Tag Archives: Saturdays@South

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Saturdays @ the South: Haunted Humor

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Image created by The Introverted Wife

Ah, dear readers,  it’s fall. The crisp cool nights and warm-ish days have arrived and I couldn’t be happier to welcome my favorite season. I also couldn’t be happier that our wonderful blogger-in-residence Arabella got the ball rolling on All Hallows Read. For those of you who remember our celebrations last year, I hope that you will enjoy this year’s posts as well as we revel in things spooky, horrific and creepy.

I thought I’d start off the Saturdays @ the South festivities a little lighter. Sometimes horror books can be taken extremely seriously because it is a genre based on the emotion of fear. Horror can tap into some of our deepest fears  including death and the unknown. As Arabella has mentioned previously, it’s healthy to explore these fears in a safe space  and books give a perfect outlet to do just that. That doesn’t mean, however, that books that scare us can’t have other emotions tied to them. Romance is arguably the closest genre to horror because they both deal with strong emotions and horror books can have a romantic element in them.

'Mummy, can you please pull the curtain and make it dark please? I'm scared of the light...'
‘Mummy, can you please pull the curtain and make it dark please? I’m scared of the light…’

A reaction that seems diametrically opposed to horror, however, is laughter. And yet, there are some great books out there that masterfully blend both elements of horror and humor. The two aren’t quite as disparate as they seem. If horror allows us to safely explore our fears and provide an outlet for our worst-case scenarios, humor allows those fears to be put aside and made that much less powerful by making them absurd. Voltaire once prayed “O Lord, make mine enemies ridiculous,” because this is precisely what takes away their power. The marvelous Mel Brooks adapted this philosophy by making the horrible figure of Hitler a ludicrous one in The Producers. Both horror and humor can lessen the impact of something fearsome, loathsome or otherwise horrific.

To that end, I’d like to recommend some books that blend the elements of humor and horror, to varying degrees.  Some of them might scare the pants of off you (as a couple of these titles did for me) but give you a chuckle in the process, while others consider humor their job first, and adding horror elements as a way to move the story forward. The spectrum here is broad, so hopefully there will be something for all to enjoy:

2344748A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

Moore is one of those authors who doesn’t shy away from a silly fart joke but can also make some interesting commentary on the more serious aspects of life. In this book, he takes on death, parenthood and a coming apocalypse all with his characteristic light touch. Charlie Asher has inadvertently become the Grim Reaper and if that wasn’t hard enough, he’s worried that he may end up passing it along to his child. Hilarity ensues as he tries to shield his daughter while saving the world.

3605662Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss

If anyone can bring humor to a grim subject, it’s the author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves which brought a sense of humor to a treatise on grammatical mistakes. In this fiction tome, Truss writes of a cat, Roger, who speaks to Alec Charlesworth and tells him frightening tales of recent deaths that may be linked to dark forces. If a talking cat doesn’t undercut a terrifying situation with humor, I don’t know what does.

3143872The Postmortal by Drew Magary

If sarcasm in the face of horrifying events is more your take on humor, then this book may be more your speed. John Farrell gets “The Cure,”  a death cure that renders someone impervious to old age and theoretically, won’t die. That is, unless some other outside force kills him. He and several others have taken part in this illicit treatment, but find it increasingly difficult to keep it under wraps as more people try to gain immortality. But can the world handle the load on its resources if an entire population doesn’t die? He’s sure to live long enough to find out. I’ll be honest, this book has some great one-liners in the humor department, but it successfully scared the daylights out of me!

3794357The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp

Speaking of one-liners and books that terrify me, this take on horror is a non-stop, gripping ride take takes a somewhat epistolary approach to horror. Jack Sparks is a loud-mouthed social media presence who is quick with a quip and was researching a book on the occult when he died. This is the story of how he died in the process of researching that book. The humor here comes in with Sparks, who isn’t shy about mocking much of what he sees (some of these lines made me laugh out loud) and the terrifying part comes in with just about everything else.

