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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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Find us on [[File:facebook.gif|link=https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk|alt=Facebook]] [https://www.facebook.com/TheBookbagCoUk '''Facebook'''],  [[File:twitter.gif|link=http://twitter.com/TheBookbag|alt=Follow us on Twitter]] [http://twitter.com/TheBookbag '''Twitter'''],
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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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==The Best New Books==
|author=Neil Griffiths and Janette Louden
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|title=The Dog with No Name
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'''Read [[:Category:New Reviews|new reviews by category]]. '''<br>
|rating=4
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|genre=Confident Readers
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'''Read [[:Category:Features|the latest features]].'''
|summary=Ella and Harry had been nagging their parents ''forever'' about getting a dog, but it wasn't until after the death of the goldfish ''and'' the Russian hamster, which they'd only seen five times because it was nocturnal, that their parents relented.  Off they went to the dog rescue centre and after what seemed like ''ages'' and lots of red tape they had their very own dogHe'd not been in the centre long and had no name but the whole family fell for him and brought him home.
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{{Frontpage
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908702249</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0008385068
 +
|title=The Midnight Feast
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|author=Lucy Foley
 +
|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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Caroline Lea
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|author=James Baldwin
|title=When The Sky Fell Apart
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|title=Giovanni's Room
|rating=5
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|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
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|genre=Literary Fiction  
|summary=That was the order in which things happened: the sky fell apart, Jersey's beaches were bombed, Clement the island's butcher went up in flames where he stood and then the arrival of the German army. This will change the life of the island including herbalist Edith, neglected child Claudine, former fisherman Maurice and English Doctor Carter.  Each of the four lives on the perimeter of the island's community but each will come to depend on the other three in order to continue living.
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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>1925240746</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0141186356
 
}}
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Michael Honig
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|author=Ashley Hickson-Lovence
|title= The Senility of Vladimir P
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|title=Wild East
|rating= 3
 
|genre= General Fiction
 
|summary= In the not-too-distant future, Vladimir Putin is slowly succumbing to dementia, hidden from the world at large in a secluded private nursing home. Nikolai Ilyich Sheremetev has what sounds like the most difficult job in the world: he's the old man's nurse.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782398066</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Margaret Forster
 
|title=My Life in Houses
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Autobiography
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|genre=Teens
|summary=Love them or loathe them, the houses we live in have a way of defining our lives. Author Margaret Forster decided to take this idea a stage further when writing her autobiography. Instead of putting herself centre-stage, she allows the houses that she has lived in to tell her story instead. From humble beginnings in a council-house on the notorious Raffles estate, we see Margaret's fortunes improve as her writing career blossoms. Student digs in Oxford, a shared house on Hampstead Heath, a villa in the Algarve and a remote cottage in the Lake District all have their time in the spotlight; but it soon becomes clear that only one very special house can earn the most precious title: HOME.
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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 rapperBut 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>0099593971</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0241645441
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{{newreview
 
|author=Quentin Bates
 
|title=Thin Ice (Officer Gunnhildur)
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Crime
 
