Welcome to our funny fiction series. We’re highlighting a variety of appeal factors or elements of humorous fiction to help our readers find that next great read (and hopefully a few laughs along the way). The books featured in this blog post fall under the genre domestic fiction and humorous or funny fiction.

What is Domestic Fiction?

The domestic fiction genre surfaced in the nineteenth century or 1800s. According to Washington State University, one of the first domestic fiction novels was Catharine Sedgwick’s “New England Tale” – published in 1822. During the height of the genre’s popularity in the mid-1800s it was often referred to as sentimental fiction or women’s fiction. Why? According to Encyclopedia.com, this “body of popular narrative literature was primarily written by, for and about women.”

Over the years, like most things, the domestic fiction genre has adapted to modern times since it surfaced some 200+ years ago. Currently, Novelist defines domestic fiction as a genre that focuses on family relationships – “whether functional or dysfunctional.” And I’m sure the term domestic, in relation to this specific genre, will be changed at some point as well. After all, it is the year 2018, times have changed quite a bit, and continue to change – hopefully for the better.

If you would like to learn more about popular fiction genres, check out this handy guide from Novelist:

NoveList Genres: A Guide to Book Discovery

The humorous stories featured below are not just funny, these stories are designed to make the reader laugh. You may also like the read-alikes listed below each main title, because they share similar appeal factors.

Domestic Fiction / Humorous Stories

1. Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett Fans of Maria Semple’s “Where’d You Go Bernadette” and and Celeste Ng’s “Everything I Never Told You” will delight in Annie Hartnetts’s debut, “Rabbit Cake,” a darkly comic novel about a young girl named Elvis trying to figure out her place in a world without her mother. Amazon: 4.6* | Goodreads: 4*

Appeal Characters: Quirky Subject: Family secrets Tone: Amusing, upbeat

If you enjoyed Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett, you may also like:

2. Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson Hired to assist a famed reclusive writer trying to recapture her lost fortunes by completing a new manuscript, Alice Whitley becomes obsessed with identifying the paternity of her employer’s precocious young son. Amazon: 4.4* | Goodreads: 3.89*

Appeal Characters: Quirky, likable Storyline: Character-driven Subject: Eccentric families Tone: Amusing, moving Writing style: Engaging

If you enjoyed Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson, you may also like:

3. Family and Other Catastrophes by Alexandra Borowitz Struggling with hypochondria and OCD stemming from her neurotic and drama-prone family, Emily reconnects with her parents and siblings throughout the week before her wedding, an event shaped by relationship dynamics, shared confidences and long-buried secrets. Also available in eAudio from hoopla. Amazon: 4.2* | Goodreads: 3.42*

Appeal Characters: Quirky, flawed Subject: Eccentric families Writing style: Witty

If you enjoyed Family and Other Catastophes by Alexandra Borowitz, you may also like:

4. Confessions of a Domestic Failure by Bunmi Laditan After leaving her career to become a stay-at-home-mom, Ashley Keller tries to improve her parenting skills by joining a boot camp called “Motherhood Better” run by her idol, the head of a Pinterest-perfect mommy blog empire, to hilariously awkward results. Also available in eAudio from hoopla. Amazon: 4.7* | Goodreads: 3.68*

Appeal Subject: Motherhood Tone: Funny Writing style: Engaging

If you enjoyed Confessions of a Domestic Failure by Bunmi Laditan, you may also like:

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You May Also Enjoy …

How to Find a Good Book to Read Includes tips on how to find books you’ll truly enjoy.

Clever With A Side of Sarcasm Books for fans of clever, absurd and sarcastic humor.

10 Entertaining Novels That Will Put a Smile on Your Face Novels with light humor and likable characters.

10 Genuinely Funny Funny Fiction Books You’re Sure to Love A variety of funny fiction books – we hope they’ll make you laugh out loud!

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