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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- van LENTE -->|author= E G Rodford-|titlestyle= The Surgeon's Case"width: George Kocharyan Mystery 210%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|ratinglink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag= 4thebookbag-21]] |genre= Crime |summarystyle=In the second instalment of this series, Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by a well-known local man to track down some missing valuablesFred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. Bill Galbraithjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], a world[[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts Cons are a popular medical television programmeplace of wonder and sanctuary for many people, has had his briefcase stolen by his liveand when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-in domestic servantCon, Aurora. According to Galbraith, this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the chance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his at the hospitalex. George agrees However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to look into navigate every dark corner of the theft, assuming it will be a relatively easy con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and straightforward case intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – little does he knowMike must prove his innocence and, in doing so, he's about to enter may just unravel a dark secret behind a world of deceit and dysfunction.legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178565005X</amazonuk>Full Review]]}}{{newreview|author=Toni Jordan<!-- Coulton -->|title=Our Tiny, Useless Hearts-|ratingstyle=5"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|genre[[image:1473669588.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=Women's Fictionthebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=As predicted by Caroline and Janice's mother on Caroline and Henry's wedding day, their marriage is over, albeit 15 years and two daughters further along than predicted. Indeed"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], this is definitely not a good weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline[[:Category:Women's house. ThereFiction|Women's the split and the awkwardness of the girlsFiction]] Lex Coulton' schoolteacher being the other woman for s debut novel is a startstory about mistakes, failures, and relationships. Then there's that mistaken identity moment involving The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, and is grappling with the neighboursincreasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. At least Janice This relationship is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. She still dreams of him, yes, but itcomplicated by the fact that Frances's so over! Just as well really… guess who's at the door?father disappeared at sea when she was five years old. [[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1760293814</amazonuk!-- van LENTE -->}}{{newreview|author=Colin Taylor-|titlestyle=The Life of a Scilly Sergeant"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=Travel|summarystyle=Meet the Isles of Scilly"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. (I know they should be called that – the author provides jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a handy guide to the etiquette place of their namewonder and sanctuary for many people, their nature and location, etc.) For our more distant readerswhen Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, theyhe're several chunks s looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the chance of granite rock out in the Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointingmaybe, just maybe reuniting with just 2his ex. However,200 permanent residents. They're big on tourismwhen his rival is found dead, and big on growing flowers Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them order to clear his name – although the weather is bad enough from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to turn any car to a rust bucket within years. They're so weezombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, and in doing so idyllic-seeming, especially at night, you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for may just unravel a dark secret behind a police presencelegendary industry creator. But there is – at least two working at any one time[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] <!-- Curran -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690133. And one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, which has brought to life all the whimsical comedy of his workjpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.|amazonukuk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>178475515X</amazonuk>thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===Josie Lloyd [[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Emlyn ReesLarissa Zageris]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|titlelink='Twas the Fight Before ChristmasCategory: A Parody|{{{rating=3.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|genre=Humour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]]|summary=It's Christmas Eve and Mum has arranged everythingYou are a lass of twenty eight. All she now has to do is await the arrival of the relatives Plucky, penniless and in Regency era London the food shopping delivery. Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the potential race is on to find a suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to ruin everythinglife as an eternal spinster.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472125118</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Ryan North|title=Romeo Along your journey you'll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to save you from a life alone, and/or Juliet|rating=3fired by a rogueish sense for adventure.5|genre=Humour|summary=For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribedWhen it comes to suitors though, read on. