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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<!-- Coulton -->|rating=3.5-|genrestyle=Humour"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|summarylink=For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribed, read onhttp://www.amazon.co. 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 juncturesuk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star. And to what result? Welljpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], happy marriage and a kid called Ben[[:Category:Humour|Humour]], because the leads have just banged people[[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's heads together and stopped the quarrellingFiction]] Lex Coulton's debut novel is a story about mistakes, failures, and relationships. The main protagonist, or Death by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous womenFrances Pilgrim, such as is a Lady M (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. [[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]]|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356508536</amazonuk>}}{{newreview<!-- van LENTE -->|author= Gervase Phinn-|titlestyle= The Virgin Mary's Got Nits"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|ratinglink= 4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle= Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary= 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==[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for many people, far away from the madness and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at home, last minute dashes to the shops on Christmas EveSan Diego Comic-Con, he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a monthcreators, nor a mere 36 hours. But I do remember plus the feeling chance of Christmas when I was youngermaybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. However, back when it was magicalhis 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 back when you knew exactly what the season would bring with carol concerts intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence 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, 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>1444779400</amazonuk!-- Curran -->}}{{newreview|author= Kieran Crowley-|titlestyle= Shoot|rating= 4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690133.jpg|genrelink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag= Crimethebookbag-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;"|===[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris]]=== [[image:4star. The result is that what is billed as ''an F.X. Shepherd mystery'' with all the optimism jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] You are a lass of there being more to come has the poignancy of beingtwenty eight. Plucky, if not penniless and in Regency era London the last of race is on to find a short linesuitable 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, certainly one of and fired by a fewrogueish sense for adventure. F.X. Shepherd – he doesnWhen it comes to suitors though, you't like his first name ll have to make the ultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wholesome, rugged and prefers just "Shepherd" iscaring Captain Angus MacTaggart, technicallyor the mad, a columnistbad and terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. He's been sacked by one New York newspaper With orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and is writing a weekly column for another. I don't know much about journalismancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, but Iit'm guessing one column a week doesns clear this isn't pay much as a rule…which explains why Shepherd's soapgoing to be an easy decision... [[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|Full Review]] <!-- Jester -washed-foul>|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-mouthed editor (read the book, you'll see what I mean) expects him to turn in some genuine journalism as wellalign: top; text-align: front page, seat of your pants stuff. center;"|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783296518</amazonuk>}}{{newreview[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|author=Gray Jolliffeleft|titlelink=The First Ever Christmashttps: And Who to Blame//www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1510704361]]  |ratingstyle=5"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Humour|summary=If I tell you =[[Forever After: a secretdark comedy by David Jester]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], will you promise not to tell anyone? Well[[:Category:Horror|Horror]], I really don't like Christmas[[: it's my least favourite time of year Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and whilst some people count down to gets made the day itselfoffer of his lifetime; immortality. We follow Michael, I look forward to that point when I can say that it's all over for another year. It's all too commercialised for me, with a coating of faux religion. I've never found it grim reaper and his friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a stoner in the least funny - that is, until I found Gray Jolliffe's ''The First Ever Christmas: And Who's records department) as they grapple with their long lives and finding a clean surface to Blame''sit on in their flat. Amazingly, I'd never encountered Gray Jolliffe either, but I'm [[Forever After: a convert to his skills as a cartoonist (if not to the idea of Christmas) after reading this collection of Christmas-themed cartoons from his archive.dark comedy by David Jester|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445663503</amazonuk!-- Stibbe -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Jonathan Pugh"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|title=Pugh's New Year's Resolutionsleft|ratinglink=4https://www.amazon.co.5|genreuk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=Humour|summarythebookbag-21&linkCode=If there's one thing that's for certain, it's that the world is changing. We're dating onlineas2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], we're communicating in ways [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Christmas – the time of traditional trauma. You only have to think about the turkey for that make email seem redundant, and when we're shopping we just tell – once upon a website where and when time it was leaving it can be deliveredsat on the downstairs loo to defrost overnight, and how much leeway they have to swap our wishes for whatever if that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it is they do bring ustreatment was your next best bet. But those changes are also supposed Nowadays it's all having to be affecting us – wemake sure it're supposed to use a smart watch to tell us if we're moving or s suitably free-range and organic – but nottoo organic that you can go and visit it, we have and get too friendly with it to keep up with the latest fads, and we're supposed want to prick our ears up 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 take note when beards, it was always a godsend for postmen with all the proverbial 'they' change their minds about what we're supposed to eat.