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[[Category:Humour|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE--><!-- van LENTE -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
{{newreview
|author=Lynne Truss
|title=Cat out of Hell
|rating=3
|genre=Horror
|summary=Meet Alec Charlesworth. He's retired and decamped to an isolated coastal cottage with just his dog and loving memories of his colleague wife, now that she has died before her time. But the fusty librarian cannot rest too long before engaging in exploring some unusual computer files that were pinged across by someone at the college he worked at, just before he left. Bizarrely they show photographic and audio evidence of a talking cat called Roger, replete with Vincent Price voice – although they are also damaged by being included alongside some bad screenplay attempts about said cat. Worryingly, we soon see what at the most only a few of the characters can, that this cat is being accompanied by unusual and unexpected death – much like Alec's wife. It's only when Roger testifies to having been pushed through the ends of endurance and out the other side that we begin to doubt where the true evil in this story lies…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099585340</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview|authorstyle=Jimmy Hansen and Mychailo Kazybird"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=Wallace & Gromit : The Complete Newspaper Strips Collection Vol 2|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=For me there are two important areas of the cover of this book where three letters are arranged in meaningful ways. [[The first is with the S-U-N in their obligatory red and white font. No minor paper could hold Wallace and Gromit, their adventures have to be in what is (unfortunately) the most widely read tabloid in the country. And elsewhere is C-B-E, suggesting that even the storytellers at Aardman Animations who are not household names are feted and revered as artistic experts, raising many laughs and much money for the country courtesy of their creative output. Together these short collections of letters show just how much WaG are major creations, and if the proof was needed this much longer collection of their daily comic strips provides it in spades.|amazonukCon Artist by Fred Van Lente]]===<amazonuk>1782760822</amazonuk>}}
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|title=Dear Committee Members|author=Julie Schumacher|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|summary=Jason Fitger (Jay) is a Professor of creative writing and literature at a small university in the American mid-west. He is also a frustrated novelist with a colourful personal historyCrime]], much of which bleeds into his professional life, with interesting results.[[:Category:Humour|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007586345</amazonuk>}}Humour]]
{{newreview|title=Mapp and Lucia Omnibus|author=E F Benson|rating=3.5|genre=Humour|summary=Miss Elizabeth Mapp rules the town of Tilling Comic- she is the centre Cons are a place of the social life, wonder and spends her days enjoying bridgesanctuary for many people, polite conversation and civilised painting. When Mrs Emmeline Lucas when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives in town (known to all as Lucia)at San Diego Comic-Con, Miss Mapp finds her life truly shaken uphe's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, as plus the culturedchance of maybe, fashionable and progressive Lucia makes her home in the townjust maybe reuniting with his ex. However, when his rival is found dead, and swiftly rises Mike is forced to the top navigate every dark corner of the ranks amongst the social scene 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 Tillingdoing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator.[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849908478</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]
{{newreview
|title=Encyclopedia Paranoiaca
|author=Henry Beard and Christopher Cerf
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=We're screwed. Wherever we look, whatever we think of doing, there is a reason why we shouldn't be doing it, and people to back that reason up with scientific data. Take any aspect of your daily life – what you eat, how you work, how you rest even, what you touch – all have problems that could provoke a serious illness or worse. And outside that daily sphere there are economic disasters, nuclear meltdowns, errant AI scientists and passing comets that could turn our world upside down at the blink of an eye. Perhaps then you better read this book first – for it may well turn out to be your last…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0715649213</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview<!-- Coulton -->|title=Diary of a Mad Diva-|authorstyle=Joan Rivers"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"||rating=3[[image:1473669588.5jpg|genrelink=Humour|summary=The late Joan Rivers was, without a doubt, a characterhttp://www. Actress, comedian, writer, director, presenter, she was well known in the USA and beyond for her sharp tongue and no holds barred personaamazon. This was the last of the dozen books she published, her final title before her death in September 2014co.|amazonukuk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>0425269027</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]
{{newreview
|title=The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - The Nearly Definitive Edition
|author=Douglas Adams
|rating=5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=There are few series that have garnered such a cult following as 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'. Whether the fans have come from the radio series, the (impossibly hard) computer game, or the (well intentioned but not particularly good) film, they are everywhere. Ask a room of people what the meaning of life is, and you can be pretty sure a good few will pipe up with '42' as the answer.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023396</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview|titlestyle=Quick Pint After Work"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|author=Luke Lewis|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=BuzzFeed is one of the world’s best time sucks, and I’m regularly directed to the site [[Falling Short by links from Facebook and Twitter, in between browsing the app on my phone. According to the author bio on this book, BuzzFeed is 'a social news and entertainment company', which is a fancy way of describing lots of fun lists that speak to the readership (20 words that have a completely different meaning in Manchester, 30 Things all ex-gymnasts know to be true, 40 Very British problems, yadda yadda yadda). These list work well on line when you want a quick distraction, and they’re easy to flip through, looking at the attached photos or video clips. The question then, is whether or not BuzzFeed the book will have the same appeal.|amazonukLex Coulton]]===<amazonuk>0751557730</amazonuk>}}
