The unique Birmingham-themed Christmas gift with a five star Amazon rating

The team behind the Birmingham It’s Not Shit website - rebranded as Paradise Circus - have been winning praise and raising eyebrows for their irreverent look at city life since 2003.

Their latest book - 50 Things That Delight About Brum - has got a five star rating on Amazon and is currently #33 on the Amazon Humorous Essays (Books) listing.

That’s just 32 behind Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat: A Year on the Farm.

With Clarkson having made several less than complimentary comments about Brum over the years, the BiNS team are pleased that their positive look at the city is proving competition for the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Host.

Authors Jon Bounds, Jon Hickman and Danny Smith explain what is so unique about their book:

“In it you can discover the joys of Aston Villa’s sarcastic advertising hoarding, learn why Snobs could literally be magical, and dig up what might or might not be buried under Spaghetti Junction.

“It reveals more about the discovery of the film Telly Savalas Looks at Birmingham, how Brummie of the Year (once won by a red panda) is awarded, and how the boundary of Brum is defined by ‘the scallop line’.”

50 Things That Delight About Brum has a Foreword by Adrian Chiles, who says that Birmingham is all the better for not boasting:  “We sit proudly at the bottom of the league table of civic self-regard, and long may it stay that way.”

The front cover is by street artist Foka Wolf who is known for the ‘Conservatives’ cut the homeless in half’ tube advert, the giant Pat Butcher in Birmingham’s Digbeth and also the Children’s Casino for Joe Lycett’s TV programme.

Here’s what people are saying about 50 Things That Delight About Brum

“A golden compendium of Brummie-ness” by “three talented writers”.

“If you think it’s looking dark over Nechells Green and your face is as long as Livery Street and, if you can forgive me for getting all kippers and curtains, this book will hearten you.” said Stephen Duffy of The Lilac Time

“Birmingham is a mythical city, like Jerusalem once was before it became a place you could just go to. For me Birmingham has more in common with Camelot than it has with Coventry.” said Bill Drummond, artist and KLF star.

A final word from BiNS…

Jon, who founded Talk Like a Brummie Day and encourages Brummies to spend 11 hours on the 11 bus every 11 November, added: “Birmingham is not Shit. Whatever Clarkson says, Brum really is Top Gear.”

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going.