Top 5 Comedies

Welcome to my unapologetically casual top-5 series. Follow the tag ‘Top 5 2023’ for more. There are no stars and no metrics. The only criteria is how much I enjoyed the book, and how well its strengths place it primarily in a given category. Yes, books can appear on more than one list if they deserve it.

Comedy:

What makes something funny? Science literally does not know. We know it is a physiological response to surprise, but why should that be? Our human capacity for laughter is one of the most charming facts about us. That said, humor is super subjective. These little tomes made me smile. I hope they do the same for you.

Top 5:

5. Kill the Farm Boy – This whimsical, occasionally bawdy parody lampoons every bog-standard chosen-one fantasy epic. The hero is never who you think it is and everything is five degrees more ridiculous than advertised in this charming adventure.

4. The Color of Magic – I know there are Terry Pratchett fans who have read far more Discworld than I who are screaming that this novel deserves a higher place as a sort of lifetime achievement award for the author. Well, this is the first and only Pratchett I’ve read, and I feel it is appropriately placed. What Douglas Adams did for science fiction, Terry Pratchett does for fantasy. Laugh-out-loud funny.

3. All Systems Red – The Murderbot Diaries is a sarcastic, dryly witty series narrated by a programmed killing machine who just wants a little quiet time to watch her soap operas. If that doesn’t delight you, your heart is stone.

2. Redshirts – For every space opera fan who delights in pulling at the threads of their favorite franchise, Redshirts finds a creative, fascinating explanation for all those pesky plot holes. This fast-paced parody is written in a relevant, modern voice.

1. Catch 22 – One of these things is not like the others, right? For all the fantasy parodies that strike my fancy, this 60-year-old classic made me laugh harder than any of the above. The voice of this fever dream of a novel takes some getting used to, but once you let it carry you away, the humor is timeless.

Honorable mention: Kaiju Preservation Society – by the author of Redshirts, this Jurrassic-Park-Meets-Men-In-Black adventure is a delightful read.