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[[Category:Humour|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]]
==Humour==
__NOTOC__
{{newreview
|author=Eoin Colfer
|title=And Another Thing ... Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Part Six of Three (Hitchhikers Guide 6)
|rating=3.5
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Of all the big books announced for this year, this one must have raised more eyebrows than many. Why try and write a new Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, when way before the end, its creator Douglas Adams was proving quite hopeless at such a task? And why approach an Irishman, Eoin Colfer, when the originals - tempered with their humour which could only be described as Monty Python doing a sci-fi Terry Pratchett, and with their cups of tea and dressing gowns, could only be described as very English? Well the answer is most evident - Colfer is a world-beater when it comes to knocking up a story.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718155149</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=The Vampire Miles Proctor
|title=The New Vampire's Handbook
|rating=3.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=I shall start with a prediction. I will not become a vampire, for this imminent Hallowe'en, any festive fancy dress parties, or indeed for life as the lifeless undead. I will not need tips on filing my fangs, or how to divert attention from the fact I cannot eat human food at dinner parties. Me and my reflection in mirrors will remain intact. But for those of you reading this at night, somewhere, flameproof cape at hand, with your distaste of garlic, publicity and presumably the anaemic, this is the sterling how-to lifestyle guide.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086464</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David O'Doherty, Claudia O'Doherty and Mike Ahern
|title=100 Facts About Pandas
|rating=3.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=Sometimes the title says it all - this is a book with 100 facts about pandas. Sometimes you need to note the author too - David O'Doherty won an Edinburgh Comedy Award, so this is a book of a 100 silly and untrue facts about pandas.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086324</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Richard Horne
|title=A is for Armageddon
|rating=2.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=The world is definitely going to hell in a handcart. We're only just preventing lethal global warming by having a credit crunch that has prevented a lot of big building, air travel, and consumerism. The population is getting so obese there is no room for any more of us - and add that to the exploding population statistics, and it's never going to look better. And don't get me started on where all the bees have gone...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086197</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=James May
|title=Car Fever: Dispatches From Behind The Wheel
|rating=4
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Now, way back when I was younger, and watched TV a lot, I am sure I remember Top Gear as being a consumer programme. How times change. These days I am sure they destroy more cars than they review, and the three main people from the show are approaching superstar status, with their amenable personalities, awkward wardrobe choices and trenchant laddish charms. They've sprung their media entities from out of the studio, into other TV programmes, and the world of journalism, with chatty columns in the broadsheets allowing them free rein to witter to their heart's desire. And here, in one grandiloquent volume, and in time for Christmas, are many of James May's desires.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340994533</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
|title=Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
|rating=4.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=Ah, the benefits to a good book of a classic first line. 'Call me Ishmael.' 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' Who can forget Iain Banks' 'It was the day my grandmother exploded'? Or those timeless words by Jane Austen, 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.'
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594743347</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Harry Hill
|title=Tim The Tiny Horse At Large
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=It's been a while since Tim and Fly's [[Tim the Tiny Horse by Harry Hill|last adventures]], and changes are afoot in Tim's tiny world: Fly is getting married to his girlfriend. Tim's a little worried because they've only known each other for a week. The marriage goes ahead, and Tim finds himself kicking his heels, so he gets a pet. And so the brief episodes in the life of a horse who lives in a matchbox continue.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571244157</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Spike Milligan
|title=The Magical World of Milligan
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Some people you just have to love. It's the law. Spike Milligan was always fantastic, and he's much missed. He's got the perfect mix of nonsense, heart, and surreal humour. He speaks to people of all ages, and he's just plain lovely.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905264844</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sam Savage
|title=The Cry of the Sloth
|rating=3.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Meet Andrew Whittaker. In some untold time of recent American history, he is forced through a failed marriage and an artistic temperament at odds with so many other people, to let properties to tenants he does not like, for $120 a month. The lodgers might not like the state of the buildings - ceilings falling through and so on - but that's another matter. He would much prefer to be left alone in front of his little Olivetti typewriter and create art. He runs a literary journal, of a kind, called "Soap", which no-one likes, no-one reads (and often, with dodgy, cheap printing, no-one could physically read it anyway), and which makes him poorer in time, money and spirit.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0297856499</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Christopher Moore
|title=You Suck
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=You know that old adage about books and covers? Well this is a case in point. The title isn't great, but the cover design for the paperback imprint is, like, duh!, the pits. It is so uncool…so unrep-resent-ative of the book. This is not a cocktail thing. Not even a "Bloody Mary" thing.