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route 'll have to hitting make the bottle. Likewiseultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. And to what result? Wellwholesome, happy marriage rugged and a kid called Bencaring Captain Angus MacTaggart, because or the leads have just banged people's heads together mad, bad and stopped the quarrellingterrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. With orphans, werewolves, or Death by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous womenlost lovers and ancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, such as a it's clear this isn't going to be an easy decision... [[My Lady M (her). 's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0356508536</amazonuk!-- Jester -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Gervase Phinn"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title= The Virgin Mary's Got Nits|rating= 4[[image:Jester_Forever.5jpg|genre= Humourleft|summarylink= Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a plane and head to either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last minute dashes to the shops on Christmas Evehttps://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: a dark comedy by David Jester]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is a cocky and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, nor a mere 36 hours. But I do remember brash young man who dies and gets made the feeling offer of Christmas when I was younger, back when it was magicalhis lifetime; immortality. We follow Michael, a grim reaper and back when you knew exactly what his friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a stoner in the season would bring records department) as they grapple with carol concerts their long lives and school nativities and Christmas parties. This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a childfinding a clean surface to sit on in their flat.[[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444779400</amazonuk!-- Stibbe -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Kieran Crowley"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|title= Shootleft|ratinglink= 4|genrehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241309824?ie= Crime|summaryUTF8&tag= I make something of a habit of being late to discover good writers, in this case getting to Crowley after he is no longer with us. The result is that what is billed as ''an Fthebookbag-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.X5star. Shepherd mystery'' with all the optimism of there being more to come has the poignancy of beingjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], if not [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Christmas – the last of a short line, certainly one time of a fewtraditional trauma. F.X. Shepherd You only have to think about the turkey for that – he doesn't like his first name once upon a time it was leaving it sat on the downstairs loo to defrost overnight, and prefers just "Shepherd" is, technically, a columnistif that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. HeNowadays it's been sacked by one New York newspaper and is writing a weekly column for another. I don't know much about journalism, but I'm guessing one column a week doesn't pay much as a rule…which explains why Shepherdall having to make sure it's soapsuitably free-washed-foul-mouthed editor (read the bookrange and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, you'll see what I mean) expects him and get too friendly with it to want to turn in some genuine journalism as well: front pageeat it. Christmas, though, seat is of your pants stuffcourse also a time of great boons. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783296518</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Gray Jolliffe|title=The First Ever Christmas: And Who It'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 thank-you letters to Blame|rating=5|genre=Humour|summary=If I tell aunties you saw twice a secret, will decade that your parents made you promise not to tell anyone? Wellwrite out in long-hand as a child, and as for the makers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, I really don't like Christmas: it's my least favourite did they even try and sell them any other time of the 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 year. It's all too commercialised for me, with a coating of faux religion. I've never found it in the least funny ? [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe|Full Review]] <!-- Doescher -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text- that is, until I found Gray Jolliffe's ''The First Ever Christmasalign: And Who's to Blame''center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will. Amazingly, I'd never encountered Gray Jolliffe either, but I'm a convert to his skills as a cartoonist (if not to the idea of Christmas) after reading this collection of Christmas-themed cartoons from his archive.jpg|left|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1445663503<https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/amazonuk>159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle=Jonathan Pugh"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||title=Pugh==[[William Shakespeare's New Year's Resolutionsthe Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher]]=== |rating=[[image:4.55star.jpg|genrelink=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] |summary=If there's one thing that's for certain, it's that the world is changing. We're dating onlineA long time ago, we're communicating in ways that make email seem redundanta galaxy far away, and when we're shopping we just tell there was a website where man called William Shakespeare, who was able to create a series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and when it can be delivered, rebellious heroes and how much leeway they have to swap our wishes for whatever it is they do bring usheroines most sturdy. But those changes are also supposed to be affecting us – weYou may or may not have noticed the cinematic version of his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken're supposed to use a smart watch to tell us if we're moving or not, but here at last we have to keep up with get the latest fadsactual script, and we're supposed complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to prick our ears up -before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, and take note when people keeping it in the proverbial family til it hurts. And if you need further encouragement, don'they' change their minds about what wet forget his audience only demanded three parts of Henry VI – here the series is so popular we're supposed on to eat.