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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding= Tony Stewart"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- van LENTE -->|title= Writing Lines-|ratingstyle= 4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.5jpg|genrelink=Humourhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |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;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. Most of what he recorded was dross. However, amongst all the utterly uninteresting tailings jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a place of his life there were some nuggets wonder and grains to catch the attention. Author Tony Stuart has created these amusing anecdotessanctuary for many people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, panning them out over twenty six episodes which give us plus the best chance of Wentworth – comedy goldmaybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. From losing all the pupils in However, when his charge on a school trip rival is found dead, Mike is forced to being arrested on suspicion navigate every dark corner of terrorism; from waking up the con in bed between the married couple the morning after their wedding, order to destroying a ski run; clear his name – from appearing full-frontal naked in a sheep-farmers' gazette cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to triggering an air-sea rescue; Wentworth was, blinkered zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and befuddled, the subject – of these and in doing so many more unlikely but highly amusing events, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator.[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]]|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524634441</amazonuk>}}{{newreview<!-- Coulton -->|author=Graham Fulbright-|titlestyle=Driving Mad"width: 10%; vertical-align: Maniacs, Morons and the Advanced Motorist's Clubtop; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|ratinglink=3http://www.amazon.5|genre=Humourco.uk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?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- or put another way, the idiots were fewer and further betweenalign: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star. I don't know how long Graham Fulbright has been drivingjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], but he certainly knows his motoring morons and in '[[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Women'Driving Mads Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Lex Coulton' he brings us s debut novel is a fictional sample of their eccentricitiesstory about mistakes, failures, and relationships. WellThe main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, I'm pretty certain that theyis a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, and is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. This relationship is complicated by the fact that Frances're fictional - but these days you never know...s father disappeared at sea when she was five years old. [[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- van LENTE -->1783062584</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Mario Giordano-|titlestyle=Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions"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=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;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. She could, of coursejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], have done this in Germany, but she felt that [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a sea view was essential. Once thereplace of wonder and sanctuary for many people, new friendsand when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, family already resident on the island he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the corpse chance of a young manmaybe, just maybe reuniting with his face blown off by a shotgunex. However, whom she when his rival is found on dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the local beach, intervened con in order to give her life some meaning. For a while she was a suspect, but that (clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and her wig) were no intrusive fans to zombie obstacle to her falling for Commissario Vito Montana who was assigned to investigate the case. Assisting him (or having him assist her) came naturally to Poldi courses – Mike must prove his innocence and before long there was an investigative and personal partnership. At least , in doing so far as Poldi was concerned, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator.[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Curran -->1908524693</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Grady Hendrix-|titlestyle= My Best Friend's Exorcism"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690133.jpg|ratinglink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag= 5thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle= Horror"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=1988, Charleston, South Carolina. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disatrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act...different. She==[[My Lady's moodyChoosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris]]=== [[image:4star. She's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she's nearby. Abby's investigation leads her to some startling discoveries - and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single questionjpg|link=Category: Is their friendship enough to beat the devil?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594748624</amazonuk>{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|author= Kevin MacNeilHumour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|title=The Brilliant and ForeverHistorical Fiction]]|rating= 3.5|genre= Humour|summary= You know sometimes when someone tells are a joke, everyone else laughslass of twenty eight. Plucky, penniless and you're sat there wondering what was so funny?