UK Book Club discussion

Sorry for posting this late. It was my birthday and having not been anywhere in over 18 months we took a couple of nights in a hotel to celebrate. With covid restrictions, we could only eat in our room, but so nice not to have to do the washing up!

So comedy for June. I am a little stumped, as I often don't find comic novels funny....

I've just been reading I Capture the Castle as part of my dusty bookshelf challenge and there is an incident with a bear that had me laughing out loud on the train, but it's not generally classed as a comic novel.

I have ordered Good Behaviour by Molly Keane from the library. It's meant to be 'a witty, black comedy of manners', so I hope that will do the job. If I have time I might also try The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford - heralded as 'a work of comic genius' - apparently there's a BBC adaptation, any one seen it?

Happy Birthday Liz, glad you were able to enjoy it in a different setting! A change of scene is what we all need!

I'm falling back on a trusty Terry Pratchett DiscWorld novel as I always find them amusing. There are loads I still haven't got round to but my choice for this month is Thief of Time because I need an orange cover for another challenge I'm doing!

Happy birthday, Liz! And glad you could celebrate this year, even if in a modified fashion.

I have to read Wuthering Heights for another group this month so maybe I’ll read Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair for this challenge (sorry, Goodreads is still not letting me use book links on my iPad). And there’s always P. G. Wodehouse or Angela Thirkell or D. E. Stevenson. Jane Austen would do!

I had started Death: A Life by George Pendle, which was trying to be funny but failing (for me) so I set it aside. Ditto Bill Bryson’s book The Road to Little Dribbling, which seemed so much more about himself than about the places he was visiting that I grew bored.

And another happy birthday to Liz! It's good to celebrate, even baby steps back to normalcy. Enjoy. I wanted to share a funny/crazy book I just read. The title seems to suggest a romance novel, but it is not. The name of the book is Squeeze Me, by Carl Hiaasen. The cover has a martini glass draped with a python. The main character is a kick-ass woman, who is quite capable of anything when it comes to capturing animals, reptiles, and other invasive species. Believe me it is very funny. Most of the LOL is in the first half, but the entire book is very entertaining. Good luck in breaking loose from the pandemic quarantine! We're doing the same in Kansas.

Happy birthday Liz🥳🎂🍾. Sounds like you had a lovely time, hopefully you were spoiled as well!

I will be reading “The Woman Who Died a Lot” by Jasper Fforde. This the last (there is rumour of another but it has been years!!!) in the Thursday Next series. Abigail I am jealous that you get to read the Eyre Affair for the first time - I loved it so so much.

I will also be continuing with “Crime & Punishment” from last month as I didn’t get it finished in time 🙄

Happy Birthday Liz. I'm glad you were able to get away and enjoy yourself. I may try something by P.G. Wodehouse, maybe Leave it to Psmith or Laughing Gas

Happy Belated birthday Liz! Hope you had an amazing day.

I have started Good Omensby Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman which fits the theme for this, not sure what else at the minute but i'll probably find something.

Thanks for the birthday wishes :) I realise I have Steve Martin's memoir Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life on my Kindle, so I will read that while I wait for Good Behaviour to come from the library.

I'm starting Laughing Gas by P.G. Wodehouse today.

I have recently read I Capture The Castle. There is plenty of humour within the writing. I also generally prefer humour as part of a story rather than being told I am reading comedy and should be laughing. For me it's the same in real life. Humour is part of most conversation. I don't need to be told jokes. Loved The Pursuit of Love. Did not recognise it in the tv dramatization. I think you would enjoy it if you enjoyed I Capture The Castle. Read Jessica Mitford's Hons and Rebels earlier this year and that's a fascinating look at the lives of the Mitfords.

True, Beth. There's an expectation of laughter in a comic novel, while I find it more effective to stumble on humour unaware!

Everyone's sense of humour is slightly different, so what one person finds hilarious can leave another stone cold. Plus it also depends what mood you're in at the time.

Ah, Helen, I wish it were my first time reading The Eyre Affair but I did read it when it first came out. Still, it’s my favorite book in the series and it might help me get through a mandatory reread of Wuthering Heights, a book I often find unintentionally funny when it’s not boring me to tears.

A new book just swam into my life that is perfect for this challenge: The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America by Matt Kracht. I am a birder, and this book narrates everything my id has ever told me about birds and birding. Funny as all get-out. Since the other book I’m reading right now is a slave narrative, I definitely needed this category!

Liz wrote: "True, Beth. There's an expectation of laughter in a comic novel, while I find it more effective to stumble on humour unaware!

Everyone's sense of humour is slightly different, so what one person f..."

That's so true of me !

and a belated happy birthday! :)

Thank you!

I am about to start my Terry Pratchett but in the meantime I sneaked in a really quick read: Shakespeare's Guide to Parenting which is an amusing collection of Shakespeare quotes.

Could I recommend Agent Smith becomes a Royal Ringer - an adventure romp with quirky British humour?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B095SZ8LGW
The strong female lead sets out on a quest that is hindered by villains and crazy characters surrounding the British Royal Family.

Sigh, as with so many books striving to be witty, The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America rapidly palled. The author is one of those who thinks obscenities (especially the ones spelled with asterisks) are inherently funny. When he was on target about bird behavior I chuckled, but the rest wasn’t a slog.

I finished Good Behaviour a couple of days ago. I really enjoyed it, although I wouldn't really class it as 'comedy'. The title is key - what counts as good behaviour in the decline and fall of the St Charles family, is a never faltering stiff upper lip and a consistent business as usual attitude, no matter what the circumstances, or the consequences. The comedy is understated - there's a complete mismatch between what the naive narrator perceives and what the reader understands.

On to Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love - more eccentric aristocratic families living foolishly between the wars. I am obviously stuck in a time warp!

Finished Thief of Time which I enjoyed and gave 4 stars. It was nice to visit Discworld again.

Just finished Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It was okay, it was meant to be hilarious but other than someone being called a wazzock (pardon the french) I didn’t really find it that funny. It was still enjoyable but not really laugh out loud funny like the reviews said it was. Gave it three stars so not bad.

When I read Good Omens I found I could identify the sections written by each author. I was laughing at the TP bits and less so at NG. The fact that it wasn't a seamless piece was a bit disappointing.