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]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780722885</amazonuk!-- Goss -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Luke Rhinehart"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Goss_600.jpg|title= Invasionleft|ratinglink= 4https://www.amazon.co.5|genreuk/gp/product/1785942719?ie= Humour |summaryUTF8&tag=Superthebookbag-intelligent furry aliens suddenly appear from another universe. And they've come to earth to have fun. Alien Louie follows fisherman Billy Morton home one day, and he and his family quickly come to love the playful alien. But when Louie starts using their computer to hack into government 21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785942719]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and corporate networks, stealing millions from banks to give to others, they realise that Louie and his friends mean troubleRussell T Davies]]=== [[image:4. As Billy 5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and his family begin a roller coaster ride of fame and fortune, as well as a ranking high on the FBIVerse|Children's most wanted listRhymes and Verse]], the Government soon decides that these aliens are terrorists[[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must be eliminated. Whilst the aliens are playing games they hope will help humans he have to see the insanity of the American politicalhand out each year, economic and military systems, they soon come were he to realise 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 Powers life of a Time Lord and that Be don't play games: they make warof some of his friends and enemies. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785651757</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Rod Green|title=Only Fools As luck would have it, 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 Horses: The Peckham Archives|rating=4|genre=Entertainment |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. Yesget himself ready. And if you're working on a shorter timescale, there have been specials sincewith a shorter lifespan, and more repeats to clog up the BBC schedules than is really pukkathinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, but very few people failed to succumb to its charms at one time or anotherwell my advice is pretty much the same. I'm sure there have been books before now celebrating the stony-faced reception [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of ''that'' drop through the open bar hatch, Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and ''that'' chandelier scene, but this is much more meaty. Purporting to be the family archives, found dumped in Nelson Mandela House, the documents here were passed from pillar to post, from one council worker in a department with a clumsy acronym to another, from them to the police – and now here they are being published for their social history worthRussell T Davies|Full Review]] <!-- Ingram -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co. Will enough readers find them of worth, as the series quietly celebrates its 35th birthdayuk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1849909245</amazonuk>"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|}}===[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]==={{newreview|author= Mara Wilson[[image:4star.jpg|titlelink= Where Am I Now?Category: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame|{{{rating= 5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]|genre= Autobiography|summary= Mara Wilson has always felt It was something of a little young relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and her cocker spaniel Kammie. You see, Annie knows something which has been self-evident to me for a little out of place: as the only child on a film set full long time: dogs are perfectly capable of adults, the first daughter in communicating with humans and not just on a house full level of boysfood!, 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 girlwalk! or play!. Tackling everything from how she first learned about sex on the set of ''Melrose Place,'' You do require extensive training to losing her mother at a young agebecome fluent, but most dogs will be perfectly willing to getting her first kiss (or was it kisses?) on a celebrity canoe trip, give their time to not being cute enough teach you and all you have to make it in Hollywood, these essays tell do is listen. Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and the story of one young woman's journey from accidental fame pair have allowed us to relative obscurity, but also illuminate a universal struggle: learning to accept yourself, and figuring out who you are and where you belongshare some of their conversations. [[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0143128221</amazonuk!-- Harris -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Tony Stuart"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title= Writing Lines[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|ratinglink= 4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris]]=== [[image:3star.jpg|summarylink= George Gordon Wentworth (1946-2011) lived a humdrum life. He was a barely adequate teacher in a fairly world renowned independent school in Kent Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Teenager Liam Glass is mugged and kept a copious diary of stabbed yards from his quotidian existenceCamden flat. Most of what he recorded was dross. HoweverAs the boy lies comatose, amongst all desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the utterly uninteresting tailings of his life there were some nuggets inside scoop, tired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a missing tape, harried politician Jamila Hasan fights for re-election, distraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, and grains to catch gym-owner Royland simply finds himself in the wrong place at the attentionwrong time. Author Tony Stuart has created these amusing anecdotesWe follow this host of ensemble characters in a bleak, panning them out over twenty six episodes which give us the best kaleidoscopic satire of modern media. [[The Breaking of Wentworth – comedy goldLiam Glass by Charles Harris|Full Review]] <!