of my brain.  It's a drawing book which isn't about blank pages: it's about imagination and inspiration, with the first encouraged and the second delivered by the barrow load. I've just had more fun than I thought possible with pencil and paper!
+
|summary=When new girl, Isabel, moves to Lou's hometown of Liverpool from London Lou immediately feels Isabel's disdain for everything around her.  A misunderstanding between them leaves them hating each other, but Lou feels her pulse racing every time she looks at Isabel or speaks with her, and that's definitely because Isabel makes her feel so cross, isn't it?  Because Lou is straight, isn't she?  Even though none of her relationships with boys have gone very well so far, and she's never had a good kiss with any of them? So she just finds herself watching Isabel, and wanting to hang out with her because fighting with her is fun, and she definitely just hates Isabel, doesn't she?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847807240</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=000862657X
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Mimi Thebo
+
|isbn=1009473085
|title=Dreaming the Bear
+
|title=The Conservative Effect 2010 - 2024
 +
|author=Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton (Editors)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
+
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=Darcy's a typical teenager whose natural habitat is the shopping mall and the multiplex. It's, therefore, not surprising that she's finding it almost impossible to adjust to living in a snowy wilderness without television, a phone signal or wifi. It doesn't help that she's also recovering from pneumonia and tires quickly. But it is this very weakness that changes her life when, exhausted, she stumbles into the shelter of a cave and finds herself embraced by a hibernating grizzly bear.  
+
|summary=Sometimes it's simpler to explain a book by describing what it ''isn't'' and that applies to ''The Conservative Effect: 2010-2024 - 14 Wasted Years?''.  If you're looking for an easy read which will deliver the inside story about what ''really'' happened on certain occasions, then this isn't the book for you. If that's what you're looking for, I don't think Anthony Seldon's book, {{amazonurl|isbn=B0BH7SKG2S|title=Johnson at 10}}, can be bettered for those tumultuous years. It's a compelling read and should be compulsory for anyone who thinks Johnson should return to politics. ''The Conservative Effect'' is an entirely different beast.  It's the seventh book in a series which looks at the impact a government has made and co-editor Sir Anthony Seldon regards this as the most important. This book follows the well-established format: a series of experts from various fields review the state of the nation when the coalition took over in 2010, the changes that occurred and the situation in 2024.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192745883</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Jennifer Gray
+
|author=Max Boucherat
|title=Atticus Claw Hears a Roar
+
|title=The Last Life of Lori Mills
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=If you haven't already, meet Atticus ClawThis is the seventh chance you've had, may I mentionHe was an outstanding burglar, but now, as he is 'owned' by the children of a policeman, he has come over to the light side, and is solving crimes and not causing them – which is especially important as no end of criminality has been going on. Chancing on a lost explorer's lost treasure chest, mysterious clues are dropped to lead both goodies and baddies on the trail of jaguar gods, once worshipped by the Maya – did they really take all their treasure to a hidden valley in a last-ditch attempt to appease their sacred spirits and save their civilisation?  How many of the diverse characters, including a gang of idiotic magpies, are going to contrive to come along on the adventure?  And is one of them a witch – and if so, what does that make Atticus?
+
|summary=We meet Lori on the first evening she's got the house to herself – no neighbour to pop in, babysitter poorly, mother at work, just an avidly rule-breaking eleven year old, on her lonesomeWhat could possibly go wrong?  Snuggled in a blanket fort, she has one main intention, and that is to log on to Voxminer, the world-building, critter-collecting game that is a hit in Lori's world.  But first Lori has a tiny inkling that this stormy night doesn't find herself entirely on her own, and then she finds something even more spooky.  For the server she and her bestie and nobody else should be able to enter shows signs of tamperingWhen malevolent eyes spark up on her phone screen, and her safe place in the game has been doctored – well, where is a girl to turn?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>057132178X</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0008666482
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Fyodor Dostoyevsky
 +
|title=White Nights
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Short Stories
 +
|summary=As always in Dostoyevsky, the character work is sublime. One is never left wondering what a character is thinking or feeling because Dostoyevsky lays bare their innermost dispositions and temperaments with remarkable clarity.
 +
|isbn=0241619785
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=B0DGDJRHYD
 +
|title=Nowhere Man
 +
|author=Deborah Stone
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=General Fiction
 +