Well, except for the tiny bit that is, but you'll discover that in due course.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498092</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Hugh Murr and Sid Nigtures
|title=Cyber Sign Offs
|rating=2
|genre=Humour
|summary=I admit I had the wrong end of the stick when it came to this book, before I opened it at least. I had assumed it was a collection of real-life on-line signatures - we've all seen them, those straplines people have on all their forum posts. The obvious response would have been along the lines of 'fair enough, but why is this a book in this day and age, and not a website?'. But no. This is a collection of dialogues between two people - shall we call them Sue deNim and Allie Bye, who have a line or two to say to each other, and a made-up name (sorry, make that May Dupp-Name) with which to sign it off. Much jolly nonsense ensues.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312497</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tim Fitzhigham
|title=All at Sea: One Man. One Bathtub. One Very Bad Idea: Conquering the Channel in a Piece of Plumbing
|rating=4.5
|genre=Travel
|summary=Once more my life is made easy by saying this book does just what it claims on the cover - takes a narrator of zesty, wacky humour, throws him into an unlikely situation (a bath) and gets him to do something unusual (row it across the Channel - and then beyond). This despite the fact he was the world's worst sculler at University.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848090269</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Simon Brett
|title=Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=There can be few people who have written eighty books without me even having picked up one of them. At least, and at last, I have redressed that fault in the case of Simon Brett, and have come to the conclusion there are 79 more that will be worth investigating. Here we meet for the first time Blotto (posh idiotic son of a dowager duchess) and Twinks (posh brilliant genius sister to Blotto), their family, their surroundings, and the corpse inconveniently disturbing a dinner party.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845299353</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Karl Pilkington
|title=Karlology
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=The Radio Five film critic Mark Kermode has a rule when reviewing comedies. If he laughs more than five times then the film deserves its billing as a comedy. If that rule was applied to Karl Pilkington's new book Karlology then it would easily fit into the category for there are laugh aplenty in this strange, amusing and charming little book.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140533746X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Joe Stretch
|title=Wildlife
|rating=3
|genre=Humour
|summary=The word ''Twitter'' doesn't occur in Joe Stretch's vocabulary, but that's what his book is about. Life in the blogosphere, massively exaggerated, where people don't leave their desks but nevertheless come together (but never literally) in satisfying their deepest, darkest desires. If I've made it sound even faintly exciting, believe me, Joe Stretch is a fantasist with realist tendencies. What he is after is laughter; what he produces is a virtual simulacrum. Sniggery-pokery, jiggery-jokery, he tinkers with the twilight zone of a future-scenario where, for reasons beyond all understanding, some robotic and literal Dickhead (i.e. a man with a dick fixed to his forehead – I kid you not) decides to target a few selected humans for a make-over in his own image. Given that virtual worlds exist to pull in punters who don't like themselves in the real one, and their main purpose is to make money, one's only question must be: why?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099532077</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Michael Marr
|title=Three Jumpers
|rating=5
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=When Bardolph Middle placed an ad in the paper proclaiming he was a writer, he thought he might get the odd request to write a speech or two. Maybe, if he was very lucky, a company might ask him to conceive an entire marketing plan and advertising campaign. What he never expected was this job offer…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906558485</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Rosy Barnes
|title=Sadomasochism for Accountants
|rating=3
