Books That’ll Make You Laugh Out Loud

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, by Amy Schumer
There are few hotter names in comedy right now then Amy Schumer, actress, author, and eponymous star of Inside Amy Schumer. In her debut book, she promises no advice or self-help, instead offering a series of personal essays that are both funny and real. Schumer has always been unflinching in her willingness to share, and almost allergic to propriety, and mines loads of laughs from a genuine and wide-ranging look at her career and personal life.

Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop, by Nick Offerman
Those of us still in mourning the ending of Parks and Recreation (or who just love woodworking) will enjoy this legitimate and legitimately funny guide to woodcraft. The Offerman Woodshop is a for-real woodworking collective outside of Los Angeles, but his offbeat (meaning: downright weird) sense of humor results in a book full of commentary and personal anecdotes. It’s funny enough for the Offerman fan on your gift list, as well as informative and full of very pretty pictures of wood.

404 Not Found: A Coloring Book by The Oatmeal, by The Oatmeal and Matthew Inman
Mastermind Matthew Inman (aka The Oatmeal), the mad genius cartoonist behind Exploding Kittens and the collection How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You, has fully embraced the hot new trend of coloring to produce a book that’s both way funnier and way easier to color than your average “adult” coloring book. Telling the story of robot #404, who has gone missing from Robot City, the book is perfectly appropriate for all ages, and includes secret hidden objects within the cartoons—things like a hairy pickle, cat poop, and a gopher’s bum. You get the idea.

Best. State. Ever.: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland, by Dave Barry
Barry is one of our most venerable comic voices, with a career that spans several decades and across mediums. And he knows of what he speaks: Florida is his home, as well as the preferred target for his breezy, observational brand of humor. In the past, he’s suggested the country might be better off if all of South Florida were to float off into the sea, so the state doesn’t get off nearly as easily as the book’s title might lead you to believe. Still, nastiness is by no means Dave’s style, and the longtime Sunshine State resident has a genuine affection for Florida, and all of the things and people that make it a bit of an enigma to the rest of us. His visits to the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters, roadside attraction Weeki Wachee Springs, and Gatorland are sprinkled heavily with his enduring grasp of the the absurd and strange love of the illogical.

Carry This Book, by Abbi Jacobson
Another multitalented comedian, Abbi Jacobson is the co-creator and star of TV series Broad City, but she’s also an illustrator. In Carry This Book, Jacobson not only writes but draws and colors a series of images showing what some real and some fictional individuals might be carrying in their purses, bags, or glove compartments. We’ve all been wondering what’s in Oprah’s purse, right? (Happen upon her at the right moment, and you might be the recipient of one of Oprah’s spare “You get a car!” car keys.) And who knew about Donald Trump’s “Make Your Hair Great Again” comb? It’s not only funny and charming, but a font of information about the celebrities that you love, or otherwise.