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846973376</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Christopher Fowler|title= Bryant and May: Strange Tide|rating= 3in Regency era London the race is on to find a suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster.5|genre= Crime|summary= The thirteenth outing for Bryant and May is looking very much like it will Along your journey you'll be their last. Arthur Bryant is on compassionate leave whilst tests are continuing, which are likely accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to confirm that he is suffering save you from Alzheimer's. His condition is worsening almost a life alone, and fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to suitors though, you'll have to make the dayultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wholesome, rugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, or the mad, memory lapses are morphing into full-scale hallucinationsbad and terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven.With orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and ancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, it's clear this isn't going to be an easy decision... [[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk>0857523422</amazonuk!-- Jester -->}}{{newreview|author=Kevin Smith-|titlestyle=The Voyage of the Dolphin"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=5[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|genre=Historical Fictionleft|summarylink=Dublin 1916https: Among the unrest and anti-British feeling worsened by the threat of conscription into a war seen as nothing to do with the Irish, Trinity College faculty has other distractions//www.amazon. They'd like a trophy; the skeleton of an Irish 'giant' to be preciseco. The only glitch is that the main trophy contender, Bernard MacNeill's skeleton, is somewhere difficult to access and all seasoned explorers are otherwise engaged. There may be hope though. They turn to Fitzmaurice, 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 student not good enough for anything elsedark comedy by David Jester]]=== [[image:4star. Fitzmaurice agrees, picking his friends Crozier and Rafferty to go with him. So… ''Gentlemenjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], lace up your strongest boots and pack your warmest underwear – we're all off to [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and gets made the bloody Arctic!'' Whether battle cry or epitaphoffer of his lifetime; immortality. We follow Michael, three men a grim reaper and his friends Chip (a dog… stoner tooth fairy) and an iguana… are going anywayNaff (a stoner in the records department) as they grapple with their long lives and finding a clean surface to sit on in their flat.[[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910124826</amazonuk!-- Stibbe -->|amazonus=<amazonus>1910124826</amazonus>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle=Tony Hawks"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Once Upon a Time in the West… Country[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|rating=3left|genrelink=Travelhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]  |summarystyle=I have often complained in a jokey voice to my partner about life in the sticks, and the way she moved me from an inner"vertical-city flat to slumming it in the suburbs with fewer busses, no takeaways within walkingalign: top; text-and-keeping-food-hot distance, and no 'Polish' shops for a can of beer whenever you fancy onealign: left;"|===[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]=== [[image:4.5star. Things are different with Tony Hawksjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], as here he has purposefully decided [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Christmas – the time of traditional trauma. You only have to up sticks from London to Somewhere, Devon think about the turkey for that – once upon a tiny village where time it was leaving it sat on the people who built their own homes decades ago still live in themdownstairs loo to defrost overnight, where slugs are a lot more of a problem for and if that failed the wannabe lettucehair-grower than they are for the metropolitan commuter, and where village halls have the power dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Nowadays it's all having to turn make sure it's suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you into both a Pol Pot dictator if you get on their committee can go and into a quiveringvisit it, bruise-inducing wreck if you're the wrong gender at and get too friendly with it to want to eat it. Christmas, though, is of course also a Zumba class…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444794809</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Marian Keyes|title=Making time of great boons. It Up As I Go Along|rating=4.5|genre=Entertainment|summary=Oh's cash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, how it was always a godsend for postmen with all the book reviewing gods like thank-you letters to give, and equally like to take away. Here before me is aunties you saw twice a decade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as a brandchild, spanking new collection and as for the makers of journalism by the wonderful Marian Keyes Meltis Newberry Fruits – but it's a proof copywell, so there's no photo of did they even try and sell them any other time of the author. Even if over the years I have stopped reading her novels, I have always turned to the author picture to remind myself such sights exist in this worldyear? [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe|Full Review]] <!-- Doescher -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon. Himself is a lucky man, for sureco. But beyond sounding like a letch, what can I say about this – the beauty's third large dose of essays, web columns and other journalismuk/gp/product/159474985X? I can start with agreeing that I am not the target audience, but itie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare'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 number.