3553458The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero

This book is similar to The Last Days of Jack Sparks in that it has some fantastic one-liners that can definitely break the tension of a gripping read, it’s told in an epistolary style with records and transcripts from a stay in a haunted house and it scared the pants off of me. I also couldn’t stop thinking about this book long after it ended. A. (we know him as nothing else)inherits a house from a distant relative in West Virginia and stays there with companion Niamh only to discover that the house hides secrets about his family, about the area and about its inhabitants. It’s a bit indescribable. You’ll just have to read it for yourself. But be sure to lock doors before you do…

Till next week, dear readers, I hope you find your own balance of humor and horror during this month of All Hallows Read.

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Saturdays @ the South: Celebrating Banned Books

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While the Free For All is a fairly new outlet that expresses love of literature of all kinds, including diverse literature, banned books and literature that doesn’t necessarily share a viewpoint with us, Banned Books Week has been pushing diversity in literature and fighting challenges to books for the past 34 years. Initially started by the ALA, it was  celebrated almost exclusively by libraries and bookstores displaying books on their shelves that have been banned. Chris Fineran, director of the American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) stated in an article in blog favorite LitHub: “Those displays were enormously effective communication tools… because people would wander over and find out that the books they love had been challenged. Suddenly they understood that censorship isn’t just about fringe literature.” This is a tradition that the library is upholding. The South Branch has had a banned books display up all month long and, as Fineran says, it’s very important for people to recognize that banning books isn’t something that just happens to what other people read. Among the books on display are seemingly innocuous titles like The Lorax or Where the Sidewalk Ends.

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Books have been banned for over a hundred, here in the US and abroad. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is often cited as the first book in the US to be banned. It was banned by the Confederacy during the civil war because of the overtly pro-abolitionist stance (obviously) but it was also banned because people started talking and debating about slavery. Let’s take a moment to push the pause button here: a book started a dialog between opposing viewpoints. Isn’t that what good books are supposed to do? Yes, yes it is. And yet, a group of people got together not just because they didn’t like what other people were saying, but also because they didn’t like people talking about the subject at all. That right there is quintessential violation of free speech and also prevents the moving beyond circumscribed viewpoints. How are people going to be able to move beyond or come to some semblance of an agreement about an issue if they can’t even talk about it?

1859 --- A 1859 poster for by Harriet Beecher Stowe. --- Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS
1859 — A 1859 poster for by Harriet Beecher Stowe. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

The LitHub article also mentions that, while in the US at least book banning rarely happens in the federal court level, local banning is still surprisingly common. The ABFE is currently protesting the Chesterfield County Public Schools in Virginia which it trying to ban certain titles on the elected reading list. You read that right, they’re challenging books that kids aren’t even required to read, which, essentially is not only a challenge to free speech, it’s a challenge to free thought as well. When we begin trying to police what people want to read in their free time, we’re limiting access not only to, as the article notes: “books that might broaden [kids’] understanding of the world,” but it also limits access to what they might enjoy. It’s an affront on pleasure reading, the discovery of characters with which a reader can identify and what people can do to do in their free time. The issue clearly extends to more than just what people read and is precisely why we spend so much time on this blog celebrating Banned Books Week and speaking out against censorship in its many varieties.

It’s not just librarians who speak out against censorship and banning. Authors, many of whom have had their work challenged frequently speak out on the rights of people to have freedom of expression and the freedom to read what they choose. Earlier this week our blogger-in-residence Arabella posted John Irving’s response to a book of his being banned. So to close out banned books week, I thought it would be best to let those who are intimately acquainted with the issue speak for themselves. Here are just a few quotes about censorship published earlier this week by Bustle. You can read all of the quotes (and I highly recommend that you do) here.

Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.

– Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Banned)

What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.

Salman Rushdie (The Satanic Verses – Banned)

Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.

– Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Banned)

Yes, books are dangerous. They should be dangerous – they contain ideas.

– Pete Hautman (Godless – Banned)

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Saturdays @ the South: It’s that time of year…

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…For apple picking! (Don’t worry, I’m not going to burst into any Christmas carols, despite there being a mere 92 shopping days left….) This is the time of year where the weather, presumably starts to turn crisp and the leaves start to turn the vibrant colors of fall. Though, with the summer we’ve had and the heat we’ve been experiencing the days are more muggy than crisp and I’m not holding out too much hope for vibrant oranges and yellows and reds. The apples, however, have been great. I got some McIntoshes from Brooksby Farm the other day that were exactly what Macs should be – crisp, tart and so juicy. With all of our unseasonable weather, those apples have been the first real sign of fall for me.

