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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]]==Humour==__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding=William Giraldi"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- van LENTE -->|title=Busy Monsters-|ratingstyle=4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|genre=General Fiction[[image:1683690346.jpg|summarylink=Charles Homar loves his Gillianhttp://www. He's proved it to us, if not to her, by going after her possessive, jealous state trooper of an ex with the intent to kill - if only ended up rescuing a cat insteadamazon. But lo and behold, she's declared she's off to discover the real love of her life - the giant squidco. Failing to stop this, Charlie spends too long with a Nessie obsessive, then goes on a hunt of his own uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag- for Bigfoot, all the while, chapter by chapter, sending his narrative of the same to a magazine as essays for one of those autobiographical, frivolous columns.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393079627</amazonuk>}}21]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Zadie Smith"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||title=White Teeth|rating=5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]==Some books sneak up on you. Others are thrown at you from every corner of the media to the extent that you almost make a conscious decision NOT to read them, or at least, not yet. Let the furore die down. If they're still around in a few years, your subconscious whispers, maybe we'll go see what all the fuss was about. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241954576</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=David Lodge|title=The Campus Trilogy|rating=4.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|genre=Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|summary=Somewhere along the line the word "vintage" stopped meaning simply the wine crop of any given year, and started to mean the wine of a particularly good year, and then to mean anything of a past year that was (is) of outstanding quality. Such is the mutability of language. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099529130</amazonuk>}}Humour]]

{{newreview|author=Ludwig BechsteinComic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for many people, Axel Sceffler and Julia Donaldson|title=The Gloomster|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Wewhen Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he've all been there. Finding fault with everything around us, and perhaps picking on one particular irritant s looking for both that gets us so rattled, tetchy and narked all we can do is invoke "Hell sanctuary with other fans and damnation!" down on all creation - includingcreators, plus the chance of coursemaybe, ourselvesjust maybe reuniting with his ex. After allHowever, when his rival is found dead, our lot Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, in doing so bad it won't make anything much worse, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator.[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571274242</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

To those of you who've not read Stella Gibbons' magnificient [[Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons<!-- Coulton -->|original novel]], this is hardly likely to be a major shock - to the Gibbons fans amongst us, though, this is chilling news indeed. And when RobertPoste's child Flora returns to the farm | style="width: 10%; vertical- now a modernised monstrosity full of members of the International Thinkers' Group – sixteen years after her original visit, the news get graver and graver, as the cows Feckless, Graceless, Pointless, and Aimless have passed away of shame due to the disgrace of the bull Big Business. With the menfolk trying to make their fortunes abroad, and the women struggling, it's left to Flora to try to save the day once againalign: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0099528681<http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473669588/amazonuk>}}ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Philip Jose Farmer"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||title=The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Peerless Peer|rating=4.5|genre=Crime (Historical)|summary[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]==It's World War One, and Britain has got wind of some brilliant scientific research, that has created a new bacterial weapon capable of wiping out the world's supply of sauerkraut. But a dastardly German has stolen the formula. Before he can give a variant based on boiled meat, cabbage and potatoes to the kaiser, his most recent nemesis - Sherlock Holmes, no less - must be brought out of beekeeping retirement. Cue an adventure and a half, as he and Watson take to the skies for the first time in their hectic lives, end up in darkest Africa, and encounter a certain yodelling, long-haired nobleman, more than up to the name of King of the Jungle...|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857681206</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Tom Sharpe|title=The Wilt Inheritance|rating=3.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|genre=General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|summary=Wilt is stuck in a job he doesn't want – teaching a subject he's not keen on to people for whom he has no affection – at one of the new Universities. We used to know them as technical colleges. But he can't afford to lose it because of the expense of keeping the quads at an expensive school and of maintaining his snobbish wifeHumour]], Eva. It[[:Category:Women's Eva though who signs him up for a job in the summer holidays – tutoring the step-son of a local aristocrat in the hope of getting him into Cambridge – and particularly Porterhouse College. ItFiction|Women's not long before Wilt discovers that the boy totes a gun and shoots at anything which moves – or even doesn't move – and that he's an idiot who would probably struggle to get a bus to Cambridge.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099493136</amazonuk>}}Fiction]]

