I dont really laugh when reading ..do you?

A couple of months ago I read Sandi's Toksvig's 'Between the Stops' after listening to my partner cackle her way through it, but it didn't get so much as a smirk out of me.

Actually it's slightly worrying that I can't think of the last time I laughed at a book, either. I just scrolled back through my Goodreads and had to go all the way back to February 2024 for something that might have got a laugh out of me; David Mitchell's 'Unruly' - and even then, I'm not sure.

It's weird because I read a lot and I don't think I'm completely miserable. But, no, I'm not regularly creasing up at books, either.

Bill Bryson is very funny and I have laughed aloud at him in lots of his books.

John Boyne The Echo Chamber was hilarious and I loved it so much I had never read any of his books before and was disappointed to find all his other books are serious.

David Lodge books made me laugh out loud. Agree about Bill Bryson as well. I remember howling at his description of what position he needed to be to watch TV in his motel room in Des Moines (I think).

Good to see Bill Bryson getting a couple of mentions. I don't often laugh at books but his have had me with tears running down my face many times. I once had to put one away while reading it on a train because I was absolutely helpless. Then I kept remembering the bit that had made me laugh and letting out these weird little whimpering noises which must have looked way stranger than just laughing at a book 😂

Thanks both - I have just ordered this!

JD Kirk books make me laugh out loud at least twice a book. They're the only ones I've found that do, fantastic books.

I’m listening to the audio book of The Satsuma Complex and I’ve laughed out loud in my car a few times. Really enjoying it.

I laughed out loud several times reading the Heartstopper series.

I do. I largely read Bridget Jones's Diary on the bus to and from work and couldn't hold it in, especially not the bit about the dinner party. Perfectly normal.

Yeah, I rarely LOL at books even though I enjoy comic novels. I think the humour has to be a bit unexpected for it to make me laugh out loud.

Sometimes I do, but more so when the book seems quite serious and then some quip cracks me up! I thought this when I was reading Ken Smith's 'The Way of the Hermit' recently.

The first book I read by Bill Bryson (Notes From a Small Island) had me cry-laughing practically from the start. I still remember that glorious feeling of absolute uncontrollable mirth while reading it. His bewilderment at our casual sayings. When he first arrived, I think in Dover, people kept talking about going down to 'the front' and he was wondering what the hell it was the front of. Still tickled me long afterwards.

Gerald Durrell's 'My Family and Other Animals' had me in stitches!

How to be Champion Sarah Millican made me laugh out loud and parts of Peter Kay’s books. Agree re Adrian Mole and some of the teen books I read when my girls were reading them Angus Thongs etc Louise Rennison.
I read too many Psychological thrillers now. Not usually a laugh s minute.

Adrian Mole always makes me laugh, and I've read them every year since I was 10.

I laugh when it’s funny, I love a surprise laugh in a book. First book I laughed out loud at was Clive James, Unreliable Memoirs. Bits of it made me cry with laughter and some just made me cry. But it was real, can’t stop myself laughing, very rare in books.

I remember laughing when reading some of Ben Elton's books, though I don't recall which. I commuted by Tube at the time, and quite a few passengers would lean over to look at the cover.

Most recently I was totally convulsed with laughter reading a MN thread about ladybird willies. Absolutely bonkers!

Rarely, Richard Ayoade’s books make me laugh though.

I don’t laugh either. Mind you, I rarely laugh at comedy on tv either. That’s not to say I don’t find books comical, I do, but rarely have they made me laugh out loud.

Absolutely. I once had to put my book away on a packed train to avoid being lynched as I was laughing so hard I couldn't hide it.

I do. I recently realised I was keeping people on a night flight awake by giggling while rereading Bridget Jones and had to put it away in order not to be a horrendous twat.

Oh yes Adrian Mole; glorious. Also lol at Dawn French books

Some of Bill Bryson’s books have made me laugh out loud, but it’s a long time ago. I don’t know if I have lost my sense of humour or if it’s because I am getting old and am rarely surprised by anything anymore, but I can’t remember the last time I read a really funny book.

I want to say Nick Park but he's Wallace and Grommit isn't he?

I'm such a cultured reader 🤣

I’m with you OP. Despite having a sense of humour I rarely laugh out loud. I can’t remember when the last time I did reading a book.

watching TV I do occasionally - almost always whilst watching Taskmaster 😂