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Looking for light, clean, laugh out loud books


Ottakee
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You can't go wring with Wodehouse!

 

Miss Read has 2 wonderful series, Thrush Green or Fairacre.  Not hilarious but really charming.  Wry humor here and there for sure.  Very calming, I find.  

 

Thank you for asking this question - I'm sure many will benefit from the answers!

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Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison is one of my favorites that I always recommend.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Whatever-You-Do-Dont-Run/dp/0762796472

 

It has short tales, so is easy to read even with a busy schedule.

 

His second book, "Don't Look Behind You" is worth it too as he had some good tales left to tell, but the first book is better IMO.  We didn't care for How To Walk Puma.  It's not a bad book, but not in the same league (to us).

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Another vote for Wodehouse. 


David Sedaris Me Talk Pretty One Day 

Durrell's My Family and Other Animals. Often found in kids sections of library but I enjoyed reading it. 

an old book and sometimes hard to find but a real LOL: Our Hearts were Young & Gay by Skinner & Kimbrough. It was a bestseller in the 40s. It's very silly and innocent. 

 

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Define clean?  How clean? 

 

The Peter Allison books have a bit of raunch in them. (He was a young adult in the 60s/70s.) 

 

As do Patrick McManus' short stories.  Oh my, laughter to the point of tears.  We've read a some of Pat's stories at the dinner table: laughter to the point of tears and inability to breathe!

 

 

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Seconding  My Family and Other Animals. :)

 

To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis--you do not have to have read Three Men in a Boat in order to enjoy it, but Three Men.. is hilarious as well.

 

Bellwether, also by Connie Willis

 

The Moosepath League series--begin with Cordelia Underwood 

 

Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson --has a few  choice words and innuendos (so don't read aloud to the kids), but very funny.

 

 

 

 

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Not the books, but I don't know 20+ years ago PBS had "Jeeves and Wooster" on Masterpiece featuring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.  I loved the series (and the music). :)  I ended up reading the books because of the TV show.

I have a CD of the music.

 

Some of the additional songs though were only avail as bootlegged mp3s. "Minnie the Moocher" and "47 ginger headed sailors" I think were two of them...  

Edited by hornblower
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I read “Skipping Christmas “ by John grisholm , out loud to the family while,driving cross. Ountry for Christmas. Laughed out loud! If you’ve seen. Hristmas with the Kranks, it’s based in ththe book, it the movie was dumb.

 

I recall liking The Christmas Train “ by David Baldacci. Currently a new movie release, but I haven’t seen the movie.

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Define clean?  How clean? 

 

The Peter Allison books have a bit of raunch in them. (He was a young adult in the 60s/70s.) 

 

As do Patrick McManus' short stories.  Oh my, laughter to the point of tears.  We've read a some of Pat's stories at the dinner table: laughter to the point of tears and inability to breathe!

I have read (many years ago) Patrick McManus and loved them.  

 

I want fairly clean but a few words, etc here and there are fine.  I just didn't want books based on raunchy situations or the F bomb every 3rd word as some think that is funny.

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WOW, Thanks.  I now have a lot of audio books and ebooks on my wish list and requested.  I knew the WTM book club would come through.  This was much better than any searches I did.

 

I loved this series if anyone else finds humor with the elderly   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1644451.Out_to_Pasture There are several books in the series that are good for lots of chuckles.

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I agree with many of the above, though for McCall-Smith Iprefer the Scotland Street books.

 

Another possibility are the Vinyl Cafe stories by Stuart McLean - they are set up to be about one story per chapter, though the stories all go together, so they are nice for light reading.

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Another vote for Wodehouse. 

 

 

David Sedaris Me Talk Pretty One Day 

 

Durrell's My Family and Other Animals. Often found in kids sections of library but I enjoyed reading it. 

 

an old book and sometimes hard to find but a real LOL: Our Hearts were Young & Gay by Skinner & Kimbrough. It was a bestseller in the 40s. It's very silly and innocent. 

 

 

 

I love David Sedaris (saw him live a few weeks ago) but he might not fit the bill of 'clean', depending on the OP's views.

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  • 2 years later...
On 11/17/2017 at 2:35 PM, Baseball mom said:

I know this is a really old thread, but I gotta say thanks again for this recommendation. It's the perfect thing to read before bed, instead of the news. So, so funny. 

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11 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Not literary classics, but they make me chuckle: The comedian, Jim Gaffigan, has written 2 books that are both clean and funny; Dad is Fat and Food: A Love Story.

 

His wife wrote a book too about her brain tumor, which was excellent.  It was funny and touching.   

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7 hours ago, elroisees said:

I know this is a really old thread, but I gotta say thanks again for this recommendation. It's the perfect thing to read before bed, instead of the news. So, so funny. 

Miss Fortune series by Jana DeLeon ,Must read in order but will be laughing out loud.

Book 1 https://www.amazon.com/Louisiana-Longshot-Miss-Fortune-Mystery-ebook/dp/B008E9VENQ/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1510925591&sr=8-9&keywords=miss+fortune+series

************

And currently a free ebook for Kindle....

Edited by vmsurbat1
To link free ebook
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On 11/16/2017 at 6:16 PM, Ottakee said:

WOW, Thanks.  I now have a lot of audio books and ebooks on my wish list and requested.  I knew the WTM book club would come through.  This was much better than any searches I did.

 

I loved this series if anyone else finds humor with the elderly   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1644451.Out_to_Pasture There are several books in the series that are good for lots of chuckles.

I love that book series too! So funny!

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On 11/16/2017 at 7:40 AM, marbel said:

I was going to suggest PG Wodehouse too.    The Code of the Woosters is one favorite of mine.  

I'm reading the Psmith books aloud to my 15-year-old son right now. They crack me up! I especially like Psmith, Journalist. And they are all available for free online.

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