Wild Things: YA Grown-Up discussion

I tend to laugh so easily when I am reading a book because I get so into them. My husband is always asking me what I'm laughing about, I will tell him and he will just look at me like... You were laughing about that?!? Haha. Next time I laugh out loud, I will have to write down the page number and report back! :)

I was reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and there was a joke that was basically a french pun:
("I kicked a french chicken in the stomach once. It said 'oeuf!'" "Huh?" "It said, 'oeuf!' Do you want some more, or have you had an oeuf?" Oeuf = french for egg.)
I laughed quite loudly. I texted my best friend, who I had four years of french with, and she laughed. No one else seemed to find it funny.

I actually started it and put it down. It wasn't that I didn't like it, it was that I had like 4 other things I was reading, and I had only picked it up out of curiosity. I've been meaning to set aside some time and read it ever since (it's one of my insanely long list of books that I own and need to read).

I'll get around to it one of these days. I have a feeling I'll like it when I do.

I think Meg Cabot's the Mediator series is reeeaaally funny. Actually, I think most of Meg Cabot's books are hilarious.

Ooh, I'm going to read Savvy soon. Glad to know it's lol.

Fiona wrote: "Oeuf was one of the french words I remembered from 3 years of failed French. I loved that bit hehe.

How are you enjoying the book overall Misty? I thought it was great. I didn't like Everything is..."


What a great pun! I love when the authors put in arcane jokes that you understand only if you know another language(I know Spanish and French)

I feel like it's a bonus. If you don't get it, fine, but if you do it's surprising and silly and fun. But that seems to make some people angry, like the author is being pretentious, or esoteric or something.

But I am obviously the type of person who uses words like 'pretentious' and 'esoteric', so what does that say about me?
Ha!

Misty wrote: "But I am obviously the type of person who uses words like 'pretentious' and 'esoteric', so what does that say about me?
Ha!"

And I enjoy it when you do!

I don't get it. What does "pretentious" mean? O_o Hehe...

I laughed out loud, and for quite a long time reading the third book in the Artemis Fowl series... Those books are all funny and cute, but that one just cracked me up. I giggled about it for days afterward, and then swore that I wouldn't read it again for a couple years so that the next time I read it, I would find it just as funny.

So, don't ask what the joke was, because it's been a couple years. :)

No... Although Mulch is HILARIOUS, it was a conversation between two throw-away thuggish characters... Something about "nobody insults ME that way" but I can't remember what it was exactly... Just that I died laughing. LOL

LOL I found it in the book... they are bodyguards, Pex and Chip, described thus:
..."Dr. Pearson waited along with two more muscle-bound guards. Artemis could tell by the look in their eyes that these two weren't exactly brain surgeons. In fact, they were as close as you could get to being Rottweilers and still balance on two legs."

Chapter 9 is their shining glory. :P

I remember finding them quite hilarious too. And yes, Mulch is fantastic. Possibly my fave character from the series.

I loved the Artemis Fowl series but I think Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men trio (A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith) had me chuckling the most. I got them for Christmas and reread them when I'm out of sorts.

Hi, I enjoyed reading the posts here...I laugh a lot too when I read something I find funny. I find cleverly disguised wit funnier than real comic situations. Don't ask me what yet cos I'm still loking for a good funny book or any book for that matter. I found Artemis Fowl the other day in the bookshop, and almost bought it...but then it seemed too geeky for my tastes.

Misty, how do you use the word 'esoteric'? I almost feel I know the word, I definitely know 'pretentious', but don't use it.

Esoteric means it's referring to something that so few people know that only a select few are going to get the reference. Like an inside joke, sort of. So the Extremely Loud...chicken and egg joke, for a book that's written in English, means that relatively few readers are going to get the joke right off the bat. That one is a mild example of esoteric, at least for here in the States (since most people are so far from bilingual). Another good example is a book (or poem especially) that refers to all of these academic things, ancient philosophers no one's heard of, or little known plant lore or something random like that.

cool thanks! Do you like the humour on sitcoms?

Can we discuss TV here?

Misty wrote: "Esoteric means it's referring to something that so few people know that only a select few are going to get the reference. Like an inside joke, sort of. So the Extremely Loud...chicken and egg jok..."

Excellent explanation, Misty. Are you a writer, perchance? You have a lovely way with words.

I am a writer at heart, but I rarely sit down and do it. I made myself take a creative writing class a few semesters ago so that I would be forced to write; I had a blast and haven't written a thing since!

oh really! Misty that's nice :) would you like to try, I found this other group where everyone starts and completes a story.

Ooh, fun! I used to do stuff like that in grade school with my friends.

Fabulous,...the group is called Let's All Write Stories :)

I want to recommend a book I just completed to you: Another Kind Of Cowboy by Susan Juby. This story of a gay male teen who is trying to figure out where he's at and is interested in dressage is just a great fun read. It definitely qualifies in the humor category.

I went through this equestrian phase when I was a kid (don't ask me why, I had only been on a horse once, and it walked nice and gently). But every time I hear the word dressage, it takes me back. :)

Donald E Westlake cracks me up with his Dortmunder novels. Joan Hess cracks me up with her Magoddy series.

Catamorandi wrote: "Donald E Westlake cracks me up with his Dortmunder novels. Joan Hess cracks me up with her Magoddy series."

Cat, I met Joan Hess -- there is a definite reason why she cracks you up! Heck talking to her is a major trip!

I think Gordon Korman is a great YA humor writer. I loved his book No More Dead Dogs and recently bought Swindle to read in the near future.

Kathy wrote: "I think Gordon Korman is a great YA humor writer. I loved his book No More Dead Dogs and recently bought Swindle to read in the near future."

I just read No More Dead Dogs and enjoyed it. Very realistic characters, and such a great premise. I will definitely read more of his books in the future.

I was lucky last week and found two Upper Elementary/ YA books that made me laugh a lot. They weren't necessarily humor books, but had a lot of humor in them.

Finally by Wendy Mass

(takes place after 11 Birthdays which you don't need to read first - but you should read all her stuff imo... :)

Benny and Babe by Eoin Colfer

(takes place after Benny and Omar which is also very funny but a little more intensely serious, too, and which is recommended but either Benny book does stand alone)

I imagine it's easier for some kids to like books that have some humor in them, so I'm glad to have this thread to give me ideas I can share with my 14 yo son.

I just picked up a book I thought was funny: "It's a Book" by Lane Smith

There's a youtube video that will give you the gist of the story. It's basically about a tech-savvy character that runs across someone reading a book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4BK_2...

Ohmygoodness that's adorable - I was planning to read the book someday but now I'm tempted to actually buy it!

I've been feeling a bit of a sourpuss lately - I laugh a lot in real life but haven't found much funny in books and on TV.
I do love the humour in Jasper Fforde's novels but one of the only things making me laugh recently is the Not Always Right website.

I find books that show alot of the character's thouhgts to be funny. Especially, if it is something that you can relate to or a topic that you have experience with. The writer gives the character a hard time, as the reader is drawn in to the action. Makes good fiction everytime!

Eva Ibbotson's ghost make me laugh. They are the best ghosts ever written also The Princess Diaries's series.

I love the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. It's by Sherman Alexie it is hilarious but sad I recommend it.