|summary=Gunnhildur's family life is a bit complicated.  Her son Gisli is now the father of two children, only they're not the traditional year or two apart, but just a few weeks and there are - as you might have gathered - two mothers involved.  He's now living not with the one that Gunna might have expected but doing his best to maintain contact with the other, and his other son, of courseAt work, two small-time crooks have robbed Reykjavik's most infamous drug dealer of a couple of hundred thousand euros, but couldn't get away as their getaway driver failed to turn up.  Two women - mother and daughter - have disappeared along with the mother's car and a thief has died in suspicious circumstances.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147212149X</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Jenny Colgan
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|isbn=1635866847
|title=Polly and the Puffin
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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
|genre=Emerging Readers
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|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Polly was in bed when there was LOUD bang from downstairsIt wasn't the storm which was raging outsideIt wasn't a monster or an alien from outer spaceIt was a puffin who had crashed through the front door and he had a broken wingPolly's mummy got the first aid kit out whilst Polly went to get the puffin some food and the next day they went to see the vetBy then Polly had decided that the puffin would be called Neil and the vet asked her if she would be able to look after Neil until his wing was better, on the strict understanding that he would then have to return to the wild.
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|summary=It's strange, the things that make you ''immediately'' feel that this is the book for youBefore 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 homepageI 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 itNotes in the margins are sanctioned.  You get to fold down the corners of pagesYou suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem.  I ''loved'' this book already.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0349131902</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Ernst Haffner and Michael Hofmann (translator)
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|author=Jenny Valentine
|title=Blood Brothers
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|title=Us in the Before and After
|rating=4
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|rating=5
|genre=Literary Fiction
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|genre=Teens
|summary=It's Berlin, and the Nazis are on their way to power, even if they will never cross these pages themselves.  The city – huge, glamorous, bustling, vicious in the way it can swallow people – is home to a countless hoard of teenagers, but we focus on just a few, most of whom have been in some corrective institution or other before now.  They call themselves the Blood Brothers, even if all they share is the most unglamorous drudgery of going from one doss-house to another, balancing the cost of a few cigarettes with that of a warm room for a few hours or some stale rolls to eat.  But en route to them is another 'Borstal' escapee, Willi. Surely his fate is going to be nothing if not more of the same?
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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>0099594048</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1471196585
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= David Thorne
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|isbn=1787333175
|title= Promises of Blood
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|title=You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here
|rating= 4.5
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|author=Benji Waterhouse
|genre= Crime
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|rating=5
|summary= I love getting in on the ground floor.  Thanks to this very website I was one of the first in this country to read the ''Twilight'' series and was smitten from the start. We'll ignore the films, the books are worth a look!  In a completely different genre, but no less a lucky fluke it was through here that I stumbled across [[East of Innocence by David Thorne]] and put in an old-fashioned baggsy for whatever followed.  On reading the second of the series [[Nothing Sacred by David Thorne]] I commented that I hoped that in the next outing Connell would see ''him up against, or siding with, some kick-ass-don't-take-it female.'' ''So far his women do tend to be 'birds or victims' ''.   I'm pleased to say he's moving in the right direction… women are central to this story one way and anotherFor the first time he's given us female characters who (despite their plot-device roles, which is varied and not always predictable) are stronger than they look – strong in a number of different ways – he hasn't simply opted for my "kick-ass" option, he's more subtle than that.  
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|genre=Popular Science
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782395911</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.  
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Jo Empson
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|author=Mariana Enriquez
|title= Little Home Bird
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|title=A Sunny Place for Shady People
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre= For Sharing
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|genre=Short Stories
|summary= Little bird loves everything about his home. All his favourite things are there or very nearby; his favourite branch, his favourite view and his favourite music too. All is happy in his little world until autumn draws near and his older brother tells him that they do in fact have two homes and the time has come to travel far to the south to move to their second home. Little bird is saddened by this news and knows that he will miss all his special, favourite things. Then little bird has a good idea! He will take his favourite things with him and then wherever he goes it will always feel like home.  So we accompany little bird on his long journey and discover how he finds happiness in his new home in ways he had not expected.
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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>184643890X</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1803511230
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Katie Blackburn and Richard Smythe
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|author=Onyi Nwabineli
|title=Dozy Bear and the Secret of Sleep
