A bizarre abduction. A body of damning evidence. A world of betrayal. Eighteen-year-old Ellie Canning is found shivering and barely conscious on a country road, clad only in ill-fitting pyjamas. Her story of kidnap and escape quickly enthrals the nation: a middle-aged woman with a crazy old mother has held Ellie in a basement, chained her to a bed and given her drinks from an old baby's sippy cup. But who was this woman and what did she want with Ellie? And what other secrets might she hide?

When the accusation is levelled at local teacher Suzannah Wells, no one seems more bewildered than Suzannah herself ... to start with. The preposterous charge becomes manifestly more real as she loses her job and her friends. And the evidence is strong: a dementia-affected mother, a house with a basement, a sippy cup that belonged to her long-dead daughter. And Ellie Canning's DNA everywhere.

As stories about Susannah's past emerge, even those closest to her begin to doubt she's innocent. And Ellie? The media can't get enough of her. She's a girl-power icon, a social-media star. But is she telling the truth? [Taken from book blurb]

The afternoon of her niece's fifteenth birthday party, all Lydia's worst nightmares come true. As she and her son Luca cower in a bathroom shower stall, the rest of her family is gunned down by members of Acapulco's most notorious drug cartel, to make an example of her journalist husband. Lydia's survival instincts kick in immediately, and before the bodies of her family have cooled on the patio, she and Luca are fleeing for their lives. Such is the reach of the cartels, with roadblocks on every highway and the police in their pay, that Lydia quickly realises two things: that they must cross the US/Mexico border as quickly as possible, and that they cannot risk travelling by road.

For Lydia and Luca, the most dangerous route is the only route - riding illegally atop the freight trains, known as la bestia, hidden amongst the thousands of migrants who will risk everything in the desperate hope of a new start in the United States. [Taken from book blurb]

Hollywood, 1938: As soon as she learns that M-G-M is adapting her late husband's masterpiece, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, for the screen, Maud Gage Baum sets about trying to visit the set. Nineteen years after Frank's passing, Maud is the only person who can help the producers stay true to the spirit of the book - because she's the only one left who knows its secrets...

But the moment she hears Judy Garland rehearsing the first notes of 'Over the Rainbow', Maud recognizes the yearning that defined her own life story, from her rebellious youth as a suffragette's daughter to her coming of age as one of the first women in the Ivy League, from her blossoming romance with Frank to the hardscrabble prairie years that inspired his famous work.

With the young actress under pressure from the studio as well as her ambitious stage mother, Maud resolves to protect her - the way she tried so hard to protect the real Dorothy.

Most humans contain between nine and twelve pints of blood. Here Rose George, who probably contains nine pints, tells nine different stories about the liquid that sustains us, discovering what it reveals about who we are. In Nepal, she meets girls challenging the taboos surrounding menstruation; in the Canadian prairies, she visits a controversial plasma clinic; in Wales she gets a tour of the UK's only leech farm to learn about the vital role the creatures still play in modern surgery; and in a London hospital she accompanies a medical team revolutionising the way we treat trauma.

Nine Pints reveals the richness and wonder of the potent red fluid that courses around our bodies, unseen but miraculous. [Taken from book blurb]

A thrilling tale of secretaries turned spies, of love and duty, and of sacrifice - inspired by the true story of the CIA plot to infiltrate the hearts and minds of Soviet Russia, not with propaganda, but with the greatest love story of the twentieth century: Doctor Zhivago.

At the height of the Cold War, two secretaries are pulled out of the typing pool at the CIA and given the assignment of a lifetime. Their mission: to smuggle Doctor Zhivago out of the USSR, where no one dare publish it, and help Pasternak's magnum opus make its way into print around the world. Glamorous and sophisticated Sally Forrester is a seasoned spy who has honed her gift for deceit all over the world - using her magnetism and charm to pry secrets out of powerful men. Irina is a complete novice, and under Sally's tutelage quickly learns how to blend in, make drops, and invisibly ferry classified documents.

The Secrets We Kept combines a legendary literary love story - the decades-long affair between Pasternak and his mistress and muse, Olga Ivinskaya, who was sent to the Gulag and inspired Zhivago's heroine, Lara - with a narrative about two women empowered to lead lives of extraordinary intrigue and risk. From Pasternak's country estate outside Moscow to the brutalities of the Gulag, from Washington, D.C. to Paris and Milan, The Secrets We Kept captures a watershed moment in the history of literature - told with soaring emotional intensity and captivating historical detail. And at the center of this unforgettable debut is the powerful belief that a piece of art can change the world. [Taken from book blurb, Penguin Random House]

It is 1932, and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt. Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fiance and her brother and regarded by society as a 'surplus woman' unlikely to marry, resolves to escape her suffocating mother and strike out alone. A new life awaits her in Winchester. Yes, it is one of draughty boarding-houses and sidelong glances at her naked ring finger from younger colleagues; but it is also a life gleaming with independence and opportunity.