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718182529</amazonuk>Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreview|author= Jean-Yves FerriStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|title= Asterix and the Missing Scroll (Album 36)Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|rating= 5Humour]]|genre= For Sharing|summary=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 long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a childman called William Shakespeare, 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 who was younger. I laughed loud and hard able to myself twice within the first two pages create a series of dramatic histories full of Asterix machinations most foul, rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy. You may or may not have noticed the Missing Scrollcinematic version of his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken'', so I'd definitely say that this was a hit.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1510100458</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Spadge Whittaker|title=Braver Than Britainbut here at last we get the actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to-before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, Occasionally|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=In which Spadge researches Britain's top ten fears and faces them all over and people keeping it in the course of a yearfamily til it hurts. We're quite a fearful society, And if you know. And the things we fear most areneed further encouragement, in orderdon'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: heights (acrophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia).Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Goss -->0993429904</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Mike Bullen-|titlestyle= Trust"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating= 4[[image:Goss_600.jpg|genre= General Fictionleft|summarylink= Greg and Amanda are happyhttps://www.amazon. Unmarried, but together thirteen years and with two young daughters, they are very much in loveco. Dan and Sarah aren't so fortunate. Their marriage is going through the motions, and they're staying together for the sake 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 their troubled teenage son. Following a business conference away from home, one bad decision sends a happy couple into turmoil, and turns an unhappy couple into love's young dreamTime Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies]]=== [[image:4.5star. As secrets and betrayals threaten to send both relationships out of control, therejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|Children's only one thing that can keep everything from falling apartRhymes and Verse]], [[:Category: TrustScience Fiction|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk>Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]}}{{newreview|author=Dan Rhodes|title=When the Professor Got Stuck in Consider the Snow|rating=4Doctor.5|genre=General Fiction|summary= Two people are on a train on their way Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have tohand out each year, were he to keep in touch with even half of all things, his companions? He would certainly need a WI meeting where the ladies few novelty gifts for some of All Bottoms will be lectured on the non-existence of God. One of the two people is Professor Richard Dawkinsthem, rampant atheistsay, hectoring scientist chappiefor example, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a Time Lord and all-round devotee that of some of ''Deal or No Deal''his friends and enemies. The other is SmeeAs luck would have it, he has the space in his mono-named assistant, amanuensis or 'male secretary'. Smee will come TARDIS to the fore when the weather sets stock up in and the train journey has advance, so my advice to him – sorry, her – would be abandoned some way short of its ultimate destinationto pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and get himself ready. And if you're working on a shorter timescale, Upper Bottom. Instead the pair fetch up at the isolated yet friendly community of Market Hortonwith a shorter lifespan, and the only option for accommodation thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well my advice is taken – yes, pretty much the diedsame. [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies|Full Review]] <!-in-theIngram --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… |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk>}}{{newreview"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|left|authorlink=Rob Temple|titlehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=Very British Problems Abroad|ratingUTF8&tag=4|genrethebookbag-21&linkCode=Humour|summaryas2&camp=Meet, if you haven't already, the phenomenon of the Very British Problem. In this format they're in pithy little comments (of, ooh, about 140 characters in length, for some reason…) and detail the minor things in life that we like nothing more than to inflate to a major factor of life1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star. They can involve mannersjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], staring at things until they mend themselves, hitting things ditto, or the fact that nobody apart from you [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of a relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and I know how to queue properlyher cocker spaniel Kammie. And if the idea hits the world outside our shoresYou see, then – well, you certainly have Annie knows something which has been self-evident to me for a book full long time: dogs are perfectly capable of content regarding our attitude communicating with humans and ineptitude abroadnot just on a level of food!, walk! or play!.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Fraser McAlpine|title=Stuff Brits Like|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary= With over 100 chapters on different aspects of Britain You do require extensive training to become fluent, but most dogs will be perfectly willing to give their time to teach you and Britishness, this book all you have to do is both fascinating and hilariouslisten. Just looking at Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and the list of subjects is enough pair have allowed us to produce a sardonic twist share some of that stiff upper lip: the chapters cover topics that range from offal to curry, from pedantry to banter, from conkers to rugbytheir conversations. There may be many chapters but this is no academic tome [[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]] <!