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[[Category:New Reviews|Humour]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreview|authorclass-"wikitable" cellpadding=Ryan North"15" <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->|title=Romeo and/or Juliet<!-- Hogan -->|rating=3.5-|genrestyle=Humour|summary"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669065.jpg|link=For all those who think tragedy plots are too restricted and prescribed, read onhttp://www.amazon. In these pages you too will see that Romeo had lots of options en route to hitting the bottleco. Likewise, she could have turned away from her predestined path at no end of junctures. And to what resultuk/dp/1473669065/ref=nosim? Well, happy marriage and a kid called Ben, because the leads have just banged peopletag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Queenie Malone's heads together and stopped the quarrelling, or Death Paradise Hotel by Tybalt (him) or a long life running an establishment curing murderous women, such as a Lady M (her)Ruth Hogan]]=== [[image:5star. jpg|amazonuklink=<amazonuk>0356508536</amazonuk>}}Category:{{{newreview|author= Gervase Phinn|title= The Virgin Mary's Got Nits|rating= 4.5}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|genre= General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|summary= Christmas in our house is the time we tend Humour]], [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]] Tilda returns to get on a plane and head Brighton, to either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far tidy away from the madness at homeremains of her mother's life after her death. Whilst there, last minute dashes she returns to the shops on Christmas EveParadise hotel, a haven for eccentrics and misfits. A place where people can be themselves, and food cupboard stockpiles let go of thoughts that would imply supermarkets are shutting torment them elsewhere. Little wonder that Tilda cannot forgive her mother for banishing her as a monthchild, nor a mere 36 hoursfrom this place of wonder. But I do remember With the feeling help of Christmas when I was youngerQueenie Malone, back when it was magicalcaring, and back when you knew exactly what gregarious, Tilda begins to pick apart the season would bring tricky and uncertain relationship she had with carol concerts her sometimes cruel and school nativities and Christmas partiesdistant mother. This book is an anthology of those moments, and it took me right back to the wonder of Christmas as a child.|amazonuk=<amazonuk[[Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan|Full Review]] <!-- van LENTE -->1444779400</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Kieran Crowley-|titlestyle= Shoot|rating= 4"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1683690346.jpg|genrelink= Crimehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle= I make something of a habit of being late to discover good writers, in this case getting to Crowley after he is no longer with us. "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The result is that what is billed as ''an FCon Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star.X. Shepherd mystery'' with all the optimism of there being more to come has the poignancy of beingjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], if not the last of [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a short line, certainly one place of a few. F.X. Shepherd – he doesn't like his first name wonder and prefers just "Shepherd" issanctuary for many people, technicallyand when Comic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, a columnist. Hehe's been sacked by one New York newspaper looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and is writing a weekly column for another. I don't know much about journalismcreators, but I'm guessing one column a week doesn't pay much as a rule…which explains why Shepherd's soap-washed-foul-mouthed editor (read plus the bookchance of maybe, you'll see what I mean) expects him just maybe reuniting with his ex. However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is forced to turn navigate every dark corner of the con in some genuine journalism as well: front pageorder to clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to zombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, seat of your pants stuffin doing so, may just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator. [[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]]  |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783296518</amazonuk!-- Coulton -->}}{{newreview|author=Gray Jolliffe-|titlestyle=The First Ever Christmas"width: And Who to Blame10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|ratinglink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=5thebookbag-21]]  |genrestyle=Humour"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=If I tell you a secret, will you promise not to tell anyone? Well, I really don't like Christmas==[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category: itGeneral Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Women's my least favourite time of year and whilst some people count down to the day itself, I look forward to that point when I can say that itFiction|Women's all over for another year. ItFiction]] Lex Coulton's all too commercialised for medebut novel is a story about mistakes, failures, with a coating of faux religionand relationships. I've never found it in the least funny - that The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is, until I found Gray Jolliffe's ''The First Ever Christmas: And Who's to Blame''a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, and is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. Amazingly, IThis relationship is complicated by the fact that Frances'd never encountered Gray Jolliffe either, but I'm a convert to his skills as a cartoonist (if not to the idea of Christmas) after reading this collection of Christmas-themed cartoons from his archives father disappeared at sea when she was five years old.