Difference between revisions of "Newest Humour Reviews"

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{{newreview
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{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15"  <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
|author=Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
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<!-- van LENTE -->
|title=The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again!  
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|-
|rating=3.5
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| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
|genre=Humour
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[[image:1683690346.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
|summary=Following the success of ''The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules'', the League of Pensioners are back – and this time, they’re in Vegas! I haven’t read the first book but it was on my list when the opportunity arose to review this one. The idea of the League of Pensioners marching towards a fairer world through fun and frolics was hugely appealing to me and this is a stand alone novel so I thought I would dive straight in with this one.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447274903</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Winshluss
 
|title=In God We Trust
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Graphic Novels
 
|summary=To start with, a rhetorical test.  How about God and Adam playing badminton day in and day out, until one gets bored and decides to create Eve?  Or the defeater of Goliath and the saviour of the Israelites being one Conan the Barbarian?  Or this as a test – Jesus Himself failing to have a successful session of tequila slammers with Gabriel due to the holes through His hands?  I barely need mention that in these pages God does battle with Superman, for you to have answered the test and put yourself firmly in one of two camps for this book – one very much opposed to buying it, and one very much in favour.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0861662350</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=David Walliams and Tony Ross
 
|title=The Queen's Orang-Utan
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=The Queen felt trapped in the palace with all those stuffed animals which she has been given on foreign tours. There are mountains of them and every night she would dream of escaping. When her birthday drew near the family dutifully asked her what she would like as a present. The Prince was thinking of a gold, diamond encrusted stairlift whilst the Duke was considering a great big bottle of brandy.  The Royal Baby had some decorated thimbles in mind, but the Queen became just a little snappish as she explained that what she really wanted was 'One's own orang-utan'.  And she didn't mean a stuffed one, either.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008135134</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jack Sheffield
 
|title=Silent Night
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|summary=I read a couple of Jack Sheffield’s books about five years ago, and enjoyed them very much. They were written in a similar style to those popularised by, for instance, James Herriot or [[:Category:Gervase Phinn|Gervase Phinn]], told mostly in the first person, describing the author’s first couple of years as Headmaster at a small village primary school in Yorkshire. The village of Ragley is fictional, as are most of the characters, but the incidents and situations encountered are based on the author’s experience.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0552167045</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
 
|author=J Robert Lennon
 
|title=See You In Paradise
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Short Stories
 
|summary=Lennon writes with a relaxed, easy style and his characters are instantly recognisable as people from everyday walks of life, without being in any way stereotypical. Many of the people in these stories are dealing with normal frustrations, and Lennon is cleverly detached enough not to make them individuals that you're obviously supposed to root for (the only exception is the industrialist in the eponymous tale, who is an archetypal capitalist fat cat). There are some very clever characterisations – in ''Weber’s Head'', for example, the narrator is a flawed individual whose opinions of his housemate are gradually revealed to be unreliable and unfair. For me, the most unsettling story is ''No Life'', because it portrays a decent couple at the mercy of people more powerful and influential than them. There is no supernatural or bizarre element at work here, just ordinary characters at the mercy of social power.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781253358</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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|author=Lynne Truss
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===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]===
|title=Cat out of Hell
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Horror
 
|summary=Meet Alec Charlesworth.  He's retired and decamped to an isolated coastal cottage with just his dog and loving memories of his colleague wife, now that she has died before her time.  But the fusty librarian cannot rest too long before engaging in exploring some unusual computer files that were pinged across by someone at the college he worked at, just before he left.  Bizarrely they show photographic and audio evidence of a talking cat called Roger, replete with Vincent Price voice – although they are also damaged by being included alongside some bad screenplay attempts about said cat.  Worryingly, we soon see what at the most only a few of the characters can, that this cat is being accompanied by unusual and unexpected death – much like Alec's wife.  It's only when Roger testifies to having been pushed through the ends of endurance and out the other side that we begin to doubt where the true evil in this story lies…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099585340</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
|author=Jimmy Hansen and Mychailo Kazybird
 
|title=Wallace & Gromit : The Complete Newspaper Strips Collection Vol 2
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Humour
 
