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Welcome to probably the sappiest thread in The Book Barn. If you're anything like me, you probably read (or listen to) plenty of gritty books. My library is nothing but nonfiction books on wars, epidemics, or gritty political biographies. After a while, it starts to get a little bit too heavy and depressing. 2019 is a few days away, and I want to get myself into a more positive headspace. Post books that left you feeling better than when you started them. It could be any genre or theme, as long as its had a positive emotional impact on you on the whole. I'd kickstart this thread with some suggestions, but I don't have a single book that would even partially qualify. I've long been looking for positive books, but google searches bring up the weird, heavy handed stuff positive energy stuff or miracle cures from god things. I know you goons are better than that. (If this thread gathers steam and doesn't die in the cradle I'll post your fave things in the OP) 
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Dec 26, 2018 20:04
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Tom Jones, the story of a foundling, is pretty darn upbeat. A rollicking, sexy adventure story. YMMV
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Dec 26, 2018 21:15
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At the bookstore where I worked, the default happy,, inoffensive, readers digest style book was “The prize winner of Defiance, Ohio”. It’s worth a quick read.
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Dec 27, 2018 13:00
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Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat", and also "Three Men on the Bummel". A bit preachy in some parts, but otherwise quite funny.
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Dec 27, 2018 14:36
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Bridge of Birds, old Chinese folktales retold as a farce. Less offensive than it sounds and somehow always cheers me up. Has two sequels that, while inferior, possess a lot of the same qualities.
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Dec 27, 2018 23:12
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anilEhilated posted:Bridge of Birds, old Chinese folktales retold as a farce. Less offensive than it sounds and somehow always cheers me up. Has two sequels that, while inferior, possess a lot of the same qualities. Absolutely. Adding Stone Junction by Jim Dodge, The End of the World Running Club by Adrian Walker, The Plague by Camus, Black Swan Green by David Mitchell, and Dandelion Wine by Bradbury. All leave me with a deep satisfaction and even some joy.
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Dec 28, 2018 00:21
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artichoke posted:Absolutely. Seconding this. The Plague owns.
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Dec 28, 2018 01:17
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Unintuitively, Bleak House by Charles Dickens. I embarrassed myself on an airplane crying from joy at the end.
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Dec 28, 2018 01:50
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Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers. Just straight up heartwarming. even if it does have one space murder.
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Dec 29, 2018 22:24
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I've always been fond of A Little Princess and Anne of Green Gables when I need a mood lift. They're both in the public domain and are available through Librivox for free if you like audiobooks.
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Dec 30, 2018 19:40
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Lincoln In The Bardo, despite the death of a young child being perhaps the main plot point, is at the end of it, incredibly uplifting.
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Dec 31, 2018 02:01
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OscarDiggs posted:Lincoln In The Bardo, despite the death of a young child being perhaps the main plot point, is at the end of it, incredibly uplifting. Agreed, this is an excellent choice!
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Dec 31, 2018 02:10
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Boy I hope Running Club brightens up eventually because my last book was on Hiroshima and boy things are mighty familiar 
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Jan 6, 2019 20:04
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Connie Willis's "To Say Nothing of the Dog".
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Jan 7, 2019 22:56
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buglord posted:Boy I hope Running Club brightens up eventually because my last book was on Hiroshima and boy things are mighty familiar It's apocalyptic but, like The Plague, the friendships and character development drive it.
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Jan 8, 2019 06:48
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Solar Bones, in which a mild mannered civil engineer, in a single, breathless sentence, tells us about his life: his wife, his daughter, his father, gaelic football, small town Ireland, and pouring concrete.* Although I didn't feel it was as innovative or experimental as it was made out by some, I did rate it as uplifting enough to leave me with a boost of go getter attitude and determination once I'd finished. Really, it's a simple, well told, down to earth story. There is more to it, but it seems all the publishers outside of Ireland didn't merit this detail being put in their blurbs, seeing it as a twist, I guess. He's dead. *Not the best piece of storytelling about concrete I've come across, which is the film Locke.
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Jan 8, 2019 09:27
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Island by Aldous Huxley. This is how you would re-build the world if starting from scratch.
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Jan 8, 2019 19:45
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A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, a curmudgeon and recent widower gets on with life after his unexpected retirement. The Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gillman. A widow with a lot of time on her hands decides to chase her life dream of being a spy. Arm with nothing but her practicality and silly hat, she winds up working for the CIA and tangling with Russian spies at the height of the cold war.
