1083. Stop in the Name of Pants! (Louise Rennison)

Synopsis:
Time to gird the loins and pucker up.

Blimey O'Reilly's trousers! Three maybe-boyfriends is a lot for any girl to handle - red-bottomed or not. What with Robbie the Sex God back from Kiwi-a-gogo land wanting to "get coffee" and whatsit, Masimo the Luuurve God saying things like "Ciao, Georgia, see you later" (the good see-you-later or the bad see-you-later??), and her mate Dave the Laugh snogging her in a pond, it's enough to make any girl mad.

Good thing she has the ace gang to keep her sane. Ish.

But now that she has tearfully eschewed Robbie the Sex God with a firm hand, Georgia is left with two potential snoggees to choose from, and it's high time she left the cakeshop of love for good. This time with a gorgey Italian cakey. Or a nip-libbling Dave the Tart. But certainly not both. Maybe.

My rating: 4 stars

1045. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? (Louise Rennison)

Synopsis:
Ohmygiddygodspyjamas! The tenth marvy book in the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson is here! Get ready to laugh like a loon on loon tablets. It's the FINAL instalment of Georgia's fab and hilarious diary! Does Georgia escape the cakeshop of luuurve? Can there be more heartbreaknosity in store? Will the Sex God pop up again unexpectedly (oo-er)! And what about the supreme accidental snogmaster Dave the Laugh? Will she FINALLY choose her only one and only? So many boys, so little time!

My rating: 4 stars

My review: A great ending (WAH!) to the series.

1015. Love is a Many Trousered Thing (Louise Rennison)

Synopsis:
Georgia thought her heartbreak-osity troubles were over when Masimo announced that he wanted to be her one and only. But just as she hits Swoon City, Robbie, the original Sex God, shows up. How in the world has Georgia accidentally acquired two Sex Gods?

Before Georgia can decide what to do next, she must figure out what Robbie's intentions are—and if his sudden re-appearance changes her mind about Masimo. And as much as she wants to turn to Dave the Laugh for help, he's another romantic thorn (and prospective snoggee) in her side. Will Georgia ever get off the rack of love once and for all?

My rating: 4 stars

826. Carry On, Jeeves (P. G. Wodehouse)

Cover of first edition

Synopsis from Barnes & Noble:
One of literature’s most celebrated fictional duos, lovable fop Bertie Wooster and his clever valet Jeeves, take center stage in these hilarious tales. In the first four, Jeeves saves Bertie from some serious scrapes involving stolen manuscripts, unfortunate engagements, marital scandals, and jailbird friends. The other four find Bertie exiled to 1920s New York, where Jeeves rescues him from American aunts, visiting Brits, poetic chumps, and femme fatales. “Jeeves Takes Charge” is chronologically the first in the series, telling how the canny valet entered Wooster’s life. “Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest” expands the canvas to include Bertie’s young cousin who goes wild under his wing. “The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy,” “Clustering Round Young Bingo,” and “The Artistic Career of Corky” are variations on the Wodehousian theme of dastardly rascals who scheme to take advantage of Bertie’s hopeless naivete.

My rating: 5 stars

Publication information:

• 1925 (9.10.1925)
• Herbert Jenkins
• London
  
• Green cloth & black lettering & decoration
  
• Title page dated "MCMXXV"
  
• Dust wrapper priced at 3/6

775. My Life and Hard Times (James Thurber)

Synopsis from Amazon:
Widely hailed as one of the finest humorist of the twentieth century, James Thurber looks back at his own life growing up in Columbus, Ohio, with the same humor and sharp wit that defined his famous sketches and writings. In My Life and Hard times, first published in 1933, he recounts the delightful chaos and frustrations of family, boyhood, youth odd dogs, recalcitrant machinery, and the foibles of human nature.

