Readers > Adult & teen lists > Humorous Reads
Humorous Reads
All titles shelved in Fiction collection, except as noted: M=mystery, SF=science fiction, SS=short story collection, Y=young adult, W=western.
Dark Humor
- Atkinson, Kate
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(2000)This comic novel explores the power of language and family.
- Cheever, Benjamin
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(1999)"Hilarious and just bad-natured enough to be cruel (that is, accurate) in its satire of modern greed and fame, an across the board winner." Kirkus Reviews
- Cronley, Jay
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(1997)"Joe hires Tish, a beautiful hitwoman, to kill his wife Carolyn, and Carolyn hires hitman Danny to kill her husband Joe, but when neither Joe or Carolyn are home the night of the designated killings, it seems like the two killers may find true love." Amazon.com
- Dunn, Mark
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(2004)In this novel written entirely in footnotes, Dunn holds up a funhouse mirror at the pedestaled residents of the age and asks why so many of the more famous ones did so many stupid things and rarely got called for them.
- Reilly, Rick
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(2000)"...dead on parody of the inner workings of big time basketball." Publishers Weekly
- Wickham, Madeleine
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(2000)Lively prose needles the British upper class with a mixture of suspense and wit in this quirky tale of the escapades of Fleur the funeral crasher.
General Fiction
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(1999)This serial novel of related short stories tells of the shenanigans that took place in a Dublin Hotel facing demolition.
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(2000)This is an almost-all-girl reprise of the collaborative fiction Finbar's Hotel.
- Dawson, Carol
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(1999)"A virtuosic blend of boisterous comedy and rueful family drama....a raffish, funny, and touching dispatch form the sex and marriage wars." Kirkus Reviews
- Evaristo, Bernardine
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(2002)This quasi-historical novel, written in free verse, offers an irreverent and anachronistic portrait of Roman London.
- Hecht, Julie
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(1998)"Isabelle is a riot; preternaturally observant and routinely terrified, she suffers through an inordinate amount of dental work, wears dark glasses at all times, and is afraid of buses with windows that don't open ..." Booklist
- Heller, Jane
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(1999)"...an entertaining and amusing story....readers will be smiling broadly."
Library Journal - Heywood, Joseph
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(2000)"...absorbing narrative is part Tom Robbins, part David Copperfield with the Robbinesque taking over near the end." Publishers Weekly
- Mackay, Shena
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(1999)A witty, acerbic exploration of the artistic impulse is revealed when a dead painter's family gathers to view his unfinished works.
- McIlvoy, Kevin
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(1998)"Often hilarious charming, unpretentious, deep, poetic, life-filled. Life, tears, comedy, and love pour out of it at all points." Kirkus Reviews
- Reid, Van
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(1999)This is the fourth in the mysterious, comic, historical Moosepath League series.
- Richardson, Bill
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(1996)Eccentric twin brothers maintain a bed and breakfast on an island near Vancouver.
Mystery & Suspense
- Barry, Dave
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(1999)"A delightful romp through the less noble side of Miami life." Booklist
- Edwards, Ruth Dudley
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(1999)MEdwards jabs the Establishment with the misadventures of civil servant Robert Amiss and his sleuthing partner.
- Gorman, Edward
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(2002)MVice President Richard Milhous Nixon is coming to town and Judge Esme Whitney enlists Iowa detective Sam McCain to prevent the population of Black River Falls from looking like "a bunch of hillbillies."
- Hautman, Pete
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(1999)"A hilarious take on the larcenous lemmings that swarm around a lottery winner." Kirkus Reviews
Romance
- Crusie, Jennifer
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(1999)"sexy, lighthearted confection…one of the few in the genre (romance) who can make you laugh out loud." Kirkus Reviews
- Cusk, Rachel
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(1997)"Witty, sharp, strangely good natured – for fans of Cold Comfort Farm..." Kirkus Reviews
- Goldsmith, Olivia
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(2000)"Lots of romance and revenge ... all of it pleasingly funny ..." Book World
- Holden, Wendy
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(2001)Anna gives up men forever, becomes a nanny and finds herself living with a family whose members are caricatures of her worst dreams. Who will save her? Will it be the Scotsman Jamie, heir to a castle?
- Schine, Cathleen
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(1998)"A beautifully descriptive travelogue of the Galápagos, loaded with mini-lectures on natural history, evolutionary theory and Darwiniana, wrapped around a rollicking family saga tinged with hints of sexual intrigue." New York Times Book Review