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Humour's very personal, isn't it? If you dig films like ''Shaun of the Dead'' and ''Hot Fuzz'', I predict you'll love this chick lit parody. It's anarchic and very British comedy tradition. If you're into the conventions of good writing, you may find it a little painful. Nevertheless, I enjoyed plenty of moments in Rosy Barnes' first novel.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0714531812</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Lady Annabel Goldsmith
|title=Copper: A Dog's Life
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=Copper was one of a litter of dogs born to a stray bitch and who was 'adopted' by Lady Annabel Goldsmith - or might it be the other way round?. Here he tells his story in his own words as transcribed for him by his owner. He's got his own priorities – and obedience is not one of them – along with a roving spirit. It's perhaps fortunate that he's a dog as this allows you to call him 'cheeky' and 'charming'. If he was a human being 'randy' and 'arrogant' would be two of the first words which came to mind.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751538205</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tim Moore
|title=I Believe in Yesterday: My Adventures in Living History
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=Common opinion has it that the television programme ''Time Team'' did a lot for the public image of archaeologists – bringing them out of their holes in the ground, and making them seem like exciting, interesting people with a good way of putting their knowledge across. However it was clearly a much harder task when it came to those background artistes they have sometimes, walking up and down in Roman centurion gear, or living the historical lifestyle as a re-enactment.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224077813</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=L Vaughan Spencer
|title=Don't Be Needy Be Succeedy
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=Are you underperforming in your business and personal lives? Do you underestimate the importance of good hair and moisturised skin in achieving your life goals? Are you stumbling through life in a Fast-Moving Business Environment (FMBE) without a motivational mantra to guide you? Then you need this book. As ''The A to Zee of Motivitality'', this is a dictionary of achievement from a man who can teach you how to succeed like a toothless budgie.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846681634</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mark Crick
|title=Sartre's Sink: The Great Writers' Complete Book of DIY
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=''Sartre's Sink'' comprises fourteen short story parodies of some of the world's best known writers – the twist being that the stories are all about undertaking some mundane DIY task such as tiling a bathroom (Dostoevsky) or reglazing a window (Milan Kundera). So far it sounds a bit like some pretentious Oxbridge student twaddle. You can just imagine how the idea came up over an over-ripe Brie and an underrated bottle of 1963 Taylor's port. It also rather smacks of that Radio 4 programme which I detest with an absolute passion - I can't even stand writing its name, ugh - ''Quote Unquote'', in which parodies do feature, read out by smug self-congratulatory writer darlings (you can tell I don't like it, can't you?). However, dear readers, this book is rather enjoyable and I speak as someone who is rather less versed in the writings of this famous lot than I care to admit.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847080472</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Eric Nakagawa
|title=I Can Has Cheezburger
|rating=4
|genre=Pets
|summary=''I Can Has Cheezburger'', is a clever and witty anthology of some of the best pictures and captions from the fantastic [http://icanhascheezburger.com/ lolcats website] of the same name. The site has been growing in popularity in recent months, and so it was inevitable that a book would soon hit the shelves. Choosing which pics to include in the book could not have been an easy task, and some of the old favourites are there, alongside some less well known ones.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340977574</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ian Crofton
|title=History Without the Boring Bits
|rating=5
|genre=History
|summary=I was never one for history, and in fact left the dregs of a history teacher in tatters when I scraped through with a D. Still, history is an odd thing – written by the winners of course, and annoyingly biased in my mind towards the plain. There's no real reason to remember the order of Henry VIII's six wives, but we can only relish the one credited with polydactylism, a third nipple and whatnot (the second one, in fact – whoever that was).
