Engrossing, non-disturbing book recommendations

May 22, 2013 10:36 AM

Anxiety along with a tendency to depression is kicking up lately, and I'm having a hard time finding non-disturbing yet entertaining things to distract myself with. I need recommendations of books that will be engrossing enough to keep me interested without dark/scary/disgusting/horrifying elements.

No:

-Ghosts, demons, monsters, psychopathic killers or violent crime of any kind
-Torture
-Graphic descriptions of medical conditions or injuries
-Recent losses, grief, delving deeply into past losses
-Disasters, accidents
-Bleak, dystopian
-gross-out elements
-characters or subjects who just have really sad lives

I know some of these kinds of books can be "ultimately redemptive" but I'm just not up for that right now.

Yes:

-Fiction with engrossing characters
-Humor (I'm enjoying Mary Roach's "My Planet" but can't handle her science/humor books... too much graphic awfulness mixed in with the cleverness.)
-Non-fiction (I know that's vague, but I don't want to limit the answers too much.)
-Spiritual (peaceful, calming, uplifting)

So, what books would you recommend me?

posted by Serene Empress Dork to Grab Bag (38 answers total)

I found Cheryl Strayed's book Wild engrossing and uplifting (although be forewarned, the first ~20 pages, about the death of her mother, are sad).
posted by Asparagus at 10:40 AM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

One of the funniest books I've read lately is Let's Pretend This Never Happened, a memoir by Jenny Lawson.
posted by cecic at 10:47 AM on May 22, 2013

I was lucky enough to get James Penhaligon's quirky doorstop of a memoir, "Speak Swahili, Dammit!" free recently on my Kindle. I would never have bothered with such a book if it hadn't been free and now I'm so glad I did. He tells the tale of a colonial boy growing up in Africa, under the influence of unforgettable native friends who seem to have had more of a hand in raising him than his own parents. Penhaligon writes pretty darn well for a doctor. :) Enjoy!
posted by Infinity_8 at 10:48 AM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

"Harpo Speaks!", Harpo Marx's autobiography. It's a fun read.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:59 AM on May 22, 2013

I like to read a lot of vintage (or vintage-inspired) fiction that meets these parameters. In no particular order:

Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield and the next two sequels (you can skip the wartime one). Set in England Between the Wars; delightful diary of domestic life.

Jan Karon's Mitford series. An Episopalian priest in a small town.

Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on their Toes, by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr . and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. Vintage memoir about growing up in a large family headed by an efficiency expert. The second book might be triggering for loss of a parent, but they're both great.

Betty Macdonald, The Egg and I and Onions for the Stew. Vintage memoirs about starting a chicken farm in remote Washington State and moving to Vashon Island. Very funny. (The Plague and I and Anybody Can Do Anything are also great, but possibly more upsetting, as they deal with tuberculosis pre-antibiotics and the Great Depression respectively.)

Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons -- terrifically funny vintage fiction about a city girl moving to her family farm and whipping her extended family into shape.

Jane Austen, focusing on P&P and Emma (and maybe Northanger if you're OK with the Gothik elements being the character's imagination only). If you've already read Jane Austen, Shannon Hale's Austenland novels, which take modern characters in an Austen-themed vaction resort and are very funny and witty and awesome.

Agatha Christie's autobiography. She had a great deal of sadness in her life, but she doesn't write about it here -- instead it's a funny, charming book about her life.

P. G. Wodehouse.

Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat. Victorian comedy about three young men on a boating trip. Extremely funny.
posted by pie ninja at 11:01 AM on May 22, 2013 [4 favorites]

Georgette Heyer's regency novels, Mary Stewart's thrillers, Wodehouse, Dorothy L. Sayers, the Aubrey and Maturin books.
posted by PussKillian at 11:13 AM on May 22, 2013

Dammit, pie ninja, I was gonna recommend Three Men in a Boat. I'll second it anyway, and if you like that, you might like the sequel, Three Men on the Bummel, which is about the same group's bicycle tour through the Black Forest.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:18 AM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Last year I could not put down Tina Fey's book of autobiographical essays, Bossypants. Granted I find her very likeable anyway, but the book was hilarious, a nice light pick-me-up (maybe why it was the first thing to pop into my head when reading your question), and a pretty easy read.
posted by lovableiago at 11:24 AM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

To Say Nothing Of The Dog, a very funny time-travel novel by Connie Willis. (Carefully avoid her book about....the Black Plague!)