My rating: 5 stars

773. Uncle Fred in the Springtime (P. G. Wodehouse)

Cover of first edition

Synopsis:
The Duke of Dunstable was a nobleman of proud and haughty spirit, swift to resent affronts and institute reprisals — the last person in the world, in short, from whom one could hope to withhold pigs with impunity. Yet the Earl of Emsworth, faced by the appalling prospect of losing his prize pig, the Empress of Blandings, and reckless with the courage born of desperation, defied him to do his worst and sought an ally in Frederick, fifth Earl of Ickenham. It was an axiom with Pongo Twistleton that his Uncle Frederick was one of those people who ought not to be allowed at large. When, therefore, that irresponsible, perennially youthful peer, masquerading as a famous brain specialist, not only plotted to save the Empress but craftily intervened in the tangled love-affair of Polly Pott and the poet Ricky, Pongo feared the worst. And his fears were amply justified. At the critical moment the Duke's coldly efficient secretary, the detested Baxter, aided and abetted by Lady Constance Keeble, threatened to wreck the whole gigantic scheme. Blandings Castle was shaken to its very foundations.

My rating: 5 stars

Publication information:

• 1939 (25.8.1939)
• Herbert Jenkins
• London
• Dark red cloth & gold lettering
• Copyright page states "First printing 1939.."
• Dust wrapper priced at 7/6
  

765. Galahad at Blanding (P. G. Wodehouse)

Cover of first edition

Synopsis from Amazon:
Galahad can't abide broken hearts, so when a rash of broken couples crops up -- along with a meddlesome mother and a drunken pig -- he tries to put everything right.

My rating: 5 stars

Publication information:

• 1965 (26.8.1965)
• Herbert Jenkins
• London
• Red cloth & gold lettering to spine
• Copyright page states "First published 1965.."
• Dustwrapper priced at 16/-.
  

755. The Hypochondriac's Guide to Life. And Death (Gene Weingarten)

Synopsis from Amazon:
When every hiccup sounds like the call of doom, each stomach pang hints at incipient cancer, and a headache means it's time to firm up your last will and testament, The Hypochondriac's Guide to Life. And Death. provides just the relief you need. Gene Weingarten has spent his whole life immersed in the eclectic details of bizarre symptoms, self-diagnosing every minor ache as a potentially deadly disease. Weingarten examines:

• The mind of a hypochondriac
• How your doctor can kill you
• Ulcers and other visceral fears
• The snaps, crackles, and pops of your body that spell disaster
• Things that can take an eye out
• Interpreting DocSpeak

Blending the neurotic anxieties of Woody Allen, the folksiness of Garrison Keillor, and the absurdist vision of Dave Barry, Gene Weingarten conjures up a hilarious prescription for the hypochondriac that lurks inside all of us.

My rating: 5 stars

753. The Thurber Carnival (James Thurber)

Synopsis from Amazon:
James Thurber's unique ability to convey the vagaries of life in a funny, witty, and often satirical way earned him accolades as one of the finest humorists of the twentieth century. A bestseller upon its initial publication in 1945. The Thurber Carnival captures the depth and breadth of his talent. The pieces here, almost all of which first appeared in The New Yorker, include selections from such beloved classics as My World and Welcome to It, The Owl in the Attic, The Seal in the Bathroom, and Men, Women and Dogs. Thurber's take on life, society, and human nature is timeless and will continue to delight readers even as they recognize a bit of themselves in his brilliant sketches.

My rating: 5 stars

My review: A great collection of Thurber's writings. The selections from My World and Welcome to It are hilarious, on par with P. G. Wodehouse.

749. Homer Price (Robert McCloskey)

The donut story is one of my favorites.

Synopsis from Amazon:
Six episodes in the life of Homer Price including one in which he and his pet skunk capture four bandits and another about a donut machine on the rampage.

My rating: 5 stars

727. Centerburg Tales (Robert McCloskey)

Synopsis from Amazon:
Further adventures of Homer Price, including those in which a juke box sets the whole town singing against its will and in which a mad scientist develops weeds that overrun the town.

My rating: 5 stars

My review: I read these stories when I was a kid and loved them. Even now, I still find them funny.

