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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding=Ryan North"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->|title=Romeo and/or Juliet|rating=3.5<!-- Coulton -->|genre=Humour-|summarystyle=For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribed, read on"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|link=http://www. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the bottleamazon. Likewise, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of juncturesco. And to what resultuk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim? 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)tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star. jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0356508536</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|author= Gervase PhinnGeneral Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|title= The Virgin MaryHumour]], [[:Category:Women's Got NitsFiction|rating= 4.5Women's Fiction]]|genre= Humour|summary= Christmas in our house Lex Coulton's debut novel is the time we tend to get on a plane and head to either sun or snowstory about mistakes, anywhere that is farfailures, far away from the madness at homeand relationships. The main protagonist, last minute dashes to the shops on Christmas EveFrances Pilgrim, and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for is a monthsixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, nor a mere 36 hourswork colleague, and is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. But I do remember This relationship is complicated by the feeling of Christmas fact that Frances's father disappeared at sea when I she 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 partiesfive years old. This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a child.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444779400</amazonuk[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]] <!-- van LENTE -->}}{{newreview|author= Kieran Crowley-|titlestyle= Shoot"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating= 4[[image:1683690346.jpg|genrelink= Crimehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle= I make something of a habit of being late to discover good writers, in this case getting to Crowley after he is no longer with us. "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The result is that what is billed as ''an FCon Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star.X. Shepherd mystery'' with all the optimism of there being more to come has the poignancy jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a place of beingwonder and sanctuary for many people, if not the last of a short lineand when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, certainly one of a few. F.X. Shepherd – he doesn't like his first name he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and prefers just "Shepherd" iscreators, technicallyplus the chance of maybe, a columnistjust maybe reuniting with his ex. He's been sacked by one New York newspaper 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 is writing , in doing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a weekly column for anotherlegendary industry creator. I don't know much about journalism, but I'm guessing one column a week doesn't pay much as a rule…which explains why Shepherd's soap[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] <!-- Curran -washed-foul>|-mouthed editor (read the book, you'll see what I mean) expects him to turn in some genuine journalism as well| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image: front page, seat of your pants stuff1683690133. jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1783296518<http://amazonuk>www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle=Gray Jolliffe"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=The First Ever Christmas: And Who to Blame|rating=5|genre=Humour|summary=If I tell you a secret, will you promise not to tell anyone? Well, I really don't like Christmas: it[[My Lady's my least favourite time of year Choosing by Kitty Curran and whilst some people count down to the day itself, I look forward Larissa Zageris]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] You are a lass of twenty eight. Plucky, penniless and in Regency era London the race is on to that point when I can say that it's all over for another yearfind a suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster. ItAlong your journey you's all too commercialised for me, with ll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a coating of faux religion. I've never found fiesty noble eager to save you from a life alone, and fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. When it in the least funny - that iscomes to suitors though, until I found Gray Jolliffeyou's ''The First Ever Christmas: And Who's ll have to Blame''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. AmazinglyWith orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and ancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, Iit'd never encountered Gray Jolliffe either, but Is clear this isn'm a convert t going to his skills as a cartoonist (if not to the idea of Christmas) after reading this collection of Christmas-themed cartoons from his archivebe an easy decision...[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445663503</amazonuk!-- Jester -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Jonathan Pugh"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Pugh's New Year's Resolutions|rating=4[[image:Jester_Forever.5jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink=If there's one thing that's for certain, it's that the world is changinghttps://www.amazon.co. We're dating online, we're communicating in ways that make email seem redundant, and when we're shopping we just tell uk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1510704361]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Forever After: a website where and when it can be delivereddark comedy by David Jester]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and how much leeway they have to swap our wishes for whatever it is they do bring usgets made the offer of his lifetime; immortality. But those changes are also supposed to be affecting us – we're supposed to use We follow Michael, a grim reaper and his friends Chip (a smart watch to tell us if we're moving or not, we have to keep up stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a stoner in the records department) as they grapple with the latest fads, their long lives and