Looking for fun reading. . .

[Colleen]

I was introduced to David Sedaris this summer and am so glad that I was! However, I am now wondering what else there is out there for me to read that will keep me giggling on the bus ride home. Any suggestions?

[Rachel]

Hi Colleen,
Here's a novel suggestion: I'm reading a Nick Hornby book that has me in stitches. Though not quite the same as Sedaris (I hear his sister, Amy, is pretty funny, too), he'll keep you amused. I've been meaning to read his novels for years and finally picked up How to Be Good. I'm hooked and will be moving on to High Fidelity and his first novel soon.

Adam Gopnick's essays in the New Yorker are always fun and he has a book of essays--From Paris to the Moon (at least I think that's what it's called) which is supposed to be very, very fun. Essays and short stories always seem like better bus reading to me...I've read some of the Gopnick esssays in this anthology, but haven't picked up the book itself. It's on the list, too. Other than that, I've been either reading my daughter's YA novels this summer or more heavy-duty nonfiction, neither of which are suited to bus reading particularly unless you either are either completely oblivious to what anyone thinks (a man next to me on a plane in May was clearly dying to start a conversation and I was resolutely reading a Richard Peck book geared toward ages 9 and up. I finally deigned to talk to him during landing and discovered that he was a new to the area linguistics professor teaching at San Diego State and he might have been fun to chat with for longer. His remark to me, after a bit, was an incredulous, "Is that a children's book you were reading???" The other end of what I've been reading takes too much concentration, at least for a bear of little brain such as myself, to read on a bus.

Speaking of Richard Peck, try A Long Way from Chicago. Hysterical short stories set in the late twenties about a brother and sister who are farmed out (literally) from their city home in Chicago to spend the summer with their very, very iconoclastic granny. I think it got, or was up for a National Book Award, so despite the juvenile audience, no embarrassment involved and perfectly suited for adults.

Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty Someday is my favorite, except for the elf essay in Barrel Fever, which is must-reading. I haven't gotten to the new one (or gotten the new one yet). Let me know what else you're enjoying!

rachel

[D]

I was hoping more would respond here, since I have been looking for some good humor lately. I also love Sedaris, and am looking forward to his new book.

I looked through my many "read" books, and for as much as I think I enjoy humorous fiction, I sure read a lot of serious and/or depressing books. Oh well.

Here are some ideas:

I really liked "I Love You, Beth Cooper." Someone else reviewed it and didn't like it, but I thought it was hilarious. Juvenile at times in a Superbad way (not quite that crude) but funny.

Two of the funniest books I've read are "Ibid" by Mark Dunn and "The Tetherballs of Bougainville" by Mark Leyner. Ibid is silly but quite funny, Tetherballs might be a litmus test. I really don't think it is for everyone. Quite strange, but I loved it.

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is very funny sci-fi.

A lot of the books that I thought were funny aren't mainly humor. "Catch-22" by Heller made me laugh a lot, but is also dark. "The Sot-Weed Factor" by Barth and "Confederacy of Dunces" by Toole are very funny but also very literary. "The Great American Novel" by Roth was funny, but maybe only if you are a baseball fan. "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Eggers made me laugh and almost cry, too.

For pure humor, you can try "Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans" which are short works taken from the website McSweeneys.net. Funny stuff.

[Colleen]

Have you ever read John Welter? His books always seem hard to find but are pretty good. I really like "Begin to Exit Here" and "Night of the Avenging Blowfish: A Novel of Covert Operations, Love, and Luncheon Meat". "I Want to Buy a Vowel" just didn't tickle me the way the other two did.

(I'm trying out the formatting tips from the "some html is ok" link. . . see how it goes!)

I tried reading "Confederacy of Dunces" over winter break and got about 1/2 way through and had to stop. Might have to try it again - I've heard it is amazing but I tend to lean towards more mindless pleasure reading.


Thanks for the ideas! Any other suggestions? I'll take as many as I can get! I just finished my last Sedaris of the summer and had a rough start on a "serious" book so am in the market for the good humor.

[Dan]

I'd definitely have to agree on D's suggestion of "Confederacy of Dunces". I just read it for the first time last year, and while it is more than just humorous, I enjoyed the complete absurdity and genius of the main character, Ignatius Reilly.

[Penny]

I haven't read this book but have heard that it is funny it is "Remember Me" by Sophie Kinsella. It's about a girl that had a head injury which causes amnesia and she can't remember the last three or so years of her life. My co-worker read this book and thought it was funny. It is on my list to read!

[D]

I will put John Welter on my list. I have to say that I'm not sure how many I listed could be called "mindless pleasure reading" since I don't tend towards those books. Maybe the last one - "Created in Darkness..."

[Rachel]

I have to admit I love Nick Hornby. He's one of my fluffy, fun, not-so-guilty pleasures. I haven't actually read the two that are now movies, High Fidelity and About a Boy, but How to Be Good is absolutely a hoot and I'm currently reading A Long Way Down, which is the hysterical account (written in 4 voices) of 4 strangers who meet on a rooftop on New Year's Eve, all intent on killing themselves. As the first two negotiate over a stepladder that the original potential suicidee has had the perspicacity to bring along, two more appear, one a pizza delivery guy with pizzas. Hornby's style is charming without verging too far into being precious, and I must admit to laughing out loud several times while reading this one.

Ooops! I just reread this along with the whole string of correspondence and hey, I wrote almost the same thing last year! I guess some things haven't changed too much. Maybe I need to get a life. Would you believe, PG Wodehouse?

[Marlo]

Check out the Summer Reading Contest's website for more Reading Suggestions :)
http://sshl.ucsd.edu/summer/suggestio...

[Colleen]

Rachel (And everyone else)-

I read A Long Way Down last year! It was quite entertaining! I always love to read about how people randomly meet and forge friendships/forced bonds through tragedy (or near tragedy). If you like that melding of stories you should totally read the book I just finished - People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I should warn you, definitely not a "fun/light" book - but so interesting! It is great to read about all the different people that influenced and moved/saved the Sarajevo Haggadah. And so much history!

[Michele]

I think Bill Bryson is a fun read with some substance. He does a lot of travel writing like "Notes From a Big Country" which I read for this contest last year. He also wrote "A Short History of Nearly Everything" which is both entertaining and informative.

[gayatri]

A couple of years ago I discovered the elizabeth george mysteries using this fun website-- http://www.whichbook.net/default.aspx I like it because you can search by categories like optimistic, happy, or funny, as well as character/plot/setting. It's maintained by library staff in England, Wales and Scotland who include books of fiction and poetry in paperback written in or translated into English and published since 1995.

[Marlo]

Eat, Pray, Love is a great book, if you're interested in traveling through Italy, India, and Indonesia :) The book is humorous with self-reflection throughout. Highly recommend this one. I didn't want it to end!
http://roger.ucsd.edu/record=b5196848~S9

[Charlotte]

"Good Grief" had me laughing out loud all the time. In fact, I may have startled some folks on the shuttle with my occasional outbursts. The overall story is a basically a downer (tragedy and mayhem) but the main character is just too quirky to not love. It gets too be a bit outrageous as the novel wraps up but it's certainly entertaining.

[Charlotte]

Oh, if you have any interest in cheesy vampire/supernatural critters with a touch of southern flair check out the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlene Harris. Very quick and fun reading material, I read each book in just a few days.

(Ps. They are the books with spurred the HBO TV series "True Blood".)