So to preface – I am 18 months sober from alcohol, and two months postpartum. I’m easily affected in an emotional sense anyway, but especially right now I have a LOT of feelings and I’m trying to avoid content that makes me cry a lot. For example, I started Where the Crawdads Sing and I really like it but i have cried multiple times, and had to put it down for now – and I’m like 70 pages in. To give you a movie example, You’ve Got Mail recently made me too emotional for my liking.
It’s been a long time since I read them but I enjoyed Jan Karon’s at home in Mitford series when I was younger (I think I read them in high school). I used to read a ton but as an adult not as much. So I’m looking for a series or author to get into. I may end up reading the Mitford series again but I can’t recall how Jesusy it is and I’m not interested in that aspect. Here’s what I think I liked: interesting enough little stories and subplots, mainly between characters, and I really liked the world building in a contemporary ‘real’ world. The small town descriptions and those of a daily routine were soothing to me.
So I’m looking for something similar, ish. I am not Christian so not looking for that aspect found in the Mitford books. I can deal with grit, sex, drugs, and reading about alcohol does not bother me (but not interested in themes of addiction rn)-doesn’t have to be tame or totally sanitized in some senses. I like some books by Elin Hildebrand. I do like to read about food and drink. I kind of liked the Stephanie Plum books but I didn’t like how the author was always trying to make it funny. So I’m not really looking for humor, and (this is important since I used the term ‘world building’) I do not care for fantasy. I am looking for something set in the real world. I am mainly interested in a setting of 20th century-present day but open to historical fiction from further in the past. And one of my preferred genres for novels has been Southern lit. Also am open to YA.
Things I don’t want:
Fantasy genre
Romance genre
Death as a major plot point or theme (unless it’s not a character you grow feelings for, or the bereaved also not someone you’d feel their loss)
Abuse or addiction as major plot points or themes
Things I like:
World building and descriptions of the mundane including food, clothes, buildings/homes – again though, not fantasy
A little bit of mystery
Some level of interesting language–word choice, sentence structure. A little elevated, but still mostly easy read. Like, I can’t do Joyce Carol Oates (I use her as an example because I have liked her work in the past but a couple months ago when I picked up one of her novels, reading it felt a little like work/academia. I want something I can just enjoy with not a lot of effort on my part).
I feel like I’m looking for like, the adult equivalent of the Boxcar Children 😂 any suggestions are appreciated. I should add, I would love standalone book suggestions too, doesn’t have to be a series. Thanks!
by LaMalintzin