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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding=Sammy Looker"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- van LENTE -->|title=Something Nasty in the Slushpile-|ratingstyle=4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|genre=Humour|summary=I couldn't resist the title - a neat play on [[Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbonsimage:1683690346.jpg|Cold Comfort Farm]] and I'm sure that you'll understand that I was expecting some examples of the horrors to be found amongst the mountain of unsolicited manuscripts which every publisher accumulateslink=http://www. I'll confess I was expecting to giggle, even to groan - unkind, I know - and I'd mentally shelved the book with the trivia, or (hopefully) the humouramazon. There is that element to the book, but there's also something far more usefulco. If you're thinking about publishing a book this should be required reading ''before'' you even go near a publisher.|amazonukuk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>1472111028</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]

{{newreview|titlestyle=Last Days of the Bus Club"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|author=Chris Stewart|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=I could well have been a near-neighbour of Chris Stewart. Not, of course, near his current primary occupancy, an ecological farmstead just beyond the turning off from the back end of nowhere in the most rural of corners of southern Spain, but back when he lived in the south-east of England, being Genesis' first ever drummer, and building bridges in the North Downs. [[The fact I learnt the latter from this book shows up several of the features of this warm-hearted 'travelogue' – the fact that Stewart is never shy about portraying family details and history – given a good map and a prevailing wind one could find where he lives and descend on the farm, if one wished; and that while this might be on the travel shelves, the narrative is so fragmented it actually moves a lot more than any of the characters do.|amazonukCon Artist by Fred Van Lente]]===<amazonuk>1908745436</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|title=Summer Half|author=Angela Thirkell|rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|genre=Humour|summary=If one didn’t know of Angela Thirkell’s distinguished background as a granddaughter of Sir Edward Burne-Jones and daughter of a classicistCrime]], it would be tempting to describe her as a kind of country cousin of [[:Category:P G WodehouseHumour|P.G. Wodehouse’sHumour]]. An unaffected and intelligent one, whose humour is less sophisticated but bubbles over with just as much glee. The middle-class world she has created, where young men come from families that are comfortably wealthy rather than outrageously so, offers a counterpoint to the Mitford or Wodehouse worlds with their aristocratic characters who travel the world and mingle with more louche, bohemian ones.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184408969X</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|title=The Bojeffries Saga|author=Alan Moore Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for many people, and Steve Parkhouse|rating=5|genre=Graphic Novels|summary=A very truncated history of comics will start with the idea that they should be funny strips – one jape then youwhen Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he're out; then s looking for both that they should have more – perhaps a superhero; then that you can have so much more than just a superhero – witness and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the works chance of [[:Category:Alan Moore|Alan Moore]]maybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. But you mustn't be too surprised However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to see navigate every dark corner of the whole thing come around con in a full cycle. Because Alan Moore has, with this volume, concluded order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his own funny strip japeryinnocence and, and whatever history or greater opinions about the canon of comix might sayin doing so, it's may just about his best ever bookunravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator.[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0861662318</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Coulton -->|title=Look Who's Back-|authorstyle=Timur Vermes"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=5[[image:1473669588.jpg|genrelink=General Fiction|summary=''Hitler Youth Ronaldo! Which way to the street?'' With these words a very misguided Nazi Fuhrer asks for his first directions in the Berlin of 2011http://www. Mistakenly believing the lad to be a party junior member with his own name on his football shirt, he also thinks for a while it is still 1945amazon. He's soon informed of the truth, but still makes some unfortunate conclusions – that the street kiosks selling Turkish language newspapers are a sign of a Soviet-beating alliance between the two countries, that people eat granola bars because the war still leads to a bread shortage, and that people making an ironic speech bubble with their fingers in the air is all that is left of the Hitler saluteco. But yes, after a long hiatus neither he nor our author is particularly concerned with explaining, ''that man'' is back – and if he has his way he's going to be just as popular this time round…|amazonukuk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>0857052926</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]