{{newreview|author=Alain Mabanckou|title=Memoirs of a Porcupine|rating=4|genre=Literary Fiction|summary=The protagonist of this Lex Coulton's debut novel is an ordinary Congolese porcupine until Papa Kibandi performs an ancient ritual involving a hallucinogenic cocktail called ''mayamvumbi''story about mistakes, failures, and transforms him into his son's harmful doublerelationships. The insecure younger Kibandi becomes more and more embittered as his life goes onmain protagonist, and sends his porcupine to 'eat' anybody he feels the least bit threatened byFrances Pilgrim, is a process whereby that person's life essence is sucked sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen outwith her best friend Jackson, killing them instantlya work colleague, and is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. Over one hundred victims later and following his master This relationship is complicated by the fact that Frances's death father disappeared at the hands of a vengeful baby, our narrator retires to the hollow of a baobab tree where he writes this confessionalsea when she was five years old.[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846687675</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- van LENTE -->|author=Tom Holt-|titlestyle=Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=5[[image:1683690346.jpg|genrelink=Fantasy|summary=Imagine a world where pigs can do quantum mechanics, and where female solicitors turn into chickenshttp://www. Add a dry cleaner that moves (literally, from the roof tiles to the basement) from town to town every forty-eight hours, a couple of medieval knights who've fought every day for centuries, and a magical ring (or pencil sharpener, depending on the mood it's in)amazon. Stir in a bit of property developing, a thaumaturgical detective and an old man who lives in a cloudco. Resultuk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim? You haven't even begun to probe the depths of this crazy, absurd, complex and hilarious book.|amazonuktag=<amazonuk>1841495077</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Charles Lamb"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||title=Great Food: A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig and Other Essays|rating=4|genre=Cookery|summary[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]==''A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig'' is a collection of food-related essays from the early 19th century, with a humorous bent. They're but a few pages each - a light read to bring a smile to your face, then on to the next little foodie treat.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241951003</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=ClientsFromHell[[image:4star.netjpg|titlelink=Clients From Hell|Category:{{{rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|genre=Humour|summary=Everyone who's worked as a freelancer has a story of a client from hell - that person who asked for something that was impossibleCrime]], wanted it done yesterday for a fraction of the usual price, or is just plain angry about the work produced. The website [http[://www.clientsfromhell.net ClientsFromHell.netCategory:Humour|Humour]] has collated a number of such stories over the years, and has now published them as a book.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0982473931</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Manu Joseph|title=Serious Men|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary=Ayyan Mani is Comic-Cons are a Dalitplace of wonder and sanctuary for many people, an untouchableand when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, stuck in a flat in Mumbaihe's slums but hopinglooking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, somehowplus the chance of maybe, for a better future for just maybe reuniting with his sonex. Working at the Insitute of Theory and Research he uses all However, when his cunning and wiles rival is found dead, Mike is forced to stay ahead navigate every dark corner of the game amongst the Brahmin scientists. Does he have the intelligence, con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and nerves, intrusive fans to convince everyone that zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his soninnocence and, against all oddsin doing so, is may just unravel a dark secret behind a genius?legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848543085</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Curran -->|author=John Saunders-|titlestyle=The Vernham Chronicles"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:1683690133.jpg|genrelink=Humour|summary=Set amidst the rolling British countryside around Vernbury Vale is the little village of Vernhamhttp://www. Anyone who lives in a village will recognise it immediately, with its cobbled streets and Tudor buildingsamazon. There was some damage during the war (which might, or might not have been down to a lighthouse folly constructed by a local landowner on his lake) but the gaps have been filled with some beautiful, er, mock Tudor buildingsco. Almost unique and nearly beautiful as the village is, it's not the star of The Vernham Chronicles. The stars are the people who live in Vernham.|amazonukuk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>1907499598</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Gervase Phinn"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stars|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=I spent many of my teenage years reading James Herriot[[My Lady's books, and I found that this collection of anecdotes and poems Choosing by Gervase Phinn had a real flavour of Herriot about it. Perhaps it was just the setting, for Phinn was a school inspector in the Dales for many years, but I think he also has that knack of capturing a situation, Kitty Curran and a character, and bringing out the humour without making the person appear ridiculous. Here he collates stories from his other books, some Christmassy and others not, and he relates them with several of his own poems interspersed between.|amazonukLarissa Zageris]]===<amazonuk>0141036435</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:History{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]]{{newreview|author=Simon Garfield|title=Just My Type[[:Category: A Book About FontsHumour|rating=4.5|genre=Humour|summary=A quality typeface is a bit like a good referee at a football match in that you only really notice them if something has gone wrong. A referee is there to facilitate the players on the pitch]], not to be the star of the show (though watching Match of the Day these past few weeks you'd often beg to differ). So it is with typefaces. A good type helps the reader, enhances the flow and makes the viewing experience easy and simple. Well sort of.[[:Category:Historical Fiction|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846683017</amazonuk>}}Historical Fiction]]