|summary=In a quiet suburban house, Patrick is making his final plans. A meticulous man, he makes sure of every preparation, down to the last detail. Some last reflections, and then he says goodbye to his wife, the world, and his life. It's horribly sad. At work in her shop, his wife Diana is fending off yet another phone call about her ageing and ailing mother, who needs extricating from yet another accident. It will be a while before Diana realises what Patrick has done.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Virginie Despentes
 +
|title=King Kong Theory
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Autobiography
 +
|summary=''King Kong Theory'' is a hard-hitting memoir and feminist manifesto, which can be seen as a call to arms for women in a phallocentric society broken at its core. Originally written in French, the book is a collection of essays in which Virginie Despentes explores her experiences as a woman through the complex prism of her varied life: from rape to sex work and pornography. Though these discussions are intertwined, their placement within the book can feel somewhat disjointed, a reflection of their original form as independent essays.
 +
|isbn=191309734X
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Holly Webb
+
|author=Alba de Cespedes
|title= Sammy the Shy Kitten
+
|title=Forbidden Notebook
|rating= 4.5
+
|rating=4
|genre= Emerging Readers
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary= An adorably, warm and cute story about what happens when Emma falls in love with a tiny sweet feral kitten whom she names Sammy. To persuade Mum and Dad to let her keep him she must learn all she can about taming wild kittens – and, of course,  win little Sammy's confidence and trust.
+
|summary=This Italian work of feminist fiction holds an air of suspense and tension from the moment our protagonist, Valeria Cossati, purchases her forbidden notebook, and learns about herself in the most intimate and revealing ways.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847156487</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1782278222
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Margaret MacMillan
+
|author=Ottessa Moshfegh
|title= History's People: Personalities and the Past
+
|title=My Year of Rest and Relaxation
|rating= 4.5
+
|rating=3
|genre= History
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary= According to the 19th century historian Thomas Carlyle, 'the history of the world is but the biography of great men'. Historian Margaret McMillan acknowledges in her introduction to this volume, based on a series of recent lectures, that there is a long-standing debate in history over whether events are moved either by individuals or by economic and social changes or technological and scientific advances, and suggests that there is no right or wrong answer.
+
|summary=At best, this novel is a scathing critique of modern society and reveals the fragility of human relationships; at worst, it is the cynical, predictable and slightly trite tale of an unlikeable protagonist. This unlikely heroine, a slim, attractive and newly orphaned girl in her twenties is disillusioned with the world, but resolves not to lose sleep over it: in fact, her solution lies in her hibernation.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781255121</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1784707422
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Nicky Benson and Jonny Lambert
+
|author=Jo Callaghan
|title=I Love You More and More
+
|title=Leave No Trace
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
+
|genre=Crime
|summary=I'm something of a connoisseur when it comes to books about bears.  I suppose it probably started with Winnie the Pooh, and my dad doing all the funny voices, but even these days I find I am irresistibly drawn to stories with bears in, and this one did not disappointIf you're looking for a good old pull-at-the-heartstrings read for cozy afternoons with your momentarily quiet little one, then this is a good place to start.
+
|summary=When a man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock.  It's their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold casesBut when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. Will they be able to solve the case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the case and, potentially, out of a career?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848692110</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=139851120X
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Ame Dyckman and Zachariah OHora
+
|isbn=B0DB64PYV5
|title=Wolfie the Bunny
+
|title=The White Rose
|rating=4.5
+
|author=Dave Baines
|genre=For Sharing
+
|rating=4
|summary=It may be that you are on the lookout for a useful picture book that deals with sibling rivalry in a helpful way.  It may be that you have a wolf or rabbit obsessed toddler. Or it may just be that you like a good story that's fun to read. Fortunately for you, this book will cover all of those requirements!  Wolfie the bunny arrives in the Bunny family's lives in a rather suspicious way, when he is left on their doorstep in a basket.  Mama and Papa Bunny are immediately charmed by their new baby, but big sister Dot remains alarmed, shouting out 'He's going to eat us all up!' but receiving no response from her smitten parents!
+
|genre=Dystopian Fiction
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783443863</amazonuk>
+
|summary=In 2033, a superstorm known as the White Rose devastates the Northern Hemisphere. And it's not a storm that gathers, wreaks havoc, then dissipates. Instead, it hovers across half the Earth with its octopus-like tentacles, not giving up and never going away.
 
