This book is ok, it's the typical stories and saying you hear growing up. I ended up just skimming through it that I'm not to impressed.

Laughter Therapy by Jonny Hawkins and Bob Phillips is a book full of clean jokes. I didn't like this book honestly. To me, very few of the jokes were funny and this made the book really hard to get through. I'm sure others may enjoy the book, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. (My review is also on Goodreads.)

After the year we just had, I was ready to read something that would make me laugh. There were a few jokes that I thought were really funny. I especially enjoyed some of the pandemic and politician jokes like these.

"My husband purchased a world map and then gave me a dart and said, 'Throw it, and wherever it lands--that's where I'm taking you when the pandemic ends.' Turns out, we're spending two weeks behind the fridge" (location 138).

"You can lead a man to Congress, but you can't make him think" (location 123).

There are a nice variety of joke types. There are definitions, cartoons, anecdotes, one liners and more. They're grouped by theme. There's a lot of sarcasm. I enjoyed reading the jokes but I didn't think they were all that funny. For everyone I laughed at, there were many more that were just okay. A lot of them had a grain of truth like this one.

"It isn't easy to be the parent of a six-year-old these days. However, it's a small price to pay to have someone around the house who understands computers" (location 576).

If you enjoy reading joke books, give it a try. Thank you to Harvest House for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is quite a collection of mostly funny stuff. There are wacky definitions: Polarize – what penguins see with. There are cartoons: two pigs, “I think I'm having a mud-life crises.” There are witty dialogues: Q. What do you call a man who crosses the ocean twice without taking a bath? A. A dirty double crosser.

Some of them make me want to groan. Some of them have a hint of a moral lesson. An example is the one listed for exercise: “The only exercise some people get is jumping at conclusions, running down their friends, sidestepping responsibility, and pushing their luck.” (259/686)

Some of the entries are a play on words that made me shake my head. Some I just didn't get at all. Some are longer stories with wacky punchlines.

The mostly funny stuff is compiled in alphabetical order so if one needed a joke about getting old, for instance, one could be easily found. Hilarious? Side-splitting? Not really, but you will get a few chuckles out of the collection.

Food for thought: Overeating – An activity that will make you thick to your stomach. (480/686)

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

To tell the truth it was not that funny. The comic strips are good but the rest is mediocre jokes I have seen before. The best ones were the covid related ones. but the structure and separate themes are good.

A mix of one-liners, dad jokes, definitions and cartoons. Some are pretty funny, some are groaners, a couple I didn't get. Personally, I really liked the cartoons best. Categorized as "Christian, Humor"; I can see this being given as a birthday present.

Some jokes were really funny and I read aloud to my spouse who laughed (or groaned) as well.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher (Harvest House Publishers) and the author Bob Phillips and the cartoonist Jonny Hawkins for the opportunity to review the advance read copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 08 June 2021.

This book is titled Laughter Therapy. It is not a book about the psychological benefits of laughter, nor does it present any research. It is, rather, a joke book, containing both some new jokes, such as on Covid, and lots of old chestnuts. I love joke books and this is a pleasant and easy read, and fun. I very much enjoyed the cartoons, and liked Jonny Hawkins' work. Bob Phillips continues to provide a source of safe, fun jokes, suitable for family. Nothing stunning or novel in the book, but there were "new" jokes to me, although I recognized a great many of the jokes. Still, I love jokes, old and new, and the book is fun. The jokes are arranged by alphabetical topics, but that is merely an organizational approach, and it adds just a bit of structure. Come for some nice and pleasant laughs.

A quick read full of fun, diverting wordplay, but not really my flavour of humor. Thanks for the preview.

When I came across Bob Phillips and Jonny Hawkins book Laughter Therapy, I thought it would be a great way to practice laughing and continuing my quest to laugh more. Laughter Therapy is a book of jokes. It’s attractive book cover enticed me to read this book. Some of the jokes are a bit cheesy and produce a groan instead of a laugh, but overall they made me chuckle. I spent an hour or two sharing the jokes with my family and they groaned at some and chuckled at others. It includes some old jokes and some up-to-date jokes about Covid, which are all in good taste. Here is one of my favourite jokes from the book:

‘Doctor, Doctor, you’ve got to help me. Some Mornings I wake up and think I’m Donald Duck. Other times I think I’m Mickey Mouse.

Hmmm. How long have you been having these Disney spells?’

