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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding=Tony Hawks"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->|title=Once Upon a Time in the West… Country<!-- van LENTE -->|rating=3-|genrestyle=Travel|summary=I have often complained in a jokey voice to my partner about life in the sticks, and the way she moved me from an inner"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-city flat to slumming it in the suburbs with fewer busses, no takeaways within walking-andalign: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-keeping21]]  | style="vertical-foodalign: top; text-hot distance, and no 'Polish' shops for a can of beer whenever you fancy onealign: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. Things are different with Tony Hawks, as here he has purposefully decided to up sticks from London to Somewherejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], Devon – [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a tiny village where the place of wonder and sanctuary for many people who built their own homes decades ago still live in them, where slugs are a lot more of a problem and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he's looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the wannabe lettuce-grower than they are for the metropolitan commuterchance of maybe, and where village halls have just maybe reuniting with his ex. However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the power con in order to turn you into both a Pol Pot dictator if you get on their committee clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and into a quivering, bruise-inducing wreck if you're the wrong gender at in doing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a Zumba class…legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]]  |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444794809</amazonuk!-- Coulton -->}}|-{{newreview|author| style=Marian Keyes"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Making It Up As I Go Along[[image:1473669588.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.5|genreuk/dp/1473669588/ref=Entertainment|summarynosim?tag=Oh, how the book reviewing gods like to give, and equally like to take away. Here before me is a brand, spanking new collection of journalism thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Falling Short by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but it's a proof copy, so there's no photo of the authorLex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star. Even if over the years I have stopped reading her novelsjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], I have always turned to the author picture to remind myself such sights exist in this world. Himself [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Lex Coulton's debut novel is a lucky manstory about mistakes, failures, for sureand relationships. But beyond sounding like a letchThe main protagonist, what can I say about this – the beauty's third large dose of essaysFrances Pilgrim, is a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, web columns and other journalism? I can start is grappling with agreeing that I am not the target audience, but itincreasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. This relationship is complicated by the fact that Frances's easy enough to see from these pages exactly what the target is. So much like that test you do – you know the one, that formulates decisions about the age and commonality of all things in space to come up with how many billions of planets are likely to have alien life on – you can narrow things down quite readily here, and still come up with a huge numberfather disappeared at sea when she was five years old.[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718182529</amazonuk!-- van LENTE -->}}{{newreview|author= Jean-Yves Ferri|titlestyle= Asterix and the Missing Scroll (Album 36)"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating= 5[[image:1683690346.jpg|genrelink= For Sharing|summaryhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=Asterix is those rarest of book seriesnosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left; one designed for kids which is actually even funnier when you are an adult"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. I used to love Asterix as a child, but now that I reread them I can't help but wonder whyjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], because they [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are so full a place of hilarious jokes that I definitely wouldnwonder and sanctuary for many people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he't have understood when I was younger. I laughed loud s looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and hard to myself twice within creators, plus the first two pages chance of Asterix and the Missing Scrollmaybe, so I'd definitely say that this was a hitjust maybe reuniting with his ex.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1510100458</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Spadge Whittaker|title=Braver Than BritainHowever, Occasionally|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary=In which Spadge researches Britain's top ten fears and faces them all over the course when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of a year. We're quite a fearful society, you know. And the things we fear most are, con in order: heights (acrophobia)to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, snakes (ophidiophobia)in doing so, public speaking (glossophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), small spaces (claustrophobia), mice (musophobia), needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia).may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993429904</amazonuk!