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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=There's nothing worse than sleep deprivationI remember when my daughter was just a few months old and I was getting up with her four or five times a night I would sometimes find myself shopping in Tesco with absolutely no recollection of how I got there (or quite what I was shopping for)Sadly, this won't help with those squawky newborns, but once your little one gets a bit older this is certainly worth a try, especially if your bedtime routine tends to resemble feeding time at the zoo!
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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 gainNow 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 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>0571330193</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0861546873
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Anna Claybourne
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|author=David Chadwick
|title=50 Things You Should Know About: Wild Weather
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|title=Headload of Napalm
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre=Thrillers
|summary=Oh, this takes me back. Out of all the things we learn at school and profess to never want to need as an adult, the water cycle is one that I had forgotten about, until now.  It forms the basis of a lot of our weather, after all – the way landmasses and seas warm the air above them differently, thus causing motion in the shape of winds and altering atmospheric pressure, that we call weather. And from the gentlest high pressure, that someone somewhere will always deem too hot, to the most furious electrical storm, weather is certainly something a lot of people like to talk about. Is this book the ideal place to learn the basics of such a thing?
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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>178493304X</amazonuk>
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|isbn= B0D321VJ76
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Amy Licence
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|author=Tom Percival
|title= Edward IV & Elizabeth Woodville: A True Romance
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|title=The Wrong Shoes
|rating= 4.5
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|rating=5
|genre= Biography
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|genre=Confident Readers
|summary= Given the current resurgence in popularity of biographies dealing with the Yorkists, the time is right for an account of the marriage of King Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, a union that proved so divisive in the era of York vs LancasterWith several of the great nobility declaring allegiance to one side and then another in turn during the Wars of the Roses, it was a divisive era to start with.  
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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 hopeHe 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>1445636786</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1398527122
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Judith Kerr
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|author=Sylvie Cathrall
|title=Mog and the Baby and Other Stories
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|title=A Letter to the Luminous Deep
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
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|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=I've never been a fan of cats.  I'm more of a dog person.  Mog, however, has weaseled her way into my heart, and although I certainly wouldn't want her as a pet in my house, we love reading her stories. This collection of ''Mog and the Baby'', ''Mog's Bad Thing'', and ''Mog on Fox Night'' is perfect for a nice afternoon bumper storytime together with your little one, or you can just read them one by one over three nights.
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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>0008157995</amazonuk>
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|isbn= 0356522776
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Betty G Birney
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|isbn=1786482126
|title=Spring According to Humphrey
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|title=The Janus Stone (Dr Ruth Galloway)
 +
|author=Elly Griffiths
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
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|genre=Crime
|summary=Spring, of all things, is a dead endThe class, given the homework task of finding signs of spring, are just failing and failing, what with the bad weatherAnd nobody can come up with any useful ideas for the class theme at the school's Family Fun Day, as being clowns has been nicked by someone elseHow can a humble classroom pet hamster help everyone and everything – especially when he has been gazumped himself?  For the very child tasked with looking after Humphrey for the weekend has been sent a package containing what is alleged to be a sign of spring – although to our hero the two tiny tadpoles in a tank look like two specks in gunk…
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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 doorwayThere was no skull.  Was this a ritual killing or murder?  Inevitably, Dr Ruth Galloway finds herself working with DCI Harry NelsonIt'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 agoHer condition will be obvious before long, not least because Ruth is prone to sudden bouts of sickness.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571284183</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Susin Nielsen
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|author=Joan Didion
|title= The Reluctant Journal of Henry K Larsen
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|title=The Year of Magical Thinking
|rating= 4
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|rating=4.5
|genre= Teens
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|genre=Autobiography
|summary= Susin Nielsen is adept at conveying how you shouldn't judge someone on a first impression and how it's who you are that matters not what you look like. When we first meet Henry he is in counselling and dealing with an emotional trauma by speaking in a monotonous robot voice. His family has been fragmented by the cataclysmic 'IT' which he refuses to talk about. Ripped away from his comfortable life in Port Salish, Henry is struggling to readjust whilst living with his dad in a cramped apartment in Kitsilano, Vancouver, Canada. Gradually he starts to come out of his shell as he discovers new friends and interests but the road to recovery is not straightforward. Luckily he has his journal, albeit reluctantly.  
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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>1783443669</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0007216858
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Emer Stamp
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|isbn=0008551324
