I’m the author of The Dirty Parts of the Bible, which has
been a #1 Kindle bestseller in Humorous Literary Fiction on several occasions. In school, I hated the sorts of novels we were assigned. Unable to connect
with them, I read Cliff’s Notes instead. Then we were given The Catcher in the Rye. It was a
revelation—literature can be relatable, engaging, and funny?! The next novel to grab me this way was The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn. Like Catcher, it was gritty and often dark,
addressing serious concerns—but it did so with humor. These books were
my gateway into enjoying fiction—and, ultimately, to writing my own story in
the same category of serious-yet-funny.
This is a little-known gem by three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thornton Wilder (best known for his play Our Town). Published in the 1935, it’s a contemporaneous account of Depression-era America, following the misadventures of traveling salesman and religious zealot, George Brush.
Coming off as preachy and self-righteous, George sparks ire and outrage wherever he goes. Yet, he’s a sincere and decent person. At the end of his misadventures, George is humbled and begins to broaden his views, making him a complex, sympathetic character.
Though renowned during his lifetime, Wilder has been largely forgotten in favor of flashier contemporaries. All of his works are worth rediscovering, but Heaven’s My Destination is closest to my heart as it was a major inspiration for my own book.
The law of contract is ripe for feminist analysis. Despite increasing calls for the re-conceptualisation of neo-classical ways of thinking, feminist perspectives on contract tend to be marginalised in mainstream textbooks. This edited collection questions the assumptions made in such works and the ideologies that underpin them, drawing attention to the ways in which the law of contract has facilitated the virtual exclusion of women, the feminine and the private sphere from legal discourse.
Contributors to this volume offer a range of ways of thinking about the subject and cover topics such as the feminine offeree, feminist perspectives on contracts…
As one of Australia’s bestselling observational comedy authors, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to write about the fact that I’ve recently become my parents’ go-to expert on just about everything. From solving technological dilemmas to coaching through society’s ever-changing correctness and reminding them to eat their greens, the elders in my life have inspired me to look at the funny side to aging, and to explore how a middle aged child sometimes crosses over from being helpful to just plain interfering.
Quirky, original, and featuring very engaging characters, this very funny read has the added bonus of being set in a fascinating location – India.
Exploring the quirks of falling in love later in life, this book is part holiday from hell, part love story, and full of heartwarming anecdotes that will sound very familiar to a lot of readers.
Now a major motion picture starring Jude Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson, and Maggie Smith.
When Ravi Kapoor, an overworked London doctor, reaches the breaking point with his difficult father-in-law, he asks his wife: “Can’t we just send him away somewhere? Somewhere far, far away.” His prayer is seemingly answered when Ravi’s entrepreneurial cousin sets up a retirement home in India, hoping to re-create in Bangalore an elegant lost corner of England. Several retirees are enticed by the promise of indulgent living at a bargain price, but upon arriving, they are dismayed to find that restoration of the…
Constance is a wild, stubborn young girl growing up poor in a small industrial town in the late 1800's. Beneath her thread-worn exterior beats the heart of a dreamer and a wordsmith. But at age twelve, she’s orphaned. Running away to join the circus—like kids do in adventure books—seems like…
I grew up in rural Missouri, where my best friends were horses, dogs, cats, ducks, and an occasional squirrel or injured bird. I developed rhyming and rhythm at an early age, and I got my first newspaper byline with a rhyming opinion piece. When I grew up, I became a writer. Then, when I had kids, I discovered the joy of writing children’s books, starting with rhyming board books and animals. To date, I’ve had over 500 books published, with at least one rhyming book annually for the past 40 years. The joy comes from writing my heart—my love for animals, rhyme, children, and God (not in that order).
I think I was born rhyming, and it was all my dad’s fault. He could turn anything into a rhyme, which is probably why I’ve always championed Dr. Seuss. Add in animals, like this book, and you’ve got one of my favorite children’s books.
Parents and teachers who have read the book out loud can’t help but be caught up in the joyful rhythm and inventive rhyme. I love the flights of imagination and wild, crazy animals in this delightful zoo. Little listeners smile all the way through, and when the book ends, their imaginations will continue to soar.
I’ve always been fascinated by people, especially people who don’t follow the herd, who lurk on the edges of society, who are strongly individual. Their opinions often seem wiser than those of society and the media, and I find it refreshing to climb into their shoes… That’s why my fictional characters might be obsessively making harps, counting everything in sight, or embarking on a mission to save penguins! The books I’ve listed here contain a range of eccentrics. Molly The Maid, Harold Fry, Iona Iverson, Noman Foreman, and Janice are all marvellous characters who made me laugh, cry and ponder. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I did.
I loved this book for its characters, especially Norman. Only a twelve-year-old boy, Norman has suffered the loss of his one true friend and now forms brave new plans: to find his birth father and to perform as a stand-up comedian at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival. He is helped by his mother, her older colleague, and others he meets on the road trip to Scotland. Norman has terrible skin psoriasis, a fetish for cheese on toast, and vast quantities of courage and determination.
