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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding= Kevin MacNeil"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->|title=The Brilliant and Forever<!-- van LENTE -->|rating= 3.5-|genrestyle= Humour|summary= You know sometimes when someone tells a joke, everyone else laughs, and you're sat there wondering what was so funny?"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1846973376<http://www.amazon.co.uk/amazonuk>}}{{newreviewdp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |author= Christopher Fowler|titlestyle= Bryant and May"vertical-align: top; text-align: Strange Tideleft;"||rating= 3.5|genre= Crime|summary= [[The thirteenth outing for Bryant and May is looking very much like it will be their lastCon Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. Arthur Bryant is on compassionate leave whilst tests are continuing, which are likely to confirm that he is suffering from Alzheimer's. His condition is worsening almost by the day, memory lapses are morphing into full-scale hallucinations.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0857523422</amazonuk>Category:{{{rating}}}{{newreviewStar Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|author=Kevin SmithCrime]], [[:Category:Humour|title=The Voyage of the DolphinHumour]]|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=Dublin 1916: Among the unrest and antiComic-British feeling worsened by the threat Cons are a place of conscription into a war seen as nothing to do with the Irishwonder and sanctuary for many people, Trinity College faculty has other distractions. Theyand when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he'd like a trophy; s looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, plus the skeleton chance of an Irish 'giant' to be precisemaybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. The only glitch However, when his rival is that the main trophy contender, Bernard MacNeill's skeletonfound dead, Mike is somewhere difficult forced to access navigate every dark corner of the con in order to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and all seasoned explorers are otherwise engaged. There may be hope though. They turn intrusive fans to Fitzmauricezombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, in doing so, may just unravel a student not good enough for anything elsedark secret behind a legendary industry creator. Fitzmaurice agrees, picking his friends Crozier and Rafferty to go with him. So… ''Gentlemen, lace up your strongest boots and pack your warmest underwear – we're all off to the bloody Arctic!'' Whether battle cry or epitaph, three men and a dog… and an iguana… are going anyway.[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]]  <!-- Coulton -->|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910124826</amazonuk>-|amazonusstyle=<amazonus>1910124826<"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/amazonus>dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle=Tony Hawks"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title===[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]==Once Upon a Time in the West… Country|rating=3|genre=Travel[[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=I have often complained in a jokey voice to my partner about life in the sticksCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], and the way she moved me from an inner-city flat to slumming it in the suburbs with fewer busses[[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Lex Coulton's debut novel is a story about mistakes, no takeaways within walking-and-keeping-food-hot distancefailures, and no 'Polish' shops for a can of beer whenever you fancy onerelationships. Things are different with Tony HawksThe main protagonist, as here he has purposefully decided to up sticks from London to SomewhereFrances Pilgrim, Devon – is a tiny village where the people sixth form English teacher who built their own homes decades ago still live in themhas recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, where slugs are a lot more of a problem for the wannabe lettuce-grower than they are for the metropolitan commuterwork colleague, and where village halls have is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. This relationship is complicated by the power to turn you into both a Pol Pot dictator if you get on their committee and into a quivering, bruisefact that Frances's father disappeared at sea when she was five years old. [[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]] <!-- van LENTE -->|-inducing wreck if you're the wrong gender at a Zumba class…|amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1444794809<"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|link=http:/amazonuk>/www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle=Marian Keyes"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]==Making It Up As I Go Along|rating=4.5|genre=Entertainment[[image:4star.jpg|summarylink=Oh, how the book reviewing gods like to giveCategory:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and equally like to take away. Here before me is a brandsanctuary for many people, and when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, spanking new collection of journalism by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but ithe's a proof copylooking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and creators, so there's no photo plus the chance of the authormaybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. Even if over the years I have stopped reading her novelsHowever, when his rival is found dead, I have always turned Mike is forced to navigate every dark corner of the author picture con in order to remind myself such sights exist in this world. Himself is a lucky man, for sure. But beyond sounding like a letch, what can I say about this clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – the beauty's third large dose of essays, web columns Mike must prove his innocence and other journalism? I can start with agreeing that I am not the target audience, but it'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 numberin doing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator.[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718182529</amazonuk!-- Curran -->}}{{newreview|author= Jean-Yves Ferri|titlestyle= Asterix and the Missing Scroll (Album 36)"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating= 5[[image:1683690133.jpg|genrelink= For Sharing|summary=Asterix is those rarest of book series; one designed for kids which is actually even funnier when you are an adulthttp://www.amazon.co. I used to love Asterix as a child, but now that I reread them I canuk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[My Lady't help but wonder why, because they are so full of hilarious jokes that I definitely wouldn't have understood when I was youngers Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris]]=== [[image:4star. I laughed loud and hard to myself twice within the first two pages of Asterix and the Missing Scroll, so I'd definitely say that this was a hit.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>1510100458</amazonuk>}}Category:{{{newreview|author=Spadge Whittaker|title=Braver Than Britain, Occasionally|rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|genre=Humour]], [[:Category:Historical Fiction|summary=In which Spadge researches Britain's top ten fears and faces them all over the course Historical Fiction]] You are a lass of a yeartwenty eight. We're quite a fearful societyPlucky, you know. And penniless and in Regency era London the things we fear most arerace 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, in order: heights (acrophobia)and fired by a rogueish sense for adventure. When it comes to suitors though, snakes (ophidiophobia)you'll have to make the ultimate decision between witty, public speaking (glossophobia)pretty and wealthy Sir Benedict Granville, spiders (arachnophobia)wholesome, small spaces (claustrophobia)rugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, mice (musophobia)or the mad, needles (trypanophobia)bad and terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. With orphans, flying (pteromerhanophobia)werewolves, crowds (agoraphobia) long lost lovers and clowns (coulrophobia)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 Larissa Zageris|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993429904</amazonuk!-- Jester -->}}{{newreview|author= Mike Bullen-|titlestyle= Trust"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating= 4[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|genre= General Fictionleft|summarylink= Greg and Amanda are happyhttps://www.amazon. Unmarried, but together thirteen years and with two young daughters, they are very much in loveco. Dan and Sarah aren't so fortunate. Their marriage is going through the motions, and they're staying together for the sake of their troubled teenage son. Following uk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1510704361]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Forever After: a business conference away from home, one bad decision sends a happy couple into turmoil, and turns an unhappy couple into love's young dreamdark comedy by David Jester]]=== [[image:4star. As secrets and betrayals threaten to send both relationships out of controljpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], there's only one thing that can keep everything from falling apart[[:Category: TrustHorror|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk>}}Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]]{{newreview|author=Dan Rhodes|title=When Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and gets made the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow|rating=4offer of his lifetime; immortality.5|genre=General Fiction|summary= Two people are on We follow Michael, a grim reaper and his friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a train on stoner in the records department) as they grapple with their way long lives and finding a clean surface to, of all things, a WI meeting where the ladies of All Bottoms will be lectured sit on the nonin their flat. [[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester|Full Review]] <!-existence of God. One of the two people is Professor Richard Dawkins, rampant atheist, hectoring scientist chappie, and all-round devotee of ''Deal or No Deal''. The other is Smee, his monoStibbe -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-named assistant, amanuensis or 'male secretary'align: center;"|[[image:Stibbe_Xmas. 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 Bottomjpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co. Instead the pair fetch up at the isolated yet friendly community of Market Horton, and the only option for accommodation is taken – yes, the dieduk/gp/product/0241309824?