The 25 best humor books
The 25 highest-ranked humor books in our ranking of 2,816, scored on how much readers love them, their prize, best-list and bestseller record, and current buzz. We rank 35 humor books in all. How we rank
- 1
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay86.7Must-Read ScoreThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
In 1939, young magician-in-training Josef Kavalier escapes Nazi-occupied Prague in a daring Houdini-style escape and lands in Brooklyn with his cousin Sammy Clayman.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (2001)NBCC Award (Fiction) finalist (2000)NYT 100 Best Books of the 21st CenturyGuardian 100 Best Books of the 21st Century - 2
Night Watch84.2Must-Read ScoreNight Watch
Sir Sam Vimes, commander of the City Watch, is chasing a psychopath across the rooftops of Ankh-Morpork when a magical accident sends both of them thirty years into the past.
Why it made the listGuardian 100 Best Books of the 21st CenturyBBC's The Big Read - 3
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy82.6Must-Read ScoreThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
One Thursday, Arthur Dent wakes up to find his house about to be demolished for a highway bypass.
Why it made the listPBS Great American ReadBBC's The Big Read - 4
Good Omens80.6Must-Read ScoreGood Omens
According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the only reliable guide to the future, the world will end next Saturday, just after tea.
Why it made the list18 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2018BBC's The Big Read - 5
Men at Arms78.6Must-Read ScoreMen at Arms
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on the brink of change: Captain Sam Vimes is about to marry the richest woman in the city and retire, and the Watch has new recruits, including a troll, a dwarf and a werewolf.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 6
Guards! Guards!78.4Must-Read ScoreGuards! Guards!
In Ankh-Morpork, a smelly, corrupt city of the Discworld, the Night Watch has dwindled to three men: Captain Sam Vimes, a drunk; Sergeant Colon; and Corporal Nobbs.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 7
The Truth78.0Must-Read ScoreThe Truth
William de Worde accidentally becomes editor of Ankh-Morpork's first newspaper, with reporter Sacharissa Cripslock, a band of axe-wielding dwarf printers and a recovering vampire photographer.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 8
Going Postal77.8Must-Read ScoreGoing Postal
Moist von Lipwig, a gifted con man, is hanged for his crimes and wakes up alive in the office of Lord Vetinari, the ruler of Ankh-Morpork, who offers him a choice: run the city's derelict post office or step through a door to certain death.
Why it made the listNebula Award finalist (2005) - 9
Small Gods77.7Must-Read ScoreSmall Gods
The great god Om tries to manifest himself in glory and finds himself stuck as a tortoise, with only one true believer left: Brutha, a simple novice whose highest ambition is tending melons.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 10
The Fifth Elephant77.0Must-Read ScoreThe Fifth Elephant
Sam Vimes, the gruff commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, is sent as ambassador to Überwald, a dark, mountainous land of dwarfs, vampires and werewolves, for the crowning of the dwarfs' new king.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 11
Reaper Man76.9Must-Read ScoreReaper Man
Death has started to think about life, which worries his bosses, so they retire him with a gold watch.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 12
Thief of Time76.4Must-Read ScoreThief of Time
On the Discworld, the Monks of History store time and move it to where it's needed.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 13
Hogfather76.3Must-Read ScoreHogfather
It's the night before Hogswatch on the Discworld, and something is missing: the Hogfather, who brings presents to children, has disappeared.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 14
Mort76.3Must-Read ScoreMort
Death, a seven-foot skeleton with a scythe who speaks in capital letters, needs an apprentice, and he picks Mort, a gangly teenager no good at anything else.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 15
Witches Abroad76.2Must-Read ScoreWitches Abroad
Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick travel to the distant city of Genua on what seems an easy job: make sure a servant girl doesn't marry a prince.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 16
Making Money75.3Must-Read ScoreMaking Money
Moist von Lipwig, the reformed con man who saved the Ankh-Morpork Post Office, is bored.
Why it made the listNebula Award finalist (2008) - 1772.4Must-Read Score
Wyrd Sisters - 18
The Sellout69.4Must-Read ScoreThe Sellout
The narrator, a Black farmer and pot grower in a Los Angeles neighborhood so neglected it's been removed from the map, sets out to put it back.
Why it made the listBooker Prize winner (2016)NBCC Award (Fiction) winner (2015)NYT 100 Best Books of the 21st Century - 19
Portnoy's Complaint69.4Must-Read ScorePortnoy's Complaint
Alexander Portnoy, thirty-three, a decent man working for New York City's human rights office, lies on his psychiatrist's couch and talks.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (14 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 1969 (Publishers Weekly)TIME All-TIME 100 NovelsModern Library 100 Best Novels - 20
Asterix the Gaul69.3Must-Read ScoreAsterix the Gaul
It's 50 B.C., and all of Gaul is occupied by the Romans.
Why it made the listLe Monde's 100 Books of the Century - 21
Soul Music68.0Must-Read ScoreSoul Music
Susan Sto Helit, Death's granddaughter, is trying to have a normal life at boarding school when her grandfather goes missing and she has to take over the family business.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 22
The Colour of Magic66.4Must-Read ScoreThe Colour of Magic
Rincewind is a cowardly, incompetent wizard in the grimy city of Ankh-Morpork, on the Discworld, a flat world carried through space on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle.
Why it made the listBBC's The Big Read - 23
Equal Rites65.7Must-Read ScoreEqual Rites
Before he dies, the wizard Drum Billet passes his staff and his power to the eighth son of an eighth son, except the baby turns out to be a girl.
- 24
Cold Comfort Farm63.4Must-Read ScoreCold Comfort Farm
When Flora Poste is orphaned at nineteen with an education and no money, she decides to live with relatives, and picks the Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm in Sussex.
Why it made the listGuardian 100 Best Novels in EnglishBBC's The Big Read - 25
The Light Fantastic63.4Must-Read ScoreThe Light Fantastic
The Discworld needs a hero, and fast: a red star is heading straight for it.
