Why so serious, books? Humour is usually a bonus in a book and I wish it was an essential part instead. I wish more books made me laugh without having to seek it in non-fiction instead. Take note authors, sprinkle some laughs, we don’t have to make seriousville a permanent residence. Let’s spread some good cheer!
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
The first book that came to mind when I thought about books that made me laugh was Anne of Green Gables. This book had me laughing throughout! Anne has a vivid imagination and when you add a lack of filter to this trait, it makes for an excellent recipe for laughter. Anne praying and requesting God to, please, make her pretty, Anne smashing a slate on Gilbert’s head in school after he called her “carrots” and Anne accidentally getting Diana drunk on what she believed to be cranberry juice are just one of the many notable hilarious moments in this book.
The Asterix and Obelix Series by Rene Goscinny
I grew up reading this comic series and I remember that I often left the library with one of these bad boys. This series made me laugh and took me on adventures. The jokes are as light-hearted and silly as the series, with Asterix concocting shrewd ideas and plans and the lovely Obelix following along and offering his superhuman strength when needed.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
I know that I’m still reading this book but, so far, I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve laughed because of Peter’s antics, almost every passage concerning him has me chuckling. Anne and Peter so far share a non-existent relationship. One moment that stands out is Anne believing Peter must give up his bed for her because she gave him an apple. An entire bed for an apple, you know. Oh, Anne and Peter.
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Oh, Catherine, Catherine, Catherine! She is, by far, one of the funniest heroines I’ve ever had the privilege to read about. She is so enamoured by Gothic novels allowing her fantasies to take to flight even if the conclusions she jumps to – such as believing the General murdered his wife – are a little extreme. Naïve and a little gullible, she matures to an insightful and ever good-natured woman by the end. Forget reading this book for the romance, even though the romance is good, read this novel for Catherine Morland!
The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak
The elaborate plan for the heist, the several misadventures and the charmingly naive and endearing characters, everything about this was good fun and there was a lot of laughter on my end throughout this book. During one point in the book, the three male teens pretend to be businessmen shopping for office supplies and with their lack of knowledge about businessmen’s needs, they end up buying a lot of rubbish that would not be used in an office. Hats off to Jason Rekulak! After a series of disappointments in reading YA and the dumb-ass, short-ass POV’s, this is one that I can look back on without any regrets. I loved everything about this book from start to finish.
Rob Gordon and his list to explain why his recent break-up with Laura is not as important and heart-breaking as his previous break-ups are amusingly incredulous. The list, where he talks about those previous relationships which were pretty much disasters (all of them) shows his clear lack of self-awareness, will have you screaming internally at his stupidity. His constant list-making to demonstrate his musical knowledge and feigning the cool guy, I’m-so-blasé-about-your-interest-in-me, will have you face-palming hard and laughing away.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
This is my favourite book from the series, aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and you know why? They were happy! They were so happy until that horrible ending but before all that, you get to see what kind of life the trio, and actually the entire school, would have had if Voldy would have been content with just dying naturally and having less power. The part that had me laughing out loud was sadly omitted from the film and I was so annoyed, like why? It was the best Harry Potter moment ever. You know what I’m talking about, right? Luna’s quidditch commentary. Girl, yeah, fine, be a Magizoologist but please, can you grace the wizarding world with your Quidditch commentary too? Luna, I am not surprised that you are an Aquarius either! And who do us Gemini’s get? Draco Malfoy. Honestly, I feel like the Weasley twins should have been Gemini’s.
Before I begin, I am inserting an unpopular opinion… the backstories didn’t need to be that long. They’re great but the length of the backstories prevented Bardugo from showing instead of telling. I hope Crooked Kingdom isn’t too heavy on backstories, I feel like I know the characters at least enough by now. Anyway, moving on. I was surprised to find that this book was seriously funny! This is not something you usually find in YA Fantasy. All the characters were capable of humour in their own ways. The funniest of the six were definitely Nina and Jesper.
Stanley Yenlats is one of the unluckiest characters I’ve ever had both the fortune and misfortune to come across in literature and ironically, this is what made this book such an entertaining read!