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780722885</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewthank-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|author= Luke RhinehartFull Review]]|title= Invasion|rating= 4.5<!-- Doescher -->|genre= Humour -|summarystyle=Super-intelligent furry aliens suddenly appear from another universe"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will. And they've come to earth to have funjpg|left|link=https://www. Alien Louie follows fisherman Billy Morton home one day, and he and his family quickly come to love the playful alienamazon. But when Louie starts using their computer to hack into government and corporate networks, stealing millions from banks to give to others, they realise that Louie and his friends mean troubleco. As Billy and his family begin a roller coaster ride of fame and fortune, as well as a ranking high on the FBIuk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare's most wanted list, the Government soon decides that these aliens are terrorists, and must be eliminated. Whilst Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the aliens are playing games they hope will help humans to see the insanity of the American political, economic and military systems, they soon come to realise that the Powers that Be don't play gamesSeventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image: they make war4.5star. jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1785651757</amazonuk>}}Category:{{{newreviewrating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|author=Rod Green|title=Only Fools and HorsesScience Fiction]], [[:Category: The Peckham ArchivesHumour|rating=4Humour]]|genre=Entertainment |summary=We are A long time ago, in the world of one a galaxy far away, there was a man called William Shakespeare, who was able to create a series of dramatic histories full of the country's machinations most foul, rulers most famous evil and rebellious heroes and well-loved sitcoms – even if it was sort-of killed off for Christmas 2003heroines most sturdy. Yes, there have been specials since, and more repeats to clog up the BBC schedules than is really pukka, but very few people failed to succumb to its charms at one time or another. I'm sure there You may or may not have been books before now celebrating noticed the stony-faced reception cinematic version of his original stage play for ''thatThe Force Doth Awaken'' drop through the open bar hatch, and ''that'' chandelier scene, but this is much more meaty. Purporting to be here at last we get the family archivesactual script, found dumped complete with annoying-in Nelson Mandela House, the documents here were passed from pillar -different-ways-to post-before droids anew, returning heroes from one council worker elsewhere in a department with a clumsy acronym to anotherhis oeuvre, from them to and people keeping it in the police – and now here they are being published for their social history worthfamily til it hurts. Will enough readers find them of worthAnd if you need further encouragement, as the series quietly celebrates its 35th birthday?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!-- Goss -->1849909245</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Mara Wilson-|titlestyle= Where Am I Now?"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Famecenter;"|rating= 5[[image:Goss_600.jpg|genre= Autobiographyleft|summarylink= Mara Wilson has always felt a little young and a little out of placehttps://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: as the only child on a film set full left;"|===[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of adults, the first daughter in a house full of boys, the sole clinically depressed member of a cheerleading squad, a valley girl in New York Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and a neurotic in California, and an adult the world still remembers as a little girlRussell T Davies]]=== [[image:4.5star. Tackling everything from how she first learned about sex on the set of jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|Children'Melrose Places Rhymes and Verse]],'' [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to losing her mother at a young agehand out each year, were he to getting her first kiss (or was it kisseskeep in touch with even half of his companions?) on He would certainly need a celebrity canoe tripfew novelty gifts for some of them, say, to not being cute enough to make it in Hollywoodfor example, these essays tell whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the story life of a Time Lord and that of one young woman's journey from accidental fame some of his friends and enemies. As luck would have it, he has the space in his TARDIS to relative obscuritystock up in advance, but also illuminate a universal struggle: learning so my advice to accept yourselfhim – sorry, her – would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and figuring out who you are and where get himself ready. And if you belong'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. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0143128221[[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!-- Ingram -->}}{{newreview|author= Tony Stuart-|titlestyle= Writing Lines"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|left|link= 4https://www.amazon.co.5uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]] |genre=Humour|summarystyle= George Gordon Wentworth (1946"vertical-align: top; text-2011) lived a humdrum life. He was a barely adequate teacher in a fairly world renowned independent school in Kent and kept a copious diary of his quotidian existencealign: left;"|===[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star. Most of what he recorded was dross. Howeverjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], amongst all the utterly uninteresting tailings [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of his life there were some nuggets a relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and grains to catch the attentionher cocker spaniel Kammie. Author Tony Stuart You see, Annie knows something which has created these amusing anecdotes, panning them out over twenty six episodes which give us the best been self-evident to me for a long time: dogs are perfectly capable of Wentworth – comedy gold. From losing all the pupils in his charge communicating with humans and not just on a school trip to being arrested on suspicion level of terrorism; from waking up in bed between the married couple the morning after their weddingfood!, walk! or play!. You do require extensive training to become fluent, but most dogs will be perfectly willing to destroying a ski run; from appearing full-frontal naked in a sheep-farmers' gazette give their time to triggering an air-sea rescue; Wentworth was, blinkered teach you and all you have to do is listen. Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and befuddled, the subject – pair have allowed us to share some of these and so many more unlikely but highly amusing eventstheir conversations.[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Harris -->1524634441</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Graham Fulbright-|titlestyle=Driving Mad"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: Maniacs, Morons and the Advanced Motorist's Clubcenter;"|[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|ratinglink=3http://www.amazon.co.5|genreuk/dp/1908943823/ref=Humournosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=I passed my driving test when John F Kennedy was in the White House and I've recently had to reapply for my driving licence having achieved a venerable age. When I started driving the roads were kinder, more forgiving places "vertical-align: top; text- or put another way, the idiots were fewer and further betweenalign: left;"|===[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris]]=== [[image:3star. I don't know how long Graham Fulbright has been drivingjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], but he certainly knows [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Teenager Liam Glass is mugged and stabbed yards from his motoring morons and in ''Driving Mad'' he brings us a fictional sample of their eccentricitiesCamden flat. WellAs the boy lies comatose, I'm pretty certain that they'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 fictional - but these days you never knowelection, 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|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk>1783062584</amazonuk!-- LENTE -->}}{{newreview|author=Mario Giordano-|titlestyle=Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions|rating=4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lente_10.jpg|genrelink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=Crimethebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=Poldi had not long been widowed when she decided to move from Bavaria "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 Sicily with a remote Caribbean island under the intention guise of drinking herself to death. She could, of course, have done this in Germanyworking with Dustin Walker, but she felt that a sea view was essentialcomedic legend. Once there, new friendsEach fits neatly into one of the archetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, family already resident on the island and washed-up has-been who has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, the corpse of rising female star with a young mannew stand-up special coming soon; Dante, his face blown off by who went from being a shotgun, whom she found kid on the local beachstreets to the hardest working road comic in the business; Oliver, intervened to give her life some meaning. the child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, the insult comic who is past her prime; For TJ, the nightly variety show host with a while she was a suspectreputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, but that (the ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her wig) were no obstacle to her falling for Commissario Vito Montana who was assigned to investigate shoulder; and William, whose redneck character ''Billy the caseContractor'' is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. Assisting him (or having him assist her) came naturally 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 Poldi and before long there was an investigative and personal partnership. At least so far as Poldi was concerned.say?'' [[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk>1908524693</amazonuk!-- Scott -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Grady Hendrix"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title= My Best Friend's Exorcism[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|ratinglink= 5http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle= Horror"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=1988==[[Elizabeth, Charleston, South CarolinaWilliam... High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth gradeMe by S Lynn Scott]]=== [[image:4.5star. But after jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Ally is an evening of skinny-dipping goes disatrously wrongordinary woman with teenage children, Gretchen begins to act.a husband and a job.Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of the window.different. SheIt's moody. Shenot a coincidence that it's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever the same day she's nearbyfinds Queen Elizabeth I in the pantry and the Bard of Avon in her bath. AbbyWhat's investigation leads her she going to some startling discoveries - do? Well, Elizabeth and by the time Will have their story reaches its terrifying conclusionown ideas about that! [[Elizabeth, the fate of Abby William... and Gretchen will be determined Me by a single question: Is their friendship enough to beat the devil?S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594748624</amazonuk!-- Rodford -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Kevin MacNeil"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=The Brilliant and Forever[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|ratinglink= 3http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle= Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary= You know sometimes when someone tells a joke, everyone else laughs, and you==[[The Surgeon're sat there wondering what was so funny?|amazonuks Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]]===<amazonuk>1846973376</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Christopher Fowler[[image:4star.jpg|titlelink= Bryant and MayCategory: Strange Tide|{{{rating= 3.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|genre= Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]|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 continuingIn the second instalment of this series, which are likely Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a well-known local man to confirm that he is suffering from Alzheimertrack down some missing valuables. Bill Galbraith, a world-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's. His condition is worsening almost Hospital who hosts a popular medical television programme, has had his briefcase stolen by the dayhis live-in domestic servant, memory lapses are morphing into full-scale hallucinationsAurora.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857523422</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Kevin Smith|title=The Voyage of According to Galbraith, this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the Dolphin|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Dublin 1916: Among hospital. George agrees to look into the unrest and anti-British feeling worsened by the threat of conscription into theft, assuming it will be a war seen as nothing to do with the Irishrelatively easy and straightforward case – little does he know, Trinity College faculty has other distractions. Theyhe'd like s about to enter a trophy; the skeleton world of an Irish deceit and dysfunction. [[The Surgeon'giant' to be precises Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford|Full Review]] <!