-- Harris - each chapter is just two to three pages long, each is written with endearing affection, each is easy and satisfying - and quirkily funny >|- to read.|amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|}}[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]{{newreview|author= John Samuel|titlestyle= What I Tell You in the Dark"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||rating= 3.5==[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris]]===|genre= Humour[[image:3star.jpg|summarylink=A man called Will Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Teenager Liam Glass is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate to expose mugged and stabbed yards from his company's dodgy dealings to Camden flat. As the press. Overcome with doubt and fearboy lies comatose, he goes to kill himself. But, at the exact moment he attaches his noose to desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the back of the doorinside scoop, he is saved. By tired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a curious housemate or a concerned girlfriend? Nomissing tape, by an Angel. Not the whiteharried politician Jamila Hasan fights for re-feathered guardian Angel you may expectelection, but one who wishes to help Will achieve his endsdistraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, and so possess gym-owner Royland simply finds himself in the wrong place at the body wrong time. We follow this host of the hapless Will ensemble characters in order to finish what he starteda bleak, kaleidoscopic satire of modern media. 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…[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- LENTE -->0715650505</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= John Niven-|titlestyle= The Sunshine Cruise Company"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lente_10.jpg|ratinglink= 4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre= Humour|summarystyle= Susan Frobisher and Julie Wickham live in a small Dorset town"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. Friends since school, they live fairly uneventful lives – Susan has a lovely house and jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Nine comedians are invited to a lengthy marriage to accountant Barryremote Caribbean island under the guise of working with Dustin Walker, 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 comedic legend. Each fits neatly into one of the archetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, the washed-up in a sex dungeon, it transpires that he has -been leading a hidden life for yearswho has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, and his expensive fetishes lead to the bank moving to take Susan's home. Struck by both desperation and rising female star with a sense of injusticenew stand-up special coming soon; Dante, Sue and Julie conspire to rob who went from being a bank, taking along their friend Jill – a devout Christian conflicted due kid on the streets to lack of money and a terminally ill grandsonthe hardest working road comic in the business; Oliver, the child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, the insult comic who is past her prime; TJ, and Ethel – a foul mouthed resident of the nursing home longing nightly variety show host with a reputation for adventure.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023183</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Marie Phillips|title=The Table harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, the ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character ''Billy the Contractor'' is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. Of Less Valued Knights|rating=4.5|genre=Fantasy|summary=Sir Humphrey has been demoted from King Arthurcourse, all nine agree because ''s Round Table to when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and asks for your help, what the Table of Lesser Valued Knights. The only way to get his comfier seat back is hell else are you going 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!say?'' [[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] <!-- Scott -->|-|amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>0099555875<"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|link=http:/amazonuk>/www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Elizabeth, William... and Me by S Lynn Scott]]=Tim Flannery|title=The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish|rating=3|genre=Historical Fiction[[image:4.5star.jpg|summarylink=Meet Archie MeekCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, a husband and a job. He's about to leave Then comes the Venus Islands, where heday when ordinariness flies out of the window. It's not a coincidence that it's lived for the last five years, and return to Sydney, where he'll take his office same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in the museum pantry and fill it with all the cultural artefacts he's found and wildlife he's plucked or pickledBard of Avon in her bath. ThatWhat's not she going to ignore the fact he'll count as something quite alien himself, with his filled-out framedo? Well, nearly all-over suntan Elizabeth and totemic tattoo, in amongst other changes to his bodyWill have their own ideas about that! [[Elizabeth, William. 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?Me by S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1922079308</amazonuk!-- Rodford -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Roman Dirge"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=The Cat with a Really Big Head[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|ratinglink=3http://www.amazon.5|genre=Graphic Novelsco.uk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle= 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. "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The title piece in this collection is, by the authorSurgeon'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 giveawayCase: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], 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[[:Category:Humour|Humour]] In the second instalment of this series, try the second major piecePrivate Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a well-known local man to track down some missing valuables. Bill Galbraith, which has a most revealing foreword – world-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke'Dedicated to s Hospital who hosts a certain girl… I hope your life is filled with wonderful accomplishmentspopular medical television programme, has had his briefcase stolen by his live-in domestic servant, Aurora. According to Galbraith, love and all this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the magic you desire… - But I hope your death is slow and horriblehospital.''