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One good thing about the lack of rain is that there are more days to go out apple picking (less good for the apple trees, but still…). We’re so lucky in New England to have great farms that offer pick-your-own. Right here in Peabody we have Brooksby Farm, there’s also Connors Farm in Danvers, and only a short drive away you can find u-pick apples (and in a few more weeks, pumpkins!) in Ipswich, Amesbury and even New Hampshire. It’s a great opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine and it’s an opportunity that not a lot of people outside of New England have. I have college friends who grew up not too far from New England and have never experienced the quintessential fall joy of eating an apple right off the tree, have never snacked on a cider doughnut, warm and coated in cinnamon. They’ve never had their mom pull them back by the hood of their hoodie to stuff a few extra apples into them to make *sure* we’re getting our money’s worth (or maybe that’s just me….). Anyway, we’re extremely fortunate to have such great farms and opportunities to get outside so close to us.

If, like me, you just can’t get enough apples this time of year whether or not you’re able to pick them yourself, here are some book choices that will help with the cravings both literally and metaphorically:

2982601Good Enough To Eat by Stacey Ballis

Stacey Ballis is a bit of an under-the-radar author who writes charming, endearing books about food, love and life. We have a couple of her books here at the South and they spend very little time on our shelves. In this one, main character Melanie loses a great deal of weight and seems to gain control of her life, only to have her husband leave her for another woman, forcing her to reexamine everything she was working towards. If this cover alone doesn’t make you want to run to the nearest apple orchard, I don’t know what will.

3262129The Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs

Another book of food and family with almost as enticing a cover. Perennially popular Wiggs writes of Tess Delaney who has spent her professional life returning stolen treasures to their rightful owners. One day she finds that she is set to inherit half of a 100-acre apple orchard with a heretofore unknown family member.

2584615Biting the Apple by Lucy Jane Bledsoe

Eve Glass has led an enviable life as an Olympic sprinter and then as a well-known, successful motivational speaker who finds that her professional self and personal self are increasingly at odds. She manages to lose nearly everything in a search for an authentic self that may no longer jive with the life she has carved out for herself.

2750270Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke

Now featured on TV as Murder She Baked, this installment of Fluke’s endearing cozy culinary mysteries Hannah Swenson encounters the body of a man with whom she shared a youthful indiscretion. In the hopes of keeping the secret from her policeman beau, she does a little investigating on her own. If you’re not sure what to do with the abundance of apples, the recipe for apple turnovers in this book might be just the thing to help with that surplus…

3758713A La Mode: 120 Recipes in 60 Pairings by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

What kind of librarian would I be if I didn’t offer a tried-and-true outlet for apples? Bring on the baking!! This new book is particularly well-suited to apple pies and the ice cream that pairs so well with it. You’ll find a host of delicious recipes in this colorful, extremely well-photographed cookbook any one of which is likely to make your mouth water.

Whether you’re able to take advantage of the apple bounty this fall or if, perhaps you’re just looking for a new beginning, often represented, particularly in some of these books, with the imagery of an apple, I hope you’ll be able to take some time to enjoy the beginnings of autumn. Till next week, dear readers, I’m off to munch on another crisp, delicious, local MacIntosh!

 

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Saturdays @ the South: Let’s Say Hello to the Babies…

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Let’s say hello to the babies / Let’s say hello to the babies / Hello, hello, hello, hello / Let’s say hello to the babies.

This simple song was one of the first that I heard when learning to do baby story times. It’s so often that the library is considered a “kids'” place or an “adult” space, but not too many people think of the library as a “baby” space. There’s a very simple explanation for this misconception: babies don’t read, so why would they use the library? Those of us in the know understand, however, that literacy doesn’t start with reading. The earliest literacy begins with helping babies understand sounds, associate words (an inherently abstract concept) with concrete items, all of which help build their communication skills and fundamental understanding of their world. It’s also helpful for babies to understand the idea of books. The more they’re exposed to them in their young life, the more they are likely to find enjoyment in them as they get older. Children are also expanding their vocabularies in their youngest years. The more words they are exposed to, even if they don’t know the meaning of them right away, the more likely they are for their vocabulary to build. In fact, most children who have been regularly exposed to books at a young age are more likely to be prepared for kindergarten.