[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445663503</amazonuk!-- van LENTE -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Jonathan Pugh"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=Pugh's New Year's Resolutions|rating=4[[image:1683690346.5jpg|genrelink=Humourhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690346/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle=If there's one thing that's for certain, it's that the world is changing"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente]]=== [[image:4star. We're dating onlinejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], we're communicating in ways that make email seem redundant[[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Comic-Cons are a place of wonder and sanctuary for many people, and when weComic book artist Mike Mason arrives at San Diego Comic-Con, he're shopping we just tell a website where s looking for both that and sanctuary with other fans and when it can be deliveredcreators, and how much leeway they have to swap our wishes for whatever it plus the chance of maybe, just maybe reuniting with his ex. However, when his rival is found dead, Mike is they do bring us. But those changes are also supposed forced to be affecting us – we're supposed navigate every dark corner of the con in order to use a smart watch clear his name – from cosplay flash mobs and intrusive fans to tell us if we're moving or notzombie obstacle courses – Mike must prove his innocence and, we have to keep up with the latest fadsin doing so, and we're supposed to prick our ears up and take note when the proverbial 'they' change their minds about what we're supposed to eatmay just unravel a dark secret behind a legendary industry creator.[[The Con Artist by Fred Van Lente|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780722885</amazonuk!-- Curran -->}}|-{{newreview|author| style= Luke Rhinehart"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title= Invasion[[image:1683690133.jpg|ratinglink= 4http://www.amazon.co.5uk/dp/1683690133/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |genre= Humour |summarystyle=Super"vertical-intelligent furry aliens suddenly appear from another universe. And theyalign: top; text-align: left;"|===[[My Lady've come to earth to have fun. Alien Louie follows fisherman Billy Morton home one day, s Choosing by Kitty Curran and he and his family quickly come to love the playful alienLarissa Zageris]]=== [[image:4star. But when Louie starts using their computer to hack into government and corporate networksjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], stealing millions from banks to give to others[[:Category:Historical Fiction|Historical Fiction]] You are a lass of twenty eight. Plucky, they realise that Louie penniless and his friends mean trouble. As Billy and his family begin in Regency era London the race is on to find a roller coaster ride of fame and fortune, as well suitable suitor - or else doom yourself to life as an eternal spinster. Along your journey you'll be accompanied by Lady Evangeline Youngblood - a ranking high on the FBI's most wanted list, the Government soon decides that these aliens are terroristsfiesty noble eager to save you from a life alone, and must be eliminatedfired by a rogueish sense for adventure. Whilst the aliens are playing games they hope will help humans When it comes to suitors though, you'll have to see make the insanity of the American politicalultimate decision between witty, economic pretty and military systemswealthy Sir Benedict Granville, wholesome, rugged and caring Captain Angus MacTaggart, they soon come to realise that or the mad, bad and terrifyingly sexy Lord Garraway Craven. With orphans, werewolves, long lost lovers and ancient Egyptian artifcats along the Powers that Be donway, it's clear this isn't play games: they make wargoing to be an easy decision... |amazonuk=[[My Lady's Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris|Full Review]] <amazonuk>1785651757</amazonuk!-- Jester -->}}{{newreview|author=Rod Green-|titlestyle=Only Fools and Horses"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: The Peckham Archivescenter;"|[[image:Jester_Forever.jpg|ratingleft|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1510704361?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=41510704361]]  |genrestyle=Entertainment "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary=We are in the world of one of the country's most famous and well-loved sitcoms – even if it was sort-of killed off for Christmas 2003==[[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester]]=== [[image:4star. Yes, there have been specials sincejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], [[:Category:Horror|Horror]], [[:Category:Fantasy|Fasntasy]] Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and more repeats to clog up gets made the BBC schedules than is really pukkaoffer of his lifetime; immortality. We follow Michael, but very few people failed a grim reaper and his friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a stoner in the records department) as they grapple with their long lives and finding a clean surface to succumb to its charms at one time or anothersit on in their flat. I'm sure there have been books before now celebrating the stony[[Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester|Full Review]] <!-- Stibbe -->|-faced reception of ''that'' drop through the open bar hatch, and ''that'' chandelier scene, but this is much more meaty| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Stibbe_Xmas.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co. Purporting to be the family archives, found dumped in Nelson Mandela House, the documents here were passed from pillar to post, from one council worker in a department with a clumsy acronym to another, from them to the police – and now here they are being published for their social history worth. Will enough readers find them of worth, as the series quietly celebrates its 35th birthdayuk/gp/product/0241309824?