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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]]==Humour==__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding=A J Jacobs"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- van LENTE -->|title=My Experimental Life-|ratingstyle=3.5"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|genre=Humour[[image:1683690346.jpg|summarylink=A J Jacobs has a reputation for setting himself onerous taskshttp://www. His first book was about reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica; his second detailed a year spent according to the Biblical preceptsamazon. In My Experimental Life, he recounts nine briefer episodes of living outside his comfort zoneco.|amazonukuk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>0099547422</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Jane Austen, Seth Grahame"vertical-Smith and Tony Leealign: top; text-align: left;"||title=Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: ==[[The Graphic Novel|ratingCon Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=3|genre=Graphic Novels|summary=It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie story of any renown will not remain simply a zombie story. Before you can say ''the risen undead'' it will become a series of books, inspiring others, and/or lead to the same story being published in many different guises. Here, then, on its way to Hollywood, is Jane Austen’s story of Lizzie Bennet, the feisty young woman trying to ignore Mr Darcy while fighting off the ''manky unmentionables'' – at least she is until the hidden truths open up to her, just as the soft soils of Hertfordshire do to yield their once-human remains. And this time it’s in graphic novel form.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848566948</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Carl McInerney|title=The Funniest Football Joke Book Ever|rating=3.5|genre=Confident Readers}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|summary=Who scored the most goals in the Greek Mythology League? The centaur forward. Badoom boom tshhhh. It's a football joke book, packed to the gills with all sorts of cheesiness and silliness. Funniest ever? Perhaps notCrime]], but it's not too bad.[[:Category:Humour|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849391114</amazonuk>}}Humour]]

{{newreview|author=Paul Magrs|title=Hell's Belles|rating=3.5|genre=Humour|summary=The idea behind this series Comic-Cons are a place of novels is quite enchanting wonder and sanctuary for many people, and amusing. Frankensteinwhen Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he's daughter is living looking for both that and sleuthing in Whitby, ably aided sanctuary with other fans and abetted by her sidekickcreators, plus the enigmatic Effie, and a growing menagerie chance of younger accomplicesmaybe, namely Michael and Pennyjust maybe reuniting with his ex. Whilst the original idea showed huge promiseHowever, when his rival is found dead, I felt that Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the author has rather overdone it in terms of output, con in order to clear his desire name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to capitalise on zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his original success. Book two in the series was quite disappointing, relying on sensationalism rather than adequate plot and character development. Book three was an improvement-innocence and I'm delighted to report that this, the fourth book in the seriesdoing so, shows him returning to form with the promise we saw in the first of the seriesmay just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator.[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755346467</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Coulton -->|author=Nick Wadley-|titlestyle=Man + Dog"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.5|genre=Humour|summary=Throughout my life I've lived with dogs or deeply regretted the fact that I lacked a canine companionamazon. Watching a dog – or better still, the interaction between dogs – is infinitely better than anything on television and it's sheer joy to see how man and dog interacts and how, so often, they hold a mirror up to each otherco.|amazonukuk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>1564785521</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Steven Lowe and Alan McArthur |title=Is it Just Me or Has the Shit Hit the Fan?"vertical-align: Your Hilarious New Guide to Unremitting Global Misery|rating=3|genre=Humour|summary=''The banks fell over like fat Labradors running over a wet kitchen floor.'' Surely that is the wackiest, most inappropriate simile for the credit crunch and all it has done for the world. You won't get any such nambytop; text-pamby animal likenesses from these authors, instead with quite a potty mouth on them they will lambast the modern world, the entire banking system, all those who failed to see it coming, and those millions just seemingly waiting for us all to revert to high-interest, high-risk, high-lending capitalism, so they can get back on the expenses train, and back up the rich lists.align: left;"|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847443656</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Eoin Colfer|title=And Another Thing ... Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Part Six of Three (Hitchhikers Guide 6) |rating=3.5|genre[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=Science Fiction|summary=Of all the big books announced for this year, this one must have raised more eyebrows than many. Why try and write a new Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, when way before the end, its creator Douglas Adams was proving quite hopeless at such a task? And why approach an Irishman, Eoin Colfer, when the originals - tempered with their humour which could only be described as Monty Python doing a sci-fi Terry Pratchett, and with their cups of tea and dressing gowns, could only be described as very English? Well the answer is most evident - Colfer is a world-beater when it comes to knocking up a story.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718155149</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=The Vampire Miles Proctor|title=The New Vampire's Handbook|rating=3.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|genre=General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|summary=I shall start with a prediction. I will not become a vampireHumour]], for this imminent Hallowe[[:Category:Women'en, any festive fancy dress parties, or indeed for life as the lifeless undead. I will not need tips on filing my fangs, or how to divert attention from the fact I cannot eat human food at dinner parties. Me and my reflection in mirrors will remain intact. But for those of you reading this at night, somewhere, flameproof cape at hand, with your distaste of garlic, publicity and presumably the anaemic, this is the sterling how-to lifestyle guide.s Fiction|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086464</amazonuk>}}Women's Fiction]]