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-in21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0241309824]]  | style="vertical-thealign: top; text-wool non-believer has to be housed align: left;"|===[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by a retired vicar and his wifeNina Stibbe]]=== [[image:4.5star. This clash of titanic opinions, peppered with social faux pas aplenty will provide for a particularly English kind of farcical comedy, but one with the legs to go as far as any other Good Books have reached in the past…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk>}}jpg|link=Category:{{{newreview|author=Rob Temple|title=Very British Problems Abroad|rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|genre=Humour]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]]|summary=Meet, if you haven't already, Christmas – the phenomenon time of the Very British Problemtraditional trauma. In this format they're in pithy little comments (of, ooh, You only have to think about 140 characters in length, the turkey for some reason…) and detail that – once upon a time it was leaving it sat on the minor things in life that we like nothing more than downstairs loo to inflate to a major factor of life. They can involve mannersdefrost overnight, staring at things until they mend themselves, hitting things ditto, or and if that failed the fact 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 nobody apart from you can go and I know how visit it, and get too friendly with it to queue properlywant to eat it. And if the idea hits the world outside our shoresChristmas, then – wellthough, you certainly have is of course also a book full time of content regarding our attitude and ineptitude abroadgreat boons.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Fraser McAlpine|title=Stuff Brits Like|rating=4|genre=Humour|summary= With over 100 chapters on different aspects It's cash in hand for a lot of Britain plump people who can hire red suits and Britishnessbeards, this book is both fascinating and hilarious. Just looking at it was always a godsend for postmen with all the list of subjects is enough thank-you letters to produce aunties you saw twice a sardonic twist of decade that stiff upper lip: your parents made you write out in long-hand as a child, and as for the chapters cover topics that range from offal to currymakers of Meltis Newberry Fruits – well, from pedantry to banter, from conkers to rugby. There may be many chapters but this is no academic tome - each chapter is just two to three pages long, each is written with endearing affection, each is easy did they even try and satisfying sell them any other time of the year? [[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe|Full Review]] <!-- Doescher - and quirkily funny - to read.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= John Samuel-|titlestyle= What I Tell You in the Dark"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|ratingleft|link= 3https://www.amazon.co.5|genreuk/gp/product/159474985X?ie= Humour|summaryUTF8&tag=A man called Will is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate to expose his companythebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare's dodgy dealings to the pressForce Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4. Overcome with doubt and fear, he goes to kill himself5star. But, at the exact moment he attaches his noose to the back of the doorjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], he is saved. By a curious housemate or a concerned girlfriend? No, by an Angel. Not the white-feathered guardian Angel you may expect[[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, there was a man called William Shakespeare, but one who wishes was able to help Will achieve his ends, and so possess the body create a series of dramatic histories full of the hapless Will in order to finish what he startedmachinations most foul, rulers most evil and rebellious heroes and heroines most sturdy. It goes without saying that You may or may not have noticed the Angel is hoping things go better than they did with cinematic version of his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken'', but here at last we get the last guy he possessed – a hapless young man actual script, complete with annoying-in-different-ways-to-before droids anew, returning heroes from Galilee called Jesus…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0715650505</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= John Niven|title= The Sunshine Cruise Company|rating= 4.5|genre= Humour|summary= Susan Frobisher and Julie Wickham live elsewhere in his oeuvre, and people keeping it in a small Dorset townthe family til it hurts. Friends since school And if you need further encouragement, they live fairly uneventful lives don't forget his audience only demanded three parts of Henry VI – Susan has a lovely house and a lengthy marriage here the series is so popular we're on to accountant Barry, whereas Julie is doing slightly less well part seven – living in a council flat and working in an old peoplesurely making this over twice as good… [[William Shakespeare's home. When Barry is found dead trussed up in a sex dungeon, it transpires that he has been leading a hidden life for years, and his expensive fetishes lead to the bank moving to take Susan's home. Struck Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by both desperation and a sense of injustice, Sue and Julie conspire to rob a bank, 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 the nursing home longing for adventure.Ian Doescher|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0434023183</amazonuk!