|amazonukie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=<amazonuk>1849909245</amazonuk>0241309824]]}}{{newreview|authorstyle= Mara Wilson"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|title= Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame|rating= 5|genre= Autobiography|summary= Mara Wilson has always felt a little young and a little out of place[[An Almost Perfect Christmas by Nina Stibbe]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category: as the only child on a film set full of adults, the first daughter in a house full of boys{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Short Stories|Short Stories]] Christmas – the sole clinically depressed member time of traditional trauma. You only have to think about the turkey for that – once upon a cheerleading squadtime it was leaving it sat on the downstairs loo to defrost overnight, a valley girl in New York and a neurotic in California, and an adult if that failed the world still remembers as a little girlhair-dryer shoved inside it treatment was your next best bet. Tackling everything from how she first learned about sex on the set of Nowadays it's all having to make sure it'Melrose Place,'' to losing her mother at a young ages suitably free-range and organic – but not too organic that you can go and visit it, to getting her first kiss (or was and get too friendly with it kisses?) on a celebrity canoe trip, to not being cute enough want to make eat it in Hollywood. Christmas, these essays tell the story though, is of course also a time of one young womangreat boons. It's journey from accidental fame to relative obscurity, but also illuminate cash in hand for a universal struggle: learning to accept yourself, and figuring out lot of plump people who you are can hire red suits and where beards, it was always a godsend for postmen with all the thank-you belong. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0143128221</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Tony Stuartletters 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]]|title= Writing Lines|rating= 4.5<!-- Doescher -->|genre=Humour-|summarystyle= George Gordon Wentworth (1946"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-2011) lived a humdrum lifealign: center;"|[[image:Doescher_Will.jpg|left|link=https://www. He was a barely adequate teacher in a fairly world renowned independent school in Kent and kept a copious diary of his quotidian existenceamazon. Most of what he recorded was drossco. However, amongst all uk/gp/product/159474985X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=159474985X]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[William Shakespeare's the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the utterly uninteresting tailings of his life there were some nuggets and grains to catch the attentionSeventh by Ian Doescher]]=== [[image:4. Author Tony Stuart has created these amusing anecdotes, panning them out over twenty six episodes which give us the best of Wentworth – comedy gold5star. From losing all the pupils jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] A long time ago, in his charge on a school trip galaxy far away, there was a man called William Shakespeare, who was able to being arrested on suspicion create a series of dramatic histories full of terrorism; from waking up in bed between the married couple the morning after their weddingmachinations most foul, to destroying a ski run; from appearing full-frontal naked in a sheep-farmers' gazette to triggering an air-sea rescue; Wentworth was, blinkered rulers most evil and befuddled, the subject – of these rebellious heroes and so many more unlikely but highly amusing eventsheroines most sturdy.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1524634441</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Graham Fulbright|title=Driving Mad: Maniacs, Morons and You may or may not have noticed the Advanced Motoristcinematic version of his original stage play for ''The Force Doth Awaken's Club|rating=3.5|genre=Humour|summary=I passed my driving test when John F Kennedy was in ', but here at last we get the White House and I've recently had to reapply for my driving licence having achieved a venerable age. When I started driving the roads were kinderactual script, more forgiving places complete with annoying-in- or put another waydifferent-ways-to-before droids anew, returning heroes from elsewhere in his oeuvre, and people keeping it in the idiots were fewer and further betweenfamily til it hurts. I And if you need further encouragement, don't know how long Graham Fulbright has been driving, but he certainly knows forget his motoring morons and in ''Driving Mad'' he brings us a fictional sample audience only demanded three parts of their eccentricities. Well, IHenry VI – here the series is so popular we'm pretty certain that theyre on to part seven – surely making this over twice as good… [[William Shakespeare're fictional - but these days you never know...s the Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh by Ian Doescher|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783062584</amazonuk!-- Goss -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Mario Giordano"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Goss_600.jpg|titleleft|link=Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lionshttps://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1785942719?