we're supposed finding a clean surface to prick our ears up and take note when the proverbial 'they' change sit on in their minds about what we're supposed to eat.flat. [[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Stibbe -->1780722885</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Luke Rhinehart-|titlestyle= Invasion|rating= 4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.5jpg|left|genrelink= Humour https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]  |summarystyle=Super"vertical-intelligent furry aliens suddenly appear from another universe. And they've come to earth to have funalign: top; text-align: left;"|===[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]=== [[image:4. Alien Louie follows fisherman Billy Morton home one day, and he and his family quickly come to love the playful alien5star. But when Louie starts using their computer to hack into government and corporate networksjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], stealing millions from banks [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Christmas – the time of traditional trauma. You only have to give to others, they realise think about the turkey for that Louie and his friends mean trouble. As Billy and his family begin – once upon a roller coaster ride of fame and fortune, as well as a ranking high time it was leaving it sat on the FBI's most wanted listdownstairs loo to defrost overnight, the Government soon decides and if that these aliens are terrorists, and must be eliminated. Whilst failed the aliens are playing games they hope will help humans hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Nowadays it's all having to see the insanity of the American politicalmake sure it's suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, economic and military systems, they soon come to realise that the Powers that Be donget too friendly with it to want to eat it. Christmas, though, is of course also a time of great boons. It't play games: they make war. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785651757</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Rod Green|title=Only Fools and Horses: The Peckham Archives|rating=4|genre=Entertainment |summary=We are s cash in the world hand for a lot of one of the country's most famous and well-loved sitcoms – even if plump people who can hire red suits and beards, it was sort-of killed off always a godsend for Christmas 2003. Yes, there have been specials since, and more repeats to clog up postmen with all the BBC schedules than is really pukka, but very few people failed thank-you letters to succumb to its charms at one time or another. I'm sure there have been books before now celebrating the stonyaunties you saw twice a decade that your parents made you write out in long-faced reception of ''that'' drop through the open bar hatchhand as a child, and ''that'' chandelier sceneas for the makers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, but this is much more meaty. Purporting to be did they even try and sell them any other time of the family archives, found dumped in Nelson Mandela House, the documents here were passed from pillar to post, from one council worker in a department with a clumsy acronym to another, from them to the police – and now here they are being published for their social history worth. Will enough readers find them of worth, as the series quietly celebrates its 35th birthday?year? [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe|Full Review]] <!-- Doescher -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849909245</amazonuk>}}{{newreview[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|author= Mara Wilsonleft|titlelink= Where Am I Now?https: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame//www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  |ratingstyle= 5"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre= Autobiography|summary= Mara Wilson has always felt a little young and a little out of place=[[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: as Star Wars Part the only child on a film set full of adultsSeventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, the first daughter in a house full of boysgalaxy far away, the sole clinically depressed member of there was a cheerleading squadman called William Shakespeare, who was able to create a valley girl in New York series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and a neurotic in California, rebellious heroes and an adult the world still remembers as a little girlheroines most sturdy. Tackling everything from how she first learned about sex on You may or may not have noticed the set cinematic version of his original stage play for ''Melrose Place,The Force Doth Awaken'' to losing her mother , but here at a young agelast we get the actual script, to getting her first kiss (or was it kisses?) on a celebrity canoe tripcomplete with annoying-in-different-ways-to-before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, to not being cute enough to make and people keeping it in Hollywood, these essays tell the story of one young womanfamily 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 journey from accidental fame to relative obscurity, but also illuminate a universal strugglethe Force Doth Awaken: learning to accept yourself, and figuring out who you are and where you belong. Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Goss -->0143128221</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Tony Stuart-|titlestyle= Writing Lines|rating= 4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Goss_600.5jpg|left|genrelink=Humourhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785942719]]  |summarystyle= George Gordon Wentworth (1946"vertical-2011) lived a humdrum life. He was a barely adequate teacher in a fairly world renowned independent school in Kent align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and kept a copious diary of his quotidian existenceRussell T Davies]]=== [[image:4. Most of what he recorded was dross5star. However, amongst all the utterly uninteresting tailings of his life there were some nuggets jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|Children's Rhymes and grains to catch the attention. Author Tony Stuart has created these amusing anecdotesVerse]], panning them out over twenty six episodes which give us [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the best of Wentworth – comedy goldDoctor. From losing all the pupils in his charge on a school trip Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to being arrested on suspicion of terrorism; from waking up in bed between the married couple the morning after their weddinghand out each year, were he to destroying a ski run; from appearing full-frontal naked keep in touch with even half of his companions? He would certainly need a sheep-farmers' gazette to triggering an air-sea rescue; Wentworth wasfew novelty gifts for some of them, say, blinkered and befuddledfor example, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the subject – life of a Time Lord and that of some of these his friends and so many more unlikely but highly amusing eventsenemies.