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Original poster

Can anyone recommend me some really funny books?

57 replies

Pinkkahori · 21/12/2016 23:55

I was thinking today that it has been a while since I read anything that really made me laugh.

I love PG Wodehouse and also find some Bill Bryson books very funny.

Diary of a Nobody is probably one of my favourite funny books. I also love Evelyn Waugh Decline and Fall and Vile Bodies.

Has anyone any suggestions?

Thanks

OP posts:
annandale · 22/12/2016 00:05

French Revolutions by Tim Moore
The Egg and I, The Plague and I and Anybody can do Anything by Betty Macdonald
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

DeepAndCrispAndEvenTheWind · 22/12/2016 00:08

It's bittersweet, but Time For Bed by David Baddiel has some hilarious bits.

annandale · 22/12/2016 00:08

Diary of a Provincial Lady by EM Delafield
How Far Can You Go by David Lodge

DeepAndCrispAndEvenTheWind · 22/12/2016 00:09

Stephen Fry?

The Liar is funny, and Paperweight, a collection of columns

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 22/12/2016 00:10

The Gerald Durrell ones (the Corfu Trilogy in particular). James Herriot is similar.

I also found Peter Kay's autobiography very funny the first time I read it.

Booksellerswar · 22/12/2016 00:11

Three men in a boat by Jerome K Jerome - hilarious

Blondie1984 · 22/12/2016 00:12

Watching the English

stillwantrachelshair · 22/12/2016 00:13

I love the Christopher Brookmyre books.

Girlwhowearsglasses · 22/12/2016 00:14

Was just coming on to say the ones you've listed OP.

Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

Dilligaf81 · 22/12/2016 00:16

The funniest book ive ever read was David hasselhoffs autobiography. Its not meant to be funny but that guy thinks he is complicit in a lot of things. Berlin wall came doen, that was the ahoff that was. Also liked Frankie Boyles autobiography.

FellOutOfBed2wice · 22/12/2016 00:17

I came on here to say Time for Bed by David Baddiel too. Really laugh out loud. Also-

  • Are You Dave Gorman by Dave Gorman and Danny Wallace
  • I Used to Say My Mother Was Shirley Bassey by Stephen K Amos
  • The Sound of Laughter by Peter Kay
  • Dawn of the Dumb by Charlie Broker (I was laughing so hard at this on a train once that a woman opposite me brought it there and then on her kindle because she said if I was laughing that much on the shitty East London commute that it must be genius!)
  • Where Did it All Go Right and Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now by Andrew Collins
NotTodaySatan · 22/12/2016 00:19

The only two books that have made me laugh out loud in public are:

Screen Burn - Charlie Brooker

Rachel's Holiday - Marian Keyes.

I'm not remotely into chick lit and don't care for her other books but that one is just fantastic. And scarily relatable Shock.

Girlwhowearsglasses · 22/12/2016 00:22

I think if you really want to laugh you could do worse than comedy or sitcom radio/TV scripts. Esp with stage directions. They're a quick and engaging read too if you're in a mood to need cheering up.

Might do that myself. off to search for Graham Linehan sitcoms

Original poster
Pinkkahori · 22/12/2016 00:24

Thanks. So many replies so quickly.
I read the Durrell books years ago and like them and also read all the James Herriott books as a teenager. Love Three Men in a Boat.
Just been googling a few of the suggestions and I like the sound of the Diary of the Provincial Lady and the Tim Moore book. Hadn't thought of Stephen Fry or David Baddiel so will check those out. Also the chicken farming ones sound promising.
I'll check out the rest now.
I can see myself having a very cheerful Christmas with all these great suggestions.
Thanks.

OP posts:
highlandcoo · 22/12/2016 00:26

KA was a dreadful old misogynist but I still find some scenes in Lucky Jim very funny.

More recently, The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills is dry and funny. I'm not sure if you have to be Scottish to really get it but I don't think so. Same goes for The Wasp Factory .. the last book to make me laugh out loud but very dark in places.

YY to Diary of a Nobody and Three Men in a Boat for ageless humour. In a similar vein, I used to love James Thurber but haven't read him for ages; definitely time for a revisit.

Girlwhowearsglasses · 22/12/2016 00:27

Also seem to remember reading Clive James and Barry Humphries autobiographies waaaaay back. Clive James is a master of cynical satire

Girlwhowearsglasses · 22/12/2016 00:30

Oh yes @Highlandkoo Lucky Jim. And while we're on Campus fiction The History Man made me spit out my drink on occasion

BikeRunSki · 22/12/2016 04:50

Showing my age a bit, but Clive James' autobiographies (4 volumes I think) and anything by Tom Sharpe.

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 22/12/2016 04:54

Books that made me laugh out loud the first time I read them are the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich - begins with One For The Money.

Yy to Rachel's Holiday.

Bohemond · 22/12/2016 05:34

Another vote for Tim Moore French Revolutions

albertcampionscat · 22/12/2016 05:38

Cold Comfort Farm

Wallywobbles · 22/12/2016 06:44

The Blot books e.g. Cried with laughter when I read them 30 years ago

BikeRunSki · 22/12/2016 07:54

If you work in the pubic sector (particularly Defra), you'll enjoy the book of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

AristotlesTrousers · 22/12/2016 08:53

Adrian Mole? Or non-fiction-wise anything by Dave Gorman or Danny Wallace. Also, I really enjoyed 'Love, Nina' and 'The Tent, the Bucket and Me'.

lostinfrance2016 · 23/12/2016 21:22

If you like funny travel, try Sex Lives of Cannibals by J Maarten Troost, one if the funniest books I have read (and re-read many times). Tim Moore - I loved French Revolutions, and he also wrote another really funny one; Spanish Steps.