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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding= Mara Wilson"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->|title= Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame<!-- van LENTE -->|rating= 5-|genrestyle= Autobiography|summary= Mara Wilson has always felt a little young and a little out of place"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|link=http: as the only child on a film set full 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 and a neurotic in California, and an adult the world still remembers as a little girl//www.amazon.co. Tackling everything from how she first learned about sex on the set of ''Melrose Place,'' to losing her mother at a young age, to getting her first kiss (or was it kisses?) on a celebrity canoe tripuk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], to not being cute enough to make it in Hollywood[[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for many people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, these essays tell the story of one young womanhe's journey from accidental fame to relative obscuritylooking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, but also illuminate a universal struggle: learning to accept yourselfplus the chance of maybe, and figuring out who you are and where you belongjust maybe reuniting with his ex. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0143128221</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Tony Stewart|title= Writing Lines|rating= 4However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, in doing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator.5[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]]  <!-- Coulton -->|genre=Humour-|summarystyle= George Gordon Wentworth (1946"width: 10%; vertical-2011) lived a humdrum lifealign: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|link=http://www. He was a barely adequate teacher in a fairly world renowned independent school in Kent and kept a copious diary of his quotidian existenceamazon. Most of what he recorded was drossco. However, amongst all the utterly uninteresting tailings of his life there were some nuggets and grains to catch the attention. Author Tony Stuart has created these amusing anecdotes, panning them out over twenty six episodes which give us the best of Wentworth – comedy golduk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star. From losing all the pupils in his charge on a school trip to being arrested on suspicion of terrorism; from waking up in bed between the married couple the morning after their weddingjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], to destroying a ski run; from appearing full-frontal naked in a sheep-farmers[[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Lex Coulton' gazette to triggering an air-sea rescue; Wentworth wass debut novel is a story about mistakes, failures, blinkered and befuddledrelationships. The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, the subject – of these and so many more unlikely but highly amusing eventsis 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>1524634441</amazonuk>}}{{newreview<!-- van LENTE -->|author=Graham Fulbright-|titlestyle=Driving Mad"width: 10%; vertical-align: Maniacs, Morons and the Advanced Motorist's Clubtop; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|ratinglink=3http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=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==[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. When I started driving the roads were kinderjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], more forgiving places [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic- or put another way, the idiots were fewer Cons are a place of wonder and further between. I don't know how long Graham Fulbright has been drivingsanctuary for many people, but he certainly knows his motoring morons and in ''Driving Mad'' when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he brings us a fictional sample of their eccentricities. Well, I'm pretty certain s looking for both that they're fictional - but these days you never knowand sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the chance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783062584</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Mario Giordano|title=Auntie Poldi However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and the Sicilian Lions|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary=Poldi had not long been widowed when she decided to move from Bavaria to Sicily with the intention of drinking herself to death. She could, of course, have done this in Germanydoing so, but she felt that may just unravel a sea view was essentialdark secret behind a legendary industry creator. Once there, new friends, family already resident on the island and the corpse of a young man, his face blown off [[The Con Artist by a shotgun, whom she found on the local beach, intervened to give her life some meaningFred Van Lente|Full Review]] <!-- Curran -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690133.jpg|link=http://www.amazon. 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 caseco. Assisting him (or having him assist her) came naturally to Poldi and before long there was an investigative and personal partnership. At least so far as Poldi was concerned.uk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908524693</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Grady Hendrix|title= My Best Friend=[[My Lady's Exorcism|ratingChoosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris]]=== 5|genre= Horror[[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=1988, Charleston, South Carolina. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth gradeCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] You are a lass of twenty eight. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disatrously wrongPlucky, Gretchen begins to act..penniless and in Regency era London the race is on to find a suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster.different. SheAlong your journey you's moody. She's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she's nearby. Abby's investigation leads her ll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to some startling discoveries - and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusionsave you from a life alone, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined fired by a single question: Is their friendship enough rogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to suitors though, you'll have to beat make the devil?