{{newreview|author=Bob Servant You are a lass of twenty eight. Plucky, penniless and Neil Forsyth|title=Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee|rating=3in Regency era London the race is on to find a suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster.5|genre=Humour|summary=After [[Delete This at Your Peril: One ManAlong your journey you's Fearless Exchanges with the Internet Spammers ll be accompanied by Bob Servant|bursting into public consciousness]] as the scourge of email spammersLady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to save you from a life alone, Broughty Ferry's resident polymath Bob Servant has returnedand fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. This timeWhen it comes to suitors though, he expands upon you'll have to make the colourful life only hinted at in his previous oeuvreultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, Delete this at Your Peril. And what a life it has been. He steers us from his humble beginningswholesome, his broken family rugged and traumatic schooldayscaring Captain Angus MacTaggart, through or the rise mad, bad and fall of his window cleaning empireterrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. With orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and his role in Dundee's brutal cheeseburger wars. Along ancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, we witness his struggles with, respectively, women (it'skirts clear this isn'), his simpleton sidekick Frank, t going to be an easy decision... [[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and the demon drink.Larissa Zageris|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841589209</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Jester -->|author=P K Munroe-|titlestyle=You Can Stick It"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|ratingleft|link=3https://www.5|genreamazon.co.uk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=Humour|summary6738&creativeASIN=Literary merit? Absolutely none!1510704361]]

Ah, so it's non| style="vertical-fiction? Well, calling it ''fact'' would be stretching things align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Forever After: a little too far...dark comedy by David Jester]]===

So, come on then[[image:4star. What ''is'' it?jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0007362188</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]]

{{newreview|author=Axel Scheffler|title=How to Keep Michael Holland is a Pet Squirrel|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=Sococky and brash young man who dies and gets made the offer of his lifetime; immortality. We follow Michael, how do you keep a pet squirrel? Well, the simple answer is that you don't. They're wild animals grim reaper and not at all suitable for keeping in captivity, but accepted thinking didn't always run that way. It was whilst he was dipping into ''The Children's Encyclopaedia'' of 1910 that Axel Scheffler came across his friends Chip (a small but indispensible guide to obtaining stoner tooth fairy) and caring for your pet squirrel. His inventive mind came up Naff (a stoner in the records department) as they grapple with these beautiful illustrations their long lives and finding a clean surface to accompany the text and if you're looking for an amusing gift for an animal-loving adult then this book could well be the answersit on in their flat.[[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571255981</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Stibbe -->|author=PJ Vanston-|titlestyle=Crump"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=3[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|genre=General Fictionleft|summarylink=It's Kevin Crump's first day as a lecturer at Thames Metropolitan University - an ex-polytechnichttps://www. It's the happiest day of his life, and he can't wait to see all that it holds, and make a difference to all his studentsamazon. And then it hits him: the relentless pettiness of authority figures, the students who can't string two sentences together, the lowering of standards in search of higher test scores, so more money from foreign students, and political correctness gone (as I believe the saying goes) madco.|amazonukuk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>1848762852</amazonuk>}}0241309824]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=John Lindsay"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||title=Emails From ==[[An Asshole|ratingAlmost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]=4|genre=Humour|summary=Some classified ads are crying out for trolling. John Lindsay replies to them, spins them a yarn, and strings them along for as long as possible. Sometimes the advert is fairly innocuous and he emails them anyway. These are emails from an asshole, after all.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1402778279</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=L C Tyler|title=The Herring In The Library|rating=[[image:4.55star.jpg|genrelink=CrimeCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|summary=TallHumour]], elegant Ethelred is a gentleman, and a third-rate author. Elsie, his literary agent, is short and dumpy, and not afraid to speak her mind. It is Elsie, in fact, who constantly assures her client he only occasionally aspires to the giddy heights of being second-rate. This could be the business partnership from hell, but not only do these two seem to get along, they even manage to solve crimes together. In this, the third outing for L C Tyler's eccentric sleuths, we are provided with a locked room mystery, a cast of possible villains of the most stereotypical type, and a fresh, funny tale which will make you laugh so much you'll get a stitch.[[:Category:Short Stories|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230714684</amazonuk>}}Short Stories]]