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785942719]]  |ratingstyle=4"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||genre=Crime|summary=Poldi had not long been widowed when she decided to move from Bavaria to Sicily with the intention =[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of drinking herself to deathTime Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies]]=== [[image:4.5star. She could, of coursejpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Rhymes and Verse|Children's Rhymes and Verse]], have done this in Germany[[:Category:Science Fiction|Science Fiction]], but she felt that a sea view was essential[[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Consider the Doctor. Once thereJust how many birthday and Christmas gifts must he have to hand out each year, new friends, family already resident on the island and the corpse were he to keep in touch with even half of a young man, his face blown off by companions? He would certainly need a shotgun, whom she found on few novelty gifts for some of them, say, for example, whimsical books of verse that pithily encapsulate the local beach, intervened to give her life some meaning. For of a while she was a suspect, but Time Lord and that (of some of his friends and her wig) were no obstacle enemies. As luck would have it, he has the space in his TARDIS to her falling for Commissario Vito Montana who was assigned stock up in advance, so my advice to investigate the case. Assisting him (or having him assist – sorry, her) came naturally – would be to pop along to Poldi and before long there was an investigative his local Earth-based book emporium and personal partnershipget himself ready. At least so far as Poldi was concernedAnd if you're working on a shorter timescale, with a shorter lifespan, and thinking perhaps just one gift season ahead, well my advice is pretty much the same.[[Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse (Dr Who) by James Goss and Russell T Davies|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Ingram -->1908524693</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Grady Hendrix-|titlestyle= My Best Friend's Exorcism"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating= 5[[image:Ingram_Kammie.jpg|genre= Horrorleft|summarylink=1988, Charleston, South Carolinahttps://www. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disatrously wrong, Gretchen begins to actamazon.co..different. She's moody. She's irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she's nearby. Abby's investigation leads her to some startling discoveries uk/gp/product/1785451995?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1785451995]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text- and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single questionalign: Is their friendship enough to beat the devil?left;"||amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594748624</amazonuk>==[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram]]===}}[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{newreview|author= Kevin MacNeil{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Pets|title=The Brilliant and ForeverPets]], [[:Category:Humour|rating= 3.5Humour]]|genre= Humour|summary= You know sometimes It was something of a relief when someone tells a jokeI encountered Annie Ingram and her cocker spaniel Kammie. You see, everyone else laughsAnnie 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!, and you're sat there wondering what was so funny?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846973376</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Christopher Fowler|title= Bryant and May: Strange Tide|rating= 3walk! or play!.5|genre= Crime|summary= The thirteenth outing for Bryant and May is looking very much like it will You do require extensive training to become fluent, but most dogs will be perfectly willing to give their last. Arthur Bryant is on compassionate leave whilst tests are continuing, which are likely time to teach you and all you have to confirm that he do is suffering from Alzheimer'slisten. His condition is worsening almost by Annie has studied hard: Kammie has trained her well and the day, memory lapses are morphing into full-scale hallucinationspair have allowed us to share some of their conversations.[[Conversations with Kammie by Annie Ingram|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0857523422</amazonuk!-- Harris -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Kevin Smith"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Harris_Glass.jpg|titlelink=The Voyage of the Dolphinhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1908943823/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]|rating=5|genre=Historical Fiction|summarystyle=Dublin 1916"vertical-align: Among the unrest and antitop; text-British feeling worsened align: left;"|===[[The Breaking of Liam Glass by the threat of conscription into a war seen as nothing to do with the Irish, Trinity College faculty has other distractionsCharles Harris]]=== [[image:3star. They'd like a trophy; the skeleton of an Irish 'giant' to be precise. The only glitch is that the main trophy contender, Bernard MacNeill's skeletonjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Teenager Liam Glass is somewhere difficult to access mugged and all seasoned explorers are otherwise engaged. There may be hope though. They turn to Fitzmauricestabbed yards from his Camden flat. As the boy lies comatose, desperate journalist Jason Worthington scrabbles for the inside scoop, tired police officer Andy Rockham searches for a student not good enough missing tape, harried politician Jamila Hasan fights for anything else. Fitzmaurice agreesre-election, distraught mother Katrina Glass waits by her son, picking his friends Crozier and Rafferty to go with himgym-owner Royland simply finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. So… ''GentlemenWe follow this host of ensemble characters in a bleak, lace up your strongest boots and pack your warmest underwear – we're all off to the bloody Arctickaleidoscopic satire of modern media. [[The Breaking of Liam Glass by Charles Harris|Full Review]] <!'' Whether battle cry or epitaph, three men and a dog… and an iguana… are going anyway.