Within a few days of each other, a few colleagues shared similar versions of this sentiment: They were looking for something to read that was not full of trauma. I get it.
Sometimes, you want to explore whatever it is that鈥檚 making things feel darker, but sometimes you just need to escape. That鈥檚 where those colleagues are at the moment, and where we are today with ideas for things to read that supply pure, unfiltered joy:
'Orbital'
By Samantha Harvey
The current Booker Prize winner (it beat Percival Everett鈥檚 enthralling 鈥淛ames鈥) is all about shimmering prose and people living in harmony. 鈥淥rbital鈥 is set during a day on the International Space Station, although 鈥渄ay鈥 is a hazy concept there, since they speed through 15 dawns in 24 hours. Harvey鈥檚 sparkling prose describes our beautiful, border-less planet as it appears to the six astronauts, who are trained to lean into kindness and tolerance.
People are also reading…
'Ferris'
By Kate DiCamillo
Honestly, any DiCamillo book is a joy machine, from her debut, 鈥淏ecause of Winn-Dixie,鈥 up to last year鈥檚 鈥淭he Hotel Balzaar.鈥 But 鈥淔erris鈥 (also from 2024) is my pick for her sweetest, tenderest work, in part because it鈥檚 light on conflict and heavy on a big-hearted family. Whether it鈥檚 the title character鈥檚 bonds with her grandmother, a teacher or her best pal, 鈥淔erris鈥 is a lovefest 鈥 which makes sense, since the writer said it was the love story she craved in the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
'Meaty'
By Samantha Irby
There is some trauma in Irby鈥檚 2012 essay collection, which covers health issues and bad sex. But her unfailing wit and emphasis on the lessons she has learned keep things light. I can鈥檛 think of another contemporary essayist who is as laugh-out-loud funny.
'I鈥檒l Take It'
By Paul Rudnick
Here鈥檚 what you need to know: A man, his mom and his beloved aunts embark on a road trip to look at New England fall colors but their real destination is an L.L. Bean outlet store, at which they have planned an elaborate and spectacularly wrong-headed heist. The fun of the 1989 book is 鈥 of course 鈥 the ride, during which the family members bicker, bond and compare thoughts on knitwear.
'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day'
By Winifred Watson
This 1938 novel is聽sort of a 鈥淢ary Poppins鈥 for grownups about an impoverished woman who stumbles into a job as a socialite鈥檚 assistant and promptly improves the lives of everyone she encounters. Including herself. The 2008 movie (starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams) is just as good as the book.
___
Here's a look back at some of the year's best fiction.
