Funny books to give you a fresh perspective

The Comedy Women In Print Prize announced it's shortlist for 2020. Given the grim news that's filling everyone's feed, a little lighthearted is a welcome sight. The judges for this year are Marian Keyes, Lolly Adefope, Pauline McLynn, Joanna Scanlan, Paula Wilcox and Laura Steven, who won last year. Chair of the panel, Marian Keyes, told The Bookseller, "I am absolutely delighted with our list. The range is glorious – everything from light-hearted commercial fiction to literary fiction – from established names to new talent – and it’s a demonstration of all the different ways in which women can be funny in print. It was a pleasure and very exciting to read all the submissions, and these are shortlists we are very proud of."

The books are all humourous, but not trivial or lacking depth, making them a good read as well as an uplifting one:

Photo: Canva

Set across two timelines, this book is thought-provoking and fascinating. One timeline is in the past, following the well-known writer Mary Shelly as she writes her famous book Frankenstein. The second is set in modern times and follows an AI specialist named Victor Stein who is developing intelligent sex dolls with a transgender doctor called Rye.

Photo: Jonathan Cape

This is the latest part in the Lizzie Vogel series. The series started when she was 11 and now she's a teenager, with a slew of funny teenage problems to contend with. The book won the 2019 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction.

Photo: Penguin

This sweet book follows two strangers who have to share a one-bedroom apartment. Tiffy is overworked all day and comes home only to sleep at night and Leon works the night shift at the hospital and only comes in during the day to sleep. Though they technically share a bed, they have never met and only communicate through notes they leave each other. It's a sweet book that highlights many ways in which relationships can heal or hurt you.

Photo: Quercus

Bontle seems to have it all. She lives in Johannesburg, has her own business, a nice home, a good car and many admirers. However, as you follow her story you realise what she gave up to get here. Though Bontle is shallow, making a perspective a little trying to read, the book is insightful.

Photo: Bloomsbury Publishing

The protagonist Majella on the autism spectrum and lives in a small town in England with her mother who drinks too much. She works at a chip shop living a quiet and mostly structured life. But one week can change it all.

This sweet book has an interesting perspective to explore, though the humour and word choice might be considered crude by some.

Photo: John Murray

Queenie is a Jamaican-English who lives in London. Her life is a bit of a mess, as she has just come out of a long relationship and is trying to get her life in track. She makes many bad decisions and you see her grow from them in the book. The protagonist is rather silly, which might put off some readers. The book shows how her race can affect her treatment in many areas of her life.

Photo: Simon & Schuster

This book follows a bibliophile named Nina who's content with her quiet life working at a bookstore. Suddenly she receives news that the father she never knew she had has passed away and a new family from his side descends on her life in a comic way.

Photo: Headline Review