All my book recs recently have turned out to be horror inevitably sad. So much misery lit is what’s making the bestseller lists recently. What is a quality joyous book you’ve read? (No self-help please).
I personally didn’t like it that much, but it is uplifting: The House in the Cerulean Sea.
ReddisaurusRex on
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
jisa on
I’d like to put in a plug for R.C. Joshua’s “Demon World Boba Shop” which is the coziest of cozy books I’ve read and was my favorite book I read last year. Protagonist dies, is given a choice to move onto a world based on a single word, and the word he chooses is “nice”. Ends up on a demon world full of nice demons, and he decides to open a boba tea shop. Low stakes, found-family, it’s just a really pleasant book to read.
My one hesitation is whether nice, cozy, pleasant, etc. are synonymous with “joyful”.
atthebarricades on
Funniest I’ve read is probably The Martian by Andy Weir, it’s not overly happy but it is fun. The narrator has this snarky sense of humour and is very clever. (But I do realise almost everyone has read this one).
Roald Dahl is an obvious one I think. Danny, the Champion of the World is my favourite one of his. I think looking to children’s books for a joyful read is a good idea. Astrid Lindgren has some lovely books too.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah was really fun, especially the audiobook as it’s read by him and he’s brilliant at all the accents of the people in his life.
Pride and Prejudice is the second funniest to me. I love Austen’s sense of humour and keen observations on society. It’s more social commentary than romance to me and absolutely hilarious at times.
nine57th on
I loved **A Movable Feast** by Ernest Hemingway. While there are bits of sadness scattered throughout it is a lively, funny, beautiful reflection of 1920’s Paris with all the American writers and artists that moved there. I thought the book was a bright light.
5 Comments
I personally didn’t like it that much, but it is uplifting: The House in the Cerulean Sea.
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
I’d like to put in a plug for R.C. Joshua’s “Demon World Boba Shop” which is the coziest of cozy books I’ve read and was my favorite book I read last year. Protagonist dies, is given a choice to move onto a world based on a single word, and the word he chooses is “nice”. Ends up on a demon world full of nice demons, and he decides to open a boba tea shop. Low stakes, found-family, it’s just a really pleasant book to read.
My one hesitation is whether nice, cozy, pleasant, etc. are synonymous with “joyful”.
Funniest I’ve read is probably The Martian by Andy Weir, it’s not overly happy but it is fun. The narrator has this snarky sense of humour and is very clever. (But I do realise almost everyone has read this one).
Roald Dahl is an obvious one I think. Danny, the Champion of the World is my favourite one of his. I think looking to children’s books for a joyful read is a good idea. Astrid Lindgren has some lovely books too.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah was really fun, especially the audiobook as it’s read by him and he’s brilliant at all the accents of the people in his life.
Pride and Prejudice is the second funniest to me. I love Austen’s sense of humour and keen observations on society. It’s more social commentary than romance to me and absolutely hilarious at times.
I loved **A Movable Feast** by Ernest Hemingway. While there are bits of sadness scattered throughout it is a lively, funny, beautiful reflection of 1920’s Paris with all the American writers and artists that moved there. I thought the book was a bright light.