Bridget Jones' Diary - the book - was 10 times as funny as the movie.

I read a lot - typically if a movie is coming out, I'll read the book (if I'm interested)

LOL, the Stephen Hawking book IS interesting, but did you know he took half of it back recently? It was all theory to begin with, and I guess he came up with a better one!

Oh, and I bought my mom a copy of Douglas Adams' whole Hitchhiker's series a couple of years ago! My entire family loves them.

oh my god, the sequel to bridget jones' diary has the funniest passage i have ever read in a book ever. i mean crying, gasping for breath, shaking with laughter. in the book, bridget is interviewing colin firth. i always thought i was sad that the funniest part of the book couldn't be in the movie sequel because colin firth couldn't play himself and mark darcy. i never saw the 2nd movie, but i have re-read the 2nd book.

Eratos- yeah i thought that was brilliant. He was just like "i was wrong" xD I like him for that. Its not like he was like "oh, well you know, blah blah blah i never actually said blah squirmy wormy squirm" he was just like "meh, i was wrong" :lol:

Ok, so growing up without cable made me a HUGE reading dork. I purposefully avoided this thread until now because I knew I was going to take forever in writing what will probably be a ginormous response. Apologies in advance; future librarian here, books are my love. :book2:=Me.

I wanted to chime in on the love for Jennifer Weiner (although I haven't loved anything she's done as much as I did Good In Bed), the Sookie Stackhouse books (Jennierose, I had the same reaction to them), David Sedaris, Laurie Notaro, and Terry Pratchett (you really could just pick up any one of his Discworld books and enjoy it, but I really recommend starting with The Light Fantastic and then The Color of Magic).

Alrighty now, turning to my own bookshelf: (ETA: Ok, so looking back over my list, not all of these are necessarily funny, but they are all engrossing enough to take your mind off of your own life.)

-Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte- I've reread it almost every year from 7 grade on and come away with something new every time. Bronte's prose isn't as flowery as Austen's and it's certainly not as funny, but it is deeply touching and engrossing.

-Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier- Kind of inspired by Bronte, but awesome in it's own right. I stayed up all night reading it because I just had. to. KNOW.

-The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield- It was haled as a modern Jane Eyre when it came out and is easily one of my favorites. It gets pretty dark in some places, but I just did not want this book to end. Finishing it was so depressing because I didn't have anything as good to follow it up with.

-A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith- I don't know how I avoided reading this one in high school, but my Dad gave it to me two Christmas' ago. I started reading it Christmas Day and literally could not put it down until I finished. Mom had to wrangle it out of my hands long enough for dinner. So amazing.

-The "Ladies' Detective Agency" books by Alexander McCall Smith- Pure and utter charm in book form. The characters are hilarious and the mystery side is very good. Honestly, they're like a mini-vacation to Botswana. I haven't seen the HBO version, so I don't know if they hold up.

-Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin- Murder mystery set in 12th century England, so it can get pretty creepy. The main character, Adelia, is a trained "doctor to the dead" (apparently there was a medical school in Salerno that admitted women). The description on Amazon explains a lot more, but it's a really interesting, engrossing read (that has two follow up books).

-Anything by Maeve Binchy. Seriously. Circle of Friends is a good place to start, but I've never read anything of hers I didn't adore. Her writing style is just so warm, comforting, and charming.

-Summer Sisters by Judy Blume- Great story, perfect for a vacation.
-Pretty much anything by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Jennierose, I know you said you weren't a big fan of romances, but these really are worth a try. SEP is mega funny and her characters are strong personalities. Try Nobody's Baby But Mine, It Had to be You, or Breathing Room.

Originally Posted by :
Funny: The Eyre Affair and the books that follow by Japer Fforde.

Aurora, be my new best friend? ;) I feel like so few people know about these books and they are so clever! Also, I'm hopefully going to be starting my MLS soon. What field are you in?

Originally Posted by :
If you like zombies you should check out World War Z.

Or Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. ;) I'm nuts about Austen, read everything she's ever done, and usually I don't like when people mess with her. But the zombie version was so randomly funny, I couldn't resist it. (As a side note, Bridget Jones Diary is a modern version of Pride and Prejudice and the book really is laugh until you cry funny)

Originally Posted by :
Jennifer Crusie is very funny.

Bet Me is one of my all time favorites. I swear I think that woman crawled inside my mind and found my almost-ideal man when she created Cal. It's really uncanny.

(Ack! Sorry for the epically long post :))

ETA-Ack again! How I could have forgotten Geraldine Brooks is beyond me! Her fiction is fabulous; if she writes it, I'm reading it. Haha, she needs to write another book ASAP!

Originally Posted by KnitALisa:

-The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield- It was haled as a modern Jane Eyre when it came out and is easily one of my favorites. It gets pretty dark in some places, but I just did not want this book to end. Finishing it was so depressing because I didn't have anything as good to follow it up with.

i was SOO disappointed in this book. It was a good read (even though almost laughably salacious at times) but I just found the end to be way too ludicrous. It didn't seem to match the author's writing abilities.

Oh! Also! Jonathan Strange & Mr, Norrell by Susanna Clarke (and her follow-up of short stories The Ladies of Grace Adieu). I can NOT wait for her next novel.

Originally Posted by :
I wanted to chime in on the love for Jennifer Weiner (although I haven't loved anything she's done as much as I did Good In Bed),

I've only read Little Earthquakes and Best Friend's Forever. I really loved them both. Best Friend's Forever had such a funny storyline that I laughed through much of the book. When she finds the "lump" (aka her hipbone) I nearly died laughing. I remember the times I'd lay on my side trying to find something that resembled a bone!

Originally Posted by junebug41:
I love her. Her blog, Jennsylvania.com is also hilarious.

After I finished reading Bitter is the new Black and Bright Lights, Big ***, I went on her blog and I wound up reading the whole entire thing. Her obsession with the Twilight dolls was hilarious. I haven't read Pretty in Plaid and Such a Pretty Fat but they're sitting on my desk. My parents bought me a Sony Reader for Christmas and since then I haven't been able to bring myself to pick up an actual book.:(

Big ups to Mr. Hawkings for taking stuff back... the book was still amazing to me, but then again I'm pretty obsessed with Quantum Physics and Time Travel so I eat stuff like that up. Gets my noggin going...

My coworker tried to get me to read Pride Prejudice and Zombies. It wasn't that I didn't want to, school started which meant NO time for reading. I gave it back to her as I didn't want to hold onto it forever.

After I finish reading DMT : The Spirit Molecule I may borrow it.

Originally Posted by angelamick:
i was SOO disappointed in this book. It was a good read (even though almost laughably salacious at times) but I just found the end to be way too ludicrous. It didn't seem to match the author's writing abilities.

Aw, see the end was one of my favorite parts. Yeah, it was tidy, but so are the endings of the type of book she was channeling. But I'll be honest, I love happy, tidy endings where all the loose ends are woven up. "The Lady or The Tiger" type endings make me absolutely miserable and crazy. Epilogues are fabulous things, in my opinion.

I saw some love for The Time Traveler's Wife upthread (to which I'd like to say ditto!), but has anyone read her new book? I've heard some mixed reviews.

ive just started reading push (by precious) and its pretty good, pretty gritty though, but i wanted to read it before i see the movie :D