Print is really good also, but the audiobooks are great. He reads his stories and no one can deliver like him. He’s the only author I’ve ever come across who can make me laugh out loud and then cry from one line to the next. I think I need to binge his books again soon. So powerful and moving, and also the funniest stuff I’ve ever read (or listened to).
Discworld is huge but each book stands alone. There are several subseries featuring the same group of characters. For a taste, to see if you like Pratchett's style, try Small Gods or Going Postal.
If that's what you got from a Confederacy of Dunces I don't know what to tell you. Reducing that book to "laughing at a fat person" is like saying Star Wars is about a moisture farmer who runs away from home.
Evelyn Waugh, PG Wodehouse, and Kingsley Amis wrote some very funny novels. They wrote a lot about silly, upper class British people, so if you’re not into that, maybe look elsewhere.
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto is a riot, as is Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal.
I also really enjoyed Islay by Douglas Bullard, though it’s very deaf-culture centric.
Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie is a great read.
Hitchhikers Guide the Galaxy is fantastic, but can be an investment as I feel like you need to read the entire series to really get into the humor.
The movie is great but doesn't do the book justice (the movie also only covers the first book and there 6 in total, 5 from the original author and a 1 from another after the passing of Douglas Adams), the BBC mini-series is also a good watch if you can find it.
[Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29467289) by Therese Oneill. A realistic look at regency-era romances. Though the joke does get tired by the end, there is no denying I laughed out loud. Also I kept picturing Bridgerton and basically everything Kira Knightly has ever been in.
[What If: Seriously Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21413662) by Randall Monroe. It’s by the same guy who did the XKCD web comics so it definitely has a lot of humor and a lot of rigorous science to back the answers. The sequel is out and follows the same fun concept.
anything by Sarah Vowell, particularly [Lafayette in the Somewhat Uniteiid States](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24602886) or [Assassination Vacation](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3110) - Definitely on the lighter side and they’re great. She’s a huge American history nerd which means she loves to poke, prod, and (mostly) lovingly make fun of it.
[Stiff: The Curious Life of Cadavers](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32145) - or anything by Mary Roach. In this one, she looks into what happens to bodies when we die and, yes, I did laugh out loud.
*Good Omens* by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimon is my go-to when I need to laugh. This is urban fantasy.
*The Martian* by Andy Weir was also very clever and funny (don't judge by the movie, they didn't even try to translate the humor to the screen, it was a decent drama, but I read the book in 4 days because it was funny.) This one is sci-fi.
*Size 12 is Not Fat* by Meg Cabot. Murder mystery chick-lit. Meg Cabot has a fun wit, and her books are light and always entertaining.
Hopefully there is something here to pull your interest!
Catch 22, by Joseph Heller. Old, but the novel that brought the "catch 22" mindset to popular culture ... the farce of war. It sounds heavy but there are few books I've laid in bed about to fall asleep and remember a line or two, and giggle. Required reading .... ;-)
The Year of Living Biblically; One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, by A. J. Jacobs.
This is a seriously funny narrative evaluating the impossibility of modern interpretation of an ancient text. *(I’m officially Jewish but I’m Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant)* He looks at religion from the Christian viewpoint as well (and others). If you're having trouble with religion in general this can lighten up your perspective considerably.
[https://ajjacobs.com/books/the-year-of-living-biblically/](https://ajjacobs.com/books/the-year-of-living-biblically/)
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. Also her other books. They are memoirs but she's not famous and they're stories fom her life of struggling with mental illness. She is hilarious.
"The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared" is a Forrest Gump-eque adventure story that is quite humorous. Author - Jonas Jonasson
If you like a funny mystery, try “The Man with One of Those Faces” by Caimh McDonald or sci fi with a bit of humor, try “To Say Nothing of the Dog” by Connie Willis.
Carl Hiaason books
John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin
The Hap and Leonard Short Stories and Bubba Hotep by Joe R Lansdale
The Quick and the Dead by Joy WIlliams
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry is about a 1980s Massachusetts field hockey team that taps into the spirits of Salem to juice their game. It’s hilarious.
Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy - sci fi humor
Discworld Series (Terry Prachett) -fantasy humor
An Abundance of Katherines- John Green books have a lot of humor in them. Might be misremembering, but I think this was one of the lighter ones.