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But baby story times aren’t just about the books. In fact, books are only a small part of what the story time is about because librarians know that kids at that young age aren’t ready to read just yet. There are plenty of other ways to build literacy and aid development. Singing is a big component of baby story time because singing slows down words to allow children to become more aware of individual sounds that create words (phonological & phonemic awareness). Singing also involves a lot of repetition which is how anyone, not just babies learn.

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There is also a large amount of caregiver involvement with baby story times. Certainly even the best of librarians can’t manage a room full of infants and toddlers by themselves! Ideally, there is a 1-child-to-1-lap ratio which allows a caregiver to cuddle, tickle, rock, sway and otherwise get involved with their baby. This encourages trust between the child and caregiver and establishes a sense of security and bonding. It’s also a great opportunity for babies to increase their strength and coordination with a caregiver’s help. Bounces, tickles and swaying all help the child develop a sense of balance and helps them gain spatial awareness in a safe environment.

So why am I getting on my soap box this week to talk about why babies belong in the library as much as anyone else? Well, I’m excited to be offering a new Baby Story Time and a Toddler Story Time at the South Branch starting this coming Wednesday, September 21st!! Baby Story Time will be for infants ages 0-18 months at 10AM and Toddler Story Time will be for the wee ones ages 18-36 months at 11AM. We have some wonderful young families in Peabody that deserve to have their local library be a place where they can come and enjoy themselves. Each session will run for 4 weeks with a 1 week break in between. It’s an opportunity for infants to be exposed to the great offerings the library has and hopefully to create lifelong library patrons. As with all of our programs, it’s free and open to the public, but unlike many of our library programs, we’re not requiring registration. Babies can be unpredictable, and we want these programs to be as welcoming and accommodating as possible. My hope is that this creates an opportunity for a previously underserved population to come in and enjoy the library!

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*A note on sources: the information about early literacy was accumulated through many resources. Because the books aren’t available in the NOBLE network I haven’t listed them here, but will be happy to share any titles and resources with anyone who is interested!

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Saturdays @ the South: Fiction by any other name….

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“If a work of fiction has any force to it, we close the book with a head full of images, lines, and emotions.”

The above quote is from an article on The Vulture (a version of which also appeared in New York Magazine) that got me thinking about plot and fiction. In it, the article’s author also mentions that while it’s prose that we most often remember, “it’s the plot that keeps us turning pages.” While the outline of the evolution of plot was interesting, and even though I’m not sure I agree with all of his “worst endings” sidebar, it got me thinking about plot and what keeps us reading.

orpheus-eurydice-300x258In my exultant ramblings about Forrest Leo’s The Gentleman a couple of weeks ago, I talked a lot about the humor, but little about the plot. In fact, the plot was a fairly common trope going back to ancient Greek mythology; it was a bit of a riff on the Orpheus story. Nothing remarkable there and yet for me the story was completely remarkable (clearly if I’m mentioning it here twice). So I suppose it’s perhaps not what the plot is, so much as what the author does with it.

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And what some authors have been doing with plot is moving it off the page and into our ears. These podcasts are the modern version of the radio dramas that kept previous generations entertained for hours with installments that encouraged listeners to return time and again.  I’ve talked about bookish podcasts and audiobooks here on the blog before, but there are some fiction podcasts that will tell you a great story, leaving you with the lines, images and emotions of fiction that stays with you. As with any audiobook or podcast, you may need to keep in mind your surroundings as some will have an E for explicit content, but this is no different from other forms of artistic expression.

The Bright Sessions76827

This podcast sets itself up as the recordings of a psychotherapist, Dr. Bright, who specializes in what she calls “atypicals” patients who have unique powers that she helps them manage and control. As the podcasts develop, we learn more and more about why Dr. Bright entered into her specialty in the first place and the listener begins to understand that there are nefarious underpinnings that Dr. Bright is struggling against. This podcast does a great job of humanizing those with different abilities (even though those abilities aren’t any we encounter in reality) and gives the listener just enough as the sessions go on to keep us entertained and interested.

http---mashable.com-wp-content-gallery-x-best-storytelling-podcasts-leviathanThe Leviathan Chronicles

Set in a world situated underneath the pacific Ocean, this is an original sci-fi drama that is very professionally produced with longer episodes than most podcasts. The Leviathan are a human-like, immortal  race that is infiltrated by a human who comes to realize that she is descended from the Leviathans and tries to come to terms what that means for her and the human race.

http-%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Fwp-content%2Fgallery%2Fx-best-storytelling-podcasts%2FthrillingadventurehourThrilling Adventure Hour

Speaking of old-time radio shows, this is a live-produced, Los Angeles based comedy show that has an array of well-known guest stars with original content posted very frequently. This one has a backlog of over 100 episodes, so if you’re in the mood to binge and get addicted to something, this may be your best bet!