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910124826</amazonuk-- LENTE -->|amazonus=<amazonus>1910124826</amazonus>}}{{newreview-|authorstyle=Tony Hawks"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lente_10.jpg|titlelink=Once Upon a Time in the West… Countryhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1683690222/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]|rating=3|genre=Travel|summarystyle=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"vertical-align: top; text-city flat to slumming it in the suburbs with fewer busses, no takeaways within walking-and-keeping-food-hot distance, and no 'Polish' shops for 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 can remote Caribbean island under the guise of beer whenever you fancy working with Dustin Walker, a comedic legend. Each fits neatly into one. Things are different with Tony Hawksof the archetypal comic stereotypes: Steve, as here he the washed-up has-been who has purposefully decided to up sticks fallen far from London to Somewherehis early days; Zoe, Devon – the rising female star with a tiny village where the people new stand-up special coming soon; Dante, who built their own homes decades ago still live in them, where slugs are went from being a lot more of a problem for kid on the streets to the wannabe lettuce-grower than they are for hardest working road comic in the metropolitan commuterbusiness; Oliver, and where village halls have the power to turn you into both child-like prop comic who can't get any respect from his peers; Janet, the insult comic who is past her prime; TJ, the nightly variety show host with a Pol Pot dictator if you get on their committee reputation for harassing his female colleagues and into a quiveringguest acts; Ruby, bruisethe ultra-inducing wreck if you're the wrong gender at feminist YouTuber and Blogger with a chip on her shoulder; and William, whose redneck character ''Billy the Contractor'' is a far cry from his real personality as a Zumba class…|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444794809</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Marian Keyes|title=Making It Up As I Go Along|rating=4posh millionaire.5|genre=Entertainment|summary=OhOf course, all nine agree because ''when God almighty walks down on a beam of light and asks for your help, how what the book reviewing gods like to give, and equally like hell else are you going to take away. Here before me is a brand, spanking new collection of journalism by the wonderful Marian Keyes – but itsay?'s a proof copy, so there's no photo of the author. Even if over the years I have stopped reading her novels, I have always turned to the author picture to remind myself such sights exist in this world. Himself is a lucky man, for sure[[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. But beyond sounding like a letch, what can I say about this – the beauty's third large dose of essaysuk/dp/1788037006/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Elizabeth, web columns William... 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 Me by S Lynn Scott]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Ally 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 an ordinary woman with how many billions of planets are likely to have alien life on – you can narrow things down quite readily hereteenage children, a husband and still come up with a huge numberjob.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718182529</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= Jean-Yves Ferri|title= Asterix and Then comes the day when ordinariness flies out of the Missing Scroll (Album 36)|rating= 5|genre= For Sharing|summary=Asterix is those rarest window. It's not a coincidence that it's the same day she finds Queen Elizabeth I in the pantry and the Bard of book series; one designed for kids which is actually even funnier when you are an adultAvon in her bath. I used to love Asterix as a childWhat's she going to do? Well, but now Elizabeth and Will have their own ideas about that I reread them I can't help but wonder why! [[Elizabeth, because they are so full of hilarious jokes that I definitely wouldn't have understood when I was younger. 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.William... and Me by S Lynn Scott|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk!-- Rodford -->1510100458</amazonuk>}}{{newreview |author=Spadge Whittaker-|titlestyle=Braver Than Britain, Occasionally"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:Rodford_Surgeon.jpg|genrelink=Humour|summary=In which Spadge researches Britainhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/178565005X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Surgeon's top ten fears and faces them all over the course of a yearCase: George Kocharyan Mystery 2 by E G Rodford]]=== [[image:4star. We're quite a fearful societyjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], you know. And the things we fear most are, in order[[:Category: heights (acrophobia)Humour|Humour]] In the second instalment of this series, snakes (ophidiophobia)Private Investigator George Kocharyan has been hired by a well-known local man to track down some missing valuables. Bill Galbraith, public speaking (glossophobia)a world-famous surgeon at Cambridge's Addenbrooke's Hospital who hosts a popular medical television programme, spiders (arachnophobia)has had his briefcase stolen by his live-in domestic servant, small spaces (claustrophobia)Aurora. According to Galbraith, mice (musophobia)this briefcase contains confidential notes concerning an important patient of his at the hospital. George agrees to look into the theft, needles (trypanophobia), flying (pteromerhanophobia), crowds (agoraphobia) and clowns (coulrophobia)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]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0993429904</amazonuk!