To ask for funny books...

[paintedfences]

Properly hilarious witty ones that have made you laugh out loud

1. that aren't P.G. Wodehouse (got lots of him

The queen and I, Susan Townsend

Ilovetorrentialrain, I'm with you regards Adrian Mole diaries. I go back to them in between other books.

Trainspotting, up there with good omens as funniest books ever.
Stephen kings needful things, not a comedy but full of stuff I laughed at
Tom sharpe- can't remember the name now but especially the one where they turn the police force homosexual by accident- rips the piss out of racism.
School for theives- forget the author but hilarious
James Herriot
Arabella weir- does my bum look big in this and the real me is thin. They are about her ongoing battle with weight, which isn't a subject that resonates with me, but her wit makes them excellent reads anyway.

Mark Watson...the comedian. I love him as a comic but as a writer he is even better. Eleven; The Knot. Not side splitting (not supposed to be) by very witty and thought provoking.

And Jenny Éclair (can we see a pattern developing here?)

Golden, yes! I read WoMD as a chaser to Nineteen Eighty-Four. Needed something light.

Btw TOTALLY agree with you about the therapy of reading. Remember the line from 'Look what they've done to my song' ?

Wish I could find a good book to live in (...) If I could find me a real good book I'd never ever have to come out and look at what they've done to my song

Apologies for the monstrous derailment...

YY BoyFromTheBigBadCity The Rosie Project is VERY funny, and very sweet and romantic - perfect holiday-type read.

Also the Aberystwyth series by Malcolm Pryce - VERY funny. Aberystwyth Mon Amour, Last Tango in Aberystwyth etc.

Enojoy

Yes Please by Amy Poehler - not fiction though

Bridget Jones Diary and the Edge of Reason, not the 3rd one though.

The Circle by Dave Eggers is biting satire.

Another vote for the Adrian Mole diaries........ ALL of them!!!

Adrian Mole definitely, so funny and just daft.

A Spot Of Bother by Mark Haddon.
I find Nick Hornby very diverting.
A Man Called Ove.
I second Cold Comfort Farm - so funny.

Struggling...genuinely funny fiction is quite hard to find.

Have you read David Niven's autobiography "The Moon's a Balloon"? It's a great read and parts of it make me laugh out loud, although parts of it are poignant too. He would definitely be one of my fantasy dinner guests.

Marie Potter and the Campervan of Doom if you have kindle.

It's a fpstrange book but really funny.

Tina Fey's bossypants

Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, love them but I had to stop reading them on the bus into work as I was laughing so much.

Around Ireland with a Fridge, by Tony Hawks, non fiction, but very funny.
This is Your Life and The Best a Man can Get, both by John O'Farrell.

Ooh, or Nancy Mitford? Love 'em.

Shoppingwithmother, I've just finished Decline and Fall- brilliant and very funny, also quite savage. Loved it.

Muriel Spark can also be hilarious, there's one I loved which I will just check the name of....

The Muriel Spark is Loitering With Intent, I was laughing out loud firm the start.

*from the start

Plus I know they're childrens books but I still find Anne Fine hilarious- pack of liars and goggle eyes particularly so but they all are.

Danny Wallace but I haven't read any of his fiction. He makes me laugh out loud. Not so keen on his newer two, "Awkward situations for men" because they don't get into the story so much as the older ones do.

Mil Millington I seem to remember as being funny but not sure if he's just weird. I haven't re-read his books in a while.

Anything by David Sedaris

Just realised that that sounds like a title. Any book David Sedaris has written is great and has made me laugh out loud.

The Tent, The Bucket and Me, by Emma Kennedy.

I was crying - then my dc read it to see what was so funny, and agreed it was laugh out loud hilarious.

Robert Benchley is basically an American PG Wodehouse - I have recently read 'The Benchley Roundup' and really enjoyed it. I have also just started on 'Queen Lucia' by E F Benson which is pretty Wodehouse-esque so far.