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Original poster

Books that made you laugh out loud

213 replies

toolazytothinkofausername · 06/02/2021 21:22

Please can you suggest a book that made you laugh out loud. I need more laughter in my life right now, and I am bored of streaming TV/film Shock

OP posts:
JesusInTheCabbageVan · 08/02/2021 20:10

Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. A lovely feelgood book, and the scene with the diving board at the lake made me laugh until I had a mild asthma attack Grin

Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James.

Wishihadanalgorithm · 08/02/2021 20:14

Yes to Bill Bryson’s Thunderbolt Kid and Kennedy’s Tent, Bucket and Me. No one has mentioned Alan Carr’s autobiography, Look Who it is! Which made me cry and hurt from laughing.

Iamthewombat · 08/02/2021 20:23

How has nobody mentioned The Timewaster Letters in seven pages?

How? How??

It is the funniest thing ever. I fell off my seat on the bus laughing at it. It doesn’t get any less funny with time, either.

Sorry fans of The Ascent of Rum Doodle: it is about as funny as a burning orphanage. It was recommended to me by people who are into climbing (hence any comedy book about their pet subject must be hilarious), and who think that Allo Allo is funny.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Books
looselegs · 08/02/2021 20:23

Why Mummy swears
Why Mummy drinks
Love them!

hollyhope · 08/02/2021 20:51

Another vote for Bill Bryson's travel books.
Any Nina Stibbe.
Sue Townsend.

hollyhope · 08/02/2021 20:53

Oh, I'd forgotten the Timewaster books.
DS and I reminisce about bits from them.

Brownbananabandana · 08/02/2021 21:14

The hoarder by Jess Kidd, and Him also by Jess Kidd. I love her writing and have been checking for the last year since reading those if she’s written anything else since, they’re both fabulously quirky

stayathomer · 08/02/2021 21:49

Oh by the way people who are fans of the why mummy drinks books, Aimee Horton is excellent

TheNoodlesIncident · 08/02/2021 22:24

I concur with Betty MacDonald's books (she was NOT racist and defended people from racist comments from others Angry) The Egg & I, The Plague & I, Anybody Can Do Anything and also Onions In The Stew. All great reads and so well written, nothing jars.

Also Monica Dickens' autobiographical books, One Pair of Feet, One Pair of Hands, My Turn To Make The Tea. She has an amazing turn of phrase, where you read the same sentence over and over because it's just so fabulous Grin.

I also loved Three Men On A Boat, Three Men On The Bummel (not quite as great as the first but still good), Bill Bryson's works (was sad to see he's announced he's stopping writing but I suppose I can't begrudge him retirement!), Clive James' autobiographies, PG Wodehouse, James Herriot, Doreen Tovey, The Diary of a Nobody, The Diary of A Provincial Lady so you've had some really good recommendations. The latter is sometimes available as a collection, as the first is set between the wars, the second during WW II and the third she goes to America. All fantastic stuff and high on my lists of top personal favourites!

Giraffey1 · 08/02/2021 22:26

All of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.

JimmyJabs · 08/02/2021 23:03

@Iamthewombat

How has nobody mentioned The Timewaster Letters in seven pages?

How? How??

It is the funniest thing ever. I fell off my seat on the bus laughing at it. It doesn’t get any less funny with time, either.

Sorry fans of The Ascent of Rum Doodle: it is about as funny as a burning orphanage. It was recommended to me by people who are into climbing (hence any comedy book about their pet subject must be hilarious), and who think that Allo Allo is funny.

I agree with you on both counts. The Ascent of Rum Doodle was about as funny as losing your arms in an industrial accident. I imagine that the field of comedy books about climbing is very narrow, but nevertheless, comparing it with Three Men in a Boat is ludicrous.
Feduppluckingmychinhairs · 08/02/2021 23:25

Theres a Marian Keyes book in which her Dad has an affair. Some proper laugh out loud parts in it

Needhelp101 · 09/02/2021 01:25

@JesusInTheCabbageVan

Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. A lovely feelgood book, and the scene with the diving board at the lake made me laugh until I had a mild asthma attack Grin

Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James.

Me too! I was reading it on a train and had to stop. I had to do the 'bury your face in the book with shaking shoulders' thing. Dangerously close to hysteria 😁
garlictwist · 09/02/2021 06:12

I just read Three Men in a Boat - it's over 100 years old now but it's aged really well and one of the funniest things I've read for ages.

welliguessitwouldbenice · 09/02/2021 06:18

Some great recommendations here. Concur with Bill B but it’s been years since I read them so might reread. I’ve got This is going to hurt and Calypso arriving today on the strength of this thread, for starters.

Great thread OP, I think we all need some escapism and a deep laugh right now

MechantGourmet · 09/02/2021 10:26

@StillMedusa

The Gates by John Connelly... it's actually a kids/teens book and starts with a bunch of bored adults having a dinner party and accidentally opening a portal to hell...

Absolutely brilliant to read ..I snorted laughing so many times on a transatlantic flight that the other passengers were looking to see what I was reading Grin

Oh, thank you @StillMedusa - The Gates sounds perfect for DS. Have just put it onto his kindle...will save him from rereading Skulduggery Pleasant for the 15th time (that series is v funny judging by the chortles that come from his room). Who Let The Gods Out series is also v funny (and not as dark as SP) for those wanting books for their children.
Ormally · 09/02/2021 11:48

I think the funniest thing I have ever read is an essay (?) called 'A supposedly fun thing I'll never do again' by Dave Foster Wallace. There is a slightly shortened version, I think it was originally an article for a journal, and a longer one. The longer one is worth the search and out there in the servers somewhere.

Ormally · 09/02/2021 12:02

...Here's the cut version if you fancy a laugh: 2hy6ba2htz8b3e2bkg43t4hn-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/HarpersMagazine-1996-01-0007859.pdf

Mousemay · 09/02/2021 12:13

Marian Keyes - all of them

squashyhat · 09/02/2021 12:22

I'm glad somebody mentioned Garrison Keillor. The Lake Wobegon series is great. Like Bill Bryson but fictional.

I am currently gently giggling my way through the Thursday Murder Club

lovablequalities · 09/02/2021 13:18

Lissa Evans - Old Baggage, Their Finest, V for Victory all very good.

Simon Brett - Charles Paris books

Nora Ephron - Heartburn

Sandi Totsvig - the one on the bus (more wry smiles but still)

Neil Munro - Para Handy

BettyCarver · 09/02/2021 13:34

They’ve all been said already, but Bill Bryson, especially Notes from a Small Island, also E.F.Benson’s Mapp and Lucia books. Glad Garrison Keiller got a mention too, some great humour there as well as sadness

midsomermurderess · 09/02/2021 13:49

Oh, Mapp and Lucia are cracking.

RaraRachael · 09/02/2021 13:55

@Dowser

Paul o gradys biographies are very good
I love his books. I've just downloaded The Savage Years to enjoy when I've finished my latest book. They do actually make me laugh out loud - and I don't find many things funny!
JimmyJabs · 09/02/2021 15:55

I've just started The Tent etc by Emma Kennedy on the recommendation of this thread and I've already had to put it down twice so I can wipe my eyes. The little boy "from Tower Hamlets" shitting in the bushes in front of their house 🤣