Bill Bryson's various histories - I don't find his politics exactly entrancing, but the books sure are restful yet informative.

I picked up and have flipped through but not yet read a graphic novel called Love In Yop City,"a lighthearted story about life in the Ivory Coast during the 1970s, a particularly thriving and wealthy time in the country’s history." I got it in part because it looked engrossing but happy.

Robertson Davies's first novel Tempest-Tost is also very nice - a funny book about a community theater production of The Tempest in late forties/early fifties Not Quite Toronto.

I also enjoyed Peter Beagle's magic realist/fantasy novel The Folk of the Air, which is very gentle.

Oh, and Dianna Wynne Jones - any of her YA novels will do, but Dark Lord of Derkholm is very funny. (There is one sad part toward the end but I will be all SPOILER and say that it turns out fine.)

Oh, and Janet Flanner's set of New Yorker pieces from the twenties and thirties, Paris Was Yesterday.
posted by Frowner at 11:26 AM on May 22, 2013

Blankets by Craig Thompson. There are some sad bits, because it's all about growing up (and growing up has some real sucky parts to it), but it's so hopeful and beautiful. I've read it multiple times and it always takes me to an optimistic place.

On a far naughtier tip is "My Uncle Oswald," which is just a purely hilarious sex romp. Written by Roald Dahl.
posted by jbickers at 11:43 AM on May 22, 2013 [3 favorites]

No fair, Frowner, I wanted to recommend Robertson Davies!

The reason for Davies is that he wrote these books about the foibles of people, with great love and wit and intelligence. My favorite is The Rebel Angels. He wrote (mostly) in trilogies, and the Cornish trilogy, of which The Rebel Angels is the first book, is just a delight. And the beauty of it is that if you like one, you have so many more in the same vein. :-)
posted by janey47 at 11:44 AM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Have you tried Terry Pratchett's discworl novels. Funny and fun. How about Douglas Adams Hitchiker series. Both series are best read in publication order.
posted by BenPens at 11:52 AM on May 22, 2013

Check out books by Terry Pratchett.
posted by PickeringPete at 11:55 AM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

To pie ninja's very nice suggestions I'd add Period Piece by Gwen Raverat. Hilarious random-ish memories of her Victorian-era childhood by a granddaughter of Charles Darwin.
posted by mdrew at 12:01 PM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

If you somehow missed The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency books they might fit the bill. I think of them as gentle mysteries. Interesting, well-written, sort of amusing, about a place many Americans haven't been.

I'd also suggest most of Bill Bryson's humor books, specifically his one about Australia (there is one "person gone missing the surf" very early on, but otherwise it's not terrible) and A Walk in the Woods. If you enjoy humorous travel fiction you might also like Tim Cahill's books specifically Road Fever and the Jaguars/Wolverines books. Mark Kurlansky has a bunch of very engrossing books about specific things, I specifically enjoyed the ones about Basque culture and The Food of a Younger Land. John McPhee is also good at these really deep looks at topics. I enjoyed Coming in to the Country and The Pine Barrens the best but I think all his stuff is great.

I loved Blankets, but I wouldn't read it if I was feeling fragile.
posted by jessamyn at 12:12 PM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Oh, hey, you should also read Lark Rise To Candleford, a favorite of my grandmother and now one of mine. It's a set of semi-autobiographical novels by a woman who grew up right at the end of the 19th century mostly in an extremely rural hamlet in England where quite a lot of earlier customs, both good and bad, still persisted. She later moves to Candleford and works for/with her extraordinary postmistress aunt. It's a very thoughtful, gentle book by a woman who was transparently a good person; also, it is full of useful and interesting historical information.

