(Suppose you threw a book, and nobody came?)
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What’s the last book you read? Or, for those of you in Congress, when was the last decade you read a book? (Oh, and for those of you who are thumb-texting right now: a book is a sorta-square object with like words and stuff.)
According to the internet, here are the top ten most popular books in America, ever, if you don’t count half-naked firemen calendars.
- The Bible: to some, a universal story of creation and redemption. To others, a repressive, outdated emotional crutch clutched by racist Republicans who sport NRA stickers on their muddied trucks while they drive around looking for new people to hate.
- Gone with the Wind: a sweeping saga of Arkansas southern belle Hillary Rodham Clinton, lost national security secrets and secret email servers
- Harry Potter (series): a magical tale of a British author’s refusal to stop writing sequels
- The Lord of the Rings (series): an award-winning biopic of Muhammad Ali, starring Will Smith as Rocky Balboa
- To Kill a Mockingbird: a beautiful treatment of racism in the American South, which didn’t exist until Republicans showed up with all those Bibles
- Moby Dick: the passionate tale of a colossal white whale who drove a man insane by insisting the man call him by name
- The Catcher in the Rye: a quirky story about a teenager who is insane, which is redundant
- Little Women: The ugly truth behind nineteenth-century suffrage, and female midget mud wrestling
- The Grapes of Wrath: an ex-con decides to move to California in search of lower taxes, which is when the “wrath” part kicks in
- The Great Gatsby: this classic American tale has it all – lust, greed, rage, infidelity, murder, golf
But perhaps you were born before thumb-texting, and you’re already well-read in the American classics? Not to worry. Here’s a list of recommended titles that you should consider, as long as you don’t consider that they don’t exist.
Yet.
Books Americans Really Ought to Read
- Stuff You Don’t In Fact Just Automatically Deserve
- The Miracle Diet: How To Lose Weight By Eating Less Food
- Remember, There Was A Reason We Left Europe
- What You’re Missing About The Difference Between “Free!” & “Free! You Just Pay a Separate Fee!”
- On Losing A Presidential Election Gracefully
- What’s This Little Stick On My Steering Wheel?
Books Nobody Needs to Read
- Dennis Rodman’s Wedding Fashion Tips
- My Favorite Blood Pressure Medications, by Sam Kinison
- Alternative Ways To Skin A Cat And Then Make An Omelet
- The Collected Sexual Fantasies of Orrin Hatch
- Unintentional Sushi: The Day The Grocery Store’s Power Went Out
- Why My Moustache Is So Sexy, by Geraldo Rivera
- Governor Mark Sanford: On Appalachian Navigation
- The Joy of Cooking Naked, by Chris Christie
- America’s Funniest Colon Polyp Jokes
- The Squaw Monologues, by Elizabeth Warren
- Sports Illustrated’s Annual Violently Obese Wrinkled Women Swimsuit Issue
- Pot Luck Recipes, by Hannibal Lector
- Really Hot Chicks in Virginia Beach, by an unnamed Russian spy ship
- The Formula for Fabulous Wealth: Get Up Early, Work Late, & Strike Oil
- Still Unconvicted, by Hillary Clinton
Really Long Books
- Still Unconvicted, by Hillary Clinton
- Fake News, by Brian Williams
- Hillary’s Rampages: A Secret Service Compendium
- The American Bar Association’s Favorite Refrigerator Magnets
- My God-Like Qualities, by Barack Obama
- Barack Obama’s God-Like Qualities, by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews
- Reasons To Eat Bacon
- International Events That I’m Pretty Sure I Was Involved In, by Geraldo Rivera
- Al Gore: In His Own Words
Really Short Books
- People Who Want To Hear Details About Your Surgery
- Vacationing on a Shoestring Budget: a Michelle Obama Memoir
- Women I Respect, by Bill Clinton
- Dogs I Respect, by various NFL players
- Discrete Catheters
- My Favorite Libraries, by Joe Biden
- Ted Kennedy’s Guide To Safe Driving
- The Joys of Vacuuming
- Everything I Know About NASCAR, by the Queen of England
- Sean Penn’s Guide to Nonviolent Resistance
- The Inherent Value of the United Nations
- Family Ties, by Kim Jong Un
- The Bill Maher “How To Be Tactful” Primer
- John Kerry’s Facial Expressions