"The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, aged 37 3/4" by Adrian Plass

The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, aged 37 3/4, written by Adrian Plass, is a fictional diary. As far as I can discern, it includes no real events whatsoever, and feels distinctly reminiscent of the Adrian Mole Diaries by Sue Townsend, which it intends to spoof. Instead of a teenager, we're introduced to a middle-aged Christian man who despite trying to live according to the straight and narrow, tends to fail miserably-leading more often than not into silly situations with stuffy members of his local church. That is part of the book's charm: although it is written by Christian and focuses on a Christian protagonist, it does not whack you over the head with holier-than-thou or God-is-my-saviour moments. It portrays the humanity in "experienced" Christians, and pokes fun at a lot of the silly stuff that goes on in the Christian world. Admittedly, this book was published in the late 1980s but it is surprising and quite scary that I know quite a lot of the character types being used in the book. The enjoyment doesn't really come from recognising the stereotypes that are being ribbed, although it certainly helps--the non-Christians whom I've lent this book to seem to have had quite a good time reading it...probably due to the humour and the fact that even members of the church realise how stupid some believers act. One thing about the "funny" aspect of The Sacred Diary is missing, as I said earlier it was published 2 decades ago, so a lot of the jokes or comments may be totally out of context, or appear very lame. However, there are enough silly anagrams, puns and downright ridiculous situations to keep a smile on your face. Rating: 6/ 10 Rationale: It would be a lot funnier if it had aged a bit more gracefully, and I'm afraid some of the jokes are "insider" jokes to a pretty small community.