{{newreview|titlestyle="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|The Collected Works of A J Fikry|author=Gabrielle Zevin|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]==A J Fikry is not having a good time. He's lost his wife to a car crash, and he's not making that much money. The book store he runs, stuck out on a limb on a quiet island community, is too remote to turn a profit year-round, and he has just dismissed the latest publisher's rep to turn up at his door, partly because her previous counterpart, an inconsequential part of A J's life when all is said and done, had died and he didn't know about it. But his bad time is about to get a lot worse, as the one thing he owns worth the most – a rare book, more valuable than his house, his business, anything – is about to vanish. Which bizarrely will cause several major changes to his one-person household…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408704617</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{newreview{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|author=William HansonGeneral Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|title=The Bluffer's Guide to Etiquette (BlufferHumour]], [[:Category:Women's Guides)|rating=5|genre=LifestyleFiction|summary=If you ask people what they fear most in any social situation most will tell you that itWomen's not knowing how to behave. They'll be fine about the basics, but it's those little niceties - how to introduce yourself, what to ask for as an aperitif, how to address someone, for instance which can suddenly reveal you as a parvenu. William Hanson gives us a quick trip through the essentials in a book which is very readable and - in places - hilariously funny.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1909937002</amazonuk>}}Fiction]]

{{newreview|title=Horrid HenryLex Coulton's Biggest and Best Ever Joke Book - 3-in-1|author=Francesca Simon and Tony Ross|rating=4.5|genre=Humour|summary=It debut novel is easy to see why Horrid Henry remains such an enduring a story about mistakes, failures, and well-liked children’s characterrelationships. The adventures of this cheekymain protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, irreverent schoolboy and is a cast of extreme characters including Miss Battle Axesixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, The Demon Dinner Ladya work colleague, Rabid Rebecca and arch-nemesis Moody Margaret are incredibly funny and a perfect way to encourage reluctant young readers to cultivate a love is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of readingher mother. It This relationship is no surprise then, complicated by the fact that the series has spawned a set of three spin-off joke books, which have now been combined to create a single volume: ''Horrid Henry’s Biggest and Best Ever Joke Book'Frances's father disappeared at sea when she was five years old.[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|amazonuk=<amazonuk>144401174X</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview|title=Let Me Off at the Top<!: My Classy Life and Other Musings-- van LENTE -->|author=Ron Burgundy-|ratingstyle=4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|genre=Humour[[image:1683690346.jpg|summarylink=''This book is a testament to my giant ballshttp://www.'' But it's also a lot moreamazon. The story we've never been able to discern from either of the ''Anchorman'' films is one of surprising hardship, unsurprising hardness, and great hairco. It's a rags-touk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-riches tale, as Ron Burgundy comes from a Hicksville town in the middle of the outskirts of somewhere the arse end of nowhere (a town perpetually on fire due to the accidents in the mines underneath) and struggles against all the odds – and many of the evens in the shape of women's legs – to get where he is today, thrusting himself and his news at us nightly.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780892241</amazonuk>}}21]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Charlie Hill"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=Books|rating=4.5|genre=Humour|summary=Neurology professor Lauren Furrows witnesses the sudden untimelydeath of two tourists in a bar while on holiday. Birmingham bookshop ownerRichard Anger happens to be in the same bar so together our single holidaymakers decide to team up as an investigatory force to be reckoned with.(Well, Lauren teams up for that. Richard's reasons are more physical thanintellectual to begin with.) [[The murders seem to emanate from author GarySayles, a legend in his own mind and, apparently, fatal to read. Elsewherehippy exhibitionists (in an over-18 way) Zeke and Pippa, are planning theart installation to end all art installations and, are determined to makeGary the centrepiece, whether he realises it or not.|amazonukCon Artist by Fred Van Lente]]===<amazonuk>1781251630</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview[[image:4star.jpg|titlelink=The Facebook DietCategory: 50 Funny Signs of Facebook Addiction and Ways to Unplug With a Digital Detox|author=Gemini Adams|{{{rating=3.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|genre=Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|summary=Everywhere you look and question this book, it is a success – more or less. Does it do what it purports to – show evidence of a Facebook addiction and provide a dietary way out? Yes, more or less. Does it engage with its combination of cartoon images and captions? Yes, more or less. Does it have some cult Internet pedigree to make it a hit gift book for the techie? Yes, more or less – it might not have been borne from a webpage somewhere online, but the Kindle version was launched several months before the paperback. Is it then a worthwhile addition to your comedy book shelves? Yes – more or less.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>095546563X</amazonuk>}}Humour]]

