Podcast #7 Books That Make You LOL
Here is the link to the podcast if you want to listen
https://anchor.fm/alchemyofgenres/episodes/Books-that-make-you-LOL-efiql9
With all the craziness of the world, seems like a good laugh is helpful. So this list is all about funny books that will make you laugh, giggle or roll your eyes.
In my podcaast, I forgot about Hitchhiker's Guide (or any of the other books in the series); and you can also include audio/radio broadcasts or the movie......I feel horrible that I forgot this classic silly book about life the universe and everything.... =)
If you aren't aware, this book is about a human who ends up traveling the universe after the Earth is destroyed when it is deemed in the way of an international "highway".....and things get sillier the further it goes.
This is a classic funny book (and an equally funny movie). Bridget is a 30 something single Brit looking for love and always making a mess. She vacillates between forcefulness & nervousness; and always at the wrong time (she is forceful when she should back away; nervous when she should be confident....and usually has no idea what is the best idea). You will laugh aloud at a few of the antics.
This is what I always call the "junior version of Bridget Jones's diary". Georgia Nicholson is a 14 year old (maybe 13?), Angus is a cat, thongs refer to her mother trying to be sexy (eww!), and full frontal snogging is simply Brit-speak for kissing with tongues. This is a teen book, but many adults look askance at it for the title. The US film people did a movie version, but the movie is AWFUL....so please.....don't judge the book by it. Reading it as an adult is just as funny, because you see all the funny moments of horror George has when she sees her parents being sweet with each other (that always grosses her out). In this book Georgia believes she is deficient because she hasn't kissed a boy, and a young boy offers lesson in kissing for all who need it (enterprising lad). She does it so she can be more mature, and thus attract Robbie, who is in a band and is a "sex god" (her words). This won a Printz Honor award in 2001, but it's older, so has lost a bit of appeal because it hasn't been talked about....read it with your teen (or teens, read it with a parent)....fun/funny and oh so fun!
This is one of my favorite authors, Pratchett has written for teens, children and adults. Wee Free Men is a YA/Tween book that happens in the Discworld universe. It follows Tiffany Aching, who is 9, and her adventure to get her baby brother back when fairy creatures take him. After all, he is snotty and whiny, but he is HERS and no one takes what is hers. She goes with a frying pan (because iron), and unknowingly with the titular wee free men, also known as the Nach Mach Feegle; small little blue men in kilts who like to drink & fight. It's a mad, fun adventure and the series follows Tiffany as she discovers her witchy powers and grows up (I believe the last book she is 18).
This is the beginning of the Discworld series, and there is a fabulous mini series from the BBC on this title together with Light Fantastic (indeed sometimes they are bundled together as they are collectively one story).
Discworld is called that because it is a flat disc, balanced on the backs of four elephants, balanced on the back of a giant turtle....and that IS the shape of their world.
This particular story introduces Rincewind, who is a terrible wizzard (how it's spelled his hat); and is kicked out of wizard academy, which almost causes the end of the world......but for Rincewind, it's a series of adventures starting with meeting Twoflower, AnkMorpork's first tourist...taking him on adventures and a lot of running. Fun!
Good Omens is the tale of a demon & an angel who have become friendly competitors over the millenia; and are now trying to avoid the fulfilling of the prophecies for the apocolypse....but it goes wrong from the start when they kidnap the wrong child.
This is also an amazing mini-series on Amazon (David Tennant...sigh...drool); and fun, silly but also interesting in an examination of good vs evil; and gods and demons.
I listened to this on Hoopla and literally had to stop what I was doing to laugh out loud (sometimes very awkwardly). The humor is a tad silly, sometimes inappropriate...but fun. Alice Winters walks a great line between being a very creepy tale and a downright funny one (also, some sexy situations between 2 men, so if that's a trigger, consider yourself warned).
Seneca & Chevy are cops with the psychic dept; Chevy can enter the minds of people & see/interact with their memories and Seneca copies powers, so with Chevy he can follow along with the memories (thus giving a corroborating witness to what happens). They are asked to enter the mind of a serial killer because the police are trying to see if any of his suspected victims are still alive. Unfortunately when they enter his mind, it all goes wrong....because instead of memories, they are trapped in his mind playing creepy games to stay alive. Along the way, the two also become closer and acknowledge their affection for each other.
Another Alice Winters book, this one centers on Miles, a mage who is very powerful but not really about capturing power (he likes having fun, not running things). He has Havoc, which is an uber-powerful demon that he has bonded with over several hundred years (especially since they were both enslaved by the same mage once upon a time, and helped each other escape him). this book involves them assisting police in trying to find who is killing people and mimicking magical cult ceremonies of a cult long thought defunct and associated with the supposed to be dead mage that kept them enslaved so long ago.
Again, so many funny moments, but also serious ones (abuse) and a love story (so some sexual situations present, stay away if that bothers you).
This is an oooold book (from 1978!), but I found it in the 90s, and I'm sure it's around if you look for it. This book introduces Skeeve, a wizard's apprentice, who calls a demon, Aahz; but is unfortunately killed by an assassin before he can do more than the initial summoning. Really unfortunately, the wizard and Aahz know each other and love to play pranks on each other & their apprentices (calling each other as demons for them, as they are from different dimensions)...and this prank left Aahz with no magic & no way back home. He agrees to take Skeeve on, teach him magic & get a good life because magic is part talent and part con.....but of course everything goes wrong.
A very fun & silly series....need to reread this I think.
A Spell for Chameleon is the first Xanth book, but really you can read them in any order, and they are still being published to this day. I don't read them any more, but was obsessed with them in my late teens & early twenties; lots of silliness...many, many puns but with a solid story to bring it all together. This works best for older teens or twenty somethings, or perhaps with people who prefer silly, slapstick humor. Give it a go!