I quite literally used to re-read my copy every year on an annual stressful work trip until it fell apart. This reminds me to replace it!
posted by Frowner at 12:15 PM on May 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

Oh, and Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories!
posted by Frowner at 12:16 PM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

And I also like Margaret Drabble's early novels for this purpose - Jerusalem the Golden and The Millstone in particular.
posted by Frowner at 12:17 PM on May 22, 2013

I found the All Creatures Great And Small books to be both uplifting and engrossing.
posted by luge at 12:19 PM on May 22, 2013 [3 favorites]

I'll join the Jerome K. Jerome chorus: for gentle hilarity, Three Men and a Boat is unsurpassed.
posted by hydatius at 12:23 PM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think that Paul Theroux's travel nonfiction is really funny, as well as engrossing and a little escapist.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 12:40 PM on May 22, 2013

This is precisely why God* made P.G. Wodehouse.

*I'm an atheist, but if there is a god, even a non-interventionist Universal Spirit, the only reason for such a thing to exist is in order to have made P.G. Wodehouse. I know about the blind watchmaker and all, but really, isn't Plum a better argument for the existence of a Supreme Being?
posted by OmieWise at 12:44 PM on May 22, 2013 [3 favorites]

The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, by Alexander McCall Smith.
Funny, uplifting, peaceful. Likeable characters. Gentle humor.
Makes me feel better about the world.
posted by M. at 1:11 PM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

If you like Three Men in a Boat, do check out The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow by AJ MacKinnon.
posted by The otter lady at 1:41 PM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

I would advise caution with the no.1 ladies detective agency series as there is a witch doctor storyline in one of them which is not pleasant. My recommendation is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
posted by Lotto at 1:46 PM on May 22, 2013

I adored Wild by Cheryl Strayed but it definitely has this: "Recent losses, grief, delving deeply into past losses" and there is one bit smack in the middle that isn't strictly on your "no" list but that I found very disturbing.

Sorry to have a warning instead of a recommendation, but my tastes run to the dark side. The Night Circus might work.

Oh and on preview YES to I Capture the Castle!
posted by lampoil at 1:51 PM on May 22, 2013

When I'm feeling depressed and anxious, I head straight for Jennifer Crusie. Some of her books do involve violent crime, but "Bet Me" and "Faking It" are violence-free and absolutely hilarious. Meg Cabot is also hilarious and light while still creating interesting characters--the "Queen of Babble" series is a particular favorite.

For spirituality, I highly recommend Mary Swander's "Out of this World" and Joe Mackall's "Plain Secrets", both of which deal with the Amish (Mackall's to a much greater degree). I'm also really enjoying "Quaker Spirituality", which is part of a HarperCollins series on religion.

If you're not sure what you're looking for and just want some absorbing nonfiction that stays away from your "no" list, I would recommend the sports section. Grab a few "Best American Sports Writing 20xx" and see what writers you like, and then look for more like them. There certainly are heartbreaking stories in sports, but you can steer clear and go for books on the great players/teams/games/rivalries/etc.
posted by epj at 1:58 PM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

I really enjoyed I Capture The Castle too, but a word of warning: I gave it to a dear friend, thinking she'd enjoy it, and she rather hesitantly reported that she had found it a real downer. So...YMMV.

But I do recommend The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett. It's a funny, tiny little novella about what happens when the Queen stumbles upon the local library bookmobile while walking with her corgis. She borrows a book just to be polite and ends up becoming an avid reader, which throws the palace into an uproar. I read it in one sitting and it really lifted my spirits.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:40 PM on May 22, 2013

Response by poster: Wow, lots of good stuff here!

I picked up the first two books in the Mitford series at HPB during lunch. I remember my grandparents really liked them, so those sound promising.

I downloaded samples of Harpo Speaks, The Basque History of the World and The Pine Barrens to my Kindle.

I will be digging up all my Bill Bryson books for a re-read, and I'm pretty sure my husband has Three Men and a Boat around here somewhere.

Thanks for all the recommendations so far, everyone! Would love to hear more.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 3:45 PM on May 22, 2013

The Enchanted April, by Elizabeth von Arnim; highly recommended; fiction.
We Took to the Woods, by Louise Dickinson Rich; ditto; nonfiction/memoir.

