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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding= Fred Van Lente"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--> <!-- Coulton -->|title= Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery-|ratingstyle= 4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|genrelink= Humourhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle= Nine comedians are invited to a remote Caribbean island under the guise of working with Dustin Walker, a comedic legend. Each fits neatly into one of the archetypal comic stereotypes"vertical-align: top; text-align: Steveleft;"|===[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], the washed-up has-been who has fallen far from his early days; Zoe[[:Category:Humour|Humour]], the rising female star with [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Lex Coulton's debut novel is a new stand-up special coming soon; Dantestory about mistakes, failures, who went from being and relationships. The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is a kid on the streets to the hardest working road comic in the business; Oliversixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, and is grappling with the child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, the insult comic who increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. This relationship is past her prime; TJ, complicated by the nightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest actsfact that Frances's father disappeared at sea when she was five years old. [[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]] <!-- van LENTE -->|-| style="width: 10%; Ruby, the ultravertical-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulderalign: top; text-align: center; and William, whose redneck character ''Billy the Contractor'' is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire"|[[image:1683690346. Of course, all nine agree because ''when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and asks for your help, what the hell else are you going to say?''|amazonukjpg|link=<amazonuk>1594749744<http://amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=S Lynn Scott|title=Elizabeth, Williamwww.amazon.co. and Meuk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]|rating=4.5|genre=Humour|summarystyle=Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, a husband and a job"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a place of the window. Itwonder and sanctuary for many people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he's not a coincidence looking for both that it's the same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in the pantry and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the Bard chance of Avon in her bathmaybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. What's she going However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in order to do? Well, Elizabeth clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and Will have their own ideas about that!intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, in doing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1788037006</amazonuk!-- Curran -->}}|-{{newreview| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690133.jpg|authorlink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag= E G Rodfordthebookbag-21]]  |titlestyle= The Surgeon's Case"vertical-align: top; text-align: George Kocharyan Mystery 2left;"||rating= 4==[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris]]===|genre= Crime [[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=In the second instalment Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] You are a lass of this seriestwenty eight. Plucky, Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by penniless and in Regency era London the race is on to find a wellsuitable suitor -known local man or else doom yourself to track down some missing valuableslife as an eternal spinster. Bill GalbraithAlong your journey you'll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to save you from a life alone, and fired by a world-famous surgeon at Cambridgerogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to suitors though, you's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a popular medical television programmell have to make the ultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wholesome, has had his briefcase stolen by his live-in domestic servantrugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, or the mad, Aurorabad and terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. According to GalbraithWith orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and ancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, it's clear this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning isn't going to be an important patient of his at the hospitaleasy decision... George agrees to look into the theft, assuming it will be a relatively easy and straightforward case – little does he know, he[[My Lady's about to enter a world of deceit Choosing by Kitty Curran and dysfunction.Larissa Zageris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>178565005X</amazonuk!-- Jester -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Toni Jordan"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|titleleft|link=Our Tiny, Useless Heartshttps://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=Women's Fiction|summary=As predicted =[[Forever After: a dark comedy by Caroline and Janice's mother on Caroline and Henry's wedding dayDavid Jester]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], their marriage [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is over, albeit 15 years a cocky and brash young man who dies and two daughters further along than predictedgets made the offer of his lifetime; immortality. IndeedWe follow Michael, this is definitely not a good weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline's house. There's grim reaper and his friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a stoner in the split records department) as they grapple with their long lives and the awkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for finding a clean surface to sit on in their flat. [[Forever After: a start. Then there's that mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and over her exdark comedy by David Jester|Full Review]] <!-- Stibbe -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-husband Alecalign: center;"|[[image:Stibbe_Xmas. She still dreams of him, yes, but it's so over! Just as well really… guess who's at the doorjpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]  |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1760293814</amazonuk>"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|}}===[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]==={{newreview|author=Colin Taylor[[image:4.5star.jpg|titlelink=The Life of a Scilly SergeantCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Short Stories|rating=4.5Short Stories]]|genre=Travel|summary=Meet Christmas – the Isles time of Scillytraditional trauma. (I know they should be called You only have to think about the turkey for that – once upon a time it was leaving it sat on the author provides a handy guide downstairs loo to the etiquette of their namedefrost overnight, their nature and location, etcif that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet.) For our more distant readers, theyNowadays it's all having to make sure it're several chunks of granite rock out in the Atlantics suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, where Cornwall is pointingand get too friendly with it to want to eat it. Christmas, with just 2though,200 permanent residentsis of course also a time of great boons. TheyIt're big on tourisms cash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, and big on growing flowers in it was always a godsend for postmen with all the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is bad enough to turn any car thank-you letters to aunties you saw twice a rust bucket within years. They're so weedecade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as a child, and so idyllic-seemingas for the makers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, especially at night, you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a police presence. But there is – at least two working at did they even try and sell them any one other time. And one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a wellthe year? [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe|Full Review]] <!-- Doescher --known online existence, which has brought to life all the whimsical comedy of his work.>|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178475515X</amazonuk>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle=Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|titleleft|link='Twas the Fight Before Christmashttps: A Parody//www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  |ratingstyle=3.5"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Humour|summary=It=[[William Shakespeare's Christmas Eve and Mum has arranged everythingthe Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4. All she now has to do is await the arrival of the relatives and the food shopping delivery5star. Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the potential to ruin everything.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472125118</amazonuk>jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|author=Ryan NorthScience Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|title=Romeo and/or JulietHumour]]|rating=3.5|genre=Humour|summary=For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribedA long time ago, read onin a galaxy far away, there was a man called William Shakespeare, who was able to create a series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots You may or may not have noticed the cinematic version of options en route to hitting his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken'', but here at last we get the bottle. Likewiseactual script, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. And complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to what result? Well-before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, happy marriage and a kid called Ben, because people keeping it in the leads have just banged peoplefamily 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 heads together and stopped the quarrelling, or Death Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her). Ian Doescher|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356508536</amazonuk!-- Goss -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Gervase Phinn"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title= The Virgin Mary's Got Nits|rating= 4[[image:Goss_600.5jpg|genre= Humourleft|summarylink= Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a plane and head to either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last minute dashes to the shops on Christmas Eve, https://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 (Dr Who) by James Goss and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, nor a mere 36 hoursRussell T Davies]]=== [[image:4.5star. But I do remember the feeling of Christmas when I was youngerjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|Children's Rhymes and Verse]], back when it was magical[[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], and back when you knew exactly what [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas parties. This book is an anthology of those momentsgifts must he have to hand out each year, and it took me right back were he to keep in touch with even half of his companions? He would certainly need a few novelty gifts for some of them, say, for example, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the wonder life of Christmas as a child.