What are some of your favourite humorous books?

Here are some good humorous reads.  I have read some long ago and am trying to read them again. Do you have any more recommendations?

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon

A Confederacy of Dunces is a picaresque novel written by John Kennedy Toole, published by LSU Press in 1980, 11 years after the author’s suicide. Toole posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981.

Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller, first published in 1961. The novel, set during the later stages of World War II from 1944 onwards, is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century

Three Men in a Boat published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford. The three men are based on Jerome himself (the narrator) and two real-life friends, George Wingrave and Carl Hentschel , with whom he often took boating trips

Lucky Jim is an academic satire written by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954.  It was Amis’s first published novel, and won the Somerset Maugham Award for fiction. Set sometime around 1950, Lucky Jim follows the exploits of the eponymous James (Jim) Dixon, a reluctant Medieval history lecturer at an unnamed provincial English University

The English Teacher is a 1945 novel written by R K Narayan. This novel, dedicated to Narayan’s wife Rajam is not only autobiographical but also poignant in its intensity of feeling. The story is a series of experiences in the life of Krishna, an English teacher, and his quest towards achieving inner peace and self-development.

Bridget Jones’s Diary is a 1996 novel by Helen Fielding. Written in the form of a personal diary, the novel chronicles a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a thirty-something single working woman living in London. She writes (often humorously) about her career, self-image, vices, family, friends, and romantic relationships.

The Inimitable Jeeves is a semi-novel collecting Jeeves stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the UK by Herbert Jenkins, London on May 17, 1923

Naked, published in 1997, is a collection of essays by American humorist David Sedaris. The book details Sedaris’ life, from his unusual upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, to his booze-and-drug-ridden college years, to his Kerouacian wandering as a young adult.

The BFG (short for “Big Friendly Giant”) is a children’s book written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake, first published in 1982. The book was an expansion of a story told in Danny, the Champion of the World, an earlier Dahl book. An animated film based on the book was released in 1989

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What are 10 fascinating books worth reading according to you?

I have a lot of favourite books, but here I would like to list 10 books that stand out by being fascinating.  What are your favourite reads??

1984 – George Orwell
In 1984, George Orwell warns of the terrifying dangers that man may create for
himself in his quest for a utopian society.  It warns that people might believe that everyone must become slaves to the government in order to have an orderly society, but at the expense of the freedom of the people.

Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
The book explores a dystopian United States where leading innovators, ranging from industrialists to artists, refuse to be exploited by society. In their efforts, these “men of the mind” hope to demonstrate that a world in which the individual is not free to create is doomed, that civilization cannot exist where men are slave to society and government, and that the destruction of the profit motive leads to the collapse of society. The theme of Atlas Shrugged, as Rand described it, is “the role of man’s mind in existence”.

Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Caroll
The book tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world (the Woderland of the title) populated by peculiar and anthromorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre, and its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential, especially in the fantasygenre.

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England

Roots – Alex Haley
Alex Haley’s Roots is the monumental two-century drama of Kunta Kinte and the six generations who came after him. By tracing back his own roots, Haley tells the story of 39 million Americans of African descent.

War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace delineates in graphic detail events leading up to the French invasion of Russis, and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society, as seen through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families

Great expectations – Charles Dickens
Great Expectations is written in the first person from the point of view of the orphan Pip. The novel, like much of Dickens’ work, draws on his experiences of life and people.

The 7 habits of highly effective people – Stephen Covey
Covey presents an approach to being effective in attaining goals by aligning oneself to what he calls “true north” principles of a character ethic that he presents as universal and timeless.

The Monk who sold his Ferrari – Robin Sharma
“The monk who sold his Ferrari” is a tale, which provides an approach to living a simple life with greater balance, strength, courage and abundance of joy.  A wonderfully crafted fable, this story tells the extraordinary story of Julian Mantle, a lawyer forced to confront the spiritual crisis of his out-of-balance life.

The God of small things – Arundhati Roy
It is a story about the childhood experiences of a pair of fraternal twins whose lives are destroyed by the “Love Laws” that lay down “who must be loved, and how, and how much”. The book is a description of how the small things in life affect people’s behavior and their lives.

For further discussion here is an interesting link: http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-potentially-life-changing-books

Atlas shrugged

 

 

I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.  This novel explores a world in which the individual who is not free to create is doomed, and that civilization cannot exist where men are slave to society and government, and that the destruction of the profit motive leads to the collapse of society.

Ayn Rand  shows how desperately the world needs prime movers and how viciously it treats them  and to portray what happens to a world without them.

25 simple things that interest me

1. Watching a sunset
2. Taking a stroll in the park
3. Flying a kite on a windy day
4. Taking a nap on a Saturday afternoon
5. Building a sand castle on the beach
6. Inline skating in a park or beach side
7. Playing board games with my daughter
8. Swimming
9. Waking up early in the morning
10. Doing yoga in the morning
11. Going for a jog
12. Reading a good book
13. Listening to good music
14. Watching a movie with family
15. Spending time with family
16. Watching the fish swim in the aquarium
17. Going on a holiday
18. Enjoying the sights and sounds of a new country
19. Tweeting/blogging
20. Being with family, friends and relatives
21. Volunteering for the needy and disadvantaged
22. Starting something on my own – entrepreneurship
23. Speaking with confidence – toastmasters
24. Learning something new
25. Group activities, outings, experiential learning, trekking, biking, marathon etc.