|title=The Seriously Extraordinary Diary of Pig
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|title=The Devil You Know (D S Max Craigie)
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|author=Neil Lancaster
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
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|genre=Crime
|summary=HelloI is very happy to be giving a positive verdict on a third adventure for Pig, who speaks Pig, his best friend Duck, who speaks Pig but in a Duck font, and their best friend Cow who speaks bad.  This time the Chickens who was the evil ones is not hardly even mentioned, and the Cat that scared Pig and everyone else in [[The Super Amazing Adventures of Me, Pig by Emer Stamp|his second book]] is barely thought of, but there is another bad character to make up for it.  But first I is having to report that Pig and Cow and Duck are making a big trouble for themselves, which is causing them to try and save the day and by mistake making the bad character notice CowAnd when I tells you the big trouble happens because Cow tries to hide Cow on the Farmer's roof you will knows just what a silly diary this series is.
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|summary=It's unusual for anyone from the Hardie family to approach the policeNeither 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 wantsAnd what he wants is to be transferred to an open prison to serve the remainder of his sentence and to get an early parole dateNot 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407153226</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{newreview <!-- Upload 26/2 -->
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{{Frontpage
|author=C G Metts
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|isbn=1739526910
|title=Waltzing in Vienna
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|title=Where I've Not Been Lost
|rating=4
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|author=Glen Sibley
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|rating=4.5
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Filmmaker C G Metts has written four nonfiction books, several of them of local interest to South Carolina natives and visitors. This is his first novel, however, and you may be surprised to learn that it is an enjoyable chick lit/women's fiction romp. Three girlfriends meet up again in Charleston; in their early forties, they're facing turning points in their professional and personal lives. As they reminisce about summers spent together at Folly Beach during college and resume their communal marijuana smoking habit, they summon the courage to decide what they want from middle age and refresh their sex lives.
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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>0692533346</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Heather Pindar and Susan Batori
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|isbn=0008405026
|title=Strictly No Crocs
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|title=A Stranger in the Family (Maeve Kerrigan 11)
|rating=4
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|author=Jane Casey
|genre=For Sharing
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|rating=5
|summary=You can’t go wrong with a good crocodile storyNot that these crocodiles are good, oh no, after being banned from attending Zebra’s party they have grand plans to sneak in and eat everyone there! Once they are secretly dressed up as a leopard, a parrot and a bee (!) their plans don’t go quite as they’d wished…
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|genre=Crime
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848861877</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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}}
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{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1529077745
 +
|title=The Dark Wives (D I Vera Stanhope)
 +
|author=Ann Cleeves
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Crime
 +
|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 SpencerSome 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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}}
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{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1399613073
 +
|title=Moral Injuries
 +
|author=Christie Watson
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Thrillers
 +
|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 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.
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=0241636604
 +
|title=The Trading Game: A Confession
 +
|author=Gary Stevenson
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Autobiography
 +
|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 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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Daniel Polansky
+
|author=Leanne Egan
|title= Those Above
+
|title=Lover Birds
|rating= 4
+
|rating=4.5
|genre= Fantasy
+
|genre=Teens
|summary=For three thousand years Those Above have ruled over their human subjects. From the glittering palaces of their eternal city, they enforce their will with fire and sword. Twenty-five years ago, mankind mustered an army and rose up against them, only to be slaughtered in a terrible battle. Whilst hope died that day, hatred survived. Whispers of another revolt begin to stir throughout the oppressed: a widowed woman, dedicated to revenge: a general, the only to defeat one of Those Above; and a boy killer, who rises from the gutter to lead an uprising.
+
|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>1444779915</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=000862657X
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=A A Milne and E H Shepard
+
|isbn=1009473085
|title=When We Were Very Young
+
|title=The Conservative Effect 2010 - 2024
 +
|author=Anthony Seldon and Tom Egerton (Editors)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Rhymes and Verse
+
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=I've never been fond of poetry: there's something missing in my soul as I cannot see the benefits of saying something in verse form when it could be expressed more simplyI often wish that I was different and just occasionally some verse will touch me: it has happened with [[:Category:Wendy Cope|Wendy Cope]] and now with this delightful volume from A A MilneAs I read there was a curious mixture of ''good'' memories from childhood (and they were all too rare) and new material which struck a chord.  The 'decorations' by E H Shepard didn't do any harm either!
+
|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 youIf 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>1405280859</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=E T Harper and Dan Taylor
+
|author=Max Boucherat
|title=Dylan's Amazing Dinosaurs - The Triceratops
+
|title=The Last Life of Lori Mills
|rating= 3.5
 