I also heartily second Frowner's recommendation of Lark Rise to Candleford -- a really lovely book. And I'm putting in additional votes for P.G. Wodehouse and Jerome K. Jerome.
posted by littlecatfeet at 7:16 PM on May 22, 2013

For quick reads, I reccomend the YA novels Beauty by Robin Mckinley, which is the sweetest little retelling of beauty and the Beast you will ever read (even the normally wicked sisters are nice) and Randal Jarrell's, The Animal Familly. Beauty is my all time favorite "comfort book." The Animal Family is a quiet, beautifully written story, about an unusual family. The characters are the people you always wished you could meet and adopt into your own circle of family. As for adult works, I like the suggestions about Terry Pratchet.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 8:05 PM on May 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Mapp and Lucia by E.F. Benson did a lot for me in a similar situation. Two women scheming to get the better of one another socially to the amusement of their small English village. They behave appallingly, but it's delightful.

It's from the late 1920s, but the introduction to my edition says it reads something like 'the last breath of the Edwardian age, when it felt like nothing bad could ever happen'.

If you enjoy it, apparently he wrote several more novels involving the same characters.

The full text is free here.

In terms of non-fiction, what about the fancier sort of cookbooks? The default style for recipe books is relaxed and often humorous, and they can reawaken your interest in sensory pleasures and accomplishing small creative tasks.
posted by pickingupsticks at 8:18 PM on May 22, 2013

Then We Came to the End is fantastic and entertaining (warning: link has sound). It is funny, even with a character dying of cancer (I read it as a person with cancer and it didn't traumatize me). I highly recommend it.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 9:11 PM on May 22, 2013

Great novel that I never would have picked up: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It's all written as letters back and forth just after WWII. Sweet, easy to read book, semi romantic.

Also, I can't lie, the last book I could not put down was the first Hunger Games book.

As for religious/spiritual, Conversations with God, was very interesting. I read it a couple times in a row.

And if you like food/farming, this is also a great book: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It's Barbara Kingsolver's non-fiction account of moving to Appalacia and attempting to live closer to the land and to know more of where their food comes from. Spattered with random recipes, and small stories from her family who went with her.

Oh shoot, one more: Prep is awesomely engaging. Fiction account of life at a boarding school.
posted by hydra77 at 9:37 PM on May 22, 2013

Endorse Wodehouse, Three Men in a Boat and Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog, which makes much more sense if you've read 3 Men. Also Cold Comfort Farm and Voyage of Jack de Crow and Beauty.

Much as I love Diana Wynne Jones, I don't recommend the Derkholm books which do have some rather disturbing elements. She usually does disturbing, as well as very funny. Maybe put them on the list for "when I can cope with a bit of disturbing". I also like Dodie Smith, but found I Capture the Castle quite sad and depressing. YMMV, clearly.

You could also try the Swallows and Amazons books (lots of wholesome English children messing about with boats), and I find the Little House on the Prairie series to be amazingly comforting even though there's quite a bit of hardship in them, simply because there's also that underlying sense of optimism and just getting things done regardless.
posted by Athanassiel at 10:16 PM on May 22, 2013

For non-fiction with absolutely transcendent prose, The Peregrine by J.A. Baker.

The author is a middle manager in 1960s Essex, trying to escape his humanity through intense observation of and identification with a pair of peregrines, so it's not straightforwardly uplifting, but the mingled melancholy and ecstasy and awe in the writing gives a sense of what a religious experience must feel like.
posted by inire at 7:42 AM on May 23, 2013

I like "Creation" by Gore Vidal. It had me giggling all the way through.

Also, I third the Terry Pratchett Discworld recommendation.

"Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison is a hilarious series. They're directed at young adults, but I still read them in my mid-twenties now and then.
posted by tenlives at 5:52 AM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]

While it starts off with the assassination of ArchDuke Ferdinand, Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy is completely rollicking YA fun. It's steampunk set in an alternate history where the British Empire has mastered genetics ("Darwinists"), and the German central European powers ("Clankers") have big steam-powered walking tanks. Archduke Ferdinand's teenage son Aleksandr on the run with his closest advisors! Plucky teenage girl Deryn disguised as a boy in the British Air Service serving on the titular genetically engineered giant flying air-beast "Leviathan"! Hijinks and world politics ensue!

Funny and fun and while our characters spend some time thinking about past losses, it's mostly big adventure thrills. I'm not a costumer, but if I were 14 when I read this, I would cosplay the hell out of it.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:48 AM on May 27, 2013