-- Jordan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jordan_Tiny. The only glitch is that the main trophy contender, Bernard MacNeill's skeleton, is somewhere difficult to access and all seasoned explorers are otherwise engagedjpg|link=http://www. There may be hope thoughamazon. They turn to Fitzmaurice, a student not good enough for anything elseco. Fitzmaurice agrees, picking his friends Crozier and Rafferty to go with him. So… ''Gentlemenuk/dp/1760293814/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Our Tiny, lace up your strongest boots and pack your warmest underwear – we're all off to the bloody Arctic!'' Whether battle cry or epitaph, three men and a dog… and an iguana… are going anywayUseless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1910124826</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|amazonus=<amazonus>1910124826</amazonus>}}{{newreviewWomen's Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|author=Tony HawksHumour]]|title=Once Upon a Time in the West… Country|rating=3|genre=Travel|summary=I have often complained in a jokey voice to my partner about life in the sticksAs predicted by Caroline and Janice's mother on Caroline and Henry's wedding day, their marriage is over, albeit 15 years and the way she moved me from an inner-city flat two daughters further along than predicted. Indeed, this is definitely not a good weekend for Janice to slumming it in be babysitting at Caroline's house. There's the suburbs with fewer busses, no takeaways within walking-split and-keeping-food-hot distance, and no the awkwardness of the girls'Polish' shops schoolteacher being the other woman for a can of beer whenever you fancy onestart. Things are different with Tony Hawks, as here he has purposefully decided to up sticks from London to Somewhere, Devon – a tiny village where Then there's that mistaken identity moment involving the people who built their own homes decades ago neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. She still live in themdreams of him, where slugs are a lot more of a problem for the wannabe lettuce-grower than they are for the metropolitan commuteryes, 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 youbut it's so over! Just as well really… guess who're s at the wrong gender at a Zumba class…door? [[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444794809</amazonuk!-- Taylor -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Marian Keyes"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Making It Up As I Go Along|rating=4[[image:Taylor_Scilly.5jpg|genrelink=Entertainmenthttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|summary=Oh, how the book reviewing gods like to give, and equally like to take away. Here before me is ==[[The Life of a brand, spanking new collection of journalism Scilly Sergeant by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but it's a proof copy, so there's no photo of the authorColin Taylor]]=== [[image:4.5star. Even if over jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the years Isles of Scilly. (I have stopped reading her novels, I have always turned to know they should be called that – the author picture provides a handy guide to remind myself such sights exist in this world. Himself is a lucky manthe etiquette of their name, their nature and location, for sureetc. But beyond sounding like a letch) For our more distant readers, what can I say about this – the beautythey's third large dose re several chunks of essaysgranite rock out in the Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointing, web columns and other journalism? I can start with agreeing that I am not the target audiencejust 2, but it200 permanent residents. They's easy 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 see from these pages exactly what the target isturn any car to a rust bucket within years. So much like that test you do – you know the oneThey're so wee, 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 – so idyllic-seeming, especially at night, you can narrow things down quite readily here, and still come up with be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a huge numberpolice presence.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718182529</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= JeanBut 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-Yves Ferri|title= Asterix and known online existence, which has brought to life all the Missing Scroll (Album 36)whimsical comedy of his work. [[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] |rating= 5<!-- Lloyd -->|genre= For Sharing-|summarystyle=Asterix is those rarest of book series"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center; one designed for kids which is actually even funnier when you are an adult"|[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co. I used to love Asterix as a child, but now that I reread them I canuk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[['t help but wonder why, because they are so full of hilarious jokes that I definitely wouldn't have understood when I was youngerTwas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3.5star. I laughed loud and hard to myself twice within 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 first two pages arrival of Asterix the relatives and the Missing Scroll, so I'd definitely say food shopping delivery. Little does Mum know that this was a hitthose two elements alone have the potential to ruin everything.[['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1510100458</amazonuk!-- Phinn -->}}{{newreview|author=Spadge Whittaker-|titlestyle=Braver Than Britain, Occasionally"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin.jpg|ratingleft|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=4thebookbag-21]]|genre=Humour|summarystyle=In which Spadge researches Britain's "vertical-align: top ten fears and faces them all over the course of a year. We; text-align: left;"|===[[The Virgin Mary're quite a fearful society, you know. And the things we fear most are, in orders Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image: heights (acrophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia)4.5star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0993429904</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|author= Mike BullenHumour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|title= TrustAnthologies]]|rating= 4|genre= General Fiction|summary= Greg Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a plane and Amanda are happy. Unmarriedhead to either sun or snow, but together thirteen years and with two young daughtersanywhere that is far, they are very much