723. The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club (Laurie Notaro)

Synopsis from Amazon:
“I’ve changed a bit since high school. Back then I said no to using and selling drugs. I washed on a normal basis and still had good credit.”

Introducing Laurie Notaro, the leader of the Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club. Every day she fearlessly rises from bed to defeat the evil machinations of dolts, dimwits, and creepy boyfriends—and that’s before she even puts on a bra.

For the past ten years, Notaro has been entertaining Phoenix newspaper readers with her wildly amusing autobiographical exploits and unique life experiences. She writes about a world of hourly-wage jobs that require absolutely no skills, a mother who hands down judgments more forcefully than anyone seated on the Supreme Court, horrific high school reunions, and hangovers that leave her surprised that she woke up in the first place.

The misadventures of Laurie and her fellow Idiot Girls (“too cool to be in the Smart Group”) unfold in a world that everyone will recognize but no one has ever described so hilariously. She delivers the goods: life as we all know it.

My rating: 5 stars

My review: Absolutely hilarious. There are some stories which seem to have been taken directly out of my own life. If you're one of those girls who hasn't lived life in the most elegant, lady-like manner, this is the book for you.

722. Very Good, Jeeves (P. G. Wodehouse)

Cover of first edition

Contains:

• "Jeeves and the Impending Doom"
• "The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy"
• "Jeeves and the Yule-tide Spirit"
• "Jeeves and the Song of Songs"
• "Episode of the Dog McIntosh"
• "The Spot of Art"
• "Jeeves and the Kid Clementina"
• "The Love That Purifies"
• "Jeeves and the Old School Chum"
• "The Indian Summer of an Uncle"
• "The Ordeal of Young Tuppy"

My rating: 5 stars

Publication information:

• 1930 (4.7.1930)
• Herbert Jenkins
• London
• Orange cloth & black lettering
• Copyright page states "First printing 1930.."
• Dust wrapper priced at 7/6
  

713, Right Ho, Jeeves (P. G. Wodehouse)

Cover of first edition

Synopsis from Amazon Canada:
Jeeves has some outrageous ideas about how Gussie Fink-Nottle can capture the affections of Miss Madeline Bassett: scarlet tights and a false beard.

My rating: 5 stars

Publication information:

• 1934 (5.10.1934)
• Herbert Jenkins
• London
• Stone grey cloth & red lettering
• Title page states "MCMXXXIV"
• Dust jacket priced at 7/6
  

705. Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (P. G. Wodehouse)

Synopsis from Amazon UK:
Bertie Wooster is under attack. Jeeves disapproves of his new moustache and "Stilton" Cheesewright is threatening to tear him from limb to limb. Will Jeeves display the feudal spirit as crisis dawns?

My rating: 5 stars

Publication information:

• 1954 (15.10.1954)
• Herbert Jenkins
• London
• Red cloth & black lettering
• Copyright page states "First published ..1954.."
• Dust wrapper priced at 9/6
• US title: Bertie Wooster Sees It Through
  

698. Autobiography of a Fat Bride (Laurie Notaro)

Synopsis from Amazon:
In Autobiography of a Fat Bride, Laurie Notaro tries painfully to make the transition from all-night partyer and bar-stool regular to mortgagee with plumbing problems and no air-conditioning. Laurie finds grown-up life just as harrowing as her reckless youth, as she meets Mr. Right, moves in, settles down, and crosses the toe-stubbing threshold of matrimony. From her mother's grade-school warning to avoid kids in tie-dyed shirts because their hippie parents spent their food money on drugs and art supplies; to her night-before-the-wedding panic over whether her religion is the one where you step on the glass; to her unfortunate overpreparation for the mandatory drug-screening urine test at work; to her audition as a Playboy centerfold as research for a newspaper story, Autobiography of a Fat Bride has the same zits-and-all candor and outrageous humor that made Idiot Girls an instant cult phenomenon.