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847243746</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jim Holt
|title=Stop Me If You've Heard This
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=As far as I can remember, my first time in print was when I submitted some jokes to a charity's themed joke collection. Before then, some of my first actions as a child might have been laughing, and what is cuter in a baby than that? But why was that infant laughing – he didn't have a joke he could get, surely?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184668109X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=P G Wodehouse
|title=Joy in the Morning
|rating=4.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=''Joy in the Morning'' is another novel from P.G. Wodehouse's wonderful series of books about Bertram Wooster and Jeeves. Bertie is a young gentleman of inherited means and no present occupation. He is a good humoured and well-meant chap, however clearly not the smartest tool in the shed. Bertie seems to have a talent of getting himself into trouble but that is where Jeeves, his loyal, educated and painfully clever butler comes to his rescue. Jeeves is irreplaceable when it comes to saving Bertie from whatever creative, complicated and incredibly funny situations Wodehouse puts his characters through.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099513765</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=P G Wodehouse
|title=Thank You, Jeeves
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Bertie Wooster was once engaged to Pauline Stoker. It didn't last very long – about forty eight hours, most of which Bertie spent in bed with a bad cold, if his memory serves him correctly. It's still embarrassing when he meets Pauline and her father, particularly as it was the father who was responsible for breaking off the engagement. Rather than eat at the Savoy Grill where he spotted the Stokers, he goes home to his only consolation. Bertie plays the banjo. Unfortunately, he doesn't play it very well.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099513730</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tom Holt
|title=The Better Mousetrap
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=I approached this book with a fair degree of trepidation, as I had never heard of the author, and wondered if, when reading the synopsis, I was about to embark on a Terry Pratchett type novel (and I have to say, much though I admire his achievements, I'm not a fan of Discworld!) However, my fears were unfounded, and from page one I found myself drawn into this clever and erudite novel. Not having read the preceding novels in the series did put me at a slight disadvantage, but didn't detract from my enjoyment, and has certainly ensured that I'll read the others in the near future.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841495034</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Philip Moore
|title=Utterly Ridiculous
|rating=3
|genre=Humour
|summary=If I learned nothing else from this book, I now know of a new profession: aircraft cleaner. For that is the trade of Dave, the hero of ''Utterly Ridiculous''. With little but a van and his torpid terrier Biggles, Dave roves the airstrips of southern England, titivating light aircraft.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906221685</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=John Mole
|title=I Was a Potato Oligarch: Travels and Travails in the New Russia
|rating=1
|genre=Travel
|summary=I remember getting this book in post, reading the title and thinking no, even though I am Russian, I will try to be unbiased and judge it like I would judge any other book about a foreign country experience. I now have to regretfully admit I failed. In my defence, John Mole's focus on mocking the nation and country made that all too easy.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857885090</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Clive Gifford
|title=Teenage Kicks: 101 Things to Do Before You're 16
|rating=3.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=Kids. They're bored all the time, aren't they? Nothing you buy seems to have any longevity. I think they live in alternative dimension in which time passes much more slowly that it does for harassed parents. It's the only explanation. I think Clive Gifford must sympathise, because his latest book, Teenage Kicks, has a whopping 101 ideas to alleviate boredom and a clever challenge too - your bored child has to complete them all before they reach 16. At a measly £5.99, this book could represent the most wonderful value for money any parent could ever wish for.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340950617</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jon Canter
|title=A Short Gentleman
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=The narrator of this spoof biography is a civil law barrister. Robert Purcell has been educated at Winchester and Oxford. He has modelled himself on his polite and restrained father, a High Court judge and, as a child, Robert maps out the components his own expected adult life – wife, two children, career – and the respect which he will gain from this, together with his undoubted intellectual superiority. At the age of eight, he writes a future Who's Who entry for himself, with all the academic and professional accolades he expects to garner.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224077740</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=George Saunders
|title=The Brain-dead Megaphone
|rating=4.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=American author George Saunders is known for his short stories and fiction, but he is also a journalist for publications such as ''The Guardian'', ''The New Yorker Magazine'' and ''GQ''. ''The Brain-Dead Megaphone'' is his first collection of essays and it's an interesting proposition: sixteen pieces ranging from travel writing, literary appreciation, political essays, to surrealist short fiction.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747594260</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|title=Tim the Tiny Horse
|author=Harry Hill
|genre=Humour
|rating=4
|summary=After doing even tiny bit of research I realised that I must be the only person out there who ever read Tim the Tiny Horse having never heard of the author. Thus, I have to take another reviewer's word that it's "typical Harry Hill" and will make an attempt at reviewing Tim as a stand-alone.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571229565</amazonuk>
}}
