Can you recommend books with meme culture humor?

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.

boogetyboo,
@boogetyboo@aussie.zone avatar

David Thorne’s website and books are great fun.

27bslash6.com

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.

UdeRecife,
@UdeRecife@lemmy.sdfeu.org avatar

emojidick.com

Emoji Dick is a crowd sourced and crowd funded translation of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick into Japanese emoticons called emoji.

snowe,
@snowe@programming.dev avatar

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.

PP_BOY_,
@PP_BOY_@lemmy.world avatar

That’s not a book though?

snowe,
@snowe@programming.dev avatar

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.

en.wikipedia.org/…/List_of_Calvin_and_Hobbes_book…

Donebrach,
@Donebrach@lemmy.world avatar

Have you considered graphic novels or manga?

sara,

Most of David Sedaris’s books could fit the bill. His books are usually a collection of short stories with an overarching theme and are funny and easy to follow.

gazter,

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.

Tutunkommon,

Throwing out a vote for "Dungeon Crawler Carl "

Rogers,

Came here to say the same thing! Audio books are well done as well.

FippleStone,

“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.”

🤷🏻‍♀️

FippleStone,

No but really, Douglas Adams could be what you’re looking for, very funny stuff

cryptosporidium140,

Antkind by Charlie Kaufman is hilarious. Easy to read at first, but also very long and gets increasingly bizarre and hard to follow towards the end

AcornCarnage,
@AcornCarnage@lemmy.world avatar

I think you should try Christopher Moore. Suggested starting point: Lamb.

Here’s how it starts: six year old Jesus and his little brother are playing a game where the brother kills a lizard with a rock, then Jesus puts it in his mouth to resurrect it.

His humor is irreverent, absurd, and constant. The stories are all grounded in the real world though, so you won’t struggle to understand lore, settings, or language. Very easy to read.

pivotpill,

Would absolutely recommend Gideon the Ninth and the rest of the Locked Tomb series. Great read.

rufus,

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.

knapsackinjury,

John Dies at the End by David Wong/Jason Pargin. It’s very colloquial

TheActualDevil,

My favorite of his is Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, and it’s sequel. Pargin is a competent writer, so while it’s not typically my type of book (Almost constant action gets old to me), he does a competent job that kept me reading. And I think it would be pretty good for someone with a shorter attention span like OP.

exponential_wizard,

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.

bambosh.dev/unofficial-homestuck-collection/ is recommended since flash died.

TheBurlapBandit,

You might like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

richieadler,

I don’t think so. They expressed dislike of intense use of vocabulary.

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