Our staff share the books that made them laugh this year.

‘I laughed myself stupid the whole way through Jennifer Wright’s book, It Ended Badly. This hilarious collection of essays about terrible break-ups in history gives some well-needed perspective to my own romantic escapades, and I loved Wright’s sympathetic, witty narrative style. I can’t wait to read her new book, Get Well Soon which is all about plagues, so more of the same, really.’ – Lian Hingee, digital marketing manager

‘A couple of short stories have totally cracked me up this year. ‘Brad Carrigan: American’ by George Saunders is one of them. You’ll find it in the collection In Persuasion Nation. It’s a surreal, wacky story about some characters in a TV show, their dog who is a puppet, their grotesquely and heartbreakingly morphing back yard, and the messed-up reality TV shows they watch on the show. Saunders writes with astute, cutting, smart, ironic clarity about the contemporary condition of American culture in a way that is outrageous and alien while being instantly and horribly recognisable at the same time. Having only just discovered his stories, I can’t wait to immerse myself deep in the vast cannon of his work.’

‘The second laugh-out-loud-in-public experience I had occurred while I read the story ‘Discipline’ in the collection Big Bad Love by Larry Brown. Larry Brown is another prolific American short story writer hailing from the south, but his work is all but out of print now. ‘Discipline’ is about a couple of writers who have been sent to hack prison for writers who have committed plagiarism or who are simply not very good. The prison is run by ex-editors, the inmates are assigned writing exercises and revisions, and they are subjected to cruel and unusual punishments in the course of their rehabilitation. Larry Brown is a master of creating believable characters and – in the case of this story in particular – delivering a hilarious, killer punchline.’ – Amy Vuleta, St Kilda shop manager

‘Maria Semple’s Today Will Be Different made me laugh out loud several times. It’s not exactly a light-hearted book – in fact, it’s quite bleak at times – but there’s a lot of enjoyably dark humour to be found in protagonist Eleanor Flood’s musings on the world around her: “As far as I’m concerned, the only thing sweeter than seeing a friend is that friend cancelling on me.”’ – Nina Kenwood, marketing manager

‘A book that made me happy this year was Barbarian Days. William Finnegan’s intricate and lively descriptions of the many waves he’s encountered over a lifetime of surfing were so vivid that I was inspired to go surfing for the first time in a year! As a dedicated surfer and experienced journalist, Finnegan combines local knowledge with tightly crafted observation to create some of the finest sports writing since David Foster Wallace wrote about tennis.’ – Michael Skinner, bookseller at St Kilda

‘There were so many moments in Julie Koh’s excellent and memorable short story collection, Portable Curiosities, that made me shriek-laugh in shocked pleasure. Koh has a way of taking a story to its satirical extreme, and then taking it even further, until laughter is the only option. The body count in the macabre 'Cream Reaper’ is hilariously high, and I will simply never forget the scene with the onanist writer. I’m smirking even as I think about it.‘ – Leanne Hall, children’s and YA bookseller

'Because most of the fiction I read this year tended to fall into the exquisite-but-utterly-heartbreaking camp, I turned to picture books and graphic novels for comic relief. Three of my favourite graphic novels from this year were all by exceptionally funny women: Miseryland by Keiler Roberts, Hot Dog Taste Test by Lisa Hanawalt and Someone Please Have Sex With Me by Gina Wynbrandt. The picture books that made me laugh the most were I am Doodle Cat by Kat Patrick and Lauren Marriott, King Baby by Kate Beaton and We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen – all ridiculous and completely brilliant.’

‘A special mention must go to My Dad Wrote a Porno. This 'book of a podcast of a book’ is unlike anything else you’ll find on our shelves. I’ve gotten hooked on the podcast and have found myself snorting with laugher multiple times on public transport (also blushing profusely every time I fail to check my headphone jack is plugged in properly). Outrageously funny, and highly recommended – play the podcast in the car when you head off on holidays, then settle down with the book for some additional silliness. The quiz is a definite highlight.‘ – Stella Charls, marketing and events coordinator

'Told from the perspective of Jacob Bloch, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Here I Am explores modern day domestic problems: elderly parents, family reunions, high school issues, etc. Some of the lines were so hilarious that I laughed out loud and couldn’t resist sharing what I’d just read with the closest person willing to listen to me. I also had to read other lines out loud because they were so poignant. A brilliant book.’ – Chris Gordon, events manager

‘A book that made me laugh and feel happy was The Martian by Andy Weir. The movie tie-in edition drew me to this book for holiday reading and it totally gripped me from the first page. The main narrator, said Martian, is hilarious, smart and likeable even when facing the dire situation of being accidentally left on Mars for dead by his crewmates. I even loved all the science bits as our hero battles to survive and ultimately find a way back to earth.’ – Jan Lockwood, human resources manager

‘The 2015 Booker Prize winner, A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. The unique Jamaican patois, the futility of politics in an emerging Jamaica, the intrigue around the shooting of “The Singer”, the fact that the first Jamaican superstar Bob Marley is referred to only as “The Singer”…. This book made me smile, chuckle and, at times, laugh out loud.’

‘James’s story transported me back to Island House in Hope Road Kingston, reminding me of some bizarre conversations I had there in the early 1990s with numerous “relations” of the late Bob Marley. References to the music of Jamaica in the 60s – to ska, rocksteady and early reggae – which marked a period of unprecedented success for Jamaican artists, made me smile too.’

‘The fact that this book’s title includes the word “brief”, yet is a weighty tome of nearly 700 pages with print that requires reading glasses – makes for more humour. Additionally the character names, like Bam Bam, Funky Chicken, Shotta Sherrif and Tony Pavarotti, all straight out of the Kingston ghettos of the 70s as well as the mean streets of Brooklyn and the Bronx of the 80s, caused me to chortle regularly. A Brief History of Seven Killings took some stamina to finish but the rewards were definitely worth the effort.’ – Anthony Shaw, project manager

‘It’s rare for a book to make me laugh out loud but (as I wrote in my review earlier this year) Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible made me laugh more times than I can count. This is such a smart, funny, layered, sharp-tongued, addictive read and one of my absolutely favourite books of the year. I also laughed several times while reading Emily Voigt’s The Dragon Behind The Glass, mostly at the bizarre insights into the lives (and egos!) of explorers, scientists and pet smugglers. I adored this book.’ – Bronte Coates, digital content coordinator