# I need a book with a happy ending
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 27, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051 "2011-06-27T18:53:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/21 "2011-06-28T17:31:34Z")
Hope Was Here, by Joan Bauer. How about L’Engle’s Austin family novels?
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### Author:  [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/22 "2011-06-28T17:54:18Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#):
>
> Er, I believe it’s a reference to his time taking a French class when he was living in France. I don’t remember anything about a horrible motorcycle accident. Are you thinking of a different book or author?
I must be. I could have sworn it was the guy who does the Christmas elf routine on NPR. Which would be Andy Sedaris. As I recall, I got the impression hearing an NPR interview … the guy is openly gay, was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him with severe disabilities, and still writes humor, does a lot of public appearances. With that many clues I should have been able to pick up a few clues on the Internets, but a Google search turned up nothing, not even another humorist I could have confused Sedaris with. Weird.
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/23 "2011-06-28T17:58:33Z")
I was going to recommend some of Anne Tyler’s '80s or early '90s novels (I haven’t read her since then), because I consider them definitely light-hearted, but then, reviewing the plots in my mind, I realized that there is an upsetting death in all of them.
James Herriot’s veterinarian stories are also light-hearted but there are plenty of sick animals and people mourning the loss of their pet.
I suppose you have already read Jane Austen?
P.G. Wodehouse is definitely a good recommendation. When I look at Amazon, I see that you can buy Kindle editions of his books for $1 to $3! You don’t need a Kindle for those, you can read them on a PC, a Mac, an iPhone/ iPod touch/iPad, if you get the free Kindle application for your device. In the same vein, try the short stories by Saki, O. Henry or James Thurber (e.g. the Thurber Carnival.)
I’ve never read them (I believe the popular name for her genre is “chick-lit”), but I have heard several women speak favorably of the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/24 "2011-06-28T18:14:20Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#):
>
> Sedaris doesn’t die, but isn’t the title a reference to his recovery from a horrible motorcycle accident, from which he never really recovers actually because he was really fucked up badly? I’ll grant you Sedaris is hilarious, but to me there was always a certain grim undertone beneath the hilarity.
I don’t know about the motorcycle accident, but I agree with Captor about Sedaris’ general tone; not so much a light bubbly pick-me-up as the OP requested.
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### Author:  [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/25 "2011-06-28T18:21:58Z")
I’ve seen some with a space carved out for liquor, but not too many come with a glory hole.
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### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [June 28, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/26 "2011-06-28T23:13:18Z")
> [@Enderw24](#):
>
> I’ve seen some with a space carved out for liquor, but not too many come with a glory hole.
Ah-hahahahaha-eewwwwwww.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/27 "2011-06-29T05:21:18Z")
_I Capture the Castle_, by Dodie Smith left me with a huge smile on my face. I thought it was magnificent.
_Barchester Towers_, by Anthony Trollope, if you can stand Victorian novels. Funny and smart.
Dick Francis wrote great escapist thrillers.
Laurie R King’s Mary Russell mysteries, starting with _The Beekeeper’s Apprentice_.
MM Kaye wrote a series of mysteries set in exotic locales. Wonderfully old-fashioned and fun.
_The Westing Game_, by Ellen Raskin. A kid’s book, but if you haven’t read it, read it!
_Rebecca_, by Daphne du Maurier. Gothic.
_Summers at Castle Auburn_, by Sharon Shinn. Fantasy.
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### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/28 "2011-06-29T05:23:34Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> _The Westing Game_, by Ellen Raskin. A kid’s book, but if you haven’t read it, read it!
I’ll second this one, and add _Howl’s Moving Castle_ by Diana Wynne Jones, which is great fun.
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### Author:  [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/29 "2011-06-29T06:11:57Z")
“Make love! The Bruce Campbell way”
Because at the end, Bruce Campbell is still Bruce Campbell.
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### Author:  [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/30 "2011-06-29T10:12:18Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> _Summers at Castle Auburn_, by Sharon Shinn. Fantasy.
Seconded! I love that book.
I’ve recently been reading the _Songs From The Seashell Archive_ series by Elizabeth Scarborough (_Song of Sorecery, The Unicorn Creed, Bronwyn’s Bane_ and _The Christening Quest_. It’s lovely, light-hearted fantasy with unicorns, fairies, gypsies, mermaids, dragons and so on - a total fairy tale without being saccharine. There are some deaths in _The Unicorn Creed_, but it’s all OK in the end (I can’t explain why without a major spoiler, but take my word for it that the deaths won’t bring you down).
