Light and/or Funny Books for Grown-ups
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This episode/issue is all about light and/or funny books. I put both down because humor is VERY subjective; and also sometimes a book feels light and fun but doesn't necessarily make you laugh out loud. As usual, there are titles across various genres but most in SF/Fantasy with a few regular, real life stories (yeah ok, some of the "real life" stories may technically count as romance titles....but isn't true romance a fantasy anyway?)
Blending In tells the story of Miriah, who thanks to a divine curse, turns into a chameleon anytime she is near a person she likes romantically or finds attractive. Now she is forced to work with Chase Butler, who is all she dreams of in a man; but when around him she is ALWAYS a chameleon and thus working becomes a challenge. Worse, she is supposed to help Mr. Butler uncover who is embezzling from his company as she is the most qualified forensic accountant, but working as a lizard is not easy. Also, Christmas is coming and she is trying to get a puppy for her son, deal with a divine ex (as in an actual god) and convince him to take more time to be with his son, and handle work issues as well. Can Miriah find a way out of this curse? Is there a chance Chase is "the one"? This is, as it sounds, a fun, light story with a Christmas theme.
Tulip is the child of a mermaid and a gorgon; which is definitely an odd combo. She has no desire to take over as a ruler of the mer-people (she can barely swim). Now that she has caught her absent father's attention, she is worried about another set of familial demands.....plus there is the small problem of her being a serial killer of bad guys. What would her parents do if they found out? Worse, what would her father's hot bodyguard think? How can she keep secrets when she melts into a pile of goo whenever he's around? This is another fun, light story (surprising, with the serial killer angle, but it's all kept very light with a slight bit of dark humor).
This is #2 in the Four Bears Construction series but can definitely be read as a stand alone title and the humor is very obvious, having nothing to do with whether you have read the other story. Stone is hilarious as a character. He has decided to purposefully drive his next door neighbor, Dare, completely insane. His reason? Dare already hates him for no reason, so he may as well give him a reason. And he does, boy does he. Of course, the neighbor starts to maybe not hate him so much.....or perhaps he just enjoys when Stone gets under his skin? Scenes of mayhem include goats who eat Dare's boxers (while he is wearing them), and so many more. This book is perfect for a night of turning off the brain and enjoying the laughs and the fun of a sweet, but dirty, love story.
I have talked about this series many, many times.....so I will just say it is perfect for someone looking for a mix of silliness, solid characters and sly social commentary set in a steam-punk Victorian world of fantasy.
Fangs is a graphic novel that is a simultaneously a sweet and funny story of a romance between a female vampire and a male werewolf. It all starts in a bar, when he overhears her choosing dogs over cats in a casual conversation with a friend....and things progress quickly from there.
I laughed and swooned while reading this as it is so funny and romantic.
Scenes that stick in my head: Him waking up the morning after their first night together, and he flings open the curtains, completely forgetting about vampires and sunlight....and the next panel is a scene of him looking sorry while applying burn cream to an angry vampire's arm.
Him not being able to not chase a squirrel at the park, even though he tries.
His landlord being upset that he has a dog.....when the "dog" is him.
A very fast & fun read that I highly recommend.
This is a classic humorous SF novel, which has also been made into a tv show, a radio series and a movie. It is highly recommended if you want pure silliness in a novel. I am sure you have heard of it, and if you haven't....then be prepared to turn off all logic circuits in your brain before reading and just enjoy.
Trust me, it's awesome.
Again, I have talked about this series often but I have to bring it up here as it is the quintessential humorous fantasy series and I am not the only one who loves it. You should check it out, and luckily the books do not have to be read in order, so dive it from anywhere!
This series is very British, very funny and very well written (also feel free to check out the live and animated adaptations).
The basic storyline is that Jonathan-Thomas (Jon-Tom) Meriweather wants to be a rock god, but when he gets high one night, he is accidentally sent to another dimension. In this dimension he has magic, through his music, if only he could control it. There are lots of silly musical moments (especially since the people of this world have NO idea what the heck he is calling music or what the lyrics mean; oh, and he is a terrible singer...)
Foster builds a sold series foundation in this first book and then takes you on a journey as Meriweather learns & grows, building a life in this strange new world. Due to its age, it may be difficult to find this series, but if you can; think about giving it a shot.
As evidenced by the title (and more, the sub-title), this is a funny take on the life of Jesus. Specifically, the missing years from 18-30 are talked about by Jesus's best friend, Biff. If you are sensitive to religious humor, maybe this will not be the book for you. If you can appreciate "a miraculous, journey of magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons and hot babes"; you will enjoy this book.
