A column about your Eden Valley Area Library
?ÄúA day without laughter is a wasted day.?Äù
~ Charlie Chaplin
As the quote suggests, this month?Äôs column is all about laughter. And since everyone?Äôs idea of funny differs, we looked to a variety of sources for recommendations. From our volunteers we had some interesting suggestions. Nancy McNab loves the ?ÄúStephanie Plum Series?Äù by Janet Evanovich, which we have in print as well as audio. Ellen Ellickson, coordinator of our book club recommends Bill Bryson?Äôs ?ÄúA Walk in the Woods?Äù and Tina Fey?Äôs ?ÄúBossypants?Äù as well as books by Minnesota?Äôs own, Garrison Keillor. And Kathy DeForrest got a chuckle while watching ?ÄúMy Fellow Americans,?Äù rated PG-13.
Enjoy comedians? Check out books by George Carlin, Jeff Foxworthy or Carol Burnett. There are comic strip collections such as The Essential Calvin and Hobbes, or Bloom Country: Babylon. And then there are those joke books like ?Äú101 Elephant Jokes,?Äù or ?ÄúThe Mammoth Book of Jokes.?Äù Just don?Äôt let your kids have them or they will drive you crazy.
For a laugh, young adults can check out ?ÄúWintersmith?Äù by Terry Pratchett, featuring the six-inch tall Wee Free Men, who are into all sorts of inappropriate behavior. And ?ÄúPrincess Bride?Äù by William Goldman has been described as the Spinal Tap of fairy tales. Other recommended titles include ?ÄúA Fate Totally Worse Than Death?Äù by Paul Fleischman, and ?ÄúAngus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging?Äù by Louise Rennison. And on audio there is Gary Paulsen?Äôs ?ÄúThe Boy Who Owned the School.?Äù
The young readers will get a charge out of ?ÄúThe Captain Underpants Series?Äù by Dav Pilkey. For the picture book set, we have ?ÄúBark, George?Äù by Jules Feiffer in which George does everything but bark, or the ?ÄúElephant and Piggie Series?Äù by Mo Willems. It?Äôs always nice to choose a read-aloud the whole family can enjoy.
Making Reader?Äôs Digest Top 100+ Funniest Movies of All Time are ?ÄúLittle Miss Sunshine,?Äù rated R,
?ÄúShrek,?Äù rated PG and ?ÄúJuno,?Äù rated PG-13. Looking for funny movies that both children and adults can enjoy? Try ?ÄúBabe?Äù or the animated ?ÄúRatatouille;?Äù both get G ratings.
Don?Äôt forget to look over our New and Notable shelf. This month?Äôs offerings include the Pulitzer Prize winning ?ÄúAll the Light We Cannot See?Äù by Anthony Doerr and ?ÄúCapital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868,?Äù by Cokie Roberts. Also available are ?ÄúFind Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed?Äù by Michelle Knight which is a memoir of the horrific Cleveland kidnappings, ?Äú16 Lighthouse Road?Äù by popular author Debbie Macomber, ?ÄúThe Forgotten Girls?Äù by Sara Blaedel, a suspenseful thriller and for the junior set ?ÄúMiddle School: Get Me out of Here!?Äù by James Patterson.
There?Äôs a change we hope you will find helpful. We created a special section just for LARGE PRINT titles. If you know of anyone who would benefit from the availability of large print titles or if you prefer the larger print size, we have a nice selection just inside the front door.
Until next month, we?Äôll see you at the library.