Recommendations for really funny books

[christie2]

I got from mumsnet the link to the top 20 BBC recommended funniest books and read alot of them. And they were, funny, more often ironic or wry humour, sometimes dark. More like the ricky Gervais "The Office" kind of funny. Brilliant, but I was looking for laugh out loud funny without the darkside. Any recommendations??? It has been a tough year and I need a good but light belly laugh.Chick lit is ok as long as it is heavy on funny and light on romance.

One of the funniest books I've ever read (although also slightly disturbing!) Augusten Burroughs - Running with Scissors. I literally wet myself laughing, but as I said, it is slightly disturbing especially due to the fact that it's supposed to be an autobiography. Hilarious!!!

The Bryson going back to the US was called 'Notes from a Big Country' in the UK, but yes it's excellent.

Terry Pratchett.
Christopher Brookmyre, especially All Fun and Games until somebody loses an eye
Also Lilian Beckwith The Hills Is Lonely - woman recuperating from illness ends up staying on a Scottish croft. Bit like James Herriot.

Peter Moore.

He's like Bill Bryson but funnier.

So true about Blair's autobiography. It's utterly hilarious. I keep reading things out to DH when I can't work out whether he's serious or not.

I second Christopher Brookmyre, love his books. Also Good Omens (Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman) probably one of my favourite books of all time, so funny, and a perfect balance between each writers style.

How about Gerald Durrell, but not the animal ones? There are three or four that he wrote about his family that make me weep with laughter.

Danny Wallace is excellent. I loved Yes Man (the film was crap, but the book brilliant). Haven't read his others but I'm assured that they are also very funny.

I recommend "The chronicles of Clovis"...Saki, and funny but also rich and moving, but pretty wierd is "The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman"...Bruce Robinson, the writer of "Withnail and I" which in itself is, obviously, also a hilarious script to read.

Bonk:The curious coupling of sex and science by Mary Roach.
had me in stitches.

P.J. O'Rourke is well worth a read. "Holidays in Hell" is a good starter.

coin operate agree with you wholeheartedly,am reading Etched in blood and hard black pencil just now and its hilarious as is A big boy done it and ran away,the pages at the end giving interpretations of the glasgow words is soooo funny my pals and I nearly wet ourselves,dont know how it would go down with anyone that does'nt know the lingo.Anything by Ton Sharpe is a rib tickler too.

I agree with Sue Townsend and Janet Evanovich - very light, easy to read and hilarious.

I also agree with Nancy Mitford and would add Damon Runyan for 1920s humour that is still side-splitting. All his stories are set in New York during prohibition and are full of gangsters, molls, showgirls, gambling rings, wise guys.

I would also add Anita Loos "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" which is still hilarious after all these years.

For non-fiction try Joe Queenan as well. He wrote a book about how he (a New York culture snob) tried every lowbrow form of culture in America (Barry Manilow, Atlantic City, Renaissance Fayres, Billy Joel) which I read so many times it fell apart.

Also Cynthia Heimel - I think some of her humorous writing is still in print in this country but Sex Tips for Girls is genius.

Bridget Jones' Diary and Beyond the Edge of Reason. Much much funnier to read than the films make out. I laughed with almost every page - hilariou.

Ben Elton's books do tend to have a basis in reality but they are extremely funny and get you thinking too, especially Chart Throb (piss take of X factor/pop idol), Dead Famous (murder in the BB house - but really funny) and Blind Faith (set in a future after polar icecaps have etled and we all have names like Barbie Happymeal).

I second the vote for anything Pratchetttoo. He's a genius.

I'm so pleased somebody else mentioned Clive James' Unreliable Memoirs- it was my first thought. Laugh out loud funny, and his descriptions of childhood in rural Australia are so vivid you can almost taste it. I never tire of reading it.

I read a book called The Mezzanine once and laughed so much I couldn't breathe. My dad, who shares a similar sense of humour, declared it to be a terrible book

Have already been suggested, but two of my favourite books ever, that I never tire of reading are.. Jenny Eclair - 'Camberwell Beauty' and 'Having A Lovely Time'. A little bit dark, but definitely laugh out loud.
And Emma Kennedy - 'The Tent, The Bucket And Me' .. Couldn't stop laughing my way through that one.. felt bereft when I finished.

'Secret Diary Of A Demented Housewife' and 'Confessions Of A Demented Housewife' - both by Niamh Greene, are also quite funny.

I needed a funny book and have been reading the Prostrate Years, the Adrian Mole when he is 40ish. I have been lol on the train (it is sad in parts but still v funny)