Books To Cheer You Up!

There's a song in the film Frozen called 'Reindeers are better than people' [best Disney film ever by the way] and I would argue that sometimes books are better than people too. Now don't get me wrong, people are great and life would be absolutely terrible without them, but sometimes people say and do the wrong things and that's when I turn to books to find solace. If you're feeling at all down because of the sheer insensitivity of other people, then why not try one of the reads below. These books all made me laugh in public, when only moments before I had been battling with internal rage, and that means they're really funny as it can take a lot to make me laugh even at the best of times:   

1. Happyslapped By A Jellyfish by Karl Pilkington

Some people think that Karl Pilkington is nothing more than a whingebag, but he never fails to make me smile. He always has a unique perspective on the world around him, and I read his books precisely so that I can revel in his unusual thoughts and see his take on things. All of his books are basically travel diaries, but travel diaries unlike any other. Karl never sugarcoats anything, and his diary entries are usually concerned with the more mundane aspects of travelling life such as the cleanliness of the toilet in the villa and what the local supermarket was like [although Karl does seem to have much worse luck than me in this regard] and as such, his accounts seem much more real than other travel diaries, which often gush too much and sound false. Karl's brand of real yet amusing pessimism always manages to make me feel better.    

2. Herrings Go About The Sea In Shawls by Alexander Abingdon

I picked this book up from a stall outside of a bookshop in New York on the strength of the cover alone. The title still tickles me ten years after buying it , and Dr. Seuss' accompanying illustration is just perfect - the herring's self satisfied smirk as he parades around in his shawl just pleases me immensely for some unexplainable reason. The content of the book ain't bad either; it's a compliation of children and teenagers' exam and classroom mistakes all of which are entertaining and endearing as only children's miguided logic can be.

3. Never Hit a Jellyfish With A Spade by Guy Browning

If you're ever unsure about how to deal with everyday occurrences such as asking for directions or standing in a queue, then Guy Browning is your man. He is the master of the 'how to' article and he discusses the proper etiquette for every situation you can think of, from wearing shorts to putting people at ease, and no matter what he happens to be discussing he always puts a funny, uplifting slant on it.     

4. Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Shit? by Steve Lowe and Alan Macarthur

Sometimes when you feel down you don't want to read life affirming things, you don't want to count your blessings, you want to wallow in misery, and for some reason wallowing actually makes you feel better. If you like to think about miserable things when you're feeling down then this is a great place to start. This book is basically a collection of rants about modern life, which may get you started on internal rants of your own [which in turn should distract you from your real problems]. The rants in the book are all tongue in cheek and though they may seem negative, are actually strangely uplifting - this book definitely has gotten me through some difficult moments, and so has its sequel.