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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding=Ryan North"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->|title=Romeo and/or Juliet<!-- van LENTE -->|rating=3.5-|genrestyle=Humour"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|summarylink=For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribed, read onhttp://www.amazon.co. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the bottle. Likewise, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. And to what resultuk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim? Well, happy marriage and a kid called Ben, because the leads have just banged people's heads together and stopped the quarrelling, or Death tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her)Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0356508536</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|author= Gervase PhinnCrime]], [[:Category:Humour|title= The Virgin Mary's Got NitsHumour]]|rating= 4.5|genre= Humour|summary= Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on Comic-Cons are a plane place of wonder and head to either sun or snowsanctuary for many people, anywhere that is farand when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, far away from he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the madness at homechance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. However, when his rival is found dead, last minute dashes Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the shops on Christmas Evecon in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a monthin doing so, nor may just unravel a mere 36 hoursdark secret behind a legendary industry creator. But 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[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]]  <!-- Coulton -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588. This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a childjpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1444779400</amazonuk>"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|}}{{newreview|author= Kieran Crowley|title= Shoot|rating= 4[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]===|genre= Crime[[image:4star.jpg|summarylink= I make something of a habit of being late to discover good writersCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], in this case getting to Crowley after he [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Lex Coulton's debut novel is no longer with usa story about mistakes, failures, and relationships. The result main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is that what a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, and is billed as ''an F.X. Shepherd mystery'' grappling with all the optimism increasingly eccentric behaviour of there being more to come has the poignancy of being, if not the last of a short line, certainly one of a fewher mother. F.X. Shepherd – he doesnThis relationship is complicated by the fact that Frances't like his first name and prefers just s father disappeared at sea when she was five years old. [[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]] <!-- van LENTE -->|-| style="Shepherdwidth: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;" is, technically, a columnist|[[image:1683690346. He's been sacked by one New York newspaper and is writing a weekly column for anotherjpg|link=http://www.amazon.co. I don't know much about journalism, but I'm guessing one column a week doesn't pay much as a rule…which explains why Shepherd's soap-washed-fouluk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-mouthed editor (read the book, you'll see what I mean) expects him to turn in some genuine journalism as wellalign: front page, seat of your pants stuff. left;"||amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783296518</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Gray Jolliffe|title=[[The First Ever Christmas: And Who to Blame|ratingCon Artist by Fred Van Lente]]===5|genre=Humour[[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=If I tell you a secretCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], will you promise not to tell anyone? Well, I really don't like Christmas[[:Category: it's my least favourite time Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a place of year wonder and whilst some sanctuary for many people count down to the day itself, I look forward to that point and when I can say that itComic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he's all over looking for another year. It's all too commercialised for me, both that and sanctuary with a coating other fans and creators, plus the chance of faux religionmaybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. I've never However, when his rival is found it in the least funny - that dead, Mike is, until I found Gray Jolliffe's ''The First Ever Christmas: And Who's forced to Blame''. Amazinglynavigate 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, I'd never encountered Gray Jolliffe eitherin doing so, but I'm may just unravel a convert to his skills as dark secret behind a cartoonist (if not to the idea of Christmas) after reading this collection of Christmas-themed cartoons from his archivelegendary industry creator.[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445663503</amazonuk!-- Curran -->}}{{newreview|author=Jonathan Pugh-|titlestyle=Pugh's New Year's Resolutions"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690133.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=If there==[[My Lady's one thing that's for certain, it's that the world is changingChoosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris]]=== [[image:4star. We're dating online, we're communicating in ways that make email seem redundantjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], and when we're shopping we just tell [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] You are a website where lass of twenty eight. Plucky, penniless and when it can be delivered, and how much leeway they have to swap our wishes for whatever it in Regency era London the race is they do bring us. But those changes are also supposed on to be affecting us – we're supposed to use find a smart watch suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to tell us if welife as an eternal spinster. Along your journey you're moving or not, we have ll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to keep up with the latest fadssave you from a life alone, and we're supposed fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to prick our ears up suitors though, you'll have to make the ultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wholesome, rugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, or the mad, bad and terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. With orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and take note when ancient Egyptian artifcats along the proverbial way, it'theys clear this isn' change their minds about what we're supposed t going to eatbe an easy decision...