Can anyone recommend something to read?

[LadyP]

I know that many book titles have been mentioned on this board, but I was hoping that someone may be able to recommend a few.
Something which is witty, but with substance (no chick-lit, please).

So, I suppose I am looking for books with black humour. They do not have to necessarily be female-centred (have read the Burglar and Bank Robber Diaries and they were hilarious, if not Un-PC)

Not too much of a tall order, is it?

Without a moment's hesitation - Behind the Scenes at the Museum, by Kate Atkinson. Impossible to describe or pigeon-hole, but full of rich humour in many shades of black.

Hi LadyP,
I really like Helen Simpson - she writes short stories of which I'm not a huge fan, but with her they are fantastic, and varied, and sometimes a bit dark. Her books are titled (in order of publication) "Four bare legs in a bed", "Dear George" and "Hey Yeah" or something like that, sorry can't remember and seeing as I ordered it on amazon yesterday that is poor .
Good luck and I'll have another think

I'd thoroughly recommend The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (sequels Lost in a Good Book and In the Well of Lost Plots). Very clever and very literary. Some of the best books I've ever read.

I was going to say the Eyre Affair.

I thought it was very good, although in places the humour misses the mark a little and becomes mildly irritating (kind of like a Terry Pratchett book does really). It was very funny in other places though.

LadyP, I have just read Making Love - A Conspiracy of the Heart, by Marius Brill. Very unusual, funny, all kinds of things I can't describe. Definitely recommend it.

Totally agree with Janthepan - Helen simpson is brill. My favourite of her stories is in Dear George and is called Heavy Weather - a painfully accurate, tragi-comic depiction of a family holiday with young kids. Definitely one to take if you're heading down to a holiday cottage in Devon this summer!

Oh, you stars. Knew MN would come through.

Next time I am on Amazon, I shall have a look at them all. Not sure if my credit card limit would stretch to letting me BUY them all

Thanks again.

Vernon God Little. Lots of bleakness. Lots of large unhappy Americans. very funny but suprisingly profound. Absolutely fantastic. The kind of book you stay up til 3 am to finish and then go nuts cos you haven't got anyone to talk to about it.

Anything by Christopher Brookmyre - scottish black humour thrillers starring investigative journalist Jack Parlablane. Would also second the Eyre affair. Or Andrey Kurkhov Death and the Penguin - very offbeat satire about a man, a penguin and mafia in the Ukraine. Or possibly a bit too chicklittish for you - Whatever loves means by David Baddiel. surprisingly witty and touching.

Mavis Cheek
Fabulous funny and classic....

Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O'Toole - very dark, very sly, very, very funny indeed.