Top Ten Tuesday: Laughter is the Best Medicine

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books That Will Make You Laugh (or at least chuckle).

This list was actually a little harder than I expected it to be, as I apparently tend to go more for the suspenseful type of fiction than light-hearted and humorous. But I think I picked some good ones here.

Top Ten Books That Will Make You Laugh (or at least chuckle):

1. Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster – On last week’s Top Ten I included Jen Lancaster’s first memoir, Bitter is the New Black, which is still one of my favorites. So instead of repeating that, I decided to include her second which I enjoyed just as much. Honestly, I love everything she writes (though I prefer her memoirs to her novels), and every book will make you laugh out loud.
2. The Martian by Andy Weir – I feel like I find a way to put this on nearly every Top Ten list, or talk about it as much as possible. But I had to include it on this list because one of my favorite parts of the novel – and the reason I loved it so much – is the humor. While it has it’s dramatic moments when you really worry about Mark Watney,  the highlight of the novel is his sense of humor.
3. Storm Front by Jim Butcher – One of the things that really struck me about Butcher’s Dresden Files novels is Harry’s sense of humor. In order for first person POVs to really work, you have to have a narrator with a personality, and I loved Harry’s personality. Sure the novels have mystery and suspense, but Harry manages to add an element of humor to even the most dire situations and it’s one of the reasons I love this series so much.
4. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan – I don’t read a lot of younger fiction (with the exception of Harry Potter of course) but since I love Greek mythology I had to check these books out while I was working in a different bookstore several years ago. I read through them in no time, but loved them. Riordan infused these stories with so much humor that they’re just fun to read, no matter what age you are. The humor was one of the things I found the movies really lacking.
5. Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? by Stephen Dobyns – I dare anyone to read this book and not laugh out loud at least once in every chapter. At the very least, the character Vaughan is always good for a few laughs every time he shows up. In fact, he had my favorite line of the entire book, but I forgot to write it down and now can’t remember it.
6. Yes, Please by Amy Poehler – I didn’t want to duplicate books from last week, but I really enjoyed reading this one. I discovered Parks & Rec late (about 6 months before the final season) but immediately developed a huge girl crush on Poehler. She’s just fantastic and I really enjoyed reading this memoir.
7. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett – There are several books by each of these authors that could be on this list (actually, basically all of Pratchett’s Discworld series would count) but I decided to go with their joint venture because I really enjoyed this book. I hadn’t read anything by Pratchett prior to this, but I was already a huge Gaiman fan. I loved everything about this novel and am actually hoping to get a chance to reread it again soon.
8. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Addams – This is one of my favorite books to read when I need something to make me laugh. It’s so random and ridiculous and fun; I absolutely loved it. It’s a scifi classic, so if you’re a fan of science fiction and haven’t read it yet, I can’t recommend this highly enough.
9. The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone – This book is one of the most fun books I read last year. If you’re looking for gritty, hardboiled detective novels, this is not that. However, if you’re a nerd looking for a fun mystery to read, then definitely check this book out. Yes, it can be ridiculous and over-the-top, but that just adds to it’s charm.
10. Red Shirts by John Scalzi – This novel is for anyone who enjoys meta stories, and anyone who is a fan of scifi televisions shows such as Star Trek. This novel capitalizes on the long-running tradition of the expendable red-shirted character. The novel is a fairly quick and easy read, but definitely humorous especially if you can pick up on all the nods to scifi culture.

Since I admit to not reading a lot of humorous novels, what would you recommend? What are your favorite books that make you laugh? Share your titles and your own TTTs in the comments!