'''Read [[Features|new features]].'''
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{{newreview
|author=Marcus Sedgwick
|title=The Raven Mysteries: Diamonds and Doom
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Edgar is on holiday. Well, according to him, it's a conference where ravens meet to discuss all manner of important things, and where they occasionally have a bit too much to eat and drink. Whatever. The point is, he's not there when the last gold piece is taken from the treasury and spent, and Castle Otherhand is put up for sale. The adults don't seem to be doing anything constructive about the situation, so with Edgar away enjoying his birdly junketings, our favourite Goth Solstice and her ever-hungry brother Cudweed decide to sort things out by themselves. And if you've ever read a Raven Mysteries book before, you will know right away that that means by the time Edgar flutters home, chaos, mayhem and disaster will be the order of the day.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842556983</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Margaret Henderson Smith
|summary=It's the near future and King Charles III has ascended the throne of the United Kingdom with Camilla as his Queen Consort. The country is in a mess with rampant inflation, unemployment, a crumbling infrastructure and riots: the people have taken to calling this time ''The Troubles''. Such situations breed power-hungry politicians and Prime Minister Alistair Saxon has plans to become the dictator of the country. When the King refuses to give his assent to the Emergency Powers Act, Saxon and his fellow-conspirators kidnap the Royal family to prevent Charles speaking against the EPA.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1463766297</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Kirsten Tranter
|title=The Legacy
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=This is quite a chunky book so Tranter has given herself plenty of space and time to build up a nice level of suspense here as well as putting some flesh on the bones of her central characters. The book opens - towards the end of the story. So we have firm, but platonic friends, Julia and Ralph both very concerned about their mutual friend, Ingrid. She supposedly died on 9/11 - but with no remains, no burial, their grief hasn't an outlet. They need (to quote that much used word) closure.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857380621</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Joe Simpson
|title=The Sound of Gravity
|rating=3.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Patrick is climbing in the Alps with his girlfriend. They are taking an unusual and difficult ascent, and it is winter. A storm blows up. Whilst they are camping overnight, Patrick's girlfriend loses her footing. He manages to catch her hand, and then she slips through his fingers and falls into a chasm. The novel details the days and hours in the run-up to this tragedy, and the aftermath, both immediate and long term.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224072641</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Carol Thompson
|title=Noo-Noos!
|rating=4
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=
Almost everyone has had a noo-noo at some point in their lives; an object that brings comfort and solace like a dummy or a blanket or a favourite bear. Amongst friends and family I've seen a variety of such objects ranging from your typical teddy through to a mummy's satin bra (it has that lovely silky feel to it) and even, in one case, a bathroom sponge! This book depicts a variety of noo-noos and looks at their attributes (big, small, shiny, knitted...) and also what one does with them.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846431875</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Kevin Wilson
|title=The Family Fang
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=
Annie Fang and her brother Buster are back living at home with their parents - where they never thought they'd ever be again. But it has come to this - her film actress career is on the rocks with the kind of self-destruction so much enjoyed by tabloid writers, and he - well, he's here because of a jumbo spud gun. Neither want life back at home, as throughout their childhood they were used by their parents - without much planning, without any consideration of feelings, or consent - in a whole career of performance art pieces, designed to enact a point of life or just cause havoc.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447202384</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ryan David Jahn
|title=The Dispatcher
|rating=4
|genre=Crime
|summary=Ian Hunt works as a dispatcher taking 911 calls in rural Texas. One day he takes a call from his 14 year old daughter. That would be enough to ruin your day in itself, but the daughter in question was kidnapped seven years ago, presumed dead. They have even held a funeral for her. That's really going to mess with your mind. What ensues is a desperate chase to find her once more before the kidnapper can escape or worse.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230755968</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Dan Andriacco
|title=No Police Like Holmes
|rating=3.5
|genre=Crime
|summary=At the 'Investigating Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes' Colloquium (in the UK it would probably be a conference) the St Benignus College in Erin, Ohio is due to receive a donation of the third largest collection of Sherlockiana in the world – including some rare pieces of substantial value. The plan is that there should be good publicity for the college and that the attendees have a good time – deerstalker hats not being compulsory. But even the best-laid plans are derailed by theft and murder. Jeff Cody is the public relations director at the college and he's determined to solve the crimes before his eccentric brother in law, Professor Sebastian McCabe.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178092206X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=John Buchan
|title=A Lost Lady of Old Years
|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=While I normally start with a plot description I'd better justify the summary first. (Translated, it reads - Warning - you must understand Scots dialect really well if you hope to like this book from the start. Well worth reading though, it's such a good story.)
Basically, this is a tale set during the Jacobite Rising of 1745-6 with authentic dialogue of that time; which is to say, rather hard to follow if you're anything like me. Most books, I can read in a couple of days maximum, this took me nearly a month and at some points I was reduced to asking my Scottish colleague to translate it for me.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846972035</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
|title=Muddle Earth Too
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=It takes courage, and a lot of skill, to write a book which parodies not one but dozens of popular stories, and it is fortunate that Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell are just the guys for the job. They take on wizards, handsome vampires, fairies, princesses, dragons and flying carpets, and jumble the whole lot up together. The result is one hilarious, silly and thoroughly satisfying story.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230747671</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Michael Morpurgo
|title=War: Stories of Conflict
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Throughout history, war has blighted society and had long lasting impacts on not only those directly involved but the innocent bystanders too. This collection of stories, edited by the magnificent Michael Morpurgo himself, looks to explore the impacts of war on individual soldiers, families and especially children. Every story approaches conflicts from a different angle and this ensures that even though there are a good number of short stories in the book, you will never feel as if it is becoming repetitive or dull. The stories do a good job of conveying just how multi-faceted and complex the concept of war is.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447205014</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Daniel Allen Butler
|title=The Other Side of the Night: The Carpathia, the Californian, and the Night the Titanic Was Lost
|rating=4
|genre=History
|summary=It's now almost a century since the loss of the ''Titanic'' and although much has been written about almost every aspect of that dreadful night one point has remained a mystery. When the wireless operator on the 'unsinkable' Titanic radioed that the ship had hit an iceberg, had too few lifeboats for all passengers and was sinking fast there were two ships in the vicinity. Captain Arthur Rostron on the ''Carpathia'' responded to the distress signal and hastened to the Titanic's aid. But Captain Stanley Lord of the ''Californian'' did not respond. The ship's radio officer had retired for the night and Lord failed to take decisive action later that night when told about distress flares from the Titanic. The controversy as to why the two captains should have acted so differently has raged across the intervening years.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1935149857</amazonuk>
}}