-- Jordan -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle= Mike Bullen"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Jordan_Tiny.jpg|titlelink=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1760293814/ref= Trustnosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] |rating= 4|genrestyle= General Fiction"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"||summary= Greg and Amanda are happy. Unmarried==[[Our Tiny, but together thirteen years and with two young daughters, they are very much in loveUseless Hearts by Toni Jordan]]=== [[image:5star. Dan and Sarah aren't so fortunate. Their marriage is going through the motionsjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] As predicted by Caroline and theyJanice're staying together for the sake of s mother on Caroline and Henry's wedding day, their troubled teenage sonmarriage is over, albeit 15 years and two daughters further along than predicted. Following a business conference away from homeIndeed, one bad decision sends this is definitely not a happy couple into turmoil, and turns an unhappy couple into lovegood weekend for Janice to be babysitting at Caroline's young dreamhouse. As secrets There's the split and betrayals threaten to send both relationships out the awkwardness of control, the girls' schoolteacher being the other woman for a start. Then there's only one thing that can keep everything from falling apart: Trust|amazonuk=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 over! Just as well really… guess who's at the door? [[Our Tiny, Useless Hearts by Toni Jordan|Full Review]] <amazonuk>0751559253</amazonuk!-- Taylor -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Dan Rhodes"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|title=When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow[[image:Taylor_Scilly.jpg|ratinglink=4http://www.amazon.co.5|genreuk/dp/178475515X/ref=General Fictionnosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]  |summarystyle= Two people are on a train on their way to, "vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Life of all things, a WI meeting where the ladies of All Bottoms will be lectured on Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Travel|Travel]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] Meet the non-existence Isles of GodScilly. One of the two people is Professor Richard Dawkins(I know they should be called that – the author provides a handy guide to the etiquette of their name, rampant atheisttheir nature and location, hectoring scientist chappieetc.) For our more distant readers, and all-round devotee they're several chunks of ''Deal or No Deal''. The other granite rock out in the Atlantic, where Cornwall is Smeepointing, his mono-named assistantwith just 2, amanuensis or 200 permanent residents. They'male secretary'. Smee will come to re big on tourism, and big on growing flowers in the tropical climate the fore when Gulf Stream bequeaths them – although the weather sets in and the train journey has is bad enough to turn any car to be abandoned some way short of its ultimate destinationa rust bucket within years. They're so wee, and so idyllic-seeming, Upper Bottom. Instead the pair fetch up especially at the isolated yet friendly community of Market Hortonnight, and the only option you can be mistaken for thinking there would be no need for accommodation a police presence. But there is taken – yes, the died-at least two working at any one time. And one of them inrecent years has been Colin Taylor, who has done his official duty – alongside maintaining a well-the-wool non-believer known online existence, which has brought to be housed by a retired vicar and life all the whimsical comedy of his wifework. This clash [[The Life 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…Scilly Sergeant by Colin Taylor|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910709018</amazonuk!-- Lloyd -->}}{{newreview|-|authorstyle=Rob Temple"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Lloyd_Twas.jpg|titlelink=Very British Problems Abroadhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472125118/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]|rating=4|genre=Humour|summarystyle=Meet, if you haven"vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[['t already, Twas the phenomenon of the Very British ProblemFight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees]]=== [[image:3.5star. In this format theyjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]] It're in pithy little comments (of, ooh, about 140 characters in length, for some reason…) s Christmas Eve and detail the minor things in life that we like nothing more than Mum has arranged everything. All she now has to inflate to a major factor do is await the arrival of life. They can involve manners, staring at things until they mend themselves, hitting things ditto, or the fact that nobody apart from you relatives and I know how to queue properlythe food shopping delivery. And if Little does Mum know that those two elements alone have the idea hits potential to ruin everything. [['Twas the world outside our shores, then – well, you certainly have a book full of content regarding our attitude Fight Before Christmas: A Parody by Josie Lloyd and ineptitude abroad.Emlyn Rees|Full Review]] |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0751558494</amazonuk!-- Phinn -->}}{{newreview|author=Fraser McAlpine-|titlestyle=Stuff Brits Like"width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|rating=4[[image:Phinn_Virgin.jpg|genre=Humourleft|summarylink= With over 100 chapters on different aspects of Britain and Britishness, this book is both fascinating and hilarious. Just looking at the list of subjects is enough to produce a sardonic twist of that stiff upper liphttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1444779400/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: the chapters cover topics that range from offal to curry, from pedantry to banter, from conkers to rugbyleft;"|===[[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn]]=== [[image:4.5star. There may be many chapters but this is no academic tome - each chapter is just two to three pages longjpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], each [[:Category:Anthologies|Anthologies]] Christmas in our house is written with endearing affection, each is easy and satisfying - the time we tend to get on a plane and quirkily funny - head to read.