The most recommended humour books

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2,163 authors created a book list connected to humour books, and here are their favorite humour books books.
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Book cover of Set My Heart to Five

Lucie Britsch Author Of Sad Janet

From my list on when having an existential crisis to feel better.

Why am I passionate about this?

Hi there, I’m Lucie and I’m a writer (allegedly) but before that I’m a human and I know how hard it is to be a human. It’s a constant battle with yourself, the people around you, the world, and it’s exhausting and sometimes it can be too much but we find ways to keep going and books help me do that (as well as crying, screaming, potatoes). I find life absurd most of the time so I have to laugh about it or I’d go insane. And I’m still alive, despite constantly being in a fight with my brain, so I think I’ve got this.

Lucie's book list on when having an existential crisis to feel better

Lucie Britsch Why did Lucie love this book?

This book got me out of a funk when I couldn’t feel like reading anything. It’s a book about a robot that wants to write a movie to save humanity after he becomes self-aware. It’s funny and sweet and will make you laugh and cry maybe not worry so much about the imminent robot uprising.

By Simon Stephenson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Set My Heart to Five as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Science fiction satire in the Vonnegut mold.”—Cory Doctorow

*SET TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY EDGAR WRIGHT (SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD)*

‘A beautiful, funny, heartfelt analysis of what it means to be human.’—Simon Pegg

‘One of the most unique books ever crafted.’—Mike Chen, author of A Beginning at the End

Set in a 2054 where humans have locked themselves out of the internet and Elon Musk has incinerated the moon, Set My Heart to Five is the hilarious yet profoundly moving story of one android’s emotional awakening.

One day at a screening of a classic movie, Jared…


Book cover of Gaston

Alexandra Thompson Author Of A Family for Louie

From my list on joyful picture books about dogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a little kid, I wanted nothing more than to be best friends with every dog I met. Our family dog was a Yorkie and she was my little buddy for 17 years. A Family for Louie came about because of my love of dogs, food, and family. Naturally, my first picture book would be about all of these things! Dogs are such wonderful creatures, brimming with love, loyalty, and so much personality. I hope this round-up of books featuring our furry four-legged friends brings a little joy and laughter to your storytime. 

Alexandra's book list on joyful picture books about dogs

Alexandra Thompson Why did Alexandra love this book?

I’ll start this round-up with another book featuring an adorable french bulldog. Gaston is a story about family and that just because you might not look the same doesn’t mean you don’t belong. This story is a wonderful read-aloud with beautiful bold illustrations by Christian Robinson. This book celebrates blended families, being yourself, and as an added bonus, there are cute puppies. Who doesn’t love a book with cute puppies?!

By Kelly DiPucchio, Christian Robinson (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gaston as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the story of four puppies: Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, Ooh-La-La, and Gaston. Gaston works the hardest at his lessons on how to be a proper pooch. He sips-never slobbers!He yips-never yaps!And he walks with grace-never races!Gaston fits right in with his poodle sisters.

But a chance encounter with a bulldog family in the park-Rocky, Ricky, Bruno, and Antoinette-reveals there's been a mix-up, and so Gaston and Antoinette switch places. The new families look right...but they don't feel right. Can these puppies follow their noses-and their hearts-to find where they belong?


Book cover of Legend of the Storm Sneezer

Alyssa Roat Author Of Wraithwood

From my list on clean teen fantasy reads.

Why am I passionate about this?

Do you love YA fantasy, but want some titles you feel confident sharing with your grandmother, younger sibling, mom, teacher? As an avid YA fantasy reader, I know the struggle of finding book recs that are exciting, magical, and wouldn’t make my mother blush. Upon entering the publishing industry, I made this my focus as an agent and now as an editor. As an author, I write YA and NA titles that don’t pull any punches but can be enjoyed by anyone. All 10 of my published books and upcoming releases can be enjoyed by teens, adults, and yes, your grandmother—and here are five more books I think achieve that as well.