{{newreview|author=David OLex Coulton'Dohertys debut novel is a story about mistakes, failures, Claudia O'Doherty and Mike Ahern|title=100 Facts About Pandas|rating=3relationships.5|genre=Humour|summary=Sometimes the title says it all - this The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is a book sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, and is grappling with 100 facts about pandasthe increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. Sometimes you need to note This relationship is complicated by the author too - David Ofact that Frances'Doherty won an Edinburgh Comedy Award, so this is a book of a 100 silly and untrue facts about pandass father disappeared at sea when she was five years old.[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086324</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- van LENTE -->|author=Richard Horne -|titlestyle=A is for Armageddon"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"||rating=2[[image:1683690346.5jpg|genrelink=Humour|summary=The world is definitely going to hell in a handcarthttp://www. We're only just preventing lethal global warming by having a credit crunch that has prevented a lot of big building, air travel, and consumerismamazon. The population is getting so obese there is no room for any more of us - and add that to the exploding population statistics, and it's never going to look betterco. And don't get me started on where all the bees have gone...|amazonukuk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>0224086197</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Jane Austen and Seth Grahame"vertical-align: top; text-Smith align: left;"|title=Pride and Prejudice and Zombies|rating=4.5|genre=Humour|summary=Ah, the benefits to a good book of a classic first line. 'Call me Ishmael.' 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' Who can forget Iain Banks' 'It was the day my grandmother exploded'? Or those timeless words [[The Con Artist by Jane Austen, 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.'|amazonukFred Van Lente]]===<amazonuk>1594743347</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Harry Hill|title=Tim The Tiny Horse At Large|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=It's been a while since Tim and Fly's }}} Star Reviews]] [[Tim the Tiny Horse by Harry Hill:Category:Crime|last adventuresCrime]], and changes are afoot in Tim's tiny world[[: Fly is getting married to his girlfriend. Tim's a little worried because they've only known each other for a week. The marriage goes ahead, and Tim finds himself kicking his heels, so he gets a pet. And so the brief episodes in the life of a horse who lives in a matchbox continue.Category:Humour|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571244157</amazonuk>}}Humour]]

{{newreview|author=Spike Milligan|title=The Magical World Comic-Cons are a place of Milligan|rating=4.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Some wonder and sanctuary for many people you just have to love. It's the law. Spike Milligan was always fantastic, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he's much missed. He's got looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the perfect mix chance of nonsensemaybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. However, heartwhen his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and surreal humour. He speaks intrusive fans to people of all ageszombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, in doing so, and he's may just plain lovelyunravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905264844</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Curran -->|author=Sam Savage-|titlestyle=The Cry of the Sloth"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"||rating=3[[image:1683690133.5jpg|genrelink=General Fiction|summary=Meet Andrew Whittakerhttp://www. In some untold time of recent American history, he is forced through a failed marriage and an artistic temperament at odds with so many other people, to let properties to tenants he does not like, for $120 a monthamazon. The lodgers might not like the state of the buildings - ceilings falling through and so on - but that's another matterco. He would much prefer to be left alone in front of his little Olivetti typewriter and create art. He runs a literary journal, of a kind, called "Soap", which nouk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-one likes, no-one reads (and often, with dodgy, cheap printing, no-one could physically read it anyway), and which makes him poorer in time, money and spirit.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0297856499</amazonuk>}}21]]