-- LENTE -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lente_10. From losing all the pupils in his charge on a school trip to being arrested on suspicion of terrorismjpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; from waking up in bed between the married couple the morning after their wedding, to destroying a ski runtext-align: left; from appearing full-frontal naked in a sheep-farmers' gazette to triggering an air-sea rescue; Wentworth was, blinkered and befuddled, the subject – of these and so many more unlikely but highly amusing events."||amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524634441</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Graham Fulbright|title=Driving Mad: Maniacs, Morons and the Advanced Motorist's Club|rating[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]===3.5|genre=Humour[[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=I passed my driving test when John F Kennedy was in Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Nine comedians are invited to a remote Caribbean island under the White House and I've recently had to reapply for my driving licence having achieved guise of working with Dustin Walker, a venerable agecomedic legend. When I started driving Each fits neatly into one of the roads were kinderarchetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, more forgiving places the washed- or put another way, the idiots were fewer and further between. I don't know how long Graham Fulbright up has -been drivingwho has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, but he certainly knows his motoring morons and in ''Driving Mad'' he brings us the rising female star with a new stand-up special coming soon; Dante, who went from being a fictional sample of their eccentricities. Wellkid on the streets to the hardest working road comic in the business; Oliver, Ithe child-like prop comic who can'm pretty certain that they're fictional t get any respect from his peers; Janet, the insult comic who is past her prime; TJ, the nightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, the ultra- but these days you never know...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783062584</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Mario Giordano|title=Auntie Poldi and feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character ''Billy 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 deathContractor'' is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. She couldOf course, all nine agree because ''when God almighty walks down on a beam of courselight and asks for your help, have done this in Germany, but she felt that a sea view was essential. Once there, new friends, family already resident on what the island and the corpse of a young man, his face blown off hell else are you going to say?'' [[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by a shotgun, whom she found on the local beach, intervened to give her life some meaning. 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 caseFred Van Lente|Full Review]] <!-- Scott -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|link=http://www. Assisting him (or having him assist her) came naturally to Poldi and before long there was an investigative and personal partnershipamazon. At least so far as Poldi was concernedco.|amazonukuk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>1908524693</amazonuk>thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle= Grady Hendrix|title= My Best Friend's Exorcism"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||rating= 5|genre= Horror|summary=1988[[Elizabeth, Charleston, South CarolinaWilliam. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disatrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act.and Me 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 a job.differentThen comes the day when ordinariness flies out of the window. SheIt's moody. Shenot a coincidence that it's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever the same day she's nearbyfinds Queen Elizabeth I in the pantry and the Bard of Avon in her bath. AbbyWhat's investigation leads her she going to some startling discoveries - do? Well, Elizabeth and by the time Will have their story reaches its terrifying conclusionown ideas about that! [[Elizabeth, the fate of Abby William... and Gretchen will be determined Me by a single question: Is their friendship enough to beat the devil?S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594748624</amazonuk!-- Rodford -->}}{{newreview|author= Kevin MacNeil-|titlestyle=The Brilliant and Forever"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|ratinglink= 3http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre= Humour|summarystyle= You know sometimes when someone tells a joke, everyone else laughs, and you're sat there wondering what was so funny?"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846973376</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Christopher Fowler|title= Bryant and May: Strange Tide|rating= 3[[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]]=== [[image:4star.5jpg|genrelink= Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|summary= 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 continuingCrime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] In the second instalment of this series, which are likely to confirm that he is suffering from Alzheimer's. His condition is worsening almost Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by the daya well-known local man to track down some missing valuables. Bill Galbraith, memory lapses are morphing into fulla world-scale hallucinations.