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Jan 9, 2019 16:05
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Finished The End of The World Running Club about 2 hours ago. Still digesting it. It was a really fun listen. It almost feels like two separate books, as both halves are on separate ends of the spectrum. Despite not being a dad or a husband (thank god), I identified way too much with the protagonist. Seems like he would post here. Pretty cathartic! Next listen is Record of a Spaceborn Few which I've admittedly started already. Im not entirely sure of the plot of this book, as it seems to read more like a slice-of-life, across many lives, but I enjoy the format nonetheless.
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Jan 10, 2019 22:17
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Lord Bob posted:Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers. Just straight up heartwarming. even if it does have one space murder. Honestly all of Becky Chambers fits the mold - A Closed and Common Orbit is probably my favorite.
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Jan 16, 2019 01:51
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I'm sure there are many other examples I'm not thinking of, but if you want fantasy novels that are positive and uplifting, similar to what Becky Chambers is to sci-fi, check out The Goblin Emperor, or some Diana Wynne Jones (in particular, Howl's Moving Castle)
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Jan 16, 2019 06:09
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Totally. Diana Wynne-Jones is great; don't be fooled by a lot of her stuff being marketed as children's books, they are perfectly enjoyable by adults.
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Jan 16, 2019 12:42
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Dandelion Wine was something I couldn't get into. I waited about an hour for things to take off, but it seems like it's not going to click with me. Almost seems like poetry compared to the other book I read by him, the Martian Chronicles. Lincoln in the Bardo is good so far, though I might actually have to read this one because listening to the audiobook is incredibly confusing since there's so many quotes and probable footnotes. This shows promise but is on hold right now. A Man Called Ove is a real gem. I might finish this before Record of a Spaceborn Few. I love to hate this old man, which the book accomplished in the first few pages thanks to me being an office depot tech employee a while back. Just realized why Ove cancelled his newspaper sub and now im kinda sad, but mostly shocked. Looking forward to this because it seems like a great story forming. My new years resolution of e: I'm taking down all your suggestions, even if im not quoting you! So long as I'm at this job that allows me to use my headphones all day, I'll likely get through most of these. Need to dust off my kindle paperwhite too. buglord fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Jan 16, 2019 |
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Jan 16, 2019 22:30
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Thanks for the updates. I'm waiting with bated breath to see how you like A Man Called Ove.
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Jan 16, 2019 23:21
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buglord posted:Dandelion Wine was something I couldn't get into. I waited about an hour for things to take off, but it seems like it's not going to click with me. Almost seems like poetry compared to the other book I read by him, the Martian Chronicles. I'm really glad you ended up liking Running Club. I read it a few years ago and just remembered the feeling I got at the end - positive - so I'm glad you got that too. I agree that Dandelion Wine is more prose poetry than a story, but sometimes that's just what I need. There's one bit that I remember from waaay back when I read it in high school - he doesn't want his best friend to move away so on their last day together they decide to do the one thing that they know makes time stretch - nothing. There's this lovely passage where he describes just watching the sun move across the ground, and it's funny that that's what really stuck with me. Lincoln in the Bardo is really good. I'd been waiting for that dude to finally write a novel and was not disappointed. I found Ove to have a strong start but by the end felt it was too sentimental, but you might not agree. I hope you like it. Gonna toss in Bridge of Birds AGAIN because mm hmm it's very good yes.
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Jan 18, 2019 03:45
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Bridge of birds is in the queue too, but more towards the end. If I get around to trying dandelion wine, it'll be in actual book format. It doesn't really work being listened to. I'm more than halfway finished with Ove, and it kinda reminds me of the Forrest Gump movie but with Shrek instead of an old Swedish guy and a cat instead of Donkey. Each time Ove tries killing himself leaves me a little more shaken each time. The lighthearted prose in and around that makes it a little more bearable. Regardless, I hope he stops doing that! Still digesting Running Club. So much stuff happened towards the end that I still think about certain events daily. Heavy spoilers I'm still sad Harvey died. The way Ed found him in the morning was a gut punch for me. Sucks that Ed couldn't make it on the ship, but christ I'm happy he gave up the fantasy of living in a smoldering countryside with a reluctant family. The way it was brought up during the drinking party at the old rich guy's house was awesome. Maybe Ed mentioned it before and I wasn't paying enough attention, but I felt mad like everyone else when he said he wasn't getting on the boat. That whole sequence was great.
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Jan 18, 2019 04:52
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If you enjoyed Catch-22 i strongly recommend you read Joseph Heller's less known absurdist comedies, starting with Something Happened.
