That's (b) out of (j), by the way... still a long way to go with this particular series! But I'm glad to say that I enjoyed Absolute Zero, the second book in the Bagthorpe Saga, rather more than I did the first. It's hard to say exactly why, but I almost feel that, over the five months since I read Ordinary Jack, the characters (well, mainly Jack, to be honest) have remained in my head and I almost feel that I've got to know them. This tale of extraordinary woes* begins when Uncle Parker wins a competition with the prize of a luxury cruise in the Caribbean. The two natural effects of this are firstly that everybody in the Bagthorpe house starts entering competitions left right and centre, and secondly that Daisy, Uncle Parker's pyromaniac-turned-hydromaniac four-year-old daughter, comes to stay at the Bagthorpes' house. She forms an unlikely alliance with Grandma and they get into all kinds of trouble; meanwhile the other Bagthorpes are in fact winning some of their competitions, catapulting the family to instant TV fame. Needless to say things do not go absolutely swimmingly (if you'll pardon the pun). Whilst not the most hilarious book I've ever read - in fact, not exactly funny, not in a making-you-laugh kind of way - I still enjoyed the story.
* Not in a Lemony Snicket kind of way, but still, quite extraordinary
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