Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week’s topic is actually “books guaranteed to put a smile on your face”, but I LOVE a downer so that would be a struggle for me. My heart doesn’t particularly care for warming. So I’m trying to go with a more attainable goal: books that will make you feel good!
Pride & Prejudice: I feel like Jane Austen gets dismissed by people who haven’t read her as fluffy, but once you actually read it you’re treated to razor-sharp social satire…but also love stories! We have all at the very least seen an adaptation at this point, so it’s no surprise to say that at the end, three sisters are wed (two of them happily) and it’s all very charming.
The Rosie Project: If you want feel-good, romance is a genre that will probably offer what you’re looking for…after all, if there is no Happily Ever After, some people don’t think it’s even a romance at all. I’m not usually particularly compelled by the genre, but found this one quite enjoyable!
Matilda: A childhood classic, but if you don’t feel good by the end when Matilda and Miss Honey are both free from their unpleasant family members and have each other as chosen family, you have no heart.
Fangirl: This one isn’t quite a straight romance, it’s as much (or more) a story about a young woman coming of age, but there’s such a sweetness to the central love story that it’s hard to not feel good about it.
Less: This is a book I recommend all the time, because it is funny and feel-good without being light or treacly. Like the Oscars, the Pulitzers rarely reward comedy, which just goes to show how good this one is seeing as how it won!
Stardust: This is a modern-day fairy tale (not modern-day in setting, but in authorship), so while there are witches, and magic, and ghosts, and evil, there are also unicorns and of course true love, for a book that is ultimately uplifting.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: There’s a lot of dark stuff in this book: alcoholic parents, heartbreak, a girl being held back because of her gender. But it is still fundamentally hopeful, with just enough wins for Francie to counter her losses, and ends on an upbeat note.
About A Boy: Nick Hornby is a little cynical on the outside, but usually pretty sentimental on the inside. I appreciate that he avoids the kind of expected angle of getting the titular child’s father figure and actual mother together, but it’s still big-hearted and ultimately sweet.
A Wind in the Door: While I think all of the books in the Time Quartet are ultimately pretty feel-good, the central theme of this book in particular is the importance of human connection, even (and maybe especially) with those who you may not like.
Emma: I usually try to not include the same author more than once, but I was not joking about my fondness for bummer books, y’all. There are some definite similarities, plot-wise, between Emma and P&P, including a high-spirited heroine who thinks she knows best but has her assumptions and self-regard challenged pointedly but without cruelty and, of course, a clearly-meant-to-be couple who do get together at the end. But Emma has charms all of its own and is a fun read!
