Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books that Made Me Laugh

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is Top Ten Books that Made You Laugh.  I tried to go a little outside the normal here - but if you haven't read Bossypants by Tina Fey, Yes Please by Amy Poehler or either of Mindy Kaling's books you really should and listening to them is even better - and tried to pull from books I read years ago but still laugh when I remember them.

Nonfiction

Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson - I love Jenny Lawson's blog and I love how she manages to tackle really tough topics and make them easy to relate too and understand.  I also absolutely love her obsession with humanely taxidermied animals and metal chickens and just trying anything that comes into her head.  Plus, she's the only person who has ever written a story involving a cat, a laxative, and fear of an intruder and made me laugh until I cried.

The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost - I love travel books and I love sarcasm and witty suffering and Troost manages to suffer quite a bit in a very witty manner.  I laughed a lot while reading this one and then passed it onto my husband who laughed a lot while he was reading it.  This was one that we both ended up reading passages to each other even though I knew he was going to read it and he knew I had already read it.  Plus, when someone asks you what you're reading and you reply with this title you sometimes get pretty funny reactions.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris - I don't always love David Sedaris and there were a few chapters in this collection that missed the mark for me but there were so many chapters in this one that had me laughing until I cried.  I listened to the audio for this one and there were a few times I had to turn this off when I was driving because I was laughing so hard I was getting funny looks.  The part where he went to the hospital in France with a very limited understanding of French and answering everything with the French equivalent of "It's okay" was just hilarious.  I didn't enjoy all of this one but the ones I enjoyed I loved!

Baghdad Without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia by Tony Horwitz - This was my very first book by Tony Horwitz and it still may be my favorite.  It was written in 1992 but there is a lot of information that still feels relevant and he's right in the middle of some events as they're beginning.  How he managed to make parts of this funny while still being informative is impressive.  This is one of the few books where we see quite a bit of his wife - the author Geraldine Brooks  - which was also interesting.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Bosh - Like Jenny Lawson, Allie Bosh is able to really explain what it feels like to be depressed or anxious in a way that makes total sense to those that don't suffer from either of these but she does it with more illustrations and less taxidermy.  I thought her goldfish analogy was brilliant, the killer goose story still makes me giggle, and she has confirmed for me that I never want to make a long distance move with dogs.

Fiction:

Night of the Living Deed by E.J. Copperman - On the surface this doesn't sound like a very funny book as murders, ghosts and very extensive home renovations don't usually lend themselves to hilarity.  However, the ghosts in this book are very funny though I've very glad I don't have to share a house with them and the scene where everyone comes clean about their ghost seeing abilities is pretty funny.

It Happened in London by Julia Quinn - When I first saw this topic this was the first book that came to mind.  The scenes where Sebastian is reading from the Miss Butterworth book is perhaps one of my favorites of all time and I just love the reason why Harry is wearing the hat.

The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry - I love Dave Barry's nonfiction but was never really drawn to his fiction until I heard him read a chapter of this book and then I knew I simply had to have it.  It's a short little book set right around Christmas in a small town in the 1950s.  It's very clear that Barry is pulling heavily from his own experiences as a child and that he has a son.  It's sweet and very Christmas-y and so very funny.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling - So confession time - I was late to Harry Potter.  Like really late.  Like the 3rd movie had already come out when I finally picked up the very first book in the series.  I was so surprised by how funny parts of this book were.  Fred and George and the boy who narrates the Quiddich match were all just brilliant and I absolutely loved this book and was overjoyed to find the humor in this one.

A Disguise to Die For by Diane Vallere - If I want a zany romp with characters you can never predict and a murder or two Diane Vallere is my go-to and this latest series did not disappoint.  I definitely got a giggle or two out of this one and found myself desperately wanting my own costume shop to play in.

What's your favorite funny book?

