In times of trouble, reading provides solace. But better yet, it can offer up joy giving a much-needed happy escape.
With this in mind, below are 9 joyful, feel good, and/or laugh-out-loud funny books. Whether you adore great travel fiction, poetry, sci fi, romance, mysteries, fantasy, nonfiction, memoirs, or thrillers, you’re bound to find the perfect book to boost your mood & help you feel happier.
Happy reading!
A lovely meditation on happiness including poetry & prose from around the world:
Happy is a unique collection of poetry and short prose from some of the most talented and inspirational writers around the world.
What makes people happy? What is happiness? Can happiness be found from people, places and things around us, or is it purely internal—a reflection and result of our own thoughts, feelings, attitude and mindset. Can we really be as happy as we want to be?
In Happy, there are 129 contributions from 60 writers in 20 countries: Antigua, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, England, France, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Uganda, US, and Vietnam, all exploring themes of happiness and being happy while reflecting the diverse backgrounds and cultures of the writers.
A funny romance which will sweep you away:
NY Times & USA Today bestseller, Goodreads Choice Award Winner, & Best Book of the Year for Vogue, NPR, & Vanity Fair
What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?
When his mother became President, Alex was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.
Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue proves true love isn't always diplomatic.”
”I took this with me wherever I went and stole every second I had to read! Absorbing, hilarious, tender, sexy—this book had everything I crave. I’m jealous of all the readers out there who still get to experience it for the first time!” —Christina Lauren, NY Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners
A comedic thriller which also perfectly captures the absurdity of relationships:
“There is little to say about coupledom that is not wittily and often movingly explored here. Sharply-written, brilliantly-observed and absolutely hilarious.” —Daily Mail
Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About concerns a guy named Pel who lives with his German girlfriend, Ursula. Pel leads an uneventful life—quietly bluffing his way through his job and discovering new things to argue about with Ursula. But when his boss mysteriously disappears, Pel steps innocently into his shoes and his life spirals out of control in a chaotic whirl of stolen money, missing colleagues, and Chinese Mafiosi.
Its fractured thriller plot punctuated by blazingly hilarious set-piece arguments between the hapless Pel and the unflappable Ursula, Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About is a brilliant comic novel examining the unique warfare in long-term relationships.
A magical story which makes your heart swell with happiness & stays with you forever:
Lambda Literary Award-winning author TJ Klune’s bestselling, breakout contemporary fantasy
One of Book Riot’s “20 Must-Read Feel-Good Fantasies”, a USA Today Bestseller,
an Indie Next Pick, an Amazon Best Books of the Year, & a Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year
Linus Baker is a by-the-book case worker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He's tasked with determining whether six dangerous magical children are likely to bring about the end of the world.
Arthur Parnassus is the master of the orphanage. He would do anything to keep the children safe, even if it means the world will burn. And his secrets will come to light.
The House in the Cerulean Sea is an enchanting story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.
"It will renew your faith in humanity.” ―Terry Brooks, NY Times bestselling author
“Sweet, comforting, and kind, this book is very close to perfect. I cannot recommend it highly enough.” ―Seanan McGuire, NY bestselling author
Groundbreaking nonfiction that will help you find joy:
Next Big Idea Club selection—chosen by Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Dan Pink, and Adam Grant as one of the ‘two most groundbreaking new nonfiction reads of the season!’
“This book has the power to change everything! Writing with depth, wit, and insight, Ingrid Fetell Lee shares all you need to know in order to create external environments that give rise to inner joy.” —Susan Cain, founder of Quiet Revolution
Designer and TED star Ingrid Fetell Lee presents groundbreaking research to explain how making small changes to your surroundings can create extraordinary happiness in your life.
Have you ever wondered why we stop to watch the orange glow that arrives before sunset, or why we flock to see cherry blossoms bloom in spring? Is there a reason that people—regardless of gender, age, culture, or ethnicity—are mesmerized by baby animals, and can't help but smile when they see a burst of confetti or a cluster of colorful balloons.