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### Author:  [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/31 "2011-06-29T15:46:00Z")
Thanks so much for the recs, and keep 'em coming. Can’t have too many book threads. 🙂
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### Author:  [@vifslan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vifslan)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/32 "2011-06-29T16:22:30Z")
Have you tried Alexander McCall Smith, especially the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books? They’ve always made my life brighter when it’s had reason to be otherwise.
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### Author:  [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/33 "2011-06-29T16:37:52Z")
This is a bit dated, but I saw it in my collection recently and thought about how much fun it was. _The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything_ by John D. MacDonald.
It starts off with a young man getting nothing but a gold pocket watch from his multi-millionaire uncle’s will, when he was the old man’s only relative and was loyal to him his whole life. Then the board of his uncle’s company decides the guy embezzled money that was actually given to charities. Plus he’s got a debilitating fear of intimacy that has kept him out of any real relationships.
Then he meets a girl and discovers his inheritance is more than just a timepiece. Lots of fun ensues as he digs his way out of his problems, and all but the bad guys get happy endings.
One of MacDonald’s few SF novels, but definitely cheerful.
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### Author:  [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/34 "2011-06-29T18:34:55Z")
> [@vifslan](#):
>
> Have you tried Alexander McCall Smith, especially the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books? They’ve always made my life brighter when it’s had reason to be otherwise.
I came in to recommend these, but now I have to settle for seconding **vifslan**. Heartily! 🙂
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### Author:  [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/35 "2011-06-29T21:29:37Z")
Pterry, as mentioned, always makes me feel good. Very few truly upsetting deaths. His YA books especially so.
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents or the Tiffany Aching series might be good options.
Amelia Peabody were my favourites when I was about 13- very funny. They were what my local librarian suggested when I’d gone through the YA section and my mother wanted some age-appropriate not upsetting books from the adult section.
[Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman](http://www.amazon.com/Anansi-Boys-Neil-Gaiman/dp/0060515198/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309382896&sr=1-1) cheers me up- there are deaths, but necessary ones.
[Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins](http://www.amazon.com/Jitterbug-Perfume-Tom-Robbins/dp/0553348981/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top) is another one of my feel good books- although, I appreciate it probably isn’t for everyone.
I tend to retreat to my childhood when I’m looking for feel good books.
The Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Heidi, the Just-So Stories, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables etc.
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### Author:  [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/36 "2011-06-29T21:57:36Z")
I love Alexander McCall Smith, and this reminded me that I haven’t read the last one of the series. The Ladies Detective Series is exactly the type of book I had in mind with this thread.
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### Author:  [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)
#### Post date: [June 29, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/37 "2011-06-29T22:53:29Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#):
>
> I must be. I could have sworn it was the guy who does the Christmas elf routine on NPR. Which would be Andy Sedaris. As I recall, I got the impression hearing an NPR interview … the guy is openly gay, was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him with severe disabilities, and still writes humor, does a lot of public appearances. With that many clues I should have been able to pick up a few clues on the Internets, but a Google search turned up nothing, not even another humorist I could have confused Sedaris with. Weird.
David Sedaris: age 54, openly gay; wrote and performs “The Santaland Diaries,” among other pieces.
Andy Sidaris: filmmaker, was married to a woman; died in 2007 at age 76 of throat cancer.
And Jerry Lee Lewis has never hosted a telethon.
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### Author:  [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/38 "2011-06-30T01:21:11Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> Well, I can’t exactly promise that no one dies, but it’s a 2000+ year old spoiler at this point. And this book always cheers me up: [Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal](http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/0380813815)
I’ll second this, and add in anything by Christopher Moore. There’s a lot of subtle humor that just cracks me up.
_Fool, A Dirty Job, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Bloodsucking Fiends_ and _You Suck_… just sort of brain candy.
I’d also give Bill Bryson’s _A Walk In The Woods_ a vote for funny.
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### Author:  [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/39 "2011-06-30T01:28:57Z")
Surely somebody should mention _The Phantom Tollbooth_.
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### Author:  [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/40 "2011-06-30T19:48:36Z")
> [@YoSaffBridge](#):
>
> I’ll second this, and add in anything by Christopher Moore. There’s a lot of subtle humor that just cracks me up.
>
> _Fool, A Dirty Job, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Bloodsucking Fiends_ and _You Suck_… just sort of brain candy.
> …
Heh - I just got notice that another one of Moore’s books (Island of the Sequined Love Nuns) is available for ebook download from the library.
I’ve only read 3 of his - Biff, The Stupidest Angel (A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror), and Coyote Blue, and have enjoyed all of them.
A hint though, in every book, at least one major character dies.
but they don’t _stay_ dead!
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