|summary=For me there are two important areas of the cover of this book where three letters are arranged in meaningful ways.  The first is with the S-U-N in their obligatory red and white font.  No minor paper could hold Wallace and Gromit, their adventures have to be in what is (unfortunately) the most widely read tabloid in the country.  And elsewhere is C-B-E, suggesting that even the storytellers at Aardman Animations who are not household names are feted and revered as artistic experts, raising many laughs and much money for the country courtesy of their creative output.  Together these short collections of letters show just how much WaG are major creations, and if the proof was needed this much longer collection of their daily comic strips provides it in spades.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782760822</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for many people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the chance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, in doing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]]
|title=Dear Committee Members
 
|author=Julie Schumacher
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|summary=Jason Fitger (Jay) is a Professor of creative writing and literature at a small university in the American mid-west. He is also a frustrated novelist with a colourful personal history, much of which bleeds into his professional life, with interesting results.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007586345</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
 
|title=Mapp and Lucia Omnibus
 
|author=E F Benson
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Humour
 
|summary=Miss Elizabeth Mapp rules the town of Tilling - she is the centre of the social life, and spends her days enjoying bridge, polite conversation and civilised painting. When Mrs Emmeline Lucas arrives in town (known to all as Lucia), Miss Mapp finds her life truly shaken up, as the cultured, fashionable and progressive Lucia makes her home in the town, and swiftly rises to the top of the ranks amongst the social scene in Tilling.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849908478</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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<!-- Coulton -->
|title=Encyclopedia Paranoiaca
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|-
|author=Henry Beard and Christopher Cerf
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| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
|rating=4
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[[image:1473669588.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=We're screwed. Wherever we look, whatever we think of doing, there is a reason why we shouldn't be doing it, and people to back that reason up with scientific data. Take any aspect of your daily life – what you eat, how you work, how you rest even, what you touch – all have problems that could provoke a serious illness or worse. And outside that daily sphere there are economic disasters, nuclear meltdowns, errant AI scientists and passing comets that could turn our world upside down at the blink of an eye.  Perhaps then you better read this book first – for it may well turn out to be your last…
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0715649213</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
 
|title=Diary of a Mad Diva
 
|author=Joan Rivers
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Humour
 
|summary=The late Joan Rivers was, without a doubt, a character. Actress, comedian, writer, director, presenter, she was well known in the USA and beyond for her sharp tongue and no holds barred persona. This was the last of the dozen books she published, her final title before her death in September 2014.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0425269027</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
|title=The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - The Nearly Definitive Edition
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===[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]===
|author=Douglas Adams
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=General Fiction
 
|summary=There are few series that have garnered such a cult following as 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'. Whether the fans have come from the radio series, the (impossibly hard) computer game, or the (well intentioned but not particularly good) film, they are everywhere.  Ask a room of people what the meaning of life is, and you can be pretty sure a good few will pipe up with '42' as the answer.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023396</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]]
|title=Quick Pint After Work
 
|author=Luke Lewis
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Humour
 
|summary=BuzzFeed is one of the world’s best time sucks, and I’m regularly directed to the site by links from Facebook and Twitter, in between browsing the app on my phone. According to the author bio on this book, BuzzFeed is 'a social news and entertainment company', which is a fancy way of describing lots of fun lists that speak to the readership (20 words that have a completely different meaning in Manchester, 30 Things all ex-gymnasts know to be true, 40 Very British problems, yadda yadda yadda). These list work well on line when you want a quick distraction, and they’re easy to flip through, looking at the attached photos or video clips. The question then, is whether or not BuzzFeed the book will have the same appeal.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751557730</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Lex Coulton's debut novel is a story about mistakes, failures, and relationships. The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, and is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her motherThis relationship is complicated by the fact that Frances's father disappeared at sea when she was five years old. [[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]]
|author=Graeme Simsion
 
|title=The Rosie Effect
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Humour
 
