Over a year ago, our silent book club group members decided to add a virtual meeting to our monthly schedule to delve into some of the themes we touch on and skim over during our regular, go-round meetings. These meetings have helped us to both broaden our reading horizons and go more deeply into our reading, and we’re also getting to know each other more as readers and bookish friends.

Last month, our discussion topic was …

* Books that make us cry / upset us in some way – Do we “like” / enjoy them?

… and while it was a rich and revealing discussion, it’s safe to say we all departed the gathering perhaps feeling a little blue.

So, this month, our discussion topic just had to be …

* Books that make us laugh out loud – We need this subject as a counterpoint to our last discussion, about books that make/made us cry. Of course, we can extend this to reflections on the magic with which mere words on a page or screen can cause us to feel immense emotions of all kinds.

… and it was equally vibrant, and evoked more than a few laughs and chuckles along the way. Among the examples and recommendations, readers also asked some interesting questions and made thought-provoking observations about the words on a page or screen that make us merry.

• Is it harder for words to make us laugh than make us cry?
• Reading experiences that “literally make you LOL” are the most memorable!
• Humour that truly strikes a chord usually means you’ve recognized something or someone you know.
• One reader observed during this discussion that the power of words to make us laugh, cry and more had him thinking about bibliotherapy, a therapeutic approach employing books and other forms of literature, typically alongside more traditional therapies, to support a patient’s mental health.

Here is the list of authors and specific titles that emerged from this discussion. Inclusion in this list doesn’t necessarily mean a recommendation, nor does it mean a particular work will connect with your funny bone. Inclusion on this list always means that our silent book club readers have devoted time and attention to a title, which means a lot.

• Money: A Suicide Note by Martin Amis
• The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood
• Books by Jane Austen
• The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennett
• Murder Before Evensong by the Reverend Richard Coles
• Books by Billy Connolly
• Books by Terry Fallis
• Bridget Jones books by Helen Fielding
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
• The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
• Books by Chelsea Handler
• Books by Emily Henry
• Books by James Herriot
• The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
• Books by Alexandra Horowitz
• Books by Anthony Horowitz
• Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
• Did Ye Hear Mammy Died by Séamas O’Reilly
• Books by Richard Osman
• Books by Louise Penny
• That Old Ace in the Hole (Abridged) by Annie Proulx, narrated by Arliss Howard (audiobook)
• Books by Barbara Pym
• Stiff – The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
• The Guncle by Steven Rowley
• Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo
• Books by David Sedaris
• The Fraud by Zadie Smith (audiobook)
• The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
• The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
• A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark
• Man at the Helm by Nina Stibbe
• Books by Miriam Toews
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• Adrian Mole books by Sue Townsend
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (audiobook)

Happy (in every sense of the word) reading!