Which books have made you laugh out loud?

[Shandyleer]

Have just been re-reading the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, and had forgotten how much they made me giggle. Tried to explain to DH what was so funny but he just looked bemused. Which books have made you laugh?

Anything by Jill Mansell. All have that nice escapism thing but sometimes you don't realise you're laughting. Husband tends to now just say 'Jill Mansell?' if I'm laughing and no-one is there...

Mapp and Lucia.

Thought it would have been already mentioned

Tesslovesangel: Yes, I had forgotten about Everything is Illuminated! But, the only problem was that the gut-wrenchingly funny scetions were alternated with gut-wrenchingly depressing ones. Which I guess was kind of the point, but still, made me feel guilty.

Deffo agree with Adrian Mole and the Queen and I books.

Oranges are not the Only Fruit really makes be laugh (but I dont like strange bits).

Go on, tell me some more. I am a miserable bugger sometimes.

Catch 22
Cold Comfort Farm
Bryson
Hitchhiker
Pratchett
Gerald Durrell
Jasper Fforde

Oh yes Mapp and Lucia.
P J O'rourke always good

'Wife in the North' by Judith O'Reilly made me laugh aloud on the tube which of course leads to fellow passengers craning their necks in a not-so-subtle way to see what I'm reading. It's a blog by a journalist who moves away from London to the Northern countryside on her husband's wishes but she has to be dragged kicking and screaming. Very funny even if she does come across as a bit up herself.

Oh, Bill B every time- cry with laughter. He is a genius for capturing people and sentiment. Some of his sentences are household catchphrases chez Peach.

Terry Pratchett, esp colour of magic, and the ones wit Brother Brutha.

John O'Farrell, though he has mixed reviews on here.

I get very embarrassed when reading on public transport, and trying to muffle my sniggering... a bit like when I read hilarious mn threads at work....

i'm with cornsilk - 'timewaster letters' - wonderful - laughed so much had tears rolling down my face on the platform of didcot station. 2 people came to ask what i was reading.

Aidy Mole is hilarious. DH downloaded the TV series from the 1980s and we've been watching it. Oh My God. I feel old watching it as I was at school around the same time as he was.

Recently Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace made me laugh out loud. Strange as it may seem since it is a 1,000 of dense text but it is so funny in places.

Catch 22 too and Bill Bryson made me laugh. And someone mentioned 'Things My Girlfriend And I something or other' That was really funny too.

Can I put another vote in for Mapp and Lucia? E F Benson, set in Rye, written in the 1930s (?) which is not only funny but also takes you to a world of cocktails and piano duets, wigs and golf, and centres around a couple of women who desperately try to be the queen bee of the little group of wierdos who live there. I'd love to shop at Twistivants, and have afternoon tea and a housemaid like Foljambe! Sheer escapism! But at the same time wickedly bitchy and funny!

Another vote for Jasper Fforde (and getting onto the thread so that I can copy & paste into my Amazon wishlist later)

Another Bill Bryson fan. My db used to get hugely annoyed with me snorting with laughter on our family holidays as I read Notes from a Small Island.

A Spot of Bother and Curious Incident of Dog in the Nighttime both by Mark Haddon are v funny. Really ridiculously good.

As is The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell.

Bill Bryson
Terry Pratchett
Douglas Adams
Mark Haddon
Libby Purves (How not to be a Perfect Mother)

and my top all-time favourite writer - Christopher Brookmyre - especially 'A Big Boy Did it and Ran Away' - totally hilarious

I agree with Catherine Alliott- The Old Girl's Network from a few years ago. I made the mistake of reading it on a plane.
Also love Janet Evanovich - bought one on Saturday; Bill Bryson; and Terry Pratchett

Hi mummyontherun,

That is a brilliant precis. M&L is my comfort read, never tire if re-reading. Also loved the C4 tv series, especially Nigel Hawthorne as Georgie.

Has no-one else read 'Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady' by Florence King?

It really is laugh out loud funny.

Also any scenes with the farting dog and blind taxi driver in 'Everything is Illuminated'.

Anybody for Catweazle? Re-read those books recently and they made me laugh. Does anyone remember a book which had something to do with a duck being kidnapped or smuggled or something? Somehow I remember it making me laugh loads, but I can't actually remember any details of the plot (apart from weird duck-related flashbacks)

skinny dipping is a book that made me laugh pretty hard.

it's kind of hard to make me laugh. the story in itself wasn't great, the writing not so good either...but man the wacky characters and the things they got into!

i don't remember who wrote it, just know i laughed through the whole book.

Clumer - Mapp and Lucia - Me too, and I recently sent it to a friend who's been having chemo and it has really cheered her.

Starter for Ten made me cry with laughter. A bit like Adrian Mole as I imagine him at university.

Also 'Are You Experienced' by William Sutcliffe is hilarious.

Finally, Tsarchasm, someone else who loved Starter for Ten. Did you see the film? James McAvoy was in it and there wasn't a single laugh in it.

I'm bloody fuming
I had all four tyres on the car changed on Friday and one of them is bloody flat already. Grrr. Someone's gonna pay for this.