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Original poster

I'm so down right now, please help me find a book to read

134 replies

adaptiveness · 16/09/2021 11:28

I'm not going into the details, but I'm not in a good place right now and I badly need a good book.

I have 5 mins to write this, so am going to be really unreasonable and just list the stuff that I can't deal with reading about right now.

No sex, suicide, romance, bad stuff happening to kids, sad endings, books that will make me think about the fucked up state of the world. No kooky, random, wet, indecisive protagonists. No 'hilarious' bad parenting.

Any genre fine: fiction, literature, sci-fi, fantasy, non-fiction, historical, comedy, biography, sport. Whatever. I just need to disappear into a good book.

Please help!

OP posts:
TonkinLenkicks · 16/09/2021 20:38

Wilt by Tom Shape

You won’t regret it

MeredithGreyishblue · 16/09/2021 20:38

Absolute twaddle - Agatha Raisin in order!
Slightly less twaddle - Elly Griffiths - any if the 3 series
Sentimental but lovely- Three Things about Elsie (Joanna Cannon of Goats & Sheep fame)
Old School- Malory Towers!
Bit more worthy- Circe - Madeleine Miller
Quirky Modern -The Authenticity Project

puppyknowsbest · 16/09/2021 20:37

Chronicles of St Mary's - perfect escapism. Read one or read many.

Not sure Hearts Invisible Furies or Eleanor Oliphant meet your brief.

MacavityTheDentistsCat · 16/09/2021 20:36

Perhaps one of The Dales series by Gervase Phinn, e.g. Head over Heels in the Dales. They're about a school inspector working in Yorkshire. There's a sub-plot about the inspector's impending marriage but the main topic is funny and strange things that happen to a school inspector.

littleloopylou · 16/09/2021 20:35

Definitely Anne of Green Gables!

I also enjoyed Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 16/09/2021 20:33

'Eleanor Oliphant' is the worst book I have ever read. My go-to when I'm down is Jilly Cooper because it's so ludicrous, but I agree with PPs that Miss Marple or Lord Peter Wimsey are most definitely called for Flowers

110APiccadilly · 16/09/2021 20:31

I think I'd go for a classic children's book like Five Children and It maybe? Or Swallows and Amazons?

allsorts1 · 16/09/2021 20:28

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine was so bleak and depressing and I was in a pretty good place when I read it so I don't recommend that.

Always recommend The Midnight Library for a really good life affirming book.

allsorts1 · 16/09/2021 20:25

The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a good one! I think maybe some people are mean to children but it all turns out okay in the end so it's not in a bleak way. Fantasy adventure girl power book.

Knitwit101 · 16/09/2021 20:24

Another vote for Anne of Green Gables. Just lovely

PetitePiggy · 16/09/2021 20:22

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim, Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons or Hector and the Search for Happiness by François Lelord.

GiveMyHeadPeaceffs · 16/09/2021 20:21

I've recently finished The Ocean at the end of the lane by Neil Gaiman and loved it.

MaudTheInvincible · 16/09/2021 20:19

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is an excellent suggestion!

INeedNewShoes · 16/09/2021 20:10

Another vote for Miss Pettigrew

But I also find great comfort in revisiting favourite children's books: Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, What Katie Did, The Hobbit

devildeepbluesea · 16/09/2021 20:03

I love Agatha Christie too.

I've just finished The Appeal by Janice Hallett. I absolutely loved it. It's told mostly via emails between characters which is an unusual format, but very clever. You glean loads of stuff from the emails - not just their contents, but the way they're written too.

The premise of the book is that a man launches an appeal for his granddaughter who has a rare brain tumour - but it really isn't what you would think at all.

zazasabore · 16/09/2021 19:48

I agree - Diary of a Nobody and the Mapp and Lucia novels - total blissikins. I also like the Dear Lupin letters.

Myfanwyprice · 16/09/2021 19:41

All of Ruth Hogans books are a delight, great characters and always uplifting.

I’m just reading the Secret Life of Albert Entwistle by Matt Cain and it’s really enjoyable so far.

Girlwhowearsglasses · 16/09/2021 19:41

Yes to Enchanted April
Thursday Murder Club is a joy.

I aleays re read Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy when i'm in a bad place

alphabetspagetti · 16/09/2021 19:35

If you want something which is an easy read but gives you something to think about, I recommend Matthew Syed's books. I read one almost by accident last year and then read everything else he'd written over the next couple of months. I found it bizarrely fascinating learning about things like the transformation of the training of hopeful English Olympic athletes over the last few years.

backtoschool1234 · 16/09/2021 19:06

Is based around romance though

backtoschool1234 · 16/09/2021 19:06

Came on to say the keeper of lost things but beaten to it - it really is a lovely story

tinierclanger · 16/09/2021 19:02

The Diary of a Provincial Lady , Miss Pettigrew lives for a day. Very enjoyable safe reads.
Maybe some Barbara Pym? Or My Family and Other Animals.
Slightly at a variant, I’ve found the Becky Chambers sci-fi Wayfarers series very good when I want to escape.

Spudina · 16/09/2021 18:46

The Midnight Library. It is a bit grim at the start (attempted suicide) but it’s really life affirming. I just finished it and it’s given me a real boost.

Cathy31 · 16/09/2021 18:41

@littlepinkseals yes, miss Pettigrew lives for a day is the first one I thought of!

@adaptiveness hope you're ok. Miss Pettigrew is wonderful.

Also, I haven't read it in years and am not completely sure it isn't sad in parts, but if I remember right Seabiscuit by Laura hillebrand (sp?) is a really great book.

Alwaystired99 · 16/09/2021 17:14

Another vote for Agatha Christie or the Richard Osmans? Inoffensive crime, old golden age or good copies
Do NOT go near Eleanor Oliphant or Small Pleasures.