|summary=Following inadvertent success with the Wife Project, Professor Don Tillman and his new bride Rosie have moved from Australia to New York. Although Don's position on the autistic scale is subjective, he still operates on a daily basis of structured procedures, lists and logic.  Rosie can generally handle that but there are choppy waters ahead.  With the patter of tiny feet imminent logic goes out the window as she struggles with her PhD while Don struggles to find his place in the baby production processAt least he has his drinking buddies to support him – an aging rock drummer and a friend whose wife has thrown him out for infidelity. What could possibly go wrong?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718179471</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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<!-- van LENTE -->
|title=Burnt Tongues: An Anthology of Transgressive Short Stories
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|-
|author=Chuck Palahniuk, Dennis Widmyer and Richard Thomas
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| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
|rating=4
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[[image:1683690346.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
|genre=Short Stories
 
|summary=Saying certain things out loud just don’t sound right. Some things are so disturbing or politically incorrect that you are best off leaving them inside your head, or better yet not thinking of them at all. When these words are spoken they could lead to the sensation of Burnt Tongue; an aftereffect of knowing what you said was wrong. Are you prepared to enter the world of Transgressive Fiction that aims to disturb, alienate, disgust and question?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178329552X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
 
|author=Sammy Looker
 
|title=Something Nasty in the Slushpile
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Humour
 
|summary=I couldn't resist the title - a neat play on [[Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons|Cold Comfort Farm]] and I'm sure that you'll understand that I was expecting some examples of the horrors to be found amongst the mountain of unsolicited manuscripts which every publisher accumulates.  I'll confess I was expecting to giggle, even to groan - unkind, I know - and I'd mentally shelved the book with the trivia, or (hopefully) the humour.  There is that element to the book, but there's also something far more useful.  If you're thinking about publishing a book this should be required reading ''before'' you even go near a publisher.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472111028</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
|author=The Queen
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===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]===
|title=Still Reigning
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Humour
 
|summary=Anyone who frequents Twitter will know that it's a mixed blessing.  It's a mine of wonderful information and supportive camaraderie.  It's also - unfortunately - home to a lot of people who take great pleasure in causing pain to others. But in amongst all this are a few gems and one of them is [https://twitter.com/Queen_UK @Queen_UK], a delightful satire on members of the royal family, celebrities,  the political classes and the state of Her Majesty's nation.  Or, ''one's nation'' as Ma'am would say.  ''Still Reigning'' is her second book, after ''Gin O'Clock'' and it's the sort of parody which leaves you wondering if the writer might not be someone ''very'' close to the original.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0715649132</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
|title=Last Days of the Bus Club
 
|author=Chris Stewart
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Humour
 
|summary=I could well have been a near-neighbour of Chris Stewart.  Not, of course, near his current primary occupancy, an ecological farmstead just beyond the turning off from the back end of nowhere in the most rural of corners of southern Spain, but back when he lived in the south-east of England, being Genesis' first ever drummer, and building bridges in the North Downs.  The fact I learnt the latter from this book shows up several of the features of this warm-hearted 'travelogue' – the fact that Stewart is never shy about portraying family details and history – given a good map and a prevailing wind one could find where he lives and descend on the farm, if one wished; and that while this might be on the travel shelves, the narrative is so fragmented it actually moves a lot more than any of the characters do.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908745436</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for many people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the chance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, in doing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]]
|title=Summer Half
 
|author=Angela Thirkell
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Humour
 
|summary=If one didn’t know of Angela Thirkell’s distinguished background as a granddaughter of Sir Edward Burne-Jones and daughter of a classicist, it would be tempting to describe her as a kind of country cousin of [[:Category:P G Wodehouse|P.G. Wodehouse’s]]. An unaffected and intelligent one, whose humour is less sophisticated but bubbles over with just as much glee. The middle-class world she has created, where young men come from families that are comfortably wealthy rather than outrageously so, offers a counterpoint to the Mitford or Wodehouse worlds with their aristocratic characters who travel the world and mingle with more louche, bohemian ones.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184408969X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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<!-- Curran -->
|title=The Bojeffries Saga
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|-
|author=Alan Moore and Steve Parkhouse
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| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
|rating=5
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[[image:1683690133.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
|genre=Graphic Novels
 
