As you know, I've had a rough patch with my book choices lately. I thought my luck was changing yesterday, when I discovered a newish little bookstore around the corner from my house. I wandered in, and Alice Sebold's memoir, Lucky, caught my eye.
I knew it wasn't a happy book, but I didn't expect it to be unendingly grim. Naively, I thought there just might be a happy ending - an idea I should have put to rest when the bookstore clerk looked at my choice and said, "This book will destroy you."
This book will destroy me???? Um, no. It won't. If it's too gruesome, I decided, I'll simply put it down.
It wasn't, and I didn't. It was so well written that I didn't even notice the writing; I was too caught up in the story. But as the pages flipped and the chapters passed, I started wondering, When does the happy part start? When does she reclaim her life? She's married - when does she tell me about her wonderful husband?
Nope, none of that. The afterward is simply a whirlwind trip through years of heroin use, bad waitressing jobs, and fear of windows left unlocked. All understandable, given what happened. I just wasn't prepared.
So now, dear readers, I need your help. PLEASE, Please, please...tell me about your happy books - the stories that make you smile, that fill you up with warm fuzzies and bring joy into your life. Tell me what, tell me why. But most importantly, tell me soon, cause I need some happy here in the land of Trish!
I'm off to read At Home In Mitford for the seventeenth time - things always work out for Father Tim :)
Postscript: I just dropped Mitford in the tub...So sad!
9 comments:
Wow. I just went rhough my list of recently read books and I realize I have not read any happy ones either! Ones I hav ereally LOVED but not happy! What does that say about me? ;)
Trish-I just got the book Under the Duvet in the mail the other day, I can't wait to read it!
I don't have a good book I'm reading either right now and it's driving me bonkers. It's hard to think of memoirs that end happy.
P.S. At least your book is clean now.
I couldn't read that book at all!
It collects dust pretty god though...
happiness to you,
xox darlene
Time traveler's wife.
Anything by Shanna Swendson
Girl's Guide to Witchcraft
Any of Marian Keyes.
Hope this helps!
Oh, Trish, poor you! I definitely would have slid that book back onto the pile when told it would 'destroy' me. I just can't take that.
I'd suggest anything by Jenny Crusie, Wendy French, Anne George...
Well, I devour a whole other genre of literature than you ever read. So if you ever want to delve into sci-fi, Arthurian legend (never a happy ending THERE), anything Robin Hood, or some kick-ass history books, let me know. But for pure smiles and happy, you really can't beat a classic Dr. Seuss book.
I took a look at my bookshelves and realized I must love depressing books. I never realized this about myself.
I ended up finding two possibilities:
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (not happy exactly but hopeful)
How I Became Stupid by Martin Page (random yet very funny)
Stacie's suggestion of Mindy Klasky's Girls Guide to Witchcraft is a good one.
I always find that Jane Austen and Harry Potter novels are worth a reread. Come to think of it, I've been meaning to reread my Anne Shirley books for, well, several years now.
Most of rory's books have been said lately. However, you might want to tell santa that last week GG seasons 1-2-3 were only $14.95 a piece at walmart. It's so low that it's almost sacrilige
I know you posted this a week and a half ago, but I'm reading some of your past posts after coming over to check out your blog after you left a comment on mine. (Thank you for that, BTW! And I'm enjoying reading yours!)
Have you read "Water for Elephants"? I think it might be my favorite book I've read this year. I also love both books Joshilyn Jackson has out - "gods in Alabama" and "Between, Georgia."
And if I want just purely light, silly, FUN-happy...no deep thought, just something to make me smile, I like Jennifer Crusie, Janet Evonovich, and MaryJanice Davidson's books.
Oh, and oddly, considering that he's always shelved with the horror genre, I consider a lot of Dean Koontz's books to be feel-good books, but not all. Some of his have great joy and magic mixed into the darkness and some are just plain dark.
I'm glad I didn't read "Lucky." I looked at it and considered buying it because I liked "The Lovely Bones" so much, but after reading the first few pages I put it back on the shelf.
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