I’ve just finished off the Woodward trilogy on the Trump years, and before that have read books like White Rage about racism in America. I need a break from the depressing state of affairs today.
What are some light and funny books that I can read? I love history, so amusing takes on that are an option. Bill Bryson did the genre to perfection, but now he’s retired, and I have everything of his except his Dictionary of Troublesome Words.
Please no Sedaris. Not a fan. And Dave Barry sure isn’t what he used to be.
Other than that, please put forth and briefly describe your suggestions.
I didn’t think I’d like Georgian period romances written in the 1930s, but then I found Georgette Heyer and realised that in fact I love them. Consistently witty, with the settings, period detail - especially the language - and characters all sufficiently strong that the fact you know the spirited young heiress will in fact end up with the haughty yet kindly viscount 12 years her senior doesn’t deter you at all. Like Wodehouse, it’s the journey, not the destination. Bonus - she wrote a lot of them, so if you do like them you’ll be set for a while.
One of the reasons I read romance is because it ends happy.
The outside world might suck and probably will continue to get worse, but inside this book, these two (or more) fictional people will carve out a place where things work out for them.
It’s nice.
I’m happy to give specifics if someone wants them.
I’m considering Terry Pratchett, having heard good things about Disc World.
The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody sounds like something I’d like.
The Phantom Tollbooth is another possibility. Please feel free to suggest younger reads. I LOVED the Little House series, and even a few American Girl Mysteries. Although those American Girl Mysteries have been discontinued. Sometimes reading something below adult level is a wonderful restful experience for the brain.
Can’t really go wrong with Pratchett, but don’t start chronologically. He got so much better after his first few, though the early ones were worthy efforts.
If you start with the Tiffany Aching series as already suggested, I think you’ll be delighted.
I would suggest “Good Omens” by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It’s basically a completely tongue-in-cheek, humorous accounting of the apocalypse, but pretty much exactly as you’d expect from those two working together.
It’s laugh out loud funny in parts, and chock full of smaller jokes and social commentary. And strangely, despite being about the apocalypse, it’s a feel-good book.
Heyer’s novels aren’t laugh-out-loud funny. Their charm is wit, plus Heyer’s amazingly detailed accuracy about the Regency period. She apparently had her own personal archives of contemporary publications with an emphasis on the idioms in use at the time. They’re definitely not gushy. (Were any English romance novels ever gushy? Heyer is closer to stiff-upper-lip romance.)
Different books entirely: you might try the Bandy Papers, written by a Canadian, Donald Jack, about the experiences of a young Canadian soldier in the trenches, and eventually in the air, during World War I. The background is serious, but the situations are funny.