|summary=A very truncated history of comics will start with the idea that they should be funny strips – one jape then you're out; then that they should have more – perhaps a superhero; then that you can have so much more than just a superhero – witness the works of [[:Category:Alan Moore|Alan Moore]]. But you mustn't be too surprised to see the whole thing come around in a full cycle. Because Alan Moore has, with this volume, concluded his own funny strip japery, and whatever history or greater opinions about the canon of comix might say, it's just about his best ever book.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0861662318</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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|author=Reverend Adam Smallbone
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| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
|title=The Rev Diaries
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===[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris]]===
|rating=4.5
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|genre=Humour
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[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]]
|summary=Adam Smallbone wasn’t always a vicar. He used to work for the Bristol Housing Department, enabling his father-in-law to tell everyone he worked 'in property'.  From there, his initial calling was to a rural church in Suffolk which did nothing to prepare him for this, his current London inner city parish. Indeed, he's not prepared for Adoha (the Nigerian parishioner with 19 grandchildren and 'the bottom of God') or Colin, the homeless alcoholic who has adopted Adam and his wife Alex (Mrs Vicarage to Colin). But then Alex also has a lot to get used to; after all, she didn't actually marry a vicar.
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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718178394</amazonuk>
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You are a lass of twenty eight. Plucky, penniless and in Regency era London the race is on to find a suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster. Along your journey you'll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to save you from a life alone, and fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to suitors though, you'll have to make the ultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wholesome, rugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, or the mad, bad and terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. With orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and ancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, it's clear this isn't going to be an easy decision... [[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|Full Review]]
}}
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{{newreview
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<!-- Jester -->
|title=Look Who's Back
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|-
|author=Timur Vermes
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| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
|rating=5
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[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1510704361]]
|genre=General Fiction
+
 
|summary=''Hitler Youth Ronaldo! Which way to the street?''  With these words a very misguided Nazi Fuhrer asks for his first directions in the Berlin of 2011.  Mistakenly believing the lad to be a party junior member with his own name on his football shirt, he also thinks for a while it is still 1945.  He's soon informed of the truth, but still makes some unfortunate conclusions – that the street kiosks selling Turkish language newspapers are a sign of a Soviet-beating alliance between the two countries, that people eat granola bars because the war still leads to a bread shortage, and that people making an ironic speech bubble with their fingers in the air is all that is left of the Hitler salute. But yes, after a long hiatus neither he nor our author is particularly concerned with explaining, ''that man'' is back – and if he has his way he's going to be just as popular this time round…
+
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857052926</amazonuk>
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| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
}}
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===[[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester]]===
{{newreview
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|author=Adam Ruck
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[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]]
|title=The Bluffer's Guide to Golf (Bluffer's Guides)
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|rating=4.5
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Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and gets made the offer of his lifetime; immortality. We follow Michael, a grim reaper and his friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a stoner in the records department) as they grapple with their long lives and finding a clean surface to sit on in their flat. [[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester|Full Review]]
|genre=Sport
+
 
|summary=The fly leaf suggests that this Bluffer's Guide is the way to instantly acquire all the knowledge which you need to pass as an expert in the ''arcane and labyrinthine'' world of golf. There's quite a bit there that I'd agree on - the rules (and to an unfortunate extent the ''attitudes'') are arcane and they seem to take a lifetime to master, but there's a surprising amount of information tucked away inside this little book.  What I might quibble with is whether or not you would ''pass as an expert'' (which suggests that you're something of a con man): there's enough detail here to give you a solid grounding without needing to bluff.
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<!-- Stibbe -->
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1909365327</amazonuk>
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|-
}}
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{{newreview
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[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]
|title=
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The Collected Works of A J Fikry
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|author=Gabrielle Zevin
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| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
|rating=4
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===[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]===
|genre=General Fiction
+
 