{{newreview|author=A J Jacobs|title=My Experimental Life|rating=3Christmas – the time of traditional trauma.5|genre=Humour|summary=A J Jacobs has You only have to think about the turkey for that – once upon a reputation for setting himself onerous tasks. His first book time it was about reading leaving it sat on the entire Encyclopedia Britannica; his second detailed a year spent according downstairs loo to defrost overnight, and if that failed the Biblical preceptshair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. In My Experimental LifeNowadays 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, he recounts nine briefer episodes and get too friendly with it to want to eat it. Christmas, though, is of course also a time of living outside his comfort zonegreat boons.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 aunties you saw twice a decade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as a child, and as for the makers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, did they even try and sell them any other time of the year? [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099547422</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Doescher -->|author=Seth Grahame-Smith|titlestyle=Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"||rating=3[[image:Doescher_Will.5jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink='Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shorehttps://www.' That quote, on the Statue of Liberty, was probably not designed with the inclusion of vampires in mindamazon. But by some means or another North America is rife with the things – hiding in plain sight, as the older ones can bear sunlight, with the help of darkened glassesco. It might just come down to one eager young man to rid his new country of such things, on his way to something he’s a bit more known for.|amazonukuk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>1849014086</amazonuk>}}159474985X]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Carl McInerney"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=The Funniest Football Joke Book Ever|rating=3.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Who scored the most goals in the Greek Mythology League? The centaur forward. Badoom boom tshhhh. It[[William Shakespeare's a football joke book, packed to the gills with all sorts of cheesiness and silliness. Funniest ever? Perhaps not, but it's not too bad.|amazonukForce Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher]]===<amazonuk>1849391114</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Paul Magrs|title=Hell's Belles|rating=3.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|genre=Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|summary=The idea behind this series of novels is quite enchanting and amusing. Frankenstein's daughter is living and sleuthing in Whitby, ably aided and abetted by her sidekick, the enigmatic Effie, and a growing menagerie of younger accomplices, namely Michael and Penny. Whilst the original idea showed huge promise, I felt that the author has rather overdone it in terms of output, in his desire to capitalise on 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-and I'm delighted to report that this, the fourth book in the series, shows him returning to form with the promise we saw in the first of the series.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755346467</amazonuk>}}Humour]]

{{newreview|author=Valerie Thomas A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a man 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 Korky Paul|title=Winnie's Jokes|rating=2heroines most sturdy.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Who turns off You may or may not have noticed the lights cinematic version of his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken'', but here at Halloween? The lights witchlast we get the actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to-before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, and people keeping it in the family til it hurts. What does an Australian witch ride And if you need further encouragement, don't forget his audience only demanded three parts of Henry VI – here the series is so popular we're on? A broomerang. Yep, itto part seven – surely making this over twice as good… [[William Shakespeare's a joke book.the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0192729063</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Goss -->|author=Nick Wadley-|titlestyle=Man + Dog"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"||rating=4[[image:Goss_600.5jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink=Throughout my life I've lived with dogs or deeply regretted the fact that I lacked a canine companionhttps://www. 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 otheramazon.|amazonukco.uk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>1564785521</amazonuk>}}1785942719]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Steven Lowe and Alan McArthur |title=Is it Just Me or Has the Shit Hit the Fan?"vertical-align: top; text-align: Your Hilarious New Guide to Unremitting Global Miseryleft;"|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 namby-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.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847443656</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Eoin Colfer|title=And Another Thing ... Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy[[Doctor Who: Part Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Three Time Lord Verse (Hitchhikers Guide 6Dr Who) |ratingby James Goss and Russell T Davies]]=3.5|genre=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:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{newreview|author=The Vampire Miles Proctor|title=The New Vampire{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Handbook|rating=3.5|genre=HumourRhymes and Verse|summary=I shall start with a prediction. I will not become a vampire, for this imminent HalloweChildren'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 s Rhymes and my reflection in mirrors will remain intact. But for those of you reading this at nightVerse]], somewhere[[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], flameproof cape at hand, with your distaste of garlic, publicity and presumably the anaemic, this is the sterling how-to lifestyle guide.[[:Category:Humour|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086464</amazonuk>}}Humour]]