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444779400</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Kieran Crowley|title= Shoot|rating= 4|genre= Crime|summary= I make something Time Lord and that of a habit some of being late his friends and enemies. As luck would have it, he has the space in his TARDIS to discover good writersstock up in advance, in this case getting so my advice to Crowley after he is no longer with ushim – sorry, her – would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and get himself ready. The result is that what is billed as ''an F.X. Shepherd mystery'And if you' re working on a shorter timescale, with all the optimism of there being more to come has the poignancy of beinga shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, if not well my advice is pretty much the last same. [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of a short line, certainly one of a few. F.X. Shepherd – he doesn't like his first name and prefers just "Shepherd" is, technically, a columnist. He's been sacked Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by one New York newspaper James Goss and is writing a weekly column for another. 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 soapRussell T Davies|Full Review]] <!-- Ingram -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 stuffIngram_Kammie. jpg|left|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1783296518<https://amazonuk>www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle=Gray Jolliffe|title=The First Ever Christmas"vertical-align: top; text-align: And Who to Blameleft;"|rating=5|genre=Humour|summary=If I tell you a secret, will you promise not to tell anyone? Well=[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], I really don't like Christmas[[: it's my least favourite time Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of year a relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and whilst some people count down to the day itselfher cocker spaniel Kammie. You see, I look forward Annie knows something which has been self-evident to that point when I can say that it's all over for another year. It's all too commercialised for me, me for a long time: dogs are perfectly capable of communicating with humans and not just on a coating level of faux religionfood!, walk! or play!. I've never found it in the least funny - that is, until I found Gray Jolliffe's ''The First Ever Christmas: And Who's You do require extensive training to Blame''. Amazingly, I'd never encountered Gray Jolliffe eitherbecome fluent, but I'm a convert most dogs will be perfectly willing to give their time to his skills as a cartoonist (if not teach you and all you have to do is listen. Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and the idea pair have allowed us to share some of Christmas) after reading this collection of Christmas-themed cartoons from his archivetheir conversations.[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445663503</amazonuk!-- Harris -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Jonathan Pugh"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|titlelink=Pugh's New Year's Resolutionshttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |ratingstyle=4.5"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Humour==[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris]]=== [[image:3star.jpg|summarylink=If there's one thing that's for certainCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], it's that the world [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Teenager Liam Glass is changingmugged and stabbed yards from his Camden flat. We're dating onlineAs the boy lies comatose, we're communicating in ways that make email seem redundantdesperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the inside scoop, and when we're shopping we just tell tired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a website where and when it can be deliveredmissing tape, and how much leeway they have to swap our wishes harried politician Jamila Hasan fights for whatever it is they do bring usre-election, distraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, and gym-owner Royland simply finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. But those changes are also supposed to be affecting us – we're supposed to use We follow this host of ensemble characters in a smart watch to tell us if we're moving or notbleak, we have to keep up with the latest fads, and we're supposed to prick our ears up and take note when the proverbial 'they' change their minds about what we're supposed to eatkaleidoscopic satire of modern media.[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780722885</amazonuk!-- LENTE -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Luke Rhinehart"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title= Invasion[[image:Lente_10.jpg|ratinglink= 4http://www.5|genre= Humour amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=Super"vertical-align: top; text-intelligent furry aliens suddenly appear from another universe. And they've come to earth to have fun. Alien Louie follows fisherman Billy Morton home one day, and he and his family quickly come to love the playful alienalign: left;"|===[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. But when Louie starts using their computer to hack into government and corporate networks, stealing millions from banks jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Nine comedians are invited to give to others, they realise that Louie and his friends mean trouble. As Billy and his family begin a roller coaster ride remote Caribbean island under the guise of fame and fortuneworking with Dustin Walker, as well as a ranking high on comedic legend. Each fits neatly into one of the FBI's most wanted listarchetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, the Government soon decides that these aliens are terroristswashed-up has-been who has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, and must be eliminated. Whilst the aliens are playing games they hope will help humans rising female star with a new stand-up special coming soon; Dante, who went from being a kid on the streets to see the insanity of hardest working road comic in the American politicalbusiness; Oliver, economic and military systemsthe child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, they soon come to realise that the Powers that Be don't play games: they make war. