Funny Christmas Reads

The holidays are just around the corner, but you know what? Sometimes they can be downright stressful. Holiday dinners, Christmas shopping, and let’s not forget the weather… Wouldn’t it be nice to unwind and relax? Yes, it would be, and just in time for the holidays here are three Christmas books that’ll give you a good laugh.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. The 20th book in his Discworld series, Pratchett tells the tale of the mythical creature known as the Hogfather, who bears striking semblance to our very own Father Christmas. That is, Pratchett tells the tale of the Hogfather’s absence… With nobody to grant children’s wishes and bring them presents on Hogswatchnight (December 32), Death attempts to fill in for the missing Hogfather while Susan Sto Helit, his granddaughter, attempts to find and rescue him.

Snark! The Herald Angels Sing: Sarcasm, Bitterness and the Holiday Season by Lawrence Dorfman. Filled with hilarious Christmas quotes, not to mention plenty to cover other holidays, Dorman manages to channel anything but the holiday spirit… Take for example one of the many pearls of wisdom found in the book: “Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people once a year.”—Victor Borge.

You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs. The author of Running With Scissors returns to bring us a collection of stories highlighting the best and worst Christmases ever, and how they bring out the best in us. Or the worst. Mostly the worst.

For more hilarity visit our online library at www.viewhall.com where you’ll find a wide assortment of books and more.

Reasons to Read A Confederacy of Dunces

John Kennedy Toole posthumous Pulitzer Prize winning novel may pack a punch when it comes to page count, but the book is well worth the investment. Here are just four of the many reasons to read A Confederacy of Dunces.

It paints a picture of New Orleans like few novels can. Toole’s near perfect portrayal of the city is one of the novel’s many highlights. From the streets of the French Quarter to characters that walk it, few authors have managed to capture the essence of the city quite like Toole.

It stays true to the dialect of its setting. New Orleans has a very distinct dialect that Toole manages to perfectly reproduce in his novel. It lends the story a certain amount of authenticity, one that can only come from an author who lives and breathes all things New Orleans.

The cast of characters. New Orleans is definitely an interesting place, and that’s due in no small part to its interesting inhabitants. Toole does a terrific job of present a wide array, and they’re definitely all kinds of interesting.

It nearly never made publication. Tootle took his own life before the novel ever saw publication, and it was only thanks to the efforts of Southern writer Walker Percy that the book made it to print years later. The odds alone are an excellent reason to read this great work.

Looking for some comedic content? Visit our online library at www.viewhall.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more. Accessible anytime, anywhere, from your favorite devices.

Tips For Writing Comedy

We all love to have a good laugh but coming up with the right jokes isn’t always an easy task. Here are four tips for writing comedy that just might help!

Work with a partner. You may be at your best when you’re alone, but more often than not brainstorming and bouncing ideas is the best way to get the creative juices flowing. Find a partner and start cranking out the comedy!

Test your material time and time again. Humor is subjective, and what’s funny to you may not necessarily be funny to others. Test your material, test it often, and test it on different audiences, only then will you know what works and what doesn’t.

Read everything you can get your hands on, humorous or otherwise. The more stuff you know, the more material you have to make fun of. Humor doesn’t necessarily have to be 100% accurate all the time, but the right head scratching fact may just be good for a laugh.

Write often, even when you don’t want to. Putting pen to paper when inspiration strikes is all well and good, but sometimes the key to quality is through quantity, revising what’s worth keeping and discarding the rest. Making a habit of writing, even when you don’t want to, is the best way to ensure that material keeps coming.

Looking for some comedic content? Visit our online library at www.viewhall.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more, accessible anytime from your favorite devices.

Hilarious Holiday Reads

The holidays don’t have to be a particularly serious time, and for those looking to unwind and let loose this holiday season the right book may just do the trick. For those who prefer to laugh it up over a good read by the fire, here are three of the many books that are bound to crack you up this holiday season.

Holiday on Ice by David Sedaris. A regular contributor to the New Yorker and National Public Radio’s This American Life, Sedaris can pen satire like few other and was once named America’s Favorite Humorist by Time Magazine. Holidays on Ice is a collection of essays on Christmas, as twisted as they come, from one of the funniest authors alive.

I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence by Amy Sedaris. Not to be outdone by her brother David (yes, it’s a very funny family!) Amy Sedaris pens her own holiday hilarity in I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence. An extremely talented and hilarious author in her own right, Amy Sedaris entertains with her guide to entertaining, complete with anecdotes and hilarious suggestions.

I’m Dreaming of a Black Christmas by Lewis Black. A New York Times bestselling author and regular contributor to the Daily Show, Lewis Black tears apart the tradition of the holidays piece by piece and suggests his own substitutes. A must-read from this often angry and blatantly belligerent comic, but be warned, you’ll never look at the holidays the same way again.

For more hilarity, check out the wide variety of reads at www.viewhall.com.