Humor from the 2011 Winter Newsletter

Ellen DeGeneres is one of the funniest stand-up comics in the business. Her brain works in wonderful and mysterious ways; her imagination is terrific; and her timing is impeccable. She also happens to be incredibly charming and adorable, which doesn’t hurt. In her new book, Seriously…I’m Kidding (which, by the way, is one of my favorite titles ever), DeGeneres entertains us with more of her random thoughts and feelings on a range of topics from gambling to the secret of life. Interesting, thought-provoking and, most importantly, funny, you should put this book on your list of “things to read when I’m having a crappy day.”

Godzilla, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, chupacabras, werewolves—they’ve all got their stories to tell. From one of The Colbert Report’s best writers we now have Sad Monsters; a window into the dangerously misunderstood psyches of our favorite horrors who are experiencing everything from body image issues to existential crisis. You’ll be laughing from cover to cover, and maybe—cautiously—wanting to give them a hug.

What could The Daily Show with Jon Stewart correspondent John Hodgman possibly contribute to humanity after writing not one, but two exhaustive compendia of complete world knowledge? After teaching us how to tell the future using a pig spleen and publishing the definitive list of 700 hobo names, he now brings us...a third compendium of complete world knowledge, explaining, for instance, how it is that a helicopter achieves flight (by rapidly twisting gravity). Your complete knowledge is simply incomplete without it.

Bestselling author Calvin Trillin—humorist, poet, and longtime writer for the New Yorker and The Nation—handpicked this collection of song lyrics, comic verse, and essays that highlight his best humorous work. “Trillin dances around a subject, examines it from different angles, and often finds fun in the commonplace throughout this huge and hilarious comedic compendium.” —Publishers Weekly