==General fiction==
__NOTOC__
{{newreview
|author=Alexander McCall Smith
|title=Isabel Dalhousie: The Forgotten Affairs of Youth
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=My husband is soon to take a work trip to Edinburgh and I am very jealous. Mainly because thanks to AMS' novels I feel like I already know the city, and I would love to walk in the footsteps of Isabel or any of the characters from his other series, '44 Scotland Street'. So, to console me, I have turned to the latest in the Isabel Dalhousie series. I must admit, I was a little wary at the beginning since I was quite disappointed with Isabel's seventh outing, [[Isabel Dalhousie: The Charming Quirks of Others by Alexander McCall Smith|The Charming Quirks of Others]], and I wondered what I would do if this one also proved to be a let down. Fortunately it wasn't, and dear Isabel is back in sparkling form!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408703394</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sara Gruen
|summary=I read the front cover blurb and didn't quite get it 'She borrowed a child. He stole her.' I don't mind 'not getting it' in the slightest as it just makes me want to read the book even more. So I was keen to get stuck into this debut novel.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434021008</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Isabel Ashdown
|title=Hurry Up And Wait
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Ashdown won the Observer Best Debut Novels of the Year with her book [[Glasshopper by Isabel Ashdown|Glasshopper]], an excerpt of which is given at the back of this book. I decided to read it first and I must say that I immediately warmed to Ashown's style of writing. She seems to have a knack for down-to-earth language especially with teenagers and young people. So, I was really looking forward to this book but I was also conscious of the fact that it had a lot to live up to. Will she be able to deliver?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0956251552</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Gabrielle Donnelly
|title=The Little Women Letters
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=I read the back cover blurb with delight and couldn't help but applaud Donnelly for her ingenuity. I loved the book ''Little Women'' when I read it many years ago and television adaptations keep it fresh for new generations. So, before I'd even turned to chapter one, I was loving this book. But will it live up to my lofty expectations?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718156587</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Caitlin Davies
|title=The Ghost of Lily Painter
|rating=5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=When Annie Sweet buys a home with her family, she feels inexplicably bonded to it from first sight. As life brings unwelcome changes for her, she decides to uncover the history of her house to provide a distraction and to understand her feelings about her home.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091937035</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Diane Chamberlain
|title=The Midwife's Confession
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=I feel that I've barely finished a Chamberlain review when up pops another of her books - such seems to be proliferation. The story opens with the build-up to the death of middle-aged midwife, Noelle. Her friends, all a little younger than herself and with families of their own, are busy getting on with their daily lives. But someone - suddenly - remembers they haven't heard from Noelle for some days. It's unusual as this group of chatty friends are forever phoning, texting or popping round to each other's houses.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0778304663</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Bella Pollen
|title=The Summer of the Bear
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Letty Fleming, recently widowed, is driving her three children hundreds of miles north to a new and hopefully happy life on a remote Scottish island. We get a peek at the personalities of the children straight away: Alba is opinionated and strong-willed, for example. Still young she's managed to acquire a list as long as her arm of her 'hates' in the world - fish, English teachers and doors which are ajar all feature and I didn't care as I couldn't help liking her. At least she knows her own mind. What will she be like when she's grown up, for heaven's sake?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330519069</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Celine Ibe
|title=Shadow of a Thief
|rating=3
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Obinna's childhood had been gloriously happy, living in the Nigerian village with Mama. But when he was fifteen years old Mama told him that she was not his mother, but his grandmother and that his mother and father were dead. Stunned and almost disbelieving he went to bed only to be woken by a loud noise in the night. It came from Mama's room but when Obinna went to her she was dead on the floor. The boy could have lived with neighbours who would have been only too glad to have him, but he set off as soon as he could to his only living relative, his Uncle Raffia.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907629149</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Dawn French
|title=A Tiny Bit Marvellous
|rating=3.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Over the years I have become something of a Dawn French fan. She has consistently entertained and quite frankly made my sides split with laughter as an actor, comedian, and most recently as a writer with her wonderful autobiography [[Dear Fatty by Dawn French|Dear Fatty]]. So when I saw her first novel ‘A Tiny Bit Marvellous’ waiting for me on The Bookbag shelves I thought here’s another treat from this remarkable entertainer.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141046341</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|title=The Storm at the Door
|author=Stefan Merrill Block
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=The author, Stefan Merrill Block, is writing about members of his own family in ''The Storm at the Door''. The story opens at the end, if you get my drift. We see the elderly grandmother Katherine in a bit of a spot, wondering whether to open and then read a bunch of papers. These papers (these red-hot papers) are the words and thoughts of her husband Frederick from his time in a mental institution. If she opens them, then it will be opening a veritable can of worms. Does she or doesn't she?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571269591</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|title=A Conspiracy Of Friends
|author=Alexander McCall Smith
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=So, here we are again back with our friends in Corduroy Mansions in this, their third book. I found ''A Conspiracy Of Friends'' a little slow to start with, and I worried that perhaps I had tired of the characters, but a few chapters later the pace picked up and once again I was thoroughly entertained by the quirky characters, interesting thoughts and ideas.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846971829</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|title=In The Sea There Are Crocodiles
|author=Fabio Geda
|rating=5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=''In The Sea There Are Crocoiles'' is based on a true story about a young boy left by his mother to fend for himself. As if that wasn't difficult enough, he's stranded in Pakistan while the rest of his family are in war-ravaged Afghanistan. It's a collaboration between Afghan Enaiatollah and his Italian translator, Fabio - this book is already a big hit with Italian readers (it says so on the back cover blurb). Enaiatollah eventually claimed political asylum in Italy.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857560085</amazonuk>
}}
