Feel-Good Books to Read Right Now

A book that “speak[s] volumes about our need for connection–human, feline, or otherwise” (The San Francisco Chronicle), The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a life-affirming anthem to kindness and self-sacrifice that shows how the smallest things can provide the greatest joy–the perfect read for cat lovers and travellers!

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with the other books for the other lives you could have lived if you had made different choices. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? The Midnight Library is the dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived.

After a sudden change of plans, a remarkable woman and her loyal group of friends try to figure out what she’s going to do with the rest of her life. Loretha will have to summon all her strength, resourcefulness, and determination to keep on thriving, pursue joy, heal old wounds, and chart new paths.

Stella thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases–a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year old. Her conclusion: she needs a lot of practice–with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan who agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan. This heartwarming and refreshing debut proves one thing: there’s not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.

Precious Ramotswe takes on a case for a childhood acquaintance and finds that family relationships are always a tricky proposition. In the end it will be up to Mma Ramotswe to reflect on love, family, and the nature of men and women in order to resolve family dramas and remind everyone about all the good things they have in life—so many, in fact, that it would take far too long to count them.

From the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor comes a warm and deeply funny novel about a once-famous gay sitcom star whose unexpected family tragedy leaves him with his niece and nephew for the summer.

In the small town of Holt, Colorado, from unsettled lives emerges a vision of life, and of the town and landscape that bind them together—their fates somehow overcoming the powerful circumstances of place and station, their confusion, curiosity, dignity and humor intact and resonant.

Two Black queer best friends face their last day together with an epic journey through Baltimore in this magnetic YA debut by bestselling author of Here for It, R. Eric Thomas.

From his floating bookstore on the Seine, Monsieur Perdu prescribes novels for the hardships of life. However, he’s still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people’s lives.

With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, beloved New York Times bestseller Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes, and a different kind of love story.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

Two estranged siblings delve into their mother’s hidden past–and how it all connects to her traditional Caribbean black cake–in this immersive family saga, “a character-driven, multigenerational story that’s meant to be savored” (Time).

An intimate look into the heart and mind of a man who finds those around him just out of reach, and a funny, joyful, deeply compassionate story about seeing the world through new eyes, Redhead by the Side of the Road is a triumph, filled with Anne Tyler’s signature wit and gimlet-eyed observation.

Even with a step-by-step plan, these fake fiancés might accidentally fall for each other in this hilarious, heartfelt romantic comedy from the author of The Marriage Game.

This impeccably designed and produced collector’s edition includes beautiful new illustrations from cover artist Chris Wormell and an exclusive interview with Philip Pullman about writing La Belle Sauvage.

Although she would later singlehandedly create a new approach to American cuisine, Julia Child was not always a master chef. Indeed, when she first arrived in France in 1948 with her husband, she spoke no French and knew nothing about the country itself. But as she dove into French culture, buying food at local markets and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life changed forever with her newfound passion for cooking and teaching. My Life in France unfolds with the spirit so key to Julia’s success as a chef and a writer, brilliantly capturing one of America’s most endearing personalities.

At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, Persuasion is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, but, above all, it is a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.

Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with one another. But what if they were? And so he writes–in a plain, green journal–the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local cafe. As each stranger finds the journal, they write their own entries and leave the notebook in their favorite places around the city. This novel is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It’s a story about being brave and putting your real self forward–and finding out that it’s not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness.

A heartfelt debut about the unlikely relationship between a young woman who’s lost her husband and a major league pitcher who’s lost his game. Evvie Drake Starts Over will have you cheering for the two most unlikely comebacks of the year—and will leave you wanting more from Linda Holmes.

The author of the New York Times bestselling phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians takes you from Capri to NYC, where Lucie Tang Churchill finds herself torn between two men–and two very different cultures.

Annie Marlow has been through the worst. Rocked by tragedy, she heads to the one place that makes her happy: Oceanside in the Pacific Northwest. In this heartwarming tale, Annie finds that the surest way to fix what is damaged within is to help others rise above their pain and find a way to heal.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Party Crasher, an utterly delightful novel about a woman who ditches her dating app for a writer’s retreat in Italy–only to find that real love comes with its own filters.

Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman.  In between trying to win Mark back and loudly wishing him dead, Ephron’s irrepressible heroine offers some of her favorite recipes. Heartburn is a sinfully delicious novel, as soul-satisfying as mashed potatoes and as airy as a perfect soufflé.

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club. When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?

What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family? You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!