|genre= For Sharing
 
|summary=Imagination is one thing; what wonderful adventures you could have should you be able to travel to the distant past and walk amongst the dinosaurs.  Reality is different; running around in bone shaking terror as various man-eating dinos crave your flesh.  This has not stopped Dylan embarking on another amazing adventure – will he survive a velociraptor attack and why does he keep doing back?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471119408</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Phil Earle and Sara Ogilvie
 
|title=Superhero Street
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Having really enjoyed the first book about the children on Storey street, [[Demolition Dad by Phil Earle and Sara Ogilvie]] I was looking forward to this follow upThis time the focus is on Mouse who lives in a rather manic household since after having Mouse his mother had twin boys, and then triplets!  Whilst his father is exhausted from trying to earn a living as a magician, his mother is, as you can imagine, run ragged with all the children, and Mouse feels rather neglectedMouse has a secret means of escape, however, because he leads an imaginary double life and his secret identity is Mouse the Mighty!  But what happens when he is forced to become a hero in real life?
+
|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 worldBut 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?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444013882</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0008666482
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Delia Garratt and Tara Hamling (editors)
+
|author=Fyodor Dostoyevsky
|title=Shakespeare and the Stuff of Life: Treasures from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
+
|title=White Nights
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=History
+
|genre=Short Stories
|summary=You remember that thing the British Museum did a few years back, where they picked the best of the best they owned – 100 objects that most epitomised both the riches of the place and the cultures it was designed to represent?  Well, it seems that idea has legs. It’s been repeated, even, for the purpose of illuminating just one man – and you can probably guess that man was Mr Shakespeare.  There has indeed been a project to pick a hundred limelights to illuminate his texts and his times, although for the purpose of this book they have been whittled down to fifty – and arranged by theme according to Jaques' 'Seven Ages of Man' speech from ''As You Like It''.  And the chances are, seeing as the results are almost more powerful here than in the best museum, you will like it very much indeed.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1474222269</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=0241619785
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Abi Elphinstone
+
|isbn=B0DGDJRHYD
|title=The Shadow Keeper
+
|title=Nowhere Man
|rating= 5
+
|author=Deborah Stone
|genre= Confident Readers
+
|rating=4
|summary= Moll and the rest of her tribe have been forced to move from the ancient forest and they are now hidden in a secret cave by the sea. They must find the secret amulet of truth to overcome the evil Shadowmasks and to achieve this they must slip past fierce smugglers, defeat horrific creatures and solve challenging clues. The threats mount and their courage is tested as Moll and her loyal wildcat Gryff, together with her friends Alfie and Sid battle to find the amulet before it is too late.  
+
|genre=General Fiction
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471122700</amazonuk>
+
|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.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Alison Weir
+
|author=Virginie Despentes
|title= The Lost Tudor Princess: A Life of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox
+
|title=King Kong Theory
|rating= 5
+
|rating=4
|genre= Biography
+
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, was one of the more shadowy, lesser known personalities among the Tudor royal family.  She was the daughter of King Henry VIII's sister Margaret, by her second marriage to Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, and like so many others who were closely related to King Henry VIII and his children, she led what was at times quite a precarious life in that she was on occasion suspected of treasonable activities, and also experienced no little personal tragedy
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099546469</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=191309734X
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Marina Fiorato
+
|author=Alba de Cespedes
|title= The Double Life of Mistress Kit Kavanagh
+
|title=Forbidden Notebook
|rating= 4.5
+
|rating=4
|genre= Historical Fiction
+
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary= In early eighteenth century Ireland, young Irish beauty Kit Kavanagh lives a quiet, settled life in a Dublin alehouse with her husband, Richard. When Richard is suddenly whisked away to join the British army, Kit disguises herself as a man and enlists as a soldier, determined to follow and find her husband across war-torn Europe.
+
|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>1473610494</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1782278222
 +
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Ottessa Moshfegh
 +
|title=My Year of Rest and Relaxation
 +
|rating=3
 +
|genre=Literary Fiction
 +
|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.
 +
|isbn=1784707422
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Lucy Dawson
+
|author=Jo Callaghan
|title= You Sent Me A Letter
+
|title=Leave No Trace
|rating= 4.5
+
|rating=4
|genre= Thrillers
+
|genre=Crime
|summary= It's scary enough turning 40 (I've heard) without being awoken on the eve of your birthday by a strange man who has broken into your bedroom with a rather bizarre message. Emerging from the shadows, he hands Sophie an envelope with strict instructions to open it that evening as her party is in full swing. She has no idea what is inside, but it can't be good.
+
|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 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?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782396225</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=139851120X
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Maria Ana Peixe Dias, Ines Teixeira do Rosario, Bernardo P Carvalho  and Lucy Greaves (translator)
+
|isbn=B0DB64PYV5
|title=Outside: A Guide to Discovering Nature
+
|title=The White Rose
 +
|author=Dave Baines
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Dystopian Fiction
|summary=I'm on a mission: I want children - adults too - to spend a lot more time outside.  I want them to have the benefits of fresh air, increasing their levels of vitamin D and the knowledge of what nature can offer them. I'd like the television, computers, mobile phones, video games and even books to be laid aside and attention given to what is available for free, but which - if we don't care for it - might not always be there.  Fortunately the authors of ''Outside: A Guide to discovering Nature'' have the same ideas.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847807690</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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