|summary=A J Fikry is not having a good time. He's lost his wife to a car crash, and he's not making that much money. The book store he runs, stuck out on a limb on a quiet island community, is too remote to turn a profit year-round, and he has just dismissed the latest publisher's rep to turn up at his door, partly because her previous counterpart, an inconsequential part of A J's life when all is said and done, had died and he didn't know about it.  But his bad time is about to get a lot worse, as the one thing he owns worth the most – a rare book, more valuable than his house, his business, anything – is about to vanishWhich bizarrely will cause several major changes to his one-person household…
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[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]]
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408704617</amazonuk>
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}}
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Christmas – the time of traditional trauma. You only have to think about the turkey for that – once upon a time it was leaving it sat on the downstairs loo to defrost overnight, and if that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Nowadays it's all having to make sure it's suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, and get too friendly with it to want to eat it. Christmas, though, is of course also a time of great boons. It's cash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, it was always a godsend for postmen with all the thank-you letters to aunties you saw twice a decade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as a child, and as for the makers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, did they even try and sell them any other time of the year? [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe|Full Review]]
{{newreview
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|author=William Hanson
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<!-- Doescher -->
|title=The Bluffer's Guide to Etiquette (Bluffer's Guides)
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|-
|rating=5
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| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
|genre=Lifestyle
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[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]
|summary=If you ask people what they fear most in any social situation most will tell you that it's not knowing how to behaveThey'll be fine about the basics, but it's those little niceties - how to introduce yourself, what to ask for as an aperitif, how to address someone, for instance which can suddenly reveal you as a parvenu.  William Hanson gives us a quick trip through the essentials in a book which is very readable and - in places - hilariously funny.
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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1909937002</amazonuk>
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}}
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{{newreview
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===[[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher]]===
|title=Horrid Henry's Biggest and Best Ever Joke Book - 3-in-1
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|author=Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
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[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
|rating=4.5
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|genre=Humour
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A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a man called William Shakespeare, who was able to create a series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdyYou may or may not have noticed the cinematic version of his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken'', but here at last we get the actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to-before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, and people keeping it in the family til it hurtsAnd if you need further encouragement, don't forget his audience only demanded three parts of Henry VI – here the series is so popular we're on to part seven – surely making this over twice as good… [[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher|Full Review]]
|summary=It is easy to see why Horrid Henry remains such an enduring and well-liked children’s character. The adventures of this cheeky, irreverent schoolboy and a cast of extreme characters including Miss Battle Axe, The Demon Dinner Lady, Rabid Rebecca and arch-nemesis Moody Margaret are incredibly funny and a perfect way to encourage reluctant young readers to cultivate a love of reading. It is no surprise then, that the series has spawned a set of three spin-off joke books, which have now been combined to create a single volume: ''Horrid Henry’s Biggest and Best Ever Joke Book''.
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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>144401174X</amazonuk>
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{{newreview
+
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
|title=Let Me Off at the Top!: My Classy Life and Other Musings
+
[[image:Goss_600.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785942719]]
|author=Ron Burgundy
+
 
|rating=4
+
 
|genre=Humour
+
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
|summary=''This book is a testament to my giant balls.''  But it's also a lot more.  The story we've never been able to discern from either of the ''Anchorman'' films is one of surprising hardship, unsurprising hardness, and great hair.  It's a rags-to-riches tale, as Ron Burgundy comes from a Hicksville town in the middle of the outskirts of somewhere the arse end of nowhere (a town perpetually on fire due to the accidents in the mines underneath) and struggles against all the odds – and many of the evens in the shape of women's legs – to get where he is today, thrusting himself and his news at us nightly.
+
===[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies]]===
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780892241</amazonuk>
+
 
}}
+
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|Children's Rhymes and Verse]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
{{newreview
+
 
|title=Outraged of Tunbridge Wells: Original Complaints from Middle England
+
Consider the Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, were he to keep in touch with even half of his companions? He would certainly need a few novelty gifts for some of them, say, for example, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and enemies. As luck would have it, he has the space in his TARDIS to stock up in advance, so my advice to him – sorry, her would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and get himself ready. And if you're working on a shorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well my advice is pretty much the same. [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies|Full Review]]
|author=Nigel Cawthorne
+
 
|rating=4
+
<!-- Ingram -->
|genre=Humour
+
|-
|summary=It was ever thus…  cyclists go too fast, without using a hooter or lights; there are hoodlums everywhere one looks, and no public conveniences; people pretend to have qualifications and degrees they haven't rightfully earned; buses are too busy with shopping women who should be indoors already, cooking for their working menfolk…  It's a very clever idea to show exactly what is behind the 'disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' tag, and as a book to be shelved alongside those with the wackier letters sent to the ''Daily Telegraph'', these selections from the Royal town's press itself make a great eye-opener to the complaints and complainants of Kent.
+
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908096918</amazonuk>
+
[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]
}}
+
 
