10 Books To Add A Touch of Humor To Your Life

What does one do when one is looking for some laughter-time? Why, read a book of course! Here are 10 titles to help you choose.

1. Three Men in a Boat (1889)

Intended primarily to be a travel guide, the initial element of seriousness was replaced by humour making it a fun read. Written by Jerome K Jerome, the book speaks of a two-week boating holiday on Thames. The jokes are witty and are appealing even to this day.

2. The Diary of a Nobody (1892)

Recognized even by the contemporary readers, this book is an account of a London clerk, Charles Pooter and his family, including his friends and acquaintances. Written as a diary of lower-middle class life and aspirations by the George and Weedon Grossmith brothers, it also includes illustrations by the latter.

3. The Importance of Being Earnest (1899)

Even after many years since its publication, Oscar Wilde’s travesty of mistaken identities, entanglements of emotions still delights the readers with its witty humour and eccentric characters. The elaborate plot twists have made this a classic which even made its way into the high school curriculum for many years.

4. Cold Comfort Farm (1932)

With a hint of transition of romanticism from the 19^th to the 20^th century, this comic novel written by Stella Gibbons recounts the story of Flora Poste, an urban woman who helps the inhabitants of a village adapt to the post-modern changes of life.

5. The Code of the Woosters (1938)

This is a funny narrative of Bertie Wooster and his valet, Jeeves and their adventures amidst an entanglement of multiple ploys and plots of various characters in the book. Deemed as one of the best humour works, this full-length novel was written by P.G Wodehouse.

6. Catch-22 (1961)

Employing a distinctive third-person narrative, this book is a multi-perspective view of the events during World War II. The separate storylines are non-sequential and develop as the plot progresses. Though classified under various genres, this is a satire-humour written by  Joseph Heller.

7. Getting Even (1971)

Before gaining an experience of over thirty years in film-making, Woody Allen began as a notable comedy writer; the result of which was this book, his first collection of humorous stories, essays and a short play. The book became a classic with more than 316,000 copies sold thus far. Most of the articles from this collection were published between 1966 and 1971 in The New Yorker.

8. A Confederacy of Dunces (1980)

Written by John Kennedy Toole, this book also earned him a Pulitzer Prize posthumously. Classified as a tragicomedy, the story follows various adventures of Ignatius J. Reilly on his employment quest. This work is considered to be a significant work of Southern America’s modern literature.

9. Good Omens (1990)

The collaboration of English authors, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman brought out this novel which was nominated for World Fantasy Award. This book recounts the comic events brought about by the birth of Satan’s son indicating the World’s End and the attempts to sabotage this end by an angel and a demon.

10. The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy (1996)

A single volume of five novels of Hitchhiker Series by Douglas Adams, this is a multi-genre work encompassing science fiction, fantasy, humour and adventure. The series translated into more than 30 languages follows the misadventures of Arthur Dent, the last survivor post the annihilation of Earth and travelling through hyperspace.

—

Get more Booklists.

—

Which of these are your favorite books? Which ones would you like to add to the list. Let us know in the comments below. 

Are you a reader who is proud of their knowledge about books? Do you have a booklist of your own? Send it to us at editor@tell-a-tale.com.