}}
 
}}

Latest revision as of 09:14, 30 October 2024

Reviews by readers from all the many walks of literary life. With author interviews, features and top tens. You'll be sure to find something you'll want to read here. Dig in!

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0008385068.jpg

Review of

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

It's midsummer on the Dorset coast and guests gather at The Manor. It's their opening weekend and splendid celebrations are promised. It's all headed up by Francesca Meadows. The Manor was her ancestral home and she's converted it into an impressive retreat for the wealthy and famous. Her husband, Owen, was the architect and work is still ongoing on parts of the site. The heat is oppressive and amongst the guests are enemies as well as friends. Old scores are going to be settled and it won't be long before a body is found. Full Review

0141186356.jpg

Review of

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

4.5star.jpg Literary Fiction

Giovanni's Room follows the narrator David, an American man living in Paris, as he navigates his torturous affair with Giovanni, an Italian bartender he meets in a gay bar. While David is engaged to Hella, who is travelling in Spain, the real tension in the novel arises not from his infidelity but from the deeper conflict within himself. It is David's crippling shame and denial of his sexuality that ultimately dooms his relationship with Giovanni. Full Review

0241645441.jpg

Review of

Wild East by Ashley Hickson-Lovence

4.5star.jpg Teens

Written in verse, this is Ronny's story, a young black fourteen year old boy from Hackney who suddenly has to move to Norwich and start at a mostly white school. The move is initiated by Ronny's mum who is worried for Ronny's safety after a tragic event, and so Ronny finds himself trying to settle in a new town, a new school, and keep himself out of trouble. He listens to music constantly, and has always dreamed of being a rapper. But now, in this new school, his teacher encourages him to be part of a poetry writing workshop group and, slowly, Ronny begins to see the connections between rap and poetry, and the power of creativity and crafting your words. Full Review

1635866847.jpg

Review of

The Lavender Companion by Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

It's strange, the things that make you immediately feel that this is the book for you. Before I started reading The Lavender Companion, I visited the author's website and there's a picture of a slice of chocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally. (There's a recipe in the book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a mess of it. Notes in the margins are sanctioned. You get to fold down the corners of pages. You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem. I loved this book already. Full Review

1471196585.jpg

Review of

Us in the Before and After by Jenny Valentine

5star.jpg Teens

Elk and Mab are best friends, or more than that even, their friendship is a once in a lifetime connection. They meet as children one day on a trip out but unfortunately they don't get each other's contact details at the time. But then chance brings them back together, and they are inseparable. Something has happened though, something terrible and tragic, and now they must work through their grief, and their friendship, together. Full Review

1787333175.jpg

Review of

You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here by Benji Waterhouse

5star.jpg Popular Science

I was tempted to read You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here after enjoying Adam Kay's first book This is Going to Hurt, a glorious mixture of insight into the workings of the NHS, humour and autobiography. You Don't Have to be Mad... promised the same elements but moved from physical problems to mental illness and the work of a psychiatrist. I did wonder whether it was acceptable to be looking for humour in this setting but the laughter is directed at a situation rather than a person and it is always delivered with empathy and understanding. Full Review