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524634441</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Graham Fulbright|title=Driving Mad: ManiacsAs luck would have it, he has the space in his TARDIS to stock up in advance, so my advice to him – sorry, Morons her – would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and the Advanced Motorist's Club|rating=3get himself ready.5|genre=Humour|summary=I passed my driving test when John F Kennedy was in the White House and IAnd if you've recently had to reapply for my driving licence having achieved re working on a venerable age. When I started driving the roads were kindershorter timescale, more forgiving places - or put another waywith a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well my advice is pretty much the idiots were fewer and further betweensame. I don't know how long Graham Fulbright has been driving, but he certainly knows his motoring morons [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and in ''Driving Mad'' he brings us a fictional sample of their eccentricities. Well, I'm pretty certain that they're fictional Russell T Davies|Full Review]] <!-- Ingram - but these days you never know...->|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783062584</amazonuk>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle=Mario Giordano"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|rating=4left|genrelink=Crimehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  |summarystyle=Poldi had not long been widowed when she decided to move from Bavaria to Sicily with the intention of drinking herself to death"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star. She couldjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of course, have done this in Germany, but she felt that a sea view was essentiala relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and her cocker spaniel Kammie. Once thereYou see, new friends, family already resident on the island and the corpse of Annie knows something which has been self-evident to me for a young man, his face blown off by long time: dogs are perfectly capable of communicating with humans and not just on a shotgunlevel of food!, whom she found on the local beachwalk! or play!. You do require extensive training to become fluent, intervened but most dogs will be perfectly willing to give her life some meaning. For a while she was a suspect, but that (their time to teach you and her wig) were no obstacle all you have to do is listen. Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her falling for Commissario Vito Montana who was assigned to investigate well and the case. Assisting him (or having him assist her) came naturally pair have allowed us to Poldi and before long there was an investigative and personal partnership. At least so far as Poldi was concernedshare some of their conversations.[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908524693</amazonuk!-- Harris -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Grady Hendrix"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|titlelink= My Best Friend's Exorcismhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]|rating= 5|genre= Horror|summarystyle=1988, Charleston, South Carolina. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Breaking of skinny-dipping goes disatrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act.Liam Glass by Charles Harris]]=== [[image:3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Teenager Liam Glass is mugged and stabbed yards from his Camden flat.different. She's moody. She's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she's nearby. Abby's investigation leads her to some startling discoveries 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- and election, distraught mother Katrina Glass waits by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusionher son, and gym-owner Royland simply finds himself in the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined 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 a single question: Is their friendship enough to beat the devil?Charles Harris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594748624</amazonuk!-- LENTE -->}}|-{{newreview|author| style= Kevin MacNeil"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=The Brilliant and Forever[[image:Lente_10.jpg|ratinglink= 3http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre= Humour|summarystyle= You know sometimes when someone tells a joke, everyone else laughs, and you're sat there wondering what was so funny?"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846973376</amazonuk>==[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]===}}[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{newreview|author= Christopher Fowler|title= Bryant and May{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: Strange TideHumour|rating= 3.5Humour]]|genre= Crime|summary= The thirteenth outing for Bryant and May is looking very much like it will be their last. Arthur Bryant is on compassionate leave whilst tests are continuingNine comedians are invited to a remote Caribbean island under the guise of working with Dustin Walker, which are likely to confirm that he is suffering from Alzheimer'sa comedic legend. His condition is worsening almost by Each fits neatly into one of the dayarchetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, memory lapses are morphing into fullthe washed-scale hallucinations.