Laughter Therapy
The book entertained us and helped to release some happy endorphins.



I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review

The comedy is a combination of comic strips and funny stories which are all family-friendly. Personally I found the comic strips more humorous than the stories, but that's a matter of taste. All told, a very enjoyable collection.

I am the first to admit that I have a very different sense of humor from my family and friends. There are moments when everyone else is laughing and I’m wondering what's so funny. Then, by the time I find something funny others are already “rolling on the floor” laughing. So, I approached this book not knowing what to expect. Having read it, I can definitely say it contains humor that covers the spectrum of funny. In fact, the day I read this book, I was not having the greatest day. Yet, I found myself laughing more and more as I was reading some of the humorous stories. So, I can definitely say there is humor for everyone.

I definitely recommend purchasing a copy of this book for personal use and even as a gift. Everyone should have the gift of laughter and this book is a great way to achieve it. Many thanks to the authors for producing this book. You definitely made me laugh!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by the publisher and Net Galley but the thoughts expressed are my own.

Absolutely not my humour. Sorry but this was not for me and I found it frustrating not funny. The jokes were cringeworthy and low level and it definitely didn’t instill laughter or happiness

This book is a collection of jokes on a variety of topics. Some are just silly while others made me laugh out loud. All of the jokes are G rated and can be shared with both adults and kids. If you are looking for some smiles, give this one a look.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Just the right 'pick me up' for these trying times
Some already read, some new, all jokes were good.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

Sorry, but this was just a huge dud for me. It's old jokes and one-liners alphabetized by subject/title but many of them are just not funny. We are a family of joke lovers and my husband and kids are always bursting into the room to tell a new groaner, but these didn't even make me groan. I recognized one of the jokes because it's a classic that our family retells all the time from Reader's Digest's "All in a Day's Work" about telephone repairmen who get reported for cussing (it's a line often used in our family as a tongue-in-cheek way of admitting people may not have been speaking the most kindly or cleanly when they say "Really Clarence, you must be more careful with your tools"), but it was retold in a sparse, lame way that took away most of the original story's humor. If you're going to buy a whole book of jokes, they should be the best of the best. Maybe I just have a particularly funny family, but these missed the mark for me.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this book. I discovered that it's a collection of anecdotes, funny cracks, and word play. The content is all clean. Some of the jokes were things I've heard before, and some didn't make much sense to me (but others may find them hilarious). They are organized by topics, some of which seemed a bit odd.
There were also cartoons. I found many of them funnier than some of the jokes.

This would be a safe book to have around the house where anyone could pick it up and flip through it for a quick chuckle ... which is something most people could use these days.

This book is a joke book; from the book’s own description… a “collection of hilarious jokes, clever cartoons, side-splitting one-liners, and funny anecdotes guaranteed to help you fight off the blues and blahs.” I found this book funny at times, but there were definitely no “side-splitting” funny jokes.

I found the order of the jokes a little discombobulated…it was organized by topic when I would much have preferred it be organized by joke type; all one-liners together, all cartoons together, etc.

I did like that this was a clean joke book, no swears or really explicit material. So this book would be appropriate for all audiences.

Some of my favorite jokes were, “There are two periods when Congress does no business – one is before the holidays, and the other is after.” And “Minister: The topic for this morning’s message is gossip. Immediately following the message we will sing the hymn, “I Love to Tell the Story.”

A motley collection of word play, catty remarks, witty anecdotes, and funny retorts. As written in the description, the jokes have clean humour. Some of the jokes are old material I've read many times before. Many of the jokes are funny, a few being hilarious. Some jokes didn't make sense at all. (The joke on "mellow" had the wrong definition of the word.)

All the content is classified under headings so that jokes on similar topics are together. But the headings are not planned too well. Therefore in most cases, this meant that there was just one joke under one heading. While some of the headings were logical (Advice, Children, Congress, Crazy Thoughts, Doctor,... ), some categories seemed weird and non-indicative of what joke they contained.(Chapped lips, Dull, Impressive, Interrupt, Large Pill, Popped Eyes,...) Some categories could be combined - such as, college and college graduates; Texan and Texas; minister, ministers, pastor, and church. (I didn't even understand why minister and ministers had to be two different headings!) I feel the book needs to relook at how the jokes are categorised.

There are quite a few cartoons too in between the jokes. Most of the toons are really funny and add to the book very well. I enjoyed these more than the jokes.


Thank you for this ARC.