'''Read [[Features|new features]].'''
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{{newreview
|author=Alice Hoffman
|title=The Dovekeepers
|rating=5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=Set in the last desperate days before the Roman siege on Masada (70CE), the lives of four women collide and merge. They are Yael, the daughter of a Sicarii assassin; Revka, the wife of a gentle baker who witnessed her daughters' rape and murder; Aziza, raised as a boy with the skills of a great warrior and Shirah, born in Alexandria to a mother well versed in ancient magic. All four have crossed the heartless desert on separate journeys to arrive at the last outpost against the Roman Legion, where 900 Jews held out for many, many months. Here they have little power and less hope, but each refuses to be a victim. All are harbouring deep secrets about their pasts, as they become the Masada's dovekeepers. With supplies dwindling and certain death drawing near, their uneasy bonds to each other strengthen as their truths are unveiled. They find an uneasy comfort that becomes true loyalty and empowerment. While few in their company survive to recount the tale, their story has lived on to haunt the deepest of memories.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857205420</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Chris d'Lacey
|summary=Bruce Chatwin was best known as a travel writer – this collection both confirms his 'wanderlust' but also clearly establishes that his writing was far more of a creative process than the usual journalistic approach to travel writing. Nicholas Shakespeare’s selection and passages of narration makes this a mix of the biographical and the autobiographical, a fascinating insight into a restless spirit, but also into the experimentation and literary reflection that made him outstanding amongst his peers.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224089897</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Betty G Birney
|title=Humphrey's World of Pets
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=
The verb to pet means to cosset, pay loving attention to, to have loving, touching time with. It might as well mean to have in your household while spending a lot of money on, and being duty-bound and beholden to. Fish (which you can't even properly pet, of course) need a permanent power supply for their water's thermometer. Chinchillas need a special sand for their bathing in. There's even pet-friendly detergents for washing out your hamster cages. Wherever you look there's time and money expenditure in owning a pet.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571270263</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jonathan Meres
|title=May Contain Nuts (The World of Norm)
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Nothing, but nothing, is Norm's fault. If he virtually sleepwalks into weeing in his parent's wardrobe it's because they've downsized to a new, smaller home. If his best friend crashes Norm's own bike, it's his brother's fault. If his parents have had it up to there with him it's up to them to really state their mind and not be obtuse. When everything happens - lies, deceit, unhappiness and dog poo on the carpet - it's the world's fault for being so unfair.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408313030</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jolyon Fenwick and Marcus Husselby
|title=It Could Have Been Yours: The enlightened person's guide to the year's most desirable things
|rating=4
|genre=Trivia
|summary=In a world of diamond-encrusted skulls, gold-leafed iPhones and luxury yachts ten a penny, of blingy shit (or should that be shitty bling?) it's a relief to know people are still spending money on unique one-offs that are more worthwhile. The records for costliest photo, artwork, musical instrument and manuscript have all been broken in the twenty four months leading up to this book's release. Our collators have scoured the press for those and other, similarly noteworthy auctions, and found what other people paid for what you didn't know you would have wanted given the money.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846684900</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jean Marsh
|title=Fiennders Abbey
|rating=3.5
|genre=Historical Fiction
|summary=In was the end of the nineteenth century and the family at Fiennders Abbey might lead much more leisurely lives than the staff who kept the house running as it should, but their fortunes were inextricably linked. Mary Bowden was the tweenie when we first met her – she did all the dirty jobs which were beneath those higher up the ladder – as well as being the daughter of the gamekeeper. She was also intelligent, ambitious and very attractive with her straight, milk-blonde hair. As a child she'd always been very friendly with Richard, the son of the house, but it's not a friendship which either of their mothers wishes to foster.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447200071</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Hector Tobar
|title=The Barbarian Nurseries
|rating=4.5
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=The Torres-Thompsons seem to have it all. A beautiful home, two healthy boys and enough money not to have to worry about practical matters. The cherry on the cake is their employment of their maid Araceli. She works like a trouper and keeps the large house spick and span. She is lucky enough to have her own private quarters (if small and rather basic) in the back garden area. She knows within herself that she should be grateful, should really be jumping up and down with glee and thanking her lucky stars to have this job. She's managed to escape the poverty and violence of Mexico after all. But as she goes about her daily housekeeping duties she feels like some alien living on another plant. Planet America. Araceli is young, single and childless and at times she misses the hustle and bustle of her old life. And here Tobar gives an excellent account of the affluent part of LA where the Torres-Thompson's live - ' ... in this house on a hill high above the ocean, on a cul-de-sac absent of pedestrians or playing children, absent of traffic ...'
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444726757</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Stephen Games
|title=Pevsner: The Early Life: Germany and Art
|rating=4
|genre=Biography
|summary=Nikolai Pewsner – the minor changes of name came as a young adult - was born in Saxony in 1902 into a Russian-Jewish family. Just too young to avoid having to take part in the war, he had studied art history at no less than four universities by the age of 22. He then became an assistant keeper at the Dresden Gemaldegalerie, and four years later he was appointed lecturer at Gottingen University.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1441190937</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jayne Woodhouse
|title=And Rocky Too
|rating=4
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=We [[The Stephensons' Rocket by Jayne Woodhouse|first met Rocky]] when Anna's father, the feckless Pete, brought him home as the latest in his many money-making schemes which inevitably cost the family dear. This one was to have a longer-lasting effect than most though – through his affection for Rocky, the retired racing greyhound, Pete realised that he had to support his family and Anna's brother Darren made a friend of another boy. Even Wilf, the pensioner who lived next door found hidden talents and it looked as though the family was set fair, right?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0954925696</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Simon Packham
|title=The Bex Factor
|rating=3.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Reality TV, especially the kind of talent competition where the backstory of the contestants is as much a part of the programme as their performance on stage, is a part of most young people's lives. A whole culture has grown up which dangles big breaks, lucrative contracts and happiness-ever-after to those talented few who can sing or dance, or, better still, do both at once. Fourteen-year-old Bex dreams of singing her way to stardom via the latest TV show, called 'The Tingle Factor'. All she needs to do is persuade geeky Year Ten Matthew to accompany her on the guitar.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848121636</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=J R R Tolkien
|title=Mr Bliss
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=
If you wanted to produce a classic of children's literature, it would probably look a lot like this. It would be written by a famous name as a private exercise for their children, with the author's own illustrations. It would feature a title character, with a typical Edwardian headstrong attitude, yet with an ability to create slapstick. It may well have fairytale characters as you've never seen them before. And it would be presented in a deluxe, pristine heritage edition such as this.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>000743619X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Laurent de Brunhoff
|title=Babar's Celesteville Games
|rating=3
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Babar the elephant is the king of Celesteville, and this year his country is hosting the Worldwide Games. Athletes come from all over the world to compete. There is a fairytale romance for one of Babar's children, now grown up, too.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1419701258</amazonuk>
}}
