Feel Good Reads
American humourist P.J. O'Rourke once said, "Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it." But sometimes we simply feel like reading something other than all those worthy and impressive literary award winners - something lighter but still well-written, something wonderfully witty which makes us laugh out loud, or maybe just a cracking good adventure. So for all of you who wander in and tell us that you're looking for something different to read, but you don't really know what you want; or who need something for a friend in hospital; or a book to take on holiday; or just something to escape from the grimness of the nightly news - we are delighted to present a new area in our bookshop entitled "Feel-Good Reads."
Titles include both fiction and non-fiction options - beloved classics from P.G. Wodehouse, Barbara Pym, and Nancy Mitford; hilarious travel narratives from Bill Bryson; amusing essays from David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs; modern Australian classics from John Clarke, Shane Maloney, and Thea Astley; plus many more from Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions to Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole series; from Alexander McCall-Smith's warm and witty Scottish tales to Paul Carter's gripping and often hilarious true-life adventures.
We will also be promoting Feel-Good Friday where we will feature a chosen title from these shelves and posting on facebook, twitter and instagram so keep an eye out for your next great read.
Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris
$22.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Non-fiction | Reading Level: General Adult
A new collection of essays from the #1 New York Times bestselling author who has been called "the preeminent humorist of his generation" (Entertainment Weekly). From the unique perspective of David Sedaris comes a new collection of essays taking his listeners on a bizarre and stimulating world tour. F ...Show more
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
$19.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
Read the New York Times bestseller that has taken the world by storm! Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon--the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him "the bitter neighb ...Show more
Notes from A Small Island by Bill Bryson
$24.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Non-fiction
"In 1995, before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire to move back to the States for a few years with his family, Bill Bryson insisted on taking one last trip around Britain, a sort of valedictory tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home. His aim was to take stock of ...Show more
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
$22.99 AUD
Category: Penguin Spinner Fiction | Series: Vintage Blue
The groundbreaking novel that propelled its author to literary stardom: told in a continuous monologue from patient to psychoanalyst, Philip Roth's masterpiece draws us into the turbulent mind of one lust-ridden young Jewish bachelor named Alexander Portnoy. Portnoy's Complaint n. [after Alexander Portn ...Show more
The Queen and I by Sue Townsend
$19.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
In the not-too-distant future, a radical government has come to power in Great Britain and the Royal family has been moved...to a housing estate in Leicester. For the first time, the Royals have to live as ordinary people and they find the experience baffling and frightening, but ultimately enriching. S ...Show more
The Fix by Nick Earls
$19.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
In need of some quick cash when he returns to Brisbane after years in London, Josh whores himself to his brother's PR firm and inadvertently becomes part of 'the fix'. Josh went to London with investigative journalism on his mind, but he carved out a reputation as a fixer instead and mastered the art of ...Show more
Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling by Emer McLysaght, Sarah Breen
$19.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction | Series: The\Aisling Ser.
'Comparisons with Bridget Jones are spot on' IndependentMeet Aisling. She's a small-town girl who dreams of the big city. She has a heart of gold and an iron belief in the power of control tights. She has a steady job and a loyal boyfriend (though he hasn't put a ring on it even after seven years). ...Show more
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
$22.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction | Reading Level: General Adult
Bernadette is a frightfully intelligent wife and mother whose intense allergy to Seattle specifically, and to people in general, has driven her to hire a virtual assistant in India to execute even her most basic tasks. Then her daughter, Bee, insists on a family trip to Antarctica as her reward for gett ...Show more
The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle by Sophie Green
$29.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction | Reading Level: 1 Fiction
In a seaside suburb of Australia, housewife Theresa Howard takes up swimming. She wants to get fit, and she also wants a few precious minutes to herself. So at sunrise each day she strikes out past the waves. From the same beach, the widowed Marie swims. With her husband gone, bathing is the one consta ...Show more
Great Escape from Woodlands Nursing Home by Joanna Nell
$32.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
The joyous, charming and utterly irresistible new novel from the author of mega-bestseller The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village At nearly ninety, retired nature writer Hattie Bloom prefers the company of birds to people, but when a fall lands her in a nursing home she struggles to cope with ...Show more
Sincerely, Me by Julietta Henderson, Julietta Henderson
$32.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
An uplifting and heart-warming novel about a family reunited, second chances and the power of forgiveness, from the critically acclaimed author of The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman. Danny Mulberry is the definition of a man who 'could do better'. He hasn't spoken to his sister in sixteen years, spend ...Show more
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
$24.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Non-fiction | Series: Film Tie-in S.
In this unforgettable, and by turns hilarious and harrowing memoir, Augusten Burroughs recounts the bizarre events of his childhood. After his parents' divorce, his mother, a delusional poet, left him in the care of her psychiatrist, a man who might have benefited from a little therapy himself.Suddenly, ...Show more