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Original poster

Could anyone recommend a happy book for me?

32 replies

nkf · 04/05/2009 22:30

I need something to take the memory of a sad book away. Longer post - and thread - elsewhere but have had many suggestions that I should read something that is light and frothy.

Any ideas?

OP posts:
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Miyazaki · 06/05/2009 22:06

Only read op so prob already been said:

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Lovely frothy nancy mitford type book without the sadness.

Snorbs · 06/05/2009 22:00

I was just about to say "Yes Man" - both funny and leaving you in a positive frame of mind.

"Where Did It All Go Right?" by Andrew Collins, particularly if you were a child in the '70s.

"Round Ireland With a Fridge" by Tony Hawks.

Any of the Jeeves & Wooster books, anything by Clive James, anything by P.J. O'Rourke and anything by Douglas Adams.

Kentishwoman · 06/05/2009 21:54

Persuasion. Happy in a really satisfying way.

MamaHobgoblin · 06/05/2009 21:48

Oh, I like Hens Dancing, and the one that followed it. Frothy but surprisingly good, and quite escapist.

Flamesparrow · 06/05/2009 21:11

Join me and/or Yes Man - Danny Wallace.

Nighbynight · 06/05/2009 21:01

Josephine Tey - The Franchise Affair

Nick Hornby - Slam

IwoulddoDrWho · 06/05/2009 20:41

Hens Dancing by Rafaella Barker. It looks like chick lit but it's a lot better than that. Lowbrow but well written.

janeite · 06/05/2009 20:38

Came on to say Miss Pettigrew but have been pipped to the post.

Pride And Prejudice or any other Austen, except probably MP which is a bit irritating unless you're prepared for it.

Bill Bryson

Ballet Shoes or other lovely children's nostalgia.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven (but lots of MNers didn't like it).

A lovely fat detective story where everything comes out right in the end?

DLI · 06/05/2009 20:31

not sure if you would call it "HAPPY" but it is funny and parts of it you think "thats me". I have just read "how to kill your husband and other handy household hints"

Pogleswood · 06/05/2009 20:12

I loved Addition by Toni Jordan,nice book ,happy ending (unusual though) A Countess below Stairs is now available as The Secret Countess,(you might have tracked this down on Amazon).

Queenoftheharpies · 06/05/2009 18:12

EF Benson's "Lucia" books? They are glittery and bitchy without being silly.

Mannered but vicious satire along the lines of Nancy Mitford or Jane Austen.

MoominMymbleandMy · 05/05/2009 12:39

Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day by Winifred Watson.

Original poster
nkf · 04/05/2009 22:59

I have been reading this thread and checking on Amazon. Thanks again. Loads are in the basket. But more ideas very welcome.

OP posts:
3littlefrogs · 04/05/2009 22:55

Rosy is my relative by Gerald Durrell.

snice · 04/05/2009 22:51

I second that one Jux -the perfect short novel(la)

theyoungvisiter · 04/05/2009 22:51

dirk bogarde's memoirs are good. Particularly the first one (Great Meadow).

It's not celebby at all - it's just about a little boy growing up in the country with his sister. Very sweet and escapist.

mrsjammi · 04/05/2009 22:51

This reply has been deleted

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Jux · 04/05/2009 22:50

Oh oh oh oh oh oh I know!!!!!

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet here

Perfect. Very very funny. It's about a mobile library and the Queen. Brilliant.

Original poster
nkf · 04/05/2009 22:49

I like the classics. I like highbrow fiction and lowbrow fiction but not the stuff in between. Can't bear people like Jodi Picoult or Anita Shreve. I don't like sci fi. I like non fiction particularly if it's a bit quirky. I wouldn't read a celebrity biography though someone did tell me that Dirk Bogarde's memoirs are good.

OP posts:
mrsruffallo · 04/05/2009 22:48

Hope that helps

mrsruffallo · 04/05/2009 22:48

May Contain Nuts-By whatshisname was very funny

I laughed a lot that Stephen Fry one about the journo..oh, what is it called

theyoungvisiter · 04/05/2009 22:46

what kind of books do you like nkf?

Serious? funny? toshy? Light? Classic? Scifi? Well written or not? Chick lit permissable?

theyoungvisiter · 04/05/2009 22:44

Gone with the Wind? Lots bad happens in that but in such a frothy way that you can't take it seriously.

Plus you spend so much time being annoyed about the blatant racism that you'll forget anything else.

Original poster
nkf · 04/05/2009 22:42

I've read I Capture A Castle. It's happy enough. Nothing really bad happens.

Some interesting suggestions here.

OP posts:
theyoungvisiter · 04/05/2009 22:41

Or (of course ) The Young Visiters, which is one of the loveliest, funniest, frothiest, silliest, most charming books you could wish to read.

Anything by Georgette Heyer.

Anything by PG Wodehouse (particularly the Blandings series)

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