Some wisdom from Norman: "Never give up. Because no matter if everything goes to hell in a hand basket and you lose your father, your footy career, your baby, your memory, your son, your breath or your best friend, you’ve just got to keep on going."
The inspiring, feel-good Richard & Judy Book Club pick about a small boy with a big heart - and even bigger dreams.
'One of those gorgeous books that completely lifts your spirits and restores your faith in humanity' - Ruth Jones, co-creator of Gavin and Stacey and bestselling author of Us Three
It was a journey they would always remember . . . for a friend they'd never forget.
Norman and Jax are a legendary comedic duo in waiting, with a five-year plan to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe by the time they're fifteen. But when Jax dies before they…
In 2017, I was laid off from my first job out of college, an experience that I think more young people are going through as we move further into an uncertain economic future. That experience formed the basis of my novel, which was published earlier this year. Afterwards, I met a lot of people, most of whom I didn’t know, who told me they’d resonated with the feeling of malaise captured by those first few chapters: of working jobs that seem to be dead ends, wondering if you’ll be here, at this desk, twenty years from now. It’s something most everybody can relate to but doesn't appear in novels nearly as much as it should.
This may be the first book one thinks of when picturing The American Office Novel. It’s one of the older books on this list. It’s also the funniest, and strangest, and the truest.
Centered around a Chicago advertising agency struggling to preserve its relevancy amid the vastly changing media landscape of the 90s and employing one of the only uses of first-person plural that I think works in entirety, this book is a true gem, a marvel that tells a fairly straightforward story that practically vibrates with the amount of beautiful, carefully arranged detail throughout it.
No one knows us quite the same way as the men and women who sit beside us in department meetings and crowd the office refrigerator with their labeled yogurts. Every office is a family of sorts, and the ad agency Joshua Ferris brilliantly depicts in his debut novel is family at its strangest and best, coping with a business downturn in the time-honored way: through gossip, pranks, and increasingly frequent coffee breaks. With a demon's eye for the details that make life worth noticing, Joshua Ferris tells a true and funny story about survival in life's strangest environment--the one we…
I love books. All kinds of books. Growing up, I didn’t have many friends outside of books. It’s no wonder that as an adult reader/writer/editor/book coach, I still read widely and voraciously. I believe all stories are magical, but I’m especially drawn to books that contain emotionally engaging characters and fun magical elements. I’m also a huge fan of good KidLit and getting a chance to see and explore other cultures and worlds, both real and imagined. (I even co-host a podcast: Coaching KidLit.) So, I read a ton of magical stories and a lot of KidLit. That’s how I discovered the books on this recommended reading list.
Not only does this book have a strong female lead, a scary, spooky adventure, and an unusual friendship where cousins who start off not liking one another have to work together, or else, but the idea that a funeral home guards another realm. I love it. And Chuck Wendig really nailed the voice of this story! It’s totally Chuck-like, but not the creepy Chuck we get in his adult horror books. This is 100% snarky, goofy, yeehaw, let’s-have-a-rollicking-good-time kid-at-heart Chuck. Also, this one made me laugh out loud in places, and I can always use a good laugh.
?Thirteen-year-old Molly doesn't know how she got the short end of the stick-being raised by her neglectful father-while Dustin, the older brother she's never met, got their mother and the keys to the family estate. But now the siblings are both orphaned, she's come home for her inheritance, and if Dustin won't welcome her into the family business, then she'll happily take her half in cash.
There's just one problem: the family business is a mortuary for monsters, and Molly's not sure she's ready to deal with mysterious doors, talking wolves, a rogue devourer of magic, and a secret cemetery.…
Nine Stories Told Completely in Dialogue is a unique collection of narratives, each unfolding entirely through conversations between its characters. The book opens with "God on a Budget," a tale of a man's surreal nighttime visitation that offers a blend of the mundane and the mystical. In "Doctor in the…
I love writing about food, and it appears as a motif in nearly every comic I've ever drawn. Comics are an exceptional medium for discussing food – a talented artist can render a drawing into something that looks delicious, but they can tie it into a story that gives the dish meaning or connects to a particular character's inner life. With Meal I had the opportunity to tell a story about a kind of cuisine that delights me, but that most people know very little about – and I turned to my favorite comics about food for inspiration on how to translate that joy from the plate to the page.
Hanawalt's trademark watercolor style is a perfect match for rendering food, especially her whimsical observations. Whether it's an illustrated taxonomy of NYC street food or a page dedicated to her anxious “incorrect” opinions on how she likes her eggs, the vibrant shapes and colors invite you to stop and think about your usual meals in an offbeat way.