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594748624</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Kevin MacNeil|title=The Brilliant ultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wholesome, rugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, or the mad, bad and Forever|rating= 3terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven.5|genre= Humour|summary= You know sometimes when someone tells a jokeWith orphans, everyone else laughswerewolves, long lost lovers and youancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, it's clear this isn're sat there wondering what was so funny?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846973376t going to be an easy decision... [[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|Full Review]] </amazonuk!-- Jester -->}}{{newreview|author= Christopher Fowler-|titlestyle= Bryant and May"width: 10%; vertical-align: Strange Tide|rating= 3top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jester_Forever.5jpg|left|genrelink= Crimehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1510704361]]  |summarystyle= 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 continuing, which are likely to confirm that he is suffering from Alzheimer's. His condition is worsening almost by the day, memory lapses are morphing into full"vertical-align: top; text-scale hallucinations.align: left;"||amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857523422</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Kevin Smith|title=The Voyage of the Dolphin[[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester]]===|rating=5[[image:4star.jpg|genrelink=Historical FictionCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|summary=Dublin 1916Paranormal]], [[:Category: Among the unrest and anti-British feeling worsened by the threat of conscription into a war seen as nothing to do with the IrishHorror|Horror]], Trinity College faculty has other distractions. They'd like [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is a trophy; cocky and brash young man who dies and gets made the skeleton offer of an Irish 'giant' to be precisehis lifetime; immortality. The only glitch is that the main trophy contender, Bernard MacNeill's skeleton, is somewhere difficult to access We follow Michael, a grim reaper and all seasoned explorers are otherwise engaged. There may be hope though. They turn to Fitzmaurice, a student not good enough for anything else. Fitzmaurice agrees, picking his friends Crozier Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Rafferty to go Naff (a stoner in the records department) as they grapple with him. So… ''Gentlemen, lace up your strongest boots their long lives and pack your warmest underwear – we're all off finding a clean surface to the bloody Arctic!'' Whether battle cry or epitaph, three men and sit on in their flat. [[Forever After: a dog… and an iguana… are going anyway.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;"|[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|title=Once Upon a Time in the West… Countryleft|ratinglink=3|genrehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=Travel|summaryUTF8&tag=I have often complained in a jokey voice to my partner about life in the sticks, and the way she moved me from an innerthebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]  | style="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 to up sticks from London [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Christmas – the time of traditional trauma. You only have 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 commuterdryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Nowadays it's all having to make sure it's suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, and where village halls have the power get too friendly with it to want to turn you into both eat it. Christmas, though, is of course also a Pol Pot dictator if you get on their committee and into a quivering, bruise-inducing wreck if youtime of great boons. It're s cash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, it was always a godsend for postmen with all the wrong gender at thank-you letters to aunties you saw twice a Zumba class…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444794809</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewdecade 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=Marian KeyesFull Review]]|title=Making It Up As I Go Along<!-- Doescher -->|rating=4.5-|genrestyle=Entertainment"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|summaryleft|link=Oh, how the book reviewing gods like to give, and equally like to take awayhttps://www.amazon. Here before me is a brand, spanking new collection of journalism by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but it's a proof copy, so there's no photo of the authorco. 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 world. Himself is a lucky man, for sure. But beyond sounding like a letch, what can I say about this – the beautyuk/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 third large dose of essays, web columns and other journalism? I can start with agreeing that I am not the target audience, but it's easy enough to see from these pages exactly what the target isthe Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star. So much like that test you do – you know the onejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, that formulates decisions about the age and commonality of all things in space a galaxy far away, there was a man called William Shakespeare, who was able to come up with how many billions create a series of planets are likely to have alien life on – you can narrow things down quite readily heredramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and still come up with a huge numberrebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718182529</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Jean You may or may not have noticed the cinematic version of his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken'', but here at last we get the actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to-Yves Ferri|title= Asterix before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, and people keeping it in the Missing Scroll (Album 36)|rating= 5|genre= For Sharing|summary=Asterix is those rarest of book series; one designed for kids which is actually even funnier when family til it hurts. And if you are an adult. I used to love Asterix as a child, but now that I reread them I canneed further encouragement, don't help but wonder why, because they are forget his audience only demanded three parts of Henry VI – here the series is so full of hilarious jokes that I definitely wouldnpopular we't have understood when I was younger. I laughed loud and hard re on to myself part seven – surely making this over twice within as good… [[William Shakespeare's the first two pages of Asterix and Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Missing Scroll, so I'd definitely say that this was a hit.Seventh by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1510100458</amazonuk!