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Graeme Simsion|title=The Rosie Effect|rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|genre=General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|summary=Following inadvertent success with the Wife ProjectHumour]], Professor Don Tillman and his new bride Rosie have moved from Australia to New York. Although Don[[:Category:Women's position on the autistic scale is subjective, he still operates on a daily basis of structured procedures, lists and logic. Rosie can generally handle that but there are choppy waters ahead. With the patter of tiny feet imminent logic goes out the window as she struggles with her PhD while Don struggles to find his place in the baby production process. At least he has his drinking buddies to support him – an aging rock drummer and a friend whose wife has thrown him out for infidelity. What could possibly go wrong?Fiction|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718179471</amazonuk>}}Women's Fiction]]
{{newreview|title=Burnt Tongues: An Anthology of Transgressive Short Stories|author=Chuck PalahniukLex Coulton's debut novel is a story about mistakes, failures, Dennis Widmyer and Richard Thomas|rating=4|genre=Short Stories|summary=Saying certain things relationships. The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out loud just don’t sound right. Some things are so disturbing or politically incorrect that you are with her best off leaving them inside your headfriend Jackson, or better yet not thinking a work colleague, and is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of them at allher mother. When these words are spoken they could lead to This relationship is complicated by the sensation of Burnt Tongue; an aftereffect of knowing what you said fact that Frances's father disappeared at sea when she was wrongfive years old. Are you prepared to enter the world of Transgressive Fiction that aims to disturb, alienate, disgust and question?[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178329552X</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]
{{newreview<!-- van LENTE -->|author=Sammy Looker-|titlestyle=Something Nasty in the Slushpile"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4|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
|author=The Queen
|title=Still Reigning
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=Anyone who frequents Twitter will know that it's a mixed blessing. It's a mine of wonderful information and supportive camaraderie. It's also - unfortunately - home to a lot of people who take great pleasure in causing pain to others. But in amongst all this are a few gems and one of them is [https://twitter.com/Queen_UK @Queen_UK], a delightful satire on members of the royal family, celebrities, the political classes and the state of Her Majesty's nation. Or, ''one's nation'' as Ma'am would say. ''Still Reigning'' is her second book, after ''Gin O'Clock'' and it's the sort of parody which leaves you wondering if the writer might not be someone ''very'' close to the original.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0715649132</amazonuk>
}}
{{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<!-- Curran -->|author=Reverend Adam Smallbone-|titlestyle=The Rev Diaries"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"||rating=4[[image:1683690133.5jpg|genrelink=Humour|summary=Adam Smallbone wasn’t always a vicarhttp://www. He used to work for the Bristol Housing Department, enabling his father-in-law to tell everyone he worked 'in property'amazon. From there, his initial calling was to a rural church in Suffolk which did nothing to prepare him for this, his current London inner city parishco. Indeed, he's not prepared for Adoha (the Nigerian parishioner with 19 grandchildren and 'the bottom of God') or Colin, the homeless alcoholic who has adopted Adam and his wife Alex (Mrs Vicarage to Colin). But then Alex also has a lot to get used to; after all, she didn't actually marry a vicar.|amazonukuk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>0718178394</amazonuk>}}thebookbag-21]]
{{newreview
|title=Look Who's Back
|author=Timur Vermes
|rating=5
|genre=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 2011. 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 1945. 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 salute. 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…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857052926</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview|authorstyle=Adam Ruck"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=The Bluffer's Guide to Golf (Bluffer's Guides)|rating=4.5|genre=Sport|summary=The fly leaf suggests that this Bluffer[[My Lady's Guide is the way to instantly acquire all the knowledge which you need to pass as an expert in the ''arcane Choosing by Kitty Curran and labyrinthine'' world of golf. There's quite a bit there that I'd agree on - the rules (and to an unfortunate extent the ''attitudes'') are arcane and they seem to take a lifetime to master, but there's a surprising amount of information tucked away inside this little book. What I might quibble with is whether or not you would ''pass as an expert'' (which suggests that you're something of a con man): there's enough detail here to give you a solid grounding without needing to bluff.|amazonukLarissa Zageris]]===<amazonuk>1909365327</amazonuk>}}
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|title=The Collected Works of A J Fikry|author=Gabrielle Zevin|rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|genre=General Humour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|summary=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>}}Historical Fiction]]