|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782762876</amazonuk>George agrees to look into the theft, assuming it will be a relatively easy and straightforward case – little does he know, he's about to enter a world of deceit and dysfunction. [[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford|Full Review]]}}{{newreview<!-- Jordan -->|author=Val Hennessy-|titlestyle=Not Far From Dreamland"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jordan_Tiny.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.5|genreuk/dp/1760293814/ref=General Fictionnosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=Ronald Tonks has reached that stage in life which I call upper middle age"vertical-align: top; text-align: you've qualified for your pension but not yet got to the free television licence barrier. What Ronald left;"|===[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women'has's Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] As predicted by Caroline and Janice' got is a roof that leaks (theres mother on Caroline and Henry's good reason why his home wedding day, their marriage is called 'the shack')over, a dog who albeit 15 years and two daughters further along than predicted. Indeed, this is going bald (in patches) and money thatdefinitely not a good weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline's in very short supplyhouse. On There's the plus side he has friends, mostly platonic split and usually in much the same boat as Ronaldawkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a start. Then there's that mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. But are they downhearted? WellShe still dreams of him, they are occasionallyyes, but mostly theyit're generously optimistic and out to make s so over! Just as well really… guess who's at the most of what they've gotdoor? [[Our Tiny, 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=Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan|Full Review]] <amazonuk>0704373874</amazonuk!-- Taylor -->}}{{newreview|author=Harry Harrison-|titlestyle=Bill, the Galactic Hero"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|ratinglink=3http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre=Science Fiction|summarystyle=Meet Bill. He's "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Life of a simple farmer – well, he ''is'' taking a correspondence course in being a Technical Fertiliser Operator – but fate has something else in storeScilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4. And so does the mechanised, technological, industrial military, which needs several billion grunts to fight the Chingers, in mankind's first inter-galactic war5star. Still, at least he gets medals just for signing up. After that it's all downhilljpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], and [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the likes Isles of Petty Chief Officer Deathwish Drang can only make Scilly. (I know they should be called that – the author provides a straight line downhandy guide to the etiquette of their name, their nature and location, etc. Really) For our more distant readers, they're several chunks of granite rock out in the Atlantic, what hope where Cornwall is there?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147320531X</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Ian Doescher|title=William Shakespearepointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents. They's The Phantom of Menace|rating=4re big on tourism, and big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is bad enough to turn any car to a rust bucket within years.5|genre=Humour|summary= Join usThey're so wee, and so idyllic-seeming, good gentlesespecially at night, for a merry reimagining of `Star Wars Episode 1' as only Shakespeare could have written it. 'Tis you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a true Shakespearean drama, filled with sword fights, soliloquies and doomed romance…all in glorious iambic pentameter and coupled with gorgeous illustrationspolice presence. Hold on to your midichlorians: The plays the thingBut there is – at least two working at any one time. And one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, wherein you'll catch which has brought to life all the rise whimsical comedy of Anakin!his work. [[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Lloyd -->1594748063</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Attaboy-|titlestyle=The Book of Hugs"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|genrelink=Humourhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=A hug's a hug, OK? You either do, or you don"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[['t. Some people might be a little more enthusiastic about Twas the process whilst others are more elegant in the execution of the hug, but basically you just get on Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and do it and then forget about it, right?