Welcome_to_Night_ValeWelcome to Night Vale

This is probably one of the most well-known fiction podcasts that was eventually turned into a book because of its enormous popularity. This podcast is known for its creepy vibe, subtly dark humor and suspenseful storytelling. If you’re looking for something light to fill a Walking-Dead hole, or if you’re looking for something in which to get totally absorbed, this may just fit the bill for you.

The_Writers_Voice_1400x1400The Writer’s Voice

If you’re looking to become totally absorbed in fiction, but don’t want the commitment of having a story told to you across multiple episodes, you may want to try this podcast, the most “literary” on this list, but one most definitely worth listening to. Authors like Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, Curtis Sittenfeld and many more, have written short stories for the New Yorker, and this podcast brings them to life, in the author’s own voice. If you’d like to hear more of what your favorite literary author has written or if you’re wondering just what your favorite author might sound like when reading his or her own stories, this is a must-listen.

I realize that this post is glaringly lacking in library-related items, but I strongly believe that the library is more than just books and programs. We should be able to help people access as much information as they desire in as many forms as possible. Free formats are an added bonus. I know full well that while I do my best to keep the South Branch stocked with materials that people want to watch and read, our most voracious readers (and listeners) are inevitably always looking for a good story. Podcasts are another way to find them and introduce patrons to people who have their own voices, even if they don’t choose to express it in paper form.  If I can keep people intrigued with stories, no matter what source they come from, I feel like I’m doing my job. Till next week, dear readers, whatever keeps you intrigued with a story, whether it’s the plot, the writing or how it’s told to you, I hope you spend the weekend enjoying it.

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Saturdays @ the South: Happy Labor Day!

Text Illustration Featuring Construction Tools That Represent Labor Day

The Labor Day holiday is one of the two (the other being Memorial Day) where the library shuts down for an extended period of time. Library staff get to briefly luxuriate in the glories of a long weekend. While this may be somewhat of an inconvenience for our wonderful patrons who rely on our services, rest assured that a little rest will make us that much brighter and bushy-tailed to serve you when we re-open on Tuesday.

But what’s life without a touch of whimsy? So this week, in celebration of the holiday that encourages no work, I offer books with “work” in their titles.

2911785Body Work by Sara Paretsky

Paretsky is a somewhat underrated crime novelist. This is one of her books with the central character of V. I. Warshawski, a tough, female P.I. whose storylines often feature a social commentary embedded within the mystery. In this book, a shooting in Chicago embeds Warshawski in the politics of the Gulf War as a veteran accused of the murder hires her to clear his name. If you’re a fan of J.A. Jance, Sue Grafton, Faye Kellerman or Val McDermid, you may want to give Paretsky a try.

1474038Blood Work by Michael Connelly

Unlike Paretsky, Connelly is a sure-fire favorite with the South patrons. This is one of his older works in which doesn’t feature Harry Bosch. Instead, ex-FBI agent Terrell McCaleb is forced out of retirement by a woman who begs him to help solve her sister’s murder.

2078538Dirty Work by Stuart Woods

Stuart Woods is an acquired taste, but for those who love him, they simply can’t get enough. While most of his content, were it on the Internet, would be classified as NSFW (not safe for work), he knows how to thread a suspenseful tale. In this book, series star Stone Barrington goes undercover to prove infidelity in a young heiress’s marriage.

2910080Work Song by Ivan Doig

It’s not particularly common to find Westerns in the library and while Doig’s book isn’t in the tradition of Spaghetti Western movies, this one captures some of the American spirit found in most Westerns. Morrie Morgan seeks his fortune in copper mining in 1919, but finds himself clashing with the major mining company in the area and getting involved with the mining workers disputes.

