Pratchett for me as well.

Some of Tanya Huff's books, particularly the Keeper series, have had me laugh out loud.

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Ring the bells that still can ring; Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything; That's how the light gets in
Anthem: Leonard Cohen

Yes I love Catch-22! It's one of the books I tend to recommend the most, especially to males (apologies, I don't mean to stereotype, this is from my personal) experience and those who don't consider themselves great readers.

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"You mean imagination boggles?" I inspected my imagination. He was right. It boggled

No I know exactly what you mean Mrs Helston - obviously lots of women love it but for a reluctant reader especially it is more of a 'male' book. It's one of the few 'adult' books that one of my brothers (a very reluctant reader) has actually read which is really something considering the length.

I may not fit this particular stereotype as I couldn't get on with Catch-22, I'm afraid, and abandoned it after a few dozen pages on both attempts. Bill Bryson has always made me laugh, but I thought that in the latest, The Road to Little Dribbling, he comes across as a grumpy old man. I think The Lost Continent is still his funniest.

I failed completely to laugh once when I read Catch 22. I too gave up quite quickly.

I had started with high hopes because it was recommended by a male frend whose ideas on many things usually chimed with mine.

But then I didn't like his favorite book either- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.

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Cestina's dolls houses - I can't bear Christmas....

I also really like A Prayer for Owen Meany!

ETA The beginning of Catch-22 is a bit strange. I'd recommend reading at least the first two chapters before giving up (I don't know how far you got, Gottfried and Cestina). But I can see it's not for everyone.

I gave up on Catch-22 fairly quickly; I can't remember how far into it I was. Perhaps one day, when I have nothing else to read (WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?), I'll give it another try.

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"And I'm sure there was blood in the gutter from somebody's head, or else it was the sunset in a puddle."

It sounds like the Kate Fox one, which had the same effect on me. Well worth reading. While I didn't agree with all the conclusions she drew, I couldn't fault the descriptions of how we behave. It was actually quite an eye-opener too. Although I recognised some of the traits as being purely English, there were others that I hadn't realised were peculiar just to us.

When I was much, much younger, the "Berry" books by Dornford Yates used to have me in stitches, although I find them quite difficult to read now.

I laughed out loud at A model partner by Daniel Seery. It's about a rather odd young man who's been trying unsuccessfully to find a partner through a dating agency and tries to make a model of the girl he's looking for. It''s set mostly in Dublin, though he and his father go driving round in a horse box for a while ...

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tuba mirum spargents sonum = hark the trumpet sounds appalling

A couple of weeks ago a friend lent me "The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson. Reading it on the train got me some strange looks from fellow passengers as I was giggling so much.

Add me to the list of those who don't "get" "Catch-22". I did manage to read it to the end, hoping it would improve, but it didn't.

I'm currently reading 'The Best of Myles', a collection of newspaper columns from The Irish Times by Myles na gCopaleen (one of the author's many pseudonyms). So clever, and so so funny. I read 'At Swim-Two-Birds' without even a smile, but these columns are hilarious.

Oh yes, that's a good one.

I'm listening to Three Men in a Boat on radio 4. V funny.

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"And I'm sure there was blood in the gutter from somebody's head, or else it was the sunset in a puddle."

Who is reading it Abbey?

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Cestina's dolls houses - I can't bear Christmas....

Jeremy Nicholas. Which means nothing to me but may to others!

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"And I'm sure there was blood in the gutter from somebody's head, or else it was the sunset in a puddle."

England, Their England by A G McDonnell. A Scotsman experiences England after the first World War.

I'm not sure I'd describe them as laugh out loud, (they're definitely not comedies) but Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie books have some definite laugh out loud moments among all the misery.

The Diary of a Provincial Lady and (in German) Die Känguru Chroniken

Oh yes, Provincial Lady has some really good bits. And then there's its natural successor, Bridget Jones - the first book genuinely is funny.

I'm currently collecting more strange looks from fellow passengers as I sit on the train reading John O'Farrells "Utterly Impartial History of Britain". It's not teaching me much about history, but it's certainly providing me with some laughs.

Scuba Dancing, definitely!

The first book I thought of when I read the thread title...