[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Jester -->1780722885</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Luke Rhinehart-|titlestyle= Invasion"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|left|link= 4https://www.amazon.co.5uk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1510704361]] |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;"|===[[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester]]=== [[image:4star. Alien Louie follows fisherman Billy Morton home one day, and he jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and gets made the offer of his family quickly come to love the playful alienlifetime; immortality. But when Louie starts using their computer to hack into government and corporate networksWe follow Michael, stealing millions from banks to give to others, they realise that Louie a grim reaper and his friends mean trouble. As Billy Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and his family begin Naff (a roller coaster ride of fame stoner in the records department) as they grapple with their long lives and fortune, as well as finding a ranking high clean surface to sit on the FBI's most wanted list, the Government soon decides that these aliens are terrorists, and must be eliminated. Whilst the aliens are playing games they hope will help humans to see the insanity of the American political, economic and military systems, they soon come to realise that the Powers that Be don't play gamesin their flat. [[Forever After: they make war. a dark comedy by David Jester|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk!-- Stibbe -->1785651757</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Rod Green-|titlestyle=Only Fools and Horses"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: The Peckham Archivescenter;"|[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|ratingleft|link=4https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]  |genrestyle=Entertainment "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=We are in the world of one of the country's most famous and well-loved sitcoms – even if it was sort-of killed off for Christmas 2003==[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]=== [[image:4.5star. Yes, there have been specials sincejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], and more repeats to clog up [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Christmas – the BBC schedules than is really pukka, but very few people failed to succumb to its charms at one time or anotherof traditional trauma. I'm sure there You only have been books before now celebrating to think about the stony-faced reception of ''turkey for that'' drop through – once upon a time it was leaving it sat on the open bar hatchdownstairs loo to defrost overnight, and ''if thatfailed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Nowadays it's all having to make sure it' chandelier scene, s suitably free-range and organic – but this is much more meatynot too organic that you can go and visit it, and get too friendly with it to want to eat it. Purporting to be the family archivesChristmas, found dumped in Nelson Mandela Housethough, the documents here were passed from pillar to postis of course also a time of great boons. It's cash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, from one council worker in it was always a department godsend for postmen with all the thank-you letters to aunties you saw twice a clumsy acronym to another, from them to decade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as a child, and as for the police makers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, did they even try and now here they are being published for their social history worth. Will enough readers find sell them any other time of worth, as the series quietly celebrates its 35th birthdayyear?[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849909245</amazonuk!-- Doescher -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Mara Wilson"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|titleleft|link= Where Am I Nowhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/159474985X?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fameie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  |ratingstyle= 5"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre= Autobiography|summary= Mara Wilson has always felt a little young and a little out of place=[[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: as Star Wars Part 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 squadSeventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, a valley girl in New York and a neurotic in Californiagalaxy far away, and an adult the world still remembers as there was a little girlman called William Shakespeare, who was able to create a series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy. Tackling everything from how she first learned about sex on You may or may not have noticed the set cinematic version of his original stage play for ''Melrose Place,The Force Doth Awaken'' to losing her mother , but here at a young agelast we get the actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to getting her first kiss (or was it kisses?) on a celebrity canoe trip-before droids anew, to not being cute enough to make it returning heroes from elsewhere in Hollywoodhis oeuvre, these essays tell the story and people keeping it in the family til it hurts. And if you need further encouragement, don't forget his audience only demanded three parts of one young womanHenry VI – here the series is so popular we's journey from accidental fame re on to relative obscurity, but also illuminate a universal strugglepart seven – surely making this over twice as good… [[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: learning to accept yourself, and figuring out who you are and where you belong. Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0143128221</amazonuk!-- Goss -->}}{{newreview|author= Tony Stuart-|titlestyle= Writing Lines"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Goss_600.jpg|ratingleft|link= 4https://www.amazon.co.5uk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785942719]] |genre=Humour|summarystyle= George Gordon Wentworth (1946"vertical-2011align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) lived a humdrum lifeby James Goss and Russell T Davies]]=== [[image:4.5star. He was a barely adequate teacher in a fairly world renowned independent school in Kent jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|Children's Rhymes and kept a copious diary of his quotidian existence. Most of what he recorded was dross. HoweverVerse]], amongst all the utterly uninteresting tailings of his life there were some nuggets [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the Doctor. Just how many birthday and grains Christmas gifts must he have to catch the attention. Author Tony Stuart has created these amusing anecdotes, panning them hand out over twenty six episodes which give us the best of Wentworth – comedy gold. From losing all the pupils each year, were he to keep in touch with even half of his charge on companions? He would certainly need a school trip to being arrested on suspicion few novelty gifts for some of terrorism; from waking up in bed between the married couple the morning after their weddingthem, say, for example, to destroying a ski run; from appearing full-frontal naked in whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a sheep-farmers' gazette to triggering an air-sea rescue; Wentworth was, blinkered Time Lord and befuddled, the subject – that of some of these his friends and so many more unlikely but highly amusing eventsenemies.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524634441</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Graham Fulbright|title=Driving Mad: Maniacs, Morons and As luck would have it, he has the Advanced Motorist's Club|rating=3.5|genre=Humour|summary=I passed my driving test when John F Kennedy was space in the White House and I've recently had his TARDIS to reapply for stock up in advance, so my driving licence having achieved a venerable age. When I started driving the roads were kinderadvice to him – sorry, more forgiving places her – would be to pop along to his local Earth- or put another way, the idiots were fewer based book emporium and further betweenget himself ready. I donAnd if you't know how long Graham Fulbright has been drivingre working on a shorter timescale, but he certainly knows his motoring morons and in ''Driving Mad'' he brings us with a fictional sample of their eccentricities. Wellshorter lifespan, I'm and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well my advice is pretty certain that they're fictional - but these days you never know..much the same.[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783062584</amazonuk!-- Ingram -->}}{{newreview|author=Mario Giordano-|titlestyle=Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|genre=Crimeleft|summarylink=Poldi had not long been widowed when she decided to move from Bavaria to Sicily with the intention of drinking herself to deathhttps://www.amazon. She could, of course, have done this in Germany, but she felt that a sea view was essentialco. Once there, new friends, family already resident on the island and the corpse of a young man, his face blown off uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Conversations with Kammie by a shotgun, whom she found on the local beach, intervened to give her life some meaningAnnie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star. For a while she was a suspectjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], but that ([[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of a relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and her wig) were no obstacle cocker spaniel Kammie. You see, Annie knows something which has been self-evident to her falling me for Commissario Vito Montana who was assigned to investigate the case. Assisting him (a long time: dogs are perfectly capable of communicating with humans and not just on a level of food!, walk! or having him assist her) came naturally play!. You do require extensive training to become fluent, but most dogs will be perfectly willing to give their time to Poldi teach you and before long there was an investigative all you have to do is listen. Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and personal partnership. At least so far as Poldi was concernedthe pair have allowed us to share some of their conversations.[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Harris -->1908524693</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Grady Hendrix-|titlestyle= My Best Friend's Exorcism"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating= 5[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|genrelink= Horror|summary=1988, Charleston, South Carolinahttp://www.amazon.co. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinnyuk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-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 align: left;"|===[[The Breaking of Abby and Gretchen will be determined Liam Glass by a single questionCharles Harris]]=== [[image: Is their friendship enough to beat the devil?3star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1594748624</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]{{newreview|author= Kevin MacNeil|title=The Brilliant Teenager Liam Glass is mugged and Forever|rating= 3stabbed yards from his Camden flat.5|genre= Humour|summary= You know sometimes when someone tells As the boy lies comatose, desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the inside scoop, tired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a jokemissing tape, everyone else laughsharried politician Jamila Hasan fights for re-election, distraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, and you're sat there wondering what was so funny?gym-owner Royland simply finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. We follow this host of ensemble characters in a bleak, kaleidoscopic satire of modern media. [[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846973376</amazonuk!