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can anyone suggest some good, uplifting, books to read, please????????????

52 replies

veryhungrycaterpillar · 02/12/2008 23:45

I'm off work due to illness, loving the chance to get my head stuck into books again, but starting to feel quite lonely and depressed, and really want some ideas of books that will lift my mood. nothing too heavy going though as I'm pretty tired at the moment

currently reading 'so many ways to begin' by jon mcgregor, good, but making me feel quite down, as did 'brightness falls' which i read before that....

thank you!

OP posts:
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Quadrophenia · 02/12/2008 23:47

ohh PG Wodehouse jeeves and Wooster books are an easy and amusing read.

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choosyfloosy · 02/12/2008 23:50

Try Adriana Trigiani? Lucia Lucia was the first one I read but she has written a few linked ones about a small American town. They are a touch schmaltzy but I really like them.

and of course... nancy mitford? I think Pursuit of Love is the only one I would really recommend to you in your current state. The others imo all have a piercing touch of bleakness amid the jokes, but it's muted in PoL.

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lovelydear · 02/12/2008 23:53

fannie flag, redbird christmas, a very good read and so topical.

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veryhungrycaterpillar · 02/12/2008 23:56

ooyes i love pg wodehouse, good reminder

and will look up the other suggestions, yes bleakness is not what i need!

thank you... and still open for more, anything to stop me turning to day time tv...

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littlelamb · 02/12/2008 23:57

WHen I feel like this I get stuck into my childhood books: Ballet Shoes, The Little White Horse, and a bit of Pride and Prejudice.

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lovelydear · 02/12/2008 23:59

dickens actually. great expectations. and if i had time i would read all the miss read books again. and gerald durrell. and john o'farrell. and john irving.

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Apollinare · 03/12/2008 07:09

Lovelydear, you have the same comfort list as me : Fannie Flagg, Miss Read, Gerald Durrell, John Irving, especially Widow for a Year.

Would also add Blackberry Wine by Joanna Harris and Secret Life of Bees. Heidi. Pride and Prejudice, and, because this an anonymous site, Those Dreadful Children by Enid Blyton.(Sshhh!)

VHC I hope you feel better very soon

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seeker · 03/12/2008 07:24

Pride and Prejudice
My Family and Other Animals
Jeeves and Wooster
Rivals by Jilly Cooper (all the others are ghastly - this one is very good!)
The Marlow books by Antonia Forest
Barcelona Flats by Alexi Sayle
A poetry anthology called Other Men's Flowers that no one but me will have heard of.
Three Men in a Boat
Ballet Shoes

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veryhungrycaterpillar · 03/12/2008 12:51

some great suggestions, thank you, feel cheered up just at the idea of reading / re-reading them!

and ballet shoes/ heidi etc is stroke of genius... don't know why it hadn't occurred to me to go back to the childhood favourites, will be spending a lovely afternoon in the swiss mountains :-)

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christMAScomesbutonceayear · 03/12/2008 12:54

I always suggest this, but Cold Comfort Farm or any of the Tales of the City series !

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yesihavnamechangedd · 03/12/2008 13:03

Wheres theres a will

and

This book will save your life

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ohdearwhatamess · 03/12/2008 13:05

Bill Bryson (Notes from a Small Island, Neither Here Nor There, in particular) if you want an easy read and a bit of a chuckle.

I reread those whenever I'm feeling a bit glum.

Pride and Prejudice is my comfort read (also Enid Blyton ).

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Flamesparrow · 03/12/2008 13:36

I say it each time, but Yes Man and Join Me - Danny Wallace.

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justagirlfromedgware · 03/12/2008 13:58

Many of the above are my recommendations, particularly the idea of going back to childhood favourites and especially Noel Streatfield.

  • still in print is a lovely series by Elizabeth Enright, starting with 'The Saturdays', known as the Melendy Quartet.


  • Many of Libby Purves' novels are good for curling up when you're poorly


  • The Accidental Tourist (Anne Tyler)


  • the non-fictional '84 Charing Cross Road (Helene Hanff' is wonderful (make sure you get the edition that contains 'The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street' - I think this is it:tinyurl.com/5a3wba).


and if we're allowed a bit of slush:

  • The Shell Seekers (Rosamunde Pilcher)


  • Ralph's Party (Lisa Jewell)


Wish you better!
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wendy271 · 03/12/2008 14:06

I loved the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books. Really gentle and just nice to read

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LuLuBaihasbeenagoodgirl · 03/12/2008 14:09

I've been reading a lot of Alexander Macall-Smith. Especially love the Scotland St series. I'm not ill but am pregnant and have a young toddler so need stuff that well written but is still easy for my tired brain and goldfish attention span.

I also love going back to childhood faves when I'm feeling poorly. Even as far as Winnie-the-Pooh or the Narnia chronicles.

Also love any excuse to re-read Tales of the City or Bridget Jones or anything by Gerald Durrell.

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fatandiknowit · 03/12/2008 14:14

I love all of Jodi Piccoult's books.

Though can have tough storylines....

Jojo Moyes or Rosie Thomas are also good

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mrsbabookaloo · 03/12/2008 14:21

Thanks for this thread. Am pg with terrible morning sickness and a toddler and was going to start a similar one. Can't cope with anything heavy. Have re-read my Anne of GG, now on to swallows and amazons. I also turn to Bill Bryson at times like these...and ooh, the Shell Seekers!! Loved that one for a trashy read. Will try to find a copy.

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NotSoRampantRabbit · 03/12/2008 14:23

If you're going back to childhood favourites (I always do for comfort) how about Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

All of the series are lovely and make you feel cosy and warm.

Or Louisa May Alcott - Little Women.

Oh, I want to lie under a blanket on the sofa and indulge!

Hope you feel better soon.

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rainbowskittle · 03/12/2008 15:58

What about the Catweazle books? (Showing my age now!). Recently re-read these and couldn't stop laughing, particularly at the first one. Hope you feel better soon. X

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LuLuBaihasbeenagoodgirl · 03/12/2008 17:03

Or absolutely anything by E Nesbitt. I loved them and used to re-read them time and again. Quite envious of OP

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mosschops30 · 03/12/2008 17:07

I loved

This Book Will Save Your Life by A M Homes (possibly one of the best, lol books Ive ever read)

also

How to Talk to A Widower but cant remember who it was by

Both books were uplifting and feel good, with a truth real life factor running through them so they werent all ladybirds and happy people but great reads

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choosyfloosy · 04/12/2008 22:31

seeker i gave dh Other Men's Flowers for a Christmas present a couple of years ago, he wasn't delighted but at least i got to read it!

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barbarianoftheuniverse · 04/12/2008 22:33

Seeker, I was reading Other Men's Flowers this evening.

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LittleMissTickles · 04/12/2008 22:34

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

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