The Baby Boom: How It Got That Way (And It Wasn’t My Fault) (And I’ll Never Do It Again), by P J O’Rourke (Grove Press UK, RRP $37): Author P J O’Rourke has a knack for making hilarious observations on…
Category: Humour
Dreaming of the impossible
100 Things You Will Never Do, by Daniel Smith (Quercus, RRP $40): I refuse to set myself a bucket list and believe the phrase should be eradicated from our language, but must admit I did enjoy this trip through what…
Tackling gender debate with lots of humour
Are Men Obsolete: You Decide, edited by Rudyard Griffiths (Ebury Press, RRP $20): This little book takes on the gender debate with four talented feminist writers and critics taking a crack at the argument both for and against those hairy…
French idioms … and bidets
The Eat Horses Don’t They? The Truth About the French by Piu Marie Eatwell (HarperCollins, RRP $37): Have you ever wondered what life in France is really like? Is it all garlic and fabulousness? Berets and croissants? What do they do with bidets? Do they really eat horses? In this quirky little book, Piu…
The wisdom of Agnes in time for Christmas
Mrs Brown’s A-Y of Everything, by Brendan O’Carroll (Michael Joseph, Penguin, RRP $50): Irish comedian Brendon O’Carroll has taken the world by storm as with his gender bending performances on our television and movie screens so it should come as…
Rich vein of humour uncovered
Crazy Rich Asians, by Kevin Kwan (Allen & Unwin, RRP $37): We all enjoy a sneaky peek into the lives of the fabulously rich and, over the years, those financially blessed citizens have copped more than their fair share of sniggers…
50 shades of political humour
50 Shades of Key: The Unofficial John Key Joke Book, by Paul Little (Paul Little Books, RRP $15): Whatever your politics, you’ll find it hard not to have a giggle at a few of the offerings in this little book.…
Cute, quirky and a lot of laughs
After Liff, by John Lloyd and Jon Canter (Faber and Faber, RRP $29): Subtitled “the new dictionary of things there should be words for”, this little hard-covered gem picks up where The Meaning of Liff left off back in 1983.…
Good laugh for Top Gear aficionados
The Stig: The Untold Story, by Simon du Beaumarche (Ebury Press, RRP $38): Some say he naturally faces magnetic north and has two sets of knees. He is, of course, The Stig. Forget that frilly wannabe Austin Powers, the true…
Humorous book on names has a Kiwi twist
Hey You: A Kiwi Compendium of Baby Names, by Rosemary Hepozden (Renaissance Publishing, RRP $25): I’m sure we’ve all, at some point, looked up the meaning of our own name in one of those dinky little books that list all…