{{newreview|author=David O'DohertyConsider the Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, were he to keep in touch with even half of his companions? He would certainly need a few novelty gifts for some of them, say, for example, Claudia O'Doherty whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and Mike Ahern|title=100 Facts About Pandas|rating=3enemies.5|genre=Humour|summary=Sometimes As luck would have it, he has the title says it all 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- this is a based book with 100 facts about pandasemporium and get himself ready. Sometimes And if you need to note the author too - David O'Doherty won an Edinburgh Comedy Awardre working on a shorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, so this well my advice is a book pretty much the same. [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of a 100 silly Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and untrue facts about pandas.Russell T Davies|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086324</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Ingram -->|author=Richard Horne -|titlestyle=A is for Armageddon"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"||rating=2[[image:Ingram_Kammie.5jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink=The world is definitely going to hell in a handcarthttps://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 co.uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag- and add that to the exploding population statistics, and it's never going to look better. And don't get me started on where all the bees have gone...|amazonuk21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>0224086197</amazonuk>}}1785451995]]

{{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 [[Conversations with Kammie by Jane Austen, 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.'|amazonukAnnie Ingram]]===<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:Pets|last adventuresPets]], 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 It was something of Milligan|rating=4a relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and her cocker spaniel Kammie.5|genre=Confident Readers|summary=Some people you just have You see, Annie knows something which has been self-evident to love. It's the law. Spike Milligan was always fantastic, me for a long time: dogs are perfectly capable of communicating with humans and he's much missed. He's got the perfect mix not just on a level of nonsensefood!, heartwalk! 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 surreal humourall you have to do is listen. He speaks Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and the pair have allowed us to people share some of all ages, and he's just plain lovelytheir conversations. [[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905264844</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Harris -->|author=Sam Savage-|titlestyle=The Cry of the Sloth"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"||rating=3[[image:Harris_Glass.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/1908943823/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;"|}}===[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris]]===

[[image:3star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Hugh Murr and Sid Nigtures |title=Cyber Sign Offs|rating=2}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|genre=Crime]], [[:Category: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.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312497</amazonuk>}}Humour]]

{{newreview|author=Tim Fitzhigham |title=All at Sea: One ManTeenager Liam Glass is mugged and stabbed yards from his Camden flat. One Bathtub. One Very Bad Idea: Conquering As the boy lies comatose, desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the Channel in inside scoop, tired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a Piece of Plumbing|rating=4.5|genre=Travel|summary=Once more my life is made easy by saying this book does just what it claims on the cover missing tape, harried politician Jamila Hasan fights for re- takes a narrator of zestyelection, wacky humourdistraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, throws him into an unlikely situation (a bath) and gets him to do something unusual (row it across the Channel gym- and then beyond). This despite owner Royland simply finds himself in the fact he was wrong place at the world's worst sculler at Universitywrong time. We follow this host of ensemble characters in a bleak, kaleidoscopic satire of modern media.[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848090269</amazonuk>}}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]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{newreview{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 -->|author-| 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;"|===[[Elizabeth, William... and Me by S Lynn Scott]]===Simon Brett [[image:4.5star.jpg|titlelink=BlottoCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, Twinks a husband and a job. Then comes the Exday when ordinariness flies out of the window. It's not a coincidence that it's the same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I 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! [[Elizabeth, William... and Me by S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] <!-- Rodford -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-Kingalign: 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 DaughterCase: 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=4thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|summarylink=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 can be few people who have written eighty books without me even having picked up one 's the split and the awkwardness of themthe girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a start. Then there's that mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At leastJanice is well adjusted and over her ex-husband Alec. She still dreams of him, and yes, but it's so over! Just as well really… guess who's at lastthe door? [[Our Tiny, 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 have redressed know they should be called that fault – the author provides 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 case 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. But there is – at least two working at any one time. And one of Simon Brettthem 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 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 come the potential to ruin everything. [['Twas the conclusion there are 79 more that will be worth investigatingFight 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 Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4.5star. Here jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]] Christmas in our house is the time we meet 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 first time Blotto (posh idiotic son feeling of Christmas when I was younger, back when it was magical, and back when you knew exactly what the season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a dowager duchess) 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="vertical-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 Twinks (posh brilliant genius sister prescribed, read on. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route to Blotto)hitting the bottle. Likewise, their familyshe could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. And to what result? Well, their surroundingshappy marriage and a kid called Ben, because the leads have just banged people's heads together and stopped the corpse inconveniently disturbing quarrelling, or Death by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a dinner partyLady M (her).[[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845299353</amazonuk!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->}|}