Best Book Ever: Funniest Book
After a handful of more serious topics on Best Book Ever, I decided to ask our contributors about something different. This time, I wanted to hear about the funniest book ever. Whether it was a book specifically from the comedy genre, or just a book that cracked you up anyway, I wanted to know about it!
I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at a book as I did at IS EVERYONE HANGING OUT WITHOUT ME? by Mindy Kaling. I actually listened to this as an audiobook, read by Mindy, and there were multiple times that I seriously thought I was going to fall off the elliptical machine at the gym because I was giggling so hard. (I'm sure everyone around me thought I was a complete maniac. But what else is new, really?) My absolute favorite is the chapter postulating that romantic comedy is basically a sub-genre of science fiction, where a completely different set of rules applies and where there's a slew of archetypal female characters who don't exist in real life: the beautiful klutz, and size-zero emotional eater, the 42-year-old mother of the 30-year-old male lead. In addition to being completely hilarious, this book is actually also really informative about what it's like to work your way up the ladder in the world of television writing. Plus, it soothed me to hear that even someone as wildly successful as Mindy Kaling is a horrible procrastinator, just like me.Alison Cherry, debut author of Red (2013, Delacorte Press)
This week's BBE is easy choice, I go with Mothership by Martin Leicht & Isla Neal. Mothership was exactly what I expected when I decided to read this book. It's one big old cheeseball of a book (in a great way). The amount of humor truly helped the plot substantially, if not this book would have been a big flop. I mean how can you not expect this book to make you "LOL", it's teen pregnancy, aliens and a spaceship all in one. I wished I would have started reading it earlier in the day, because the amount of laughing that happens while your reading the pages, doesn't help to fall asleep late at night. I think I might have woken up my husband a few times. If I would have had this book in high school, I know it would have been a big hit with its craziness amongst my peers. I can't wait to see what else when the sequel comes out in 2013. Yara @ Once Upon a Twilight
One of the funniest books I've read was Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. I knew from the first page that I would love it just on the snark and tone of those couple of paragraphs. When events at the prom continued to go south and someone yelled, "Carrie prom!" I was totally sold. Rachel Hawkins writes snark perfectly--“But this room looked like it had been decorated by the unholy lovechild of Barbie and Strawberry Shortcake.”-- and the things the characters say are just hilarious even when they aren't snarky. The novel is actual a YA paranormal romance (with a very hot guy named Archer), so you won't find it in the humor section of your bookstore even though it's funny enough to fit right in.Jessica @ Simply Infatuated
The funniest book I've read in a long time is Redshirts by John Scalzi, and that's probably only since I read the last book by Scalzi. As anyone with even a passing familiarity of Star Trek can figure out, Redshirts follows the traditionally-doomed security personnel on a spaceship that could be the starship Enterprise. Scalzi excels at funny dialogue, a notoriously demanding feat, and manages to spin constant, brutal deaths and torture into comedy gold; however, there's a thought-provoking message at the heart of this metafictional science fiction adventure. Often the flip side of humor is tragedy, and there's a hefty dose of that as well. Come for the zany premise and tongue-in-cheek nods to Trekdom, stay for the moving, slightly more substantial codas that wrap up some unexpected character arcs--which are three of the best science fiction short stories published in the last year. To say much more would be to spoil the several surprises in store for readers; yield to the Narrative.E.C. Myers, author of Quantum Coin (2012, Prometheus Books)
When I read SOMETHING ROTTEN, a modern retelling of HAMLET by Alan Gratz, I laughed so hard I endangered my new sheet set. The hero navigates the questionable (and stinky) ethics of a paper plant that may be polluting a local river, all the while trying to stop his friend Hamilton's environmentalist ex-girlfriend Olivia from drinking the river water to prove a point. He also has to focus really, really hard to not stare at Hamilton's mom's boobs... because she's kinda hot and well... Mindy McGinnis, debut author of Not A Drop To Drink (2013, Katherine Tegen)
As for us...
One recent book that has made me laugh a whole lot was I Was Told There'd Be Cake, a collection of essays by Sloane Crosley. The stories are about things that a lot of twenty- or thirty-something lady readers can probably identify with: dysfunctional dating scenarios, being a bridesmaid, religion, bad bosses, and my own personal favorite, people spelling your name wrong even though the correct spelling is right in front of them. Sarah isn't quite as difficult to remember as Sloane is, but it's a frustration I face on a regular basis. That passage alone was enough to make me howl with laughter and recognition, and still cracks me up to this day. Crosley has a great, dry, sarcastic wit that made this a very funny read.Sarah