-- Curran -->}}{{newreview|author= Mike Bullen-|titlestyle= Trust"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating= 4[[image:1683690133.jpg|genrelink= General Fictionhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle= Greg and Amanda are happy. Unmarried, but together thirteen years "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and with two young daughters, they are very much in loveLarissa Zageris]]=== [[image:4star. Dan and Sarah aren't so fortunate. Their marriage is going through the motionsjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], and they're staying together for the sake [[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] You are a lass of their troubled teenage sontwenty eight. Following a business conference away from homePlucky, one bad decision sends penniless and in Regency era London the race is on to find a happy couple into turmoil, and turns an unhappy couple into love's young dreamsuitable suitor - or else doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster. As secrets Along your journey you'll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a fiesty noble eager to save you from a life alone, and betrayals threaten fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to send both relationships out of controlsuitors though, thereyou'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 ancient Egyptian artifcats along the way, it's only one thing that can keep everything from falling apart: Trustclear this isn't going to be an easy decision... [[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk!-- Jester -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Dan Rhodes"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow|rating=4[[image:Jester_Forever.5jpg|genre=General Fictionleft|summarylink= Two people are on a train on their way to, of all things, a WI meeting where the ladies of All Bottoms will be lectured on the nonhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-existence of God. One of the two people is Professor Richard Dawkins, rampant atheist, hectoring scientist chappie, and all21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1510704361]]  | style="vertical-round devotee of ''Deal or No Deal''. The other is Smee, his monoalign: top; text-named assistant, amanuensis or 'male secretary'. Smee will come to the fore when the weather sets in and the train journey has to be abandoned some way short of its ultimate destination, Upper Bottomalign: left;"|===[[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester]]=== [[image:4star. Instead the pair fetch up at the isolated yet friendly community of Market Hortonjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], and the only option for accommodation is taken – yes[[:Category:Horror|Horror]], the died-in-the-wool non-believer has to be housed by [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is a retired vicar cocky and brash young man who dies and gets made the offer of his wifelifetime; immortality. This clash of titanic opinionsWe follow Michael, peppered a grim reaper and his friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a stoner in the records department) as they grapple with social faux pas aplenty will provide for their long lives and finding a particularly English kind of farcical comedy, but one with the legs clean surface to go as far as any other Good Books have reached sit on in the past…their flat. [[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk!-- Stibbe -->1910709018</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Rob Temple-|titlestyle=Very British Problems Abroad|rating=4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink=Meet, if you haven't already, the phenomenon of the Very British Problemhttps://www.amazon.co. In this format they're in pithy little comments (of, ooh, about 140 characters in length, for some reason…) and detail the minor things in life that we like nothing more than to inflate to a major factor of lifeuk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]=== [[image:4.5star. They can involve manners, staring at things until they mend themselvesjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], hitting things ditto, or [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Christmas – the fact that nobody apart from you and I know how time of traditional trauma. You only have to queue properly. And if think about the idea hits turkey for that – once upon a time it was leaving it sat on the world outside our shoresdownstairs loo to defrost overnight, then – well, you certainly have a book full of content regarding our attitude and ineptitude abroad.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Fraser McAlpine|title=Stuff Brits Like|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary= With over 100 chapters on different aspects of Britain 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 Britishnessvisit it, this book is both fascinating and hilarious. Just looking at the list of subjects is enough get too friendly with it to produce a sardonic twist of that stiff upper lip: the chapters cover topics that range from offal want to curryeat it. Christmas, from pedantry to banterthough, from conkers to rugbyis of course also a time of great boons. There may be many chapters but this is no academic tome - each chapter is just two to three pages longIt's cash in hand for a lot of plump people who can hire red suits and beards, each is written it was always a godsend for postmen with endearing affection, each is easy and satisfying - and quirkily funny all the thank- you letters to read.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= John Samuel|title= What I Tell You aunties you saw twice a decade that your parents made you write out in long-hand as a child, and as for the Darkmakers 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]]|rating= 3.5<!-- Doescher -->|genre= Humour-|summarystyle=A man called Will is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate to expose his company's dodgy dealings to the press"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|left|link=https://www. Overcome with doubt and fear, he goes to kill himselfamazon. But, at the exact moment he attaches his noose to the back of the door, he is savedco. By a curious housemate or a concerned girlfrienduk/gp/product/159474985X? No, by an Angel. Not the whiteie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-feathered guardian Angel you may expect, but one who wishes to help Will achieve his ends, and so possess 21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare's the body of Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the hapless Will in order to finish what he startedSeventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4.5star. It goes without saying that the Angel is hoping things go better than they did with the last guy he possessed – a hapless young man from Galilee called Jesus…jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0715650505</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|author= John NivenScience Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|title= The Sunshine Cruise CompanyHumour]]|rating= 4.5|genre= Humour|summary= Susan Frobisher and Julie Wickham live A long time ago, in a small Dorset town. Friends since schoolgalaxy far away, they live fairly uneventful lives – Susan has there was a lovely house and a lengthy marriage man called William Shakespeare, who was able to accountant Barrycreate a series of dramatic histories full of machinations most foul, whereas Julie is doing slightly less well – living in a council flat rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and working in an old people's homeheroines most sturdy. When Barry is found dead trussed up in a sex dungeon, it transpires that he has been leading a hidden life You may or may not have noticed the cinematic version of his original stage play for years''The Force Doth Awaken'', and his expensive fetishes lead to but here at last we get the bank moving actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to take Susan's home. Struck by both desperation and a sense of injustice-before droids anew, Sue and Julie conspire to rob a bankreturning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, taking along their friend Jill – a devout Christian conflicted due to lack of money and a terminally ill grandson, and Ethel – a foul mouthed resident of people keeping it in the nursing home longing for adventurefamily til it hurts.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023183</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Marie Phillips|title=The Table Of Less Valued Knights|rating=4.5|genre=Fantasy|summary=Sir Humphrey has been demoted from King Arthur 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 Round Table to the Table of Lesser Valued KnightsForce 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. The only way to get his comfier seat back is to redeem himself via a questjpg|left|link=https://www. Therefore when damsel Elaine seeks help to find her kidnapped fiancé, Humphrey and his ward, the teenage giant Conrad, eagerly set forthamazon. Meanwhile in the kingdom of Tuft, new Queen Martha has run away after a disastrous wedding to… a… well… disastrous Prince Edwinco. She may not realise it yet, but she too will have a job for Humphrey!|amazonukuk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>0099555875</amazonuk>1785942719]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle=Tim Flannery"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish|rating=3|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Meet Archie Meek. He's about to leave the Venus Islands, where he's lived for the last five years, [[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and return to Sydney, where he'll take his office in the museum and fill it with all the cultural artefacts heRussell T Davies]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's found Rhymes and wildlife heVerse|Children's plucked or pickled. That's not to ignore Rhymes and Verse]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the fact Doctor. Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he'll count as something quite alien himself, with his filled-out frame, nearly all-over suntan and totemic tattoohave to hand out each year, were he to keep in amongst other changes to touch with even half of his body. But what's thiscompanions? When he gets backHe would certainly need a few novelty gifts for some of them, he finds one say, for example, whimsical books of the main Venus Islands artefacts verse that caused him to go there in pithily encapsulate the first place, life of a huge, macabre ceremonial fetish mask, purloined as corporate artwork. And Time Lord and that of some of the curators he wishes to work alongside his friends and enemies. As luck would have vanished. Is it, he has the weird society of the museum he's returning space in his TARDIS tostock up in advance, perchanceso my advice to him – sorry, even weirder, stranger her – would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and more violent than the cannibalistic society he's waving farewell to?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1922079308</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Roman Dirge|title=The Cat get himself ready. And if you're working on a shorter timescale, with a Really Big Head|rating=3shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well my advice is pretty much the same.5[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies|Full Review]]|genre=Graphic Novels|summary= How many picture books are there about cats? And how many do you know that you would really NOT prefer your children to see<!-- Ingram -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785451995? If the answer to the second question is 'none – yet', scratch that last word. The title piece in this collection is, ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Conversations with Kammie by the author's own admissionAnnie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], his imagining of the Joseph Merrick (the 'Elephant Man') [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of the feline world – who struggles to sneak up behind a mouse relief when the shadow of his head is a total giveaway, I encountered Annie Ingram and who can hardly even eat with dignity as bending down to his bowl would break his neckher cocker spaniel Kammie. If that's too dark or oddball for you, try the second major pieceYou see, Annie knows something which has a most revealing foreword – ''Dedicated been self-evident to me for a certain girl… I hope your life is filled long time: dogs are perfectly capable of communicating with wonderful accomplishments, love humans and all the magic you desire… - But I hope your death 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 slow and horriblelisten.''|amazonuk=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]] <amazonuk!