This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
For an author, writing a funny book can be hard. Harder than the words lightly tripping off the page would have you believe. A funny book can also be personal to the reader, too. What makes one person chuckle may have another throwing it at the wall. Not that we partake in a lot of book throwing here at Novelicious HQ …
Many of the books by Marian Keyes, which involve Mammy Walsh especially, get a big thumbs up for belly laughs from the Novelicious team. She is such a naturally funny character. Rachel’s Holiday in particular stands out for Novelicious reviewer, Susan and Kerry could actually quote a memorably funny line from Anybody Out There: I rang my mother to thank her for giving birth to me and she said, “Sure. What choice had I? You were in there, how else were you going to get out?”’. Marian Keyes aside, here are our five picks:
1. A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger by Lucy Robinson – For Cressida, this had her snorting with laughter and her family were completely ignored whilst she was reading it. Charley has always worked hard on creating a perfect life and is a complete workaholic. Then she breaks her leg. Not only does she have to take three months off work, but she has to hand over the reins to her evil deputy. Plus, the boss she’d put a good seven hard years flirting with goes and proposes to someone else. All is not lost, however. When Charley starts up a new business, everything changes …
2. Yours Truly by Kirsty Greenwood – Okay, she might be our boss, but we all chuckled at Yours Truly. Kerry snorted with laughter from the first page, Debs still laughs at the description of the bowling ball hair cut and Amanda got very embarrassed when she laughed loudly whilst reading this on the tube. Personally, I love Natalie’s expressions, which had me snickering each time. Fandabidozi (a catchphrase of The Krankies if I’m not mistaken) and Where the pickle am I? are just a few of my favourites.
3. Love from Both Sides by Nick Spalding – Showing both sides of the dating game – in the form of a blog for Jamie and a diary for Laura, our other Kirsty had to close the book while reading, simply because she couldn’t breathe for laughing. Rather dangerously funny.
4. Talking to Addison by Jenny Colgan – A big favourite of Kirsty Greenwood’s. She likes its quirkiness and sarcasm plus she says the heroine is such a lovely numpty. This is Jenny’s second novel about Holly who moves in with Josh, Kate and the gorgeous but withdrawn, Addison.
5. My Life on a Plate by India Knight – Reviewer Kate Appleton loves laughing at My Life on a Plate, India’s first novel, describing it as an oldie but a goodie. Clara (Jabba the) Hutt has achieved the goal of husband, house and children. However, her life appears to be far from perfect …