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857523422</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Kevin Smith|title=The Voyage of the Dolphin|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Dublin 1916: Among the unrest and antifamous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a popular medical television programme, has had his briefcase stolen by his live-British feeling worsened by the threat of conscription into a war seen as nothing in domestic servant, Aurora. According to do with the IrishGalbraith, Trinity College faculty has other distractions. They'd like a trophy; this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the skeleton of an Irish 'giant' hospital. George agrees to be precise. The only glitch is that look into the main trophy contendertheft, Bernard MacNeill's skeleton, is somewhere difficult to access assuming it will be a relatively easy and all seasoned explorers are otherwise engaged. There may be hope though. They turn straightforward case – little does he know, he's about to Fitzmaurice, enter a student not good enough for anything elseworld of deceit and dysfunction. Fitzmaurice agrees, picking his friends Crozier and Rafferty to go with him. So… [[The Surgeon''Gentlemen, lace up your strongest boots and pack your warmest underwear – we're all off to the bloody Arctic!'' Whether battle cry or epitaph, three men and a dog… and an iguana… are going anyway.s Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910124826</amazonuk!-- Jordan -->|amazonus=<amazonus>1910124826</amazonus>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle=Tony Hawks"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jordan_Tiny.jpg|titlelink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1760293814/ref=nosim?tag=Once Upon a Time in the West… Countrythebookbag-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-city flat to slumming it in the suburbs with fewer busses, no takeaways within walkingalign: top; text-and-keeping-food-hot distancealign: left;"|===[[Our Tiny, and no Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women'Polishs Fiction|Women' shops for a can of beer whenever you fancy one. Things are different with Tony Hawkss Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] As predicted by Caroline and Janice's mother on Caroline and Henry's wedding day, as here he has purposefully decided to up sticks from London to Somewhere, Devon – a tiny village where the people who built their own homes decades ago still live in themmarriage is over, where slugs are a lot more of a problem for the wannabe lettuce-grower albeit 15 years and two daughters further along than they are predicted. Indeed, this is definitely not a good weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline's house. There's the metropolitan commuter, split and where village halls have the power to turn you into both awkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a Pol Pot dictator if you get on their committee and into a quivering, bruise-inducing wreck if youstart. Then there're s that mistaken identity moment involving the wrong gender at a Zumba class…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444794809</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Marian Keyes|title=Making It Up As I Go Along|rating=4neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec.5|genre=Entertainment|summary=OhShe still dreams of him, how the book reviewing gods like to give, and equally like to take away. Here before me is a brandyes, spanking new collection of journalism by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but it's a proof copy, so there's no photo of over! Just as well really… guess who's at the author. Even if over the years I have stopped reading her novelsdoor? [[Our Tiny, I have always turned to the author picture to remind myself such sights exist in this worldUseless Hearts by Toni Jordan|Full Review]] <!-- Taylor -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Taylor_Scilly. Himself is a lucky man, for surejpg|link=http://www.amazon.co. But beyond sounding like a letch, what can I say about this – the beauty's third large dose of essays, web columns and other journalismuk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim? 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 istag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4.5star. So much like that test you do – you know the onejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the Isles of Scilly. (I know they should be called that formulates decisions about – the age and commonality of all things in space author provides a handy guide to come up with how many billions the etiquette of planets are likely to have alien life on – you can narrow things down quite readily heretheir name, their nature and still come up with a huge numberlocation, etc.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718182529</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Jean-Yves Ferri|title= Asterix and ) For our more distant readers, they're several chunks of granite rock out in the Missing Scroll (Album 36)|rating= 5|genre= For Sharing|summary=Asterix Atlantic, where Cornwall is those rarest of book series; one designed for kids which is actually even funnier when you are an adultpointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents. I used to love Asterix as a childThey're big on tourism, but now that I reread them I canand big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is bad enough to turn any car to a rust bucket within years. They't help but wonder why, because they are re so full of hilarious jokes that I definitely wouldn't have understood when I was younger. I laughed loud wee, and hard to myself twice within the first two pages of Asterix and the Missing Scrollso idyllic-seeming, especially at night, so I'd definitely say that this was you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a hitpolice presence. But there is – at least two working at any one time.