in love. Dan and Sarah aren't so fortunate. Their marriage is going through far away from the madness at home, last minute dashes to the motionsshops on Christmas Eve, and they're staying together food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for the sake of their troubled teenage son. Following a business conference away from homemonth, one bad decision sends nor a happy couple into turmoil, and turns an unhappy couple into love's young dreammere 36 hours. As secrets and betrayals threaten to send both relationships out But I do remember the feeling of controlChristmas when I was younger, there's only one thing that can keep everything from falling apart: Trust|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Dan Rhodes|title=When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow|rating=4back when it was magical, and back when you knew exactly what the season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties.5|genre=General Fiction|summary= Two people are on a train on their way This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to, the wonder of all things, Christmas as a WI meeting where the ladies of All Bottoms will be lectured on the non-existence of Godchild. One of the two people is Professor Richard Dawkins, rampant atheist, hectoring scientist chappie, and all[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|Full Review]] <!-round devotee of ''Deal or No Deal''. The other is Smee, his mono-named assistant, amanuensis or 'male secretary'North -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:North_Romeo.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co. Smee will come to the fore when the weather sets in uk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Romeo and the train journey has to be abandoned some way short of its ultimate destination, Upper Bottom/or Juliet by Ryan North]]=== [[image:3.5star. Instead the pair fetch up at the isolated yet friendly community of Market Horton, and the only option for accommodation is taken – yesjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribed, the died-in-the-wool non-believer has to be housed by a retired vicar and his wiferead on. This clash of titanic opinions, peppered with social faux pas aplenty In these pages you too will provide for a particularly English kind see that Romeo had lots of farcical comedy, but one with the legs options en route to go as far as any other Good Books have reached in hitting the past…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Rob Temple|title=Very British Problems Abroad|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=Meetbottle. Likewise, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. And to what result? Well, if you haven't alreadyhappy marriage and a kid called Ben, because the phenomenon of leads have just banged people's heads together and stopped the Very British Problem. In this format they're in pithy little comments quarrelling, or Death by Tybalt (of, ooh, about 140 characters in length, for some reason…him) and detail the minor things in life that we like nothing more than to inflate to or a major factor of long life. They can involve manners, staring at things until they mend themselves, hitting things dittorunning an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her). [[Romeo and/or the fact that nobody apart from you and I know how to queue properly. And if the idea hits the world outside our shores, then – well, you certainly have a book full of content regarding our attitude and ineptitude abroad.Juliet by Ryan North|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk!-- Crowley -->}}{{newreview|author=Fraser McAlpine-|titlestyle=Stuff Brits Like"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Crowley_Shoot.jpg|ratinglink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1783296518/ref=nosim?tag=4thebookbag-21]] |genre=Humour|summarystyle= With over 100 chapters on different aspects of Britain 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 lip"vertical-align: top; text-align: the chapters cover topics that range from offal to curryleft;"|===[[Shoot by Kieran Crowley]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], from pedantry [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] I make something of a habit of being late to banterdiscover good writers, from conkers in this case getting to rugby. There may be many chapters but this Crowley after he is no academic tome - each chapter longer with us. The result is just two to three pages long, each that what is written with endearing affection, each is easy and satisfying - and quirkily funny - billed as ''an F.X. Shepherd mystery'' with all the optimism of there being more to read.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewcome has the poignancy of being, if not the last of a short line, certainly one of a few. [[Shoot by Kieran Crowley|author= John SamuelFull Review]]|title= What I Tell You in the Dark|rating= 3.5|genre= Humour|summary=A man called Will is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate to expose his company's dodgy dealings 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 a curious housemate or a concerned girlfriend? No, by an Angel. Not the white<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --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. 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…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0715650505</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= John Niven|title= The Sunshine Cruise Company|rating= 4.5|genre= Humour|summary= Susan Frobisher and Julie Wickham live in a small Dorset town. 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 and working in an old people's home. When Barry is found dead trussed up in a sex dungeon, it transpires that he has been leading a hidden life for years, and his expensive fetishes lead to the bank moving to take Susan's home. Struck by both desperation and a sense of injustice, Sue and Julie conspire to rob a bank, taking along their friend Jill – 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.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023183</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Marie Phillips|title=The Table Of Less Valued Knights|rating=4.5|genre=Fantasy|summary=Sir Humphrey has been demoted from King Arthur's Round Table to the Table of Lesser Valued Knights. 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!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099555875</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Tim Flannery|title=The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish|rating=3|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Meet Archie Meek. He's about to leave the Venus Islands, where he's lived for the last five years, 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 pickled. That's not to ignore the fact he'll count as something quite alien himself, with his filled-out frame, nearly all-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>}}