I don't know about you, but sometimes I just am in the mood to laugh, whether it's because I'm feeling down and need a pick me up or because I'm feeling good and want to keep the happiness going. So I've compiled a list of the ten funniest books/series I've read recently, ranging from books that were just plain laugh-out-hilarious to books that were a little on the dark or intense side but still had some great humor in them.
And, since humor is subjective, I've included a quote from each book because what better way to tell whether or not you'll like the humor than with a quote?! Plus maybe I can bring some laughter to your day without you even having to read the books ;-)
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. This week was a partial freebie, so my topic is:
Top Ten Books to Read If You’re in the Mood to Laugh
10. The Shifter by Janice Hardy – Review
This middle grade high fantasy has a great all-ages humor.
“I don’t know how you do it.”
“Don’t eat for three days,” I mumbled around a mouthful of fish. “You’d be surprised how fast you can shovel it in. You don’t even need to breathe.”
“No, I mean holding pain. But your eating is impressive too.”
9. Summoned by Rainy Kaye
The djinn main character in this paranormal romance hasn’t been given the best lot in life, but that’s ok because he covers it up with his sarcasm and jokes.
“But while you’re in Virginia, can you pick me up a golden ginger?”
I give a low whistle. “Damn, Syd, is it my birthday already?”
“It’s an apple, you perv,” she says. “They’re from the east coast. Always wanted to try one.”
“Is that a euphemism? I’m not following, but it sounds hot.”
She laughs. “No, Dimitri, it’s an actual apple.”
I say, “I gotta admit, I’m not really thinking about apples anymore.”
8. Soul Breaker by Clara Coulson – Review
This urban fantasy has some heaviness and gore to it, but the snarky main character also makes it fun.
[I] hobble around to the place on the floor where I tossed my clothes last night. Except they’re gone. The space on the carpet is clear. My brain, which hasn’t quite booted up for the day yet, spends about thirty seconds trying to process how my clothes could have left the scene without me. Briefly, I picture them walking off by themselves down the street, scaring the crap out of some innocent passersby.
7. The Usual Apocalypse by Christine Price
The thoughts of the protagonist in this M-M paranormal romance/mystery are hilarious, but in this great not-even-trying kind of way.
“I was hoping you could take a few minutes so we could catch up.”
Matt didn’t respond. Predators’ vision was based on movement. If he remained still and silent, Graham would go away.
6. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples – Review
This whole sci-fi/fantasy graphic novel series is crazy and fun and out-there with characters to match.
“Can I have a boost, Granny?”
“Granny is too busy bleeding at the moment.”
5. Real Vampires Don’t Sparkle by Amy Fecteau – Review
The main character in this M-M vampire paranormal romance is hilariously quippy and sarcastic, and the other characters join in and play off it, making it even better. It’s got a nice balance of humor and intensity.
“You’re a stalker,” he said, throwing the pillow at Quin. “That’s creepy. Really goddamned creepy. Stop following me. They give out pamphlets about that kind of behavior. Showing up in a pamphlet is never good, Quin.”
4. Wings of Darkness by Sherri A. Wingler – Review
Pretty much all the characters in this YA reaper paranormal romance are hilarious in their own way, from their thoughts to their dialogue to their actions.
I tried to shove Asher away, but it was like moving stone. He intended to comfort me, and by God he was going to do it. Whether I wanted him to, or not.
3. Semi-Charmed by Isabel Jordan
To be honest, I don’t remember this paranormal romance very well, but I do remember laughing a lot while reading it.
Glancing around, he gauged his surroundings and tried to determine whether or not he needed to be concerned.
Well, he wasn’t at home. The closet in his bedroom was double the size of this room, and he was fairly certain he hadn’t painted any of his walls cherry red recently. He’d gotten drunk before, but he’d never been sloshed enough to decorate.
2. Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky – Review
This fantasy-ish graphic novel had me laughing so hard at the inappropriate ridiculousness, but it also had the most amazing relationship ever.
“I literally must have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars of porn from this place over the years.”
“Boy. That’s gotta be like… seventeen pornos at these prices.”
1. Steal the Light by Lexi Blake – Review
This whole urban fantasy series is absolutely my number ONE when it comes to hilarity. I mean, it’s great all around, but this humor is the best kind because rather than a series of jokes and quippy remarks, it kind of builds up in scenes and throughout the books and comes out organically in the thoughts and actions and interactions between characters. And I swear sometimes I had to stop reading just to regain composure!
“I can call Neil, but I certainly don’t have a weird mind-control thing over him. God, I wish. He’s a shitty minion. I think he memorized my credit card number because I apparently spend a lot of money at someplace called Aéropostale. I don’t know what that is.”
I’m reading Saga soon, and I’m excited to read that it’s funny! 🙂 Great list!
Saga is such a fun read! You should definitely read it soon 🙂
I’ve only read Saga of these, but I think I’ll have to add the urban fantasy here to my list. 🙂
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Not sure which of the two urban fantasies you’re talking about, but both are great anyway 😛
I love your topic ! Who doesn’t need a laugh every now and then ? I don’t know all of them.. but it seems like I will add some new books to my TBR pile !