Alyssa's book list on clean teen fantasy reads

Alyssa Roat Why did Alyssa love this book?

Storm Sneezer is targeted at a slightly younger demographic, perhaps more of an upper MG or lower YA read, but the world is so magical, the friendships so beautiful, and the voice so hilarious that I can’t imagine any fantasy-loving teen not laughing out loud and rooting for spunky protagonist Rose.

Thirteen-year-old Rose Skylar sneezed a magical storm cloud at birth, and it’s followed her around ever since. As a result, Rose is sent to Heartstone, an asylum for unstable magic located in a haunted forest whose trees have mysteriously turned to stone. Ghosts roaming the woods and a graveyard filled with empty graves hint at something darker. Guided by her future selves via time-traveling letters, Rose and her best friend Marek must solve the mystery of the specters and the stone trees before the ghosts unleash a legendary enemy that will destroy Heartstone Asylum.

By Kristiana Sfirlea,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Legend of the Storm Sneezer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Legend Seeker. Part-time Ghost Hunter. Time Traveler.

Thirteen-year-old Rose Skylar sneezed a magical storm cloud at birth, and it’s followed her around ever since. But when Stormy causes one too many public disasters, Rose is taken to Heartstone, an asylum for unstable magic. Its location? The heart of a haunted forest whose trees have mysteriously turned to stone.

They say the ghosts are bound to the woods … then why does Rose see them drifting outside the windows at night? And why is there a graveyard on the grounds filled with empty graves? Guided by her future selves via time…


Book cover of Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood

Craig Melvin Author Of Pops: Learning to Be a Son and a Father

From my list on for families dealing with addiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

My name is Craig Melvin and I’m an anchor on NBC’s Today show. I’m also a father to my two young kids, Delano and Sybil. Being a dad is so important to me because when you’re a parent, you’re charged with shaping and molding a solid human being whose empathetic, compassionate, and responsible. I don’t take the responsibility lightly. Of the many jobs I have, it’s the most important.  

Craig's book list on for families dealing with addiction

Craig Melvin Why did Craig love this book?

This book follows a dad’s written record of what happened immediately after each of his three children was born. His retelling of the tantrums and the way that your world becomes turned upside down with young kiddos is captured in a way that’s extremely funny, but also relatable. This book is honest and doesn’t sugarcoat what being a dad is really like.

By Michael Lewis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Home Game as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When Michael Lewis became a father, he decided to keep a written record of what actually happened immediately after the birth of each of his three children. This book is that record. But it is also something else: maybe the funniest, most unsparing account of ordinary daily household life ever recorded, from the point of view of the man inside. The remarkable thing about this story isn't that Lewis is so unusual. It's that he is so typical. The only wonder is that his wife has allowed him to publish it.


Book cover of Bad News

Tim Willis Author Of Madcap

From my list on madness, drugs, and rock’n’roll.

Why am I passionate about this?

Until the millennium, I was a features journalist with an abiding fascination in Sixties counter-culture. Being a friend of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, I heard Syd’s story first-hand. After having my own breakdown and psychiatric treatment, I decided to apply my experience and interests in writing an account of Syd’s short but sweet creative life. With Gilmour’s tacit blessing, his contemporaries – including Floyd co-founder Roger Waters – gave me access. And through interviewing them, I came to my own understanding of Barrett: by turns a crazy diamond and a dark globe.

Tim's book list on madness, drugs, and rock’n’roll

Tim Willis Why did Tim love this book?

No one captures the self-loathing and paradoxical liberty of the moneyed junkie as well as St Aubyn (except perhaps Anna Cavan). The second novel in his almost-autobiographical Patrick Melrose series, Bad News finds our fucked-up anti-hero on a gargantuan smack binge in New York at the age of 22. How the author – now clean – can reconstruct his frame of mind is remarkable; how he can do it with such precision and wit is mind-blowing.

