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Original poster

Funny laugh out loud books?

83 replies

Nikitasol · 21/03/2017 05:34

I'm in the process of splitting up with my partner and really need some funny books to make me laugh right now? Any suggestions for books that will make me weep with laughter? Fiction or non fiction fine.

OP posts:
CoffeeAndEnnui · 28/03/2017 23:07

There was a jolly good film made of Animal Husbandry, with Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd. Well worth investing in for a sorrow-drowning night: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00005UWNJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490738646&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=animal+attraction+dvd&dpPl=1&dpID=41SD6GRJPHL&ref=plSrch&tag=mumsnetforum-21

CelticPromise · 28/03/2017 23:04

Lucky Jim is hilarious. I agree about Bill Bryson.

CoffeeAndEnnui · 28/03/2017 23:01

Oh my goodness, I LOVED that book. I really miss India Knight's earlier writing, I've found the more recent releases a bit mean spirited and smug for my taste.

Original poster
Nikitasol · 28/03/2017 22:31

Thanks for these.

I remember snorting with laughter at My Life on a Plate years ago by India Knight. It looked like total chick lit on the cover but was brilliant

OP posts:
CoffeeAndEnnui · 28/03/2017 01:30

Also Animal Husbandry by Laura Zigman. Fab.

Both these sound like 'chick lit' but are far more.

CoffeeAndEnnui · 28/03/2017 01:24

Getting Over It by Anna Maxted is a wonderful novel about love and loss which never fails to make me oink with unladylike laughter.

cheapskatemum · 28/03/2017 01:18

Agree with many of these & would like to add the classic: "Three Men and a Boat" by Jerome K Jerome

Todayistuesday · 24/03/2017 20:40

THINGS MY FATHER SAID is very funny. I'm re-reading it for the third time and it never fails to make me laugh. It started life on Twitter - this guy telling people all the funny things his dad said as he grew up. Sequel equally funny. Hope things get better for you.

rumblingDMexploitingbstds · 23/03/2017 21:23

Anything at all by Doreen Tovey, brilliant books about her husband, their mad siamese cats and small, very stroppy donkey, I've read them so many times and still laugh out loud at them. Crooks, Chooks and Bloody Ratbags is another favourite by Kerry Cue, about growing up with her policeman father in Australia.

Definite agreement re Percy Jackson, Terry Pratchett and Bill Bryson. Arthur Marshall's Giggling in the Shrubbery is also very funny, a collection of largely nutty anecdotes about growing up in girls' boarding schools in the 20s-50s. I particularly like the bit about the nuns skating around on scrubbing brushes.

midsomermurderess · 23/03/2017 21:14

Michael Dibdin's Dirty Tricks also made me laugh out loud. I read it years ago though so my tastes might have changed.

midsomermurderess · 23/03/2017 21:08

P G Wodehouse and David Sedaris.

Original poster
Nikitasol · 23/03/2017 16:34

Well I'm game to try them all! I've just ordered Jack Dee's book too

OP posts:
ihatethecold · 23/03/2017 11:42

I thought The tent, the bucket and me was dire.

ElspethFlashman · 23/03/2017 09:22

I feel bad cos I downloaded the Tent the Bucket and Me and couldn't get into it at all and have tried about 5 times now!

WindwardCircle · 23/03/2017 07:53

The Tent, the Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy is the funniest book I've ever read. Gerald Durrell's childhood memories of Corfu (My Family and other Animals, Birds Beasts and Relatives and Island of the Gods) are both funny and utterly charming and Chris Stewart's books about his life in rural Spain have a similar vibe.

HesterGreysGarden · 23/03/2017 07:48

This is a brilliant thread. Thank you OP

MumBod · 23/03/2017 07:45

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons is hilarious.

Original poster
Nikitasol · 23/03/2017 07:43

I'm buying them all! Should keep me going for the next 12 months Grin

OP posts:
babynugget · 23/03/2017 07:27

Ihatethecold I hope you enjoy it. You might want to order the next one in the series too - they really are so easy to read -I rattled through them.

MissJC · 23/03/2017 06:40

Anything by John O'Farrell, his May Contain Nuts had me in stitches within 4 pages!

ihatethecold · 23/03/2017 06:34

I've just ordered your recommendation babynugget.
I'm going on holiday very soon and really need a funny book to ease me back into reading again.

babynugget · 22/03/2017 22:46

Possibly a bit more 'low brow' than the others mentioned but Nick Spalding makes me giggle out loud. My OH always knows when I'm reading one of his books as nothing else makes me laugh aloud. Very easy to read - doesn't require huge amounts of concentration or involve horrendously complex story lines. I would recommend you start with 'Love from Both sides'. It's told from a mans perspective then an extract from the woman's diary describing the same incidents. Bloody hilarious!

Jayfee · 22/03/2017 22:29

starter for ten david nicolson. my son was late for the pub as he was reading it and he hardly ever reads books. made me laugh out loud.

elephantoverthehill · 22/03/2017 22:29

I enjoy Tom Sharpe and lots already listed, but really I am posting to look a few of these up on the weekend Smile. Kindle has got my profile so wrong.

CatchIt · 22/03/2017 22:27

Kermit, I love his description of English people giving directions in NFASC & the looks of surprise when his American neighbours realising he's going to walk to the shops as they drive to the gym! Just hilarious!

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