-- LENTE -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Christopher Fowler"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lente_10.jpg|titlelink= Bryant and Mayhttp: Strange Tide//www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]|rating= 3.5|genre= Crime|summarystyle= The thirteenth outing for Bryant and May is looking very much like it will be their last"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. Arthur Bryant is on compassionate leave whilst tests are continuing, which jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Nine comedians are likely invited to confirm that he is suffering from Alzheimer's. His condition is worsening almost by a remote Caribbean island under the dayguise of working with Dustin Walker, memory lapses are morphing a comedic legend. Each fits neatly into full-scale hallucinations.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857523422</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Kevin Smith|title=The Voyage of the Dolphin|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Dublin 1916one of the archetypal comic stereotypes: Among Steve, the unrest and antiwashed-British feeling worsened by up has-been who has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, the threat of conscription into rising female star with a new stand-up special coming soon; Dante, who went from being a war seen as nothing kid on the streets to do with the Irishhardest working road comic in the business; Oliver, Trinity College faculty has other distractions. Theythe child-like prop comic who can'd like a trophyt get any respect from his peers; Janet, the skeleton of an Irish 'giant' to be precise. insult comic who is past her prime; The only glitch is that TJ, the main trophy contendernightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, Bernard MacNeill's skeleton, is somewhere difficult to access the ultra-feminist YouTuber and all seasoned explorers are otherwise engaged. There may be hope though. They turn to Fitzmaurice, Blogger with a student not good enough for anything else. Fitzmaurice agreeschip on her shoulder; and William, picking his friends Crozier and Rafferty to go with him. So… whose redneck character ''Gentlemen, lace up your strongest boots and pack your warmest underwear – we're all off to Billy the bloody Arctic!Contractor'' Whether battle is a far cry or epitaphfrom his real personality as a posh millionaire. Of course, three men and all nine agree because ''when God almighty walks down on a dog… beam of light and an iguana… are asks for your help, what the hell else are you going anyway.to say?'' [[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910124826</amazonuk!-- Scott -->|amazonus=<amazonus>1910124826</amazonus>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle=Tony Hawks"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|titlelink=Once Upon a Time in the West… Countryhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]|rating=3|genre=Travel|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-align: top; text-city flat to slumming it in the suburbs with fewer bussesalign: left;"|===[[Elizabeth, no takeaways within walking-William... and-keeping-food-hot distanceMe by S Lynn Scott]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, a husband and no a job. Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of the window. It'Polishs not a coincidence that it' shops for a can s the same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in the pantry and the Bard of beer whenever you fancy oneAvon in her bath. Things are different with Tony Hawks, as here he has purposefully decided What's she going to up sticks from London to Somewheredo? Well, Devon – a tiny village where the people who built Elizabeth and Will have their own homes decades ago still live in themideas about that! [[Elizabeth, where slugs are a lot more of a problem for the wannabe lettuceWilliam... and Me by S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] <!-- Rodford -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[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]]===Entertainment [[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=OhCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], how [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] In the book reviewing gods like to givesecond instalment of this series, and equally like Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a well-known local man to take awaytrack down some missing valuables. Here before me is Bill Galbraith, a brand, spanking new collection of journalism by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but itworld-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a proof copypopular medical television programme, has had his briefcase stolen by his live-in domestic servant, so there's no photo of the authorAurora. Even if over According to Galbraith, this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the years I have stopped reading her novels, I have always turned hospital. George agrees to look into the author picture to remind myself such sights exist in this world. Himself is theft, assuming it will be a lucky man, for sure. But beyond sounding like a letchrelatively easy and straightforward case – little does he know, what can I say about this – the beautyhe's third large dose about to enter a world of essays, web columns deceit 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 isdysfunction. [[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford|Full Review]] <!-- Jordan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jordan_Tiny.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co. 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>uk/dp/1760293814/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=[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]===|genre= For Sharing[[image:5star.jpg|summarylink=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 child, but now that I reread them I canCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women't help but wonder whys Fiction]], because they are so full of hilarious jokes that I definitely wouldn[[:Category:Humour|Humour]] As predicted by Caroline and Janice't have understood when I was younger. I laughed loud and hard to myself twice within the first two pages of Asterix s mother on Caroline and the Missing Scroll, so IHenry'd s wedding day, their marriage is over, albeit 15 years and two daughters further along than predicted. Indeed, this is definitely say that this was not a hitgood weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline's house.