• When I said “wacky,” I meant it. These two authors must have the oddest creative minds ever, but please know that I mean that in a good way.
• The story is told by the two main characters, Philip Horkman and Jeffrey Peckerman, in alternating chapters.
• One of these two narrators truly lives up to his last name, if you understand slightly vulgar slang.
• Speaking of profanity, it comes naturally to one of these two narrators, and I’ll let you guess which one. The other narrator, though, is as squeaky clean as they come.
• This is perhaps the most absurd and outrageous novel I’ve ever read.

An attempt to sum up the plot could easily become too full of information, thus giving away the multitude of surprise twists and turns to this hilarious story. With minimal details, let’s try this for a summary. The lives of Philip Horkman and Jeffrey Peckerman have never intersected before the fateful day of the under-twelve girls’ soccer championship game that Horkman is refereeing and in which Peckerman’s daughter is playing. One offsides call made by Horkman leaves Peckerman incensed, and the stage is set for what will turn into a series of absolutely unbelievable events that see Horkman and Peckerman seemingly involved in a crime spree, an international terrorist plot, a hijacking scenario, the capture of a ship by Somali pirates, and even more. Honestly, the paths taken by this novel are indescribable and side-splitting funny, at every turn.

The dueling narrators provide two very, very different perspectives on the wild series of events as they are taking place, and it’s clear to us readers that we know much more about Horkman and Peckerman’s situations than they do in the moment. The tone of this writing, though certainly profane in many a place, is sharp and witty, and I couldn’t stop myself from reading passages aloud to my husband. Even though he didn’t have the context of what came before in the story, some individual scenes were too uproarious not to share.

If you’re looking for a bit of raucous reading fun, check out Lunatics and be prepared for a storyline that will go places you never could have foreseen. We have one Advanced Reader’s Copy (pre-published copy of the book) to give away, so leave a comment here to be entered to win and enjoy some laughs! We’ll announce the winner in our regular giveaway slot on 1/25. The giveaway is closed.

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Dawn loves a good read and a good laugh, and she’s thrilled when those two things come together. She tries to share her own laugh-inducing experiences on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

When I found out that there was a new book: The Book of (Holiday) Awesome: When the Christmas Lights All Work, Successfully Regifting a Present, Drinking with Grandma — I gladly agreed to a review and a giveaway.

The gold cover is festive, and the thoughts inside are more of the same, but with a holiday theme. And we’re not just talking Christmas, either. The book does start with Christmas, but other December holidays like Kwanzaa and Hanukkah are represented as well. Then Pasricha moves chronologically through the year from New Year’s Eve to Valentine’s Day, remembering even little St. Patrick’s Day, then Easter, summer holidays, and Halloween and Thanksgiving.

At first I wasn’t as wowed by this book as the first, and I think that part of it was that I was used to the awesome — I expected it. But I wonder if there are some better essays buried deeper in. The one about playing board games really cracked me up, and I loved the memories his essays on the Kids’ Table and Halloween costumes stirred.

I recommend that you buy a couple of copies of The Book of (Holiday) Awesome and keep them on-hand for hostess gifts, or put one in your “thinking room” to spruce it up for the holidays. Some of the essays are very short and could easily be finished during a quick trip.

You can leave a comment now to enter to win one. We’ll announce the winner on December 7. Just for fun, tell me what you are most looking forward to eating this Thanksgiving or Christmas.The giveaway has closed.

• The winner of The Iron Knight is #13 Megan Earley.

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Jennifer Donovan looks forward to eating dressing each year, as well as her twice-yearly taste of pecan pie. She blogs at Snapshot.

Yes, Russell Brand is known world-wide as a stand-up comedian and an actor, and I’m finding that folks either love him or hate him. Me? I have been brought to laughter many times when watching him on the screen. In my one brush with celebrity, I also blushed like a schoolgirl when I met Russell Brand late last winter and his hilarity was right in front of my face. (Literally very, very close to my face… read more here if you’d like.) In print form, I expected Brand to continue to crack me up with the recent release of Booky Wook 2: This Time It’s Personal in paperback. Much laughter ensued, that’s for sure.

Trust me when I say that the title doesn’t lie, for Brand let’s it all hang out in this memoir. As I haven’t read it, I cannot compare the content of this memoir to his first My Booky Wook, but I did have the feeling I was going to be exposed to a lot of personal details of Brand’s life when I picked this one up. No doubt about it, he writes very frequently about his wild lifestyle, and though the years chronicled here are drug-free for him, he’s still partying it up in lots of other ways. One might even suggest that his strongest addiction is to women and sex, and there’s a lot of that within these pages, though only a few passages offer any specifics, and even those are told more in a humorous than a “steamy” manner. (One particular passage near the end of the book managed to cause simultaneous guffawing and shuddering for me.)