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1510100458</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Spadge Whittaker|title=Braver Than BritainAnd one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, Occasionally|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=In which Spadge researches Britain's top ten fears and faces them who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, which has brought to life all over the course whimsical comedy of a yearhis work. We're quite [[The Life of a fearful society, you know. And the things we fear most are, in orderScilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] <!-- Lloyd -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: heights (acrophobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia)center;"|[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0993429904<http://amazonuk>}}www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] {{newreview|authorstyle= Mike Bullen"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title= Trust|rating= 4|genre= General Fiction|summary= Greg and Amanda are happy. Unmarried, but together thirteen years [['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and with two young daughters, they are very much in loveEmlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3. Dan and Sarah aren't so fortunate5star. Their marriage 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 going through await the motions, and they're staying together for arrival of the sake of their troubled teenage son. Following a business conference away from home, one bad decision sends a happy couple into turmoil, relatives and turns an unhappy couple into love's young dreamthe food shopping delivery. As secrets and betrayals threaten to send both relationships out of control, there's only one thing Little does Mum know that can keep those two elements alone have the potential to ruin everything from falling apart. [['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: TrustA Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk!-- Phinn -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Dan Rhodes"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin.jpg|left|titlelink=When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snowhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |ratingstyle=4.5"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=General Fiction|summary= Two people are on a train on their way to, of all things, a WI meeting where the ladies of All Bottoms will be lectured on the non-existence of God=[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4.5star. One of jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]] Christmas in our house is the two people is Professor Richard Dawkins, rampant atheist, hectoring scientist chappie, time we tend to get on a plane and all-round devotee of ''Deal head to either sun or No Deal''. The other snow, anywhere that is Smeefar, his mono-named assistantfar away from the madness at home, amanuensis or 'male secretary'. Smee will come last minute dashes to the fore when the weather sets in shops on Christmas Eve, and the train journey has to be abandoned some way short of its ultimate destinationfood cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, Upper Bottomnor a mere 36 hours. Instead But I do remember the pair fetch up at the isolated yet friendly community of Market Hortonfeeling of Christmas when I was younger, back when it was magical, and back when you knew exactly what the only option for accommodation season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. This book is taken – yesan anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the diedwonder of Christmas as a child. [[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|Full Review]] <!-in-theNorth -wool non-believer has to be housed by a retired vicar and his wife. This clash of titanic opinions, peppered with social faux pas aplenty will provide for a particularly English kind of farcical comedy, but one with the legs to go as far as any other Good Books have reached in the past…>|-|amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk>}}{{newreview"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:North_Romeo.jpg|authorlink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim?tag=Rob Templethebookbag-21]] |title=Very British Problems Abroad|ratingstyle=4"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Humour==[[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|summarylink=Meet, if you haven't alreadyCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribed, the phenomenon of the Very British Problemread on. In this format they're in pithy little comments (these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of, ooh, about 140 characters in length, for some reason…) and detail options en route to hitting the minor things in life that we like nothing more than to inflate to a major factor of lifebottle. They can involve mannersLikewise, staring she could have turned away from her predestined path at things until they mend themselvesno end of junctures. And to what result? Well, hitting things dittohappy marriage and a kid called Ben, or because the fact that nobody apart from you and I know how to queue properly. And if leads have just banged people's heads together and stopped the idea hits the world outside our shoresquarrelling, then – well, you certainly have or Death by Tybalt (him) or a book full of content regarding our attitude long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her). [[Romeo and ineptitude abroad.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk>}}{{newreviewor Juliet by Ryan North|author=Fraser McAlpineFull Review]]|title=Stuff Brits Like|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary= 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 lip: the chapters cover topics that range from offal to curry, 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, each is written with endearing affection, each is easy and satisfying - and quirkily funny - to read.<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>}}