I cry with laughter at '1066 and All That', and lately found the Craig Brown updated version, '1966 and All That', equally hilarious. Douglas Adams' book, written with John Lloyd, 'The Meaning of Liff' is laugh out loud funny too, and Bill Bryson is right up there with them too.

Terry Pratchett's "The Light Fantastic"
It was the first book that ever made me laugh out loud.

Love your name, fatfreddy - have you got a cat?

I have to say George Carlin,His books are hysterical.I laugh so hard I cry.

There was also a series from a guy whose wife's name was Reiko and they had a part wolf dog and his series of books had me crying I laughed so hard.I use to have all his books but I made the mistake of lending them to someone and never got them back and of course now I can't find them in the book stores.

My favourite author is Terry Pratchett. His insightful humour (for me)is second to none.
The funniest non-fiction books I ever read were the auto-biographies(6volumes) of the late Spike Milligan.Even the titles are humourous!I remember being heavily pregnant on the bus home when I startled all those around me with a sudden outburst of laughter...I was so engrossed in his book I completely forgot where I was.The bus driver stopped to check I was OK!!!!! I was so embarrassed I got off 2 stops early

Russell Brand's My Booky Wook - not so much funny all the way through, but thought provoking and very interesting..he's not afraid to show his vulnerability.

Welcome, Phoebe and thanks for your recommendation.

hiya. I would say Sophie Kinsella's "Undomestic Goddess." It's also a very 'light' read-nothing too heavy, so good at the end of a long day lol

This thread has made me realise just how few of the many books I've read have made me laugh. While many might have brought an amused smile to my lips the only author I can think of to regularly make me laugh out loud is Bill Bryson.

I did recently read a book called Whatever you do, Don't Run by Peter Allison about his life as a safari guide in Botswana which had me laughing though.

Ben Elton's earlier books were hilarious. Haven't read his later novels so have no opinion on them. I very much enjoyed Mark Twain, best read out to someone to get the best effects of his humour. I was cracking up numerous times reading 'Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' to my son.
So many others make me chuckle out loud, unfortunately not coming to mind right now.

Tom Sharpe is great, as is PG Wodehouse, and I find Jilly Cooper hilarious !

Thanks to this thread, I finally found a copy of '1066 and All That', and loved it- very Spike Milliganesque.

I will be looking out for other books recommended by people in here...

"The Wimbledon poisoner" by Nigel Williams is an hilarious account of a rather ordinary man who decides to use poison to do away with his overbearing wife. Very funny.

The Secret
At least it would be funny if it wasn't so insulting.
The only book i've ever burnt!

All the Wodehouse books are great, especially his first book 'Something Fresh'. You cant help laughing when you read Wodehouse's books

I would never actually burn a book, but I agree completely about "The Secret." What a crock! I didn't even finish it.
My niece came to visit, and she was reading it! I could have saved her the cost..

Any Pratchett book, depends on the mood which characters tickle the funny bone.. wizards are always good, though.

In the way of hilarity: that part in either 'The Last Hero' or 'Interesting times' where Genghis Cohen's barbarian Horde are taught the ways of civilised culture (i.e. buying an apple )

The funniest books that I have ever read are The Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. Every book at one point has made me laugh till I had tears coming out of my eyes. They are about a bounty hunter from Trenton, New Jersey and her crazy family and friends. If you need a good laugh try these books there are 16 of them so far.

I agree, moon! I put the Stephanie Plum books on my mp3 player and listen to them while I walk every morning. I know my fellow walkers probably talk about the crazy woman who chuckles out loud as she plods along!

I like Terry Pratchett a lot and Rita Mae Brown's trilogy that starts with Six of One, but I think the funniest things I've ever read would be Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris and Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel.

The latter is sort of a combination of It's A Wonderful Life and Night of the Living Dead with a hysterically humorous bent.

Sedaris's Holidays on Ice is a riotous collection of Christmas themed short stories. The funniest being The Santaland Diaries, detailing his experiences as an elf at Macy's Department store.

The last book I read that i thought was VERY funny was Bridget Jones' Diary. I didn't see the movie, so I don't know how it compares ... but the narrative was hilarious.

These aren't all novels or fiction, but they are funny:

"Seinlanguage" by Jerry Seinfeld

"Can You Keep a Secret?" by Sophie Kinsella

"Babyhood" by Paul Reiser

"Importance of Being Ernest" by Oscar Wilde (it's a play, but...)

"The Raider" by Jude Deveraux is really funny!

"The Moon is a balloon." and "Bring on the empty horses." By David Niven the actor.