this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2023
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No, I am serious about this. I wish to get back into the learning of reading, but as a beginner I am repelled by the intense use of vocabulary, literary devices of classical literature books or intense and difficult-to-follow storyline of modern day fiction. I want to read a book that is clearly made with people like me in mind.

I'm not saying I want 10 second short paragraphs or extremely racist or bigoted comments to fuel my interest in reading the book. Though I rarely use social media, I do quite often look at memes, and they make me feel at home with how they are relatable and make use of clever wordings and phrases to express that one particular feeling. Same thing is seen in comments of meme forums where people come up with things to add to the humor of the original post or make it even better. I feel like this kind of expression could very well be possible to implement in a book in a textual medium while retaining the same amount of engagement and creativity.

I know my request may seem unnecessary, that I should quit bickering and just pick up a book and start reading it, and in reality I could by lending one from my family, however I wish to give this approach a chance as I am sure this situation must be faced by other people and someone could have a written a book to directly address these kind of people. I need a stepping stone to start my habit of reading books and I feel like starting from something I am already familiar with would greatly assist me.

I am not interested in any particular genre as of now apart from what I have expressed in the post so far. I could even go as far as to read an encyclopedia or an academic paper if the humor is engaging enough.

I feel that this topic of discussion is general, subjective and of help to others on the internet, which is why I decided to post it here instead of the dedicated books community.

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[–] TheBurlapBandit 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You might like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

[–] richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one 6 points 1 year ago

I don't think so. They expressed dislike of intense use of vocabulary.

[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Terry Pratchett disc world books are very funny and full of easy to understand jokes.

[–] DrQuint@lemm.ee 11 points 1 year ago

But also full of slightly harder to understand linguistic jokes that may frustrate OP.

[–] FippleStone@aussie.zone 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"repelled by the intense use of vocabulary"

"this kind of expression could very well be possible to implement in a book in a textual medium while retaining the same amount of engagement and creativity."

🤷🏻‍♀️

[–] FippleStone@aussie.zone 5 points 1 year ago

No but really, Douglas Adams could be what you're looking for, very funny stuff

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Books and meme humour feel like a very anachronistic combination

[–] angstylittlecatboy@reddthat.com 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The notion that books are "of the past" has done harm to many.

[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

I should elaborate that I meant printed books

[–] shapesandstuff@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

Anachronistic? They still write books today.

[–] rufus@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 year ago

Go to a book store. In my experience it is way easier to find book there than with the whole catalog of amazon.

Have a look at the shelves with the gift ideas. Most books there are somewhat funny and are more a casual read.

If you want something funny, have a look at something from your favorite comedian or poetry slammer. They often write similar format like they do on stage. Short, condensed and on point.

Pick up a few books, read the better bart of the first page, run through the pages and read another one in the middle. See if you like the style or try with the next one.

[–] gazter@aussie.zone 7 points 1 year ago

Terry Pratchett.

The Discworld books can wrap a particle physics pun in a fart joke. The cheeky cleverness that Patchett writes with, along with the keen eye for making fun of the absurdity of human existence, could be right up your alley. Start with "Guards, Guards!", or whichever one you spot on your local second hand bookstore- they are pretty much all able to be read standalone.

Seriously. Pratchett will scratch your itch.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 6 points 1 year ago

I don't know where you live but the Brooklyn public library has a free service where you can ask something like this, and a human librarian will try to find books for you: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/bookmatch

[–] morganth@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I haven’t read them myself, but I understand that “Gideon the Ninth” and its sequels are heavy on meme humor. Some reviewers love them for that, others hate them for that, but they all seem to agree that it’s there.

[–] radix@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It definitely feels unique among the books I've read, yeah. I liked it once I understood that it was supposed to be anachronistic and fun to read.

The hardest part about reading Gideon the Ninth for me was keeping track of all the settings (different room layouts, a big castle with winding hallways, etc.) and people (basically Hunger Games--style; 2 people from each of 9 sections of a nation). Maybe it would be more helpful for OP to start with something easier for these reasons.

[–] Glaive0 4 points 1 year ago

Came here to say The Locked Tomb is FANTASTIC meme humor and so witty in almost every way. However it’s a series that I’m convinced I’ll never actually understand. I’m on Nona now and things are barely better. Harrow had me second guessing every fact and almost pulling out a cork board, pins, and string to just understand when what happened to whom.

One of my favorite new series, though. And it’s been a delight to buddy read with my wife.

[–] UdeRecife@lemmy.sdfeu.org 5 points 1 year ago

http://emojidick.com/

Emoji Dick is a crowd sourced and crowd funded translation of Herman Melville's Moby Dick into Japanese emoticons called emoji.

[–] exponential_wizard@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

It's only technically a book, but I'm still going to recommend Homestuck. It's one of the most "made for the internet" stories out there when that's what you're looking for.

https://bambosh.dev/unofficial-homestuck-collection/ is recommended since flash died.

[–] snowe@programming.dev 4 points 1 year ago

It sounds like you’re talking about Calvin and Hobbes to me. They’re amazing and full of funny quips, quotes, and jokes. They’re also super approachable, because they’re supposed to be the perspective of a six year old.

[–] knapsackinjury@programming.dev 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

John Dies at the End by David Wong/Jason Pargin. It's very colloquial

[–] TheActualDevil@sffa.community 3 points 1 year ago

My favorite of his is Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, and it's sequel. Pargin is a competent writer, so while it's not typically my type of book (Almost constant action gets old to me), he does a competent job that kept me reading. And I think it would be pretty good for someone with a shorter attention span like OP.

[–] Tutunkommon 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Throwing out a vote for "Dungeon Crawler Carl "

[–] Rogers@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Came here to say the same thing! Audio books are well done as well.

[–] Ransom@lemmy.one 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Real Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Handbook. Other people have heard of this right?

[–] everett@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

I haven't read the book, but their very informative website is where I learned that the purpose of a ninja is to flip out and kill everyone.

[–] sara@lemmy.today 2 points 1 year ago

Most of David Sedaris’s books could fit the bill. His books are usually a collection of short stories with an overarching theme and are funny and easy to follow.

[–] atlasraven31@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

We are Legion by Dennis Taylor is immersed in nerdy humor.