# 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:** 4
### Author:  [@santiago42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/santiago42)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/61 "2011-07-02T01:36:29Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#):
>
> I also really like Carl Hiaasen. However LOTS of people die horrible (but funny and well deserved) deaths in his books.
Tim Dorsey’s books are in the same vein as Hiassen, (the main character is a serial killer, but the people he kills really deserve it, and are usually killed in interesting and funny ways.)
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/62 "2011-07-02T17:23:10Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#):
>
> …I’ll grant you Sedaris is hilarious, but to me there was always a certain grim undertone beneath the hilarity. Might not be a great idea …
I’m late coming into this thread, and someone else downstream may have already mentioned this, but…
I agree with EC. As much as I love Sedaris, I’ve noticed that sometimes (disturbingly often, in my view) his essays include bad and even horrible things happening to animals, which he tosses off with complete indifference.
I’d recommend him for a good laugh, but not for a “feel good” read.
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/63 "2011-07-02T17:28:07Z")
> [@irishgirl](#):
>
> …Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins is another one of my feel good books- although, I appreciate it probably isn’t for everyone.
I been a fan of Tom Robbins since his first book, and for me Jitterbug Perfume is his best one.
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/64 "2011-07-02T17:43:00Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#):
>
> And that reminded me of Jean Shepherd - whose writing inspired the movie “A Christmas Story”. Not novels, but funny stuff.
Those Jean Shepherd stories from the 60’s are pure gold. I read most of them when they first appeared in Playboy (teenage boy me bought Playboy for the pictures, always ended up reading the fiction); all of those stories appear in three compilations, and are highly recommended. “Ollie Hopnoodle’s Haven Of Bliss” is probably my favorite story.
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/65 "2011-07-02T17:45:35Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#):
>
> I also really like Carl Hiaasen. However LOTS of people die horrible (but funny and well deserved) deaths in his books.
However, he’s another writer who often has terrible things happening to animals.
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/66 "2011-07-02T17:51:26Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#):
>
> I been a fan of Tom Robbins since his first book, and for me Jitterbug Perfume is his best one.
>
> .
Make that _I’ve_ been a fan…
Missed the edit window. Jesus. Me write pretty one day.
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### Author:  [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/67 "2011-07-05T05:11:25Z")
“The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry” by Kathleen Flinn
beats “Eat, Pray, Love” with a big stick!
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### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/68 "2011-07-05T13:42:35Z")
> [@Brynda](#):
>
> Isn’t it interesting how many deaths are part of fiction? I had a hard time finding books to read after my husband’s death. For a good year or so, I just couldn’t take anything with death or heartbreak or finding your one true love. Now that I am grieving my mom’s recent death, I am less sensitive, but still want escapist, light-hearted fiction.
Yeah, I think the best genre to avoid it is the lighthearted innocent romance. And even then, you have to be selective. Fiction require plot, and plot requires change - death is a change.
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/69 "2011-07-05T15:41:23Z")
Not a happy ending, and there is a death, but this one always helps when I need a change of persepctive:
[Illusions by Richard Bach](http://www.amazon.com/Illusions-Richard-Bach/dp/0099427869/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1309879861&sr=8-4)
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/70 "2011-07-05T15:49:00Z")
Thanks to this thread, I’m now reading “Harpo Speaks” and it’s a delight. A _much_ better book than I expected.
That is all.
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### Author:  [@peg4x4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peg4x4)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/71 "2011-07-06T16:48:33Z")
Shanna Swendson – Starts with “Enchanted Inc.” Funny,NOBODY dies!!
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### Author:  [@peg4x4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peg4x4)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/72 "2011-07-06T16:54:44Z")
Any of Walter Farley’s books
Watch “The Black Stallion” That’s the best horse movie EVER!!
“The Nantucket Trilogy” by S.M.Sterling Lots of war tho
Linda Lael Miller – always a happy ending - romances,tho…
“How To Train Your Dragon” movie…
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### Author:  [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/73 "2011-07-06T19:59:38Z")
The proper Jean Shepard book for you is: “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash.” Another Alexander McCall Smith series is the 44 Scotland Street books. Very warm and fuzzy.
You’ll either love or hate Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum mysteries: they get old quickly if read in a block.
Maeve Binchy’s “Circle of Friends.” “Scarlet Feather” and Night of Starry Skies (not quite sure of the title there) are also cheering.
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### Author:  [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/74 "2011-07-09T01:07:42Z")
I just finished The Summer of the Bear by Bella Pollen. Unusual story. Quick read–4-5 hours maybe. It has to do with a death but I didn’t find it depressing.
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### Author:  [@squalsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squalsh)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/75 "2011-07-11T13:39:48Z")
in addition to lamb anything by christopher moore is really funny
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### Author:  [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/76 "2011-07-11T14:42:31Z")
The Ramona Quimby books by Beverly Cleary (all of which I have) have generally had happy endings.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/77 "2011-07-11T19:29:25Z")
I usually read science fiction, but I make an exception for Fannie Flagg - she just tells a really good story. I just finished [“I Still Dream About You”](http://www.amazon.com/Still-Dream-About-You-Novel/dp/1400065933) by her, and it is an entertaining, light-hearted, engaging story (with a happy ending). I don’t want to give away the story or the ending, but trust me when I say it fits your criteria.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/78 "2011-07-11T20:28:03Z")
> [@peg4x4](#):
>
> Any of Walter Farley’s books
> .
I dunno, I’m still traumatized from childhood about the one where Alec’s fiancee dies.
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### Author:  [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/79 "2011-07-11T23:00:34Z")
I loves me some Christopher Moore, but I’ve got to take an exception with Lamb, one of my fav’s by the way. I’ve read it 3 times and every time, even though I know how it ends, duh, I end up crying. NOT feel good.:dubious:
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### Author:  [@Melysnl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melysnl)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-book-with-a-happy-ending/587051/80 "2011-07-13T14:09:22Z")
> **[Literature Map - The Tourist Map of Literature](https://www.literature-map.com/)**
This site is so awesome. Just type in a name of an author you like and it will pull up the names of authors with similar writing styles.
Otherwise, I highly recommend The Seven Year Bitch by Jennifer Belle.
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