Changes

[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding=Spadge Whittaker"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- van LENTE -->|title=Braver Than Britain, Occasionally-|ratingstyle=4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|genrelink=Humourhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=In which Spadge researches Britain's "vertical-align: top ten fears and faces them all over the course of a year; text-align: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. We're quite a fearful society, you know. And the things we fear most are, in orderjpg|link=Category: heights (acrophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia).|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993429904</amazonuk>{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|author= Mike BullenCrime]], [[:Category:Humour|title= TrustHumour]]|rating= 4|genre= General Fiction|summary= Greg Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and Amanda are happy. Unmarriedsanctuary for many people, but together thirteen years and with two young daughterswhen Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, they are very much in love. Dan he's looking for both that and Sarah aren't so fortunate. Their marriage is going through the motionssanctuary with other fans and creators, and they're staying together for plus the sake chance of their troubled teenage sonmaybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. Following a business conference away from homeHowever, one bad decision sends a happy couple into turmoilwhen 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 turns an unhappy couple into love's young dream. As secrets and betrayals threaten intrusive fans to send both relationships out of controlzombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, in doing so, there's only one thing that can keep everything from falling apart: Trustmay just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]]  |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk!-- Coulton -->}}{{newreview|author=Dan Rhodes-|titlestyle=When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre=General Fiction|summarystyle= Two people are on a train on their way to, of all things, a WI meeting where the ladies of All Bottoms will be lectured on the non"vertical-align: top; text-existence of God. One of the two people is Professor Richard Dawkins, rampant atheist, hectoring scientist chappie, and all-round devotee of ''Deal or No Deal''align: left;"|===[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star. The other is Smee, his mono-named assistantjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], amanuensis or [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Women'male secretarys Fiction|Women'. Smee will come to the fore when the weather sets in and the train journey has to be abandoned some way short of its ultimate destinations Fiction]] Lex Coulton's debut novel is a story about mistakes, Upper Bottom. Instead the pair fetch up at the isolated yet friendly community of Market Hortonfailures, and the only option for accommodation relationships. The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is taken – yesa sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, the died-in-the-wool non-believer has to be housed by a retired vicar work colleague, and his wifeis grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. This clash of titanic opinions, peppered with social faux pas aplenty will provide for a particularly English kind of farcical comedy, but one with the legs to go as far as any other Good Books have reached in the past…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]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk!-- van LENTE -->}}{{newreview|author=Rob Temple-|titlestyle=Very British Problems Abroad"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:1683690346.jpg|genrelink=Humourhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=Meet, if you haven't already, the phenomenon of the Very British Problem. In this format they're in pithy little comments (of, ooh, about 140 characters in length, for some reason…) and detail the minor things in life that we like nothing more than to inflate to a major factor of life. They can involve manners"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], staring at things until they mend themselves, hitting things ditto[[:Category:Humour|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, or the fact he's looking for both that nobody apart from you and I know how to queue properlysanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the chance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. And if the idea hits the world outside our shoresHowever, then – wellwhen his rival is found dead, you certainly have a book full Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of content regarding our attitude the con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and ineptitude abroadintrusive 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]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk!-- Curran -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Fraser McAlpine"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Stuff Brits Like[[image:1683690133.jpg|ratinglink=4|genrehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690133/ref=Humour|summarynosim?tag= With over 100 chapters on different aspects of Britain thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Britishness, this book is both fascinating and hilarious. Just looking at the list of subjects is enough to produce a sardonic twist of that stiff upper lipLarissa Zageris]]=== [[image: the chapters cover topics that range from offal to curry, from pedantry to banter, from conkers to rugby4star. There may be many chapters but this is no academic tome - each chapter is just two to three pages long, each is written with endearing affection, each is easy and satisfying - and quirkily funny - to read.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}}Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]]{{newreview|author= John Samuel|title= What I Tell You are a lass of twenty eight. Plucky, penniless and in Regency era London the Dark|rating= 3.5|genre= Humour|summary=A man called Will race is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate on to expose his company's dodgy dealings find a suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to the presslife as an eternal spinster. Overcome with doubt and fear, he goes Along your journey you'll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to kill himselfsave you from a life alone, and fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. ButWhen it comes to suitors though, at the exact moment he attaches his noose you'll have to make the back of the doorultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wholesome, rugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, he is saved. By a curious housemate or a concerned girlfriend? Nothe mad, by an Angelbad and terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. Not the white-feathered guardian Angel you may expectWith orphans, but one who wishes to help Will achieve his endswerewolves, long lost lovers and so possess ancient Egyptian artifcats along the body of the hapless Will in order way, it's clear this isn't going to finish what he startedbe an easy decision... It goes without saying that the Angel is hoping things go better than they did with the last guy he possessed – a hapless young man from Galilee called Jesus…[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk>0715650505</amazonuk!