3545947Dirty Work by Gabriel Weston

This is a debut work by Weston, who writes of an obstetrical surgeon in crisis as she botches a surgery and puts her patient in a coma, but rather than making this a novel of suspense, it ends up a deep character study as the doctor revisits her life. Weston manages to make palpable the tension as the doctor worries about her future in her profession and she faces a tribunal to decide whether or not she will get to keep her license after her mistake.

Till next week, dear readers, I hope you are able enjoy the Labor Day holiday and don’t forget, even when the library is closed, you can always borrow ebooks and audiobooks on Overdrive and now you can watch movies on Hoopla, so the library is never truly closed…

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Saturdays @ the South: In which a book makes me very happy…

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I had no idea what I was going to write a blog post about this week until I finished reading Forrest Leo’s The Gentleman and cannot stop thinking about it. This book checked all of my boxes and is the first 5-star rating I’ve given on Goodreads in a while. The Gentleman is, at it’s most basic, a funny book about a man accidentally selling his wife to Satan and, upon realizing what he’s done, trying to get her back. This doesn’t necessarily sound like the premise for comedy gold, but in my humble opinion, it is this and so much more.

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This book takes Victorian literary tropes (check), makes fun of them (check), has two strong female characters (check), offers fictional footnotes that reminded me of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in the best of ways (check) and features the devil as a somewhat hapless gentleman who finds calling his home “hell” distasteful and refers to it instead as Essex Grove (All The Checks). In essence, this book made me happy, while reading it, after reading it and thinking about it, and since we’re at the end of August which is “Admit it, you’re happy” month, talking about this fantastic debut novel seemed only appropriate.

If for some reason, my enthusiastic ramblings have not convinced you to pick up this book immediately, allow me to expound for a moment on the literary merits of this. Leo employs the use of two, somewhat two narrative voices (the man telling the story and the voice in the aforementioned footnotes often used to clarify, dispute or offer a alternate viewpoint) that are, in most cases, opposite, but uses them with fine-tuned comedic timing that footnotes feel less like an interruption and more like running gag delivering acerbic punchlines. Despite the staunch Victorian setting of the novel, Leo also manages to at least somewhat introduce diversity with the bookshop owner Tompkins (who, incidentally, runs a 24-hour bookshop and is a genius). In addition to the smart, strong women introduced in the story, we also have Simmons, the family butler who is the very essence of Wodehouse’s Jeeves delivering a straight-man performance amidst a fair amount of silliness. And then there are the illustrations which are richly detailed somehow both illuminate and mystify the text simultaneously. Clearly I could go on, but if you’ve stayed with me through my ecstatic gushings, you deserve something in return.

As such, here are some books that are similar to The Gentleman, in some way and are likely to also make you happy in some way:

2407571Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

It should come as no surprise that topping this list is a book by two favorites of the Free for All. This book is a delightful romp about the Apocalypse with similar satirical tones as The Gentleman. An angel and a demon (who unlike most fallen angels didn’t “so much fall as he did saunter vaguely downwards”) must work together to stop the Apocalypse with a cast of characters only the combined imaginations of Pratchett and Gaiman could dream up. This book makes the Apocalypse seem as fun as such a topic possibly could be.

3455966Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

While this book won’t necessarily leave you in stitches, it does have some quirky characters and when I read about Tompkins disappearing into the stacks, I immediately thought about this book and Mr. Penumbra’s towering stacks of books that are easy to get lost in. Mr. Penumbra is also a wealth of knowledge like Tompkins. This book is more whimsical (some of the covers glow in the dark!) than funny, but it has it’s moments and for anyone who loves books, this story is bound to make you happy.

1062500The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

How can you go wrong with a modern classic of humor. This book is pure fun between the covers. If at all possible, I highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry whose comedic timing and ability to fluctuate his voice to differentiate characters is unparalleled. Just don’t forget your towel.

3577554So Anyway… by John Cleese

While I was reading The Gentleman, some of it’s sillier, more slapstick moments reminded me of some of the best Monty Python sketches. Who better than to talk about silly and Monty Python that John Cleese, one of the masterminds behind the show. This book covers the majority of his comedy career, including the Monty Python years, and with his trademark wit, this book is bound to leave readers smiling.

Till next week, dear readers, I encourage you to spend a few moments of what’s left of this month to think about what makes you happy and act on it in some way. Even if it’s just by reading a book that will make you smile.