Book puns are a delightful way to express your love of reading, writing, and groaning at cheesy one-liners. If you’re ready to treat yo’shelf to some fun literary humor, here are just a few book jokes and puns that will really tickle your spine!
Funny Book Puns
Book puns can range from the popular to the obscure depending on how familiar you are with the source material. Even if you can’t name the reference, however, you can probably sigh at the wordplay!
- Did you hear that John Green got lost in Canada? Yeah, he was Looking for Alaska.
- What did Mr. Darcy say to Elizabeth? “I had a will of iron until you Bennet it.”
- What do you call 2,000 mockingbirds? Two kilo mockingbird.
- I started walking around without any shoes, and it sort of became a Hobbit.
- Why did the kid always sit in his wardrobe when reading a book? Narnia business!
- Charlotte Brontë is such a breath of fresh Eyre.
- What’s the best book to read while eating breakfast? Much Ado About Muffin.
- Have you heard about Waldo? He went abroad and found himself.
- What’s a comedian’s favorite book? The Pun Also Rises.
- I saw a vampire in a snowstorm. It was very Wuthering Bites.
- Dystopian novels are so 1984.
Library Puns
Do you comma here often? Whether you’re a librarian yourself or just a bookworm or bibliophile who’s always felt welcome between the shelves, here are some hilarious library puns for you.
- To thine own shelf be true.
- What did the librarian say to someone who checked out over 100 books? “Don’t overdue it!”
- Why did the librarian fall down? She was in the non-friction section.
- If you’re feeling numb, head to the library. Libraries are good for circulation.
- I haven’t been to the library in a while. How Dewey find the books?
- What dinosaur knows a lot of synonyms? A thesaurus.
- Hey, girl, can I check you out? You have fine written all over you.
- What vegetables do librarians like? Quiet peas.
- Why was the library so tall? Because it had a lot of stories.
- Why didn’t the burglar break into the library? He was afraid he’d get a long sentence.
- What’s a librarian’s favorite fruit? Li-berries!
- The junior librarian was reincarnated as a bookmark because he always knew his place.
- Why did the librarian retire? To start a new chapter in their life.
- Librarians work behind prosed doors.
- How do librarians flirt? By asking for your call number.
- You may take your beverages into the library, but please don’t pour milk on the serials.
- I asked the librarian if she knew any authors who wrote novels about dinosaurs. She said try Sarah Topps.
- Why is the detective here? He wants a mystery!
Author Puns
Good literary puns will make you stop, go back, and re-read the pun again to fully understand the joke. Great literary puns will make you do that and bang your head against your desk when you finally get it!
- Anyone who doesn’t like The Lord of the Rings doesn’t know what they’re Tolkien about.
- Don’t invite John Milton to your game night. Whenever he’s around, there’s a pair of dice lost.
- Never read Jane Austen? All you need is a little Persuasion!
- Why did Shakespeare always write with a pen? Because pencils made him ask, “2B or not 2B?”
- Judy Blume where you’re planted.
- So you were outside, and then you saw a raven? Cool story, Poe.
- What makes “Civil Disobedience” such a great essay? Thoreau editing.
- What was Socrates’ favorite thing to mold? Play dough.
- I used to care, but Orwell, it doesn’t really matter.
- You can make gold with alchemy. Just follow the Coelho brick road.
- How does Voltaire like his apples? Candied.
- Never read Fitzgerald? You Gatsby kidding me!
- Ernest Hemingway or the highway.
- My favorite author is S.O. Teric. You’ve probably never heard of him.
- Strangers on a Twain.
Writing Puns
Maybe you’re an author. Maybe you just despair of the people who still confuse “your” and “you’re.” Either way, you should be able to relate to these hilariously pedantic writing puns!
- Bad spelling makes me [sic].
- Past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.
- Why are writers always cold? Because they’re surrounded by drafts.
- You can write poetry if you want, but I think it’s best left to the prose.
- Metaphors be with you.
- Why do words and punctuation end up in court? To be sentenced.
- I started to write a book on cats, but writing on paper was so much easier.
- I don’t date apostrophes anymore. The last one was so possessive.
- Why did the pregnant woman shout “couldn’t, wouldn’t, and shouldn’t”? She was having contractions.
- I’ve heard that you’re having trouble with your time travel story. Maybe you should think outside of the clocks.
- Witches make the best editors because they always run a spell check.
- Practice safe text: use commas.
- You need the write stuff to be an author. It’s not for everyone.
- Double negatives are a no-no.
- Seven days without a pun makes one weak.
- Did you hear about the author in jail? They put him in the writer’s block. Couldn’t get past his first sentence.
- My thesaurus was stolen. I’m at a complete loss for words.
Reading Puns
If you’re a book lover looking at corny puns about reading, you can only blame yourshelf. Here are a few of the best to make you laugh and cry at the same time.
- Why did the dog run after the book? He was chasing his tale.
- I’m reading a book about anti-gravity, and I just can’t put it down.
- It’s so easy to get lost in a book about mazes.
- That book about Mt. Everest had quite the cliffhanger.
- I don’t loan out my books. Some say I’m shelf-ish.
- My high school music teacher was really controversial. He always had his students read band books.
- Why are ghosts always reading? They go through books too quickly.
- That book about hands was a real page-turner.
- Why are books so afraid of their sequels? Because they always come after them.
- I really wanted to read that book about sinkholes, but my plans fell through.
- What’s the best thing to read in the woods? Poe-tree.
- I wanted to read that book about electricity, but it’s quite shocking.
- Why does an elephant use its trunk as a bookmark? So it nose where it stopped reading!
- Have you read the book on teleportation? It’ll definitely take you places.
- My dog started eating my book, so I took the words right out of his mouth.
- Why did the Romanian stop reading for the night? To give his Bucharest.
What Are Your Favorite Book Jokes and Puns
Book puns come in every shade of the Reading Rainbow, but you don’t have to be LeVar Burton to appreciate them. As long as you have heart, humor, and a high tolerance for cheesiness, they’ll always hit the plot!