-- Goss -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Marie Phillips"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=The Table Of Less Valued Knights|rating=4[[image:Goss_600.5jpg|genre=Fantasyleft|summarylink=Sir Humphrey has been demoted from King Arthur's Round Table to the Table of Lesser Valued Knightshttps://www. The only way to get his comfier seat back is to redeem himself via a questamazon. Therefore when damsel Elaine seeks help to find her kidnapped fiancé, Humphrey and his ward, the teenage giant Conrad, eagerly set forthco. Meanwhile in the kingdom of Tuft, new Queen Martha has run away after a disastrous wedding to… a… well… disastrous Prince Edwin. She may not realise it yet, but she too will have a job for Humphrey!uk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785942719]]  |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>0099555875</amazonuk>}}{{newreview"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|author=Tim Flannery|title=The Mystery of the Venus Island Fetish|rating=3|genre=Historical Fiction|summary[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies]]=Meet Archie Meek== [[image:4.5star. He's about to leave the Venus Islands, where hejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's lived for the last five years, Rhymes and return to Sydney, where he'll take his office in the museum and fill it with all the cultural artefacts heVerse|Children's found Rhymes and wildlife he's plucked or pickledVerse]], [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the Doctor. That's not Just how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to ignore the fact he'll count as something quite alien himselfhand out each year, were he to keep in touch with even half of his filled-out framecompanions? He would certainly need a few novelty gifts for some of them, say, nearly all-over suntan and totemic tattoofor example, in amongst other changes to his bodywhimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the life of a Time Lord and that of some of his friends and enemies. But what's this? When he gets backAs luck would have it, he finds one of has the main Venus Islands artefacts that caused him to go there space in the first placehis TARDIS to stock up in advance, a hugeso my advice to him – sorry, macabre ceremonial fetish mask, purloined as corporate artworkher – would be to pop along to his local Earth-based book emporium and get himself ready. And some of the curators he wishes to work alongside have vanished. Is the weird society of the museum he's returning toif you're working on a shorter timescale, perchancewith a shorter lifespan, even weirderand thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, stranger and more violent than well my advice is pretty much the cannibalistic society he's waving farewell to?|amazonuk=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]] <amazonuk!-- Ingram -->1922079308</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Roman Dirge-|titlestyle=The Cat with a Really Big Head"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|ratingleft|link=3https://www.amazon.co.5|genreuk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=Graphic Novels|summaryas2&camp= How many picture books are there about cats? And how many do you know that you would really NOT prefer your children to see? If the answer to the second question is 'none – yet', scratch that last word1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]=== [[image:4star. The title piece in this collection is, by the author's own admission, his imagining jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|Pets]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It was something of the Joseph Merrick (the 'Elephant Man') of the feline world – who struggles a relief when I encountered Annie Ingram and her cocker spaniel Kammie. You see, Annie knows something which has been self-evident to sneak up behind me for a mouse when the shadow long time: dogs are perfectly capable of his head is a total giveaway, communicating with humans and who can hardly even eat with dignity as bending down not just on a level of food!, walk! or play!. You do require extensive training to his bowl would break his neck. If that's too dark or oddball for youbecome fluent, try the second major piece, which has a but most revealing foreword – ''Dedicated dogs will be perfectly willing to give their time to a certain girl… I hope your life is filled with wonderful accomplishments, love teach you and all the magic you desire… - But I hope your death have to do is slow listen. Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and horriblethe pair have allowed us to share some of their conversations.''[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782762876</amazonuk!-- Harris -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Val Hennessy"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|titlelink=Not Far From Dreamland|ratinghttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=4.5thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle=General Fiction"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=Ronald Tonks has reached that stage in life which I call upper middle age: you've qualified for your pension but not yet got to the free television licence barrier==[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris]]=== [[image:3star. What Ronald ''has'' got jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Teenager Liam Glass is a roof that leaks (there's good reason why mugged and stabbed yards from his home is called 'Camden flat. As the boy lies comatose, desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the shack')inside scoop, tired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a dog who is going bald (in patches) missing tape, harried politician Jamila Hasan fights for re-election, distraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, and money that's gym-owner Royland simply finds himself in very short supply. On the plus side he has friends, mostly platonic and usually in much wrong place at the same boat as Ronaldwrong time. But are they downhearted? Well, they are occasionallyWe follow this host of ensemble characters in a bleak, but mostly they're generously optimistic and out to make the most kaleidoscopic satire of what they've got, usually bought from charity shops and jumble sales. ''Not Far From Dreamland'' is the story modern media. [[The Breaking of a year (2012) in the life of Ronald Tonks, his friends and relatives.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[[image:Lente_10.jpg|ratinglink=3http://www.5|genre=Science Fictionamazon.