{{newreview|title=Sad Monsters|author=Frank Lesser|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=If you thought you had it bad… Here is the chupacabra writing to the newspapers Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for better press – notices that don't universally mention his goat-sucking habits before his chessmany people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-playingCon, dancing or debating record. Here is a banshee struggling he's looking for both that and sanctuary with high school lifeother fans and creators, knowing plus the end chance of everyone that comes across her pathmaybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. Here However, when his rival is King Kongfound dead, being defended Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the con in court by a lawyer with a revelation order to the jury about clear his bipolarity name – from cosplay flash mobs and how wrong it was intrusive fans to get zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his hopes up with innocence and, in doing so, may just unravel a Broadway show in dark secret behind a strange citylegendary industry creator. Did you honestly think Godzilla enjoyed the way his life ended up?[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0285642324</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Curran -->|author=Michael Cameron-|titlestyle=The Brinkmeyers"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=5[[image:1683690133.jpg|genrelink=Humour|summary=Hymie Brinkmeyer, New Yorker transplanted in the UK is 50 years old ''on a good day''http://www. He lives with his wife Maggie and teenage children Kevin and Karrieamazon. Hymie thinks Kevin is great, while given that, if he gets picked up for drug possession once more, Hymie will have to admit that Kevin may have a problemco. Karrie, a burgeoning poet, is also wonderful in her dad's eyes and is about to give birth to her second child outside a relationship. It's her body so she has the right... hasn't sheuk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim? Everything is fine and life is great. Ok, Kevin's plotting to kill his mother and Hymie's leathertag=thebookbag-clad secretary seems to have a crush on her boss and Hymie seems to have a lump somewhere delicately crucial but everything's just fine.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0957319134</amazonuk>}}21]]

{{newreview|titlestyle=Wallace and Gromit "vertical- The Complete Newspaper Strips align: top; text- Volume 1align: left;"|author=Nick Park|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=One man and his dog never had such a famous theme tune. [[My Lady''One Man s Choosing by Kitty Curran and His Dog'' had a piddly little melody, but the triumphal, old-fashioned and charming parp of the theme tune to Wallace and Gromit has resounded out for decades now. While Aardman moved away from the near-silent classic animations the series first gave us, the plasticine creations mutated into incredibly popular characters, which included a daily strip in the nation's biggest-selling tabloid. Here is the first lump of them, 312 daily doses of tomfoolery, collected for everyone to enjoy. Even if you thought the franchise had travelled its course a long time ago…|amazonukLarissa Zageris]]===<amazonuk>1782760326</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|title=Demon Dentist|author=David Walliams|rating=4.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|genre=Confident Readers|summary=He ought to have realised she was evil from the start. After allHumour]], how many dentists do you know who love — yes, really love — rotten teeth? Brown, yellow, cracked, full of cavities, diseased, covered in plaque . . . you get the picture. And for Alfie, a boy who loathes dentists from the bottom of his heart and whose teeth are so rotten they ought to be a tourist attraction, danger definitely looms. You can practically hear the background music when the two meet at a school assembly[[:Category: dum-dum-DUUUUMMMMMM!!!!Historical Fiction|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007453566</amazonuk>}}Historical Fiction]]

{{newreview|title=Peas You are a lass of twenty eight. Plucky, penniless and in Regency era London the race is on to find a suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster. Along your journey you'll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to save you from a life alone, and fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to suitors though, you'll have to make the ultimate decision between witty, pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wholesome, rugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, or the mad, bad and terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. With orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and Queues: The Minefield of Modern Manners|author=Sandi Toksvig|rating=5|genre=Politics ancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, it's clear this isn't going to be an easy decision... [[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and SocietyLarissa Zageris|summary=Dear Sandi Full Review]]