|amazonukEmlyn Rees]]=<amazonuk>0867197978</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Christopher Fowler|title= Bryant and May – The Burning Man|rating=4[[image:3.5star.jpg|genrelink=CrimeCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] |summary= The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) It's Christmas Eve and Mum has a new set of overlordsarranged everything. For reasons that were explored in All she now has to do is await the previous couple arrival of outings they have been transferred to the City Of London Policerelatives and the food shopping delivery. The Met are still Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the big players in the areapotential to ruin everything. City of London Police only police [['Twas the old city, the square mile, the financial district in other words, that has very little in the way of street crime, because no-one lives there anymore and the people who work there are, Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and large, either too rich to need to steal, or too smart to have to do so on the streets.Emlyn Rees|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Phinn -->0857522043</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg|titlestyle=The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again! "width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin.jpg|left|ratinglink=3http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]|genre=Humour|summarystyle=Following the success of ''"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the RulesVirgin Mary'', the League of Pensioners are back – and this time, they’re in Vegas! I haven’t read the first book but it was on my list when the opportunity arose to review this ones Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4.5star. The idea of the League of Pensioners marching towards a fairer world through fun and frolics was hugely appealing to me and this jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]] Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a stand alone novel so I thought I plane and head to either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last minute dashes to the shops on Christmas Eve, and food cupboard stockpiles that would dive straight in with this oneimply supermarkets are shutting for a month, nor a mere 36 hours.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447274903</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Winshluss|title=In God We Trust|rating=4But I do remember the feeling of Christmas when I was younger, back when it was magical, and back when you knew exactly what the season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties.5|genre=Graphic Novels|summary=To start withThis book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a rhetorical testchild. How about God and Adam playing badminton day in and day out, until one gets bored and decides to create Eve? Or the defeater of Goliath and the saviour of the Israelites being one Conan the Barbarian[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|Full Review]] <!-- North -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:North_Romeo.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim? Or this as a test – Jesus Himself failing to have a successful session of tequila slammers with Gabriel due to the holes through His hands? I barely need mention that in these pages God does battle with Superman, for you to have answered the test tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Romeo and put yourself firmly in one of two camps for this book – one very much opposed to buying it, and one very much in favour/or Juliet by Ryan North]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0861662350</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]{{newreview|author=David Walliams For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and Tony Ross|title=The Queen's Orang-Utan|rating=5|genre=For Sharing|summary=The Queen felt trapped in the palace with all those stuffed animals which she has been given prescribed, read on foreign tours. There are mountains In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of them and every night options en route to hitting the bottle. Likewise, she would dream could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of escapingjunctures. When her birthday drew near the family dutifully asked her And to what she would like as result? Well, happy marriage and a present. The Prince was thinking of a gold, diamond encrusted stairlift whilst kid called Ben, because the Duke was considering a great big bottle of brandy. The Royal Baby had some decorated thimbles in mind, but the Queen became leads have just a little snappish as she explained that what she really wanted was 'Onebanged people's own orang-utan'. And she didn't mean heads together and stopped the quarrelling, or Death by Tybalt (him) or a stuffed onelong life running an establishment curing murderous women, eithersuch as a Lady M (her).[[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008135134</amazonuk!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->}}{{newreview|author=Jack Sheffield|title=Silent Night|rating=3.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=I read a couple of Jack Sheffield’s books about five years ago, and enjoyed them very much. They were written in a similar style to those popularised by, for instance, James Herriot or [[:Category:Gervase Phinn|Gervase Phinn]], told mostly in the first person, describing the author’s first couple of years as Headmaster at a small village primary school in Yorkshire. The village of Ragley is fictional, as are most of the characters, but the incidents and situations encountered are based on the author’s experience.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0552167045</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=J Robert Lennon|title=See You In Paradise|rating=3|genre=Short Stories|summary=Lennon writes with a relaxed, easy style and his characters are instantly recognisable as people from everyday walks of life, without being in any way stereotypical. Many of the people in these stories are dealing with normal frustrations, and Lennon is cleverly detached enough not to make them individuals that you're obviously supposed to root for (the only exception is the industrialist in the eponymous tale, who is an archetypal capitalist fat cat). There are some very clever characterisations – in ''Weber’s Head'', for example, the narrator is a flawed individual whose opinions of his housemate are gradually revealed to be unreliable and unfair. For me, the most unsettling story is ''No Life'', because it portrays a decent couple at the mercy of people more powerful and influential than them. There is no supernatural or bizarre element at work here, just ordinary characters at the mercy of social power.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781253358</amazonuk>}}