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785651757</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Rod Green|title=Only Fools insult comic who is past her prime; TJ, the nightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his female colleagues and Horses: The Peckham Archives|rating=4|genre=Entertainment |summary=We are in guest acts; Ruby, the world of one of ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character ''Billy the countryContractor's most famous and well-loved sitcoms – even if it was sort-of killed off for Christmas 2003' is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. YesOf course, there have been specials since, and more repeats to clog up all nine agree because ''when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and asks for your help, what the BBC schedules than is really pukka, but very few people failed hell else are you going to succumb to its charms at one time or another. Isay?'m sure there have been books before now celebrating the stony-faced reception of ''that'' drop through the open bar hatch, and ''that'' chandelier scene, but this is much more meaty[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] <!-- Scott -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Scott_Eliz. Purporting to be the family archivesjpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Elizabeth, 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 – William... and now here they are being published for their social history worthMe by S Lynn Scott]]=== [[image:4.5star. Will enough readers find them of worth, as the series quietly celebrates its 35th birthday?|amazonukjpg|link=<amazonuk>1849909245</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]{{newreview|author= Mara Wilson|title= Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame|rating= 5|genre= Autobiography|summary= Mara Wilson has always felt Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, a little young husband and a little job. Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of place: as the only child on window. It's not a film set full of adults, coincidence that it's the first daughter same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in a house full of boys, the sole clinically depressed member pantry and the Bard of a cheerleading squad, a valley girl Avon in New York and a neurotic in California, and an adult the world still remembers as a little girlher bath. Tackling everything from how What's she first learned about sex on the set of ''Melrose Place,'' going to losing her mother at a young agedo? Well, to getting her first kiss (or was it kisses?) on a celebrity canoe tripElizabeth and Will have their own ideas about that! [[Elizabeth, to not being cute enough to make it in Hollywood, these essays tell the story of one young woman's journey from accidental fame to relative obscurity, but also illuminate a universal struggle: learning to accept yourself, and figuring out who you are and where you belong. |amazonuk=William... and Me by S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] <amazonuk>0143128221</amazonuk!-- Rodford -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Tony Stuart"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title= Writing Lines[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|ratinglink= 4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre=Humour|summarystyle= George Gordon Wentworth (1946"vertical-2011) lived a humdrum lifealign: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]]=== [[image:4star. He was a barely adequate teacher in a fairly world renowned independent school in Kent and kept a copious diary of his quotidian existence. Most of what he recorded was dross. Howeverjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], amongst all [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] In the utterly uninteresting tailings second instalment of his life there were this series, Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a well-known local man to track down some nuggets and grains to catch the attentionmissing valuables. Author Tony Stuart has created these amusing anecdotesBill Galbraith, panning them out over twenty six episodes which give us the best of Wentworth – comedy gold. From losing all the pupils in a world-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a popular medical television programme, has had his charge on a school trip to being arrested on suspicion of terrorism; from waking up briefcase stolen by his live-in bed between the married couple the morning after their weddingdomestic servant, Aurora. According to destroying a ski run; from appearing full-frontal naked in a sheep-farmers' gazette to triggering Galbraith, this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an air-sea rescue; Wentworth was, blinkered important patient of his at the hospital. George agrees to look into the theft, assuming it will be a relatively easy and befuddledstraightforward case – little does he know, the subject – he's about to enter a world of these deceit and so many more unlikely but highly amusing eventsdysfunction.[[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524634441</amazonuk!-- Jordan -->}}{{newreview|author=Graham Fulbright-|titlestyle=Driving Mad"width: 10%; vertical-align: Maniacs, Morons and the Advanced Motorist's Clubtop; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jordan_Tiny.jpg|ratinglink=3http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1760293814/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre=Humour|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 wayalign: left;"|===[[Our Tiny, the idiots were fewer and further betweenUseless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]=== [[image:5star. I donjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women't know how long Graham Fulbright has been drivings Fiction]], but he certainly knows his motoring morons [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] As predicted by Caroline and in Janice's mother on Caroline and Henry'Driving Mad'' he brings us a fictional sample of s wedding day, their eccentricities. Wellmarriage is over, Ialbeit 15 years and two daughters further along than predicted. Indeed, this is definitely not a good weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline'm pretty certain that theys house. There're fictional - but these days you never know...