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Miscommunications and misunderstandings galore! I laughed out loud and long with this book… I was so surprised and pleased to discover how funny, goofy and witty Oscar Wilde was. If you are looking to venture into reading plays, I strongly recommend this!
Did any of these books make you laugh? Tell me about a book that made you laugh that’s not on this list and get recommending!
If you enjoyed this, feel free to do it and make sure to link back so I can see it.
Sophski out.
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The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue!
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Ah, I keep seeing great reviews on this recently! It’s on my TBR, I will get to it one day In Shaa Allah or maybe even this year.
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The only book I have read from the above list is “Harry Potter and the half blood prince” and Luna is one of the most interesting characters in the book. The most hilarious series I have read so far is “Diary of a wimpy kid”. I absolutely love the writer’s form of writing and his imagination.
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:O Dude, only one! I would recommend Anne of Green Gables and Northanger Abbey, I think you’ll enjoy those. 🙂
And, omg, Luna is so interesting and is far more emotionally intelligent and tolerant than most of the characters! Luna-love.❤️
Can’t believe I forgot Diary of a Wimpy Kid, great series! Definitely, the writing style is upbeat and funny. 😆
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I am putting both of these books on my list of books that I want to read in this Summers.
I just feel Luna doesn’t get as much appreciation as she deserves. She has her own individuality and she is confident about it. Great example for teenagers nowadays. She believes and supports Harry during some very hard times.
Luna-Love.
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Yay, yay, yay! 😀
I think there are quite a few fans of Luna but I wish she was liked for more than just being “quirky” like you said she’s also confidently individualistic and generally a very confident and understanding person… we could all learn a lot from Luna! Great role model.
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Absolutely!
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Your reviews make me wish I had more time to actually read.
The only series that I’ve read from beginning to end was The Chronicles of Amber. The main character would often have a quip on the tip of his tongue.
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Reading is a wonderful experience, I think you might enjoy Bill Bryson’s works!🙂
I’m guessing The Chronicles of Amber is fantasy genre? It sounds like it based on the title. The heroine sounds awesome. 😉 Musf check it out on Goodreads! Thank you for the recommendation. ❤️
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Yes it’s fantasy. The protagonist is a prince that can travel between worlds. His home world is the city of Amber and his brothers and sisters are all plotting to assume the throne.
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I’m not a huge fan of fantasy but I do like the idea of characters vying for the throne.
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It gets pretty surreal. If I remember correctly there’s about 9 books in the series. It’s written in the first person. I have an original copy with cover art by Borris Vallejo that my wife got me from a rare book dealer.
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Woah, 9 books in a series… that’s pretty rare!
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I wasn’t working for anyone at the time and had the whole thing read in 2 weeks. I barely put it down. ( I read kinda slow because my kind of dyslexia causes me to have trouble focusing on the letters so I have to read a sentence several times. )
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Yes to some of these! (I’ve only read a few of them lol). The others I’ll have to check out. Nick Hornby sounds good!
Oh, Anne of Green Gables. She’s such a sweet , imaginative child. I need to finish the series.
Man, I cried like a baby when I finished Anne Frank smh.
Luna’s an Aquarius? Say what? I didn’t know that lol.
Omg Northanger Abbey! The second hand embarrassment is real.
The Importance of Being Earnest is hilarious!!! That one had me cracking up the whole time! 😀
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High Fidelity is such a breezy read… although, I have a feeling you’ll want to punch the main character in the face. 😆
Oo, do finish it! Let me know how you like it as well, people have said great things about it. Anne is such a breath of fresh air, quite unlike what you’d normally see.
Oh God, don’t, I’m already scared to finish it because of what’s coming.
Haha, yeah, check out wikia. Girl, you know she’s the most Aquarian of the Aquarians. J. K Rowling did her research on astrology, for sure.
Nooooooo, it’s not embarrassing, she’s so silly and wonderful. ❤️
You would never think that about TIoBE, and then you read it, it’s such a wonderful surprise. One of the best comedy books.
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I’ve only read up to book 3 lol. I liked that book ended and didn’t continue haha
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That’s still quite a lot, I don’t think most people know that there’s more after the first one.
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I, too, like a good laugh and found them in five of the books you listed. I recommend P. G. Wodehouse, author of Wooster and Jeeves. He is hilarious. (pausing now while I think about whether I should mention another humorous book, hesitating because I wrote it, but then I think “what the heck!”, I intentionally added humor, so why not?)
