what to read next: very funny, very sweet, nothing too distressing

August 5, 2024 11:26 AM

Asking yet again: I'd like to read something very funny, with likeable, kind characters in a plot where nothing terribly bad happens. Any genre, any era, but women authors especially welcome, and probably more modern voices are closer to my current mood.

For this particular question, I am especially looking for that difficult sweet spot where things are REALLY FUNNY but not at all mean.

If the book can make me laugh out loud at least once and snicker audibly several times, it's a winner.

Silly is fine; bad puns are fine.

I've seen many recommendations for P. G. Wodehouse and Terry Pratchett, so I've got those covered.

I've liked Naomi Kritzer, Becky Chambers, Connie Willis, Terry Pratchett, Jasmine Guillory. (I do not necessarily laugh out loud at all their books, but they fit the general likeability vibe.)

My similar question in 2021: Book recommendations: likable characters, good writing, humor

Thank you!

posted by kristi to Media & Arts (28 answers total)

Would you be open to memoir? Or only fiction?

Is fan fiction okay? Or only fiction published by a traditional book or magazine publisher?
posted by brainwane at 11:45 AM on August 5

T. Kingfisher
posted by bq at 11:45 AM on August 5 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Ooh, excellent question, brainwane! Sure, nonfiction and memoir are fine - and fanfic is DEFINITELY fine! After I posted, I remembered some of the amazing stuff I've read on AO3 and thought I should have mentioned that in my question. So yes please to all!
posted by kristi at 11:53 AM on August 5

Response by poster: bq, any particular works that would especially fit this ask? I've read (and enjoyed) A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, so thanks for reminding me of her stuff!
posted by kristi at 11:56 AM on August 5

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente, Douglas Adams meets Eurovision
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst, cozy fantasy about a rogue librarian, a talking spider plant, and lots of jam (Big Idea post on jscalzi's Whatever)
posted by indexy at 11:57 AM on August 5 [2 favorites]

Most recent favorite lighthearted cozy reads:

- The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Mandanna.
- A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
- Legends and Lattes by Baldree
- The House in the Cereulean Sea by TJ Klune (sequel is coming soon!)

I'd also look for Cozy book recommendations and follow those. Curious to hear what other folks say!
posted by mulkey at 11:57 AM on August 5 [3 favorites]

You might also like this recent thread - more focused on scifi but some good stuff in here.
posted by mulkey at 12:07 PM on August 5

I think Frogkisser by Garth Nix would fit the bill.

(I see that StoryGraph does have a few content warnings though; they must not have made a strong impression on me.)
posted by demi-octopus at 12:14 PM on August 5

Can’t Spell Treason without Tea and A Pirate’s Life for Tea by Rebecca Thorne.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 12:33 PM on August 5

I just read Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland, and laughed out loud multiple times, and had an all-around good time. Rather bawdy, if that's a dealbreaker, but in a fun, queer way.
posted by yasaman at 12:53 PM on August 5

Ladybusiness has in 2020 and in 2018 recommended comforting or cozy SF/F, and more recently discussed cozy SFF more broadly in case that helps you consider what you are seeking!
posted by brainwane at 1:13 PM on August 5

Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford. Bamford is such a warm, loving person and so darn funny.
posted by CMcG at 3:04 PM on August 5 [2 favorites]

Anti recommendation for Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente as there is bad shit happening on earth such as internment camps.
posted by poxandplague at 3:15 PM on August 5 [1 favorite]

Margo's Got Money Troubles

Super fun, light read. Humorous and intelligent. Highly recommend!
posted by Kangaroo at 3:29 PM on August 5 [3 favorites]

Dreadful, by Caitlin Rozakis (disclaimer, a friend), is delightful.
posted by pollytropos at 4:12 PM on August 5

Lately the Legends and Lattes books (fantasy) were extremely cozy and chill, Scalzi's Red Shirts (humor/sci fi) was fun, chill, humanistic and Starter Villain was funny (Laughed out loud pretty loud once - chuckled or smiled regularly while reading), and in the historical literary category: The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey was very cozy. This book does have some tense and some sad plot lines but I experienced it as very cozy.

spoiler for more on this book

It has a happy ending, So much so that I who was not looking for that in particular was a little annoyed. But it resolves the sad and conflictual moments into a really beautiful and pleasing wrap up and overall the book is just so beautiful and soothing in it's pacing and descriptions

posted by latkes at 4:18 PM on August 5 [2 favorites]

Don't know why this synapse is firing, but: All My Patients Are Under The Bed. It's the memoirs of an NYC vet who made house calls and primarily worked with cats; the editor started out as one of his clients and was so charmed by the guy that he talked the guy into a book deal.

