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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding=Gray Jolliffe"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->|title=The First Ever Christmas: And Who to Blame<!-- van LENTE -->|rating=5-|genrestyle=Humour|summary"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=If I tell you a secret, will you promise not to tell anyonenosim? Well, I really don't like Christmas: it's my least favourite time of year and whilst some people count down to the day itself, I look forward to that point when I can say that it's all over for another yeartag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. It's all too commercialised for mejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], with [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a coating place of faux religion. I've never found it in the least funny wonder and sanctuary for many people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic- that isCon, until I found Gray Jolliffehe's ''The First Ever Christmas: And Who's to Blame''looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the chance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. AmazinglyHowever, I'd never encountered Gray Jolliffe either, but I'm a convert to when his skills as a cartoonist (if not rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the idea of Christmas) after reading this collection of Christmas-themed cartoons con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his archive.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445663503innocence 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!-- Coulton -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Jonathan Pugh"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|titlelink=Pugh's New Year's Resolutionshttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |ratingstyle=4.5"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Humour|summary=If there's one thing that=[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Women's for certain, itFiction|Women's that the world Fiction]] Lex Coulton's debut novel is changinga story about mistakes, failures, and relationships. We're dating onlineThe main protagonist, we're communicating in ways that make email seem redundantFrances Pilgrim, and when we're shopping we just tell is a website where and when it can be deliveredsixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, and how much leeway they have to swap our wishes for whatever it is they do bring usgrappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. But those changes are also supposed to be affecting us – we're supposed to use a smart watch to tell us if we're moving or not, we have to keep up with This relationship is complicated by the latest fads, and wefact that Frances're supposed to prick our ears up and take note s father disappeared at sea when the proverbial 'they' change their minds about what we're supposed to eatshe was five years old.[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- van LENTE -->1780722885</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Luke Rhinehart-|titlestyle= Invasion"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|ratinglink= 4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre= Humour |summarystyle=Super"vertical-intelligent furry aliens suddenly appear from another universe. And they've come to earth to have funalign: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. Alien Louie follows fisherman Billy Morton home one dayjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for many people, and he and his family quickly come to love the playful alien. But when Louie starts using their computer to hack into government and corporate networksComic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, stealing millions from banks to give to others, they realise he's looking for both that Louie and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the chance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his friends mean troubleex. As Billy and However, when his family begin a roller coaster ride rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of fame and fortune, as well as a ranking high on the FBI's most wanted list, the Government soon decides that these aliens are terrorists, con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must be eliminated. Whilst the aliens are playing games they hope will help humans to see the insanity of the American politicalprove his innocence and, economic and military systemsin doing so, they soon come to realise that the Powers that Be don't play games: they make warmay just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk!-- Curran -->1785651757</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Rod Green-|titlestyle=Only Fools and Horses"width: The Peckham Archives10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690133.jpg|ratinglink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=4thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle=Entertainment "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=We are in the world of one of the country==[[My Lady's most famous Choosing by Kitty Curran and well-loved sitcoms – even if it was sort-of killed off for Christmas 2003Larissa Zageris]]=== [[image:4star. Yes, there have been specials sincejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] You are a lass of twenty eight. Plucky, penniless and more repeats to clog up in Regency era London the BBC schedules than race is really pukka, but very few people failed on to succumb to its charms at one time find a suitable suitor - or anotherelse doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster. IAlong your journey you'm sure there have been books before now celebrating the stonyll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood -faced reception of ''that'' drop through the open bar hatcha fiesty noble eager to save you from a life alone, and fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to suitors though, you''that'' chandelier scene, but this is much more meaty. Purporting ll have to be make the family archivesultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, found dumped in Nelson Mandela Housewholesome, the documents here were passed from pillar to postrugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, from one council worker in a department with a clumsy acronym to anotheror the mad, from them to the police – bad and now here they are being published for their social history worthterrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. Will enough readers find them of worthWith orphans, werewolves, as long lost lovers and ancient Egyptian artifcats along the series quietly celebrates its 35th birthday?way, it's clear this isn't going to be an easy decision... [[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849909245</amazonuk!