Funny Gag Gift Books for Adults: 13 White Elephant Gifts That Win the Room
Every December somebody shows up to the office swap with a scented candle, and every December that candle gets stolen zero times. The gift that wins the room is the one that makes people read the title twice and then look around to see who brought it. Usually, that is a book.
Books make great gag gifts. They are cheap, they are easy to wrap, and the title does all the work the second the paper comes off. The trick is picking a book where the title alone gets the laugh, because nobody at a white elephant swap is reading the back cover. These are the funny gag gift books for adults that I would put money on, grouped by who you are buying for.
Funny gag gift books that always land
For the new parents: Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach
A gentle, beautifully illustrated bedtime picture book, written entirely in the voice of a parent at the very end of their rope. It went to number one on the New York Times list, and Samuel L. Jackson read the audiobook, which tells you everything about the tone. Every new parent you know will laugh and then cry a little, in that order.
For the coworker: How to Poo at Work by Mats and Enzo
A straight-faced, fully illustrated field guide to the most stressful five minutes of the working day. Your boss in the next stall. The clog. The empty roll. It is office-safe in the sense that nobody gets fired over it, and it gets passed around the whole floor afterwards.
For the friend with no shame: Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt by Chuck Tingle
The title that made Chuck Tingle famous. A researcher, a cloning experiment, and his own butt. It is exactly what it says, it is completely sincere about it, and reading the title out loud at a party is a test of character. If they like it, I have a whole list of books like Chuck Tingle.
White elephant gift books from my own shelf
These are mine, so take the pitch with a grain of salt. But nobody buys a book called I Knocked Up Bigfoot’s Sister for themselves. These titles were built to be unwrapped in front of a room full of people, and most of them are filthy, so read the room before you pick one.
For the friend who just got back on the dating apps: My Blind Date’s Titties Were Tickling Her Adam’s Apple
Gary Sturgis is forty-six, divorced, and back on the market, and his seventeen-year-old daughter wrote his dating profile because his own version made him sound like a murderer. His daughter wrote the profile. It went downhill from there. Hand this to anybody who has ever said “the apps are fine, actually.” Full story here, or read the summary on Amazon.
For the trucker in the family: She Left Me for a Trucker with a 12-Inch Peterbilt
Earl “Tiny” Jenkins drives a forklift at Walmart. His wife Darlene drives off with Diesel Dirk and his massive chrome Peterbilt. Heartbreak, horsepower, and one very specific truck. Say the title out loud at a truck stop and see what happens. Full story here, or read the summary on Amazon.
For the guy who has watched every Bigfoot documentary: I Knocked Up Bigfoot’s Sister
Tater McClendon was a regular drunk in a Kentucky holler until one moonlit night and one very bad decision. Now he is expecting a baby with Bigfoot’s sister, the whole clan wants him dead or married, and the humans think he is a traitor to his own kind. If it is a hit, there are more bigfoot romance books where that came from. Read the summary.
For the friend who posts gym selfies: Andy the Influencer Discovers His Micro Penis
Andy has built an entire personality out of being admired by strangers, and this is the week he meets something he cannot filter, crop or caption his way past. Fame, followers, and one very small discovery. More like it in my guide to books about influencers. Read the summary.
For the friend who believes in cryptids: I Got Cucked by Cryptid: Mothman
Don is a warehouse worker in Point Pleasant whose miserable life ends the night a seven-foot winged thing with burning red eyes takes an interest in his girlfriend, Kayla. Most men would call the police. Don buys trail cameras. Cucked by a cryptid. It happens. Full story here, or read the summary on Amazon.
For the friend with a long list of exes: Ghosts of Dicks Past
Lola LaRue has spent years charming lonely men out of their money. Then every one of them comes back as a ghost, with opinions. Her exes come back. Literally. It is also a Christmas joke all by itself, which makes it the most seasonal book on this list. Full story here, or read the summary on Amazon.
For the friend who will not shut up about Ozempic: Tiffany Joe, the Trailer Park Trick, and Her Ozempic Adventures
Tiffany Joe paid fifteen dollars for a repossessed mini-fridge and found twelve Ozempic pens hidden behind the back panel. She does not know much about diabetes medication. She does know people online pay hundreds for the skinny shot. Twelve stolen pens, one mini-fridge, zero good decisions. Full story here, or read the summary on Amazon.
For the friend going through a nasty divorce: White Trash Wendy Fights an AI Anaconda for Alimony
Wendy wants every last dollar of alimony, the courts are too slow, so she signs up for an artificial intelligence project that accidentally produces a giant AI anaconda with a personality and questionable loyalty. An AI anaconda. An alimony dispute. Florida. Whatever your friend’s divorce is like, it is not this. Full story here, or read the summary on Amazon.
For the church lady who would fight over the potluck: Meemaw Started a Meal-Prep Empire From the County Jail
Darlene “Meemaw” Puckett is seventy-one, and the only reason she is in the county lockup is that a man got between her and her church’s Thanksgiving turkeys, so she made her point with a nine-pound spiral-cut ham. Ninety days, one hot plate, and the best brisket in the county. Full story here, or read the summary on Amazon.
For the office swap: Lettuce-Eating Lucy Gets the Squirts: The Activity & Coloring Book
Lucy Lou LaRue has been fired from a grocery store, ruined a pageant, stolen twelve portable toilets, and gone to war with a produce conglomerate. Now she would like you to pick up a colored pencil and process it with her. The title gets the laugh, and the inside is clean enough that nobody calls HR. See inside, or get it on Amazon.
How to win the white elephant swap with a book
- Wrap it so the title is the reveal. No gift bag, no tissue paper. The gasp when the paper comes off is the whole gift.
- Know the room. For the office, stick to How to Poo at Work, the Lettuce-Eating Lucy coloring book or Meemaw. Save the Peterbilt, Bigfoot’s Sister and the Blind Date for friends who will not call HR.
- Mind the price limit. Most swaps cap somewhere around twenty or twenty-five dollars, and a paperback sits comfortably under that, with room left for a gas station scratch-off taped to the front.
- Write a note on the first page. Something like “Thought of you immediately.” It turns a cheap book into a story people tell for years.
If you need a title even louder than these, my list of books with crazy titles has plenty. For a gift that is spicier than a gag, try funny erotic books, or browse the full catalog and pick the title that fits the worst person you know.