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Jan 20, 2019 18:32
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goodness gracious Ove was good. shouldn't have finished it at work. more impressions later on.
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Jan 21, 2019 21:01
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Man Called Ove impressions: The ending wasn't too overly fluffy for me. It all came together really well and just felt right. Something Parvaneh said caught my attention when she said Ove was really bad at dying. Did she know of him being suicidal? She seemed to know something was going on when he tried dying in his car. Would seem to explain why people kept bugging him and keeping him occupied. Also, how old is Ove? Is he really 59? His old man personality is that of like someone who's in their mid 70s. Or maybe thats just Ove being himself, since he never really had much of a childhood.
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Jan 21, 2019 23:09
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buglord posted:Man Called Ove impressions: The ending wasn't too overly fluffy for me. It all came together really well and just felt right. Something Parvaneh said caught my attention when she said Ove was really bad at dying. Did she know of him being suicidal? She seemed to know something was going on when he tried dying in his car. Would seem to explain why people kept bugging him and keeping him occupied. For the spoiler, I assume so. quote:Also, how old is Ove? Is he really 59? His old man personality is that of like someone who's in their mid 70s. Or maybe thats just Ove being himself, since he never really had much of a childhood. He did read as older, I thought, though he was retired early, so 59 at least fits that detail. Glad you enjoyed it!
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Jan 22, 2019 03:16
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How am I supposed to read Lincoln in the Bardo? I have no idea what’s going on other than a lot of different disconnected people talking about a president party and baby Lincoln dying. There’s so much confusion
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Jan 23, 2019 05:30
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Keep going, it will click.
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Jan 23, 2019 11:07
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Agreed. It sort of alternates news clippings to get a sense of the broad picture and how people view Lincoln and whatnot, with the more immediate narrative.
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Jan 23, 2019 15:49
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I got myself to also pick up Anne of Green Gables. This book is a little odd, but I'll play ball. I'm siding with all the other character's impressions of Anne right now. She seems like she wakes up chugging bottles of Zoloft. Though maybe that reflects back on me because I'm the moody one and find that boundless optimism and childlike-wonder practically off putting. Also the vocabulary on that kid. It's as if she's sorta a mouthpiece for the author. Still working on lincoln in the bardo, though admittedly im hopping between anne and record of a spaceborn few.
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Jan 24, 2019 20:29
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Space opera by Catherynne M. Valente for absolutely shameless "humanity can be pretty awesome and let's not bother with the hard science" sci-fi.
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Jan 25, 2019 08:37
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A Winter Walk - Henry David Thoreau
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Jan 29, 2019 22:10
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buglord posted:
I put this in the book of the month poll because y'all seemed to like it, go vote if you want it to win!
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Jan 30, 2019 01:33
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I really appreciate this thread's existence. As both a reader and a writer I tend to gravitate toward gloomy stories, but I've been wanting to broaden my horizons and read more hopeful, positive stories. I'm still in the middle of reading Murakami's latest novel, but after I finish it, I'm looking forward to reading The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt, which was recommended to me as a positive book in the Read Some Real Literature thread.
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Jan 31, 2019 07:07
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Coming around to finishing Record of a Spaceborn Few. Maybe like an hour left? Everyone's stories are intersecting nicely now. It's taken me so long to get through because there's no central plot that demands attention. Maybe I should have started with the first book in the series. I love myself some books that exist solely for worldbuilding, but maybe it would help if I knew the basics first. I gave up on Anne of Green Gables. Not really gripping me. I had to shelve Lincoln in the Bardo. I thought maybe the kindle version was badly formatted, but the paperback version confirms the book is actually like this. I'm going to revisit that book at some point. I don't feel done with it yet, and my ego is on the line, so i'll return when im stronger and better trained! Making some progress with Huxley's Island. I'm actually reading this one, not listening to an audio version of it. Its funny that I can read nonfiction perfectly and comprehend it, but nothing really *sticks* as well when I'm reading fiction. Either I read too quickly or I don't stop to try to understand a scene an author is trying to set up. Then I have to re-read passages to understand how this room looks, or how the stranger at the door looks. Weird. Chalk it up to only ever reading fiction when I was forced to in high-school, and not touching it until now. Next progress report will be when I finish spaceborn few.
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Jan 31, 2019 16:52
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Lincoln in the Bardo (audiobook) throws you in the deep end with no water wings. I had to start it over once it clicked (the hell is a "sick box"?). It was well worth it because it was easily my favorite book of the year because Saunders' great prose was backed up by some fantastic performances.
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Mar 5, 2019 22:52
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