==Humour==
__NOTOC__
{{newreview
|author=Gervase Phinn
|title=Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Stars
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=I spent many of my teenage years reading James Herriot's books, and I found that this collection of anecdotes and poems by Gervase Phinn had a real flavour of Herriot about it. Perhaps it was just the setting, for Phinn was a school inspector in the Dales for many years, but I think he also has that knack of capturing a situation, and a character, and bringing out the humour without making the person appear ridiculous. Here he collates stories from his other books, some Christmassy and others not, and he relates them with several of his own poems interspersed between.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141036435</amazonuk>
}}
[[Category:History]]
{{newreview
|summary=I was never one for history, and in fact left the dregs of a history teacher in tatters when I scraped through with a D. Still, history is an odd thing – written by the winners of course, and annoyingly biased in my mind towards the plain. There's no real reason to remember the order of Henry VIII's six wives, but we can only relish the one credited with polydactylism, a third nipple and whatnot (the second one, in fact – whoever that was).
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847243746</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jim Holt
|title=Stop Me If You've Heard This
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=As far as I can remember, my first time in print was when I submitted some jokes to a charity's themed joke collection. Before then, some of my first actions as a child might have been laughing, and what is cuter in a baby than that? But why was that infant laughing – he didn't have a joke he could get, surely?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184668109X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=P G Wodehouse
|title=Joy in the Morning
|rating=4.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=''Joy in the Morning'' is another novel from P.G. Wodehouse's wonderful series of books about Bertram Wooster and Jeeves. Bertie is a young gentleman of inherited means and no present occupation. He is a good humoured and well-meant chap, however clearly not the smartest tool in the shed. Bertie seems to have a talent of getting himself into trouble but that is where Jeeves, his loyal, educated and painfully clever butler comes to his rescue. Jeeves is irreplaceable when it comes to saving Bertie from whatever creative, complicated and incredibly funny situations Wodehouse puts his characters through.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099513765</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=P G Wodehouse
|title=Thank You, Jeeves
|rating=4
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=Bertie Wooster was once engaged to Pauline Stoker. It didn't last very long – about forty eight hours, most of which Bertie spent in bed with a bad cold, if his memory serves him correctly. It's still embarrassing when he meets Pauline and her father, particularly as it was the father who was responsible for breaking off the engagement. Rather than eat at the Savoy Grill where he spotted the Stokers, he goes home to his only consolation. Bertie plays the banjo. Unfortunately, he doesn't play it very well.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099513730</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Tom Holt
|title=The Better Mousetrap
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=I approached this book with a fair degree of trepidation, as I had never heard of the author, and wondered if, when reading the synopsis, I was about to embark on a Terry Pratchett type novel (and I have to say, much though I admire his achievements, I'm not a fan of Discworld!) However, my fears were unfounded, and from page one I found myself drawn into this clever and erudite novel. Not having read the preceding novels in the series did put me at a slight disadvantage, but didn't detract from my enjoyment, and has certainly ensured that I'll read the others in the near future.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1841495034</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Philip Moore
|title=Utterly Ridiculous
|rating=3
|genre=Humour
|summary=If I learned nothing else from this book, I now know of a new profession: aircraft cleaner. For that is the trade of Dave, the hero of ''Utterly Ridiculous''. With little but a van and his torpid terrier Biggles, Dave roves the airstrips of southern England, titivating light aircraft.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906221685</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=John Mole
|title=I Was a Potato Oligarch: Travels and Travails in the New Russia
|rating=1
|genre=Travel
|summary=I remember getting this book in post, reading the title and thinking no, even though I am Russian, I will try to be unbiased and judge it like I would judge any other book about a foreign country experience. I now have to regretfully admit I failed. In my defence, John Mole's focus on mocking the nation and country made that all too easy.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1857885090</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Clive Gifford
|title=Teenage Kicks: 101 Things to Do Before You're 16
|rating=3.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=Kids. They're bored all the time, aren't they? Nothing you buy seems to have any longevity. I think they live in alternative dimension in which time passes much more slowly that it does for harassed parents. It's the only explanation. I think Clive Gifford must sympathise, because his latest book, Teenage Kicks, has a whopping 101 ideas to alleviate boredom and a clever challenge too - your bored child has to complete them all before they reach 16. At a measly £5.99, this book could represent the most wonderful value for money any parent could ever wish for.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340950617</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jon Canter
|title=A Short Gentleman
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=The narrator of this spoof biography is a civil law barrister. Robert Purcell has been educated at Winchester and Oxford. He has modelled himself on his polite and restrained father, a High Court judge and, as a child, Robert maps out the components his own expected adult life – wife, two children, career – and the respect which he will gain from this, together with his undoubted intellectual superiority. At the age of eight, he writes a future Who's Who entry for himself, with all the academic and professional accolades he expects to garner.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224077740</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=George Saunders
|title=The Brain-dead Megaphone
|rating=4.5
|genre=Humour
|summary=American author George Saunders is known for his short stories and fiction, but he is also a journalist for publications such as ''The Guardian'', ''The New Yorker Magazine'' and ''GQ''. ''The Brain-Dead Megaphone'' is his first collection of essays and it's an interesting proposition: sixteen pieces ranging from travel writing, literary appreciation, political essays, to surrealist short fiction.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747594260</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|title=Tim the Tiny Horse
|author=Harry Hill
|genre=Humour
|rating=4
|summary=After doing even tiny bit of research I realised that I must be the only person out there who ever read Tim the Tiny Horse having never heard of the author. Thus, I have to take another reviewer's word that it's "typical Harry Hill" and will make an attempt at reviewing Tim as a stand-alone.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571229565</amazonuk>
}}
