How about book recommendations for when you’re feeling sad, lonely, or depressed?
How about book recommendations for when you’re feeling sad, lonely, or depressed?
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How about book recommendations for when you’re feeling sad, lonely, or depressed?
Do you want one to intensify that mood so you can get all your emotions out or do you want one to perk you up and make you laugh?
I think I’ll go with the ones that perk me up and make laugh!
… or maybe some of each?
Sometimes it’s nice to know that others are dealing with the same thing.
@Leigh There are many of us dealing with the same thing. You are definitely not alone. For me, reading “The Little Prince” is always an uplifting and reaffirming experience.
Jen Lancaster will make you laugh your ass off. Literally, shake the bed and wake your husband because you’re laughing so hard laugh your ass off. Start with “Bitter is the New Black”, then “Bright Lights, Big Ass”, “Such a Pretty Fat”, “Pretty in Plaid,” and “My Fair Lazy”. I loved them all, but the first two, I think, were her best.
Another good one is “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” by Jenny Lawson. I’m working my way through her “Furiously Happy” but I haven’t finished it yet. It’s hilarious so far, though. Jenny struggles with bipolar disorder and her books basically spell out how fucked up we all are without telling us we’re fucked up in a bad way.
I deal with mental illness myself, so I totally understand how sometimes you want to laugh and sometimes you want to cry it out.
As far as emotional, break your heart books…Two have absolutely torn me up — “Bright Side” by Kim Holden and Lori Otto’s “Lost and Found” series. I’m also a bit partial to my own “Time After Time” series. It’s a romance, but there are a lot of twists. When my editor finished reading the last of the series, she emailed me, called me, messaged me AND texted me telling me she hated my guts and couldn’t wait to work with me again. LOL That series starts with “Distance and Time” under the pen name Mel Henry. The next two books are “Better in Time” and “All This Time.”
I hope you’re feeling good again soon.
Thank you for the wonderful suggestions and for sharing your story with me!!
I’ll be sure to look up your books. The coolest, coolest people are in this group!!
Leigh Hardison I sent you a message. 🙂 (It may have gone to your other messages since we’re not friends.)
I’ll take a look…
I pick up Janet Evanovich when I want something light, fun, and will make me laugh.
@Mamta I reread The Little Prince constantly <3
The four agreements.
Tao of Pooh
Sophie Kinsella’s non-shopaholic novels are a good pick-me-up.
Undomesticated Goddess was great!
It was!
And if you want to laugh until you can’t breathe, her Wedding Night is a true farce and soooo funny.
@Linda I don’t know if I’ve read that yet or not.
There are so many good books avilable out there to cheer you …. but … P G Wodehouse is brilliant for lightening to mood …. his book of short stories is good if your attention span is short …. called … The Man With Two Left Feet …. fab stories very well constructed and written …. wishing you well … xx
Thank you!!
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I often re-read my childhood favorites as well!
I take comfort from childhood books as well!
I head for mysteries, James Lee Burke, Sara Paretsky, Michael Connelly, John Sandford. My two new favorite books are News of the World and A Gentleman in Moscow. I want distraction when I’m feeling lonely and depressed. I try to get out of my head. Audiobooks are nice too, someone reading to me. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty, read by Will Patton, was great to listen to. Be kind and gentle with yourself. Make time for self care…?
Thank you!
Beer.
Kkkkkkkk
Yes! LOL.
Christy by Catherine Marshall always lifts my spirits and The Anne of Green Gables series. Another one I love to read when I’m down is A Girl of the Limberlost.
Please take care of yourself, lean on the people who love you and seek help if you need it.
I’ve been sad, lonely and depressed more than a few times and I’m sorry for what you are going through.
Thank you!
I used to watch the Anne of Green Gables series when I was home sick from school. The one filmed in Canada, with Megan Follows and Colleen Dewhurst, released in 1985.
@Leigh, I love the Megan Follows TV series too! I bought it for my daughter a few Christmases ago and I pretty much watch it anytime I want!?
Love it!
old favourites mostly golden age crime mysteries Agatha Christie etc
I’ve been feeling the same and made the mistake of reading The Nightingale and felt worse. It was a great book but reading about the holocaust is not good when you’re feeling down. I’m now reading a Jane Green book, something that requires very little intellectually or emotionally.
A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel Hilarious!
I love her books!
Two funny books that made me laugh out loud, Food, a Love Story by Jim Gaffigan and Bossypants by Tina Fey
I Feel Bad about My Neck….lots of laughs regarding aging.
So whenever I’m down or sad or lonely I find myself going back to two different authors/books that are poles apart – really depends on what kind of sad I’m feeling – it’s Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and the Harry Potter series. The why: Jane Austen just makes me feel good inside, there is wit, charm, lots of dancing and dialogue and happy endings! Harry Potter books help me leave my world behind and enter a world far more exciting, and with far more problems, but again, with resolutions, lessons, and literary appeal! ☺️
You and I are sisters!
The Bible has worked wonders for me! ☺️?
Turn to the classics, Hardy,Dickens,jhon Steinberg, Woodhouse, Hemingway and so on…..
Frederik Backman My Grandmother Asks Me to Tell You She’s Sorry
The Life of Polly or Redbird Christmas
The curious charms of Arthur Pepper, beware a little sweet sad at beginning but a heartwarming sweet book! Also, The Art of Arranging Flowers.