Well, except for the tiny bit that is, but you'll discover that in due course.|amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1841498092</amazonuk>"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|}}===[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris]]===

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Hugh Murr and Sid Nigtures |title=Cyber Sign Offs|rating=2}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|genre=Humour|summary=I admit I had the wrong end of the stick when it came to this book, before I opened it at least. I had assumed it was a collection of real-life on-line signatures - we've all seen them, those straplines people have on all their forum posts. The obvious response would have been along the lines of 'fair enough, but why is this a book in this day and age, and not a website?'. But no. This is a collection of dialogues between two people - shall we call them Sue deNim and Allie Bye, who have a line or two to say to each other, and a made-up name (sorry]], make that May Dupp-Name) with which to sign it off. Much jolly nonsense ensues.[[:Category:Historical Fiction|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312497</amazonuk>}}Historical Fiction]]

{{newreview|author=Tim Fitzhigham |title=All at Sea: One ManYou are a lass of twenty eight. One Bathtub. One Very Bad Idea: Conquering Plucky, penniless and in Regency era London the Channel in race is on to find a Piece of Plumbing|rating=4suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster.5|genre=Travel|summary=Once more my Along your journey you'll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to save you from a life is made easy alone, and fired by saying this book does just what a rogueish sense for adventure. When it claims on comes to suitors though, you'll have to make the cover - takes a narrator of zestyultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wacky humourwholesome, throws him into an unlikely situation (a bath) rugged and gets him to do something unusual (row it across caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, or the Channel - mad, bad and then beyond)terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. This despite With orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and ancient Egyptian artifcats along the fact he was the worldway, it's worst sculler at Universityclear this isn't going to be an easy decision...[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848090269</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Jester -->|author=Simon Brett-|titlestyle=Blotto, Twinks and the Ex"width: 10%; vertical-King's Daughteralign: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink=There can be few people who have written eighty books without me even having picked up one of themhttps://www. At least, and at last, I have redressed that fault in the case of Simon Brett, and have come to the conclusion there are 79 more that will be worth investigatingamazon. Here we meet for the first time Blotto (posh idiotic son of a dowager duchess) and Twinks (posh brilliant genius sister to Blotto), their family, their surroundings, and the corpse inconveniently disturbing a dinner partyco.|amazonukuk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>1845299353</amazonuk>}}1510704361]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Joe Stretch"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=Wildlife|rating=3|genre=Humour|summary=The word ''Twitter'' doesn't occur in Joe Stretch's vocabulary, but that's what his book is about. Life in the blogosphere, massively exaggerated, where people don't leave their desks but nevertheless come together (but never literally) in satisfying their deepest, darkest desires. If I've made it sound even faintly exciting, believe me, Joe Stretch is [[Forever After: a fantasist with realist tendencies. What he is after is laughter; what he produces is a virtual simulacrum. Sniggery-pokery, jiggery-jokery, he tinkers with the twilight zone of a future-scenario where, for reasons beyond all understanding, some robotic and literal Dickhead (i.e. a man with a dick fixed to his forehead – I kid you not) decides to target a few selected humans for a make-over in his own image. Given that virtual worlds exist to pull in punters who don't like themselves in the real one, and their main purpose is to make money, one's only question must be: why?|amazonukdark comedy by David Jester]]===<amazonuk>0099532077</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Michael Marr|title=Three Jumpers|rating=5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|genre=Literary FictionParanormal]], [[:Category:Horror|summary=When Bardolph Middle placed an ad in the paper proclaiming he was a writerHorror]], he thought he might get the odd request to write a speech or two. Maybe, if he was very lucky, a company might ask him to conceive an entire marketing plan and advertising campaign. What he never expected was this job offer…[[:Category:Fantasy|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906558485</amazonuk>}}Fasntasy]]