I talked about this book in my alien encounters podcast/blog; but it's worth bringing up again because....let's face it, it's pretty silly....people being turned into giant grasshoppers? It's like a book version of the best kind of B movie ever. Evil Scientists? Check. Man eating monsters? Check. Determined humans trying to save the earth (while sneaking in some make out sessions?) Check.
you want to read this....you know you do.
This is the first book in the Queen Betsy series (so yeah....silly); picture Clueless meets Twilight. It is also the best use of a Mary Sue character ever (a Mary Sue is a female who magically knows all & always does the right thing at the right time, magically). Betsy wakes up a vampire without understanding why, and is determined to possibly be the prophesied queen because she is immune to all holy items, and all known ways of hurting a vampire. She is caught up in a war, accidentally between a group of old school vampires and a group who want to roll with the times; and it is just pure silliness. I really enjoyed these, get a bit sexy (but not hard core)...just, fun.
Frogkisser is a teen novel (but you can still read it as an adult, I promise). Princess Anya can break curses with a magic kiss, and she is on the run from her evil stepfather (who married her evil stepmother when her father died...so she is an orphan). She ends up leading a rebellion assisted by a loyal talking dog, a boy thief trapped in the body of a newt, and some extraordinarily mischevious wizards. A rollicking adventure indeed!
This is a really funny adventure in the woods with a boy determined not to like his mother's new beau, supposed to be a bonding trip; but all the shenangins Dan pulls turn out to make him more miserable than anyone....it's a great bumbling adventure out in the woods. Written for teens, but enjoyable for anyone.
Last on the list is Bindi Babes (1st in a trilogy). Amber, Jazz and Geena are sisters who are doing just fine with their dad, missing their mom (who passed away); but living with limited rules and lots of extras because dad does anything they ask. Then out of nowhere, because someone decides they need a female in charge, an Auntie moves in from India and she is making them follow rules, taking away all their nice extras...it's just terrible. The girls decide the best way to get rid of Auntie, is to get her married off, so they keep trying to find her the perfect man. This is a silly book that is reminiscent of Bollywood comedies (very over the top); and a fun read for tweens, teens or adults. Enjoy
That's it for now, sorry it took so long to post!
Saleena
https://anchor.fm/alchemyofgenres/episodes/Books-that-make-you-LOL-efiql9
With all the craziness of the world, seems like a good laugh is helpful. So this list is all about funny books that will make you laugh, giggle or roll your eyes.
In my podcaast, I forgot about Hitchhiker's Guide (or any of the other books in the series); and you can also include audio/radio broadcasts or the movie......I feel horrible that I forgot this classic silly book about life the universe and everything.... =)
If you aren't aware, this book is about a human who ends up traveling the universe after the Earth is destroyed when it is deemed in the way of an international "highway".....and things get sillier the further it goes.
This is a classic funny book (and an equally funny movie). Bridget is a 30 something single Brit looking for love and always making a mess. She vacillates between forcefulness & nervousness; and always at the wrong time (she is forceful when she should back away; nervous when she should be confident....and usually has no idea what is the best idea). You will laugh aloud at a few of the antics.
This is one of my favorite authors, Pratchett has written for teens, children and adults. Wee Free Men is a YA/Tween book that happens in the Discworld universe. It follows Tiffany Aching, who is 9, and her adventure to get her baby brother back when fairy creatures take him. After all, he is snotty and whiny, but he is HERS and no one takes what is hers. She goes with a frying pan (because iron), and unknowingly with the titular wee free men, also known as the Nach Mach Feegle; small little blue men in kilts who like to drink & fight. It's a mad, fun adventure and the series follows Tiffany as she discovers her witchy powers and grows up (I believe the last book she is 18).
This is the beginning of the Discworld series, and there is a fabulous mini series from the BBC on this title together with Light Fantastic (indeed sometimes they are bundled together as they are collectively one story).
Discworld is called that because it is a flat disc, balanced on the backs of four elephants, balanced on the back of a giant turtle....and that IS the shape of their world.
This particular story introduces Rincewind, who is a terrible wizzard (how it's spelled his hat); and is kicked out of wizard academy, which almost causes the end of the world......but for Rincewind, it's a series of adventures starting with meeting Twoflower, AnkMorpork's first tourist...taking him on adventures and a lot of running. Fun!
This is also an amazing mini-series on Amazon (David Tennant...sigh...drool); and fun, silly but also interesting in an examination of good vs evil; and gods and demons.
Seneca & Chevy are cops with the psychic dept; Chevy can enter the minds of people & see/interact with their memories and Seneca copies powers, so with Chevy he can follow along with the memories (thus giving a corroborating witness to what happens). They are asked to enter the mind of a serial killer because the police are trying to see if any of his suspected victims are still alive. Unfortunately when they enter his mind, it all goes wrong....because instead of memories, they are trapped in his mind playing creepy games to stay alive. Along the way, the two also become closer and acknowledge their affection for each other.
Again, so many funny moments, but also serious ones (abuse) and a love story (so some sexual situations present, stay away if that bothers you).
A very fun & silly series....need to reread this I think.
A Spell for Chameleon is the first Xanth book, but really you can read them in any order, and they are still being published to this day. I don't read them any more, but was obsessed with them in my late teens & early twenties; lots of silliness...many, many puns but with a solid story to bring it all together. This works best for older teens or twenty somethings, or perhaps with people who prefer silly, slapstick humor. Give it a go!you want to read this....you know you do.
That's it for now, sorry it took so long to post!
Saleena
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