Booky Wook 2 is undoubtedly told in Brand’s signature voice, causing no questioning about who actually wrote this celebrity memoir. Fans of Brand shouldn’t be surprised by the incredibly intelligent lexicon that comes so naturally in his writing, though it’s an odd experience to keep a dictionary nearby when reading a comedian’s memoir. I found myself appreciating his storytelling ability, even if I was shocked by the content of some of his stories. Only in the final pages does the future Mrs. Russell Brand, the fiery Katy Perry, make an appearance, and it’s quite a lovely way to bring these chapters of his life to an end, by indeed meeting his match.

Dawn occasionally indulges in some fluff reading when she’s not busy being a teacher or a mommy. When she can spare a moment or two, she blogs away at my thoughts exactly.

Honestly, I couldn’t stop laughing while reading this, and my book has hardly any corners left unfolded, since I wanted to remember so many of the hilarious points McCarthy makes. I couldn’t help but snort with laughter when reading this while riding on public transportation, and I noticed more than a few folks trying to sneak a peek at the interesting cover image!

If you want to know what all the laughter is about, click over to read my full review at 5 Minutes for Mom. You can enter to win one of two copies we have for giveaway, too! (U.S. and Canada residents.) The giveaway is closed.

Dawn loves her husband and children more than she can express, even if they all seem to drive her crazy. The fun of their lives is often chronicled on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

Frankel’s style is down-to-earth and she doesn’t mince words. I love her attempts at self-improvement, such as when a marriage counselor suggests that instead of yelling at her husband, she ask him questions, Jeopardy-style. “What is ‘You can be such a prick sometimes?’” she says. Before she knows it, she and her husband are laughing together, which is something they are both good at. When she tries to be calm and zen-like while dealing with an unexpectedly long layover, it doesn’t work—until she sees the humor of her situation and begins looking for other women on the verge of losing it, a game of “Where’s Wacko?” she plays with her kids. Another time, she tries to go an entire week without complaining at all. It’s a failure—she alienates friends, who were hoping for a nice long juicy chat, and she annoys her family. And she realizes that when the truly terrible things of life happen, like the year of her first husband’s illness and death, she didn’t complain at all, and instead focused on the good in life. But there’s something freeing about being melodramatic about small problems which mocks and minimizes them.

As Frankel works through her various “hated” things—other people’s bratty kids, her jealousy when other people effortlessly sail up the New York Times’ bestseller list, annoying habits of her husband—she discovers that expressing negative emotions can have a positive effect. She finds freedom in not trying to be perfect, in admitting when she is hurt by another’s actions. In learning not to avoid negative emotions, she finds a depth and richness to life. Although it’s a funny memoir about Frankel’s life and specifically some horrible people she’s known, it sneaks some life lessons in, some tidbits of valuable wisdom.

Best of all are the study questions. I have long wondered who, if anyone, answers those annoying essay questions supposedly for book clubs at the end of many books, obviously written by frustrated English graduate students who thinks we all want to natter on for hours about metaphor and symbolism, as if we didn’t get enough of that in college. But Frankel’s “subversive” reading questions are perfect. Sample for your enjoyment: “Have you ever felt out of emotional control? Do you wear a “poker face?” Does it look like Lady Gaga?”

It’s Hard Not to Hate You isn’t for everyone, but if you like wry humor you’ll enjoy this look at a healthy way to deal with all that life hands you.

We have a copy to give away to one of you (U.S. and Canadian shipping addresses eligible). Just leave a comment here if you’d like to win. We’ll announce the winner on October 19. This giveaway is now closed.

• The winner of our Scholastic/Kellogg’s giveaway is #24 Melissa N.
• The winner of Heiress is #17 Cyndi Wilson.
• The winner of The Adventures of Everyday Geniuses is #8 Staci A.

Don’t miss a thing: Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed or video reviews on YouTube. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Elizabeth feels she should admit that she has already pretty much embraced her Inner Hater, especially when it comes to other drivers. And red lights. She is working to achieve patience at her blog Planet Nomad.

My students were eager to teach me to text, and to introduce me to the wonders of T9, a program that automatically figures out what word you’re trying to type and does it for you. It didn’t take me long to be texting like a pro. But I must admit, txt spk is beyond me. And txt spk in French is far beyond even that! I looked over her shoulder once as Ilsa was instant messaging with a male friend from her French junior high. “Slut,” he’d written. I was shocked! “Ilsa, he shouldn’t be calling you that!” I started. But she was mystified at my reaction. He’d just written “salut”, or “hello.”