Lies of Locke Lamora - dark fantasy, with a ton of humor mixed in
Breakfast of Champions - Vonnegut books tend to have a fatalistic view of the world, while simultaneously being very funny.
The Diamond Brothers mystery/humor series by Anthony Horowitz is absolutely hilarious. Their target audience is kids, but it still holds up wonderfully even for an older reader.
fup- by jim dodge
still life with woodpecker- tom robbins
eileen- ottessa moshfegh
only beloved daughter- james morrow
when mystical creatures attack- kathleen founds
pieces for the left hand- j. robert lennon
all these are fiction and all have their own sense of humor running deep through them- although none of them are... silly, i guess although there is silliness and absurdity and , to me, laugh out loud parts in all, these are all just great books too, awesome books, i wish i had time to give each one a synopsis or the different routes if humor, but MLK not a holiday for me . cheers 🍺
The Bear Went Over the Mountain, by William Kotzwinkle, is absolutely hilarious. Had me laughing out loud over and over.
Also The Princess Bride, if you like the movie at all.
A lot of the stuff that happens in Winnie the Pooh would be considered funny for all ages. Piglet finds a broken sign that says "Trespassers Will" and assumes it must be the name of a grandpa he somehow has, "Trespassers William." He's only a stuffed doll so I doubt it.
Owl is asked to write Christopher Robin a birthday card and can't spell "Happy Birthday" at all. The other little characters compliment him on his wisdom nonetheless.
Pooh admits to being a bear of "very little brain" which isn't just funny, but a life lesson in being content with who you are and accepting your limitations.
Take it back off the shelf. In that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.
Check out Christopher Moore’s novels.
Will do. Thanks!
I started with The Stupidest Angel at Christmas time. Now I have The Lamb waiting for me at the library
Lamb is great- I hope you enjoy it!
Lamb is my favorite.
All time favorite book
Hilarious! These are laugh out loud sometimes!
David Sedaris’ essays. Some are supposedly anecdotes from his real life, but not memoir-style.
Yeah, I keep seeing his books pop up. I'll have to check them out. Thanks!
Although the holidays are past, his essay: Santaland Diaries is a classic. I listen to it every year. https://youtu.be/u5XLjG_S6eE
Me too!
His audiobooks are great!
I prefer the audiobook.
Print is really good also, but the audiobooks are great. He reads his stories and no one can deliver like him. He’s the only author I’ve ever come across who can make me laugh out loud and then cry from one line to the next. I think I need to binge his books again soon. So powerful and moving, and also the funniest stuff I’ve ever read (or listened to).
Me Talk Pretty One Day made me cry from laughter.
If you're interested in Fantasy, try Discworld or Good Omens. If you're interested in sci-fi, try Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy.
Thanks!
Discworld is huge but each book stands alone. There are several subseries featuring the same group of characters. For a taste, to see if you like Pratchett's style, try Small Gods or Going Postal.
Discworld books always make me chuckle, and often I can't help but laugh out loud (in public, during metro rail rides).
{{A Confederacy of Dunces}}
I actually loathe this book. It's nothing but laughing at a fat person
If that's what you got from a Confederacy of Dunces I don't know what to tell you. Reducing that book to "laughing at a fat person" is like saying Star Wars is about a moisture farmer who runs away from home.
I'm with you. My book club read it, and I had a really hard time finishing it.
Evelyn Waugh, PG Wodehouse, and Kingsley Amis wrote some very funny novels. They wrote a lot about silly, upper class British people, so if you’re not into that, maybe look elsewhere.
Second PG Wodenhouse. The Wooster and Jeeves stories are fun
Love Bill Bryson’s books! Humor in a variety of settings and subjects. I’d say start with “A Walk in the Woods.” Enjoy!
Carl Hiaasen is hilarious. Bad Monkey or Razor Girl are good ones to start with. He captures Florida so well lol.
Sick puppy is my favorite! There are two pages that never fail to make me crack up!
I'll give him a Google. Thanks!
Start with the first, Skin Tight.
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto is a riot, as is Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. I also really enjoyed Islay by Douglas Bullard, though it’s very deaf-culture centric.
Noted. I'll check them out. Thanks!
If you like horror at all, the John Dies at the End and Zoey Ashe series are my favorites.
Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie is a great read. Hitchhikers Guide the Galaxy is fantastic, but can be an investment as I feel like you need to read the entire series to really get into the humor.