Lisa Hanawalt's debut graphic novel, My Dirty Dumb Eyes, achieved instant and widespread acclaim: reviews in the New York Times and NPR, Best of Year nods from the Washington Post and USA Today, and praise from comedians like Patton Oswalt and Kristen Schaal. Her designs define the look of the wildly popular Netflix animated series Bojack Horseman. Her culinary-focused comics and illustrated essays in Lucky Peach magazine won her a James Beard Award. Now, Hot Dog Taste,collects Hanawalt's devastatingly funny comics, gorgeous art, and screwball lists as she tucks into the pomposities of the foodie subculture. Hanawalt dismantles the notion…
I read widely and in many genres, so coming up with a thematic list was a difficult task. However, in working on my forthcoming novel Dead Ends, in which a quiet neighborhood descends into paranoia and insanity driven by fear, politics, and technology, I sought out novels that engaged with conspiratorial thinking and violence. I admire writers who don’t hold back and fully engage with their characters and material, particularly if it means going to dark, imaginative and strange places in their work. Please keep an eye out for Dead Ends, coming from Flame Tree Press in 2023.
David James Keaton’s newest novel is funny and brutal. After police inform Dave that the body of his wife was found in a guitar case, he does the exact opposite of what any normal individual would do; he goes on a road trip seeking answers. Guided only by his fantasies, paranoia, and coincidences, Dave and some stragglers he picks up along the way traverse a mysterious American landscape peppered with rumors of invisible prisons, insane theories, and violence. Keaton’s work and narrative pace alternate between brilliant and infuriating but, by the end, you’ve gone on a journey that feels as mysteriously connected and deep as the rivers that supposedly flow through the center of the Earth in this enigmatic, brilliant, bat-shit story.
“A CULT CLASSIC WAITING ON ITS CULT.”
—William Boyle, author of City of Margins
Recently fired from his job, Dave sets out on a manic, misguided quest for answers up the food chain of law enforcement corruption and down the increasingly bizarre Florida coastline. Battling cops, biker gangs, backwoods Bigfoot hunters, and getting tangled in tourist traps (both figurative and literal), he eventually stumbles onto a conspiracy involving body cameras, love locks, and a grand psychological experiment which may reveal the revolving doors and invisible walls of the nation’s prison system.
When I became a parent, I immediately became an expert on it. Don’t worry, you will too. Children are great. They fill your life with a sense of purpose. They are very good at being really cute, and they can be really fun to be with. Yet... let's face it, the little bugger wreak havoc in your life.
Harnessing my experience as a writer for television, and being a man, I immediately started whining and ranting about the difficulties of raising kids, the result was the book 100 Hidden Truths of Parenting that sold the world over. I love my kids, so will you, but it is a difficult journey and you need to know you are not the only one having a hard time sometimes.
This humorously titled book actually takes itself pretty seriously, and contains some solid parenting advice. Like all parenting guides it is to be taken with a grain of salt, but I applaud the light-hearted tone it takes. All too often parenting books make the overwhelming experience of becoming a parent even worth by taking it too seriously, The Baby Owners’ Manual shows the right approach.
At Last! A Beginner's Guide to Newborn Baby Technology. You've programmed your DVR, you've installed a wireless Internet connection, you can even check Facebook on your cell phone. But none of this experience will prepare you for the world's biggest technological marvel: a newborn baby. Through step-by-step instructions and helpful schematic diagrams, "The Baby Owner's Manual" explores hundreds of frequently asked questions: What's the best way to swaddle a baby? How can I make my newborn sleep through the night? When should I bring the baby to a doctor for servicing? Whatever your concerns, you'll find the answers here -…
The Good Woman's Guide to Making Better Choices
By
Liz Foster,
A heart-warming and hilarious novel about the highs and lows of marriage, fraud, and goat’s cheese.
Libby Popovic is a country girl who’s now living a golden life in Bondi with her confident financier husband Ludo, and their two children. When Ludo is jailed for financial fraud, and Libby’s friends…
I have a chronic illness, so it was super easy to relate to what the characters were going through! I felt like this book was empathizing with me; I could tell the author truly understands what it’s like to have to readjust your whole life and start all over with "You Version 2.0" (a slow, crappy downgrade).
But I don’t want it to sound like this book is only a touchy-feely kind of story—it’s also hilarious! I especially loved the scenes with Spencer from Animal Control; he’s super funny! Priya and Brigid’s relationship is #goals, and their Discord group chats are amazing!
Teen Wolf meets Emergency Contact in this sharply observed, hilarious, and heartwarming debut young adult novel about friendship, chronic illness, and . . . werewolves.
Priya worked hard to pursue her premed dreams at Stanford, but the fallout from undiagnosed Lyme disease sends her back to her childhood home in New Jersey during her sophomore year-and leaves her wondering if she'll ever be able to return to the way things were.
Thankfully she has her online pen pal, Brigid, and the rest of the members of "oof ouch my bones," a virtual support group that…
