Comforting Healing Fiction Books

Born with mysterious powers she does not know how to control, young Jieun accidentally causes her family to vanish. She vows to live a million lives in search of them. Finally, one night, she brings the Marigold Mind Laundry into existence. Its service: To remove the deepest pain from our hearts. Jieun listens while customers share their unhappy memories. As they speak, she transfers their sadness onto T-shirts as stains. After a spin in the washing machine, the stains become flower petals that soar into the air, and Jieun’s customers find solace. As Jieun listens to each of their stories, she learns that the will to heal is not a rare gift but a power we all possess — if only we are open to it.

In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they’ll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and it seemingly appears at random. It’s also run by talking cats. While customers at the Full Moon Coffee Shop partake in cakes, coffees, and teas, the cats also consult their star charts, offering cryptic wisdom and letting them know where their lives veered off course.

In a remote seaside town outside of Tokyo, Kotoko makes her way along a seashell path, lured by whispers of an enigmatic restaurant whose kagezen, or traditional meals offered in remembrance of loved ones, promise a reunion with the departed. When a gust of wind lifts off her hat, she sees a young man who looks like her recently deceased brother running after it. But it’s not her brother; it’s Kai, the restaurant’s young chef, who returns her hat and brings her to the tiny establishment, where he introduces her to Chibi, the resident kitten, and serves her steaming bowls of simmered fish, rice, and miso soup — the exact meal her brother used to cook for her. As she takes her first delicious bite, the gulls outside fall silent, the air grows hazy, and Kotoko begins a magical journey of last chances and new beginnings.

On the edge of Rainbow Town stands an old, abandoned house. It’s said that if you send a letter detailing your misfortunes, you’ll receive a ticket. On the first day of the rainy season, this ticket grants entrance to the mysterious Rainfall Market, where you can change your life. Serin, lonely and uncertain, receives a ticket and enters the market, guided by a magical cat, Issha. She has only one week to find her happiness or be doomed to vanish into the market forever. All the while, a shadow follows quietly behind them …

Tucked away down a Kyoto backstreet lies the extraordinary Kamogawa Diner, run by Chef Nagare and his daughter, Koishi. The father-daughter duo have reinvented themselves as “food detectives,” offering a service that goes beyond cooking mouth-watering meals. Through their culinary sleuthing, they revive lost recipes and rekindle forgotten memories. Each customer leaves the diner forever changed — though not always in the ways they expect. The Kamogawa Diner doesn’t just serve meals — it’s a door to the past through the miracle of delicious food.

Nana the cat and his owner, Satoru, take to the road on a journey with no other purpose than to visit three of Satoru’s longtime friends. Or so Nana is led to believe … With his crooked tail — a sign of good fortune — and adventurous spirit, Nana is the perfect companion for the man who took him in as a stray. And as they travel in a silver van across Japan, with its ever-changing scenery and seasons, they will learn the true meaning of courage and gratitude, of loyalty and love.

Bullied to the point of dropping out of school, Kokoro’s days blur together as she hides in her bedroom, unable to face her family or friends. As she spirals into despair, her mirror begins to shine; with a touch, Kokoro is pulled from her lonely life into a resplendent, bizarre fairytale castle guarded by a strange girl in a wolf mask. Six other students have been brought to the castle, and soon, this marvelous refuge becomes their playground. The castle has a hidden room that can grant a single wish, but there are rules to be followed, and breaking them will have dire consequences. As Kokoro and her new acquaintances spend more time in their new sanctuary, they begin to unlock the castle’s secrets and, tentatively, each other’s.

On a back street in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Only the chosen ones — those who are lost — will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets. Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop’s new owner to find it ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen, and her father missing. Then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, unlike its other customers, for he offers help instead of seeking it. Together, they journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice — by way of rain puddles, rides on paper cranes, the bridge between midnight and morning, and a night market in the clouds. As they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own — and risk making a choice that she will never be able to take back.

A peculiar pet shop in Tokyo has been known to offer customers the unique opportunity to take home one of seven special cats, whose “magic” is never promised but always received. But there are rules: These cats must be returned after three days. They must eat only the food supplied by the owner, and they must travel to their new homes with a distinctive blanket. The “blanket cats” are mysterious creatures with unknowable agendas who delight in confounding expectations. And perhaps what their hosts are looking for isn’t really what they need. Three days may not be enough to change a life. But it might just change how you see it.