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783062584</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Mario Giordano|title=Auntie Poldi s the split and the Sicilian Lions|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=Poldi had not long been widowed when she decided to move from Bavaria to Sicily with awkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a start. Then there's that mistaken identity moment involving the intention of drinking herself to deathneighbours. She could, At least Janice is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. She still dreams of coursehim, have done this in Germanyyes, but she felt that a sea view was essential. Once there, new friends, family already resident on it's so over! Just as well really… guess who's at the island and the corpse of a young mandoor? [[Our Tiny, his face blown off Useless Hearts by a shotgun, whom she found on the local beach, intervened to give her life some meaningToni Jordan|Full Review]] <!-- Taylor -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|link=http://www. For a while she was a suspect, but that (and her wig) were no obstacle to her falling for Commissario Vito Montana who was assigned to investigate the caseamazon. Assisting him (or having him assist her) came naturally to Poldi and before long there was an investigative and personal partnershipco. At least so far as Poldi was concerned.|amazonukuk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>1908524693</amazonuk>thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle= Grady Hendrix"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title= My Best Friend's Exorcism|rating= 5|genre= Horror|summary=1988, Charleston, South Carolina. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening [[The Life of skinny-dipping goes disatrously wrong, Gretchen begins to acta Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the Isles of Scilly.different. She's moody. She's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she's nearby. Abby's investigation leads her (I know they should be called that – the author provides a handy guide to some startling discoveries - and by the time etiquette of their story reaches its terrifying conclusionname, the fate of Abby their nature and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship enough to beat location, etc.) For our more distant readers, they're several chunks of granite rock out in the devil?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594748624</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Kevin MacNeil|title=The Brilliant and Forever|rating= 3Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents.5|genre= Humour|summary= You know sometimes when someone tells a joke, everyone else laughsThey're big on tourism, and you're sat there wondering what was big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is bad enough to turn any car to a rust bucket within years. They're so funny?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846973376</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Christopher Fowler|title= Bryant and May: Strange Tide|rating= 3wee, and so idyllic-seeming, especially at night, you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a police presence.5|genre= Crime|summary= The thirteenth outing for Bryant and May But there is looking very much like it will be their last– at least two working at any one time. Arthur Bryant is on compassionate leave whilst tests are continuingAnd one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, which are likely has brought to confirm that he is suffering from Alzheimer'slife all the whimsical comedy of his work. His condition is worsening almost [[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by the day, memory lapses are morphing into full-scale hallucinations.Colin Taylor|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857523422</amazonuk!-- Lloyd -->}}|-{{newreview| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|authorlink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=Kevin Smiththebookbag-21]]|title=The Voyage of the Dolphin|rating=5|genrestyle=Historical Fiction"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=Dublin 1916==[['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: Among the unrest A Parody by Josie Lloyd and anti-British feeling worsened by the threat of conscription into a war seen as nothing to do with the Irish, Trinity College faculty Emlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It's Christmas Eve and Mum has other distractionsarranged everything. They'd like a trophy; All she now has to do is await the skeleton arrival of an Irish 'giant' to be precisethe relatives and the food shopping delivery. The only glitch is Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the main trophy contender, Bernard MacNeillpotential to ruin everything. [['s skeleton, is somewhere difficult to access Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and all seasoned explorers are otherwise engaged. There may be hope though. They turn to Fitzmaurice, a student not good enough for anything elseEmlyn Rees|Full Review]] <!-- Phinn -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin. Fitzmaurice agrees, picking his friends Crozier and Rafferty to go with himjpg|left|link=http://www. So… ''Gentlemen, 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 anywayamazon.co.