{{newreview|author=William Hanson|title=The BlufferYou 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's Guide ll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to Etiquette (Bluffer's Guides)|rating=5|genre=Lifestyle|summary=If save you ask people what they fear most in any social situation most will tell from a life alone, and fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to suitors though, you that it's not knowing how ll have to behavemake 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. They'll be fine about With orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and ancient Egyptian artifcats along the basicsway, but it's those little niceties - how clear this isn't going to introduce yourself, what to ask for as be an aperitif, how to address someone, for instance which can suddenly reveal you as a parvenueasy decision... William Hanson gives us a quick trip through the essentials in a book which is very readable [[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and - in places - hilariously funny.Larissa Zageris|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1909937002</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]
{{newreview|title=Horrid Henry's Biggest and Best Ever Joke Book <!-- 3Jester -in-1>|author=Francesca Simon and Tony Ross-|ratingstyle=4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jester_Forever.5jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink=It is easy to see why Horrid Henry remains such an enduring and well-liked children’s characterhttps://www.amazon. The adventures of this cheeky, irreverent schoolboy and a cast of extreme characters including Miss Battle Axe, The Demon Dinner Lady, Rabid Rebecca and arch-nemesis Moody Margaret are incredibly funny and a perfect way to encourage reluctant young readers to cultivate a love of readingco. It is no surprise then, that the series has spawned a set of three spinuk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-off joke books, which have now been combined to create a single volume: ''Horrid Henry’s Biggest and Best Ever Joke Book''.|amazonuk21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>144401174X</amazonuk>}}1510704361]]
{{newreview
|title=Let Me Off at the Top!: My Classy Life and Other Musings
|author=Ron Burgundy
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=''This book is a testament to my giant balls.'' But it's also a lot more. The story we've never been able to discern from either of the ''Anchorman'' films is one of surprising hardship, unsurprising hardness, and great hair. It's a rags-to-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>
}}
{{newreview|titlestyle=Outraged of Tunbridge Wells"vertical-align: Original Complaints from Middle Englandtop; text-align: left;"|author=Nigel Cawthorne|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=It was ever thus… cyclists go too fast, without using [[Forever After: a hooter or lights; there are hoodlums everywhere one looks, and no public conveniences; people pretend to have qualifications and degrees they haven't rightfully earned; buses are too busy with shopping women who should be indoors already, cooking for their working menfolk… It's a very clever idea to show exactly what is behind the 'disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' tag, and as a book to be shelved alongside those with the wackier letters sent to the ''Daily Telegraph'', these selections from the Royal town's press itself make a great eye-opener to the complaints and complainants of Kent.|amazonukdark comedy by David Jester]]===<amazonuk>1908096918</amazonuk>}}
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Charlie Hill|title=Books|rating=4.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|genre=HumourParanormal]], [[:Category:Horror|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 centrepieceHorror]], whether he realises it or not.[[:Category:Fantasy|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781251630</amazonuk>}}Fasntasy]]
{{newreview|title=The Facebook Diet: 50 Funny Signs Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and gets made the offer of Facebook Addiction and Ways to Unplug With a Digital Detox|author=Gemini Adams|rating=3his lifetime; immortality.5|genre=Humour|summary=Everywhere you look and question this bookWe follow Michael, it is a success – more or less. Does it do what it purports to – show evidence of grim reaper and his friends Chip (a Facebook addiction stoner tooth fairy) and provide Naff (a dietary way out? Yes, more or less. Does it engage stoner in the records department) as they grapple with its combination of cartoon images their long lives and captions? Yes, more or less. Does it have some cult Internet pedigree finding a clean surface 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 paperbacksit on in their flat. Is it then [[Forever After: a worthwhile addition to your dark comedy book shelves? Yes – more or less.by David Jester|amazonuk=<amazonuk>095546563X</amazonuk>}}Full Review]]
{{newreview<!-- Stibbe -->|title=Sad Monsters-|authorstyle=Frank Lesser"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink=If you thought you had it bad… Here is the chupacabra writing to the newspapers for better press – notices that don't universally mention his goat-sucking habits before his chess-playing, dancing or debating recordhttps://www. Here is a banshee struggling with high school life, knowing the end of everyone that comes across her pathamazon. Here is King Kong, being defended in court by a lawyer with a revelation to the jury about his bipolarity and how wrong it was to get his hopes up with a Broadway show in a strange cityco. Did you honestly think Godzilla enjoyed the way his life ended upuk/gp/product/0241309824?|amazonukie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>0285642324</amazonuk>}}0241309824]]
{{newreview
|author=Michael Cameron
|title=The Brinkmeyers
|rating=5
|genre=Humour
|summary=Hymie Brinkmeyer, New Yorker transplanted in the UK is 50 years old ''on a good day''. He lives with his wife Maggie and teenage children Kevin and Karrie. 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 problem. 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 she? Everything is fine and life is great. Ok, Kevin's plotting to kill his mother and Hymie's leather-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>
