Hi all! I'm in a phase of life right now that's very uncertain, where I have to make lots of decisions about the future and am unsure what the future holds or what is the right path. I'm looking for books that are comforting and reassure you in times like these, and have messages that make you feel like you can do it and everything will be okay and will work out (or that the things you worry about are not really that important). I mostly read fiction and am looking for stories that get this message across somehow, but open to some non-fiction too (nothing too preachy though, and I don't really want self-help). Favourite authors include David Mitchell, Kazuo Ishiguro and Eowyn Ivey, but I read lots of different genres including fantasy, YA, sci-fi, romance, magical realism, speculative fiction… so really open to anything!
by pancaakes
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**Meditations** by Marcus Aurelius. Alternatively, **The Hobbit**.
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers is exactly what youre looking for in my opinion
I started reading How We Live is How We Die by Pema Chödrön. It is about accepting death but also how to live life. It has a lot of Buddhism references, and one of the lessons I learned a few chapters into the book is “Trust not in success. Trust in reality.” Whatever will happen will happen. Believing everything will be alright (success) can lead to disappointment, resentment, depression, because some things will not turn out alright. Accepting this helps us have a calm mindset and happiness regardless of outcome. I’m less than halfway into the book, I’m sure the real lessons are still to come.
Perks of being a wallflower
*Not the End of the World* –Hannah Ritchie
*The End of the World is Just the Beginning* –Peter Zeihan
A Gentleman in Moscow
A man, living a nice life, with good friends while some of the most tumultuous events of the 20th century happen in the background
No longer human. (Osamu Dazai)
The Tao of Pooh. Very charming, quick book that can help settle your thoughts.
Remarkably Bright Creatures
A Walk in the Woods (there’s more of a mid life crisis going on in this book that is apparent at first)
My Year of Rest and Relaxation (although this is much heavier, it’s about going through a time of transition by inertia)
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I’m going through similar situation as you with future being very uncertain. I just finished the book and find it comforting.
Legends and lattes!
**The Wising Game** by Meg Shaffer. It’s like Willy Wonka but with books. The entire theme of the story is hope, having hope, keeping hope, and making choices that foster hope. It’s fun, funny, heartwarming and charming. It felt like a big hug.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune is very comforting.
I second the Becky Chambers recs and the Legends and Lattes recs and I will add {The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst}. It’s Legends and Lattes meets Animal
Crossing meets Ghibli. It’s cozy fantasy with a bit more plot than Legends and Lattes and a bit more sweetness than Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries. It’s a rogue librarian escaping a library burning revolution with a boatload of spell books and her assistant who is a sentient spider plant. There’s lots of reflection about life choices and changes. Oh and it will make you crave raspberry jam something fierce.
{{Thursday Next by Jasper Fforde}}
Any of the Jeeves stories by PG Wodehouse. Sunny, uplifting, completely hilarious and extremely witty, but really chaotic storylines full of twists that are navigated with relentless optimism.
The Bookshop Woman, by Nanako Hanada. It’s about a woman who, feeling lost in life, signs up to a dating site with a gimmick, she’ll give out a personalized book recommendation after the date. She meets all kinds of interesting people, and at the same time, meets new versions of herself.
PG Wodehouse and Sophie Kinsella are my go-tos for this vibe
I think it probably depends on what kind of comfort/ reassurance you are looking for, but two of the most comforting fiction books that I have read are Arboreality by Rebecca Campbell and Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. Both imagine worlds in which different types of collapse have happened, but both also imagine hopeful possibilities within that collapse.
For non-fiction, non self-help books I have found the following books really helpful, especially the first title:
Another End of the World is Possible: Living the Collapse and Not Merely Surviving It by Pablo Sevigne, Raphael Stevens, and Gauthier Chapelle
Eye of the Storm: Facing Climate and Social Chaos with Calm and Courage by Terry LePage
Radical Joy for Hard Times by Trebbe Johnson
Choosing Earth by Duane Elgin (takes a long view that I found helpful)
Writers & Lovers by Lily King; fiction, main character is a 30 year old woman who isn’t really happy with her life atm, and she’s determined to live a creative passionate life when it seems like everyone around her is just getting married and having babies. In the book she’s also dealing with grief from unexpectedly losing her mother and for me at least it felt very relatable. The whole book just felt REAL
Anxious People- by Fredrik Backman was uplifting and sweet
I didn’t particularly enjoy it, really thought I would but it didn’t hit the mark for me. But I know plenty did enjoy it so I’ll suggest the house in the cerulean sea by tj Klune coz it’s “cosy” and gives an everything will be ok vibe.
While I’m not sure this book is exactly what you’re looking for, but The Alchemist was really helpful when I was at a crossroads in my life. I found it empowering book as well. Another really empowering but emotionally draining book is Demon Copperhead. Hope this helps.
Midnight library
I always read Anne of Green Gables when I need to feel comforted/reassured. Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it.
Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Keran Desai
This may be totally personal, but The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells gives me this vibe! I may crack it open for the 1000th time to get this feeling!
The Winter of our Discontent by Steinbeck
This book had a tremendous positive impact on me when I read it around age 20.
Wikipedia: Man’s Search for Meaning is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose to each person’s life through one of three ways: the completion of tasks, caring for another person, or finding meaning by facing suffering with dignity.
“A man need something he can hold on to,
A nine pound hammer or a woman like you”
Ray Lamontaigne
eleanor oliphant is completely fine
I like Jenny Colgan for feel good books, like a cozy hallmark movie
A Wrinkle in Time was life-affirming for me.
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by Dave Eggers
Gosh I needed this. I’m about to finish The Outsider by Stephen King and need a major palette cleanser.