You are my all time favourite celebrity lesbadyke, and one of the reasons I’m so very excited to be heading to Denmark this coming weekend (are all people there like you? Please say yes)<!-- Jester -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jester_Forever. For this alone, I had to get my mitts on your latest offeringjpg|left|link=https://www. I wasn’t that fussed about obtaining a book on manners previously, having always thought mine were quite ok, but I knew your take on the matter would be suitably hilarious and well worth a readamazon. I was not wrongco.|amazonukuk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>1781250324</amazonuk>}}1510704361]]

{{newreview|titlestyle=Very British Problems"vertical-align: Making Life Awkward for Ourselves, One Rainy Day at a Timetop; text-align: left;"|author=Rob Temple|rating=3|genre=Humour|summary=Are you compelled to apologise multiple times [[Forever After: a day – even when you are not at fault, or even to inanimate objects? Would you subject yourself to great inconvenience rather than confront someone who is sitting in your reserved seat on a train? Have you been known to commit desperate acts in the search for your next cup of tea? If so, you may be suffering from Very British Problems.|amazonukdark comedy by David Jester]]===<amazonuk>0751552593</amazonuk>}}

[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|title=The Reluctant Cannibals|author=Ian Flitcroft|rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|genre=General FictionParanormal]], [[:Category:Horror|summary=Over a truffled turkey at their college Christmas dinner in 1964Horror]], a group of Oxford dons decide to join their love of fine food and drink with their mutual appreciation for nineteenth-century French philosopher of food Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (author of the 1825 classic ''La Physiologie du Goût'', or ''The Physiology of Taste'') by forming a secret dining society. Together these fellows of St Jerome's College form the Shadow Faculty of Gastronomic Science, a group that will continue meeting to share new and daring culinary experiences until Oxford agrees to set up a proper gastronomic school of its own.[[:Category:Fantasy|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1909593591</amazonuk>}}Fasntasy]]

{{newreview|author=Peter Stjernstrom Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and Rod Bradbury (translator)|title=The Best Book in gets made the World|rating=5|genre=Literary Fiction|summary=Titus Jensen may not have written many great novels for a while (if ever) but offer of his festival readings of others' works are renownedlifetime; immortality. WhyWe follow Michael, a grim reaper and his rendition of ''The Diseases of the Swedish Monarchs from Gustavas Vasa to Gustav V'' has been compared favourably to his offerings from ''Handbook for Volvo 245''. However, one drunken night he friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and romantic poet Eddie X agree that their fame on Naff (a stoner in the festival circuit would be insignificant by comparison if records department) as they could write the best book in the world; grapple with their long lives and finding a combination of all genres, appealing clean surface to all tastes and making all the best seller categories. They start work sit on it the next day but, rather than collaborate, each wants the lone gloryin their flat. The race (or should that be battle?) to the publishing date is on![[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1843914808</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]

{{newreview<!-- Stibbe -->|title=The Complete and Utter History of the World According to Samuel Stewart Aged 9-|authorstyle=Sarah Burton"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink=''Nobody knows where history ends'', according to the cover illustration of this little book, but if anybody knows what it involves it is nine year old Samuel Stewarthttps://www. He captivatingly summarises it all on these pages, bringing us in ninety minutes from the times cavemen didn't write history down as they didn't realise it had started yet, up to the time of his birthamazon. That of course is a time that passed most of us by, but heralded the arrival of a very individual, entertaining and amusing voiceco.|amazonukuk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>1780721838</amazonuk>}}0241309824]]