20 comments:

  1. Jenny Lawson is the best!!I love both of her books. I need to read David Sedaris still. Great list!!

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  2. David Sedaris is the only one of these I've read and I love his humor... especially great on audio. The funniest book I've read in the last few years in This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper.

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  3. I enjoyed Tina Fey's book. Have to get audio versions of Amy Poehler and Mindy Kaling's books--I think they'd be the perfect companion for an upcoming road trip.

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  4. Wow, good list for a tough topic!

    I couldn't do it this week-- I don't read many silly or humorous books (I know, I'm a curmudgeon) but maybe if I listened to a funny book it would pull me in more.

    My younger daughter loves all the popular women comedians: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Chelsea Handler, etc. but I don't watch much tv comedy anymore so I haven't seen them in action, except clips from SNL.. Jenny Lawson is someone I probably would enjoy. On the "guy side", I like the brief times I've seen Jim Gaffigan on tv (he wrote Dad is Fat, among others).

    I like a very dry, deadpan wit and I do chuckle in the weirdest of places, like reading the Elly Griffiths series. Ruth cracks me up, with her little snarky asides and too-honest-to-say inner thoughts. Please read her books, Katherine, and you have to read more than one to fully appreciate the relationship and growth of the characters.

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  5. I think I own a second hand copy of Night of the Living Deed somewhere. Maybe I should pull it out. This week's topic has me craving some slight humor.

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  6. So, we're confessing about when we read the Harry Potter books? I read them all the year the last one came out. I'd seen the four movies that had been released up to that point, but I didn't want to start reading the books until I knew when the last one would be out. I read them all in about six months, and started the newest the weekend it came out. I enjoyed them all, and I was so glad I didn't have two year waits between books to forget things.

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  7. ooo I just read E J Copperman's first book in the new series - was really funny too! Will need to check out this one :) My TTT

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  8. Yes yes yes to What Happens in London! That book is just . . . so many laughs with that. And i agree about Harry Potter too! I haven't read any of the others.

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  9. Love the wonderful travel books you have mentioned. Thanks for sharing these and other titles!

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  10. I think Tina Fey's book would be hilarious, but I haven't read it yet. I want to though. And I was very impressed with Allie Bosh for the same reasons you mentioned- I've thought about getting Hyperbole and a Half. Her illustrations crack me up even as she tackles important issues. I think Jenny Lawson's book would be a hoot too.

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  11. So glad you loved HP and I don't think it's ever too late to get into Harry. Nice list this week!

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  12. Never too late to get into Harry Potter -and Fred and George are the best!


    Check out my TTT.

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  13. I made a huge mistake when I didn't request Furiously Happy on Netgalley because the cover made me think it was a cheesy self-pub. I will be looking for both that book and Let's Pretend That Never Happened at the library. I used to faithfully read Dave Barry's syndicated newspaper column and I have read a couple of his Non-Fiction books. I will the Christmas story out near to the holidays. :)

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  14. I really need to read Let's Pretend This Never Happened! I have heard a lot of good things about it!

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  15. Jenny Lawson's books are great. I never get as much enjoyment out of her blog as I do her books. Seriously they are fantastic and make me laugh out loud.

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  16. I haven't read any of these, but I've read some of David Sedaris and Dave Berry's older stuff and really enjoyed them. I want to read Let's Pretend.

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  17. Night of the Living Deed by E.J. Copperman looks good and of course I love the Potter books. Great list, I am curious about Let's Pretend This Never Happen.

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  18. A Disguise to Die For sounds fun! My go to is Jill Shalvis for funny. Pretty much all of hers. :D

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  19. I wish I had had time to do this one this week! What a fun topic! Lawson's book would have made my list too. :-) Fred and George are great, aren't they? I don't think I would have thought to include the Harry Potter book, but you are right! Those two in particular are quite funny. I really need to read Hyperbole and a Half.

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  20. I was just realizing the other day that I don't keep enough books on my shelves that will make me laugh. They are really quite necessary sometimes!

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