{{newreview|author=Rosy Barnes|title=Sadomasochism for Accountants|rating=3|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Humour's very personal, isn't it? If you dig films like ''Shaun of the Dead'' Michael Holland is a cocky and ''Hot Fuzz'', I predict you'll love this chick lit parody. It's anarchic brash young man who dies and very British comedy tradition. If you're into gets made the conventions offer of good writinghis lifetime; immortality. We follow Michael, you may find it a little painful. Nevertheless, I enjoyed plenty of moments grim reaper and his friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a stoner in the records department) as they grapple with their long lives and finding a clean surface to sit on in Rosy Barnes' first noveltheir flat.[[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0714531812</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Stibbe -->|author=Lady Annabel Goldsmith-|titlestyle=Copper"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: A Dog's Lifecenter;"|rating=4[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink=Copper was one of a litter of dogs born to a stray bitch and who was 'adopted' by Lady Annabel Goldsmith - or might it be the other way round?https://www. Here he tells his story in his own words as transcribed for him by his owneramazon. He's got his own priorities – and obedience is not one of them – along with a roving spiritco. It's perhaps fortunate that he's a dog as this allows you to call him 'cheeky' and 'charming'. If he was a human being 'randy' and 'arrogant' would be two of the first words which came to mind.|amazonukuk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>0751538205</amazonuk>}}0241309824]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=L Vaughan Spencer"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||title=Don't Be Needy Be Succeedy|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]==Are you underperforming in your business and personal lives? Do you underestimate the importance of good hair and moisturised skin in achieving your life goals? Are you stumbling through life in a Fast-Moving Business Environment (FMBE) without a motivational mantra to guide you? Then you need this book. As ''The A to Zee of Motivitality'', this is a dictionary of achievement from a man who can teach you how to succeed like a toothless budgie.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846681634</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview[[image:4.5star.jpg|authorlink=Mark Crick |title=Sartre's SinkCategory: The Great Writers' Complete Book of DIY|{{{rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|genre=Humour|summary=''Sartre's Sink'' comprises fourteen short story parodies of some of the world's best known writers – the twist being that the stories are all about undertaking some mundane DIY task such as tiling a bathroom (Dostoevsky) or reglazing a window (Milan Kundera). So far it sounds a bit like some pretentious Oxbridge student twaddle. You can just imagine how the idea came up over an over-ripe Brie and an underrated bottle of 1963 Taylor's port. It also rather smacks of that Radio 4 programme which I detest with an absolute passion - I can't even stand writing its name]], ugh - ''Quote Unquote'', in which parodies do feature, read out by smug self-congratulatory writer darlings (you can tell I don't like it, can't you?). However, dear readers, this book is rather enjoyable and I speak as someone who is rather less versed in the writings of this famous lot than I care to admit.[[:Category:Short Stories|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847080472</amazonuk>}}Short Stories]]

{{newreview|author=Eric Nakagawa|title=I Can Has Cheezburger |rating=4|genre=Pets|summary=''I Can Has Cheezburger''Christmas – the time of traditional trauma. You only have to think about the turkey for that – once upon a time it was leaving it sat on the downstairs loo to defrost overnight, is a clever and witty anthology of some of if that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best pictures bet. Nowadays it's all having to make sure it's suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, and captions from the fantastic [http://icanhascheezburgerget too friendly with it to want to eat it.com/ lolcats website] Christmas, though, is of course also a time of the same namegreat boons. The site has been growing It's cash in popularity in recent monthshand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, and so it was inevitable that always a book would soon hit godsend for postmen with all the shelves. Choosing which pics thank-you letters to include aunties you saw twice a decade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as a child, and as for the book could not have been an easy taskmakers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, did they even try and some sell them any other time of the old favourites are there, alongside some less well known ones.year? [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340977574</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Doescher -->|author=Ian Crofton-|titlestyle=History Without the Boring Bits"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=5[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|genre=Historyleft|summarylink=I was never one for history, and in fact left the dregs of a history teacher in tatters when I scraped through with a Dhttps://www. Still, history is an odd thing – written by the winners of course, and annoyingly biased in my mind towards the plainamazon. There's no real reason to remember the order of Henry VIII's six wives, but we can only relish the one credited with polydactylism, a third nipple and whatnot (the second one, in fact – whoever that was)co.|amazonukuk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>1847243746</amazonuk>}}159474985X]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=P G Wodehouse "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=Joy in the Morning|rating=4.5|genre=Humour|summary=''Joy in the Morning'' is another novel from P.G. Wodehouse[[William Shakespeare's wonderful series of books about Bertram Wooster and Jeeves. Bertie is a young gentleman of inherited means and no present occupation. He is a good humoured and well-meant chap, however clearly not the smartest tool in Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the shed. Bertie seems to have a talent of getting himself into trouble but that is where Jeeves, his loyal, educated and painfully clever butler comes to his rescue. Jeeves is irreplaceable when it comes to saving Bertie from whatever creative, complicated and incredibly funny situations Wodehouse puts his characters through.|amazonukSeventh by Ian Doescher]]===<amazonuk>0099513765</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=P G Wodehouse|title=Thank You, Jeeves|rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|genre=General Science Fiction|summary=Bertie Wooster was once engaged to Pauline Stoker. It didn't last very long – about forty eight hours]], most of which Bertie spent in bed with a bad cold, if his memory serves him correctly. It's still embarrassing when he meets Pauline and her father, particularly as it was the father who was responsible for breaking off the engagement. Rather than eat at the Savoy Grill where he spotted the Stokers, he goes home to his only consolation. Bertie plays the banjo. Unfortunately, he doesn't play it very well.[[:Category:Humour|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099513730</amazonuk>}}Humour]]

