Funny Books: A Holiday Gift Guide

For the Roommate Who Keeps Stealing Your Knee Socks: A book that started out as a Webby award winning blog (http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/), Passive Aggressive Notes: Painfully Polite & Hilariously Hostile Writings is a curated collection of post-its, warnings, refrigerator threats, and napkin-esque notes written by individuals who channeled their frustration, impatience--and sometimes rage--into the hilariously written word.  

For the Man (or Woman) Who Knows Everything: I actually read A.J. Jacobs's book The Know It All: One Humble Man's Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, in the wee hours of the night just days after my second son was born. A memoir of the year Jacobs spent reading the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica, The Know It All made me laugh out loud while electronically pumping my own breast milk. Enough said.

For the Mother Who Baked All Your Birthday Cakes by Hand: Another book-by-way-of-blog, Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong is the kind of book you can't really explain at cocktail parties. Trust me. I've tried. I could write my own book: Face Wrecks: When Explaining Books, Jokes, and Complex Coworker Relationships Goes Horribly Wrong & People Just Stare at You, Like, WHUH?. You just have to see the pictures of these cake wrecks to believe them.

For the Little Sister (Or Brother) Who Used to Sneak Into Your Room and Read Your Diary: Sara Brown's Cringe: Teenage Diaries, Journals, Letters, Notes, Poems and Abandoned Rock Operas is a hilarious send-up of adolescent angst. Cringe bloomed out of the series of open mic nights Brown started in New York City (and which are now taking the UK by storm) in which strangers came together to read their favorite, most cringe-worthy adolescent works.

For Yourself. You Deserve It. You've Shopped Hard This Year: I think every book by David Sedaris makes the world a better (and funnier) place, however his droll and often self-deprecating wisecracking is not (I've been TOLD) everyone's cup of tea. Really? This pains me. Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day, more memoirs than essay collections, were his early hits--and all-time favorites of mine. His more recent collections, Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim and When You Are Engulfed in Flames are less whacky and whimsical, but still pack a milk-out-the-nose punch (or ten) in their pages.

For the Kiddos: My boys, 3 and 5, love to laugh out loud at Dogs Don't Brush Their Teeth, an adorable--and very creative--picture book, which features photo collage illustrations of real dogs demonstrating what they can and can not do.

For Your Best Gal Pal: I have a total girl crush on Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author of Encyclopedia of An Ordinary Life--a quirky memoir made up of amusing anecdotes and idiosyncratic observations Rosenthal collected over the years--and then alphabetized into a mini encyclopedia of her own "ordinary" life. The tone (friendly, funny, upbeat) and format (pick a page, read, smile, repeat) make it eminently re-rereadable and a great gift between girlfriends. I want to be Amy's new best friend for Christmas. Santa?
 
For the New Mom (Bless Your Heart, You Had a Baby over the HOLIDAYS?):
Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year is a classic and a must-read for all new mothers. Lamott, a recovering alcoholic, born again Christian, single mother, and one hell of a writer, gives us the unsugarcoated truth about the emotional rollercoaster that was her first year of motherhood. Her memoir is funny, honest, incredibly touching--and even sweet--but without an ounce of saccharine.

If you have your own favorite funny books, I'd love to hear your recommendations. Hit me up in the comments and have a happy, humorous holiday.

--Amanda O'Brien