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1510100458</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Spadge Whittaker|title=Braver Than Britain, Occasionally|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=In which Spadge researches Britain's top ten fears and faces them all over There's the split and the course awkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a yearstart. WeThen there're quite a fearful societys that mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. She still dreams of him, you know. And the things we fear most areyes, in order: heights (acrophobia)but it's so over! Just as well really… guess who's at the door? [[Our Tiny, snakes (ophidiophobia), public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia).Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan|Full Review]] <!-- Taylor -->|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993429904</amazonuk>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle= Mike Bullen"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|titlelink= Trusthttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |ratingstyle= 4"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre= General Fiction|summary= Greg and Amanda are happy=[[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4. Unmarried, but together thirteen years and with two young daughters, they are very much in love5star. Dan and Sarah aren't so fortunatejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the Isles of Scilly. Their marriage is going through (I know they should be called that – the motions, and they're staying together for author provides a handy guide to the sake etiquette of their troubled teenage son. Following a business conference away from homename, one bad decision sends a happy couple into turmoiltheir nature and location, and turns an unhappy couple into love's young dreametc. As secrets and betrayals threaten to send both relationships out of control) For our more distant readers, therethey's only one thing that can keep everything from falling apart: Trust|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Dan Rhodes|title=When re several chunks of granite rock out in the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow|rating=4Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents.5|genre=General Fiction|summary= Two people are on a train They're big on their way totourism, of all things, a WI meeting where the ladies of All Bottoms will be lectured and big on growing flowers in the non-existence of God. One of tropical climate the two people Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is Professor Richard Dawkins, rampant atheist, hectoring scientist chappiebad enough to turn any car to a rust bucket within years. They're so wee, and allso idyllic-round devotee of ''Deal or No Deal''. The other is Smeeseeming, his mono-named assistantespecially at night, amanuensis or 'male secretary'. Smee will come to the fore when the weather sets in and the train journey has to you can be mistaken for thinking there would be abandoned some way short of its ultimate destination, Upper Bottomno need for a police presence. Instead the pair fetch up But there is – at least two working at the isolated yet friendly community any one time. And one of Market Hortonthem in recent years has been Colin Taylor, and the only option for accommodation is taken who has done his official duty – yesalongside maintaining a well-known online existence, the died-in-the-wool non-believer which has brought to be housed by a retired vicar and life all the whimsical comedy of his wifework. This clash [[The Life 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…Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk!-- Lloyd -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Rob Temple"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|titlelink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=Very British Problems Abroadnosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |rating=4|genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=Meet, if you haven==[['t already, Twas the phenomenon of the Very British ProblemFight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3.5star. In this format theyjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It're in pithy little comments (of, ooh, about 140 characters in length, for some reason…) s Christmas Eve and detail the minor things in life that we like nothing more than Mum has arranged everything. All she now has to inflate to a major factor do is await the arrival of life. They can involve manners, staring at things until they mend themselves, hitting things ditto, or the fact that nobody apart from you relatives and I know how to queue properlythe food shopping delivery. And if Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the idea hits potential to ruin everything. [['Twas the world outside our shores, then – well, you certainly have a book full of content regarding our attitude Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and ineptitude abroad.Emlyn Rees|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk!-- Phinn -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Fraser McAlpine"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin.jpg|left|titlelink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=Stuff Brits Likethebookbag-21]]|rating=4|genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|summarylink= With over 100 chapters on different aspects of Britain and BritishnessCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], this book [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]] Christmas in our house is both fascinating and hilarious. Just looking at the list of subjects is enough time we tend to produce get on a sardonic twist of that stiff upper lip: the chapters cover topics plane and head to either sun or snow, anywhere that range is far, far away from offal to currythe madness at home, from pedantry last minute dashes to banterthe shops on Christmas Eve, from conkers to rugby. There may be many chapters but this is no academic tome - each chapter is just two to three pages longand food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, each is written with endearing affection, each is easy and satisfying - and quirkily funny - to readnor a mere 36 hours.