Do you need to laugh? There is a lot going on in the world right now, but there’s still a lot of good if you look. However, you might be looking for something easy and light-hearted to read. I put together a list of 10 books that are guaranteed to make you laugh and feel good.
Peggy and her mother, Thelma, have just about one thing in common – the ability to be obsessed with something. For Peggy, it’s horses. For Thelma, it’s the Baltimore Orioles. In almost every other area, mother and daughter clash. In a series of stories about her childhood and early adult years, Peggy shows hos Thelma’s strong will molded their family. About My Mother is a book full of family, mother and daughter relationships, horses, baseball and love.
Did you ever listen to Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story” radio show? I did. Growing up most of my childhood on overseas military bases, we had one American TV channel and one American radio channel. In high school, I tried most days to catch “The Rest of the Story.” Now, I enjoy Mike Rowe’s podcasts in the same genre, which he had now turned into a book. The Way I Heard It tells a short story about a person, place or event in a way that makes you really wonder who, what or where it might be about. I always feel really good when I can guess it right before the end.
Forever, Erma is the collection that her editors came up with after her death, as a gathering of her works that they felt was the best and most represented her writing. She tackles the serious with her humor, too, and I was really glad to see that. She writes about her father, who died when she was young. She writes about her stepfather and how he became a real father to her. She writes about the bittersweet-ness of children growing up. Each column is a delight – I think they should make a daily dose of Erma book where you could read a column every day.
A short and funny Christmas read, The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog is a story I won’t soon forget. Doug Barnes tells the story of the Christmas when he’s a shepherd in the church pageant and his dog dies. It’s a feel good and funny Christmas story told in Dave Barry’s signature style.
Luther and Nora Krank are facing a Christmas that will be a little bit lonely in Skipping Christmas. Their only daughter is going to another country to serve in the Peace Corps and will not be home. As the hustle and bustle of the season starts, Luther has an idea. They can “skip Christmas” by going on a cruise. But, the rules are that they cannot participate in any of the Christmas activities, including putting a giant inflatable on their house and buying a tree from the Boy Scouts.
Jen Fulwiler is an author and a mother of six children, born in less than seven years. While many people around her gave her the advice to put her writing dreams on hold while her children were little, she just didn’t feel alive when she didn’t have time to write. It was a long process to finally find peace with pursuing writing with young children – she had to deal with guilt, time, pregnancies and health issues. She finally learned to pull her family into her writing process instead of vying them against each other after a long talk with a priest. At the end, she ends up with a published (after a huge rewrite) book that she is able to show her grandfather before he passes away. That book was Something Other Than God. She explains her process in One Beautiful Dream.
Many Christians try on a daily basis to live a good life. The goal may seem unattainable, as there is a verse that says to try and be perfect. But, there is a Christian cultural standard that can make it feel easier to follow the right path. There seems to be the “right” church, pastor, lifestyle, clothing, media consumption and even Facebook posts to do or be part of if you’re a good Christian in American’s society. How To Be A Perfect Christian brings to light the “Christian culture” and makes fun of it in a clever way.
Elsie never wanted to be a coal miner’s wife. In fact, she did everything she could to leave West Virginia and stay away, falling in love along the way. When her love interest leaves her in Florida to chase his own dream in New York, she returns home to visit – just to visit – but sees Homer Hickam and ends up marrying him. A wedding present arrives from her old flame and Elise and Homer settle into life with an alligator named Albert. Their story is told in Carrying Albert Home.
Landon Brinkley is set on becoming one of the best party planners in LA, so she leaves her home and family in Texas to start her own life in California. She has an internship working for the most famous planner – Selah, where she hopes to learn all the tricks of the trade and work her way up the ladder. She quickly finds that Selah is not a nice person and the hours of the internship are very long and thankless. She finds help in two friends – her roommate and a coworker. However, as she spends more time close to Selah, she begins to change and it might not be for the better in Party Girl.
Gerry Brooks is an Internet sensation – in the education world. Many teachers, parents and administrators have come across his funny videos that often are very close to the truth about the world of education. There are videos about the pick up line, the school goody table and kindergarten lunch time. In a funny way he brings to light many issues that are actually serious in nature, too, such as testing, school supplies and creating a community. He uses the same humor in Go See the Principal, but the book allows him to go deeper into the topics.
Do you have any books you would add to this list? Share in the comments!