50 Book Puns That Will Have You Tickled Ink
Updated: Jan. 17, 2023
Treat your-shelf to the best book puns and writing jokes you'll ever read.
There’s something so gratifying about taking word-related words (yes, you read that right) and making jokes out of them. Books, reading, and writing can all provide the best inspiration for puns and jokes—and turn words on their heads to give them a whole new meaning. How meta! Whether you’re an avid reader, a writer, a librarian, or just someone who appreciates the English language, these book puns are bound to make you smile, just like these clever jokes that make you sound smart (or these grammar memes that’ll crack you up).
We’ve compiled a bevy of book-related puns that include so much more than just novels. So get cozy in your favorite reading nook, be a little a bit shelf-ish, and absorb all the book puns your heart can handle. Then expand your knowledge and tickle your funny bone with a slew of space puns, rock puns, biology jokes, and science jokes. You might surprise yourself and find that you have even more chemistry with those genres.
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Reading puns
1. I like big books and I cannot lie.
2. Take a page out of my book and leaf!
3. Reading is a novel idea.
4. I’ve spent all day reading—it was bound to happen.
5. Sorry I can’t hang out. My weekend is fully booked.
6. That book about Mt. Everest had quite the cliff-hanger.
7. I read a book about Teflon, but it contained no frictional characters.
8. I started reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down.
9. It was a big deal when the music teacher asked the students to read band books.
10. I started reading a book about mazes—I got lost in it.
11. You’ve never read Fitzgerald? You Gatsby kidding me!
12. Charlotte Brontë is such a breath of fresh Eyre.
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Library jokes
13. I can tell you like me—you keep checking me out.
14. Libraries are good for circulation.
15. Dewey go together? I think so!
16. Stay true to your-shelf.
17. I wanted to visit the local library, but it was overbooked.
18. Treat yo’ shelf.
19. I have absolutely no shelf control when it comes to books!
20. Librarians know everything—they’re so resourceful.
21. I haven’t been to the library in a while—how Dewey find the books?
22. Why was the encyclopedia removed from the library? He couldn’t control his volume.
23. Are you sure you want to borrow all those books? You don’t want to overdue it.
24. I’ve decided to retire as a librarian to start a new chapter in my life.
25. Why did the detective go to the library? He wanted to check out a mystery.
26. What is a car’s favorite genre? Auto-biography.
27. Why was the library so tall? Because it had a lot of stories!
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Writing puns
28. Keep going—you’re on the write track!
29. Only spreading good scribes around here.
30. You’ve got the write stuff.
31. Past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense.
32. Do you comma here often?
33. Metaphors be with you.
34. Writers are always cold because they’re surrounded by so many drafts.
35. One time, my teacher said, “Name two pronouns.” I answered, “Who, me?”
36. Can we all agree to leave writing poetry to the prose?
37. Writing about time travel takes so much creativity—you have to think outside the clocks.
38. I opened my journal but didn’t know which page to use—write or left.
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Clever book puns
39. I got my friend to read Jane Austen. She just needed a little Persuasion.
40. Did you hear John Green got lost in Canada? Yeah, he was Looking for Alaska.
41. I’m feeling forever Jung.
42. Hey, you wanna take a shelfie?
43. Have you read the book on teleportation? It’ll definitely take you somewhere.
44. Why did the dog run after the book? He was chasing his tale.
Here are our picks for the funniest books of all time.
45. Witches make the best editors because they always run spell check.
46. Did the bartender tell you his favorite book? It’s Tequila Mockingbird.
47. What’s a comedian’s favorite book? The Pun Also Rises.
48. My best friend just told me she doesn’t like Lord of the Rings, but she definitely doesn’t know what she’s Tolkien about.
49. Sorry, I can be a little bit shelf-ish sometimes when it comes to my book collection!
50. Did you hear about the accountant? He got in trouble for cooking the books.
And that clever book pun provides an excellent segue to these accounting jokes that really add up. Enjoy!
Originally Published: May 04, 2021