1803511230.jpg

Review of

A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez

5star.jpg Short Stories

Mariana Enriquez writes horror that is disturbingly real, achieving this uncanny familiarity by basing her paranormal plots on gritty realities: her settings include an abandoned field full of disused refrigerators due to an urban planning mishap, an overcrowded homeless shelter and a crime-ridden neighbourhood where safety meetings are routine - all within Argentina. The circumstances of her characters are so plausible that the supernatural or otherworldly horror which seeps into these spaces adopts a similarly tangible texture. Full Review

0861546873.jpg

Review of

Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli

4.5star.jpg General Fiction

Anuri spent her childhood on display to the world, thanks to her step-mother Ophelia's increasingly popular presence on social media, where she posted every step of Anuri's childhood for sponsorships and influencer deals and, basically, monetary gain. Now Anuri is in her twenties and she is slowly trying to regain her confidence and to get her life back, suing her step-mother to take down the content about her. Anuri is battling alcoholism, failing to start her PhD, undergoing therapy and secretly abusing people online and receiving money from them for doing so. Most importantly, she is desperately worried about her little sister, who is the new focus of Ophelia's online empire. Can she save her sister, and perhaps herself and her relationship with her father at the same time? Full Review

B0D321VJ76.jpg

Review of

Headload of Napalm by David Chadwick

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

It's September 1973 in Hicks, California. Hicks is a Mojave desert town of a few thousand people with its nearest neighbours of LA and Las Vegas both a significant drive away. Not much happens in Hicks. A silver mine and a defence contractor are the main local employers but otherwise, there's not much of note other than dive bars and Joshua trees. Life is quiet, until.... Full Review

1398527122.jpg

Review of

The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival

5star.jpg Confident Readers

Will's life is difficult, in a multitude of ways. He is bullied because he has 'the wrong shoes', he has the wrong shoes because his dad can't work and doesn't have enough money for even the most basic of things like food, and his dad can't work because he lost his job at the college, was working a cash-in-hand job on a building site and had an accident. Throw into that mix the fact that his mum and dad are separated, and Will's life seems bleak in every direction. And yet, he still has a tiny amount of hope. He is good at art, and clings to the moments of joy when he is drawing, that feel like a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. Full Review

0356522776.jpg

Review of

A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall

5star.jpg Science Fiction

There are few greater joys than a book which lives up to a compelling premise. And this is one of them. Full Review

1786482126.jpg

Review of

The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway) by Elly Griffiths

4.5star.jpg Crime

Builders were demolishing an old house in Norwich - the site was going to hold seventy-five 'luxury' apartments - when they discovered the bones of a child beneath a doorway. There was no skull. Was this a ritual killing or murder? Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry Nelson. It's difficult as Ruth knows, but Nelson doesn't, that she is pregnant with his child as a result of the one night they spent together some three months ago. Her condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness. Full Review

0007216858.jpg

Review of

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

4.5star.jpg Autobiography

This book is Joan Didion's heartbreaking autobiographical account of the grief she endured following her husband's sudden death. Books that shed light on taboo topics like death are such a beautiful and necessary resource to help people feel less alone. Didion unpicks unpleasant feelings surrounding death like self-pity, denial and delusion and makes them utterly normal, lends them a human face to wear. Full Review

0008551324.jpg

Review of

The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie) by Neil Lancaster

4.5star.jpg Crime

It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the police. Neither side likes or has any respect for the other. But Davie Hardie is struggling in prison and he's prepared to tell the police where the body of a missing person is buried and who was responsible for her death. This person, he promises, is someone big and it will be worth the police doing what he wants. And what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole date. Not much to ask, is it? The new Deputy Police Constable doesn't think so and she's even prepared to do the other thing that Hardie demanded - make certain that DS Max Craigie and anyone who works with him is kept well away from what's happening. Full Review

1739526910.jpg

Review of

Where I've Not Been Lost by Glen Sibley

4.5star.jpg General Fiction

One year after a suicide attempt blows apart musician Brian O’Malley's life, he arrives in an unfamiliar Devon town to recover. Living with an unexpected housemate at his former manager’s holiday home, he dreams of reconnecting with everything he has lost. But as those tentative plans falter, he becomes swept up in a local world of unlikely friendships, mobile discos and surprising romantic possibilities. Full Review