{{newreview|author=Tom Holt |title=The Better Mousetrap|rating=4 |genre=Humour|summary=I approached this book with A long time ago, in a fair degree of trepidationgalaxy far away, as I had never heard of the author, and wondered if, when reading the synopsisthere was a man called William Shakespeare, I who was about able to embark on create a Terry Pratchett type novel (series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and I rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy. You may or may not have to say, much though I admire noticed the cinematic version of his achievementsoriginal stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken'', I'm not a fan of Discworld!) Howeverbut here at last we get the actual script, my fears were unfoundedcomplete with annoying-in-different-ways-to-before droids anew, and returning heroes from page one I found myself drawn into this clever elsewhere in his oeuvre, and erudite novel. Not having read the preceding novels people keeping it in the series did put me at a slight disadvantagefamily til it hurts. And if you need further encouragement, but didndon't detract from my enjoyment, and has certainly ensured that Iforget his audience only demanded three parts of Henry VI – here the series is so popular we're on to part seven – surely making this over twice as good… [[William Shakespeare'll read s the others in Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the near future. Seventh by Ian Doescher|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841495034</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Goss -->|author=Philip Moore -|titlestyle=Utterly Ridiculous"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=3 [[image:Goss_600.jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink=If I learned nothing else from this book, I now know of a new professionhttps: aircraft cleaner//www. For that is the trade of Dave, the hero of ''Utterly Ridiculous''amazon. With little but a van and his torpid terrier Biggles, Dave roves the airstrips of southern England, titivating light aircraftco.|amazonukuk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>1906221685</amazonuk>}}1785942719]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Clive Gifford"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=Teenage Kicks: 101 Things to Do Before You're 16|rating=3.5|genre=Humour|summary=Kids. They're bored all the time, aren't they? Nothing you buy seems to have any longevity. I think they live in alternative dimension in which time passes much more slowly that it does for harassed parents. It's the only explanation. I think Clive Gifford must sympathise, because his latest book, Teenage Kicks, has a whopping 101 ideas to alleviate boredom [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and a clever challenge too - your bored child has to complete them all before they reach 16. At a measly £5.99, this book could represent the most wonderful value for money any parent could ever wish for.|amazonukRussell T Davies]]===<amazonuk>0340950617</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Jon Canter |title=A Short Gentleman|rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|genre=Humour|summary=The narrator of this spoof biography is a civil law barrister. Robert Purcell has been educated at Winchester and Oxford. He has modelled himself on his polite Children's Rhymes and restrained fatherVerse]], a High Court judge and[[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], as a child, Robert maps out the components his own expected adult life – wife, two children, career – and the respect which he will gain from this, together with his undoubted intellectual superiority. At the age of eight, he writes a future Who's Who entry for himself, with all the academic and professional accolades he expects to garner.[[:Category:Humour|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224077740</amazonuk>}}Humour]]