{{newreview
+
 
|author=Charlie Hill
+
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
|title=Books
+
===[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]===
|rating=4.5
+
 
|genre=Humour
+
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
|summary=Neurology professor Lauren Furrows witnesses the sudden untimely
+
 
death of two tourists in a bar while on holiday. Birmingham bookshop owner
+
It was something of a relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and her cocker spaniel Kammie. You see, Annie knows something which has been self-evident to me for a long time: dogs are perfectly capable of communicating with humans and not just on a level of food!, walk! or play!. You do require extensive training to become fluent, but most dogs will be perfectly willing to give their time to teach you and all you have to do is listen. Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and the pair have allowed us to share some of their conversations. [[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]]
Richard Anger happens to be in the same bar so together our single holiday
+
 
makers decide to team up as an investigatory force to be reckoned with.
+
<!-- Harris -->
(Well, Lauren teams up for that.  Richard's reasons are more physical than
+
|-
intellectual to begin with.)  The murders seem to emanate from author Gary
+
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
Sayles, a legend in his own mind and, apparently, fatal to read. Elsewhere
+
[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
hippy exhibitionists (in an over-18 way) Zeke and Pippa, are planning the
+
 
art installation to end all art installations and, are determined to make
+
 
Gary the centrepiece, whether he realises it or not.
+
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781251630</amazonuk>
+
===[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris]]===
}}
+
 
{{newreview
+
[[image:3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
|title=The Facebook Diet: 50 Funny Signs of Facebook Addiction and Ways to Unplug With a Digital Detox
+
 
|author=Gemini Adams
+
Teenager Liam Glass is mugged and stabbed yards from his Camden flat. As the boy lies comatose, desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the inside scoop, tired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a missing tape, harried politician Jamila Hasan fights for re-election, distraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, and gym-owner Royland simply finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. We follow this host of ensemble characters in a bleak, kaleidoscopic satire of modern media. [[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris|Full Review]]
|rating=3.5
+
 
|genre=Humour
+
<!-- LENTE -->
|summary=Everywhere you look and question this book, it is a success – more or less. Does it do what it purports to – show evidence of a Facebook addiction and provide a dietary way out? Yes, more or less. Does it engage with its combination of cartoon images and captions?  Yes, more or less.  Does it have some cult Internet pedigree to make it a hit gift book for the techie?  Yes, more or less – it might not have been borne from a webpage somewhere online, but the Kindle version was launched several months before the paperback.  Is it then a worthwhile addition to your comedy book shelves?  Yes – more or less.
+
|-
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>095546563X</amazonuk>
+
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
}}
+
[[image:Lente_10.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]===
 +
 
 +
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
 +
 
 +
Nine comedians are invited to a remote Caribbean island under the guise of working with Dustin Walker, a comedic legend. Each fits neatly into one of the archetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, the washed-up has-been who has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, the rising female star with a new stand-up special coming soon; Dante, who went from being a kid on the streets to the hardest working road comic in the business; Oliver, the child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, the insult comic who is past her prime;  TJ, the nightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, the ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character ''Billy the Contractor'' is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. Of course, all nine agree because ''when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and asks for your help, what the hell else are you going to say?'' [[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]]
 +
 
 +
<!-- Scott -->
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 +
[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[Elizabeth, William... and Me by S Lynn Scott]]===
 +
 
 +
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
 +
 
 +
Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, a husband and a job. Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of the window. It's not a coincidence that it's the same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in the pantry and the Bard of Avon in her bath. What's she going to do? Well, Elizabeth and Will have their own ideas about that! [[Elizabeth, William... and Me by S Lynn Scott|Full Review]]
 +
 
 +
<!-- Rodford -->
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 +
[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]]===
 +
 
 +
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
 +
 
 +
In the second instalment of this series, Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a well-known local man to track down some missing valuables. Bill Galbraith, a world-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a popular medical television programme, has had his briefcase stolen by his live-in domestic servant, Aurora. According to Galbraith, this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the hospital. George agrees to look into the theft, assuming it will be a relatively easy and straightforward case – little does he know, he's about to enter a world of deceit and dysfunction. [[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford|Full Review]]
 +
 
 +
<!-- Jordan -->
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 +
[[image:Jordan_Tiny.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1760293814/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]===
 +
 
