So far this year, I have read and loved A Little Life, Pachinko, The Covenant of Water and last night I read The Song of Achilles (after which I cried myself to sleep) and am currently reading East of Eden and Cutting for Stone. In my reading pile I have Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow, The Book Thief, The Power of the Dog and Mater 2-10 still to read. As you can see, I like depressing books, especially multi generational ones. I’ve also read all of Haruki Murakami’s works. However, I’m getting somewhat exhausted of always being distraught or depressed when reading a book.
I’ve had clinical depression and anxiety for many, many years and I know it doesn’t help me that I always read books like this. But in my head it has more to do with the style of writing, I can’t imagine a “happy” book being as beautifully written as sadder books are. Any time I feel like reading a happy book I just to straight to an easy romcom but there has to be more out there than that.
I’d love a book that has all of the things I love about those books but doesn’t end in a way that leaves me in mourning or feeling empty. I’m okay with some sadness! I’m okay with crying! I just don’t want the ending to be sad. If A Little Life had a happy ending and more happy chapters then even that would work with what I’m asking for. I usually stick to books just like the ones I listed genre wise, but if you have a recommendation you think I should try then I’m open!
Thanks in advance!
by lettuceandcucumber
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– As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh: lots of heavy themes, but socially a very important book with a happy ending!
– The Lake House by Kate Morton: family mystery with a historical and modern alternating pov. I love all the kate morton books i’ve read so far, but this was my first and remains my favourite
– Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat: fantasy trilogy with an ancient greek inspired setting and a m/m veeeery slow burn enemies to lovers romance (not the main focus tho). Heavy in trigger warnings tho, so look up a list of those first.
Zorba the Greek is about a man who decides to go on a trip to Crete. He meets another man who teaches him the essence of life, always chasing what makes him happy in the moment and letting go of life’s miseries through dancing. It is based on the author’s real account with that man and it’s considered a classic in modern Greek literature.
God’s People by Pearl Buck. I think that’s the title of the book in English but I’m not entirely sure. It’s about altruism in opposition to being self-centered. Choosing a simple life with people you love. Helping solve hunger. It makes you feel hopeful for humanity. I read that 10 years ago so I don’t remember so clearly but it impacted me greatly.
I was reading your list of books and we have super similar taste! I loved A Little Life and Pachinko!
Have you read The Storied Life of AJ Fikry? It’s by the same author who wrote Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I personally really enjoyed AJ Fikry but couldn’t get into Tomorrow x3.
Here are some books I have recently read that I greatly enjoyed because they are beautifully written and ultimately hopeful:
Longbourn by Jo Baker (Pride and Prejudice meets Downton Abbey),
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell (about Lucrezia d’Medici who married at fifteen and died at sixteen),
The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney (grown siblings are waiting to get their family nest egg),
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (coming-of-age for a young man and his beloved older sister), and
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub (time-travel for a daughter to spend time with her father.)
Oh! I also really enjoyed Hello, Beautiful by Ann Napolitano about a family with four daughters living in Chicago from 1980-2008.
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt is also very good.
Here’s a very different suggestion: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin. I’m currently reading the fourth book in the series, Tehanu, and it’s like nothing happens because, on the surface, it’s just about this widow who is just watching two very different people heal from visible and invisible wounds, but it is wonderfully written.
If you are okay with children’s book recommendations, Stuart Little by E. B. White is a perfect book. When you’re a kid, the ending is terrible. When you’re an adult, the ending is perfection. Also, when I finished Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan, I went outside and wept because it is that good. Lastly, Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt has a devastating example of forgiveness.
Lastly, and this is a very hard book to get through but I’m so glad I read it: Know My Name by Chanel Miller.
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot – It’s a very pleasant read. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love this book.
The Second Ending by Michelle Hoffman
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt
Emma by Jane Austen
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
For a multi-generational novel that’s beautifully written and complex but doesn’t end by utterly depressing the reader, I suggest Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Remarkably Bright Creatures
The Book of Joy is beautiful and is even better on audiobook. It changed my life. Untethered Soul, the Art of Living, and the Power of Now were instrumental in my emotional healing as well. Books that are Buddhist based (even if you aren’t religious) are beautiful written with beautiful messages.
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
You and I have very similar reading likes.
As a departure from depressing books, I read this recently and was just so delighted by it:
What You are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama