Amanda Craig's The Golden Rule (Little, Brown) had reviewers falling into line this week. An Editor's Choice for The Bookseller's Alice O'Keeffe, who said the book had her "turning the pages until the small hours, quite unable to put it down." In the Sunday Times, Mika Ross-Southall had high praise calling the title "a highly enjoyable story about female resilience and finding fulfilment on your own terms." A Book of the Day in the Guardian, Elizabeth Lowry said: "The Golden Rule has that rare thing: an ethical framework that’s not just implied, but explicit, and is neatly summed up". In the Observer, Hephzibah Anderson said that The Golden Rule offers "comfort and wit, compassion and philosophical stimulation, all played out against the backdrop of Cornwall’s subtropical splendour."
Maria Konnikova's The Biggest Bluff (Fourth Estate) landed a full house of reviews this weekend. In the Times, Dominic Maxwell praised the professional poker player: "Konnikova is a good writer and hellishly bright", adding that the book "takes you on a rewarding journey into a new world." In the Daily Telegraph, Clement Knox gave the book a near perfect rating, saying "a brilliant book mostly because Konnikova is a brilliant writer, but also because she is a brilliant observer of the weird world she has immersed herself into." Over in the Spectator, Hermione Eyre called it a welcome story for "a generation questioning the ‘work hard and prosper’ promise of the American dream."
Book reviews for John Bolton's The Room Where It Happened (Simon & Schuster) trumped the rest this weekend. In the Daily Telegraph, Tim Stanley called the book a "warts-and-all memoir", adding "his intricate accounts of these tense, historical moments are absolutely fascinating to read." In the Sunday Times, Josh Glancy said "what really radiates from this memoir is just how much Bolton loves the game of politics, being in the bloodstained arena and suiting up for battle." Glancy added that the memoir is "another damning portrait fo a reckless and mercurial president."