-- Jester -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= John Niven"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|title= The Sunshine Cruise Companyleft|ratinglink= 4https://www.amazon.5co.uk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1510704361]]  |genrestyle= Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary= Susan Frobisher and Julie Wickham live in ==[[Forever After: a small Dorset towndark comedy by David Jester]]=== [[image:4star. Friends since school, they live fairly uneventful lives – Susan has a lovely house and a lengthy marriage to accountant Barryjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], whereas Julie [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is doing slightly less well – living in a council flat cocky and working in an old people's homebrash young man who dies and gets made the offer of his lifetime; immortality. When Barry is found dead trussed up in a sex dungeonWe follow Michael, it transpires that he has been leading a hidden life for years, grim reaper and his expensive fetishes lead to the bank moving to take Susan's home. Struck by both desperation friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a sense of injustice, Sue stoner in the records department) as they grapple with their long lives and Julie conspire finding a clean surface to rob a bank, taking along sit on in their friend Jill – flat. [[Forever After: a devout Christian conflicted due to lack of money and a terminally ill grandson, and Ethel – a foul mouthed resident of the nursing home longing for adventure.dark comedy by David Jester|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Stibbe -->0434023183</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Marie Phillips-|titlestyle=The Table Of Less Valued Knights"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.5jpg|genre=Fantasyleft|summarylink=Sir Humphrey has been demoted from King Arthur's Round Table to the Table of Lesser Valued Knightshttps://www.amazon.co. The only way to get his comfier seat back is to redeem himself via a quest. Therefore when damsel Elaine seeks help to find her kidnapped fiancé, Humphrey and his ward, the teenage giant Conrad, eagerly set forth. Meanwhile in the kingdom of Tuft, new Queen Martha has run away after a disastrous wedding to… a… well… disastrous Prince Edwin. She may not realise it yet, but she too will have a job for Humphrey!uk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099555875</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Tim Flannery|title=The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish|rating[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]===3|genre=Historical Fiction[[image:4.5star.jpg|summarylink=Meet Archie Meek. He's about to leave the Venus IslandsCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], where he's lived for [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Christmas – the last five years, and return time of traditional trauma. You only have to Sydney, where he'll take his office in think about the museum and fill turkey for that – once upon a time it was leaving it with all sat on the cultural artefacts he's found downstairs loo to defrost overnight, and wildlife he's plucked or pickledif that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. ThatNowadays it's not all having to ignore the fact hemake sure it'll count as something quite alien himself, with his filleds suitably free-out framerange and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, nearly all-over suntan and totemic tattoo, in amongst other changes get too friendly with it to want to his bodyeat it. But what's this? When he gets backChristmas, though, he finds one is of the main Venus Islands artefacts that caused him to go there in the first place, course also a huge, macabre ceremonial fetish mask, purloined as corporate artwork. And some time of the curators he wishes to work alongside have vanishedgreat boons. Is the weird society of the museum heIt's returning tocash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, perchance, even weirderit 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, stranger and more violent than as for the cannibalistic society he's waving farewell tomakers 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]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1922079308</amazonuk!-- Doescher -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Roman Dirge"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|title=The Cat with a Really Big Headleft|ratinglink=3https://www.amazon.co.5|genreuk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=Graphic Novels|summaryUTF8&tag= How many picture books are there about cats? And how many do you know that you would really NOT prefer your children to see? If thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare's the answer to Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the second question is 'none – yet', scratch that last word. The title piece in this collection is, Seventh by the author's own admissionIan Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a man called William Shakespeare, his imagining of the Joseph Merrick (the 'Elephant Man') of the feline world – who struggles was able to sneak up behind create a mouse when the shadow series of dramatic histories full of his head is a total giveawaymachinations most foul, rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and who can hardly even eat with dignity as bending down to his bowl would break his neckheroines most sturdy. If that's too dark You may or oddball for you, try may not have noticed the second major piece, which has a most revealing foreword – cinematic version of his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken''Dedicated to a certain girl… I hope your life is filled with wonderful accomplishments, love and all but here at last we get the magic you desire… actual script, complete with annoying-in-different- But I hope your death is slow ways-to-before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, and horriblepeople 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… [[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782762876</amazonuk!