I am often on panels at events having to do with writing comedy and humor (I even teach a class on the subject). Because it comes up a lot and I always want to laugh, I have decided to provide a list here of some of my favorites. In the cases where the author in question writes lots of funny stuff I have chosen my particular favorite or the first in a series, whichever seems best.
This list is part of the FAQ series of things I get asked about a lot so it will remain as a resource and be updated regularly.
“The man behind the bar told us the things were called Green Swizzles; and, if ever I marry and have a son, Green Swizzle Wooster is the name that will go down on the register…”
~ Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Gail’s Entirely Biased Funny Books List
YA & Middle Grade
- Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith
- Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis
- Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C.Wrede
- Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (read review in this post)
- Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye
- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
- Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
Non SF/F:
- My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (read review in this post)
- Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
- Jeeves series by PG Wodehouse (read review in this post)
- Ridiculous by D. L. Carter (read Gail’s review)
- Jasmine Guillory’s Wedding Date series
SF/F
- The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (read review in this post)
- Mort by Terry Pratchett
- The Lightning-Struck Heart by T.J. Klune
I also have a humor bookshelf on Goodreads that I add to regularly.
“‘There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself, “Do trousers matter?”’
‘The mood will pass, sir.’”
~ P. G. Wodehouse, Very Good, Jeeves
Yours (destined to be killed by a tumbling TBR pile),
Miss Gail
The Funniest Thing I’ve Ever Written?
Either the bathing scene or the theater scene in Timeless.
Or the werewolves providing security for a very bad country music concert in The Enforcer Enigma.
Or you can tell me which one you think is the funniest?
More on Writing funny?
- Essay: Have You Considered Making It Funny? The Power of Humor as Subversion for Fiction Authors
- Comedy Author Looks at Humor on the Internet
- Literary Technique: Lamplighting (lighthousing) in Comedic Writing
- A Completely Biased List of Funny Books that Make Me LAUGH!
- Hidden Brain Podcast: Humor Us
- The Basics of Writing for Comedy
- 10 Ways to Improve Your Writing By Thinking Like a Comedy Writer
- The Ultimate Guide to Writing Literary Comedy for Beginners
- 4 Ways to Write Meaningful Comedy
- How to Write a Humorous Memoir
GAIL’S DAILY DOSE
Quote of the Day:
“He was white and shaken, like a dry martini.”
~ P.G. Wodehouse
This blog post regularly updated. So why not bookmark it and check back?
Tags: Book Rec List
I don’t know if you count this as author as an essayist, BUT, I think Erma Bombecks books are quite humorous. I love “The grass is always greener over the Septic Tank”, although I will admit it is a bit dated.
Cheaper by the Dozen by the Galbraiths is good too, but that really does fit into the Memoir category.
I enjoyed ‘Good Omens’. It was written by both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It is about as light hearted and cheeky as the apocalypse gets. I haven’t read other Pratchett works so it will be interesting to get more familiar with his work.
Bartimaeus Cycle! Hilarious fantasy series about demons and magicians. Any fan of the above books will love this.
Me. Penumbra’s 24 hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. I have this love of books that are about books. This book is a modern fairy tale about a bookstore with a mysterious, secret society.