Smile while Reading

Because sometimes I want to read a book that will make me laugh out loud or at least make me smile while reading, here is a list of titles, in no particular order, that did just that. The recession has made things a bit serious and we all need to feel a little lighter.

Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas
Dumas and her family moved from Iran to Southern California, arriving with no firsthand knowledge of this country beyond her father's glowing memories of his graduate school years here. More family soon followed, and the clan has been here ever since. Funny in Farsi chronicles the American journey of Dumas's wonderfully engaging family

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
Welcome to Chelsea's world -- a place where absurdity reigns supreme and a quick wit is the best line of defense. In this hilarious, deliciously skewed collection, Chelsea mines her past for stories about her family, relationships, and career that are at once singular and ridiculous.

Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks
An international bestseller, this hilarious travel
adventure narrated in Hawk's ready sense of the absurd, his self-deprecatory charm, and his warm appreciation of the Irish and their traditionally immoderate characteristics combine to make this a resoundingly good read, offering a tantalizing glimpse of grassroots Ireland captured in a wonderful blend of perception and humor.

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
With her completely accessible voice, and dry sense of humor, Ephron speaks frankly and uproariously about life as a woman of a certain age. Utterly courageous, wickedly funny, and unexpectedly moving in its truth telling, it is a book of wisdom, advice, and laugh-out-loud moments, a scrumptious, irresistible treat.

The Adrian Mole Diaries by Sue Townsend
British teenager Adrian Mole excruciatingly details every morsel of his turbulent adolescence. Delightfully self-centered, Adrian is the sort of teenager who could rule a much better world--if only his crazy relatives and classmates would get out of his way.