-- Jester -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Mara Wilson|title= Where Am I Now?"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Famecenter;"|rating= 5[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|genre= Autobiographyleft|summarylink= Mara Wilson has always felt a little young and a little out of placehttps://www.amazon.co.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: as the only child on a film set full of adultsdark comedy by David Jester]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], the first daughter in a house full of boys[[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and gets made the sole clinically depressed member offer of his lifetime; immortality. We follow Michael, a cheerleading squad, grim reaper and his friends Chip (a valley girl in New York stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a neurotic stoner in California, and an adult the world still remembers records department) as they grapple with their long lives and finding a little girl. Tackling everything from how she first learned about sex on the set of ''Melrose Place,'' to losing her mother at a young age, clean surface to getting her first kiss (or was it kisses?) sit on in their flat. [[Forever After: a celebrity canoe trip, 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. dark comedy by David Jester|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0143128221</amazonuk!-- Stibbe -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Tony Stuart"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title= Writing Lines|rating= 4[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.5jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink= George Gordon Wentworth (1946-2011) lived a humdrum lifehttps://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 attentionuk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]=== [[image:4.5star. Author Tony Stuart has created these amusing anecdotesjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], panning them out over twenty six episodes which give us [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Christmas – the best time of Wentworth – comedy goldtraditional trauma. From losing all You only have to think about the pupils in his charge on turkey for that – once upon a school trip to being arrested time it was leaving it sat on suspicion of terrorism; from waking up in bed between the married couple the morning after their wedding, to destroying a ski run; from appearing full-frontal naked in a sheep-farmers' gazette downstairs loo to triggering an air-sea rescue; Wentworth wasdefrost overnight, blinkered and befuddled, if that failed the subject hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Nowadays it's all having to make sure it's suitably free-range and organic – of these but not too organic that you can go and so many more unlikely but highly amusing events.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524634441</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Graham Fulbright|title=Driving Mad: Maniacsvisit it, Morons and the Advanced Motorist's Club|rating=3get too friendly with it to want to eat it.5|genre=Humour|summary=I passed my driving test when John F Kennedy was Christmas, though, is of course also a time of great boons. It's cash in the White House and I've recently had to reapply hand for my driving licence having achieved a venerable age. When I started driving lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, it was always a godsend for postmen with all the roads were kinder, more forgiving places thank-you letters to aunties you saw twice a decade that your parents made you write out in long- or put another wayhand as a child, and as for the idiots were fewer and further between. I don't know how long Graham Fulbright has been drivingmakers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, but he certainly knows his motoring morons did they even try and in ''Driving Mad'' he brings us a fictional sample sell them any other time of their eccentricities. Well, I'm pretty certain that they're fictional - but these days you never know...the year? [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783062584</amazonuk!-- Doescher -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Mario Giordano"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|titleleft|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions159474985X]]|rating=4|genre=Crime|summarystyle=Poldi had not long been widowed when she decided to move from Bavaria to Sicily with "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the intention of drinking herself to death. She could, of course, have done this in Germany, but she felt that a sea view was essentialSeventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star. Once there, new friendsjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, family already resident on the island and the corpse of in a young mangalaxy far away, his face blown off by there was a shotgunman called William Shakespeare, whom she found on the local beachwho was able to create a series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, intervened to give her life some meaningrulers most evil and rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy. For a while she was a suspect, but that (and her wig) were no obstacle to her falling You may or may not have noticed the cinematic version of his original stage play for Commissario Vito Montana who was assigned to investigate ''The Force Doth Awaken'', but here at last we get the case. Assisting him (or having him assist her) came naturally actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to Poldi and -before long there was an investigative droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, and personal partnershippeople keeping it in the family til it hurts. At least so far as Poldi was concerned.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908524693</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Grady Hendrix|title= My Best FriendAnd if you need further encouragement, don't forget his audience only demanded three parts of Henry VI – here the series is so popular we's Exorcismre on to part seven – surely making this over twice as good… [[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] <!