Mrs Pargeter's Patio by Simon Brett

 

Not having read a book by Brett before, it only took a few pages for me to realise I was really going to enjoy this book. I was a smidge concerned, this not being my first Mrs Pargeter mystery, that I might be a bit at sea, not knowing what's gone before, but this is perfectly stand-alone.

This is a cozy mystery, Mrs P being a present-day Miss Marple (a rather startling discovery under her patio requires her enlisting the assistance of her late husband's 'business associates'.) (Full synopsis here) It's very well written, wonderfully tongue in cheek and a joy from start to finish. (I will forgive the erroneous use of 'less' for 'few' and the 'head nodding' tautology.)

Having subsequently discovered Brett's written dozens of books, I wanted to shelve all the books on my TBR and just zip through all of his, but I shall honour my reading list and settle for punctuating with the occasional Brett penmanship!

Wonderful characters with wonderful names and some wry humour in sparkling dialogue: just a lovely, entertaining read. I can't wait to read more.

Pug Actually by Matt Dunn

 

This is deliciously cheesy and clichéd but great fun. A pug called Doug (well, the clue's in the title) becomes the matchmaker between Julie, who's in a not-going-anywhere relationship with a married man, Luke, ("it's complicated"), and the much-better-suited Tom the vet (or rather, Vee E Tee, so Doug doesn't freak out).

It's told from Doug's point of view (endorsing the fact that dogs are frightfully perceptive and intelligent!). It's funny, it's endearing and delightfully feel-good.

My only niggles are that, from what I can make out, Dunn is British…so why the very annoying Americanisms, spelling and punctuation...'gotten', 'color', 'honor', etc.? That and that the characters never seem to be able to finish a sentence and Julie, quite frankly, needed a damned good shake over her infatuation with the unctuous toad that is Luke. The present-tense narrative, never my favourite, was just unnecessary.

However, my enjoyment far, far outweighed those little bugs, and I'm delighted to find that the author has penned a dozen or so other books, which I shall certainly seek out when I need some humorous, witty and light-hearted entertainment.

This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay

 

I'm not sure whether this is humour cocooned in exasperation, despair and tragedy or the other way round. Either way, it's absolutely brilliant, and I was more than a bit gutted when I got to the end. I really wanted more.

Kay is as good a writer as he was a doctor. Whilst it must have been hard to turn his back on medicine (there's always a straw that breaks the camel's back), it's certainly to the advantage of us readers. His wit and his humour in his accounts of the motley crew of patients in his years in practice make for an exceptionally hilarious read. But never far from it is a dedicated, (largely unrewarded) and compassionate man and serves to remind us that all who work in the medical profession are, in fact, human beings just like the rest of us.

There's fun and laughs in this…but also an essential serious window into the world of the underfunded, overworked NHS and its simply wonderful staff.

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris

I'd never heard of Sedaris, but this book came up as 'What book makes you laugh?' in a magazine Q&A with another well-known writer. I was reading a beautiful, but very sad book at the time and thought this would be an excellent book to dip into from time to time, if the sadness got a bit too much!

Hmm. 'Sedaris takes us on side-splitting adventures' says the blurb. I have to disagree. It's a book of essays, accounts of his travels around the world. He certainly has a very wry sense of humour, and I did smile from time to time, but I did find his writing a tad unsettling. He comes across as a rather angry, irritable, unforgiving, oh-so-anti-Obama and oh dear, a teensy bit racist (or is that like saying you're a bit pregnant?). And while, for the most part, his observations of customs and people in other countries are fairly amusing, they come over more as a bit of a poke rather than observations. Which I thought a bit rich from an American: Americans who (as I gather from Sedaris) have an unnatural propensity for therapists, colonoscopies and gun possession. I found it all a bit pot-kettle-black.

But…ultimately, I did enjoy dipping into it. Sedaris's aim was to entertain, and entertained I was. Not 'side-splittingly', but certainly enough to make the sides of my mouth twitch to a faint smile.

Am I tempted to explore his other books? Maybe.

Stairlift to Heaven by Terry Ravenscroft

The best and most refreshing thing about this book is the delightful absence of political correctness. Ravenscroft says it like it is; he describes people, events, rules, language as he sees or perceives them. Totally brilliant. 

Ravenscroft was a scriptwriter for many eighties' favourites like Morecombe and Wise, Les Dawson, The Two Ronnies, to name but a few. Classics that still make us laugh forty years on. 

After reaching pensionable age, Ravenscroft penned anecdotes and accounts of 'adventures' shared with his reprobate pensioner neighbours. By his own admission, he just may have padded these events with a little embellishment, but it doesn't matter one jot. It's sheer entertainment: laugh-out loud entertainment. Funny, witty, light-hearted, enjoyable, sometimes wise and deliciously politically incorrect.