-- Goss -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Spadge Whittaker"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Goss_600.jpg|title=Braver Than Britain, Occasionallyleft|ratinglink=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=41785942719]]  |genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=In which Spadge researches Britain's top ten fears and faces them all over the course of a year. ==[[Doctor Who: Now We're quite a fearful society, you know. And the things we fear most are, in orderAre Six Hundred: heights A Collection of Time Lord Verse (acrophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobiaDr Who)by James Goss and Russell T Davies]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0993429904</amazonuk>}}Category:{{{newreview|author= Mike Bullen|title= Trust|rating= 4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|genre= General FictionChildren's Rhymes and Verse]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] |summary= Greg and Amanda are happyConsider the Doctor. Unmarried, but together thirteen years Just how many birthday and with two young daughtersChristmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, they are very much were he to keep in love. Dan and Sarah aren't so fortunate. Their marriage is going through the motions, and they're staying together for the sake touch with even half of their troubled teenage son. Following his companions? He would certainly need a business conference away from homefew novelty gifts for some of them, say, for example, one bad decision sends whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a happy couple into turmoil, Time Lord and turns an unhappy couple into love's young dream. As secrets and betrayals threaten to send both relationships out that of some of controlhis friends and enemies. As luck would have it, 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=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary= Two people are he has the space in his TARDIS to stock up in advance, so my advice to him – sorry, her – would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and get himself ready. And if you're working on a train on their way toshorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, of all thingsand thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, a WI meeting where well my advice is pretty much the ladies of All Bottoms will be lectured on the non-existence of Godsame. One [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of the two people is Professor Richard Dawkins, rampant atheist, hectoring scientist chappie, Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and allRussell T Davies|Full Review]] <!-round devotee of ''Deal or No Deal''. The other is Smee, his mono-named assistant, amanuensis or 'male secretary'Ingram -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Ingram_Kammie. 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 Bottomjpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co. Instead the pair fetch up at the isolated yet friendly community of Market Horton, and the only option for accommodation is taken – yes, the dieduk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-in21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  | style="vertical-thealign: top; text-wool non-believer has to be housed align: left;"|===[[Conversations with Kammie by a retired vicar and his wifeAnnie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star. 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…jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], [[:Category:Humour|author=Rob TempleHumour]]|title=Very British Problems Abroad|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=Meet, if you haven't already, the phenomenon It was something of the Very British Problema relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and her cocker spaniel Kammie. In this format they're in pithy little comments (of, ooh, about 140 characters in lengthYou see, Annie knows something which has been self-evident to me for some reason…) a long time: dogs are perfectly capable of communicating with humans and detail the minor things in life that we like nothing more than to inflate to not just on a major factor level of life. They can involve mannersfood!, walk! or play!. You do require extensive training to become fluent, staring at things until they mend themselves, hitting things ditto, or the fact that nobody apart from but most dogs will be perfectly willing to give their time to teach you and I know how all you have to queue properlydo is listen. And if Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and the idea hits the world outside our shores, then – well, you certainly pair have a book full allowed us to share some of content regarding our attitude and ineptitude abroadtheir conversations.[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Harris -->0751558494</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Fraser McAlpine-|titlestyle=Stuff Brits Like"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|genrelink=Humour|summaryhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908943823/ref= With over 100 chapters on different aspects nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Breaking 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 lipLiam Glass by Charles Harris]]=== [[image: the chapters cover topics that range from offal to curry, from pedantry to banter, from conkers to rugby3star. There may be many chapters but this is no academic tome - each chapter is just two to three pages long, each is written with endearing affection, each is easy and satisfying - and quirkily funny - to read.