Anonymous wrote:Thank-you all for the great recommendations! My favorite gentes over the years have been short stories, sci-fi/fantasy, and memoirs. Just nothing too heavy and hard.

Short stories - have you read Curtis Sittenfeld's You think it I'll Say it? Some real zingers in that collection.

Ekert tolle

Jessica Simpson's autobiography is really uplifting and interesting if you're a millennial.

Thank-you all for the great recommendations! My favorite gentes over the years have been short stories, sci-fi/fantasy, and memoirs. Just nothing too heavy and hard.

Anonymous wrote:I’m really happy for you, OP.

Are you interested in fiction?

Yup! I like most genres.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency By Alexander McCall Smith! Funny and lighthearted.

Books by comedians (careful - their autobiographies can be heavy)! Try Chelsea Handler, Kathy Griffin, Dave Barry.

Keep in mind that how they come across in book is very different than how they come across on tv. I don't like Chelsea on tv but was screaming with laughter reading her books.

I love novels about people starting their next chapter following a big setback or challenging experience. They’re fiction, so not self-help, but by definition they’re encouraging and positive, which you might enjoy right now.

Here are two I liked a lot:

The Unsinkable Greta James, by Jennifer E. Smith

Evvie Drake Starts Over, by Linda Holmes

I remember being in a similar stage and reading Jenny Lawson's Let's Pretend This Never Happened and laughing out loud multiple times. She's got kind of a dark sense of humor, but it hit me just right.

Jonathan Tropper's novels are engaging and funny

Jen Lancaster's books are autobiographical but topical (i.e. it's not like a memoir of a famous person but more an autobiography of her life the year she spent emulating Martha Stewart, for example) - hers I would recommend listening to because she reads them and she's funny

I would read funny books in these circumstances. You say you didn't read mysteries but there are some funny detective stories by Anthony Horowitz. He wrote the Alex Rider series of YA books and has written Sherlock books recently. He's prolific. I would recommend The Magpie Murders, The Word is Murder & The Sentence is Death.

Also Mick Herron has written about London spies, well, failed London spies who get seconded to an old office building. That has a lot of humor in it. Slow Horses series. There are 8 books.

Good luck on your recovery.

I really liked the house in the cerulean sea. I also like funny memoirs like bossy pants. I have t read the Molly Shannon one but heard that one is very upbeat. Thr Workd of tomorrow is a nice long historical fiction with lots of character development and mostly upbeat (although at least one character doesn’t make it, spoiler/warning.).

Many books are very depressing so I try to avoid those but it’s hard. I was pretty crushed after the band aid’s tale and also the year of wonders and also old filth — all great books but they really brought me down. Sometimes non fiction can be easier on that front so if you give us ideas of what you’re interested in, we can make some suggestions.

Congrats on your recovery!

I’m really happy for you, OP.

Are you interested in fiction?

Psalm for the well built

I used to be an avid reader, but years of depression took their toll on my hobby. Am finally moving out of depression and will havensome free time following surgery to read again. What (not too heavy) books would you recommend for someone in my circumstances? I read (or used to read) everything, but mysteries.