-- Goss -->|rating= 5-|genrestyle= Horror"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Goss_600.jpg|summaryleft|link=1988, Charleston, South Carolinahttps://www.amazon. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth gradeco. But after an evening of skinnyuk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-dipping goes disatrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act...different. She's moody. She's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she's nearby. Abby's investigation leads her to some startling discoveries - and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship enough to beat the devil?21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785942719]]  |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1594748624</amazonuk>}}{{newreview"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|author= Kevin MacNeil|title=The Brilliant and Forever|rating= 3.5|genre= Humour[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies]]===|summary= You know sometimes when someone tells a joke, everyone else laughs, and you're sat there wondering what was so funny?[[image:4.5star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1846973376</amazonuk>}}Category:{{{newreviewrating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|author= Christopher FowlerChildren's Rhymes and Verse]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|title= Bryant and MayScience Fiction]], [[:Category: Strange TideHumour|rating= 3.5Humour]]|genre= Crime|summary= The thirteenth outing for Bryant Consider the Doctor. Just how many birthday and May is looking very much like it will be their last. Arthur Bryant is on compassionate leave whilst tests are continuingChristmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, which are likely were he to confirm that he is suffering from Alzheimer's. His condition is worsening almost by 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 day, memory lapses are morphing into full-scale hallucinations.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857523422</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Kevin Smith|title=The Voyage life of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and enemies. As luck would have it, he has the Dolphin|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Dublin 1916: Among the unrest and anti-British feeling worsened by the threat of conscription into a war seen as nothing space in his TARDIS to stock up in advance, so my advice to do with the Irishhim – sorry, Trinity College faculty has other distractions. They'd like a trophy; the skeleton of an Irish 'giant' her – would be to be precise. The only glitch is that the main trophy contender, Bernard MacNeill's skeleton, is somewhere difficult pop along to access his local Earth-based book emporium and all seasoned explorers are otherwise engagedget himself ready. There may be hope though. They turn to FitzmauriceAnd if you're working on a shorter timescale, with a student not good enough for anything else. Fitzmaurice agreesshorter lifespan, picking his friends Crozier and Rafferty to go with him. So… ''Gentlementhinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, lace up your strongest boots and pack your warmest underwear – we're all off to well my advice is pretty much the bloody Arctic!'' Whether battle cry or epitaph, three men same. [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and a dog… and an iguana… are going anyway.Russell T Davies|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910124826</amazonuk!-- Ingram -->|amazonus=<amazonus>1910124826</amazonus>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle=Tony Hawks"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|left|titlelink=Once Upon a Time in the West… Countryhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  |ratingstyle=3"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Travel==[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of a relief when I have often complained in a jokey voice to my partner about life in the sticks, encountered Annie Ingram and the way she moved me from an innerher cocker spaniel Kammie. You see, Annie knows something which has been self-city flat evident to slumming it in the suburbs me for a long time: dogs are perfectly capable of communicating with fewer busses, no takeaways within walking-humans and-keeping-not just on a level of food-hot distance!, and no 'Polish' shops for a can of beer whenever you fancy onewalk! or play!. Things are different with Tony HawksYou do require extensive training to become fluent, as here he has purposefully decided but most dogs will be perfectly willing to up sticks from London give their time to Somewhere, Devon – a tiny village where teach you and all you have to do is listen. Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and the people who built pair have allowed us to share some of their own homes decades ago still live in them, where slugs are a lot more of a problem for the wannabe lettuceconversations. [[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]] <!-- Harris -grower than they are for the metropolitan commuter, and where village halls have the power to turn you into both a Pol Pot dictator if you get on their committee and into a quivering, bruise-inducing wreck if you're the wrong gender at a Zumba class…>|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444794809</amazonuk>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle=Marian Keyes"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Making It Up As I Go Along|rating=4[[image:Harris_Glass.5jpg|genrelink=Entertainmenthttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|==Oh, how the book reviewing gods like to give, and equally like to take away. Here before me is a brand, spanking new collection =[[The Breaking of journalism Liam Glass by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but it's a proof copy, so there's no photo of the authorCharles Harris]]=== [[image:3star. Even if over jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Teenager Liam Glass is mugged and stabbed yards from his Camden flat. As the years I have stopped reading her novelsboy lies comatose, I have always turned to desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the author picture to remind myself such sights exist in this world. Himself is inside scoop, tired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a lucky manmissing tape, harried politician Jamila Hasan fights for sure. But beyond sounding like a letchre-election, what can I say about this – the beauty's third large dose of essaysdistraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, web columns and other journalism? I can start with agreeing that I am not gym-owner Royland simply finds himself in the wrong place at the target audiencewrong time. We follow this host of ensemble characters in a bleak, but it's easy enough to see from these pages exactly what the target iskaleidoscopic satire of modern media. 