-- Goss -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Val Hennessy"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Not Far From Dreamland|rating=4[[image:Goss_600.5jpg|genre=General Fictionleft|summarylink=Ronald Tonks has reached that stage in life which I call upper middle agehttps: you've qualified for your pension but not yet got to the free television licence barrier. What Ronald ''has'' got is a roof that leaks //www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785942719]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (there's good reason why his home is called 'the shack'), a dog who is going bald (in patchesDr Who) by James Goss and money that's in very short supplyRussell T Davies]]=== [[image:4. On the plus side he has friends, mostly platonic and usually in much the same boat as Ronald5star. But are they downhearted? Well, they are occasionally, but mostly theyjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children're generously optimistic s Rhymes and out to make the most of what theyVerse|Children've gots Rhymes and Verse]], usually bought from charity shops and jumble sales. ''Not Far From Dreamland'' is [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the story of a year (2012) in the life 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 Ronald Tonks, his friends and relatives.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0704373874</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Harry Harrison|title=Billcompanions? He would certainly need a few novelty gifts for some of them, say, for example, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the Galactic Hero|rating=3.5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=Meet Billlife of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and enemies. He's a simple farmer – wellAs luck would have it, he ''is'' taking a correspondence course in being a Technical Fertiliser Operator – but fate has something else the space in store. And his TARDIS to stock up in advance, so does the mechanisedmy advice to him – sorry, technological, industrial military, which needs several billion grunts her – would be to pop along to fight the Chingers, in mankind's first interhis local Earth-galactic warbased book emporium and get himself ready. Still, at least he gets medals And if you're working on a shorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just for signing up. After that it's all downhillone gift season ahead, and well my advice is pretty much the likes of Petty Chief Officer Deathwish Drang can only make that a straight line downsame. Really, what hope is there?[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>147320531X</amazonuk!-- Ingram -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Ian Doescher"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace|rating=4[[image:Ingram_Kammie.5jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink= Join us, good gentles, for a merry reimagining of `Star Wars Episode 1' as only Shakespeare could have written it. 'Tis a true Shakespearean drama, filled with sword fights, soliloquies and doomed romance…all in glorious iambic pentameter and coupled with gorgeous illustrations. Hold on to your midichlorians: The plays the thing, wherein you'll catch the rise of Anakin!https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1594748063</amazonuk>}}"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|{{newreview|author=Attaboy|title=The Book of Hugs|rating=4[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]===|genre=Humour[[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=A hug's a hug, OK? You either doCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], or you don't. Some people might be [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of a little more enthusiastic about the process whilst others 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 more elegant in the execution perfectly capable of the hug, but basically you communicating with humans and not just get on and do it and then forget about ita level of food!, walk! or play!. You do require extensive training to become fluent, right?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0867197978</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewbut 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]] <!-- Harris -->|author= Christopher Fowler-|titlestyle= Bryant and May – The Burning Man"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|ratinglink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=4thebookbag-21]] |genre=Crime|summarystyle= The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) has a new set "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Breaking of overlordsLiam Glass by Charles Harris]]=== [[image:3star. For reasons that were explored in the previous couple of outings they have been transferred to the City Of London Police. The Met are still the big players in the area. City of London Police only police jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Teenager Liam Glass is mugged and stabbed yards from his Camden flat. As the old cityboy lies comatose, desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the square mileinside scoop, the financial district in other wordstired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a missing tape, that has very little in the way of street crimeharried politician Jamila Hasan fights for re-election, because nodistraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, and gym-one lives there anymore and owner Royland simply finds himself in the wrong place at the people who work there arewrong time. We follow this host of ensemble characters in a bleak, kaleidoscopic satire of modern media. [[The Breaking of Liam Glass by and large, either too rich to need to steal, or too smart to have to do so on the streets.Charles Harris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- LENTE -->0857522043</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg|titlestyle=The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again! "width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lente_10.jpg|ratinglink=3http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre=Humour|summarystyle=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"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. The idea of the League of Pensioners marching towards a fairer world through fun and frolics was hugely appealing jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Nine comedians are invited to me and this is a stand alone novel so I thought I would dive straight in remote Caribbean island under the guise of working with this Dustin Walker, a comedic legend. Each fits neatly into one.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447274903</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Winshluss|title=In God We Trust|rating=4.5|genre=Graphic Novels|summary=To start withof 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 rhetorical test. How about God and Adam playing badminton day in and day outnew stand-up special coming soon; Dante, until one gets bored and decides who went from being a kid on the streets to create Eve? Or the defeater of Goliath and hardest working road comic in the saviour of business; Oliver, the Israelites being one Conan child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, the Barbarian? insult comic who is past her prime; Or this as TJ, the nightly variety show host with a test – Jesus Himself failing to have a successful session of tequila slammers with Gabriel due to reputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, the holes through His hands? I barely need mention that in these pages God does battle ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with Supermana chip on her shoulder; and William, for you to have answered whose redneck character ''Billy the test and put yourself firmly in one 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 two camps light and asks for this book – one very much opposed to buying ityour help, and one very much in favour.what the hell else are you going to say?'' [[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0861662350</amazonuk!