Black Pomegranate by David W. Cowles

The plot of this book lacks the same sophistication as its cover, which doesn't scream 'read me', alas. 

And that's a bit of a shame, because the actual writing isn't at all bad. It's rather good, in fact. It’s articulate, fluid, expressive…which I think is what helped me limp along to the end of the book.

Thankfully, though, the plot doesn’t take itself too seriously… the reader shouldn’t either, and you can just about do that until about halfway, at which point, it really gets a little bit silly.

A beautiful, Hispanic student persuades a geeky, nerdy, lanky, unkempt computer lecturer to help her with her studies so that she can save her little South American republic, Granada Negra (Black Pomegranate), from the rebels seeking political power. They make a rather unlikely couple…but well, Beauty and the Beast made a pretty good story, I suppose. But then the detail overstretches the imagination somewhat and what could have been a quirky, albeit totally unlikely, little tale just gets rather ridiculous.

However, I can’t deny that I enjoyed the style of the writer and I was über, über impressed by the impeccable editing. And I don’t get to say that often about the books I read. I certainly won’t rule out another book by this author.

Life Swap by Carol Wyer

I suppose we’ve all wondered at some time or another…especially after yet another unaffordable bill lands on the doormat, or another long hard underpaid day at work or another tedious confrontation with belligerent teenage offspring…what it would be like to trade places with that friend who made good and is now a millionaire or the client whose daily to-do list consists of salon treatments, personal trainers and high-end shopping. I’m sure a little piece of us wishes we could swap our lives for better different ones.

What if, like Polly and Simon, the opportunity to do just that presented itself? Polly’s dismal track record with men and a lawsuit that’s about to ruin her are about as much as she can take, and Simon…well, he’s the typical middle-age-crisis male. Polly would so much rather have Stephanie’s charmed lifestyle and Simon would gladly swap with Tony’s jet-set living. The temptation is just too much. But no one reminds them that you should be ‘careful what you wish for’…

I’m no stranger to this author’s work. She is always very funny, witty and writes a cracking story. Her books come with a guarantee: that they will amuse, entertain, delight and have you craving for more. 

You will have to suspend disbelief just a little with this one…but that’s what makes it all the more enjoyable. It’s a very welcome break from reality. It almost has you skimming the yellow pages for 'Mission Imp-ossible'. (I guess you’ll just have to read Life Swap to find out why…)

See also:

Grumpy Old Menopause

How Not to Murder Your Grumpy

Love Hurts

Surfing in Stilettos

Did You Read That Review by Amazon Reviewers

Novelists should be worried. Very, very worried. Amazon reviewers are clearly the best writers in the world!

This book is exactly what it says on the tin: a compilation of reviews of over a hundred items for sale on the Amazon website. Items that are on the more unusual side…select, even!

Amazon welcomes product reviews, for obvious reasons. And reviewers have obliged with gusto. Their creativity, imagination, eloquence and sense of humour know no bounds.

This compilation is absolutely hilarious. It would be remiss of me not to deliver a word of warning: do not read in public. The tremble of shoulders as you try to snigger quietly or the suppressed snorts of laughter are bound to have you being peered at with some very, very strange looks.

A very funny book, easy to dip into every now and again if you don’t want to read it in one go.

Grumpy Old Menopause by Carol E. Wyer

Any book by Carol Wyer comes with an unwritten guarantee:  it will be exceptionally good, it will be funny, it will be witty, it will be entertaining, and will always leave you wanting more.  Grumpy Old Menopause delivers on all counts, naturally.

Carol lays out, in her customary methodical manner, an alphabetical list of symptoms, chapter by chapter, some of which she herself has experienced (hilariously described).  She explains clearly what to expect, provides remedies, most of them utterly sensible, some of them homeopathic/alternative.  Best of all she suggests a whole boatload of activities to divert the mind and body from the alien that is menopause which invades the female of the species at a certain age. So if you’re suffering from brittle bones, bloating, or body odour, then beer, belly dancing, bungee jumping or bare back-riding might just be your succour.

But more importantly, throughout, she stresses the importance of laughter.  He who laughs...lasts, she says. And she is the mistress of providing merriment: her advice and anecdotes are peppered with jokes.  Some of them Christmas-cracker-type jokes (but funny), some of them corny (even funnier) and some of them really clever (very, very funny).

Carol entertains and brightens up your day.  She’s a tonic that should be bottled.

Triple Dog Dare by K. S. Brooks and Stephen Hise

If a book is written by either Hise or Brooks, you can be confident of a really good read. Put the two together, and you can be confident of an even better one: double the excellence!

These two authors have talent, skill, imagination, a solid sense of humour, and the ability to provide great entertainment.

Triple Dog Dare is a wonderfully light-hearted and funny story packed with ingredients: some hanky-panky, misunderstandings, an eensy bit of romance,  a very gentle fun-poking at the dog-showing arena, but it’s also a story that manages to laugh at itself as well as with others.