-- Harris -->1782762876</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Val Hennessy-|titlestyle=Not Far From Dreamland"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|link=4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre=General Fiction|summarystyle=Ronald Tonks has reached that stage in life which I call upper middle age"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris]]=== [[image: you've qualified for your pension but not yet got to the free television licence barrier3star. What Ronald ''has'' got is a roof that leaks (there's good reason why his home is called 'the shack')jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], a dog who [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Teenager Liam Glass is going bald (in patches) mugged and money that's in very short supplystabbed yards from his Camden flat. On As the plus side he has friendsboy lies comatose, mostly platonic and usually in much desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the same boat as Ronald. But are they downhearted? Wellinside scoop, they are occasionallytired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a missing tape, but mostly they'harried politician Jamila Hasan fights for re generously optimistic -election, distraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, and out to make gym-owner Royland simply finds himself in the most of what they've got, usually bought from charity shops and jumble saleswrong place at the wrong time. ''Not Far From Dreamland'' is the story We follow this host of ensemble characters in a year (2012) in the life bleak, kaleidoscopic satire of Ronald Tonks, his friends and relativesmodern media.[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0704373874</amazonuk!-- LENTE -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Harry Harrison"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Bill, the Galactic Hero|rating=3[[image:Lente_10.5jpg|genrelink=Science Fictionhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=Meet Bill. He's a simple farmer – well, he ''is'' taking a correspondence course in being a Technical Fertiliser Operator – but fate has something else in store"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. And so does the mechanised, technological, industrial military, which needs several billion grunts jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Nine comedians are invited to fight a remote Caribbean island under the Chingersguise of working with Dustin Walker, in mankind's first inter-galactic wara comedic legend. StillEach fits neatly into one of the archetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, at least he gets medals just for signing the washed-up. After that it's all downhillhas-been who has fallen far from his early days; Zoe, and the likes of Petty Chief Officer Deathwish Drang can only make that rising female star with a straight line down. Reallynew 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, what hope is there?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147320531X</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Ian Doescher|title=William Shakespearethe child-like prop comic who can's The Phantom of Menace|rating=4.5|genre=Humour|summary= Join us, good gentlest 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 a merry reimagining of `Star Wars Episode 1' as only Shakespeare could have written it. 'Tis a true Shakespearean dramaharassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, filled with sword fights, soliloquies the ultra-feminist YouTuber and doomed romance…all in glorious iambic pentameter and coupled Blogger with gorgeous illustrations. Hold a chip on to your midichlorians: The plays her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character ''Billy the thingContractor'' is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire. Of course, wherein youall nine agree because ''ll catch the rise when God almighty walks down on a beam of Anakin!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|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk>1594748063</amazonuk!-- Scott -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Attaboy"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|titlelink=The Book of Hugshttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]|rating=4|genre=Humour|summarystyle=A hug's a hug"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Elizabeth, OK? You either do, or you don'tWilliam... Some people might be a little more enthusiastic about the process whilst others are more elegant in the execution of the hug, but basically you just get on and do it and then forget about it, right?and Me by S Lynn Scott]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0867197978</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|author= Christopher FowlerHumour]]|title= Bryant and May – The Burning Man|rating=4|genre=Crime|summary= The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) has Ally is an ordinary woman with teenage children, a husband and a new set of overlordsjob. For reasons that were explored in Then comes the previous couple day when ordinariness flies out of outings they have been transferred to the City Of London Policewindow. The Met are still It's not a coincidence that it's the big players same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in the area. City pantry and the Bard of London Police only police the old city, the square mile, the financial district Avon in other wordsher bath. What's she going to do? Well, that has very little in the way of street crimeElizabeth and Will have their own ideas about that! [[Elizabeth, because no-one lives there anymore William... and the people who work there are, Me by and large, either too rich to need to steal, or too smart to have to do so on the streets.S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Rodford -->0857522043</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg|titlestyle=The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again! "width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|ratinglink=3http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre=Humour|summarystyle=Following the success of ''"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the RulesSurgeon'', the League of Pensioners are back – and this time, they’re in Vegas! I haven’t read the first book but it was on my list when the opportunity arose to review this ones Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]]=== [[image:4star. The idea of the League of Pensioners marching towards a fairer world through fun and frolics was hugely appealing to me and jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] In the second instalment of this is series, Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a stand alone novel so I thought I would dive straight 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 with domestic servant, Aurora. According to Galbraith, this one.