-- Scott -->}}{{newreview|author=David Walliams and Tony Ross-|titlestyle=The Queen's Orang"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-Utanalign: center;"|[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|ratinglink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=5thebookbag-21]] |genre=For Sharing|summarystyle=The Queen felt trapped in the palace with all those stuffed animals which she has been given on foreign tours"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Elizabeth, William... There are mountains of them and every night she would dream of escapingMe by S Lynn Scott]]=== [[image:4. When her birthday drew near the family dutifully asked her what she would like as a present5star. The Prince was thinking of a gold, diamond encrusted stairlift whilst the Duke was considering jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, a great big bottle husband and a job. Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of brandythe window. The Royal Baby had some decorated thimbles in mind, but the Queen became just It's not a little snappish as she explained coincidence that what it's the same day she really wanted was 'Onefinds Queen Elizabeth I in the pantry and the Bard of Avon in her bath. What's own orang-utan'. And she didn't mean a stuffed onegoing to do? Well, Elizabeth and Will have their own ideas about that! [[Elizabeth, eitherWilliam...and Me by S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008135134</amazonuk!-- Rodford -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Jack Sheffield"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Silent Night[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|ratinglink=3http://www.amazon.co.5|genreuk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=General Fictionthebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=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 [["vertical-align:Categorytop; text-align:Gervase Phinnleft;"|Gervase Phinn===[[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]], told mostly in the first person, describing the author’s first couple of years as Headmaster at a small village primary school in Yorkshire=== [[image:4star. 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.|amazonukjpg|link=<amazonuk>0552167045</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreview|author=J Robert LennonStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|title=See You In ParadiseCrime]], [[:Category:Humour|rating=3Humour]]|genre=Short Stories|summary=Lennon writes with In the second instalment of this series, Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a relaxedwell-known local man to track down some missing valuables. Bill Galbraith, easy style and a world-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a popular medical television programme, has had his briefcase stolen by his characters are instantly recognisable as people from everyday walks of lifelive-in domestic servant, without being in any way stereotypicalAurora. Many According to Galbraith, this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the people in these stories are dealing with normal frustrationshospital. George agrees to look into the theft, assuming it will be a relatively easy and Lennon is cleverly detached enough not to make them individuals that youstraightforward case – little does he know, he're obviously supposed s about to root for (the only exception is the industrialist in the eponymous tale, who is an archetypal capitalist fat cat)enter a world of deceit and dysfunction. There are some very clever characterisations – in [[The Surgeon''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 thems Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford|Full Review]] <!-- Jordan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jordan_Tiny. There is no supernatural or bizarre element at work here, just ordinary characters at the mercy of social powerjpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.|amazonukuk/dp/1760293814/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>1781253358</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]{{newreview|author=Lynne Truss|titlestyle=Cat out of Hell"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||rating=3==[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]===|genre=Horror[[image:5star.jpg|summarylink=Meet Alec Charlesworth. He'Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's retired and decamped to an isolated coastal cottage with just his dog and loving memories of his colleague wifeFiction]], 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 [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] As predicted by someone at the college he worked at, just before he left. Bizarrely they show photographic Caroline and Janice's mother on Caroline and audio evidence of a talking cat called RogerHenry's wedding day, their marriage is over, replete with Vincent Price voice – although they are also damaged by being included alongside some bad screenplay attempts about said catalbeit 15 years and two daughters further along than predicted. WorryinglyIndeed, we soon see what at the most only this is definitely not a few of the characters can, that this cat is being accompanied by unusual and unexpected death – much like Alecgood weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline's wifehouse. ItThere's only when Roger testifies to having been pushed through the ends split and the awkwardness of endurance and out the girls' schoolteacher being the other side woman for a start. Then there's that we begin to doubt where mistaken identity moment involving the true evil in this story lies…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099585340</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Jimmy Hansen neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and Mychailo Kazybird|title=Wallace & Gromit : The Complete Newspaper Strips Collection Vol 2over 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|rating=4Full Review]]|genre=Humour<!-- Taylor -->|summary-| style=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"width: 10%; vertical-U-N in their obligatory red and white fontalign: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|link=http://www.amazon. No minor paper could hold Wallace and Gromit, their adventures have to be in what is (unfortunately) the most widely read tabloid in the countryco. And elsewhere is Cuk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-Balign: top; text-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 align: left;"|===[[The Life of their creative outputa Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4.5star. Together these short collections of letters show just how much WaG are major creationsjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], and if [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the proof was needed this much longer collection Isles of their daily comic strips provides it in spadesScilly.