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[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris|Full Review]] <!-- LENTE -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lente_10.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0718182529<http://amazonuk>}}www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] {{newreview|authorstyle= Jean"vertical-align: top; text-Yves Ferrialign: left;"|title= Asterix and 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 you [[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Nine comedians are an adult. I used invited to love Asterix as a childremote Caribbean island under the guise of working with Dustin Walker, but now that I reread them I can't help but wonder whya comedic legend. Each fits neatly into one of the archetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, the washed-up has-been who has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, 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 Scrollrising female star with a new stand-up special coming soon; Dante, so Iwho went from being a kid on the streets to the hardest working road comic in the business; Oliver, the child-like prop comic who can'd definitely say that this was t get any respect from his peers; Janet, the insult comic who is past her prime; TJ, the nightly variety show host with a hit.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1510100458</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Spadge Whittaker|title=Braver Than Britainreputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, Occasionally|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=In which Spadge researches Britainthe ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character ''s top ten fears and faces them all over Billy the course of Contractor'' is a far cry from his real personality as a yearposh millionaire. WeOf course, all nine agree because 're quite a fearful society, you know. And 'when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and asks for your help, what the things we fear most hell else are, in orderyou going to say?'' [[Ten Dead Comedians: heights (acrophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia).|amazonuk=A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] <amazonuk>0993429904</amazonuk!-- Scott -->}}|-{{newreview| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|authorlink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref= Mike Bullen|titlenosim?tag= Trustthebookbag-21]]|rating= 4|genre= General Fiction|summarystyle= Greg and Amanda are happy"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Elizabeth, William. Unmarried, but together thirteen years and with two young daughters, they are very much in love. Dan and Sarah aren't so fortunate. Their marriage is going through the motions, and they're staying together for the sake of their troubled teenage sonMe by S Lynn Scott]]=== [[image:4. 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 dream5star. As secrets and betrayals threaten to send both relationships out of control, there's only one thing that can keep everything from falling apartjpg|link=Category: Trust|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk>{{{rating}}}Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]{{newreview|author=Dan Rhodes|title=When Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, a husband and a job. Then comes the Professor Got Stuck in day when ordinariness flies out of the Snow|rating=4window.5|genre=General Fiction|summary= Two people are on a train on their way to, of all things, a WI meeting where It's not a coincidence that it's the same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in the ladies of All Bottoms will be lectured on pantry and the non-existence Bard of GodAvon in her bath. One of the two people is Professor Richard DawkinsWhat's she going to do? Well, rampant atheist, hectoring scientist chappieElizabeth and Will have their own ideas about that! [[Elizabeth, William... and allMe by S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] <!-- Rodford --round devotee of ''Deal or No Deal''. The other is Smee, his mono>|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-named assistant, amanuensis or 'male secretary'align: center;"|[[image:Rodford_Surgeon. 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|link=http://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/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-inalign: top; text-the-wool non-believer has to be housed align: left;"|===[[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by a retired vicar and his wifeE G Rodford]]=== [[image:4star. This clash of titanic opinionsjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], peppered with social faux pas aplenty will provide for a particularly English kind [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] In the second instalment of farcical comedythis series, but one with the legs Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a well-known local man to go as far as any other Good Books have reached in the past…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Rob Temple|title=Very British Problems Abroad|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=Meettrack down some missing valuables. Bill Galbraith, a world-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a popular medical television programme, if you haven't already, the phenomenon has had his briefcase stolen by his live-in domestic servant, Aurora. According to Galbraith, this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the Very British Problemhospital. In this format they're in pithy George agrees to look into the theft, assuming it will be a relatively easy and straightforward case – little comments (ofdoes he know, ooh, about 140 characters in length, for some reason…) and detail the minor things in life that we like nothing more than to inflate he's about to enter a major factor world of life. They can involve manners, staring at things until they mend themselves, hitting things ditto, or the fact that nobody apart from you and I know how to queue properly. And if the idea hits the world outside our shores, then – well, you certainly have a book full of content regarding our attitude and ineptitude abroaddeceit and dysfunction.