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857886348</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author= John Samuel|title= What I Tell You in the Dark|rating= 3.5|genre= Humour|summary=A man called Will is fighting fiercely against corruption – desperate to expose his company's dodgy dealings either sun or snow, anywhere that is far, far away from the madness at home, last minute dashes to the press. Overcome with doubt shops on Christmas Eve, and fearfood cupboard stockpiles that would imply supermarkets are shutting for a month, he goes to kill himselfnor a mere 36 hours. But, at I do remember the exact moment he attaches his noose to the back feeling of the doorChristmas when I was younger, he is saved. By a curious housemate or a concerned girlfriend? Noback when it was magical, by an Angel. Not the white-feathered guardian Angel and back when you may expect, but one who wishes to help Will achieve his ends, and so possess knew exactly what the body season would bring with carol concerts and school nativities and Christmas parties. This book is an anthology of the hapless Will in order those moments, and it took me right back to finish what he started. 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…wonder of Christmas as a child. [[The Virgin Mary's Got Nits by Gervase Phinn|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0715650505</amazonuk>Full Review]]}}{{newreview|author= John Niven|title= The Sunshine Cruise Company|rating= 4.5|genre= Humour|summary= Susan Frobisher and Julie Wickham live in a small Dorset town. Friends since school, they live fairly uneventful lives – Susan has a lovely house and a lengthy marriage to accountant Barry, whereas Julie is doing slightly less well – living in a council flat and working in an old people'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 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.|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's Round Table to the Table of Lesser Valued Knights. The only way to get his comfier seat back is to redeem himself via a quest. Therefore when damsel Elaine seeks help to find her kidnapped fiancé, Humphrey and his ward, the teenage giant Conrad, eagerly set forth. 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!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099555875</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Tim Flannery|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, and return to Sydney, where he'll take his office in the museum and fill it with all the cultural artefacts he's found and wildlife he's plucked or pickled. That's not to ignore the fact he'll count as something quite alien himself, with his filled-out frame, nearly all-over suntan and totemic tattoo, in amongst other changes to his body. But what's this? When he gets back, he finds one of the main Venus Islands artefacts that caused him to go there in the first place, a huge, macabre ceremonial fetish mask, purloined as corporate artwork. And some of the curators he wishes to work alongside have vanished. Is the weird society of the museum he's returning to, perchance, even weirder, stranger and more violent than the cannibalistic society he's waving farewell to?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1922079308</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Roman Dirge|title=The Cat with a Really Big Head|rating=3.5|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? If the answer to the second question is 'none – yet', scratch that last word. The title piece in this collection is, by the author's own admission, his imagining of the Joseph Merrick (the 'Elephant Man') of the feline world – who struggles to sneak up behind a mouse when the shadow of his head is a total giveaway, and who can hardly even eat with dignity as bending down to his bowl would break his neck. If that's too dark or oddball for you, try the second major piece, which has a most revealing foreword – ''Dedicated to a certain girl… I hope your life is filled with wonderful accomplishments, love and all the magic you desire… - But I hope your death is slow and horrible.''|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782762876</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Val Hennessy|title=Not Far From Dreamland|rating=4.5|genre=General Fiction|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. What Ronald ''has'' got is a roof that leaks (there's good reason why his home is called 'the shack'), a dog who is going bald (in patches) and money that's in very short supply. On the plus side he has friends, mostly platonic and usually in much the same boat as Ronald. But are they downhearted? Well, they are occasionally, but mostly they're generously optimistic and out to make the most of what they've got, usually bought from charity shops and jumble sales. ''Not Far From Dreamland'' is the story of a year (2012) in the life of Ronald Tonks, his friends and relatives.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0704373874</amazonuk>}}{{newreview|author=Harry Harrison|title=Bill, the Galactic Hero|rating=3.5|genre=Science Fiction|summary=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. And so does the mechanised, technological, industrial military, which needs several billion grunts to fight the Chingers, in mankind's first inter<!-- DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --galactic war. Still, at least he gets medals just for signing up. After that it's all downhill, and the likes of Petty Chief Officer Deathwish Drang can only make that a straight line down. Really, what hope is there?>|amazonuk=<amazonuk>147320531X</amazonuk>}}