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If “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” then humor is in the mind of the reader.
 The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde FIC FFO
Inspector Jack Spratt and Sergeant Mary Mary from the Nursery Crime Division are investigating the murder (shattering) of ex-convict and former millionaire philanthropist, Humpty Dumpty. “Yes, the big egg is down.” The Big Over Easy involves all the elements of a sinister plot, told in an absurd fashion. You may want to try Fforde’s science fiction series featuring Thursday Next, beginning with The Eyre Affair.
Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani FIC TRI
Adriana Trigiani is adept at storytelling. Through the voice of Ave Maria Mulligan, we learn that as an “eye-talian” pharmacist, rescue squad member, and 35 year old spinster, she is not cast from the same mold as most in the Blue Ridge coal-mining community of Big Stone Gap, Virginia. With a year of two marriage proposals and family revelations, it is a tale of emotion and Appalachia told with wit and good humor.
Boomsday by Christopher Buckley FIC BUC
A young political staffer-blogger has found the solution to the Social Security problem: the “voluntary transitioning” or suicide of baby boomers when they reach age 65! Could this notion get “legs”? Boomsday is here! This political satire will make you laugh and sigh.
 The Bowl Is Already Broken by Mary Kay Zuravleff FIC ZUR
Will the Institute understand that accidents do happen when Thomas Jefferson’s Chinese porcelain bowl is dropped at the dedication ceremony? How could anyone possibly even think of converting the National Museum of Asian Art into a food court for the National Mall? Acting director, Promise Whittaker is up to the challenge of these and other situations in this offbeat museum novel.
The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig FIC WIL
A PhD candidate is pursing her topic of spies during the Napoleon Bonaparte era. She finds a primary source while in England and lets the reader peek into British drawing rooms and elsewhere as the League of the Purple Gentian follows the trail of the Black Tulip and others. Book three in this series alerts us to The Deception of the Emerald Ring. Some of these Janes and Letties seem rather akin to Lucille Ball with their romping independence.
 Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray FIC RAY
Ruth has a surefire recipe for stress: In a small house, put one live-in, aging mother and add the divorced father who has broken his wrists while entertaining in a piano bar. Stir in a hormonal teenage daughter. Mix with a husband who has been fired and wants to pursue a new career in boat restoration. Whip together with Ruth, a woman who escapes reality by imagining she is in the center of a warm, aromatic, gingerbread bundt cake. Bake for 222 pages and then Eat Cake.
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith FIC MCC
A German professor whose specialty is Portuguese irregular verbs is mistakenly invited to lecture as a veterinarian on the topic of Dachshunds. He accepts the mantle and speaks on The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs. One lie leads to another with disastrously comic results. This is one in another finely written series by the author of the Precious Ramotswe books.
How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life by Mameve Medwed FIC MED
As a 33 year old Harvard dropout, Abby mulls over her past and wonders what the future will hold. Then a trip to Antiques Roadshow with her inherited chamber pot leads to a fork in the road of life.
On the Right Side of a Dream by Sheila Williams FIC WIL
Juanita left the housing projects of Cleveland and bought a bus ticket to Paper Moon, Montana to “see what was there.” It became her home and she thrived as a cook in the diner. Now she is dreaming of becoming a pastry chef, but her culinary arts classes seem more like engineering. Good thing Juanita is “resourceful as a fox” because the biggest stuffed-shirt ever to step foot in Montana is about to contest the will of a friend who left her a bed and breakfast.
Past Perfect by Susan Isaacs FIC ISA
When our heroine can’t take a call from a former CIA colleague concerning a threat to national security because she is helping her son get ready for “fat camp,” you know Susan Isaacs’s overactive imagination is at work again. Katie was content writing scripts for the TV show “Spy Guys”, but now she is playing the leading role in a bizarre search to learn what happened to her caller and why she was abruptly dismissed from the CIA.
 Pirates of Pensacola by Keith Thomson FIC THO
When a treasure map surfaces, the age old rivalry between the Hood and Cooke families is rekindled for a modern day accountant. Replete with a shark attack, a parrot that provides b-mail (b for bird), and swashbuckling action, this book provides a Caribbean pirate adventure.
The Road to Ruin by Donald E. Westlake FIC WES
Donald E. Westlake has cast John Dortmunder and his bungling buddies as servants for a man who scammed his conglomerate. When their employer disappears with Dortmunder, the would-be thieves wonder if they can pull off the antique car heist. Are they on The Road to Ruin?
Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore FIC GOR
As the health care advisor to her Ohio senator, Sammy Joyce rollercoasters through life in DC. Can it be politically correct if she is a neurotic hypochondriac and more than a little klutzy? Is it a conflict of interest if her boyfriend is a speechwriter for a rival senator? Follow her career into the sequel, Sammy’s House, when her senator is elected vice-president and there’s a scandal in the White House.
Secrets of a Family Album by Isla Dewar FIC DEW
There is nothing quite as entertaining or weird as a year in the life of a multi-generational family. Daily issues such as finding the TV remote control that Grandpa misplaced, take on new comic proportions when deftly told by Isla Dewar.
Signs and Wonders by Philip Gulley FIC GUL
Philip Gulley introduces us to small town living in Harmony, Indiana from his post as pastor of the Quaker Meeting. Harmony is the kind of place where the local Sausage Queen is asked to throw out the first pitch at the annual pumpkin toss. Quiet humor reigns through crucial and trivial issues alike.
 Tricky Business by Dave Barry FIC BAR
The action of this earthy novel takes place on a floating gambling casino on a stormy night off the coast of Florida. When Dave Barry brings gangsters, senior citizens, waitresses, hit men, band members, the Coast Guard and other eclectic characters together, it is bound to be Tricky Business.
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