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If you’re looking for funny books to give as gifts this holiday season, we’ve rounded up a selection of works that will bring a smile and perhaps even a belly laugh or two.

We turned to the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop community for their top picks, and naturally, leading the list is Forever Erma: Best-Loved Writing from America’s Favorite Humorist.

Here’s a curated collection of their recommendations — some classics, some new, all guaranteed to spark joy:

Big Swiss by Jenn Beagin (“This is a quirky, messy, strange and hilarious novel about a woman who types up transcriptions for a local therapist and ends up falling in love with one of his patients. One of the best books I've read in a while,” offers novelist Jane Roper.)

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

Any of the books in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. (“They're hilarious. Best to start with One for the Money and work your way up. I just finished reading her 32nd book in the series,” says David Volk.)

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman (“It's a bittersweet book because it's about two best friends, one of whom is dying of cancer. But there is so much wonderful, spot-on humor. I am laughing and crying my way through it,” says novelist Jane Roper.)

Oh, No, Not the Home by Peggy Rowe

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Humorous Children’s Books:

Zuri the Zebra and the Seasons of Giving by Andrea Gelfuso, illustrated by Lindy Lou Losh

Why Can’t My Brother Be More Like My Cat, by Allia Zobel Nolan, illustrated by Lee Wildish

New and Noteworthy by the Erma Writing Community:

The Bulgarian Training Manual by Ruth Bonapace

Treading Water: The Pandemic Edition by Noreen Braman

The Best I Can Do by John Branning

Royal Roots: Reimagining a Life Through Humor, a Castle and the U.S. Navy by Patricia Wynn Brown

We’re Sorry to Inform You That…Your Forties Are Over by Renee Burns Lonner

Never, Never, Hardly Ever by Kelly McKenzie

101 True Tales from the Terminal, edited by Desiree Miller

Barbie IRL: Honestly Same by Kristen Mulrooney

My Above Average Colon by January Ornellas

Burnt Gloveboxes: Embracing Life When It Goes Up in Flames by Gina Ramsey

The Society of Shame by Jane Roper

Go Ahead and Laugh by Barbara Scharfenberg

If I Knew I was Going To Have Three Boys, I Would Have Paid More Attention in PE by Amber Shaw

The Good Humor Man: Tales of Life, Laughter and, for Dessert, Ice Cream by Jerry Zezima

For Even More Laughter:

Don’t miss the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop’s two beloved anthologies:

Laugh Out Loud: 40 Women Humorists Celebrate Then and Now...Before We Forget, edited by Allia Zobel Nolan

Sisters: Bonded by Love and Laughter, co-edited by Marcia Stewart and Teri Rizvi

All proceeds from these two books benefit the workshop’s endowment fund, helping to support the next generation of humor writers.

And if you're still hungry for more humor, Barnes and Noble, one of our co-sponsors, has compiled a list of 50 of the funniest books ever written.