This task is rather hard to write about because it is so subjective. There have been a lot of books that people have handed me and said they were “just hilarious,” but I didn’t find them all that funny. I’ve also tried to pass on books I found funny to others just to have them flop. What can I tell you? A lot of humor comes down to timing. On the other hand, the task for the challenge is actually very easy, you just have to find a book, any book, that makes YOU laugh out loud. Maybe you can start with a comedian you really like and see if they have written a book, although that is no guarantee, either — Gilda Radner’s book was wonderful but it was NOT funny.
Here are some of my favorite books that made me laugh out loud and, if the timing is right, maybe they will work for you too.
“Yes, Please” by Amy Poehler
I have had a lot of people tell me that Amy Poehler was just too brash and too abrasive, but I have to be honest — that is in large part what I love about her. She’s very frank. This is a book about her life and experiences, which she just happens to tell in a very humorous way rather than writing a book designed to specifically be comedic. If you get the audiobook you’ll get to hear her narrate, and she even has her parents chime in!
“Assassination Vacation” by Sarah Vowell
I love Vowell’s humor, but it is a rather dry humor. In this book, she takes you on a tour (while she is also vacationing with her nephew) to all of the important sites of presidential assassinations. I know. It doesn’t sound like it would be funny. Did I mention it’s a dry humor? Sarah Vowell narrates this audiobook herself. I love her voice, but if you are one of those who don’t, maybe choose the print version instead.
“Dear Fahrenheit 451” by Annie Spence
This is a book of love letters and breakup notes to books, and some of them are laugh out loud funny. This book could even count for the Read Harder Task #1: an epistolary novel or collection of letters.
“The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid” by Bill Bryson
My husband and I listened to this one as an audiobook on a road trip and laughed until we cried. This is Bryson’s memoir of growing up in Des Moines, Iowa during the ’50s and it’s filled with TVs and other new-fangled appliances, DDT, cigarettes and nuclear fallout.
“The Wee Free Men” by Terry Pratchett
Sometimes you just can’t beat a children’s book for getting the laughs. This book is a part of Pratchett’s Discworld series, but it is the first book in the Tiffany Aching sub series which is geared to a younger audience. It’s about a young girl who is learning to be a witch (a good witch, of course) and she is helped(?) by a group of characters called the Nac Mac Feegles. I highly recommend getting this one in an audiobook format. Stephen Briggs narrates this series, and he is incredible — he has a different voice for every character.