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447274903</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Winshluss|title=In God We Trust|rating=4briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the hospital.5|genre=Graphic Novels|summary=To start with, George agrees to look into the theft, assuming it will be a rhetorical test. How about God relatively easy and Adam playing badminton day in and day outstraightforward case – little does he know, until one gets bored and decides he's about to create Eve? Or the defeater enter a world of Goliath deceit and the saviour of the Israelites being one Conan the Barbarian? Or this as a test – Jesus Himself failing to have a successful session of tequila slammers with Gabriel due to the holes through His hands? I barely need mention that in these pages God does battle with Superman, for you to have answered the test and put yourself firmly in one of two camps for this book – one very much opposed to buying it, and one very much in favour.dysfunction. [[The Surgeon's Case: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford|Full Review]] <!-- Jordan -->|-|amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>0861662350<"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jordan_Tiny.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1760293814/amazonuk>ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle=David Walliams and Tony Ross"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||title=The Queen's Orang-Utan|rating=5=[[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]===|genre=For Sharing[[image:5star.jpg|summarylink=The Queen felt trapped in the palace with all those stuffed animals which she has been given on foreign tours. There are mountains of them and every night she would dream of escaping. When her birthday drew near the family dutifully asked her what she would like as a present. The Prince was thinking of a goldCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]], diamond encrusted stairlift whilst the Duke was considering a great big bottle of brandy. The Royal Baby had some decorated thimbles in mind, but the Queen became just a little snappish as she explained that what she really wanted was [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] As predicted by Caroline and Janice'Ones mother on Caroline and Henry's own orang-utan'. And she didn't mean a stuffed onewedding day, eithertheir marriage is over, albeit 15 years and two daughters further along than predicted.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0008135134</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Jack Sheffield|title=Silent Night|rating=3Indeed, 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.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=I read a couple of Jack Sheffield’s books about five years ago, Then there's that mistaken identity moment involving the neighbours. At least Janice is well adjusted and enjoyed them very muchover her ex-husband Alec. They were written in a similar style to those popularised byShe still dreams of him, for instanceyes, James Herriot or [[:Category:Gervase Phinn|Gervase Phinn]], told mostly in the first person, describing the author’s first couple of years but it's so over! Just as Headmaster well really… guess who's at a small village primary school in Yorkshire. The village of Ragley is fictional, as are most of the charactersdoor? [[Our Tiny, but the incidents and situations encountered are based on the author’s experience.Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Taylor -->0552167045</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=J Robert Lennon-|titlestyle=See You In Paradise|rating=3"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|genrelink=Short Storieshttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178475515X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=Lennon writes with a relaxed, easy style and his characters are instantly recognisable as people from everyday walks "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Life of life, without being in any way stereotypicala Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4. Many of the people in these stories are dealing with normal frustrations5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], and Lennon is cleverly detached enough not to make them individuals [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the Isles of Scilly. (I know they should be called that you're obviously supposed – the author provides a handy guide to root for (the only exception is the industrialist in the eponymous taleetiquette of their name, who is an archetypal capitalist fat cat). There are some very clever characterisations – in ''Weber’s Head'', for exampletheir nature and location, the narrator is a flawed individual whose opinions of his housemate are gradually revealed to be unreliable and unfairetc. ) For meour more distant readers, they're several chunks of granite rock out in the most unsettling story Atlantic, where Cornwall is pointing, with just 2,200 permanent residents. They''No Life''re big on tourism, because it portrays a decent couple at and big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the mercy of people more powerful and influential than Gulf Stream bequeaths them. There – although the weather is no supernatural or bizarre element at work herebad enough to turn any car to a rust bucket within years. They're so wee, and so idyllic-seeming, just ordinary characters especially at the mercy of social powernight, you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for a police presence.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781253358</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Lynne Truss|title=Cat out But there is – at least two working at any one time. And one of Hell|rating=3|genre=Horror|summary=Meet Alec Charlesworth. He's retired and decamped to an isolated coastal cottage with just them in recent years has been Colin Taylor, who has done his dog and loving memories of his colleague wifeofficial duty – alongside maintaining a well-known online existence, now that she which has died before her time. But brought to life all 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 leftwhimsical comedy of his work. Bizarrely they show photographic and audio evidence [[The Life 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 wifeScilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] <!