[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]]
==Humour==
__NOTOC__
{{newreview
|author=Eoin Colfer
|title=And Another Thing ... Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Part Six of Three (Hitchhikers Guide 6)
|rating=3.5
|genre=Science Fiction
|summary=Of all the big books announced for this year, this one must have raised more eyebrows than many. Why try and write a new Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, when way before the end, its creator Douglas Adams was proving quite hopeless at such a task? And why approach an Irishman, Eoin Colfer, when the originals - tempered with their humour which could only be described as Monty Python doing a sci-fi Terry Pratchett, and with their cups of tea and dressing gowns, could only be described as very English? Well the answer is most evident - Colfer is a world-beater when it comes to knocking up a story.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718155149</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=The Vampire Miles Proctor
|title=The New Vampire's Handbook
|rating=3.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=I shall start with a prediction. I will not become a vampire, for this imminent Hallowe'en, any festive fancy dress parties, or indeed for life as the lifeless undead. I will not need tips on filing my fangs, or how to divert attention from the fact I cannot eat human food at dinner parties. Me and my reflection in mirrors will remain intact. But for those of you reading this at night, somewhere, flameproof cape at hand, with your distaste of garlic, publicity and presumably the anaemic, this is the sterling how-to lifestyle guide.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086464</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David O'Doherty, Claudia O'Doherty and Mike Ahern
|title=100 Facts About Pandas
|rating=3.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=Sometimes the title says it all - this is a book with 100 facts about pandas. Sometimes you need to note the author too - David O'Doherty won an Edinburgh Comedy Award, so this is a book of a 100 silly and untrue facts about pandas.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086324</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Richard Horne
|title=A is for Armageddon
|rating=2.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=The world is definitely going to hell in a handcart. We're only just preventing lethal global warming by having a credit crunch that has prevented a lot of big building, air travel, and consumerism. The population is getting so obese there is no room for any more of us - and add that to the exploding population statistics, and it's never going to look better. And don't get me started on where all the bees have gone...
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086197</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=James May
|title=Car Fever: Dispatches From Behind The Wheel
|rating=4
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Now, way back when I was younger, and watched TV a lot, I am sure I remember Top Gear as being a consumer programme. How times change. These days I am sure they destroy more cars than they review, and the three main people from the show are approaching superstar status, with their amenable personalities, awkward wardrobe choices and trenchant laddish charms. They've sprung their media entities from out of the studio, into other TV programmes, and the world of journalism, with chatty columns in the broadsheets allowing them free rein to witter to their heart's desire. And here, in one grandiloquent volume, and in time for Christmas, are many of James May's desires.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340994533</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
|title=Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
|rating=4.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=Ah, the benefits to a good book of a classic first line. 'Call me Ishmael.' 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' Who can forget Iain Banks' 'It was the day my grandmother exploded'? Or those timeless words by Jane Austen, 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.'
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594743347</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Harry Hill
|title=Tim The Tiny Horse At Large
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=It's been a while since Tim and Fly's [[Tim the Tiny Horse by Harry Hill|last adventures]], and changes are afoot in Tim's tiny world: Fly is getting married to his girlfriend. Tim's a little worried because they've only known each other for a week. The marriage goes ahead, and Tim finds himself kicking his heels, so he gets a pet. And so the brief episodes in the life of a horse who lives in a matchbox continue.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571244157</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Spike Milligan
|title=The Magical World of Milligan
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Some people you just have to love. It's the law. Spike Milligan was always fantastic, and he's much missed. He's got the perfect mix of nonsense, heart, and surreal humour. He speaks to people of all ages, and he's just plain lovely.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905264844</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Sam Savage
|title=The Cry of the Sloth
|rating=3.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Meet Andrew Whittaker. In some untold time of recent American history, he is forced through a failed marriage and an artistic temperament at odds with so many other people, to let properties to tenants he does not like, for $120 a month. The lodgers might not like the state of the buildings - ceilings falling through and so on - but that's another matter. He would much prefer to be left alone in front of his little Olivetti typewriter and create art. He runs a literary journal, of a kind, called "Soap", which no-one likes, no-one reads (and often, with dodgy, cheap printing, no-one could physically read it anyway), and which makes him poorer in time, money and spirit.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0297856499</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Christopher Moore
|title=You Suck
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=You know that old adage about books and covers? Well this is a case in point. The title isn't great, but the cover design for the paperback imprint is, like, duh!, the pits. It is so uncool…so unrep-resent-ative of the book. This is not a cocktail thing. Not even a "Bloody Mary" thing.
