Books have an incredible power to make us smile, laugh or cry. Now more than ever, we need books that can make us happy. This is a list of books across different genres that I think will put a smile on your face, make you happy and maybe leave you feeling a little inspired.
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Wish you were here, Jodi Picoult
This was my first pandemic book, set as covid is breaking out, this follows our main character as she goes to the Galapagos on her own whilst her surgeon husband stays behind in New York to fight the pandemic. She ends up getting stuck over there and has to adjust to life isolated on an island. There’s a lot more to this book that meets the eye, but from the beautiful descriptions of the Galapagos to the inspiration from the characters and the decisions they make, this book is about what we take from life and how we can enjoy even the hardest times.
The Burnout, Sophie Kinsella
This book is all about how the main character deals with burnout and how we each approach burnout differently. Following our main character who goes to a favourite holiday spot as a child to try and recover from a breakdown at work, but it’s not quite the same in the cold winter and everything is pretty run down. She is trying to follow a guide to get her life back on track, but what I love about this book is that it shows that the idillic step-by-step guides to achieve happiness aren’t realistic and that’s okay, we make our own paths.
a man called ove, fredrik Backman
Okay first off, yes, this book may make you cry, but it will also make you happy. This follows Ove who is a lonely and grumpy gentleman, but throughout the course of this book he touches the lives of those around him and of the reader. This is a beautiful book about the human capacity for kindness and the impact we can have on each others lives.
What you are looking for is in the library, Michiko Aoyama
This book is like a compilation of multiple different short stories of different characters who all need a bit of guidance. They visit the central location of a library where the librarian has the ability to recommend you the perfect book for what you really need in life. I loved the different stories we got to see in this book and the simplicity it had about it, and also a lovely of books, which is always a great thing to read about.
Cat Lady, Dawn O’Porter
This is another that will make you cry and then it will make you smile. I think sometimes books need to see their characters reach a real low to then be filled with such uplift and joy. This book follows our main character as her life falls apart around her bit, by bit and she goes to a really crappy place mentally. But the uplift and joy of this book comes from the self-discovery and the empowering themes as our main character really comes into her own.
What I’ve learn from writing this post is a lot of happy books also have sad points and that that is maybe what makes them so much more uplifting in the end. I hope you’ve found some new book recommendations in this post, let me know if you have any of your own in the comments below!