It is a story full of self doubt, with relationship and situational humor and a protagonist who learns to love herself and find the guy of her dreams.
This is another title that I have mentioned many times....so I will quickly say that Klune is really good at nuanced and yet downright ridiculous stories. This is one of his early works but I truly adore it. The book and the audio are equally enjoyable with lots of literal laugh out loud moments. The humor can be a bit raunchy, but nonetheless funny. The plot involves following a young wizard, a hot knight, a half ogre and a hornless gay unicorn on their journey to rescue the Prince, and the Knight's fiancee, from a dragon who has kidnapped him. What makes Klune so amazing is that while you appreciate the humor and silliness, the characters and story are solid and well constructed; so you really get invested in the resolution of the conflicts.
Another fun story from Klune, this one reality based instead of fantasy. Everything is told from the point of view of Paul Auster, who is sure that beautiful Vince Taylor is too good to be true and that there is no possible way Vince is attracted to Paul. This is the first book of the "At First Sight" series, but you can just read one if you like. (I have no self control, and immediately read all of them, then bought the audio and listened to them again.)
Very funny, but definitely a fully realized romance story about a regular guy finding love when he was positive that it was never happening for a guy like him.
This is another old, old series (Myth Adventures) & title (Another Fine Myth). Sadly, I am dragging out the old things because A: They are awesome and B: There are not enough fun/funny books being published....it's all dystopia and death and end of the world stuff....so, go back and find some funny stuff where you can. Luckily, I'm old (ish), so I have a ton of stuff from way back to recommend, and this is a good one. It is a simple story of an apprentice magic user summoning a "demon" and then his master wizard being assassinated just as the demon appears. Turns out "demon" is a shortened version of "dimensional traveler" and Aahz is just from another world. Unfortunately, he is stuck because the deceases wizard played a prank and eliminated Aahz's powers, and Skeeve doesn't have enough knowledge to break the spell. So Aahz takes Skeeve under his protection and agrees to teach him magic and make him a famous and powerful wizard.
This series is another example of an author skillfully balancing great stories and character growth with silliness and fun.
Happy Endings is a story that is funny, light and engaging while still being on a serious adventure novel. It is the story of a mage and a demon who have been bound together for centuries, but are now realizing how deep the bond goes. They are searching for a killer tied to both of their pasts, and indeed to their beginning and how they bonded. Can they let go and move on?
Winters is very good at mixing a suspenseful plot, a sad backstory and a ton of raunchy off-color humor.
Undead and Unwed is the fun, yet silly story of a girl who accidentally becomes a vampire...and not "just" a vampire but the prophecied super vampire of legend...and she is very unimpressed with the whole thing. Her irreverent and selfish-seeming point of view provides lots of situational humor involving a modern girl protesting archaic tropes and misogyny, while simultaneously being exactly the kind of girl in all the tropes.
Davidson builds a fun story with a humorous and snarky gal who is finding her way through the world of the supernatural but more worried about paying for new Jimmy Choo shoes.
Margle The Horrendous takes pride in never killing his enemies; instead transforming them and trapping them in his castle. Nessie is a kobold with no power (unless you count organization). She tends to the upkeep of Margle's castle, and makes sure every transformed creature has what it needs. When Margle dies, however, things start to fall apart. Nessie finds herself surrounded by monsters, curses, a door that should never be opened and one very deadly wizardess. Nessie isn't mighty or magical, just sensible and caring but she is nonetheless determined to keep everyone in the castle safe and everything in the castle clean and organized. Unfortunately beating back the forces of darkness is hard and will require help from all the castle residents and things probably will get messy. I really enjoyed this book, not a LOL book, but a fun book with humor and a new point of view.
Here I bring you yet another old title (1991!) but again, fun and delicious.
Azzy Elbub, a demon, has his sights set on winning the Millenial Evil deeds award, given to the being whose acts do the most towards reshaping the world. Unfortunately his evil plans aren't working as he intended them to.
Scalzi has written a fun story loosely based on ideas from the Star Trek universe, specifically the dangerous and short lives of the away crew members in the red shirts. Weirdly (and for me, slightly uncomfortably) the story also becomes a bit of an Ouroboros (snake eating its tale) as characters in the story become aware that they are fictional characters on a tv show and they are determined to rally and petition for better writing and less death for the crew. I enjoyed this but it is a bit of a brain buster as it gets more and more self aware....I mean a book about characters who are trying to get better writing by talking to writers who invented their stories....yeah, OW! My Brain!
Still, a fun, light story and maybe not as messy for your brains as for mine.
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