[[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk!-- Jordan -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Fraser McAlpine"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jordan_Tiny.jpg|titlelink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1760293814/ref=nosim?tag=Stuff Brits Likethebookbag-21]]  |ratingstyle=4"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Humour==[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|summarylink= With over 100 chapters on different aspects of Britain and Britishness, this book is both fascinating and hilarious. Just looking at the list of subjects is enough to produce a sardonic twist of that stiff upper lipCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: the chapters cover topics that range from offal to curryWomen's Fiction|Women's Fiction]], from pedantry to banter, from conkers to rugby. There may be many chapters but this is no academic tome - each chapter is just two to three pages long[[:Category:Humour|Humour]] As predicted by Caroline and Janice's mother on Caroline and Henry's wedding day, each their marriage is written with endearing affectionover, each is easy albeit 15 years and satisfying - and quirkily funny - two daughters further along than predicted. Indeed, this is definitely not a good weekend for Janice to readbe babysitting at Caroline's house.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= John Samuel|title= What I Tell You in There's the split and the awkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a start. Then there's that mistaken identity moment involving the Dark|rating= 3neighbours.5|genre= Humour|summary=A man called Will At least Janice is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate to expose his company's dodgy dealings to the press. Overcome with doubt well adjusted and fear, he goes to kill himselfover her ex-husband Alec. But, at the exact moment he attaches his noose to the back She still dreams of the doorhim, he is saved. By a curious housemate or a concerned girlfriendyes, but it's so over! Just as well really… guess who's at the door? No[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by an Angel. Not the whiteToni Jordan|Full Review]] <!-- Taylor -->|-feathered guardian Angel you may expect, but one who wishes to help Will achieve his ends, and so possess the body of the hapless Will in order to finish what he started. It goes without saying that the Angel is hoping things go better than they did with the last guy he possessed – a hapless young man from Galilee called Jesus…|amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>0715650505<"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178475515X/amazonuk>ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle= John Niven|title"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|= ==[[The Sunshine Cruise CompanyLife of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== |rating= [[image:4.55star.jpg|genrelink= Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Humour|summary= Susan Frobisher and Julie Wickham live in a small Dorset townHumour]] Meet the Isles of Scilly. Friends since school, (I know they live fairly uneventful lives should be called that – Susan has a lovely house and the author provides a lengthy marriage handy guide to accountant Barrythe etiquette of their name, whereas Julie is doing slightly less well – living in a council flat their nature and working in an old peoplelocation, etc.) For our more distant readers, they's home. When Barry is found dead trussed up re several chunks of granite rock out in a sex dungeonthe Atlantic, it transpires that he has been leading a hidden life for yearswhere Cornwall is pointing, and his expensive fetishes lead to the bank moving to take Susanwith just 2,200 permanent residents. They's home. Struck by both desperation and a sense of injusticere big on tourism, Sue and Julie conspire big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is bad enough to turn any car to rob a bank, taking along their friend Jill – a devout Christian conflicted due to lack of money rust bucket within years. They're so wee, and a terminally ill grandsonso idyllic-seeming, especially at night, and Ethel – you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a foul mouthed resident of the nursing home longing for adventurepolice presence.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023183</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Marie Phillips|title=The Table Of Less Valued Knights|rating=4But there is – at least two working at any one time.5|genre=Fantasy|summary=Sir Humphrey And one of them in recent years has been demoted from King Arthur's Round Table Colin Taylor, who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, which has brought to life all the Table whimsical comedy of Lesser Valued Knightshis work. [[The only way to get his comfier seat back is to redeem himself via a questLife of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] <!-- Lloyd -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lloyd_Twas. Therefore when damsel Elaine seeks help to find her kidnapped fiancé, Humphrey and his ward, the teenage giant Conrad, eagerly set forthjpg|link=http://www.amazon. Meanwhile in the kingdom of Tuft, new Queen Martha has run away after a disastrous wedding to… a… well… disastrous Prince Edwinco. She may not realise it yet, but she too will have a job for Humphrey!uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>0099555875</amazonuk>}}{{newreview"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|author=Tim Flannery|title=The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish|rating=3|genre=Historical Fiction[['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|summarylink=Meet Archie Meek. HeCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It's about Christmas Eve and Mum has arranged everything. All she now has to leave do is await the Venus Islands, where he's lived for arrival of the last five years, relatives and return the food shopping delivery. Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the potential to Sydney, where heruin everything. [['ll take his office in Twas the museum Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and fill it with all the cultural artefacts he's found and wildlife he's plucked or pickled. That's not to ignore the fact he'll count as something quite alien himself, with his filledEmlyn Rees|Full Review]] <!-- Phinn -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-out frame, nearly allalign: top; text-over suntan and totemic tattoo, in amongst other changes to his bodyalign: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin. 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 artworkjpg|left|link=http://www. And some of the curators he wishes to work alongside have vanishedamazon. 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 toco.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?|amazonuktag=<amazonuk>1922079308</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]{{newreview|authorstyle=Roman Dirge"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||title===[[The Cat with a Really Big Head|ratingVirgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]===3.5|genre=Graphic Novels[[image:4.5star.jpg|summarylink= 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 Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]] Christmas in our house is the answer time we tend to the second question is 'none – yet'get on a plane and head to either sun or snow, scratch anywhere that last word. The title piece in this collection isfar, by far away from the author's own admissionmadness at home, his imagining of last minute dashes to the Joseph Merrick (the 'Elephant Man') of the feline world – who struggles to sneak up behind shops on Christmas Eve, and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, nor a mouse when mere 36 hours. But I do remember the shadow feeling of his head is a total giveawayChristmas when I was younger, and who can hardly even eat back when it was magical, and back when you knew exactly what the season would bring with dignity as bending down to his bowl would break his neckcarol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. If that's too dark or oddball for youThis book is an anthology of those moments, try and it took me right back to the second major piece, which has wonder of Christmas as a most revealing foreword – ''Dedicated to a certain girl… I hope your life is filled with wonderful accomplishments, love and all the magic you desire… - But I hope your death is slow and horriblechild.[[The Virgin Mary''s Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782762876</amazonuk!-- North -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Val Hennessy"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Not Far From Dreamland|rating=4[[image:North_Romeo.5jpg|genrelink=General Fictionhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356508536/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;"|===[[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North]]=== [[image:3.5star. What Ronald ''has'' got is a roof that leaks (there's good reason why his home is called 'the shack'), a dog jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] For all those who is going bald (in patches) think tragedy plots are too restricted and money that's in very short supplyprescribed, read on. On In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the plus side he has friendsbottle. Likewise, mostly platonic and usually in much the same boat as Ronaldshe could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. But are they downheartedAnd to what result? Well, they are occasionallyhappy marriage and a kid called Ben, but mostly theybecause the leads have just banged people're generously optimistic s heads together and out to make stopped the most of what they've gotquarrelling, usually bought from charity shops and jumble sales. ''Not Far From Dreamland'' is the story of or Death by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a year Lady M (2012her) in the life of Ronald Tonks, his friends . [[Romeo and relatives./or Juliet by Ryan North|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0704373874</amazonuk>Full Review]]}}{{newreview|author=Harry Harrison|title=Bill, the Galactic Hero|rating=3.5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=Meet Bill. He's a simple farmer – well, he ''is'' taking a correspondence course in being a Technical Fertiliser Operator – but fate has something else in store. And so does the mechanised, technological, industrial military, which needs several billion grunts to fight the Chingers, in mankind's first inter<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --galactic war. Still, at least he gets medals just for signing up. After that it's all downhill, and the likes of Petty Chief Officer Deathwish Drang can only make that a straight line down. Really, what hope is there?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147320531X</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Ian Doescher|title=William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace|rating=4.5|genre=Humour|summary= Join us, good gentles, 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 to your midichlorians: The plays the thing, wherein you'll catch the rise of Anakin!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594748063</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Attaboy|title=The Book of Hugs|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=A hug's a hug, OK? You either do, or you don't. Some people might be a little more enthusiastic about the process whilst others are more elegant in the execution of the hug, but basically you just get on and do it and then forget about it, right?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0867197978</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Christopher Fowler|title= Bryant and May – The Burning Man|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary= The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) has a new set of overlords. For reasons that were explored in the previous couple of outings they have been transferred to the City Of London Police. The Met are still the big players in the area. City of London Police only police 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, by and large, either too rich to need to steal, or too smart to have to do so on the streets.>|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857522043</amazonuk>}}