'''Read [[Features|new features]].'''
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{{newreview
|author=Geraldine Brooks
|title=Caleb's Crossing
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Let's start, as Geraldine Brooks has, with a fact: in 1665 the first Native American, Caleb Cheeshateaumauk, graduated from Harvard College. Around this, Brooks has created a wholly fictional story (the known facts are so few that this is largely unavoidable). The stroke of genius here is to put the story into the words of the entirely fictitious Bethia Mayfield, the daughter of an English minister on what we now call Martha's Vinyard, where Caleb lived in the Wampanoag tribe. At various points in her life, Bethia sets down events concerning her early secret friendship with Caleb on the island, to accompanying him and her brother to Harvard and the subsequent events.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007333536</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Oliver James
|summary=When I read [[The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa|The Housekeeper and the Professor]] by Ogawa I fell completely in love with the book. It was gentle, and beautifully written. ''Hotel Iris'' is very, very different and really ought to have a warning label on the cover for those who simply recognise the author's name and pick it up hoping for more! This is the story of a seventeen year old girl who is seduced by an old man in a sadistic, distressing manner.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099548992</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Eleanor Birne
|title=When Will I Sleep Through the Night? An A - Z of Babyhood
|rating=4.5
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=When it comes to parenting, I have discovered that a lot of people lie. They lie about sleep, about tantrums, about feeding and nappies and the effects of a screaming newborn on your marriage. There are books galore, and Mummy blogs, and tweeters all happily proclaiming how marvellous it all is, first of all being pregnant, then giving birth, and then raising the baby. It's all glowing skin and sunshine smiles and meeting friends for coffee. I quickly stopped reading anything baby-related when I was pregnant because I was sick as a dog for 5 months, I had an awful labour and that first year with my little girl was almost impossibly difficult and totally consumed with the horror of a non-sleeping baby. Now, four and a half years on from giving birth and (mostly) sleeping all night long I felt able to open up this latest baby book, mainly because the title roused such familiar feelings in me.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846684862</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Duff Hart-Davis
|title=The War That Never Was
|rating=4
|genre=History
|summary=In the 1960's, an Egyptian general with delusions of grandeur is trying to conquer the Arab world, starting with Yemen. The new Imam, having previously disobeyed the general's orders to assassinate his own father, has fled to the hills. The British are wary of getting officially involved so turn to more subtle channels. Jim Johnson, an underwriter at Lloyd's who claims to have been arrested for attempted murder at the tender age of 8 when he attacked an Italian maid abusing a cat, is the man asked to run a secret operation. His response? 'I've nothing particular to do in the next few days. I might have a go.' Putting together a team of mercenaries, he sends them to Yemen to fight what will become, as the subtitle of the book states, Britain's most secret battle.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846058252</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Caroline Lawrence
|title=The Western Mysteries: The Case of the Deadly Desperados
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=It is always a little worrying when an author finishes a popular and well-loved series to start something new. Will the new characters be as interesting as the old, familiar ones? Will the books just be a pale retelling of the plots in a new context? But fans of Ms Lawrence's [[The Prophet from Ephesus (The Roman Mysteries) by Caroline Lawrence|Roman Mysteries]] need not worry. What we have here is a rip-roaring tale of the Wild West, with tons of credible local colour, a bunch of villains every bit as wicked as those to be found in Ancient Rome, and a likeable lead character.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444001698</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Carol Birch
|title=Jamrach's Menagerie
|rating=4.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=The novel is written in the first person by a young boy called Jaffy. He describes the poverty of his life at home which includes the delightful line 'We lived in the crow's nest of Mrs Reagan's house.' He also describes his struggling mother and his absent father. But I got the sense that here was a bright and resilient boy.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847676561</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sarah Blakley-Cartwirght
|title=Red Riding Hood
|rating=4
|genre=Teens
|summary=Ok, the biggest let down of this book was the missing chapter at the end, which will be made available after the film is released – bad move. I understand that it's meant to keep people interested in it, and not spoil the film, but honestly, it's just frustrating, Now, my book will be forever incomplete – not good.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907410821</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=ClientsFromHell.net
|title=Clients From Hell
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=Everyone who's worked as a freelancer has a story of a client from hell - that person who asked for something that was impossible, wanted it done yesterday for a fraction of the usual price, or is just plain angry about the work produced. The website [http://www.clientsfromhell.net ClientsFromHell.net] has collated a number of such stories over the years, and has now published them as a book.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0982473931</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Marcus Sedgwick
|title=Raven Mysteries: Magic and Mayhem
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Life is never completely dull at Castle Otherhand. Edgar the resident raven may get bored a little, and end up pecking and plucking at things he shouldn't, but that at least keeps the humans there on their toes. And even Edgar must admit to being rushed off his talons when he has to save the day yet again, this time from death by cabbage, and things that go quack in the night.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842556975</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Nick Hewlett
|title=The Sarkozy Phenomenon
|rating=4
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=The old saying is that 'cometh the hour, cometh the man' and whether or not it's the electorate's ability to pick the man or whether he was only seen as the right man in retrospect is a moot point. There are, though, some surprising people at the head of European countries at the moment – with Silvio Berlusconi and Nicholas Sarkozy at the head of my personal list. My [[Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni: The True Story by Valerie Benaim and Yves Azeroual|last attempt]] to find out more about Sarkozy proved to be too light-weight for my tastes, but this time I've gone to the opposite end of the scale with a book from Nick Hewlett, Professor of French Studies at the University of Warwick and published by Imprint Academic. I mention those points because there is no attempt to present this as populist writing: it's scholarly from beginning to end.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845402391</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Karen Maitland
|title=The Gallow's Curse
|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=This is the eagerly anticipated, and long awaited third novel by the immensely talented author Karen Maitland. It seems as if her ever expanding and permanently loyal fan base will not be disappointed in any way by her latest offering. It's rare (if ever), that I would be moved to give a 5 star rating to any novel - but this one richly deserves the highest of accolades.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718156358</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Clodagh Murphy
|title=Girl in a Spin
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Jenny Hannigan might look like the original good-time party girl but all she really wants out of life is a settled home and family – mainly because that's what she's never had. So when she begins a relationship with Richard Allam she dares to hope that the dreams might be coming true. Richard is young, good-looking and leader of Her Majesty's opposition. He has high hopes of becoming Prime Minister after the next election. Jenny isn't exactly the ideal mate for someone who expects to be the next Prime Minister and as Richard has only recently separated from his wife Jenny is going to take some selling to the country. Enter publicist Dev Tennant whose job is to make the country fall in love with Jenny.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444705148</amazonuk>
}}
