A Funny Thing Happened

Some laughs come from the belly and make you gasp for air. Some come as chuckles and a wry smile. We offer up seven books that will make you giggle, tee-hee, guffaw, and think. Oh, and have you heard the one about the perfectly priced e-books? Just $1.99 from August 1 through August 31.

Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte

When Tarte bought a house in rural Michigan, he was counting on a tranquil haven. Then he married Linda. Linda wanted a rabbit. Before long, Bob found himself constructing cages, buying feed, clearing waste, and spoon-feeding a menagerie of furry and feathery residents. Entertainment Weekly called this book “hilarious.”

You can buy Enslaved by Ducks at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, INDIEBOUND, KOBO,   GOOGLE, APPLE and POWELL’S.

Lunch at the Piccadilly by Clyde Edgerton

Edgerton makes aging laugh-out-loud funny. Lil Olive’s driver’s license doesn’t expire until her ninety-seventh birthday, so she and the gals from Rosehaven Convalescence Center steal a car and hit the road. Meanwhile, freelance preacher L. Ray Flowers is gaining momentum for his vision to unite churches and nursing homes (Nurches of America). Rosehaven will never be the same.

You can buy Lunch at the Piccadilly at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, INDIEBOUND, KOBO GOOGLE, APPLE, and POWELL’S.

The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern

“Some people got taxidermied pets in the attic, we got a frozen rabbi in the basement,” Bernie Karp’s father tells him. What happens when this impressionable teenage boy inadvertently thaws out a nineteenth-century Polish rabbi in twentieth century suburban Memphis? The rest of this story is nothing short of miraculous.

You can buy The Frozen Rabbi at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, INDIEBOUND, KOBO, GOOGLE, APPLE, and POWELL’S.

Exley by Brock Clarke

For young Miller Le Ray, life has become a search–a search for his dad, a search for a notorious (and, unfortunately, deceased) writer, Frederick Exley, and a search for truth. As Miller says, “Sometimes you have to tell the truth about some of the stuff you’ve done so that people will believe you when you tell them the truth about other stuff you haven’t done.”

You can buy Exley at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, INDIEBOUND, KOBO, GOOGLE, APPLE, and POWELL’S.

The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories by Steve Almond

The cast of characters in The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories includes a wealthy family certain they have been abducted by space aliens, a sexy magazine editor who falls for a world-class cad, and a beleaguered dentist who refuses to read his best friend’s novel. Michael Jackson and Abraham Lincoln make cameos, too.

You can buy The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, INDIEBOUND, KOBO, GOOGLE, APPLE, and POWELL’S.

Why Dogs Chase Cars by George Singleton

Singleton puts together a collection of fourteen stories—funny, cynical, and empathetic all at the same time–about the beleaguered boyhood of Mendal Dawes. Mendal is growing up in the tiny backwater town of Forty-Five, South Carolina (where everybody is pretty much one beer short of a six-pack), and all Mendal can think about is getting out.

You can buy Why Dogs Chase Cars at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, INDIEBOUND, KOBO, GOOGLE, APPLE, and POWELL’S BOOKS.

Dorothy on the Rocks by Barbara Suter

Maggie Barlow is a funny, lovable, and totally self-destructive actress who, after a night of one-drink-too-many, wakes up with a strange man in her bed: confident and sexy twenty-eight-year-old Jack. From there Suter’s coming-of-middle-age romp takes off, as our heroine finally takes center stage in a totally improbable love story.

You can buy Dorothy on the Rocks at AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, INDIEBOUND, KOBO, GOOGLE, APPLE, and POWELL’S BOOKS.