Human life is stressful, especially with the growing competition in the world, you hardly get time to spend with yourself. A heartful laugh can relieve all the stress. Laughter is the best therapy. How amazing would it be to spend some quality time with yourself as you indulge in a nice book that is humorous and release endorphin? From hilarious novels to biting satires to humorous memoirs, there’s something for everyone.
People revel in some of the best rib-ticklers ever penned.
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
I’m sure you must have seen this book’s cover image somewhere on the internet. There is a high possibility you already know where it came from- Hyperbole and a Half, an eccentric personal blog with a cult following of writer Allie Brosh. Its purposefully infantile Microsoft Paint graphics and humorous narration quickly garnered a cult following. Brosh recalled and drew amusing childhood tales revolving around true-to-life issues from her twenties. Brosh is a clever writer, and everything she says in the book sounds quite relatable. Especially, when she writes about depression and anxiety. This book helps you laugh out loud through Allie’s journey of self-discovery and her humorous encounters.
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A mostly true memoir) by Jenny Lawson
Jenny Lawson’s memoir, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, is a wonderfully amusing, terribly obscene, and truly gutsy biography. Miss Lawson recounts experiences from her unusual life in Wall, Texas, where she grew up impoverished with her sister Lisa, her caring mother, and her odd but endearing father. Pick up this book and read it; it will help you own up to your humiliating life situations. Halfway through this book, you will discover that you are not alone if you suffer from anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues. There is a tribe that understands, accepts, and supports you. This memoir will guide you on how to face life challenges with grace and humour. Most importantly, it will inspire you to accept and embrace yourself, your flaws, oddities, peculiarities, and insecurities.
WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE BY MARIA SEMPLE
Bernadette Fox, a fiercely brilliant shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip when her daughter Bee demands a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for her excellent grades. Mrs Fox, however, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown after years of attempting to live the Seattle life she never wanted. And after a school fundraiser goes wrong at her hands, she vanishes, leaving her family to pick up the pieces–which is exactly what Bee does, piecing together an extensive web of emails, invoices, and school documents that discloses Bernadette’s long-hidden background. It is a standout novel that is quite entertaining to read. It’s new and funny, with a satire on the life of mothers, an account of someone suffering from anxiety, and a touching family story. This book is bonkers, but it also makes perfect sense.
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Tina Fey’s Bossypants is an eccentric amalgamation of a little less earnest and a lot more comedic tale. There are many parts in the book that holds very little significance for the reader but she adds so much wit into them that I could not stop laughing till the end. Fey addresses stereotyping of women in the entertainment industry with acuity. She dives deep into the TV industry. Tina is generous to her colleagues and collaborators, and she tells a life story that may ring true for those of us who grew up hanging out with homosexual males in community theatre. This book showed me why she’s so loved. It dives deep into the wit and comedic observation of the world we survive through and her journey to success.
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
After reading this I realized that every woman has a little bit of Bridget inside. This is the diary of Bridget Jones- a thirty-something woman with an average job at an old publishing house. Bridget has a desire to improve herself: she keeps track of how many cigarettes she smokes, how many units of alcohol she consumes, and how many pounds she gains or loses every day. Bridget strives to maintain her life on an even keel, caught between her Singleton pals, who are all afraid they will die alone and be found three weeks later half-eaten by an Alsatian, and the Smug Marrieds, whose dinner parties offer ever-new opportunities for shame. “BRIDGET JONES IS ME!” she’ll exclaim throughout it all, leaving her readers breathless with laughter.
I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman By Nora Ephron
A collection of essays by Ephron on womanhood, this was enough reason for me to pick it up… It is short, laugh out loud funny, cut to the chase, a smooth read, and everything good. A candid, amusing look at women in their forties and fifties dealing with the trials of maintenance, menopause, empty nests, and life itself. Ephron starts the story of her life, defining herself as a devoted cook, a passionate city inhabitant, and a hapless mother. She describes her less-than-glamorous days as a White House intern during the Kennedy administration (“I am perhaps the only young woman who ever worked in the Kennedy White House that the President did not make a pass at”) and how she fell in and out of love with Bill Clinton—from afar, of course. But she primarily speaks candidly and hysterically about life as a middle-aged woman.
Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher narrates the genuine and captivating story of her life in Wishful Drinking with her trademark humour. Since childhood, Carrie has always enjoyed a happening life. Born to celebrity parents and landed the role of a princess in a movie called Star Wars at just19 years old, is a life-of-dreams for anyone. But it isn’t all sweet and nice. Sigh, aside from a challenging career and her role as a single mother (not to mention the peculiar hairdo), Carrie also spends her spare time dealing with addiction, surviving depression and visiting different mental institutions. Her method is straightforward: she tells it like she saw it and lived it. Describing her parents and her own several marriages as both tragic and hilarious.
What are some of your other favourite hilarious books? I’d appreciate it if you leave them in the comments; I’ll read them all!