{{newreview|authorstyle=Paul Merrill"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=Muddle Your Way Through Being a Grandparent: How to Fool People into Thinking You're a Competent Granny or Grandpa|rating=3|genre=Humour|summary=It seems to be accepted wisdom that being a grandparent is a great deal easier than being a parent. The trials and tribulations have largely been ignored [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by wrinklies grateful for contact with their children and grandchildren - and by the children who are grateful (or otherwise) for free childcare - or so Paul Merrill would have us believe. Published for Grandparents' Day his book takes us through a series of scientifically-questionable quizzes, flow charts (that's often of money, by the way - and you can guess which way it's flowing), checklists and advice from celebrities, some of whom you might even have heard of.|amazonukNina Stibbe]]===<amazonuk>1909609404</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Jonathan Coe|title=Expo 58|rating=[[image:4.55star.jpg|genrelink=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|summary=It's 1958 and Thomas Foley works for the British Government Central Office of Information but feels an outsider. He's ex-grammar school rather than establishment public school and his mother is Belgian (that's foreign you know) so there are definite impediments to his promotion. Thomas is therefore thrilled when chosen to oversee one of Britain's exhibits at the big, exciting international Expo in Belgium. So bring on the experience… and a little brush with espionage… and some beautiful women. (Sylvia is a little less thrilledHumour]], being his wife and all.)[[:Category:Short Stories|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0670923710</amazonuk>}}Short Stories]]

{{newreviewChristmas – 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, and if that failed the hair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Nowadays it's all having to make sure it's suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, and get too friendly with it to want to eat it. Christmas, though, is of course also a time of great boons. It's cash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, 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|Full Review]] <!-- Doescher -->|author=Michael Roll-|titlestyle=Save Our Shop"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|ratingleft|link=3https://www.amazon.co.5uk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  |genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|summarylink=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a man called William Bridge Shakespeare, who was able to create a talented artist series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy. You may or may not have noticed the cinematic version of his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken'', but here at last we get the actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to- just a little too talentedbefore droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, as and people keeping it in the family til it turned out because hurts. And if you need further encouragement, don't forget his audience only demanded three parts of Henry VI – here the sub-editor could see series is so popular we're on to part seven – surely making this over twice as good… [[William Shakespeare'exactlys the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] <!-- Goss -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Goss_600.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-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 Russell T Davies]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|Children' who s Rhymes and Verse]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the cartoon character was meant Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, were he to be 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 life of a Time Lord and that was why of some of his friends and enemies. As luck would have it, he ceased 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 get himself ready. And if you're working on a shorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well 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|Full Review]] <!-- Ingram -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{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|Full 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;"|===[[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 rather suddenlyJason Worthington scrabbles for the 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 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]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=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; He wasnTJ, 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 ''t Billy the Contractor''exactlyis a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. Of course, all nine agree because '' spoiled when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and asks for choice 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;"|===[[Elizabeth, William... 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. Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of the window. It's not a coincidence that it came '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 his next employment do? Well, Elizabeth and Will have their own ideas about that was how he found himself helping ! [[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 Uncle Albert live-in domestic servant, Aurora. According to Galbraith, this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the village shophospital. George agrees to look into the theft, but there were pluses assuming it will be a relatively easy and minuses 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 split and the awkwardness of the girls' schoolteacher being the jobother woman for a start. The biggest plus was Then there's that he met mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and fell in love with Sallyover her ex-husband Alec. She still dreams of him, yes, but it's so over! Just as well really… guess who was also helping Uncle Albert's at the 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 first 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 minuses was Isles of Scilly. (I know they should be called that there was more than – the author provides a little opposition handy guide to the match from Sallyetiquette 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's stepmotherre big on tourism, and big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the redoubtable Lady Courtneyweather 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 then there was 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 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 armed robbery, 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 Albertthe relatives and the food shopping delivery. Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the potential to ruin 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 brother Neil who for urgent 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 perfectly valid reasons needed head to be known as Aunt Isabeleither sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last minute dashes to the American security expert shops on Christmas Eve, and his daughter whose expertise 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 it was in 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 entirely different area anthology of those moments, and some dodgy dealings about it took me right back to the future 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="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 prescribed, read on. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the shopbottle. No real problems thereLikewise, 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 establishment curing murderous women, thensuch as a Lady M (her).[[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1291387382</amazonuk!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->}|}