 +
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
 +
 
 +
As predicted by Caroline and Janice's mother on Caroline and Henry's wedding day, their marriage is over, albeit 15 years and two daughters further along than predicted. Indeed, this is definitely not a good weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline's house. There's the split and the awkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a start. Then there's that mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. She still dreams of him, yes, but it's so over! Just as well really… guess who's at the door? [[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan|Full Review]]
 +
 
 +
<!-- Taylor -->
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 +
[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]===
 +
 
 +
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
 +
 
 +
Meet the Isles of Scilly. (I know they should be called that – the author provides a handy guide to the etiquette of their name, their nature and location, etc.) For our more distant readers, they're several chunks of granite rock out in the Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents. They're big on tourism, and big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is bad enough to turn any car to a rust bucket within years. They're so wee, and so idyllic-seeming, especially at night, you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a police presence. But there is – at least two working at any one time. And one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, which has brought to life all the whimsical comedy of his work. [[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]]
 +
 
 +
<!-- Lloyd -->
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 +
[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees]]===
 +
 
 +
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
 +
 
 +
It's Christmas Eve and Mum has arranged everything.  All she now has to do is await the arrival of the relatives and the food shopping delivery.  Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the potential to ruin everything. [['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees|Full Review]]
 +
 
 +
<!-- Phinn -->
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 +
 
 +
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]===
 +
 
 +
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]]
 +
 
 +
Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a plane and head to either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last minute dashes to the shops on Christmas Eve, and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, nor a mere 36 hours. But I do remember the feeling of Christmas when I was younger, back when it was magical, and back when you knew exactly what the season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a child. [[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|Full Review]]
 +
 
 +
<!-- North -->
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
 +
[[image:North_Romeo.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
 +
 
 +
 
 +
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
 +
===[[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North]]===
 +
 
 +
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]
 +
 
 +
For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribed, read on. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the bottle. Likewise, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. And to what result? Well, happy marriage and a kid called Ben, because the leads have just banged people's heads together and stopped the quarrelling, or Death by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her). [[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North|Full Review]]
 +
 
 +
<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
 +
|}

Revision as of 10:24, 9 July 2018

1683690346.jpg


The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime, Humour

Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for many people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the chance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, in doing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator. Full Review


1473669588.jpg


Falling Short by Lex Coulton

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews General Fiction, Humour, Women's Fiction

Lex Coulton's debut novel is a story about mistakes, failures, and relationships. The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, and is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. This relationship is complicated by the fact that Frances's father disappeared at sea when she was five years old. Full Review

1683690346.jpg


The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime, Humour

Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for many people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the chance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, in doing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator. Full Review

1683690133.jpg


My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Humour, Historical Fiction

You are a lass of twenty eight. Plucky, penniless and in Regency era London the race is on to find a suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster. Along your journey you'll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to save you from a life alone, and fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to suitors though, you'll have to make the ultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wholesome, rugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, or the mad, bad and terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. With orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and ancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, it's clear this isn't going to be an easy decision... Full Review

Jester Forever.jpg


Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Paranormal, Horror, Fasntasy

Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and gets made the offer of his lifetime; immortality. We follow Michael, a grim reaper and his friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a stoner in the records department) as they grapple with their long lives and finding a clean surface to sit on in their flat. Full Review

Stibbe Xmas.jpg


An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Humour, Short Stories

Christmas – the time of traditional trauma. You only have to think about the turkey for that – once upon a time it was leaving it sat on the downstairs loo to defrost overnight, and if that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Nowadays it's all having to make sure it's suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, and get too friendly with it to want to eat it. Christmas, though, is of course also a time of great boons. It's cash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, it was always a godsend for postmen with all the thank-you letters to aunties you saw twice a decade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as a child, and as for the makers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, did they even try and sell them any other time of the year? Full Review

Doescher Will.jpg


William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Science Fiction, Humour

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a man called William Shakespeare, who was able to create a series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy. You may or may not have noticed the cinematic version of his original stage play for The Force Doth Awaken, but here at last we get the actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to-before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, and people keeping it in the family til it hurts. And if you need further encouragement, don't forget his audience only demanded three parts of Henry VI – here the series is so popular we're on to part seven – surely making this over twice as good… Full Review