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|author= John SamuelCrime]], [[:Category:Humour|title= What I Tell You in the DarkHumour]]|rating= 3.5|genre= Humour|summary=A man called Will is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate to expose Teenager Liam Glass is 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 body of wrong place at the hapless Will in order to finish what he startedwrong time. We follow this host of ensemble characters in a 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>0715650505</amazonuk!-- LENTE -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= John Niven"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title= The Sunshine Cruise Company[[image:Lente_10.jpg|ratinglink= 4http://www.5|genre= Humouramazon.co.uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle= 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"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. When Barry is found dead trussed up in jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Nine comedians are invited to a sex dungeonremote Caribbean island under the guise of working with Dustin Walker, it transpires that he has been leading a hidden life for yearscomedic legend. Each fits neatly into one of the archetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, and the washed-up has-been who has fallen far from his expensive fetishes lead to early days; Zoe, 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, 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 child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from King Arthur's Round Table to his peers; Janet, the Table of Lesser Valued Knights. The only way to get his comfier seat back insult comic who is to redeem himself via a quest. past her prime; Therefore when damsel Elaine seeks help to find her kidnapped fiancéTJ, Humphrey the nightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his female colleagues and his wardguest acts; Ruby, the teenage giant Conradultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, eagerly set forth. Meanwhile in whose redneck character ''Billy the kingdom of Tuft, new Queen Martha has run away after Contractor'' is a far cry from his real personality as a disastrous wedding to… a… well… disastrous Prince Edwinposh millionaire. She may not realise it yetOf course, but she too will have all nine agree because ''when God almighty walks down on a job beam of light and asks for Humphreyyour help, what the hell else are you going to 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=Tim Flannery"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title===[[Elizabeth, William... and Me by S Lynn Scott]]==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 tattooWill have their own ideas about that! [[Elizabeth, in amongst other changes to his bodyWilliam.. 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?and 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.5|genre=Graphic Novelsamazon.co.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, try the [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] In the second major pieceinstalment of this series, which Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a most revealing foreword – well-known local man to track down some missing valuables. Bill Galbraith, a 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]] }}<!-- Jordan -->{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Val Hennessy"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Not Far From Dreamland[[image:Jordan_Tiny.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.5|genre=General Fictionco.uk/dp/1760293814/ref=nosim?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 barrierleft;"|===[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]=== [[image:5star. What Ronald jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women'hass 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, albeit 15 years and two daughters further along than predicted. Indeed, this is definitely not a dog who is going bald (in patches) and money thatgood 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 Ronald. But are they downhearted? Well, they are occasionally, but mostly theyawkwardness of the girls're generously optimistic and out to make schoolteacher being the most of what they've got, usually bought from charity shops and jumble salesother woman for a start. ''Not Far From Dreamland'Then there' s that mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At least Janice is the story well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. She still dreams of a year (2012) in the life of Ronald Tonkshim, yes, his friends and relatives.but it's so over! Just as well really… guess who's at the door? [[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<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"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4.5star. He's a simple farmer – well, he ''is'' taking a correspondence course in being a Technical Fertiliser Operator – but fate has something else in store. And so does the mechanisedjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], technological, industrial military, which needs several billion grunts [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the Isles of Scilly. (I know they should be called that – the author provides a handy guide to fight the Chingersetiquette of their name, their nature and location, in mankind's first inter-galactic waretc. Still) For our more distant readers, at least he gets medals they're several chunks of granite rock out in the Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointing, with just for signing up2,200 permanent residents. After that itThey's all downhillre big on tourism, and big on growing flowers in the likes of Petty Chief Officer Deathwish Drang can only make that tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is bad enough to turn any car to a straight line downrust bucket within years. ReallyThey're so wee, and so idyllic-seeming, especially at night, what hope is you can be mistaken for thinking there?