Well, except for the tiny bit that is, but you'll discover that in due course.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841498092</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Hugh Murr and Sid Nigtures
|title=Cyber Sign Offs
|rating=2
|genre=Humour
|summary=I admit I had the wrong end of the stick when it came to this book, before I opened it at least. I had assumed it was a collection of real-life on-line signatures - we've all seen them, those straplines people have on all their forum posts. The obvious response would have been along the lines of 'fair enough, but why is this a book in this day and age, and not a website?'. But no. This is a collection of dialogues between two people - shall we call them Sue deNim and Allie Bye, who have a line or two to say to each other, and a made-up name (sorry, make that May Dupp-Name) with which to sign it off. Much jolly nonsense ensues.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312497</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tim Fitzhigham
|title=All at Sea: One Man. One Bathtub. One Very Bad Idea: Conquering the Channel in a Piece of Plumbing
|rating=4.5
|genre=Travel
|summary=Once more my life is made easy by saying this book does just what it claims on the cover - takes a narrator of zesty, wacky humour, throws him into an unlikely situation (a bath) and gets him to do something unusual (row it across the Channel - and then beyond). This despite the fact he was the world's worst sculler at University.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848090269</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Simon Brett
|title=Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=There can be few people who have written eighty books without me even having picked up one of them. At least, and at last, I have redressed that fault in the case of Simon Brett, and have come to the conclusion there are 79 more that will be worth investigating. Here we meet for the first time Blotto (posh idiotic son of a dowager duchess) and Twinks (posh brilliant genius sister to Blotto), their family, their surroundings, and the corpse inconveniently disturbing a dinner party.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845299353</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Karl Pilkington
|title=Karlology
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=The Radio Five film critic Mark Kermode has a rule when reviewing comedies. If he laughs more than five times then the film deserves its billing as a comedy. If that rule was applied to Karl Pilkington's new book Karlology then it would easily fit into the category for there are laugh aplenty in this strange, amusing and charming little book.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140533746X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Joe Stretch
|title=Wildlife
|rating=3
|genre=Humour
|summary=The word ''Twitter'' doesn't occur in Joe Stretch's vocabulary, but that's what his book is about. Life in the blogosphere, massively exaggerated, where people don't leave their desks but nevertheless come together (but never literally) in satisfying their deepest, darkest desires. If I've made it sound even faintly exciting, believe me, Joe Stretch is a fantasist with realist tendencies. What he is after is laughter; what he produces is a virtual simulacrum. Sniggery-pokery, jiggery-jokery, he tinkers with the twilight zone of a future-scenario where, for reasons beyond all understanding, some robotic and literal Dickhead (i.e. a man with a dick fixed to his forehead – I kid you not) decides to target a few selected humans for a make-over in his own image. Given that virtual worlds exist to pull in punters who don't like themselves in the real one, and their main purpose is to make money, one's only question must be: why?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099532077</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Michael Marr
|title=Three Jumpers
|rating=5
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=When Bardolph Middle placed an ad in the paper proclaiming he was a writer, he thought he might get the odd request to write a speech or two. Maybe, if he was very lucky, a company might ask him to conceive an entire marketing plan and advertising campaign. What he never expected was this job offer…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906558485</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Rosy Barnes
|title=Sadomasochism for Accountants
|rating=3