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857523422</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Kevin Smith|title=The Voyage of up has-been who has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, the Dolphin|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Dublin 1916: Among the unrest and antirising female star with a new stand-British feeling worsened by up special coming soon; Dante, who went from being a kid on the threat of conscription into a war seen as nothing streets to do with the Irishhardest working road comic in the business; Oliver, Trinity College faculty has other distractions. Theythe child-like prop comic who can'd like a trophyt get any respect from his peers; Janet, the skeleton of an Irish 'giant' to be precise. insult comic who is past her prime; The only glitch is that TJ, the main trophy contendernightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, Bernard MacNeill's skeletonthe ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character ''Billy the Contractor'' is somewhere difficult to access and all seasoned explorers are otherwise engageda far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. There may be hope though. They turn to FitzmauriceOf course, a student not good enough for anything else. Fitzmaurice agrees, picking his friends Crozier and Rafferty to go with him. So… all nine agree because ''Gentlemen, lace up your strongest boots when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and pack asks for your warmest underwear – we're all off to help, what the bloody Arctic!'' Whether battle cry or epitaph, three men and a dog… and an iguana… are hell else are you going anyway.to say?'' [[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910124826</amazonuk!-- Scott -->|amazonus-| style=<amazonus>1910124826</amazonus>}}{{newreview"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|authorlink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=Tony Hawksthebookbag-21]] |title=Once Upon a Time in the West… Country|ratingstyle=3"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Travel==[[Elizabeth, William... and Me by S Lynn Scott]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|summarylink=I have often complained in a jokey voice to my partner about life in the sticks, and the way she moved me from Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Ally is an inner-city flat to slumming it in the suburbs ordinary woman with fewer bussesteenage children, no takeaways within walking-a husband and-keeping-food-hot distance, and no a job. Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of the window. It'Polishs not a coincidence that it' shops for a can s the same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in the pantry and the Bard of beer whenever you fancy oneAvon in her bath. Things are different with Tony Hawks, as here he has purposefully decided What's she going to up sticks from London to Somewheredo? Well, Devon – a tiny village where the people who built Elizabeth and Will have their own homes decades ago still live in themideas about that! [[Elizabeth, where slugs are a lot more of a problem for the wannabe lettuceWilliam... and Me by S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] <!-- Rodford -grower than they are for the metropolitan commuter, and where village halls have the power to turn you into both a Pol Pot dictator if you get on their committee and into a quivering, bruise-inducing wreck if you're the wrong gender at a Zumba class…>|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444794809</amazonuk>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle=Marian Keyes"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Making It Up As I Go Along[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]]===Entertainment [[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=OhCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], how [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] In the book reviewing gods like to givesecond instalment of this series, and equally like Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a well-known local man to take awaytrack down some missing valuables. Here before me is Bill Galbraith, a brand, spanking new collection of journalism by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but itworld-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a proof copypopular medical television programme, so there's no photo of the author. Even if over the years I have stopped reading her novelshas had his briefcase stolen by his live-in domestic servant, I have always turned Aurora. According to Galbraith, this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the author picture hospital. George agrees to remind myself such sights exist in this world. Himself is a lucky manlook into the theft, for sure. But beyond sounding like assuming it will be a letchrelatively easy and straightforward case – little does he know, what can I say about this – the beautyhe's third large dose about to enter a world of essays, web columns deceit and other journalism? I can start with agreeing that I am not the target audience, but it's easy enough to see from these pages exactly what the target is. So much like that test you do – you know the one, that formulates decisions about the age and commonality of all things in space to come up with how many billions of planets are likely to have alien life on – you can narrow things down quite readily here, and still come up with a huge numberdysfunction. [[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]]  |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>0718182529</amazonuk>"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|}}{{newreview|author= Jean-Yves Ferri|title= Asterix and the Missing Scroll (Album 36)|rating= 5[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]===|genre= For Sharing[[image:5star.jpg|summarylink=Asterix is those rarest of book series; one designed for kids which is actually even funnier when you are an adult. I used to love Asterix as a childCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]], but now that I reread them I can't help but wonder why, because they are so full of hilarious jokes that I definitely wouldn[[:Category:Humour|Humour]] As predicted by Caroline and Janice't have understood when I was younger. I laughed loud s mother on Caroline and Henry's wedding day, their marriage is over, albeit 15 years and hard to myself twice within the first two pages of Asterix and the Missing Scrolldaughters further along than predicted. Indeed, so I'd this is definitely say that this was not a hitgood weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline's house.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1510100458</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Spadge Whittaker|title=Braver Than Britain, Occasionally|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=In which Spadge researches Britain'There's top ten fears the split and faces them all over the course awkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a yearstart. WeThen there're quite a fearful societys that mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. She still dreams of him, you know. And the things we fear most areyes, in order: heights (acrophobia)but it's so over! Just as well really… guess who's at the door? [[Our Tiny, snakes (ophidiophobia), public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia).Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan|Full Review]] <!-- Taylor -->|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993429904</amazonuk>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle= Mike Bullen"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|titlelink= Trusthttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |ratingstyle= 4"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre= General Fiction|summary= Greg and Amanda are happy=[[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4. Unmarried, but together thirteen years and with two young daughters, they are very much in love5star. Dan and Sarah aren't so fortunatejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the Isles of Scilly. Their marriage is going through (I know they should be called that – the motions, and they're staying together for author provides a handy guide to the sake etiquette of their troubled teenage son. Following a business conference away from homename, one bad decision sends a happy couple into turmoiltheir nature and location, and turns an unhappy couple into love's young dreametc. As secrets and betrayals threaten to send both relationships out of control) For our more distant readers, therethey's only one thing that can keep everything from falling apart: Trust|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Dan Rhodes|title=When re several chunks of granite rock out in the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow|rating=4Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents.5|genre=General Fiction|summary= Two people are on a train They're big on their way totourism, of all things, a WI meeting where the ladies of All Bottoms will be lectured and big on growing flowers in the non-existence of God. One of tropical climate the two people Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is Professor Richard Dawkins, rampant atheist, hectoring scientist chappiebad enough to turn any car to a rust bucket within years. They're so wee, and allso idyllic-round devotee of ''Deal or No Deal''. The other is Smeeseeming, his mono-named assistantespecially at night, amanuensis or 'male secretary'. Smee will come to the fore when the weather sets in and the train journey has to you can be mistaken for thinking there would be abandoned some way short of its ultimate destination, Upper Bottomno need for a police presence. Instead the pair fetch up But there is – at the isolated yet friendly community least two working at any one time. And one of Market Hortonthem in recent years has been Colin Taylor, and the only option for accommodation is taken who has done his official duty – yesalongside maintaining a well-known online existence, the died-in-the-wool non-believer which has brought to be housed by a retired vicar and life all the whimsical comedy of his wifework. This clash [[The Life 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…Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk!-- Lloyd -->}}{{newreview|author=Rob Temple-|titlestyle=Very British Problems Abroad"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|genrelink=Humour|summary=Meet, if you havenhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[['t already, Twas the phenomenon of the Very British Problem. In this format theyFight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It're in pithy little comments (of, ooh, about 140 characters in length, for some reason…) s Christmas Eve and Mum has arranged everything. All she now has to do is await the arrival of the relatives and detail the minor things in life that we like nothing more than to inflate to a major factor of lifefood shopping delivery. They can involve manners, staring at things until they mend themselves, hitting things ditto, or Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the fact that nobody apart from you and I know how potential to queue properlyruin everything. And if [['Twas the idea hits the world outside our shores, then – well, you certainly have a book full of content regarding our attitude Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and ineptitude abroad.Emlyn Rees|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk!-- Phinn -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Fraser McAlpine"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin.jpg|title=Stuff Brits Likeleft|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary= With over 100 chapters on different aspects of Britain and Britishness, this book is both fascinating and hilarious==[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4.5star. Just looking at the list of subjects is enough to produce a sardonic twist of that stiff upper lipjpg|link=Category: the chapters cover topics that range from offal to curry{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], from pedantry [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]] Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a plane and head to bantereither sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from conkers the madness at home, last minute dashes to rugby. There may be many chapters but this is no academic tome - each chapter is just two to three pages longthe shops on Christmas Eve, each is written with endearing affection, each is easy and satisfying - and quirkily funny - to readfood cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, nor a mere 36 hours.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= John Samuel|title= What I Tell You in 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 Dark|rating= 3season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties.5|genre= Humour|summary=A man called Will This book is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate to expose his company's dodgy dealings an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the press. Overcome with doubt and fear, he goes to kill himself. But, at the exact moment he attaches his noose to the back of the door, he is saved. By wonder of Christmas as a curious housemate or a concerned girlfriend? No, by an Angelchild. Not the white-feathered guardian Angel you may expect, but one who wishes to help Will achieve his ends, and so possess the body of the hapless Will in order to finish what he started[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|Full Review]] <!-- North -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:North_Romeo. 