{{newreview|author=George Saunders |title=The Brain-dead Megaphone|rating=4Consider the Doctor.5|genre=Humour|summary=American author George Saunders is known for his short stories Just how many birthday and fictionChristmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, but were he is also to keep in touch with even half of his companions? He would certainly need a journalist few novelty gifts for some of them, say, for publications such as ''The Guardian''example, ''The New Yorker Magazine'' whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and ''GQ''enemies. ''The BrainAs 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-Dead Megaphone'' is his first collection of essays based book emporium and itget himself ready. And if you's an interesting proposition: sixteen pieces ranging from travel writingre working on a shorter timescale, literary appreciationwith a shorter lifespan, political essaysand thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, to surrealist short fictionwell my advice is pretty 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|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747594260</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

 | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{newreview {rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of a 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 long time: dogs are perfectly capable of communicating with humans and not just on a level of food!, walk! or play!. You do require extensive training to become fluent, but most dogs will be perfectly willing to give their time to teach you and all you have to do is listen. Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and the pair have allowed us to share some of their conversations. [[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|titleFull Review]] <!-- Harris -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|=Tim ==[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris]]=== [[image:3star.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 boy lies comatose, desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the Tiny Horseinside 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 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]] <!-- LENTE -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lente_10.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |authorstyle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]===Harry Hill [[image:4star.jpg|genrelink=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Nine comedians are invited to a remote Caribbean island under the guise of working with Dustin Walker, a 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, the rising female star with a new stand-up special coming soon; Dante, who 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'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-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character ''Billy the Contractor'' is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. Of course, all nine agree because ''when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and asks for your help, what the hell else are you going to say?'' [[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] <!-- Scott -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|rating===[[Elizabeth, William... and Me by S Lynn Scott]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|summarylink=After doing even tiny bit Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, a husband and a job. Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of research the window. It's not a coincidence that it's the same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I realised in the pantry and the Bard of Avon in her bath. What's she going to do? Well, Elizabeth and Will have their own ideas about that I must ! [[Elizabeth, William... and Me by S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] <!-- Rodford -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] In the second instalment of this series, Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a well-known local man to track down some missing valuables. Bill Galbraith, a world-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a popular medical television programme, 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 hospital. George agrees to look into the theft, assuming it will be a relatively easy and straightforward case – little does he know, he's about to enter a world of deceit and dysfunction. [[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford|Full Review]] <!-- Jordan -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jordan_Tiny.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1760293814/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] 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, this is definitely not a good weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline's house. There's the only person out split and the awkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a start. Then there 's that mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. She still dreams of him, yes, but it's so over! Just as well really… guess who ever read Tim 's at the door? [[Our Tiny Horse having never heard , Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan|Full Review]] <!-- Taylor -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the Isles of Scilly. (I know they should be called that – the authorprovides a handy guide to the etiquette of their name, their nature and location, etc.) For our more distant readers, they're several chunks of granite rock out in the Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents. They're big on tourism, and big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather is bad enough to turn any car to a rust bucket within years. They're so wee, and so idyllic-seeming, especially at night, you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a police presence. ThusBut there is – at least two working at any one time. And one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, I who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, which has brought to life all the whimsical comedy of his work. [[The Life of a Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] <!-- Lloyd -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It's Christmas Eve and Mum has arranged everything. All she now has to do is await the arrival of the relatives and the food shopping delivery. Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the potential to take another reviewerruin everything. [['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees|Full Review]] <!-- Phinn -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin.jpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Virgin Mary's word Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]] Christmas in our house is the time we tend to get on a plane and head to either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last minute dashes to the shops on Christmas Eve, and food cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, nor a mere 36 hours. But I do remember the feeling of Christmas when I was younger, back when itwas magical, and back when you knew exactly what the season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a child. [[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|Full Review]] <!-- North -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:North_Romeo.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="typical Harry Hillvertical-align: top; text-align: left;" |===[[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribed, read on. In these pages you too will make 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 result? Well, happy marriage and a kid called Ben, because the leads have just banged people's heads together and stopped the quarrelling, or Death by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an attempt at reviewing Tim establishment curing murderous women, such as a stand-aloneLady M (her). [[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571229565</amazonuk!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->}|}