I go to Mitford for some Father Tim time (Jan Karon).
Yes, I’ve read through a portion of that series!
Or just read all your posts! 🙂
Batchelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast by Bill Richardson. Funny Farm by Jay Cronley.
Anything by Ann George
David Sedaris
Christopher Moore, Carl Hiaasen, The Phantom Tollbooth, David Sedaris.
I love “a thousand splendid suns” by khaled hosseini. Nothing to make you feel better then to read a book that puts your struggles into perspective. It will make you laugh and cry and be greatful for everything right in your life.
Kite runner
@Michele I love the kite runner too but a thousand splendid suns tops it for me ?
Fanny Flagg, Alexander McCall smith, autobiography of a yogi are all great.
Depends on the goal you have in mind: Escapism? Cheering up? Relate to unhappy fictional characters? Self-help?
All of the above. LOL.
The book of Psalms in the the Bible. Even if you aren’t a believer
Harry Potter always
I loved The Little Paris Bookshop for this. It’s about a man who knows what books can heal you.
Great recommendation!
Sounds good!
Old favorites- like comfort food!
Green eggs and ham.
Here are some of my life saving books: 84 Charing Cross Road; Camus’ The Plague (sometimes I read it through, sometimes I get so annoyed by page three it snaps me right out); The Satanic Verses (just read it out loud – the language my god). There’s also Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
And Jeanette Winterson saves me every time.
Try this! http://www.readitforward.com/book-apothecary/
Oh I have to
Check this out
Thank you!
Fannie Flagg’s Can’t Wait to get to Heaven
Georgette Heyer or P.G. Wodehouse. Always.
Louisa May Alcott or P G Wodehouse.
Where’d you go Bernadette
Love Wins by Rob Bell! I love that book.
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende. No matter what happens to her she always survives!
Sarah Addison Allen books. Always make me feel better.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9463117-hold-me-closer-necromancer
Anything by David Sedaris on audio. The way he reads his stories will have you laughing so hard you will not be able to catch your breath. And he has had a difficult (and weird) life. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4137.Me_Talk_Pretty_One_Day?ac=1&from_search=true
Audio is a good idea. I’ve yet to try.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson…also the Stephanie Plum mystery series by Janet Evanovitch.
The first 13 Plums got me through a horrible case of the flu 10 years ago.
Any and all by David Sedaris!
I really enjoyed this book: http://www.npr.org/2017/06/06/530794322/would-everybody-please-stop-is-serious-funny-and-seriously-funny
Mitford series by Jan Karon
Definitely!
James Herriot always cheers me up.
Something from another time and another place. No sappy romance story, no war. Try Harry Potter. Listening to it always transported me to another place. Anything that gets you out of yourself is efficacious.
I agree!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075W2NT4R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_A7o8zb0GHB5YS
If you want to laugh, The Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love. Good southern women’s humor.
Any thing by Janet Evanovich
Invisible Ellen and Becoming Ellen, both by Shari Shattuck. Such great comfort reads.
Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions!
I always like to watch or read a tear jerker. There’s something about a good cry that is very cleansing. P.S. I love you and love actually are 2 of my favorite movies when I’m depressed but I lack focus to read when I’m feeling that way.
Then, there’s always Bill Bryson…
Dear Bob and Sue by Matt & Karen Smith ( the squirrel narrative alone will keep you giggling). Cokie Roberts’ books; Three Bags Full by Swann; and my all time blues chaser…The Hobbit, followed by whole Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Reading is a total escape for me, and lately I’ve been discovering fantasy & sci-fi.
Did I suggest Going Green to you?
@Meagan not sure but I’ll check it out
My middle school teacher and dance coach from HS wrote it
@Meagan oh really how cool! Wait what’s the name? I looked it up earlier it wasn’t sure if it was the right author
Going Green by Heather Ransom.
Confederacy of Dunces by O’Toole.
I just added this to my list. I had the name stuck in my head. It was driving me crazy till I looked it up on Goodreads. Now I’m intrigued
Oh boy. That one would be the anti-curative for me. I guess it fits some people’s sense of humor. But I found the consistently unlikeable characters and narrator deeply offputting.
Hope Callaghan’s series on Millie the cruise ship director mysteries they are great
When Im feeling sad, I find that I re-read my favorite series as they provide comfort. But female main characters that are heroes and independent help me out too. A series I discovered that got my ‘kicker’ going was A Court of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J. Maas.
This Is How, Augustan Burroughs
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed.
Man’s search for meaning by Victor Frankl
I usually turn to P. G. Wodehouse, especially audio narrated by Jonathan Cecil. I love to hear the cadence of the words with the accent
Lose yourself in a very good mystery. Your thoughts will shift.
Gods aswer the hard questions. By rick warren.
Anything by Jenny Lawson.
The Mitford series by Jan Karon. At Home in Mitford is the first one of her series. It will cure what ails you
Cold Comfort Farm or I Capture the Castle would do it. Alexander McCall Smith particularly 44 Scotland Street series and if you like audiobooks The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie and Agatha Raisin series are a good remedial potion.
These are great choices.
The Wind and the Willows
My sweetest childhood reads about happy loving families and slow but steady improvement. The Little House on the Prairie series is one, and the less known Understood Betsy, By Dorothy Canfield Fisher, is another.
My Family and Other Animals