All this is a very long introduction to a fun new book called When Parents Text: So Much Said…So Little Understood. Lauren Kaelin and Sophia Fraioli were childhood friends who both found themselves returning to their parents’ homes after college graduation. One fateful day, Lauren showed Sophia a funny text she’d gotten from her mother. Sophia laughed and said, “When parents text, the results are hilarious.” And from that, first a website and now a book were born.

When Parents Text is a delightful book. It shows a deep underlying affection between family members, and gives the rest of us a delightful glimpse into parent relationships with young adult children. And it’s often very very funny.

When I first received my review copy, I somehow expected it to be an appropriate gift for adult kids, newly-moved-out and receiving texts from people who write things like “My fingers are saying words!” But the more I read it, the more I thought it would be a good gift to the parents themselves. Somehow, the texts show the enduring love and mutual dependence of parent and adult child, and even when you’re laughing helplessly, the book is strangely heart-warming in a good way.

This would make a great gift for parents, young adult children, teens or grandparents.

Elizabeth has to admit that sometimes, T9 has caused her to send some unintelligible texts herself. Read more at her blog Planet Nomad.

First off, be prepared for some snark. Oh yes, there is lots of it in play here, with a sarcastic tone throughout the entire collection of rules. Inevitably, some of the rules will surely apply to something that you’ve been known to do, and if you keep your sense of humor about you, hopefully you won’t take offense. (I know I didn’t… even when I read Unwritten Rule #122 which addresses some females’ tendency to cry in the midst of an argument. Whatever.) (Uh-oh, looks like I’ve just broken Unwritten Rule #208 now, too, by using that irritating one-word utterance!) Along with a sarcastic and humorous vibe, this book also includes a fair share of “colorful” language, which some of us enjoy, or at least tolerate, more than others.

Hopefully this doesn’t come across as TMI (so as not to break Unwritten Rule #187 about avoiding obscure “textspeak,” I’ll explain that TMI stands for “too much information”), but I find these short humor books to be best suited for bathroom reading, where a few minutes can be spent having a laugh while you’re otherwise engaged. Perhaps you’re like me and have the overwhelming urge to read snippets of humor books to your spouse or partner, and if you are, thankfully there’s no rule against that in this little book!

If you’re looking for a unique humor book as a gift for a friend, or you just want to stock up on your own humor books for fun and light reading, check out The Universal Code of (Formerly) Unwritten Rules. And don’t forget- the left lane is the fast lane, always offer your seat on public transportation to a pregnant woman, and for the love of all that’s holy, put your cell phone down while you wait in line for your morning coffee!

Dawn has been known to rant and rave, sometimes on a seemingly regular basis, both in person (to her ever-patient husband) and online on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

Here’s the part of the review that’s going to sound negative but truly isn’t- just hear me out. I’m of the opinion that the comparisons to both these well-known writers actually serve as a disadvantage to Eric Poole. His memoir/collection of essays started out slowly for me, and having read the comparison, the bar was set so high that I was expecting a type of darker wit (a la Burroughs) or self-deprecating humor (a la Sedaris) that didn’t exactly describe what was being presented by Poole.

Instead, the book’s momentum gradually built, and Poole’s own voice is quite distinctive. Funny, yes, but still quite different, in my opinion, than Burroughs and Sedaris. What begins on a superficial level soon grows to a deeper-than-expected series of observations of his family members and their relationships, and the depth coincides with his progression in age as the memoir continues. Poole deserves his own accolades separate from these other male humor writers!

I particularly loved how the separate chapters, that span across his childhood from his pre-pubescent age through high school, all have pieces woven together, even if it’s not apparent at first glance. His childhood fascination with Endora from Bewitched could just be a pop culture pleasure for a young boy who enjoys the flashy costumes and sassiness of a television character, but as he grows older this fascination soon intersects with his adolescent questioning of the tenets of his Baptist faith. The “magical thinking” aspect of child development is portrayed here with authenticity, and where it meets Poole’s exploration of religion is tender and honest.

Yes, I could give the typical “I laughed, I cried” assessment, and it would be truly genuine. But even more than that, I was swept back to moments in my own childhood. Though my own experiences were quite different than Poole’s, the memories of his childhood days are presented in a way that I predict many folks will find endearing.

If you’re a fan of Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris for their humorous memoirs and essays, then I think you’ll enjoy Eric Poole’s Where’s My Wand?: One Boy’s Magical Triumph Over Alienation and Shag Carpet. Just be prepared for a new voice on the memoir scene.

Funny memoirs are among Dawn’s favorite reads, and she has the geeky bibliophile fantasy of someday hanging out with her favorite authors. If that ever were to happen, the story would be told (with much jubilation) on her blog, my thoughts exactly.