It’s all a lovely embroilment of who is fooling who and who is going to be found out. Dogs—as you would expect—feature highly in this. One in particular. Well two. Or perhaps three… You could almost…almost…say they are the top-dog characters. They manage to annoy, please, enthrall, delude, irritate, endear, and just generally be the scene-stealing, show-stopping little darlings they always are.

This is witty, engaging, sharp, great fun, and written with tongue in cheek. The only disappointment was coming to the end!

How Not to Murder Your Grumpy by Carol E. Wyer

Probably not the sort of How To book you would think of looking for, is it? This is a hugely entertaining, informative, interesting and fun book of all sorts of things you can suggest to your newly retired better half to keep him out of your hair, and possibly prevent him from becoming a train-spotting anorak and even more grumpy. This isn’t just an A to Z of weird and wonderful activities, it’s delightfully funny and witty, (written by a very lovely funny and witty lady), peppered with fascinating facts and figures and jokes. 

There aren’t just twenty-six pursuits to cajole your grumpy into: there are no less than 700. Anything from astronomy and antiques to juggling and jousting to yodelling and zorbing. I was almost tempted to keep this from my very own Grumpy and take up the hobbies myself. 

Even if you aren’t approaching those ‘senior’ years, this is a treasure trove of suggestions to keep anyone of any age out of mischief, fit and mentally active. 

A superb ‘handbook’ written in Carol’s inimitable style. An absolute gem.

Also by Carol:

Surfing in Stilettos

Mr Bison's Journal by Edward Bison

I loved this.  It’s Bill Bryson meets Billy Connolly.

The author, Edward Bison, is a Brit who has been living in America for about ten years.  Although American-English has inevitably crept into his vocabulary, he certainly hasn’t lost his reins on his Britishness completely.  He takes a very wry and no-holds-barred look at anything from rewriting the odd fairy tale and American Airlines (one of my favourite anecdotes) to items people don’t need and bodily functions. The result is a very, very funny observational journal.

A word of warning or two, however…the language is…let's just call it meaty and quite ripe.  Some topics come under the not-for-the-dinner-table or ssshh-the-in-laws-are-here categories.  So anyone easily offended should take note.  Fortunately, I am not, or the loss would have been mine, but I have to say, Edward’s anecdotes just wouldn’t have been the same written in any other way. They are perfectly expressive just the way they are. Secondly, did I say it was very very funny?  It is, it’s hilarious, and my advice is not to read this in public.  Your attempts to smother your uncontrollable laughter will probably have bystanders reaching for their mobiles and calling for the men in white coats. 

I wish I had a pound for every time I said to myself ‘I must remember that one’ and turned each page eager and agog to discover what particular part of everyday life strikes this author’s cynical chords. 

Absolutely priceless.

Armed and Outrageous by Madison Johns

Agnes is ablue-rinse amateur sleuth, aiming to be a modern-day Miss Marple. She’s seventy-one years old, got a twinkle in her eye,and very definitely all her marbles.

A pretty young girl, Jennifer, goes missing, and Agnes is more than just a little determined to get to the bottom of her disappearance, as her own granddaughter has been missing for a whole year.  Aided by her best friend, Eleanor, (who may well be the more ‘Outrageous’ of the duo), they find themselves at both ends of a gun more often than they should, in compromising positions rather frequently, a little ahem-ahem ‘happy’ more than once, and constantly at odds with the way they should be behaving as senior citizens.  Agnes’ conviction that her missing granddaughter is still alive, compels her to get to the bottom of Jennifer’s disappearance in the hope she will find the answer to both missing girls. 

This was a promising endeavour by Madison, but there is plenty of room for improvement.  I had a question mark or two (for example, Agnes’ daughter would have been grief-stricken to have her own daughter missing, but little if nothing was made of it), the book needs some serious editing (a large number of errors and the book meandered between present and past tenses), and there's rather a long and confusing cast list. BUT it was funny, sharp, and entertaining.  Agnes is the sort of pensioner we all secretly aspire to be…spunky, active, and…outrageous.

What captivated me about this book was that you get the impression that Madison really, really enjoyed writing it—there’s heart, soul, enthusiasm, and plenty of feeling in it. I think Madison is still in a learning curve, but she is very definitely headed in the right direction, and I am looking forward to more adventures from this silver-haired senior.

Surfing in Stilettos by Carol Wyer

Next time you’re feeling a little bit down in the dumps, don’t go to the doctor or reach for a happy pill, read this book.  It’s a tonic, it’s feel-good, it’s fun.  I guarantee it will lift your spirits and that you will ‘click’ the last page and say, “Oh, how I enjoyed that!”