We are often made to feel that the physical world has little or no impact on our inner joy. Increasingly, experts urge us to find balance and calm by looking inward—through mindfulness or meditation—and muting the outside world. But what if the natural vibrancy of our surroundings is actually our most renewable and easily accessible source of joy?
In Joyful, designer Ingrid Fetell Lee explores how the seemingly mundane spaces and objects we interact with every day have surprising and powerful effects on our mood. Drawing on insights from neuroscience and psychology, she explains why one setting makes us feel anxious or competitive, while another fosters acceptance and delight—and, most importantly, she reveals how we can harness the power of our surroundings to live fuller, healthier, and truly joyful lives.
A feel-good romp of a fun, sci fi adventure that will restore your faith in humanity:
The acclaimed modern science fiction masterpiece, Hugo Award winner for Best Series!
Library Journal's Best SFF of 2016, Barnes & Nobles SFF Best Books of 2015, the Tor Best Books of 2015, Reader’s Choice, as well as nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Kitschie, & the Bailey's Women's Prize
Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space—and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe—in this light-hearted debut space opera.
Rosemary doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.
Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.
Two timeless travel classics in one featuring hilarious dry, English humor:
“Humour in literature is often not taken as seriously as it deserves. Nevertheless, there are a few seriously funny books that remain great for all time. This is one of these. ” —The Guardian
Surprisingly funny classics with jokes that seem fresh and witty even today.
Martyrs to hypochondria and general seediness, J. and his friends George and Harris decide that a jaunt up the Thames would suit them to a 'T'. But when they set off, they can hardly predict the troubles that lie ahead with tow-ropes, unreliable weather-forecasts and tins of pineapple chunks—not to mention the devastation left in the wake of J.'s small fox-terrier Montmorency.
Three Men in a Boat was an instant success when it appeared in 1889, and proved so popular that Jerome reunited his now older—but not necessarily wiser —heroes in Three Men on the Bummel, for a picaresque bicycle tour of Germany.
With their benign escapism, authorial discursions and wonderful evocation of the late-Victorian “clerking classes,” both novels hilariously capture the spirit of their age.
A laugh-out-loud funny mystery with wonderfully-crazy characters:
“A savagely funny crime adventure which bristles all over with Swiftian wit. For all its loony-tunes characters and their mondo-bizarro adventure, there’s something about this mordant, comic fantasy that says it’s just too crazy not to be true.” —Miami Herald
R.J. Decker, star tenant of the local trailer park and neophyte private eye is fishing for a killer. Thanks to a sportsman’s scam that’s anything but sportsmanlike, there’s a body floating in Coon Bog, Florida—and a lot that’s rotten in the murky waters of big-stakes, large-mouth bass tournaments. Here Decker will team up with a half-blind, half-mad hermit with an appetite for road kill; dare to kiss his ex-wife while she’s in bed with her new husband; and face deadly TV evangelists, dangerously seductive women, and a pistol-toting redneck with a pit bull on his arm. And here his own life becomes part of the stakes. For while the “double whammy” is the lure, first prize is for the most ingenious murder.
An easy-to-read memoir chock full of hilariously-awkward observations:
“You’ll laugh freakishly hard.” —Glamour
“Delightfully deadpan.” —Essence
“Cutting, laugh out loud observations.” — Uptown Magazine
In this universally accessible NY Times bestseller named for her wildly popular web series, Issa Rae—”a singular voice with the verve and vivacity of uncorked champagne” (Kirkus Reviews)—waxes humorously on what it’s like to be unabashedly awkward in a world that regards introverts as hapless misfits and black as cool.
Being an introvert (as well as “funny,” according to the Los Angeles Times) in a world that glorifies cool isn’t easy. But when Issa Rae, the creator of the Shorty Award-winning hit series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, is that introvert—whether she’s navigating love, the workplace, friendships, or ‘rapping’—it sure is entertaining. Now, in this NY Times bestselling debut collection written in her witty and self-deprecating voice, Rae covers everything from cybersexing in the early days of the Internet to deflecting unsolicited comments on weight gain, from navigating the perils of eating out alone and public displays of affection to learning to accept yourself—natural hair and all.
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl is a book no one—awkward or cool, black, white, or other—will want to miss.