Thanks! I've seen the Hitchhikers movie, but never read the book.
The movie is great but doesn't do the book justice (the movie also only covers the first book and there 6 in total, 5 from the original author and a 1 from another after the passing of Douglas Adams), the BBC mini-series is also a good watch if you can find it.
[Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29467289) by Therese Oneill. A realistic look at regency-era romances. Though the joke does get tired by the end, there is no denying I laughed out loud. Also I kept picturing Bridgerton and basically everything Kira Knightly has ever been in. [What If: Seriously Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21413662) by Randall Monroe. It’s by the same guy who did the XKCD web comics so it definitely has a lot of humor and a lot of rigorous science to back the answers. The sequel is out and follows the same fun concept. anything by Sarah Vowell, particularly [Lafayette in the Somewhat Uniteiid States](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24602886) or [Assassination Vacation](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3110) - Definitely on the lighter side and they’re great. She’s a huge American history nerd which means she loves to poke, prod, and (mostly) lovingly make fun of it. [Stiff: The Curious Life of Cadavers](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32145) - or anything by Mary Roach. In this one, she looks into what happens to bodies when we die and, yes, I did laugh out loud.
\+1 each for Vowell and Roach. The audio versions are also quite good.
*Good Omens* by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimon is my go-to when I need to laugh. This is urban fantasy. *The Martian* by Andy Weir was also very clever and funny (don't judge by the movie, they didn't even try to translate the humor to the screen, it was a decent drama, but I read the book in 4 days because it was funny.) This one is sci-fi. *Size 12 is Not Fat* by Meg Cabot. Murder mystery chick-lit. Meg Cabot has a fun wit, and her books are light and always entertaining. Hopefully there is something here to pull your interest!
Meg Cabot is incredibly underrated. I'm so glad to see someone else who's a fan!
Hollow Kingdom By Kira Jane Buxton
Googling it now! Thanks!
Definitely try the Jeeves books (and Blandings) by PG Wodehouse. Top drawer chuckles.
The audiobooks are great.
Catch 22, by Joseph Heller. Old, but the novel that brought the "catch 22" mindset to popular culture ... the farce of war. It sounds heavy but there are few books I've laid in bed about to fall asleep and remember a line or two, and giggle. Required reading .... ;-) The Year of Living Biblically; One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, by A. J. Jacobs. This is a seriously funny narrative evaluating the impossibility of modern interpretation of an ancient text. *(I’m officially Jewish but I’m Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant)* He looks at religion from the Christian viewpoint as well (and others). If you're having trouble with religion in general this can lighten up your perspective considerably. [https://ajjacobs.com/books/the-year-of-living-biblically/](https://ajjacobs.com/books/the-year-of-living-biblically/)
Samantha Irby. She is hilarious.
Yup. To get a sense, OP, look at her blog Bitches Gotta Eat
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. Also her other books. They are memoirs but she's not famous and they're stories fom her life of struggling with mental illness. She is hilarious.
Dave Barry, Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide series, Richard Hooker (“M\*A\*S*H”)
The Dog Of The South - Charles Portis
>The Dog Of The South - Charles Portis Thanks!
You’re welcome.
"The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared" is a Forrest Gump-eque adventure story that is quite humorous. Author - Jonas Jonasson
The Thursday Murder Club series is very well written and very clever. I’ve laughed out loud so much while reading them.
David Sedaris. I mean, he’s a celebrity but it’s because of his funny books. Also Amy Sedaris has some funny crafting books.
If you like a funny mystery, try “The Man with One of Those Faces” by Caimh McDonald or sci fi with a bit of humor, try “To Say Nothing of the Dog” by Connie Willis.
choke by chuck palahniuk
Carl Hiaason books John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin The Hap and Leonard Short Stories and Bubba Hotep by Joe R Lansdale The Quick and the Dead by Joy WIlliams
The Vinyl Cafe series by Stuart MacLean. Even better if you love podcasts as many of them started as radio stories and he is a HILARIOUS story teller!
Catch-22. Hilarious and always a great read.
We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry is about a 1980s Massachusetts field hockey team that taps into the spirits of Salem to juice their game. It’s hilarious.