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= John Samuel|title= What But I Tell You in do remember the Dark|rating= 3.5|genre= Humour|summary=A man called Will is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate to expose his company's dodgy dealings to feeling of Christmas when I was younger, back when it was magical, and back when you knew exactly what the press. Overcome season would bring with doubt carol concerts and fear, he goes to kill himselfschool nativities and Christmas parties. ButThis book is an anthology of those moments, at the exact moment he attaches his noose and it took me right back to the back wonder of the door, he is savedChristmas as a child. By a curious housemate or a concerned girlfriend? No, [[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by an Angel. Not the whiteGervase Phinn|Full Review]] <!-- North -->|-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| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:North_Romeo.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co. 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…|amazonukuk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>0715650505</amazonuk>thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle= John Niven"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title= The Sunshine Cruise Company|rating= 4==[[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North]]=== [[image:3.5star.5jpg|genrelink= Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]|summary= Susan Frobisher and Julie Wickham live in a small Dorset town. Friends since school, they live fairly uneventful lives – Susan has a lovely house For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and a lengthy marriage to accountant Barryprescribed, whereas Julie is doing slightly less well – living in a council flat and working in an old people's homeread on. When Barry is found dead trussed up in a sex dungeon, it transpires In these pages you too will see that he has been leading a hidden life for years, and his expensive fetishes lead Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the bank moving to take Susan's homebottle. Struck by both desperation and a sense Likewise, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of injustice, Sue and Julie conspire junctures. And to rob a bankwhat result? Well, taking along their friend Jill – a devout Christian conflicted due to lack of money happy marriage and a terminally ill grandsonkid called Ben, and Ethel – because the leads have just banged people's heads together and stopped the quarrelling, or Death by Tybalt (him) or a foul mouthed resident of the nursing home longing for adventure.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023183</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewlong life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her). [[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North|author=Marie PhillipsFull Review]]|title=The Table Of Less Valued Knights|rating=4.5|genre=Fantasy|summary=Sir Humphrey has been demoted from King Arthur's Round Table to the Table of Lesser Valued Knights. The only way to get his comfier seat back is to redeem himself via a quest. Therefore when damsel Elaine seeks help to find her kidnapped fiancé, Humphrey and his ward, the teenage giant Conrad, eagerly set forth. Meanwhile in the kingdom of Tuft, new Queen Martha has run away after a disastrous wedding to… a… well… disastrous Prince Edwin. She may not realise it yet, but she too will have a job for Humphrey!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099555875</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Tim Flannery|title=The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish|rating=3|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Meet Archie Meek. He's about to leave the Venus Islands, where he's lived for the last five years, and return to Sydney, where he'll take his office in the museum and fill it with all the cultural artefacts he's found and wildlife he's plucked or pickled. That's not to ignore the fact he'll count as something quite alien himself, with his filled-out frame, nearly all-over suntan and totemic tattoo, in amongst other changes to his body. But what's this? When he gets back, he finds one of the main Venus Islands artefacts that caused him to go there in the first place, a huge, macabre ceremonial fetish mask, purloined as corporate artwork. And some of the curators he wishes to work alongside have vanished. Is the weird society of the museum he's returning to, perchance, even weirder, stranger and more violent than the cannibalistic society he's waving farewell to?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1922079308</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Roman Dirge|title=The Cat with a Really Big Head|rating=3.5|genre=Graphic Novels|summary= 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. The title piece in this collection is, by the author'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 giveaway, 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 second major piece, which has 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 horrible.''|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782762876</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Val Hennessy|title=Not Far From Dreamland|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Ronald Tonks has reached that stage in life which I call upper middle age: you've qualified for your pension but not yet got to the free television licence barrier. What Ronald ''has'' got is a roof that leaks (there's good reason why his home is called 'the shack'), a dog who is going bald (in patches) and money that's in very short supply. On the plus side he has friends, mostly platonic and usually in much the same boat as Ronald. But are they downhearted? Well, they are occasionally, but mostly they're generously optimistic and out to make the most of what they've got, 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=<amazonuk>0704373874</amazonuk>}}{{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>}}