By Edward St Aubyn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bad News as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bad News is the second of Edward St Aubyn's semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels, adapted for TV for Sky Atlantic and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as aristocratic addict, Patrick.

Twenty-two years old and in the grip of a massive addiction, Patrick Melrose is forced to fly to New York to collect his father's ashes. Over the course of a weekend, Patrick's remorseless search for drugs on the avenues of Manhattan, haunted by old acquaintances and insistent inner voices, sends him into a nightmarish spiral. Alone in his room at the Pierre Hotel, he pushes body and mind to the very edge -…


Book cover of Bartleby the Scrivener

R.H. Emmers Author Of Lynerkim's Dance and Other Stories

From my list on stories you should read (but probably haven’t).

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been attracted to the overlooked, the obscure, the forbidden. Maybe it’s as simple as the fact I grew up in a time when it seemed natural to rebel against norms. Or maybe it’s that I inherited an oddball gene from some ancient ancestor. Anyway, it led me to interesting adventures—hanging out with a crew of gun runners in eastern Turkey—and interesting career choices—strike organizer, private detective, etc. It also shaped my reading and my writing. I read everything, but I’m particularly drawn to the quirkyGrendel, the fiction of Christine Rivera Garza for instance. And in my writing too: Lynerkim, the protagonist of my novella, is undoubtedly an odd duck.

R.H.'s book list on stories you should read (but probably haven’t)

R.H. Emmers Why did R.H. love this book?

Everybody knows Ahab, but do you know Bartleby? It’s a strange story about a strange man, which, of course, attracts me. Bartleby is a lawyer’s copyist who decides he doesn’t want to do this sort of writing anymore and meets every instruction with the words: I would prefer not to. You can read Bartleby as simply a humorous tale. Or you can read it as a story of the existential crisis most writers, myself included, face at one time or the other. Melville was feeling dissatisfied with his choice of a writing career—the critics were unfriendly—and, in my opinion, the title character reflects this. It’s also, in my view, an implicit critique of economic control in America—my SDS youth would approve! It’s not for nothing that the story’s final words are: “Ah Bartleby! Ah humanity!”

By Herman Melville,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Bartleby the Scrivener as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

At the period just preceding the advent of Bartleby, I had two persons as copyists in my employment, and a promising lad as an office-boy. First, Turkey; second, Nippers; third, Ginger Nut. These may seem names, the like of which are not usually found in the Directory. In truth they were nicknames, mutually conferred upon each other by my three clerks, and were deemed expressive of their respective persons or characters.


Book cover of Once Upon a Marigold

Liz Montague Author Of The Equinox Test (School for Unusual Magic #1)

From my list on Magical worlds for young readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

I struggled a lot with reading as a kid, I would not call myself a natural reader at all. When I was young, fantasy and magic stories were one of the few genres that could grip me enough to make me actually focus and attempt to read but I always hated the ones that took themselves too seriously (they always felt impossibly long to get through). Now, as a children’s author, myself, it’s my hope and passion to serve fellow young-readers-who-don’t-consider-themselves-readers with fun accessible stories. I hope you enjoy!

Liz's book list on Magical worlds for young readers

Liz Montague Why did Liz love this book?

Another childhood favorite of mine and such a fun take on the princess happily-every-after trope!

This was the first book that ever made me laugh out loud (prior to this, I had not known books were allowed to be that funny).

Just seeing the title makes me smile.

By Jean Ferris,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Once Upon a Marigold as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 7, 8, 9, and 10.

What is this book about?

Christian was clueless when he started spying on the royal family through his telescope. He lives in a cave with a troll for a dad, after all. If his dad had only warned him about all that mind-boggling love stuff, maybe things wouldn't be such a mess. Although then, maybe, Princess Marigold would be dead. But Christian wasn't warned. And now that he's fallen for the princess, it's up to him to untwist an odd love triangle - er, rectangle - and foil a scheming queen who wants to take over the kingdom, even if it means bumping off her…


Book cover of The History of Mr. Polly

Maureen Thorpe Author Of Tangle of Time

From my list on how magic can change your life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Maureen's book list on how magic can change your life

Maureen Thorpe Why did Maureen love this book?