0008405026.jpg

Review of

A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11) by Jane Casey

5star.jpg Crime

It's sixteen years since nine-year-old Rosalie Marshall disappeared from her bed one summer night. She was never found and the investigation ground to a halt. Now, her mother, Helena, and her father are dead in their bed. Initially, it looks like a straightforward murder/suicide but there's something about the positioning of the bodies that makes DS Maeve Kerrigan and her boss DI Josh Derwent suspicious. What looked as though it was going to be an open-and-shut case is now a complex double murder. Kerrigan is convinced that the explanation lies in Rosalie's disappearance: others (such as Derwent's boss, Una Burt) are less convinced. Full Review

1529077745.jpg

Review of

The Dark Wives (D I Vera Stanhope) by Ann Cleeves

4.5star.jpg Crime

A man walking his dog in the early morning discovered the body of a man in the park near Rosebank, a care home for troubled teens. The dead man was Josh - one of the care workers who was due to work a shift the night before but who had never turned up. D I Vera Stanhope is called in to investigate the murder - but her only clue is the disappearance of one of the residents, fourteen-year-old Chloe Spencer. Some people believe that Chloe was responsible for the death but Vera thinks this is unlikely as the girl's diary makes it clear that she adored Josh. She knows that she has to find Chloe to discover what happened to Josh. Full Review

1399613073.jpg

Review of

Moral Injuries by Christie Watson

4.5star.jpg Thrillers

Olivia, Laura and Anjali met on the first day of medical school and their friendship would keep them inseparable for a quarter of a century. Olivia is ruthlessly ambitious, which is a bonus when you aim to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Laura is a perfectionist and a trauma doctor. Anjali is the free spirit of the group and she becomes a GP. When we first meet them they're at a drug and alcohol-fuelled party and it's going to end in tragedy. We don't know who suffered the tragedy or the consequences. Twenty-five years later there will be an eerily similar event that will impact the three friends. This time, it's their teenage children who are involved. Full Review

0241636604.jpg

Review of

The Trading Game: A Confession by Gary Stevenson

4.5star.jpg Autobiography

If you were to bring up an image of a city banker in your mind, you're unlikely to think of someone like Gary Stevenson. A hoodie and jeans replaces the pin-stripe suit and his background is the East End, where he was familiar with violence, poverty and injustice. There was no posh public school on his CV - but he had been to the London School of Economics. Stevenson is bright - extremely bright - and he has a facility with numbers which most of us can only envy. He also realised that most rich people expect poor people to be stupid. It was his ability at what was, essentially, a card game which got him an internship with Citibank. Eventually, this turned into permanent employment as a trader. Full Review

000862657X.jpg

Review of

Lover Birds by Leanne Egan

4.5star.jpg Teens

When new girl, Isabel, moves to Lou's hometown of Liverpool from London Lou immediately feels Isabel's disdain for everything around her. A misunderstanding between them leaves them hating each other, but Lou feels her pulse racing every time she looks at Isabel or speaks with her, and that's definitely because Isabel makes her feel so cross, isn't it? Because Lou is straight, isn't she? Even though none of her relationships with boys have gone very well so far, and she's never had a good kiss with any of them? So she just finds herself watching Isabel, and wanting to hang out with her because fighting with her is fun, and she definitely just hates Isabel, doesn't she? Full Review

1009473085.jpg

Review of

The Conservative Effect 2010 - 2024 by Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton (Editors)

5star.jpg Politics and Society

Sometimes it's simpler to explain a book by describing what it isn't and that applies to The Conservative Effect: 2010-2024 - 14 Wasted Years?. If you're looking for an easy read which will deliver the inside story about what really happened on certain occasions, then this isn't the book for you. If that's what you're looking for, I don't think Anthony Seldon's book, Johnson at 10, can be bettered for those tumultuous years. It's a compelling read and should be compulsory for anyone who thinks Johnson should return to politics. The Conservative Effect is an entirely different beast. It's the seventh book in a series which looks at the impact a government has made and co-editor Sir Anthony Seldon regards this as the most important. This book follows the well-established format: a series of experts from various fields review the state of the nation when the coalition took over in 2010, the changes that occurred and the situation in 2024. Full Review

