Reading and Laughing!

It has to be a really funny book to make me laugh out loud!  I have noticed that laughing out loud when reading in a public place attracts raised eyebrows.  Laughing out loud in a private place can result in an interesting outcome.  I remember reading in bed next to my wife, who was also engrossed in a book, when I started to shake with laughter.  When the rocking caused her to lose her place she looked up and sounding a bit like a librarian scolding a noisy teenager, asked me what it was that was so funny. I was reading John Steinbeck's novel "Sweet Thursday" and so I briefly outlined the story and then read her the section where Hazel (so called because he was nuts) breaks into Doc's (the marine biologist) house whilst Doc is asleep and using a baseball bat breaks Doc's arm.  Why that is hysterically funny will only be revealed if you read the book!

 

Whilst on the subject of novels and books, and recognizing I have a big following on the west side of the Atlantic, I would like to mention another excellent American author, Bill Bryson.  Bryson has a huge following in the UK where his books are always best sellers and have me (and Rosalind) laughing our socks off!

 

The introduction to him on Wiki reads:-

 

William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, FRS (/ˈbraɪsən/; born December 8, 1951) is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and science. Born in the United States, he was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before returning to the U.S. in 1995. In 2003 Bryson moved back to Britain, living in the old rectory of Wramplingham, Norfolk, and served as chancellor of Durham University from 2005 through 2011.
Bryson shot to prominence in the United Kingdom with the publication of Notes from a Small Island (1995), an exploration of Britain, and its accompanying television series. He received widespread recognition again with the publication of A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003), a book widely acclaimed for its accessible communication of science.

Bryson has written the following books (those in red I have read and can recommend):

Travel

• The Palace under the Alps and Over 200 Other Unusual, Unspoiled and Infrequently Visited Spots in 16 European Countries (1985)
• The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1989)
• Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe (1991)
• Notes from a Small Island (1995). (Adapted for television by Carlton Television in 1998)
• A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1998) (Featuring Stephen Katz)
• Notes from a Big Country (UK) / I'm a Stranger Here Myself (U.S.) (1999)
• Down Under (UK) / In a Sunburned Country (U.S.) (2000)
• Bill Bryson's African Diary (2002) (travels in Africa for CARE International)
• Walk About (2002) (Combined in one volume are Down Under and A Walk in the Woods)

Language

• The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words (1984)
• Made in America (UK) / Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States (U.S.) (1994)
• The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way (U.S.) / Mother Tongue: The English Language (UK) (1990) (Adapted for Journeys in English (2004) BBC Radio 4)
• Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (2002)
• Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors (2008)

Science

• A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)
• A Really Short History of Nearly Everything (2008) (Children's version of 2003 book)
• On the Shoulders of Giants (editor, 2009)
• Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery and the Genius of the Royal Society (editor, 2010)

Biography

• Shakespeare: The World as Stage (2007)

History

• Icons of England (2008)
• At Home: A Short History of Private Life (2010) Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-60827-5. OCLC 761512787.
• One Summer: America 1927 (2013)^[23]

Memoir

• The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (2006)

I suggest you start with The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, I stirred up a departure lounge of people reading it!