Imagine what All Creatures Great And Small would be like if James Herriot were a feisty Italian dude from Brooklyn instead of a country vet from Yorkshire.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:00 PM on August 5 [1 favorite]

Not written by a woman or recent but how I became a famous novelist is very funny. Not sure how it holds up nowadays (probably some sexism but maybe not?).
posted by bookworm4125 at 7:03 PM on August 5

Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession fits the bill exactly. His other two books are also wonderful but veer towards depressing.
posted by tofu_crouton at 8:01 PM on August 5 [1 favorite]

Katherine Heiny's books are perfect for this.
posted by Grunyon at 1:43 AM on August 6

Wish You Weren't Here: cozy family story about hunting ghosts and demons, and the (possible) end of the world.
posted by jb at 9:34 AM on August 6 [1 favorite]

James McBride's Deacon King Kong is I-had-a-big-smile-the-whole-time-I-was-reading funny and very heartwarming though there is some wistful sadness and some peril in it it's more adventure vibes than frightening to me. Right now I'm reading his The Good Lord Bird which is similarly very warm and funny while also being about slavery and John Brown so that's a caveat on the good vibes.
posted by latkes at 10:33 AM on August 6

It's old but Robert Asprin's Myth series is fun. The Phule series is a little more serious but fun too. He does have some books that are more serious so try to stay with those series.
posted by stray thoughts at 4:59 PM on August 6

Have you read the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde? It’s an fast moving fantasy detective series that takes place in an alternate-history England. In the first book The Eyre Affair the main character, a policewoman from an under-funded “Special Branch” becomes wrapped up in a plot by a cartoonish supervillain family to hold the nation hostage by using a mad scientists device to enter “Bookworld” and change the plot of Charlotte Bronte’s famous book. Later stories get her more fully enmeshed in Bookworld’s inhabitants and their incursions into the real world. There is some violence in that the supervillain family is extremely brilliant but nuts — picture Michelle Gomez as Missy in Doctor Who. But it’s a delightful read and I highly recommend finding print versions, not ebooks, because Fforde plays with footnotes the way Pratchett does.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:15 PM on August 6 [1 favorite]

Does it have to be written for adults? If not, pick up Ursula Vernon's Hamster Princess books, and Castle Hangnail. They're great. All the style and humour of her T. Kingfisher books, none of the severed heads (which maybe you are not in a mood for).

Contemporary fiction? Jane Ions, Domestic Bliss and Other Disasters. Genuinely made me laugh out loud a couple of times, which is a real rarity - I'm more the amused smile sort of reader. The protagonist is my age (late forties) but reads like someone a generation adrift in terms of things like familiarity with technology, which is a little odd, but entirely forgivable in such a nice book.

Regency romance? Sophie Irwin, A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting.

Both of those have sequels, incidentally, which I've not yet read but have high hopes for.

Regency romance - with dragons? Stephanie Burgis, Scales and Sensibility and Claws and Contrivances.

And, seconding Jasper Fforde, whose books are an utter delight. I'm glad I left this half-written overnight; The Pluto Gangsta did a much better job of the recommendation than I would have done!
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:19 AM on August 7

My Family And Other Animals by Durrell are funny and full of charming animals and silly people. The TV versions all suck IMHO-- the books are great.
posted by The otter lady at 1:06 PM on August 9 [2 favorites]

Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire. Funny memoir about a rare bookseller in London. Very charming book, short and sweet.

Slightly Chipped by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone. Another memoir about book collectors, also funny and charming.

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish. Okay so this does deal with a 54 year old woman's passing, and there are some poignant moments. But there's a lot of bonding, friendships, and love in this book. It's one of my favorites of the past couple of years
posted by annieb at 3:22 PM on August 12

Response by poster: I will come back with more replies and best answers but I wanted to say I've started Margo's Got Money Troubles and it's FANTASTIC.

THANK YOU, Kangaroo!
posted by kristi at 12:37 PM on September 7