This week we’re going to look at books that use humor to help readers navigate life. Humor is more than just a form of entertainment; It’s a way of relieving stress, coping with grief, a form of medicine, and a way to bond with those around you. These six books are all written by different people in different circumstances, however they all use humor to both navigate their lives and teach others. Be sure to let us know your favorites!
Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? by Erma Bombeck
Ever since she was a child, Erma Bombeck has been an expert worrier, and married life has only honed that skill. She gets anxious about running out of ball bearings; about snakes sneaking in through the pipes; about making meaningful conversation on New Year’s Eve. Married life, she realizes, is an unpredictable saga even when you know exactly how loud your husband snores every night—and she wouldn’t have it any other way. In this crisp collection of essays, Bombeck shows off the irresistible style that made her one of America’s favorite humorists for more than three decades. When she sharpens her wit, no family member is sacred and no self-help fad is safe.
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
With her disarming, intimate, completely accessible voice, and dry sense of humor, Nora Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent. But mostly she speaks frankly and uproariously about life as an older woman. Utterly courageous, uproariously funny, and unexpectedly moving in its truth telling, I Feel Bad About My Neck is a scrumptious, irresistible treat of a book, full of truths, laugh out loud moments that will appeal to readers of all ages.
Laughing My Way Through The 3rd Stage by Susan Goldfein
After making some startling discoveries about growing older, like how she looked in her clothes compared to models in fashion magazines or how much harder it was to wear heels, Susan Goldfein began a second career as a blogger, public speaker and author by which she writes for “an audience of a certain age.”
In her latest, Laughing My Way through the 3rd Stage: Selected Essays that Skewer the Golden Years (Citrine Publishing), Goldfein shares with us a series of micro essays, or chapters, that combine into a book about aging with grace — meaning, not taking ourselves too seriously, finding the humor in the day-to-day and seeing the bright side of the third stage.
Healing Through Humor by Charles Frances Hunter
Humor strengthens the immune system, enabling the body to fight sickness and disease. Drawing from two lifetimes of joyful ministry, Charles and Frances Hunter have compiled some fabulous jokes, anecdotes, musings and mind twisters to make your heart merry and speed healing to your body and soul. Get ready to laugh!
“Positive emotions invoked by humor have healing effects. If you read this book and no positive emotions come about, you need to check if you have a pulse. This book is great, and I plan to prescribe it to my patients! Enjoy.” —Francisco Contreras, M.D. Author of The Coming Cancer Cure
“Charles and Frances, thank you for your Healing Through Humor book! The jokes just crack us up! We get it out and read a few to guests who visit us. Laughing is good for the soul. We need more laugh lines in our faces rather than frown lines. You two are incredible!” -Love, Oral and Evelyn Roberts
Andy Rooney: 60 Years of Wisdom and Wit by Andy Rooney
Andy Rooney is a classic chronicler of America and her foibles. Over more than six decades of intrepid reporting and elegant essays, Rooney has told it to us straight and without a hint of sugar coating, but with more than a grain of truth and humor.
Andy Rooney: 60 Years of Wisdom and Wit brings together the best of more than a half-century of work (including long-out-of-print pieces from Rooney’s early years) in an unforgettable celebration of one of America’s funniest men. With selections from his beginnings as a correspondent for The Stars and Stripes during WWII to his arrival at CBS to his more than thirty-year stint on 60 Minutes, this book is a must-have for any Rooney fan.
Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Well-Being by Andrew Weil
Acclaimed best-seller Dr. Andrew Weil provides sensible advice to aging adults in an oldie-but-a-goodie titled; Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Well-Being. In the 2007 version (a good one), Dr. Weil’s advice combines traditional and non-traditional medical advice to help us age in good health. Highlights include advice on eating right, nutrition, and the anti-inflammatory diet, exercising right, and a solid background on the aging process in general terms.