0008666482.jpg

Review of

The Last Life of Lori Mills by Max Boucherat

4.5star.jpg Confident Readers

We meet Lori on the first evening she's got the house to herself – no neighbour to pop in, babysitter poorly, mother at work, just an avidly rule-breaking eleven year old, on her lonesome. What could possibly go wrong? Snuggled in a blanket fort, she has one main intention, and that is to log on to Voxminer, the world-building, critter-collecting game that is a hit in Lori's world. But first Lori has a tiny inkling that this stormy night doesn't find herself entirely on her own, and then she finds something even more spooky. For the server she and her bestie and nobody else should be able to enter shows signs of tampering. When malevolent eyes spark up on her phone screen, and her safe place in the game has been doctored – well, where is a girl to turn? Full Review

0241619785.jpg

Review of

White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

5star.jpg Short Stories

As always in Dostoyevsky, the character work is sublime. One is never left wondering what a character is thinking or feeling because Dostoyevsky lays bare their innermost dispositions and temperaments with remarkable clarity. Full Review

B0DGDJRHYD.jpg

Review of

Nowhere Man by Deborah Stone

4star.jpg General Fiction

In a quiet suburban house, Patrick is making his final plans. A meticulous man, he makes sure of every preparation, down to the last detail. Some last reflections, and then he says goodbye to his wife, the world, and his life. It's horribly sad. At work in her shop, his wife Diana is fending off yet another phone call about her ageing and ailing mother, who needs extricating from yet another accident. It will be a while before Diana realises what Patrick has done. Full Review

191309734X.jpg

Review of

King Kong Theory by Virginie Despentes

4star.jpg Autobiography

King Kong Theory is a hard-hitting memoir and feminist manifesto, which can be seen as a call to arms for women in a phallocentric society broken at its core. Originally written in French, the book is a collection of essays in which Virginie Despentes explores her experiences as a woman through the complex prism of her varied life: from rape to sex work and pornography. Though these discussions are intertwined, their placement within the book can feel somewhat disjointed, a reflection of their original form as independent essays. Full Review

1782278222.jpg

Review of

Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Cespedes

4star.jpg Literary Fiction

This Italian work of feminist fiction holds an air of suspense and tension from the moment our protagonist, Valeria Cossati, purchases her forbidden notebook, and learns about herself in the most intimate and revealing ways. Full Review

1784707422.jpg

Review of

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

3star.jpg Literary Fiction

At best, this novel is a scathing critique of modern society and reveals the fragility of human relationships; at worst, it is the cynical, predictable and slightly trite tale of an unlikeable protagonist. This unlikely heroine, a slim, attractive and newly orphaned girl in her twenties is disillusioned with the world, but resolves not to lose sleep over it: in fact, her solution lies in her hibernation. Full Review

139851120X.jpg

Review of

Leave No Trace by Jo Callaghan

4star.jpg Crime

When a man is found crucified on the top of a hill in Nuneaton, DCS Kat Frank finds herself assigned to the case alongside her sidekick, the AI detective Lock. It's their first live case together, having previously been very successful with several cold cases. But when there is a second body found crucified a few days later, Kat is suddenly struggling with a potential serial killer and a very high profile case that draws a lot of unwanted attention to their AI Future Policing project. Will they be able to solve the case in time, or will Kat find herself taken off the case and, potentially, out of a career? Full Review

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Review of

The White Rose by Dave Baines

4star.jpg Dystopian Fiction

In 2033, a superstorm known as the White Rose devastates the Northern Hemisphere. And it's not a storm that gathers, wreaks havoc, then dissipates. Instead, it hovers across half the Earth with its octopus-like tentacles, not giving up and never going away. Full Review