Violet falls in with the broderers, a disparate group of women charged with embroidering kneelers for the Cathedral, and is soon entwined in their lives and their secrets. As the almost unthinkable threat of a second Great War appears on the horizon Violet collects a few secrets of her own that could just change everything ...

For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission. Her goal, as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, invest in women.

In this candid and inspiring book, Gates traces her awakening to the link between women's empowerment and the health of societies. She shows some of the tremendous opportunities that exist right now to turbo-charge change. And she provides simple and effective ways each one of us can make a difference.

A personal statement of passionate conviction, this book tells of Gates' journey from a partner working behind the scenes to one of the world's foremost advocates for women, driven by the belief that no one should be excluded, all lives have equal value, and gender equity is the lever that lifts everything. [Taken from book cover - Pan MacMillan Books]

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

"A well written book."

"This is a remarkable book in the way it is written; in the stories recounted and in its far-reaching range of influences."

"Simply written and very easy to read."

"Inspiring account by a woman who uses her talents and wealth to inform us of women's challenges."

"I was impressed when she referred to Marilyn Waring."

"Very informative and quite encouraging for betterment."

"Gates has the courage to expose the responsibility religions must take for the plight of women."

"While it's very interest, I did find it a little repetitive."

Who is telling the truth? Frances or her husband Robert? Confined to their separate accommodations in the Tower of London, they both certainly have time enough to contemplate their supposed involvement in the murder of courtier Sir Thomas Overbury. A power couple of the court of King James I, the Carrs are up to their privileged necks in the political shenanigans of the day.

Ambition, corruption, intrigue; it's all here in the many twists and turns of this vividly imagined story of the real events of 1615.

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

"Well written. It's full of twists and turns with some basis of fact behind it."

"Fascinating glimpse of medieval politics and customs. Great ending."

"Well written, it kept me gripped. There are twists throughout the story."

"Lovers of historical fiction will really enjoy this book. It well-paced with twists and turns."

"For lovers of historical fiction, this is an interesting peek at a time not as well covered as the more glamorous times of Elizabeth I."

"Very exciting. The truth is gradually revealed."

"Enjoyable historical crime fiction in the vein of Philippa Gregory's books on the Plantagenets and Tudors."

"I found the time sequences to be confusing with the present and past being interchanged. I didn't enjoy it."

The question being asked is: why are young men falling prey to radical and violent ideologies? Exploring the disaffection and alienation of young men apparent all around the world, Canadian activist Jamil Jivani draws on his own impoverished upbringing and current academic research to examine this topical issue.

Accessible and thought-provoking, this is an important book for our time and is encapsulated by its subtitle: 'The dangerous allure of violent movements and what we can do about it.'

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

"A topical subject for our own alienated youth and how these young people can be supported to develop meaningful and productive lives."

"The author's own background brings an authentic voice to this issue of alienated youth."

"This book should be available in every house, school, office, prison, hospital and everywhere else where people care, or need to, about our future."

"There is a good balance between statistical and anecdotal information with an ease of writing style that makes it appealing."

"This book and its author are like a cool fresh drink in the desert! The story is related with compassion, clarity and reason and is the stronger for it."

Professor Chandra is an expert at complex problems. There's just one he can't crack: the secret of happiness. In the moments after the accident, Professor Chandra doesn't see his life flash before his eyes, but his life's work. He's just narrowly missed the Nobel Prize (again) and even though he knows he should get straight back to his pie charts, his doctor has other ideas. All this work. All this success. All this stress. It's killing him. He needs to take a break, start enjoying himself. In short, says his doctor (who is from California), Professor Chandra should just follow his bliss. Professor Chandra doesn't know it yet, but he's about to embark on the trip of a lifetime. [Taken from book blurb, Vintage Books]

Comments from BDS Reviewers:

"I thought this would be light and fluffy, but there's more to it than that."

"Initially I didn't bond with the main character, but by the end of the book I was a fan."

"I like books about cranky people and this guy sure starts off cranky. I enjoyed his self discovery."

"It is a thoughtful story which has made me think about my own motivations and choices."

"There will be something for everyone to relate to in this story."