Can anyone recommend lighthearted fiction that's still decently written?

[JackieOsHeadScarf]

There must be something in the gap between Jo Jo Moyes and Milkman

Good thread thank you. Do you like crime novels - the Sue Grafton alphabet novels are well written and a lot of fun.

@DennisSkinnersMolotov @ChanChanChan Would rivers of London be suitable for a 13 year old? My DS has lost his reading mojo and I'm wondering if he might like these.

Apologies suspect Sue Grafton not quite what you mean by light (in terms of plot).

Seconding anything by Kate Atkinson.

Georgette Heyer. Very stylish and witty, and underrated.

@WobblyLondoner What are his thoughts on Harry Potter? I’d say it’s the adult equivalent of that in terms of magic, but a lot funnier. There are for adults not kids though so there are some sexual references, drugs/alcohol references etc. Wouldn’t be worried about them being too scary or anything like that!

Ooooh thank you all, lots to look up

Terry Pratchett - of course!

Jenny Eclair. She treats big topics in a lighthearted and funny way.

Lissa Evans - Crooked Heart and Old Baggage. She also wrote Their Finest Hour and a Half, but I haven't read that.

@milienhaus he really liked Harry Potter - can't imagine how many times he's read then - but that was a while ago now.

Is it more adult than the sort of thing you'd get in Noughts and Crosses etc.

Sorry OP for going on a slight tangent!

Harriet Evans - her later books in particular.
Lulu Taylor - the "winter" themed books are very readable.

Another vote for The Rosie Project and there’s a second one called The Rosie Effect as I recall.

Ooh, forgot Kate Morton and Rachel Hore! Both write well-written page-turners.

I'm currently reading a Jodi Taylor series called The Chronicles of St Mary's. Halfway through book two, very good.

Second Lissa Evans. Also Maria Semple (Where’d You Go Bernadette) and Katherine Heiny.

Really enjoyed
How to stop time by Matt haig
Light between the oceans (you will cry)
Life after life and god in ruins by Kate Atkinson

All very readable but not crappy chick lit either

The accidental tourist or The clockwinder by Anne Tyler or perhaps The Wonderspot or Girls guide to hunting and fishing by Melissa Bank

Adam Kay's books "This is going to hurt" and "The Night shift before Christmas". I laughed so much at them.

There are a few sad and upsetting moments though.

"Faking Friends" by Jane Fallon

"The Flat share " by Beth O'Leary

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella...another one I nearly got sick laughing at

Mhairi MacFarlane. She's ace.

Courtney Milan's books, historical and modern - Cyclone and Brothers Sinister series

Oh I loved The Accidental Tourist

I second Alexander McCall Smith - always beautifully written. There's so much dross out there nowadays, and it appears that many publishers no longer employ proofreaders or have editors who have a good command of English!

Down Among the Muddy Hearts and Swamp Roses by Hugh Aubyn, love a bit of Southern mystery. Think it's still free on kindle.

Those people recommending Eleanor Oliphant have a definition of lighthearted very different from mine...

I endorse the suggestions of Pratchett, Wodehouse, Heyer, Fforde, Ibbotson, Keyes.

Not strictly lighthearted but written with a positive attitude to life is anything by Ellis Peters / Edith Pargeter - the Cadfael chronicles being the most well-known.