10 Books to Cheer You Up
10 books to cheer you up
I recently made a YouTube video on my channel about what to read if you need cheering up.
I absolutely need some cheering up right now and I thought I would pass on my cheery wisdom. These books are listed in alphabetical order.
Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits by Celia Rivenbark
Comedic writer Celia Rivenbark's essays on the trials of buying and renovating an old house. The electric wiring is shot, the plumbing is a nightmare, and the construction crew is made up of what you might call "characters." Rivenbark is a "refined southern lady," and meditates on the cultural differences between the South and the rest of the country, often poking fun at her Yankee transplant neighbors – and their reactions to finding snakes in their yard.
Belle Weather is another hidden gem I found in one of my favorite bookstores at home. My entire family loves this book and we will sit around in the evenings and read aloud to each other like something out of the nineteenth century. But with more profanity – thanks, Celia. My favorite chapter is definitely the one where she picks out granite for her counter tops and then "visits" it before it is actually installed in her home.
Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
Ali Wong is a hilarious comedian probably most known for her Netflix comedy specials, Baby Cobra and Hard-Knock Wife. She did both of these comedy specials while very pregnant – one special per daughter.
Dear Girls is her open letter to both of her daughters about the life lessons she's learned. It's a sordid and hilarious account and it is also pretty short, so it's a quick read that is funny, uplifting, and cheery. I listened to the audiobook, which Wong reads herself, which I think really enhanced my experience of this book. Mixed with the humor is really strong heartfelt parental love and it warmed my heart.
I wanted to read this since it came out, but what really solidified this as a priority to read was Ali Wong's interview on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me.
Four Things my Geeky Jock of a Best Friend Must Do In Europe by Jane Harrington
One of my most often re-read books of all time, this is a YA novella where shy, sporty Brady takes a coming of age trip to Europe with her mother and struggles to follow the to-do list her extroverted best friend, Delia, has written on her hand. This is an epistolary novella and we get to read all the letters that Brady sends home to Delia, detailing her trying and hilariously failing to follow the to-do list.
It is so fun to watch Brady be brave and put herself out there and it feels so rewarding when she finally succeeds. She makes new friends and embarrasses herself at every turn. By the end, she cares a little less about what other people think of her. Brady is written to be a young teen (I would place her as 13 or 14) and the way she is self-conscious and how she relates to her changing body feels really relatable. I remember feeling exactly like Brady when I was that age... apart from how she loves sports. That was not me.
This book is so funny and I like to read it with my mom – we take turns reading aloud to each other and it's a lot of fun. Like Dear Girls, this is also a book where mother-daughter relationships are the focus. At the beginning of this book, Brady has a distant relationship with her mom, but over the course of their trip, they grow close and Brady feels like she has gained an understanding of who her mother is.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
(and Take a Hint, Dani Brown and Act Your Age, Eve Brown)
My Cup Runneth Over by Cherry Whytock
It's back! I am talking about My Cup Runneth Over again! It's so perfect, yet so underrated. This book again centers on a young teenager and her relationship to food and her body – a relatable experience for most of us, I think. The humor in this is clever and spot on. In addition, it is illustrated and has recipes. It is heartwarming, charming, and anti-diet. I mean... you cannot ask for anything more.
Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
I've said before how much of a fan I am of Mary Roach. This was the first book of hers I read and became aware of her through her interview on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me in 2012. I finally read Packing for Mars in 2015 and it made me want to read the rest of her work.
This book answers almost any questions you might have about life in space including...how the toilets work. Needless to say, that was my favorite chapter. It's not just how to poop in space. It's also the evolution of the technologies used to poop in space. And how the testing of the space poop technology works before it even gets to space. It scarred me for life and I loved every minute.
Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher
Carrie Fisher's memoirs are hilarious and honest and comforting, and Shockaholic is my favorite of the three. I haven't read her fiction [yet – I'm coming for you, Postcards from the Edge].
This is Fisher's first memoir and chronicles her experience with electroshock therapy and how it has impacted her memory. The living legend that was Carrie Fisher also narrated her own audiobooks, so if you are missing some Carrie Fisher sparkle in your life, I would really recommend listening to her read her memoirs. She is a constant reminder that even when things are kind of crappy, everything will turn out okay.
The Witches are Coming by Lindy West
Lindy West is a gift, as I keep saying (My best books of 2020 part 1 and part 2). I became aware of her through the This American Life episode called "Tell Me I'm Fat," where she reads part of her book Shrill.
This is a natural follow-on to Shrill, but where Shrill starts out hilarious and light and then goes deeper into some dark places in the second half, The Witches are Coming is laugh out loud funny the whole way through. The Witches are Coming was one of my favorite books of 2020 and I've written about it on Medium before.
Tell Me I'm Fat - This American Life
Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum by Kathryn Hughes
Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum is a light history book that goes through the slightly humorous unspoken hidden layers of the Victorian age, such as Charles Darwin's beard (and flatulence).
The last chapter is about some Victorian true crime which does involve a child, so beware of that if you are sensitive to violence against children.
Overall, this book is light and informative and a nice way to pass the time. Since each chapter is a self-contained snippet of Victorian drama, it is also really easy to dip in and out. You also do not need to read the chapters in order – you can start with the last chapter, which is the one about the child murder first to get it out of the way, or not at all.
Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
I was drawn in by the catchy title and cute bunny on the cover, but I stayed for the lols. These are essays over which to snort-laugh.
Samantha Irby chronicles her life as a wife and stepmom and talks about the joys of getting older and being mistaken for Roxane Gay. I have not read Irby's two previous essay collections, but now I absolutely will.
The "Hello, 911?" essay is my favorite: "Hello, 911? I am the first person at this party." Hard same.
