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Recommendations for cheery/uplifting books

37 replies

KingLooieCatz · 03/02/2017 12:51

Might settle for not depressing!

Since getting a Kindle last year I have realized I'm not sure what kind of book I enjoy anymore. I spend an hour and a half to two hours on public transport most days so I can get through a book a week.

A friend recommended the Earthsea books, which were okay up to appoint but they are bit of a downer.

I've taken some notes off the other thread about the best books people read last year too. I don't think it has to be easy reading necessarily, mild peril can be tolerated along the way but could we end on some sort of cheery/uplifting note?

Any suggestions?

OP posts:
Diamondsandpears · 03/02/2017 13:05

Sounds good. Watching for tips.

Lucysdiamonds · 03/02/2017 13:09

Watching for tips too ... I need something uplifting and something to ease me back into reading .. I struggle to concentrate due to depression.

What sort of books have you enjoyed in the past? What genres do you like?

Sadik · 03/02/2017 13:24

If you like old-school light fantasy, I always enjoy the Pern books by Anne McCaffrey when I want something not too heavy. The Harper Hall trilogy is particularly good - plenty of mild peril along the way but a good old fashioned happy ending.

girlandboy · 03/02/2017 13:34

How about "Just One Damned Thing After Another" by Jodi Taylor? A bit of everything there, mild peril, adventurous, mystery, humour. Everyone I know who has read the series agrees that they're a hoot Smile

KingLooieCatz · 03/02/2017 13:42

Thanks Sadik. I used to read Anne McAffrey as a teen so I could re-visit them. I'll look at Harper Hall trilogy too.

Lucy I lived and breathed "Jonathan Strange and Dr Norrell", probably my favourite book for a while although not that cheery really, I just got totally lost in it.

I went through a lot of MC Beaton murder mysteries when they were going cheap but got fed up that you could never guess whodunnit anyway so it felt a bit pointless.

When I first got the Kindle I re-visited the horsey genre, typically aimed at teens. That is a fairly bottomless barrel but they can be quite same-y and can get good reviews even if they are badly done. I love a story about turning things around, e.g. the horsey books where a scrappy school girl rescues a horse from the knackers yard, and they end up showjumping at the Olympics.

Similarly, rags to riches type stuff, or unexpectedly inheriting a derelict café and bringing it back to life. I used to read Louise Bagshawe, but I think I have read everything she's ever written.

I'm up for trying something new, just don't want to get to the end and its just as bleak as the beginning and the middle. E.g. the Booker short-listed "His Bloody Project", which I got as I knew someone who knew the publisher. I found it surprisingly easy to read but pretty miserable. Felt totally inconclusive to me, I might have missed the point.

OP posts:
KingLooieCatz · 03/02/2017 13:45

Re-reading that might look like I think there is a whole genre that revolves around inheriting derelict cafe's. I meant that as an example of what I mean by "turning things around" and an extension of rags to riches.

OP posts:
Theknitwitch · 03/02/2017 13:48

Also recommend the Jodi Taylor series. A surprising find on audible originally, but now following the whole chronicles.

weebarra · 03/02/2017 13:49

I've read all the Jodi Taylor books and really enjoyed them. There are a few dark bits but they are few and far between.

Lucysdiamonds · 03/02/2017 13:50

Ooh yes I love a book about inheriting derelict something and turning it around!

Not about that, but have you read Lisa Jewell, The House we Grew Up In? It fascinated me ... if you've a kindle maybe download a sample chapter?

I read quite a few of the M C Beaton books too, but got fed up.

I've been rereading the Adrian Mole books a bit and also liked her books Number Ten and The Queen and I ... don't know if you've tried them, but I found them quite funny.

KingLooieCatz · 03/02/2017 13:50

I've just realized the Harper Hall trilogy is by Anne McAffrey. I've added Dragonflight and Just One Damned thing after another.

More suggestions welcome!

OP posts:
Sadik · 03/02/2017 14:06

Just thinking, on the 50 books threads one that pretty much everyone seems to like (can't think of a single negative review) is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.
Plus, a bit of a random one, but <a class="break-all" href="//www.amazon.co.uk/Thrilling-Adventures-Lovelace-Babbage-Computer/dp/0141981539/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486130706&sr=8-1&keywords=lovelace%20and%20babbage&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage had me giggling away like a maniac. It's a graphic novel, but there's actually at least as much text as comic IYSWIM (even the footnotes have footnotes)

Resideria · 03/02/2017 14:06

I find anything by Alexander McCall Smith uplifting.

Sadik · 03/02/2017 14:12

Oh, just thought of another one. The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger (first one is Soulless I think) is comedy steampunk - very, very silly, but a good one for a bad day.

AstrantiaMajor · 03/02/2017 15:55

I like the Lollipop Shoes, for a feel good book.

SatsukiKusakabe · 03/02/2017 16:03

James Herriot's vet books? Some of the stories are sad, but never bleak, and they have me crying with laughter.

My dh is steaming through Ready Player One and enjoying it, as recommended by Sadik above (and thanks for reminder of Lovelace and Babbage, have wishlisted)

Lucky Jim is very funny.

Where'd You Go Bernadette.

cdtaylornats · 03/02/2017 22:29

Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch are good Peter Grants interactions with the personifications of the river gods are excellent

Bartimaeus series by Jonathon Stroud - worth reading for the djinns thoughts in the footnotes

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

Jeeves & Wooster books by P. G. Wodehouse

Dragon Knight series by Gordon R. Dickson

Warlock series by Christopher Stasheff

HubbleBubbles · 03/02/2017 22:43

All the Jilly Cooper books - Riders, Rivals , Polo etc? Horsey, funny and sexy??

HelenDenver · 04/02/2017 00:25

David Baddiel? Darkly funny rather than cheery funny

piebald · 04/02/2017 08:34

water for elephants by sara greun

slightlyglitterbrained · 04/02/2017 13:15

Terry Pratchett is my go-to read when I need something cheering. I remember reading that when he and Neil Gaiman were writing Good Omens, he made Gaiman put in a bit showing that some minor character who'd been killed off earlier had actually survived.

KingscoteStaff · 04/02/2017 14:04

Both DH and I have recently enjoyed The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild.

ppeatfruit · 06/02/2017 11:41

Oooh I got some good books for Xmas . If you like Jane Austen The Real Jane Austen by Paula Byrne it's fabulous I couldn't put it down, it's non fiction though

Also Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson. Nice short stories, some ghostly, for Xmas of course, but not necessarily.

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CMOTDibbler · 06/02/2017 11:45

I love a bit of Georgette Heyer for cheeriness - everything comes right in the end

0ryx · 06/02/2017 17:25

The Rosie Project was cheery! Cutesy romance about a 'socially challenged' geneticist looking for love in a methodical manner.

Also seconding Christmas Days by Winterson- lovely nostalgic memoir spotted with short stories.

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 06/02/2017 20:34

Jilly Cooper !
Adrian mole
Jackie Collins
David Nobbs

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