Goss 600.jpg


Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Children's Rhymes and Verse, Science Fiction, Humour

Consider the Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, were he to keep in touch with even half of his companions? He would certainly need a few novelty gifts for some of them, say, for example, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and enemies. As luck would have it, he has the space in his TARDIS to stock up in advance, so my advice to him – sorry, her – would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and get himself ready. And if you're working on a shorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well my advice is pretty much the same. Full Review

Ingram Kammie.jpg


Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Pets, Humour

It was something of a relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and her cocker spaniel Kammie. You see, Annie knows something which has been self-evident to me for a long time: dogs are perfectly capable of communicating with humans and not just on a level of food!, walk! or play!. You do require extensive training to become fluent, but most dogs will be perfectly willing to give their time to teach you and all you have to do is listen. Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and the pair have allowed us to share some of their conversations. Full Review

Harris Glass.jpg


The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime, Humour

Teenager Liam Glass is mugged and stabbed yards from his Camden flat. As the boy lies comatose, desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the inside scoop, tired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a missing tape, harried politician Jamila Hasan fights for re-election, distraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, and gym-owner Royland simply finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. We follow this host of ensemble characters in a bleak, kaleidoscopic satire of modern media. Full Review

Lente 10.jpg


Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Humour

Nine comedians are invited to a remote Caribbean island under the guise of working with Dustin Walker, a comedic legend. Each fits neatly into one of the archetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, the washed-up has-been who has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, the rising female star with a new stand-up special coming soon; Dante, who went from being a kid on the streets to the hardest working road comic in the business; Oliver, the child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, the insult comic who is past her prime; TJ, the nightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, the ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character Billy the Contractor is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. Of course, all nine agree because when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and asks for your help, what the hell else are you going to say? Full Review

Scott Eliz.jpg


Elizabeth, William... and Me by S Lynn Scott

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Humour

Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, a husband and a job. Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of the window. It's not a coincidence that it's the same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in the pantry and the Bard of Avon in her bath. What's she going to do? Well, Elizabeth and Will have their own ideas about that! Full Review

Rodford Surgeon.jpg


The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Crime, Humour

In the second instalment of this series, Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a well-known local man to track down some missing valuables. Bill Galbraith, a world-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a popular medical television programme, has had his briefcase stolen by his live-in domestic servant, Aurora. According to Galbraith, this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the hospital. George agrees to look into the theft, assuming it will be a relatively easy and straightforward case – little does he know, he's about to enter a world of deceit and dysfunction. Full Review

Jordan Tiny.jpg


Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Women's Fiction, Humour

As predicted by Caroline and Janice's mother on Caroline and Henry's wedding day, their marriage is over, albeit 15 years and two daughters further along than predicted. Indeed, this is definitely not a good weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline's house. There's the split and the awkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a start. Then there's that mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. She still dreams of him, yes, but it's so over! Just as well really… guess who's at the door? Full Review

Taylor Scilly.jpg


The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Travel, Humour

Meet the Isles of Scilly. (I know they should be called that – the author provides a handy guide to the etiquette of their name, their nature and location, etc.) For our more distant readers, they're several chunks of granite rock out in the Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents. They're big on tourism, and big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is bad enough to turn any car to a rust bucket within years. They're so wee, and so idyllic-seeming, especially at night, you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a police presence. But there is – at least two working at any one time. And one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, which has brought to life all the whimsical comedy of his work. Full Review

Lloyd Twas.jpg


'Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Humour

It's Christmas Eve and Mum has arranged everything. All she now has to do is await the arrival of the relatives and the food shopping delivery. Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the potential to ruin everything. Full Review

Phinn Virgin.jpg

The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Humour, Anthologies

Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a plane and head to either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last minute dashes to the shops on Christmas Eve, and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, nor a mere 36 hours. But I do remember the feeling of Christmas when I was younger, back when it was magical, and back when you knew exactly what the season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a child. Full Review

North Romeo.jpg


Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Humour

For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribed, read on. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the bottle. Likewise, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. And to what result? Well, happy marriage and a kid called Ben, because the leads have just banged people's heads together and stopped the quarrelling, or Death by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her). Full Review