The story centres around Amanda Wilson, who is in her fifties and has a newly retired husband.  Husband Phil hasn’t quite encompassed the wonders of retirement too enthusiastically, and with an adult son who hasn’t grasped the concept of ‘leaving home’, Amanda decides that if the young and carefree can take a ‘gap year’ before they embark on a life of mortgages, marriage and commitment, then why can’t the wrinklies, after they’ve been there and done that.  She persuades grumpy Phil to take off in their trusty old camper van and explore the delights of France and its wine and hopefully other parts of Europe.  However, the trusty old camper van, Bertie, decides that France might be just the spot for a little of its own R&R, and Amanda and Phil find themselves with an enforced extended stay in the French countryside, when Bertie breaks down.  Amanda adapts to her extended sojourn with relish, enjoying the wine, some exercise, and meeting new friends.

Amanda shares her experiences – and her life as a fifty-something-year-old - in an amusing blog for ladies ‘d’un certain âge’, which has some faithful, regular, and amusing followers. At the same time, an ex-lover, her new chic French best friend, Bibi, and Amanda’s wild and wacky mother contribute colour (and sometimes worry!) to her planned year of exciting travel.

The story is a plait, neatly interlaced and expertly finished off without a hair out of place!  Carol is a wonderful writer – she throws humour, intelligence, poignancy, thoughtfulness, and entertainment into a pot and the result is an original, funny, witty, and refreshing novel.  Job well done, Carol.  Can’t wait for more.

Sweat, Glamour, and Light Sins by Alex Canton-Dutari

If you like 'people watching', then a gym is as good a place as any to do it.

In this short story, the astute observer of people is a 'mature' gentleman, known as Abuelo (Grandpa), a well-established attendee who spends much of his time there.  This gym is certainly an active one – it not only hosts its usual array of stomach-crunching, peck-enhancing apparatus, but provides a stage for fashion shows and Cirque du Soleil-type displays.  

Through Abuelo’s eyes, we meet some fun and entertaining characters, amongst them the exuberant (and plump) Rhonda, the somewhat reticent and well-toned Jack Russell (I wasn’t sure about a character having the same name as the breed of his own dog – but this is just typical of Alex’s sense of humour), and the beautiful Issi. Abuelo’s seniority and wisdom make him the perfect confidant, as well as a thoughtful and careful assessor of character. There is more to each of them than meets the eye and Alex, in his own inimitable style, weaves flamboyance, poignancy, a little pathos, but above all tongue-in-cheek humour into this little tale.

There certainly is plenty of sweat and glamour in this gym.  As for the ‘light sins’ (can a sin be light?) - well, you’ll just have to find out for yourselves, though you will need an open mind with regard to the editing.

The Joke's On Me by Laurie Boris

I put this book into my ‘armchair and slippers’ category.  It’s not a fast-paced or edge-of-your-seat thriller: it’s a cosy, warm, funny, feel-good novel. 

Frankie, a comedienne, heads back to her teenhood home after she loses just about everything she owns (except, thankfully, her sense of humour) to a mudslide.  Here, she finds her tree-hugging, assertive sister trying to make a go of their parents’ B&B, now that their mother is in a home.  With few options left to her for her immediate future, Frankie helps her sister reinvent the business.  But upon her return, she finds more than the aroma of her sister's incense sticks permeating through her old home:  there are memories of her father, her mother, and her teenage crush; secrets – tender, poignant, fragile secrets; and a rekindled love, new confidence, and a new future.

This book is wonderfully easy to read, amusing, and there’s something snug and ‘comfy’ about it. Laurie is a talented and funny writer, and Frankie as a comedienne is the perfect channel for Laurie’s sparkling humour.  Each character in the book has personality, depth, and presence.  They are all real and credible – any one of them could be living next door to you.  Their believability, however, doesn’t make them any less colourful or entertaining.

A delight from start to finish. 

Bad Book by K S Brooks, Stephen Hise and J D Mader

If you ever thought that a collaboration between three authors might be a dodgy, even risky, enterprise, think again.  Put three gifted, funny, witty, and clever authors together, and you get an utter gem of a book.

There’s a clue in the title – it is a baaaaad book; it’s rollicking good fun and laugh-out-loud hilarious.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Our hero, Case, is – well, he’s really just your typical, run-of-the-mill hitch-hiker of literary genres and he glides from one to the other, hopefully, optimistically, sometimes painfully, and he finds himself traversing horror, sci-fi, and westerns, to name but a few, always cheekily, saucily and a little bit tongue-in-cheek.  To say you’ll get mouth-ache from a permanent grin on your face is an understatement of an understatement. 

Brooks, Hise and Mader complement each other to a tee and bring to the table their individual brand of humour, satire, and whimsicality and seamlessly braid their talents into a masterpiece.

Case tickled my fancy from start to finish and the end of the book came with disappointment.  Where was I going to get my permagrin from now?

Excellent – highly recommended