It doesn't need to be all positive, it just needs to be the kind of book that has some hope and joy to it. Preferably with at least some depth and complexity.
Recent reads that I have enjoyed. Currently most of the way through The Goblin Emperor and loving it. A Wizards Guide to Defensive Banking. Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Legends & Lattes, all of Rivers of London series (wonderful), Daughter of Redwinter (okay this was a bit grimdark I'll admit), The Silverblood Promise, Tea for Treason.
Burnt my self out on Terry Pratchett, really like the Guard series but didn't quite grab on to Rinsewind, Death, and the (early) Industrial Revolution books.
by ErrantArcanist
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Space Opera. Light hearted and funny.
The Bobiverse. Grand scale adventure
Andy Weir’s stuff. People coming together to solve impossible problems
Good omens. Hilarious story about the end of the world.
Jasper Fforde might work for you. His books are whimsical, absurd, satirical, grab bags of a whole lot of genres especially sci-fi/fantasy. They’re great fun and he has a lot of books if his style works for you!
– Thursday Next series (book 1 is The Eyre Affair and this series is best for book lover types)
– Shades of Grey series (book 1 has the same name and is about a society where class divisions are dictated by what colours people can perceive)
– Early Riser (standalone following those that stay awake while the rest of humanity hibernates through the winter)
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H. G. Parry is also perfect if you’re a book lover. It features human main characters with the power to bring literary characters into the real world.
You mentioned A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. Have you tried other Becky Chambers such as the Monk & Robot series? The books are called A Psalm for the Wild Built and A Prayer for the Crown Shy. They definitely have a nice combination of hope and gentle depth.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Automatic Noodles
All of Becky Chambers’ books are wonderful, so I’d recommend those if you liked *A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet*.
*A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears* by Jules Feiffer is a fable about a Prince who makes everyone laugh, so he’s sent on a quest to become worthy of being a king.
*The Lays of the Hearthfire* by Victoria Goddard. If you like Becky Chambers and Katherine Addison you will almost certainly enjoy Goddard’s style, and I cannot read them without tears of joy.
*Spinning Silver* by Naomi Novik
If you’re open to very long books, I strongly second the rec for [The Hands of the Emperor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/af2bba9c-8f41-4a3e-b87a-8532a44ccb67) by Victoria Goddard. It’s a beautifully written slice of life book about the personal secretary to the emperor of the world, with a heavy focus on platonic relationships.