My TTT
Exactly, we all need to laugh sometimes! And yay, I love adding new books to people’s TBRs!
Omg #10 is my favourite. XD THAT IS WONDERFUL. And I loooove funny books. I love witty banter so so much…I will fully rate a book higher just on strength of witty banter alone. :’) Princess of Thorns had me laughing out loud. And Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl is HYSTERICAL…also anything by Derek Landy. Basically if a book can be doing explosions and heartache on one page, but then making you laugh your head off on the next? I AM SO UP FOR THAT. XD
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I swear when I was making this post, I actually thought to myself, if Cait happens to see this, she’s going to love the food quote lol. Witty banter is the best! When it’s done right, it’s glorious. I’ll have to check out those books and authors. I too love when books can combine intensity with laughs!
I’m super afraid to say that I haven’t read any of these books yet, but they all sound HILARIOUS (especially #10, FOOD! YAAY!), and I will definitely check them out!
You have a LOVELY blog, and I just followed it!
Have an amazing day.
Haha gotta love food quotes! You should definitely check these books out 🙂 And thank you so much! I’ll go check out your blog right now!
I love seeing Shifter make the list! Now I want to go re-read it. I miss Nya 😉 Great list!
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I don’t usually read middle grade, but it was a fun series! Had some seriously lovable characters. Thanks!
These made me chuckle, thanks! I especially liked Summoned and Soul Breaker. I’ll have to add some of these to my TBR. Thanks for sharing and thanks for visiting my TTT! Happy reading!
Glad I could make someone laugh 🙂 Those two book do have a somewhat similar humor and are both first person, kind of gritty but still with some emotion, male characters. So if you like that, you might like those books. Happy reading to you too!
Oh, I should read more funny books! I’ve never read any of these but I giggled so much at your quotes!
Yay! I’m my glad my quotes made you laugh! It’s weird because I usually don’t seek out funny books, but I always love it when I find them lol.
Good pick! Topics are all over the place this week and there have been some good ones. I do like humor in my books so any recs are always appreciated! The Shifter looks fun, and Saga of course is on my list to read one of these days. Love that Lexi Blake quote!
I like these partial freebies. It takes away some of the agonizing indecision of total freebies but still adds variety and lets me choose something I like 🙂 I’m glad you liked the Lexi Blake quote because it was hard to find a good one out of context! The humor is so interwoven with the story and characters which is what I love, but it does make it rather hard to find quotes lol. The quote is even better when you know the person saying it is the strongest vampire to have risen in centuries, and Neil is his gay, fashion-loving werewolf 😛
Oh yeah, I’m always in the mood for a good laugh. Thanks for all the recs!
Sometimes funny books are just the best 🙂 Glad you like them!
Humor is my #1 need in a book. It’s fine if there isn’t much, but my love grows with each laugh. And it could be all different types of humor. Like the dark humor in You by Caroline Kepnes, the snarky humor in the White Trash Zombie series, and everything in between. So I like finding new ones like you listed.
I really want to read White Trash Zombie! I’ll have to look up the Caroline Kepnes book though since I haven’t heard of it, but I do like dark humor too. Thanks for the recs! I agree that every book can benefit from some humor. It doesn’t have to be that obvious laugh-out-loud kind, even the darkest books can have some great humor in them, it’s just a more subtle kind of humor.
I can’t really think of many books that made me laugh out loud, it’s pretty hard for a book to be really funny and humor can be a of a hit or miss in books. I can remember a few books with a funny or slightly funny scene or ones that bought a smile to my face.
I like reading the quotes you picked out, definitely gives a good feel for the humor in each of thsoe books. Great list!
I don’t know, I guess it’s not that hard to make me laugh? Or maybe it’s just my personality, like, even though I’m an introvert I’ve never really been the quiet type, so I just laugh out loud a lot? Or maybe I’ve just been lucky and found books that match well with my sense of humor 🙂 It’s weird though since I pretty much never actively look for funny books. It’s just a pleasant surprise when one happens to be funny. Humor is probably one of the most subjective things there is though, so I understand. It really is a hit or miss thing. Thanks!
I chose “in the mood to laugh” this week too 🙂 My TTT
Awesome! We thought alike 😛
Okay, I’m laughing – at those quotes for sure but also because looking at those covers, I’d never have imagined the story inside would make me laugh. Just goes to show judging a book by its cover… 😉
I like to read books that make me laugh – especially after having read a lot of heavy books, which I’ve done a lot of lately. It doesn’t have to be a comedy but I do like some comedic relief. 😀 You’ve put some of these books on my radar (or my kindle) already but I really want to read that Lexi Blake series. Oh, and Real Vampires Don’t Sparkle. 😉
The odd thing is, I pretty much never actively seek out funny books. Almost every single of these books I just grabbed because the story sounded good and was surprised to find it was also funny. So you’re right that you can’t tell from the covers! But yes, I agree, pretty much every book can benefit from at least a little comic relief, even the dark and heavy ones!
I really think you should read the Lexi Blake series! I mean, I’m a little biased because it’s one of my favorites, but, if you like urban fantasy with paranormal creatures and you like romance and you like humor… ok that series really just has everything in my opinion. If you have a kindle, I could even lend them to you if you wanted 🙂