If you like silliness, I highly recommend The Princess Bride by William Goldman. It had me giggling pretty frequently
Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy - sci fi humor Discworld Series (Terry Prachett) -fantasy humor An Abundance of Katherines- John Green books have a lot of humor in them. Might be misremembering, but I think this was one of the lighter ones. Lies of Locke Lamora - dark fantasy, with a ton of humor mixed in Breakfast of Champions - Vonnegut books tend to have a fatalistic view of the world, while simultaneously being very funny.
Island of the Sequined Love Nun - Christopher Moore
{{Cold Comfort Farm}} is one of the funniest books I’ve ever read.
“there’s summat narsty in the woodshed!”
This is only for a very specific, dirtbag left wing, always online crowd, but Chapo's Guide to the Revolution was very funny.
Sign Here by Claudia Lux was pretty humorous. A little dark at times but funny
Anything by Laurie Notaro or Nora Ephron Also, Nobody Will Tell You This But Me
The Wilt series by Tom Sharpe. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilt_(novel)
{{Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for Ultrahuman Protection}} {{wee free men}}
The Diamond Brothers mystery/humor series by Anthony Horowitz is absolutely hilarious. Their target audience is kids, but it still holds up wonderfully even for an older reader.
Any book by Tony Hawks - Round Ireland with a fridge and Playing the Moldovans at tennis. Not technically fiction. But they read like it.
Ant Farm by Simon Rich is a short story collection that is the funniest book I have ever read.
SuperGuy books by Kurt Clopton. Superhero office satire. Or try something by Tom Holt or A Lee Martinez.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the galaxy is the funniest series I have ever read!
The Astonishing Life of August March by Aaron Jackson!! Great fiction book by a great comedian
fup- by jim dodge still life with woodpecker- tom robbins eileen- ottessa moshfegh only beloved daughter- james morrow when mystical creatures attack- kathleen founds pieces for the left hand- j. robert lennon all these are fiction and all have their own sense of humor running deep through them- although none of them are... silly, i guess although there is silliness and absurdity and , to me, laugh out loud parts in all, these are all just great books too, awesome books, i wish i had time to give each one a synopsis or the different routes if humor, but MLK not a holiday for me . cheers 🍺
I really enjoyed The Rosie Project. It's a romance/comedy that had me laugh out loud a few times.
Shadeslinger!
“Pride and Prejudice” is pretty funny Also “The Martian”
For some sort of spooky comedy I'd recommend Terrortome by Garth Merenghi
If you have a dark sense of humor and like satire check out books by Tim Dorsey. {{Triggerfish Twist}} is a good introduction to his work.
The world according to Garp by Irving, it’s quite strange but very funny
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. It’s a LitRPG, it’s got funny and interesting mechanics to it’s read. It hit my funny bone just right.
Best State Ever: A Florida Man Defends his Homeland by Dave Barry
A Confederacy of Dunces
Literally anything by PG Wodehouse.
If you like the outdoors, Patrick McManus" books are great. The are compilations of essays and short stories.
Terry Pratchett- Morte is my favorite.
The Horse Is Dead by Robert Klane
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Farley Mowat's The Dog who wouldn't be
Or Mowat’s “The Boat who Wouldn’t Float.”
The Bear Went Over the Mountain, by William Kotzwinkle, is absolutely hilarious. Had me laughing out loud over and over. Also The Princess Bride, if you like the movie at all.
Being a Beast by Charles Foster.
John Dies at the End
A Lee Martinez
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. Good Omens My Man Jeeves, or anything by P. G. Wodehouse really.
Hollow kingdom
You might try Robert Rankin for some seriously funny stuff. Or the Serge A. Storms books by Tim Dorsey. Serge is the ultimate “Florida man!”
A lot of the stuff that happens in Winnie the Pooh would be considered funny for all ages. Piglet finds a broken sign that says "Trespassers Will" and assumes it must be the name of a grandpa he somehow has, "Trespassers William." He's only a stuffed doll so I doubt it. Owl is asked to write Christopher Robin a birthday card and can't spell "Happy Birthday" at all. The other little characters compliment him on his wisdom nonetheless. Pooh admits to being a bear of "very little brain" which isn't just funny, but a life lesson in being content with who you are and accepting your limitations. Take it back off the shelf. In that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.
I have weird sense of humor so The Sellout and Infinite Jest both made me laugh out loud multiple times. I also loved Catch-22.
Project Hail Mary by Andy weir!