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Humour's very personal, isn't it? If you dig films like ''Shaun of the Dead'' and ''Hot Fuzz'', I predict you'll love this chick lit parody. It's anarchic and very British comedy tradition. If you're into the conventions of good writing, you may find it a little painful. Nevertheless, I enjoyed plenty of moments in Rosy Barnes' first novel.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0714531812</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Lady Annabel Goldsmith
|title=Copper: A Dog's Life
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=Copper was one of a litter of dogs born to a stray bitch and who was 'adopted' by Lady Annabel Goldsmith - or might it be the other way round?. Here he tells his story in his own words as transcribed for him by his owner. He's got his own priorities – and obedience is not one of them – along with a roving spirit. It's perhaps fortunate that he's a dog as this allows you to call him 'cheeky' and 'charming'. If he was a human being 'randy' and 'arrogant' would be two of the first words which came to mind.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751538205</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tim Moore
|title=I Believe in Yesterday: My Adventures in Living History
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=Common opinion has it that the television programme ''Time Team'' did a lot for the public image of archaeologists – bringing them out of their holes in the ground, and making them seem like exciting, interesting people with a good way of putting their knowledge across. However it was clearly a much harder task when it came to those background artistes they have sometimes, walking up and down in Roman centurion gear, or living the historical lifestyle as a re-enactment.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224077813</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=L Vaughan Spencer
|title=Don't Be Needy Be Succeedy
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=Are you underperforming in your business and personal lives? Do you underestimate the importance of good hair and moisturised skin in achieving your life goals? Are you stumbling through life in a Fast-Moving Business Environment (FMBE) without a motivational mantra to guide you? Then you need this book. As ''The A to Zee of Motivitality'', this is a dictionary of achievement from a man who can teach you how to succeed like a toothless budgie.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846681634</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mark Crick
|title=Sartre's Sink: The Great Writers' Complete Book of DIY
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=''Sartre's Sink'' comprises fourteen short story parodies of some of the world's best known writers – the twist being that the stories are all about undertaking some mundane DIY task such as tiling a bathroom (Dostoevsky) or reglazing a window (Milan Kundera). So far it sounds a bit like some pretentious Oxbridge student twaddle. You can just imagine how the idea came up over an over-ripe Brie and an underrated bottle of 1963 Taylor's port. It also rather smacks of that Radio 4 programme which I detest with an absolute passion - I can't even stand writing its name, ugh - ''Quote Unquote'', in which parodies do feature, read out by smug self-congratulatory writer darlings (you can tell I don't like it, can't you?). However, dear readers, this book is rather enjoyable and I speak as someone who is rather less versed in the writings of this famous lot than I care to admit.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847080472</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Eric Nakagawa
|title=I Can Has Cheezburger
|rating=4
|genre=Pets
|summary=''I Can Has Cheezburger'', is a clever and witty anthology of some of the best pictures and captions from the fantastic [http://icanhascheezburger.com/ lolcats website] of the same name. The site has been growing in popularity in recent months, and so it was inevitable that a book would soon hit the shelves. Choosing which pics to include in the book could not have been an easy task, and some of the old favourites are there, alongside some less well known ones.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340977574</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Ian Crofton
|title=History Without the Boring Bits
|rating=5
|genre=History
|summary=I was never one for history, and in fact left the dregs of a history teacher in tatters when I scraped through with a D. Still, history is an odd thing – written by the winners of course, and annoyingly biased in my mind towards the plain. There's no real reason to remember the order of Henry VIII's six wives, but we can only relish the one credited with polydactylism, a third nipple and whatnot (the second one, in fact – whoever that was).
