Books That Make You Chuckle, Chortle Or Crack You Up!

Erma Bombeck was an American who based her column and best-selling books on her daily life. She had a relatable self-deprecating humour that struck a chord with readers, who saw themselves in the situations she wrote about. Her humorous take in I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression, The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank, and If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? were original and fresh and won her a devoted following.

I Feel Bad About my Neck, written by Nora Ephron, is a candid, rueful, hilarious collection of essays on aging as a woman. Her scathing autobiographical novel, Heartburn, is equally humorous.

You’ll Grow Out of It, by Jesi Klein, is a collection of pieces by this comedy writer who considers everything from life as a tomboy to her philosophical objections to baths. She once wrote, “I feel like getting in the bath is a kind of surrender to the idea that we can’t really make it on land,” She has a talent for taking an experience she’s had and making it universally relatable with delightful imagery and description. Her talent was acknowledged with an Emmy as the head writer for Inside Amy Schumer

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs, is a darkly comic memoir which chronicles the author’s childhood as the son of troubled parents. It is a wild ride of a read, which is disgusting, upsetting and ultimately hilarious.

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? is a memoir by cartoonist Roz Chast, who turns her pen on herself in this painfully funny account of taking care of her aging parents after they became incapable of living alone. Her style has been described as jittery and wordy and perfect for depicting the indignities of age as they affected her overbearing mother and her gentle, unassuming father.

Bridget Jones’s Diary. Helen Fielding’s messy, relatable heroine is an icon of chick lit. It features Bridget Jones who lives a tumultuous year of too many cigarettes, too much alcohol, three colorful best friends and the one and only Mark Darcy.

Catch-22. Joseph Heller’s book is considered a masterpiece, which captures the absurdity of war with blisteringly funny prose in its indictment of humanity in general and the military in particular. It became a phenomenon and described broadly, with bitter humour, a no-win situation.

Big Trouble. Author Dave Barry is loved for his gently humorous approach to real life. In his foreword, Barry refers to this novel as part of the “Bunch of South Florida Wackos” genre, so fans of Carl Hiaasen will definitely get a bang out of Big Trouble.

Daisy Fay And The Miracle Man by Fanny Flagg who portrays Daisy Fay Harper, an irreverent sixth grader and her life on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast during the 1950s. Daisy’s ne’er-do-well dad, who concocts a get-rich-quick scheme with a local preacher to milk the faithful for money by pretending to raise Daisy from the dead, is a featured and colorful character.

Made For Love. Alissa Nutting’s novel is described as a “wild ride” and lives up to its reputation. It begins with the protagonist rolling up at her father’s trailer only to find he’s living with a sex doll. It is said to be ridiculous but also full of jokes, with characters that are fully realized and hilarious.

How To Weep In Public. Jacqueline Novak’s combination memoir and advice book is a brilliant read for anyone who has depression — and anyone wanting to learn more about it. It’s the darkest of dark humor written by someone who knows that when you’re down in the dumps, lying on the floor is great because at least you can’t fall any further.

Shrill by Lindy West. Sometimes it seems like any woman who speaks up in public gets tagged as “shrill.” Writer Lindy West embraces this label about life as a loud, fat woman who refuses to comply with the demands society places on women’s bodies and voices — and not only survives, but thrives.

How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran, is partly memoir and partly a defense of feminism. It is packed with funny, provocative observations on what it’s like to be a woman today. “People get really scared when women reclaim words, talk about themselves honestly and also make jokes because it’s a really unstoppable combination,” she has said in an interview, adding, “It’s part of the reason why I decided to use humor in my book because it’s kind of hard to argue with someone who’s making you laugh.”

The Best Of Ogden Nash by Ogden Nash and Linell Nash Smith. Nash is known for loopy abuses of rhyme and meter and this collection brings together samples of his greatest. Many of his poems are bite-size and easy to read. A famous example: “If called by a panther/Don’t anther.”