Voting for the 2019 poll is now closed. Thanks for your input! Stay tuned – the final list of 100 favorite funny books is coming in August!
If you could use a laugh right about now — and I think we all could — the NPR Books Summer Reader Poll is here for you! This year, we want to hear all about your favorite funny books and stories, and we don't just mean comedy writing. If it makes you laugh (or giggle, or even snicker quietly), we want to hear about it!
Our expert panel of extremely funny people — Alexandra Petri, Samantha Irby, Aparna Nancherla and Guy Branum; more on them soon! — will use your picks to curate a final list of 100 reads guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
But first, a few guidelines.
What can you nominate?
Series books: We're considering series books as a single entry, so something like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would count as one entry.
Short story collections: If there's a collection with lots of great stories — me, I love The Oxford Book of Parodies — that's one single entry.
Single short stories or novellas: On the other hand, if there's a story that stands on its own, like Damon Runyon's glorious "A Piece of Pie," you can nominate that as a single entry. (What, no stuffing?)
Limit yourself to 5 choices
You only get five picks, but don't hesitate to nominate something you know other people already voted for — we count everything up, and our expert panelists pay attention to what's popular. (We're expecting a lot of votes for David Sedaris, and that's just fine.)
Don't limit yourself otherwise
You can absolutely vote for anything on the comedy shelf at your local bookstore — and anything anywhere else, too, as long as it made you laugh. Just don't be too sad if your favorite doesn't make the final 100.
Voting is now closed.
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