I also recommend The Book of Rhino: The Revelation by S. M. Hart
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Thank you for the recommendations! I’ve been itching to read a Wodehouse novel and now I know which one to start with.
Go ahead, one must promote their work, I’ll check your book out too. 😉
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Nice collection of books
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Thank you! 🤗
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I didn’t know Anne Frank and Anne of Green gables are books which could make you laugh. I loved six of crows of duology. I liked Crooked Kingdom better than six of crows. You might enjoy it as well. There’s not much backstory of any character except Wylan’s. I personally enjoy reading backstory of a character, to know why they are as they are.
Half Blood Prince is my favourite as well for the very reason that it includes the backstory of Voldemort. Chamber of Secrets made me laugh a lot.
I’m currently reading Percy Jackson and the Olympian and it’s funny so far.
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Just read the whole damn Anne of Green Gables series and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a laughter riot. Basically the scrapes Anne gets herself into, the antics of her friends and fellow residents of Avolnea (where the tale is set), Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s nosy behaviour etc. Simply hilarious!!
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This is the first time I’ve heard of it as hilarious. I have to read Anne of Green Gables but reading the series, it’d hard!
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Dude, don’t worry about reading the full series… baby steps. The first book is a delight, that’s all I know. It’s nice to have a book brighten your day!
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I know, you would never think that of Anne Franks diary but Peter is hilarious… Anne of Green Gables is one of the funniest books you can read, you should check it out for a light-hearted read.
Ah that’s so good to know! It’s definitely not that the backstories aren’t great but it felt a bit lazy on Bardugo’s part, as if she didn’t know how to show what’s actually going on. We definitely do not know enough about Wylan so that’s one character we could do with a backstory for.
Ooooooh, I think you are the only other person who’s favourite is Half Blood Prince, it’s such a rarity. The backstory apart from the reason why he couldn’t love was fascinating, you forget how persuasive Voldemort is sometimes.
That’s been on my list forever, everyone has such good things to say about it… that’s the next fantasy on my list now for sure. Hope to see your review for it!
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I’ll definitely read it. The Deathly Hallows usually overshadows the Half-Blood Prince but the latter is my favourite of the series for the same reasons you mentioned. You should definitely read Percy Jackson, it’s a funny, interesting and a quick read.
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I loved Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea ❤
Will read further books in the series shortly.
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Okay, after reading your other comment, I need to continue with this series. I hope Anne hasn’t changed! I hear something happens to “G” which is not what anyone could look forward to.
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Yes do read the rest of the books. Anne grows up and becomes mature but this doesn’t mean she doesn’t get herself into trouble. The fun continues with the arrival of other characters. Even I hear something happens to G but it’s in one of the later books.
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You got a lot of morbid books in there. Glad you found moments of laughter. 🙂 I loved Angus, thongs and full frontal snogging. It had me in splits.
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I think when we know what happens to the Frank and Van Daan family, it seems pretty morbid. But there are moments before that that show there are some happy moments. 🙂
Oo, glad to hear that! I must read that, it remains popular, I see. 🙂
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Nice list, I must add them to my list as well. I found Lady Chatterley’s Lover to be hilariously inappropriate for its era.
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Yeah, for sure, check them out!
Omg, THAT BOOK! 😭😂😭😂🤦♀️🤦♀️ Doggedly hilarious, such a hot mess.
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I love these lists! Always so insightful! And I’m a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables! I liked the first three books, but after the stories began to focus on Anne and Gilbert’s children, I felt they were going downhill, though I think they were all an enjoyable read.
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Oh, no! 😭 It goes downhill after book 3? That’s such a shame… I think perhaps we’re used to certain characters and we read it because of those characters so when it strays from them, it’s just not what we signed up for.
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Really I think it does go downhill. It’s not about Anne and Gilbert being replaced with their children, it’s more about how they get reduced to absentee figures who have no trace of the fiery personality we saw in them earlier. The books are definitely good reads, but not as good as the beloved ‘Anne of Green Gables’.
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Why does it always feel like once book characters become parents they become the caricature parents. *sigh*
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