Do you want a side dish of humor or a full serving?

As I stated a few posts ago, I'm working a young adult romance spoof called Tears of a Clown. It's gosh darn (yes I said gosh darn) ridiculous! I swear I crack myself up writing it and I'm hearing from others about how funny it is. That makes me feel really good! Although the whole thing started as a joke, I was a little concerned people weren't going to "get" my special brand of humor. Glad to see that's not the case.

I started to think about the last book that really made me laugh. While there are often a couple of comical lines or a scene, there are few that are funny throughout. I have to say, sadly, only a small amount come to mind. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series had a lot of humor in it as did Libba Brey's  Going Bovine and John Green and David Levithan's Will Grayson, Will Grayson and of course let's not forget Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but it seems like comedy in fiction isn't too popular. I'm not sure why that is.

Sure there are some humorists out there, like David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs, but a lot of their work (if not all?) is autobiographical  so that doesn't work into our fiction theme here.

Reading is a form of escapism from all the garbage and stress of our everyday lives.  Wouldn't one want to laugh during that time? I get serious stories have their place and purpose, but I'm just surprised at how unbalanced humor and seriousness are in today's writing scene.

Well, to be fair, I read mostly young adult so I can't really talk about other categories. Am I simply missing them? Do they actually exist or are there just a few elusive titles? What's your opinion on humor mixed with your vamps or love stories or fae? Does it have a place or do you think the topics are too serious to have more than an occasionally funny line?