No, I am serious about this. I wish to get back into the learning of reading, but as a beginner I am repelled by the intense use of vocabulary, literary devices of classical literature books or intense and difficult-to-follow storyline of modern day fiction. I want to read a book that is clearly made with people like me in mind.
I’m not saying I want 10 second short paragraphs or extremely racist or bigoted comments to fuel my interest in reading the book. Though I rarely use social media, I do quite often look at memes, and they make me feel at home with how they are relatable and make use of clever wordings and phrases to express that one particular feeling. Same thing is seen in comments of meme forums where people come up with things to add to the humor of the original post or make it even better. I feel like this kind of expression could very well be possible to implement in a book in a textual medium while retaining the same amount of engagement and creativity.
I know my request may seem unnecessary, that I should quit bickering and just pick up a book and start reading it, and in reality I could by lending one from my family, however I wish to give this approach a chance as I am sure this situation must be faced by other people and someone could have a written a book to directly address these kind of people. I need a stepping stone to start my habit of reading books and I feel like starting from something I am already familiar with would greatly assist me.
I am not interested in any particular genre as of now apart from what I have expressed in the post so far. I could even go as far as to read an encyclopedia or an academic paper if the humor is engaging enough.
I feel that this topic of discussion is general, subjective and of help to others on the internet, which is why I decided to post it here instead of the dedicated books community.
“repelled by the intense use of vocabulary”
“this kind of expression could very well be possible to implement in a book in a textual medium while retaining the same amount of engagement and creativity.”
🤷🏻♀️
No but really, Douglas Adams could be what you’re looking for, very funny stuff
It sounds like you’re talking about Calvin and Hobbes to me. They’re amazing and full of funny quips, quotes, and jokes. They’re also super approachable, because they’re supposed to be the perspective of a six year old.
That’s not a book though?
I mean… they’re comic books. there’s quite a few of them. but no, not a traditional “read the entire story” kind of book.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Calvin_and_Hobbes_books
Emoji Dick is a crowd sourced and crowd funded translation of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick into Japanese emoticons called emoji.
Terry Pratchett.
The Discworld books can wrap a particle physics pun in a fart joke. The cheeky cleverness that Patchett writes with, along with the keen eye for making fun of the absurdity of human existence, could be right up your alley. Start with “Guards, Guards!”, or whichever one you spot on your local second hand bookstore- they are pretty much all able to be read standalone.
Seriously. Pratchett will scratch your itch.
I’m not sure if this is what you’re looking for - http://hyperboleandahalfbook.blogspot.com/
I also recommend Calvin and Hobbes.
I don’t know where you live but the Brooklyn public library has a free service where you can ask something like this, and a human librarian will try to find books for you: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/bookmatch
Oh shit that’s awesome.
You might like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
I don’t think so. They expressed dislike of intense use of vocabulary.
David Thorne’s website and books are great fun.
I have several of his books and when my partner and I go on holiday, I pack one for him as he doesn’t read -ever- but said these don’t feel like reading.
I haven’t read them myself, but I understand that “Gideon the Ninth” and its sequels are heavy on meme humor. Some reviewers love them for that, others hate them for that, but they all seem to agree that it’s there.
It definitely feels unique among the books I’ve read, yeah. I liked it once I understood that it was supposed to be anachronistic and fun to read.
The hardest part about reading Gideon the Ninth for me was keeping track of all the settings (different room layouts, a big castle with winding hallways, etc.) and people (basically Hunger Games–style; 2 people from each of 9 sections of a nation). Maybe it would be more helpful for OP to start with something easier for these reasons.
Came here to say The Locked Tomb is FANTASTIC meme humor and so witty in almost every way. However it’s a series that I’m convinced I’ll never actually understand. I’m on Nona now and things are barely better. Harrow had me second guessing every fact and almost pulling out a cork board, pins, and string to just understand when what happened to whom.
One of my favorite new series, though. And it’s been a delight to buddy read with my wife.
Go to a book store. In my experience it is way easier to find book there than with the whole catalog of amazon.
Have a look at the shelves with the gift ideas. Most books there are somewhat funny and are more a casual read.
If you want something funny, have a look at something from your favorite comedian or poetry slammer. They often write similar format like they do on stage. Short, condensed and on point.
Pick up a few books, read the better bart of the first page, run through the pages and read another one in the middle. See if you like the style or try with the next one.
It’s only technically a book, but I’m still going to recommend Homestuck. It’s one of the most “made for the internet” stories out there when that’s what you’re looking for.
https://bambosh.dev/unofficial-homestuck-collection/ is recommended since flash died.
Books and meme humour feel like a very anachronistic combination
The notion that books are “of the past” has done harm to many.
Real Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Handbook. Other people have heard of this right?
I really enjoy He Who Fights with Monsters it’s a lit-rpg with the main character being Australian with lots of off the wall references, mostly to 80’s TV shows.
Check out Off to be the Wizard by Scott Meyer. It’s got a lot of nerdy humor to it. I wouldn’t necessarily call it “meme humor” but it might have the feel that you’re looking for.
Can you elaborate on this ‘nerdy humor’? If it is what I believe it to be, I could also enjoy that. I love memes and jokes revolving around complex maths and scientific phenomena that you need to have properly studied in order to understand the humor.