This book was first published in 1910. When I think of H.G. Wells, I think of his story about a time machine but this story, which I studied in school, was about changing your life, living your dream. Magic happens when Mr. Polly attempts suicide with the result that he becomes a hero and frees himself from the chains that bind him. I learned that all is possible. One does not need to be young, beautiful, and run a 4-minute mile to achieve one’s goals. With this thought in mind, I have run a marathon and entered two triathlons, finishing both and not coming last! I began my writing career at 70 years of age and am now the author of 5 books on mystery, history, and magic. 

By H.G. Wells,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The History of Mr. Polly as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Mr Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife's nagging and his dreary job as the owner of a regional gentleman's outfitters. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he concludes that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is by burning his shop to the ground, and killing himself. Unexpected events, however, conspire at the last moment to lead the bewildered Mr Polly to a bright new future - after he saves a life, fakes his death, and escapes to a life of heroism, hope and ultimate happiness.


Book cover of Martha Speaks

Elizabeth Suneby Author Of No Room for a Pup!

From my list on for dog lovers.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up, my brothers and I begged for a dog, but our parents never gave in. Fortunately, when my kids begged for a pup, my husband and I gave in. So, as a children’s book writer, I wanted to give kids a book to help them convince their parents that there’s always room for a pup in the family, and at the same time, subtly emphasize the importance of gratitude and inclusion.  

Elizabeth's book list on for dog lovers

Elizabeth Suneby Why did Elizabeth love this book?

Martha Speaks is a classic for good reason. How can you not get attached to a dog who is fed vegetable soup that goes to her brain, not her stomach, and then is able to speak--incessantly? This fun book is the basis for the Emmy-nominated PBS TV series of the same name. Read and watch away!

By Susan Meddaugh,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Martha Speaks as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

When Helen Finney feeds alphabet soup to her dog, Martha, it goes straight up to her brain, and Martha begins to speak! The basis for the Emmy-nominated PBS series.

Having a talking dog is a lot of fun--unless your dog never stops talking! When chatty Martha gives her family the silent treatment they're relieved at first, but then they get worried. Will Martha ever speak again?


Book cover of Yertle the Turtle

Alex Beard Author Of The Lying King

From my list on parables that teach us valuable lessons.

Why am I passionate about this?

The role of the parable is an important one to help understand the roots of right and wrong. We live in such a fractured and untrusting world, that I think it’s important to rediscover the simple truths of honesty and integrity over-ambition, and the pursuit of power for its own sake. And so, I have an interest in the topic because I am a citizen hoping for a better world, and an expertise in the subject because I’m a father raising two children in that same fractious environment.

Alex's book list on parables that teach us valuable lessons

Alex Beard Why did Alex love this book?

Dr. Seuss is the master of the parable. Yertle the Turtle is a classic example of an illustrated picture book with a point about the pitfalls of unbridled ambition, and while I chose this book to highlight, The Lorax is another great example of a story with an equally consequential moral.

By Dr. Seuss,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Yertle the Turtle as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, 5, and 6.

What is this book about?

In this hilarious book, featuring three timeless fables, Dr. Seuss explores the pitfalls of growing too big for your boots!

King Yertle the Turtle soon learns the pitfalls of becoming too big for your boots, in the first tale in this hilarious trio of classic Dr. Seuss fables!

As part of a major rebrand programme, HarperCollins is relaunching Dr. Seuss's bestselling books, including such perennial favourites as The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and Fox in Socks. In response to consumer demand, the bright new cover designs incorporate much needed guidance on reading levels, with the standard…