My rating: 5 stars

677. I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies): True Tales of a Loudmouth Girl (Laurie Notaro)

Synopsis from Amazon:
Laurie is married, mortgaged, and now—miraculously—employed in the corporate world, discovering that bosses come in all shapes, sizes, and degrees of mental stability. After maxing out her last good credit card at Banana Republic, she’s dressed for success and ready to face the jungle: surviving feral, six-foot-plus Gretchen (“Three Thousand Faces of Eve”) before battling the overbearing, overstuffed (in way-too-small pants) new mom Suzzi, who ruthlessly cancels Laurie’s newspaper column and learns that payback can be a bitch. Laurie also explores the backstabbing world of preschoolers at a Halloween party, the X-rated madness of a family trip to Disneyland, and the pressure from her QVC-addicted mother and the rest of the world to reproduce. But while losing more friends to babies than to booze, she realizes there’s a plus side: at least for a couple of months she gets to be the thinner friend.

My rating: 5 stars

675. Something Fresh (P. G. Wodehouse)

Cover of first edition

Synopsis from Amazon:
In a moment of absentmindedness, Lord Emsworth helps himself to a priceless relic, leaving its owner to offer a thousand pounds for its return. Pretty soon, Blandings is a madhouse with people tripping over one another to claim the prize.

My rating: 5 stars

Publication information:

• 1915 (16.9.1915)
• Methuen
• London
• Blue green cloth with black lettering
• Copyright page states "First published in 1915"
• Dust wrapper priced 6s
  

638. The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World (A. J. Jacobs)

Synopsis from Amazon UK:
You go to school. You work hard. You go to university. You learn a lot. You're pretty pleased with yourself. You're erudite, well-read and know a whole bunch of obscure facts guaranteed at some point to appear in the questions on Mastermind or University Challenge. Then you get a job, and ten years later you stumble over Beckett but are eloquent about Big Brother and you discuss Kyle like you used to discuss Kierkegaard. Sound familiar? Well it happened to AJ Jacobs too. But he decided to do something about it. An editor at Esquire, Jacobs had built up an impressive knowledge of celebrity trivia - the cure was going to take a long time. It was big - 33,000 pages, it was heavy - 9 stone. It was the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Join Jacobs on his journey of discovery as he learns every known fact - however arcane - in the entire world. Sympathise with his long-suffering wife. Share his glee at finding a mistake. Wince with embarrassment as he fails to get into Mensa - even armed with all this information, and blows it on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Grimace as he pathetically attempts to turn every dinner party conversation to topics beginning with "A" - he'd only just begun then. Imagine Bill Bryson meeting Schott's Original Miscellany and Woody Allen at a party - that's The Know-It-All. Part assemblage of fascinating trivia, part journey through adulthood, all laugh-out-loud funny.

My rating: 4 stars

629. Side Effects (Woody Allen)

Synopsis from Amazon Canada:
Before Woody Allen set his sights on becoming the next Ingmar Bergman, he made a fleeting (but largely successful) attempt at becoming the next S.J Perelman. Side Effects, his third and final collection of humor pieces, shows his efforts. These essays appeared in The New Yorker during the late 1970s, as he showed more and more discontent with his funnyman status. Fear not, humor fans--Allen's still funny. He is less manic, however, than in his positively goofy Getting Even/Without Feathers days, and this makes Side Effects a more nuanced read. Woody picks and chooses when to flash the laughs, as in an article discussing UFOs:

[I]n 1822 Goethe himself notes a strange celestial phenomenon. "En route home from the Leipzig Anxiety Festival," he wrote, "I was crossing a meadow, when I chanced to look up and saw several fiery red balls suddenly appear in the southern sky. They descended at a great rate of speed and began chasing me. I screamed that I was a genius and consequently could not run very fast, but my words were wasted. I became enraged and shouted imprecations at them, whereupon they flew away frightened. I related this story to Beethoven, not realizing he had already gone deaf, and he smiled and nodded and said, "Right."

Though not as explosively, mind-alteringly funny as his earlier books, Side Effects is still loaded with chuckles; the much-anthologized "Kugelmass Episode" is worth the price of the book.

My rating: 3 stars