}}
{{newreview|titlestyle=Dedicated to..."vertical-align: The Forgotten Friendships, Hidden Stories and Lost Loves found in Secondtop; text-hand Booksalign: left;"|author=W B Gooderham|rating=4.5|genre=Entertainment|summary=I have found many strange and unusual things in second-hand bookshops. I have done one or two strange and unusual things in them as well, but that's a different story. Twice now I have managed to find a second-hand book, completely signed and dedicated [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by the author, yet discarded by the recipient, and have been able to present the author with the edition at hand and get it re-dedicated. (If I'm not mistaken, the discarders were a neighbouring babysitter, and a teacher of the author's children.) I'll admit that's rarefied, however, and on the whole the scribble you find in second-hand books is from the person who bought it, and gave it as a gift, not the person who wrote it. But even so, the dedication of the donor can be immensely fascinating and open to all kinds of interpretation, as these examples show perfectly clear.|amazonukNina Stibbe]]===<amazonuk>0593072847</amazonuk>}}
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|title=Wallace and Gromit - The Complete Newspaper Strips - Volume 1|author=Nick Park|rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|genre=Humour|summary=One man and his dog never had such a famous theme tune. ''One Man 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…[[:Category:Short Stories|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782760326</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 -->|title=Demon Dentist-|authorstyle=David Walliams"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|ratingleft|link=4https://www.amazon.co.5uk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  |genrestyle=Confident Readers"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=He ought 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 Shakespeare, who was able to create a series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy. You may or may not have realised she was evil 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-before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, and people keeping it in the startfamily til it hurts. 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 to part seven – surely making this over twice as good… [[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] <!-- 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. After alljpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|Children's Rhymes and Verse]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the Doctor. Just how many dentists do 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, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and enemies. As luck would have it, he has the space in his TARDIS to stock up in advance, so my advice to him – sorry, her – would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and get himself ready. And if you know who love — yes're working on a shorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, really love — rotten teethwell 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? Brownie=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]], yellow[[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of a relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and her cocker spaniel Kammie. You see, crackedAnnie 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, full 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 cavitiesLiam 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, diseaseddesperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the inside scoop, covered 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 plaque 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. you get 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 pictureguise of working with Dustin Walker, a comedic legend. And for AlfieEach 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 boy kid on the streets to the hardest working road comic in the business; Oliver, the child-like prop comic who loathes dentists can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, the bottom of insult comic who is past her prime; TJ, the nightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his heart female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, the ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose teeth 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;"|===[[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'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-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 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 rotten over! Just as well really… guess who'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 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 ought to should be called that – the author provides a tourist attractionhandy 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, danger definitely loomswhere Cornwall is pointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents. You can practically hear They're big on tourism, and big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the background music when 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 meet working at any one time. And one of them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a school assemblywell-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: dum//www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-dumalign: top; text-DUUUUMMMMMM!!!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 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 Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|amazonuklink=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 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 child. [[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|Full Review]] <amazonuk!-- North -->0007453566|-| 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 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 establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her). [[Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North|Full Review]] </amazonuk!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->}|}

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