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…jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0715650505<http://amazonuk>www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle= John Niven"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title= The Sunshine Cruise Company|rating= 4.5|genre= Humour|summary= Susan Frobisher [[Romeo and Julie Wickham live in a small Dorset town/or Juliet by Ryan North]]=== [[image:3.5star. Friends since school, they live fairly uneventful lives – Susan has a lovely house and a lengthy marriage to accountant Barry, whereas Julie is doing slightly less well – living in a council flat jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and working in an old people's homeprescribed, read on. When Barry is found dead trussed up in a sex dungeon, it transpires In these pages you too will see that he has been leading a hidden life for years, and his expensive fetishes lead Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the bank moving to take Susan's homebottle. Struck by both desperation and a sense of injusticeLikewise, Sue and Julie conspire to rob a bankshe could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. And to what result? Well, taking along their friend Jill – a devout Christian conflicted due to lack of money happy marriage and a terminally ill grandsonkid called Ben, and Ethel – a foul mouthed resident of because the nursing home longing for adventureleads 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]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023183</amazonuk!-- Crowley -->}}{{newreview|author=Marie Phillips-|titlestyle=The Table Of Less Valued Knights|rating"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Crowley_Shoot.jpg|link=4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1783296518/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle=Fantasy"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=Sir Humphrey has been demoted from King Arthur's Round Table to the Table of Lesser Valued Knights==[[Shoot by Kieran Crowley]]=== [[image:4star. 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 fiancéjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], Humphrey and his ward, the teenage giant Conrad, eagerly set forth. Meanwhile in the kingdom [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] I make something of a habit of Tuftbeing late to discover good writers, new Queen Martha has run away in this case getting to Crowley after a disastrous wedding to… a… well… disastrous Prince Edwinhe is no longer with us. She may not realise it yet, but she too will have a job for Humphrey!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099555875</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Tim Flannery|title=The Mystery The result is that what is billed as ''an F.X. Shepherd mystery'' with all the optimism of there being more to come has the Venus Island Fetish|rating=3|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Meet Archie Meek. He's about to leave the Venus Islandspoignancy of being, where he's lived for if not the last five yearsof a short line, and return to Sydney, where he'll take his office in the museum and fill it with all the cultural artefacts he's found and wildlife he's plucked or pickledcertainly one of a few. That's not to ignore the fact he'll count as something quite alien himself, with his filled[[Shoot by Kieran Crowley|Full Review]] <!--out frame, nearly allDO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -over suntan and totemic tattoo, in amongst other changes to his body. But what's this? When he gets back, he finds one of the main Venus Islands artefacts that caused him to go there in the first place, a huge, macabre ceremonial fetish mask, purloined as corporate artwork. And some of the curators he wishes to work alongside have vanished. Is the weird society of the museum he's returning to, perchance, even weirder, stranger and more violent than the cannibalistic society he's waving farewell to?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1922079308</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Roman Dirge|title=The Cat with a Really Big Head|rating=3.5|genre=Graphic Novels|summary= 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 the answer to the second question is 'none – yet', scratch that last word. The title piece in this collection is, by the author's own admission, his imagining of the Joseph Merrick (the 'Elephant Man') of the feline world – who struggles to sneak up behind a mouse when the shadow of his head is a total giveaway, and who can hardly even eat with dignity as bending down to his bowl would break his neck. If that's too dark or oddball for you, try the second major piece, which has a most revealing foreword – ''Dedicated to a certain girl… I hope your life is filled with wonderful accomplishments, love and all the magic you desire… - But I hope your death is slow and horrible.''|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782762876</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Val Hennessy|title=Not Far From Dreamland|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Ronald Tonks has reached that stage in life which I call upper middle age: 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 (there's good reason why his home is called 'the shack'), a dog who is going bald (in patches) and money that's in very short supply. On the plus side he has friends, mostly platonic and usually in much the same boat as Ronald. But are they downhearted? Well, they are occasionally, but mostly they're generously optimistic and out to make the most of what they've got, usually bought from charity shops and jumble sales. ''Not Far From Dreamland'' is the story of a year (2012) in the life of Ronald Tonks, his friends and relatives.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0704373874</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Harry Harrison|title=Bill, the Galactic Hero|rating=3.5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=Meet Bill. He's a simple farmer – well, he ''is'' taking a correspondence course in being a Technical Fertiliser Operator – but fate has something else in store. And so does the mechanised, technological, industrial military, which needs several billion grunts to fight the Chingers, in mankind's first inter-galactic war. Still, at least he gets medals just for signing up. After that it's all downhill, and the likes of Petty Chief Officer Deathwish Drang can only make that a straight line down. Really, what hope is there?>|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147320531X</amazonuk>}}