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147320531X</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Ian Doescher|title=William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace|rating=4would be no need for a police presence.5|genre=Humour|summary= Join usBut there is – at least two working at any one time. And one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, good gentleswho has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, for a merry reimagining of `Star Wars Episode 1' as only Shakespeare could have written it. 'Tis a true Shakespearean drama, filled with sword fights, soliloquies and doomed romance…all in glorious iambic pentameter and coupled with gorgeous illustrations. Hold on which has brought to your midichlorians: The plays life all the thing, wherein you'll catch the rise whimsical comedy of Anakin!|amazonuk=his work. [[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] <amazonuk>1594748063</amazonuk!-- Lloyd -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Attaboy"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|titlelink=The Book of Hugshttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |ratingstyle=4"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Humour|summary==[['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A hug's a hug, OK? You either do, or you don'tParody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3.5star. Some people might be a little more enthusiastic about the process whilst others are more elegant in 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 execution arrival of the hug, but basically you just get on relatives and do it the food shopping delivery. Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the potential to ruin everything. [['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and then forget about it, right?Emlyn Rees|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0867197978</amazonuk!-- Phinn -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Christopher Fowler"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin.jpg|title= Bryant and May – The Burning Manleft|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genrestyle=Crime"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary= ==[[The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) has a new set of overlordsVirgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4. For reasons that were explored in the previous couple of outings they have been transferred to the City Of London Police5star. The Met are still the big players in the area. City of London Police only police the old cityjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], the square mile, the financial district [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]] Christmas in other wordsour house is the time we tend to get on a plane and head to either sun or snow, anywhere that has very little in is far, far away from the way of street crimemadness at home, because no-one lives there anymore and last minute dashes to the people who work there areshops on Christmas Eve, by and largefood cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, either too rich to need to steal, or too smart to have to nor a mere 36 hours. But I do so on remember the streets.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857522043</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg|title=The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again! |rating=3.5|genre=Humour|summary=Following the success 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. This book is an anthology of ''The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules''those moments, and it took me right back to the League wonder of Pensioners are back – and this time, they’re in VegasChristmas as a child. [[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|Full Review]] <! I haven’t read the first book but it was on my list when the opportunity arose to review this one. The idea of the League of Pensioners marching towards a fairer world through fun and frolics was hugely appealing to me and this is a stand alone novel so I thought I would dive straight in with this one.-- North -->|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447274903</amazonuk>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle=Winshluss"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=In God We Trust[[image:North_Romeo.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre=Graphic Novels|summarystyle=To start with, a rhetorical test. How about God "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Romeo and Adam playing badminton day in and day out, until one gets bored /or Juliet by Ryan North]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and decides to create Eve? Or the defeater prescribed, read on. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of Goliath and options en route to hitting the saviour bottle. Likewise, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of the Israelites being one Conan the Barbarianjunctures. And to what result? Or this as Well, happy marriage and a test – Jesus Himself failing to kid called Ben, because the leads have a successful session of tequila slammers with Gabriel due to just banged people's heads together and stopped the holes through His hands? I barely need mention that in these pages God does battle with Supermanquarrelling, for you to have answered the test and put yourself firmly in one of two camps for this book – one very much opposed to buying itor Death by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her). [[Romeo and one very much in favour./or Juliet by Ryan North|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0861662350</amazonuk>Full Review]]}}{{newreview|author=David Walliams and Tony Ross|title=The Queen's Orang<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -Utan|rating=5|genre=For Sharing|summary=The Queen felt trapped in the palace with all those stuffed animals which she has been given on foreign tours. There are mountains of them and every night she would dream of escaping. When her birthday drew near the family dutifully asked her what she would like as a present. The Prince was thinking of a gold, diamond encrusted stairlift whilst the Duke was considering a great big bottle of brandy. The Royal Baby had some decorated thimbles in mind, but the Queen became just a little snappish as she explained that what she really wanted was 'One's own orang-utan'. And she didn't mean a stuffed one, either.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008135134</amazonuk>}}{{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>}}