-- Lloyd -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lloyd_Twas. 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…|amazonukjpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=<amazonuk>0099585340</amazonuk>thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle=Jimmy Hansen and Mychailo Kazybird"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||title=Wallace & Gromit ==[['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: The Complete Newspaper Strips Collection Vol 2A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees]]===|rating=4[[image:3.5star.jpg|genrelink=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]]|summary=For me there are two important areas of the cover of this book where three letters are arranged in meaningful waysIt's Christmas Eve and Mum has arranged everything. The first All she now has to do is with await the arrival of the S-U-N in their obligatory red relatives and white fontthe food shopping delivery. No minor paper could hold Wallace and Gromit, their adventures Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the potential to be in what is (unfortunately) ruin everything. [['Twas the most widely read tabloid in the country. And elsewhere is CFight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees|Full Review]] <!-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.Phinn -->|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782760822</amazonuk>}}{{newreview-|titlestyle=Dear Committee Members"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|author=Julie Schumacher|rating=4[[image:Phinn_Virgin.5jpg|genre=General Fictionleft|summarylink=Jason Fitger (Jay) is a Professor of creative writing and literature at a small university in the American mid-westhttp://www.amazon. He is also a frustrated novelist with a colourful personal history, much of which bleeds into his professional life, with interesting resultsco.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>0007586345</amazonuk>}}{{newreview"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=Mapp and Lucia Omnibus|author=E F Benson|rating=3.5|genre=Humour|summary=Miss Elizabeth Mapp rules the town of Tilling - she is the centre of the social life, and spends her days enjoying bridge, polite conversation and civilised painting[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4.5star. When Mrs Emmeline Lucas arrives in town (known to all as Lucia), Miss Mapp finds her life truly shaken up, as the cultured, fashionable and progressive Lucia makes her home in the town, and swiftly rises to the top of the ranks amongst the social scene in Tilling.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849908478</amazonuk>}}jpg|link=Category:{{{newreviewrating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|title=Encyclopedia ParanoiacaHumour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|author=Henry Beard and Christopher CerfAnthologies]]|rating=4|genre=Popular Science|summary=We're screwed. Wherever Christmas in our house is the time we look, whatever we think of doing, there is tend to get on a reason why we shouldn't be doing it, plane and people head to back either sun or snow, anywhere that reason up with scientific data. Take any aspect of your daily life – what you eatis far, far away from the madness at home, how you worklast minute dashes to the shops on Christmas Eve, how you rest even, what you touch – all have problems and food cupboard stockpiles that could provoke would imply supermarkets are shutting for a serious illness or worsemonth, nor a mere 36 hours. And outside that daily sphere there are economic disastersBut I do remember the feeling of Christmas when I was younger, nuclear meltdownsback when it was magical, errant AI scientists and passing comets that could turn our world upside down at back when you knew exactly what the blink of an eyeseason would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. Perhaps then you better read this This book first – for is an anthology of those moments, and it may well turn out took me right back to be your last…the wonder of Christmas as a child. [[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|amazonuk=Full Review]] <amazonuk>0715649213</amazonuk!-- North -->}}{{newreview|-|titlestyle=Diary of a Mad Diva"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|author=Joan Rivers|rating=3[[image:North_Romeo.5jpg|genrelink=Humourhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0356508536/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=The late Joan Rivers was, without a doubt, a character. Actress, comedian, writer, director, presenter, she was well known in the USA "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Romeo and beyond for her sharp tongue and no holds barred persona/or Juliet by Ryan North]]=== [[image:3. This was the last of the dozen books she published, her final title before her death in September 20145star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0425269027</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|title=The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - The Nearly Definitive EditionHumour]]|author=Douglas Adams|rating=5|genre=General Fiction|summary=There For all those who think tragedy plots are few series too restricted and prescribed, read on. In these pages you too will see that have garnered such a cult following as 'The Hitchhikers Guide Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the Galaxy'bottle. Likewise, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. Whether And to what result? Well, happy marriage and a kid called Ben, because the fans leads have come from just banged people's heads together and stopped the radio seriesquarrelling, the or Death by Tybalt (impossibly hardhim) computer gameor a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her). [[Romeo and/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.Juliet by Ryan North|Full Review]] <!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023396</amazonuk>}}