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. Still, at least he gets medals just for signing Each fits neatly into one of the archetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, 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, the child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, what hope the insult comic who is there?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147320531X</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Ian Doescher|title=past her prime; TJ, the nightly variety show host with a reputation for harassing his female colleagues and guest acts; Ruby, the ultra-feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William Shakespeare, whose redneck character ''Billy the Contractor''s The Phantom of Menace|rating=4is a far cry from his real personality as a posh millionaire.5|genre=Humour|summary= Join usOf course, good gentles, for a merry reimagining of `Star Wars Episode 1all nine agree because ' as only Shakespeare could have written it. 'Tis when God almighty walks down on a true Shakespearean drama, filled with sword fights, soliloquies beam of light and doomed romance…all in glorious iambic pentameter and coupled with gorgeous illustrations. Hold on to asks for your midichlorians: The plays help, what the thing, wherein hell else are you'll catch the rise of Anakin!going to say?'' [[Ten Dead Comedians: A Murder Mystery by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Scott -->1594748063</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Attaboy-|titlestyle=The Book of Hugs"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Scott_Eliz.jpg|ratinglink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=4thebookbag-21]] |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?|amazonukand Me by S Lynn Scott]]===<amazonuk>0867197978</amazonuk>}}[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{newreviewrating}}} Star 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 job. Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of overlordsthe window. For reasons It's not a coincidence that were explored it's the same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in the previous couple pantry and the Bard of outings they have been transferred to the City Of London Police. The Met are still the big players Avon in the areaher bath. City of London Police only police the old city, the square mile, the financial district in other wordsWhat's she going to do? Well, Elizabeth and Will have their own ideas about that has very little in the way of street crime! [[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.|amazonuk=S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] <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"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=3[[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:4.5star. Many of the people in these stories are dealing with normal frustrationsjpg|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, their nature and location, who is an archetypal capitalist fat catetc.). There are some very clever characterisations – For our more distant readers, they're several chunks of granite rock out in ''Weber’s Head''the Atlantic, for examplewhere Cornwall is pointing, the narrator is a flawed individual whose opinions of his housemate are gradually revealed to be unreliable and unfair. For mewith just 2, the most unsettling story is ''No Life'200 permanent residents. They'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 timebrought to life all the whimsical comedy of his work. 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 [[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…jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>0099585340</amazonuk>"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|}}{{newreview|author=Jimmy Hansen ==[['Twas the Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Mychailo KazybirdEmlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|titlelink=Wallace & Gromit Category: The Complete Newspaper Strips Collection Vol 2|{{{rating=4}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|genre=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 have 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 outputPhinn -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Phinn_Virgin. 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 spadesjpg|left|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |amazonukstyle=<amazonuk>1782760822</amazonuk>}}{{newreview"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title=Dear Committee Members|author=Julie Schumacher|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|summary=Jason Fitger (Jay) is a Professor of creative writing and literature at a small university in the American mid-west[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4. He is also a frustrated novelist with a colourful personal history, much of which bleeds into his professional life, with interesting results5star.jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0007586345</amazonuk>}}Category:{{{newreview|title=Mapp and Lucia Omnibus|author=E F Benson|rating=3.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|genre=Humour]], [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]]|summary=Miss Elizabeth Mapp rules the town of Tilling - she Christmas in our house is the centre of the social life, time we tend to get on a plane and spends her days enjoying bridgehead to either sun or snow, polite conversation and civilised painting. 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 Tillinganywhere 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]] <!-- 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 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]] <!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849908478</amazonuk>}}