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782760822</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|title=Dear Committee Members|(I know they should be called that – the author=Julie Schumacher|rating=4provides a handy guide to the etiquette of their name, their nature and location, etc.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Jason Fitger (Jay) is a Professor For our more distant readers, they're several chunks of creative writing and literature at a small university granite rock out in the American mid-west. He Atlantic, where Cornwall is also a frustrated novelist pointing, with a colourful personal historyjust 2, much of which bleeds into his professional life200 permanent residents. They're big on tourism, with interesting results.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007586345</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|title=Mapp and Lucia Omnibus|author=E F Benson|rating=3big 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.5|genre=Humour|summary=Miss Elizabeth Mapp rules the town of Tilling - she is the centre of the social lifeThey're so wee, and spends her days enjoying bridgeso idyllic-seeming, polite conversation and civilised paintingespecially 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. When Mrs Emmeline Lucas arrives And one of them in town (known to all as Lucia)recent years has been Colin Taylor, Miss Mapp finds her life truly shaken upwho has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, as the cultured, fashionable and progressive Lucia makes her home in the town, and swiftly rises which has brought to life all the top whimsical comedy of the ranks amongst the social scene in Tillinghis work.[[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk>1849908478</amazonuk!-- Lloyd -->}}{{newreview|-|titlestyle=Encyclopedia Paranoiaca"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|authorlink=Henry Beard and Christopher Cerfhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |ratingstyle=4"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Popular Science|summary=We=[['re screwedTwas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3. 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 data5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It's Christmas Eve and Mum has arranged everything. 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 worseAll she now has to do is await the arrival of the relatives and the food shopping delivery. And outside Little does Mum know that daily sphere there are economic disasters, nuclear meltdowns, errant AI scientists and passing comets that could turn our world upside down at those two elements alone have the blink of an eyepotential to ruin everything. Perhaps then you better read this book first – for it may well turn out to be your last…[['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk!-- Phinn -->0715649213</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|title=Diary of a Mad Diva-|authorstyle=Joan Rivers"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=3[[image:Phinn_Virgin.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary===[[The late Joan Rivers was, without a doubt, a characterVirgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4. Actress, comedian, writer, director, presenter, she was well known in the USA and beyond for her sharp tongue and no holds barred persona5star. This was the last of the dozen books she published, her final title before her death in September 2014.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0425269027</amazonuk>}}jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|title=The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - The Nearly Definitive Edition|author=Douglas Adams|rating=5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]]|genre=General Fiction|summary=There are few series that have garnered such Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a cult following as 'The Hitchhikers Guide plane and head to the Galaxy'. Whether the fans have come either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the radio seriesmadness at home, last minute dashes to the (impossibly hard) computer gameshops on Christmas Eve, or the (well intentioned but not particularly good) filmand food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, they are everywherenor a mere 36 hours. Ask a room of people what But I do remember the meaning feeling of life isChristmas when I was younger, back when it was magical, and back when you can be pretty sure 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 good few will pipe up with child. [[The Virgin Mary'42' as the answer.s Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk>0434023396</amazonuk!-- North -->}}{{newreview|title=Quick Pint After Work-|authorstyle=Luke Lewis"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:North_Romeo.jpg|genrelink=Humourhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=BuzzFeed is one of the world’s best time sucks, "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Romeo and I’m regularly directed to the site /or Juliet by links from Facebook and Twitter, in between browsing the app on my phoneRyan North]]=== [[image:3.5star. According to the author bio on this book, BuzzFeed is 'a social news jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and entertainment company'prescribed, which is a fancy way of describing lots of fun lists that speak read on. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the readership (20 words that bottle. Likewise, she could have a completely different meaning in Manchester, 30 Things all ex-gymnasts know turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. And to be truewhat result? Well, 40 Very British problems, yadda yadda yadda). These list work well on line when you want a quick distractionhappy marriage and a kid called Ben, because the leads have just banged people's heads together and they’re easy to flip throughstopped the quarrelling, looking at the attached photos or video clips. The question thenDeath by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, is whether or not BuzzFeed the book will have the same appealsuch as a Lady M (her).|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751557730<[[Romeo and/amazonuk>}}{{newreviewor Juliet by Ryan North|author=Graeme SimsionFull Review]]|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 process. At 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<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->0718179471</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|title=Burnt Tongues: An Anthology of Transgressive Short Stories|author=Chuck Palahniuk, Dennis Widmyer and Richard Thomas|rating=4|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>}}