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1910124826</amazonuk>"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|amazonus=<amazonus>1910124826</amazonus>}}{{newreview|author=Tony Hawks|title=Once Upon a Time in the West… Country|rating=3|genre[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]===Travel [[image:4.5star.jpg|summarylink=I have often complained in a jokey voice to my partner about life Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]] Christmas in our house is the sticks, time we tend to get on a plane and the way she moved me from an inner-city flat head to slumming it in the suburbs with fewer busseseither sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last minute dashes to the shops on Christmas Eve, no takeaways within walking-and-keeping-food-hot distance, and no 'Polish' shops cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a can of beer whenever you fancy onemonth, nor a mere 36 hours. Things are different with Tony HawksBut I do remember the feeling of Christmas when I was younger, as here he has purposefully decided to up sticks from London to Somewhereback when it was magical, Devon – a tiny village where and back when you knew exactly what the people who built their own homes decades ago still live in them, where slugs are a lot more season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. This book is an anthology of a problem for the wannabe lettuce-grower than they are for the metropolitan commuterthose moments, and where village halls have the power it took me right back 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 wonder of Christmas as a Zumba class…child. [[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- North -->1444794809</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Marian Keyes-|titlestyle=Making It Up As I Go Along"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:North_Romeo.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle=Entertainment"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=Oh, how the book reviewing gods like to give, ==[[Romeo and equally like to take away/or Juliet by Ryan North]]=== [[image:3.5star. Here before me is a brand, spanking new collection of journalism by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but it's a proof copyjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribed, so there's no photo of the authorread on. Even if over In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the years I have stopped reading her novelsbottle. Likewise, I she could have always turned to the author picture to remind myself such sights exist in this worldaway from her predestined path at no end of junctures. Himself is a lucky manAnd to what result? Well, for sure. But beyond sounding like happy marriage and a letchkid called Ben, what can I say about this – because the beauty's third large dose of essays, web columns leads have just banged people's heads together and other journalism? I can start with agreeing that I am not stopped the target audiencequarrelling, but it's easy enough to see from these pages exactly what the target isor Death by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her). So much like that test you do – you know the one, that formulates decisions about the age [[Romeo 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 number./or Juliet by Ryan North|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718182529</amazonuk>Full Review]]}}{{newreview<!-- Crowley -->|author= Jean-Yves Ferri|titlestyle= Asterix and the Missing Scroll (Album 36)|rating= 5"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|genre= For Sharing[[image:Crowley_Shoot.jpg|summarylink=Asterix is those rarest of book series; one designed for kids which is actually even funnier when you are an adulthttp://www.amazon.co. I used to love Asterix as a child, 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't have understood when I was younger. I laughed loud and hard to myself twice within the first two pages of Asterix and the Missing Scroll, so I'd definitely say that this was a hit.uk/dp/1783296518/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Shoot by Kieran Crowley]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1510100458</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|author=Spadge Whittaker|title=Braver Than BritainCrime]], Occasionally[[:Category:Humour|rating=4Humour]]|genre=Humour|summary=In which Spadge researches Britain's top ten fears and faces them all over the course of a year. We're quite a fearful society, you know. And the things we fear most areI make something of a habit of being late to discover good writers, in order: heights (acrophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia)this case getting to Crowley after he is no longer with us.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993429904</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Mike Bullen|title= Trust|rating= 4|genre= General Fiction|summary= Greg and Amanda are happy The result is that what is billed as ''an F. Unmarried, but together thirteen years and with two young daughters, they are very much in loveX. Dan and Sarah arenShepherd mystery't so fortunate. Their marriage is going through the motions, and they're staying together for with all the sake optimism of there being more to come has the poignancy of being, if not the last of their troubled teenage son. Following a business conference away from homeshort line, certainly one bad decision sends of a happy couple into turmoil, and turns an unhappy couple into love's young dreamfew. As secrets and betrayals threaten to send both relationships out of control, there's only one thing that can keep everything from falling apart: Trust[[Shoot by Kieran Crowley|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Dan RhodesFull Review]]|title=When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary= 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-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''. The other is Smee, his mono-named assistant, amanuensis or 'male secretary'. 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 destination, Upper Bottom. Instead the pair fetch up at the isolated yet friendly community of Market Horton, and the only option for accommodation is taken – yes, the died<!-in-theDO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -wool non-believer has to be housed by a retired vicar and his wife. 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…>|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk>}}