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847243746</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jim Holt
|title=Stop Me If You've Heard This
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=As far as I can remember, my first time in print was when I submitted some jokes to a charity's themed joke collection. Before then, some of my first actions as a child might have been laughing, and what is cuter in a baby than that? But why was that infant laughing – he didn't have a joke he could get, surely?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184668109X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=P G Wodehouse
|title=Joy in the Morning
|rating=4.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=''Joy in the Morning'' is another novel from P.G. Wodehouse's wonderful series of books about Bertram Wooster and Jeeves. Bertie is a young gentleman of inherited means and no present occupation. He is a good humoured and well-meant chap, however clearly not the smartest tool in the shed. Bertie seems to have a talent of getting himself into trouble but that is where Jeeves, his loyal, educated and painfully clever butler comes to his rescue. Jeeves is irreplaceable when it comes to saving Bertie from whatever creative, complicated and incredibly funny situations Wodehouse puts his characters through.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099513765</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=P G Wodehouse
|title=Thank You, Jeeves
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Bertie Wooster was once engaged to Pauline Stoker. It didn't last very long – about forty eight hours, most of which Bertie spent in bed with a bad cold, if his memory serves him correctly. It's still embarrassing when he meets Pauline and her father, particularly as it was the father who was responsible for breaking off the engagement. Rather than eat at the Savoy Grill where he spotted the Stokers, he goes home to his only consolation. Bertie plays the banjo. Unfortunately, he doesn't play it very well.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099513730</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tom Holt
|title=The Better Mousetrap
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=I approached this book with a fair degree of trepidation, as I had never heard of the author, and wondered if, when reading the synopsis, I was about to embark on a Terry Pratchett type novel (and I have to say, much though I admire his achievements, I'm not a fan of Discworld!) However, my fears were unfounded, and from page one I found myself drawn into this clever and erudite novel. Not having read the preceding novels in the series did put me at a slight disadvantage, but didn't detract from my enjoyment, and has certainly ensured that I'll read the others in the near future.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841495034</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Philip Moore
|title=Utterly Ridiculous
|rating=3
|genre=Humour
|summary=If I learned nothing else from this book, I now know of a new profession: aircraft cleaner. For that is the trade of Dave, the hero of ''Utterly Ridiculous''. With little but a van and his torpid terrier Biggles, Dave roves the airstrips of southern England, titivating light aircraft.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906221685</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=John Mole
|title=I Was a Potato Oligarch: Travels and Travails in the New Russia
|rating=1
|genre=Travel
|summary=I remember getting this book in post, reading the title and thinking no, even though I am Russian, I will try to be unbiased and judge it like I would judge any other book about a foreign country experience. I now have to regretfully admit I failed. In my defence, John Mole's focus on mocking the nation and country made that all too easy.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857885090</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Clive Gifford
|title=Teenage Kicks: 101 Things to Do Before You're 16
|rating=3.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=Kids. They're bored all the time, aren't they? Nothing you buy seems to have any longevity. I think they live in alternative dimension in which time passes much more slowly that it does for harassed parents. It's the only explanation. I think Clive Gifford must sympathise, because his latest book, Teenage Kicks, has a whopping 101 ideas to alleviate boredom and a clever challenge too - your bored child has to complete them all before they reach 16. At a measly £5.99, this book could represent the most wonderful value for money any parent could ever wish for.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340950617</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jon Canter
|title=A Short Gentleman
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=The narrator of this spoof biography is a civil law barrister. Robert Purcell has been educated at Winchester and Oxford. He has modelled himself on his polite and restrained father, a High Court judge and, as a child, Robert maps out the components his own expected adult life – wife, two children, career – and the respect which he will gain from this, together with his undoubted intellectual superiority. At the age of eight, he writes a future Who's Who entry for himself, with all the academic and professional accolades he expects to garner.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224077740</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=George Saunders
|title=The Brain-dead Megaphone
|rating=4.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=American author George Saunders is known for his short stories and fiction, but he is also a journalist for publications such as ''The Guardian'', ''The New Yorker Magazine'' and ''GQ''. ''The Brain-Dead Megaphone'' is his first collection of essays and it's an interesting proposition: sixteen pieces ranging from travel writing, literary appreciation, political essays, to surrealist short fiction.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747594260</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|title=Tim the Tiny Horse
|author=Harry Hill
|genre=Humour
|rating=4
|summary=After doing even tiny bit of research I realised that I must be the only person out there who ever read Tim the Tiny Horse having never heard of the author. Thus, I have to take another reviewer's word that it's "typical Harry Hill" and will make an attempt at reviewing Tim as a stand-alone.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571229565</amazonuk>
}}
