Tuesday 7 September 2021

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Top Twelve Books Guaranteed to Put a Smile On Your Face

  

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish". It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

This week's topic is: Books Guaranteed to Put a Smile On Your Face

Smile as in laughing or smile as in feelgood smile?

We had laughing earlier this year (see here), so I decided to go for the second option.

Sometimes, these are just nice reads. Most of these books made me find some trust in humanity. There are good people around us, we just have to look for them with open eyes and hearts.
Alcott, Louisa May "Little Women" - 1868
Calvino, Italo "If on a Winter's Night a Traveller" (Italian: Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore) - 1979
Chevalier, Tracy "The Virgin Blue" - 1997
Doerr, Anthony "All the Light We Cannot See" - 2014
Hislop, Victoria "The Thread" - 2011
Otto, Whitney "How to Make an American Quilt" - 1991
Powers, Richard "The Overstory" - 2018
Rhue, Morton "The Wave" - 1981
Schami, Rafik "The Calligrapher’s Secret" (German: Das Geheimnis des Kalligraphen) - 2008
Schmitt, Éric-Emmanuel "Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran" (French: Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran) - 1999
Turner, Nancy E. "These is my Words, The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901" - 1999
Vreeland, Susan "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" - 1999

34 comments:

  1. Little Women is a great choice.

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    1. Thanks, Lydia. I must have had it in my Top Ten lots of times, it is a great book, or series.

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  2. I loved All the Light We Cannot See! I'd like to re-read that again at some point, I think :)

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    1. Same here, Dini. It was such a great way of describing a part of WWII that we don't know about that much. Or don't hear about often.

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  3. It's always wonderful to find books that make you smile. I'm glad these did that for you!

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    1. Thanks, Deanna. I don't always "need" that from a book but from time to time it's lovely.

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  4. I've only read Little Women here, and I know it made me (still makes me) smile. The others on this list are all new to me, but they all look like books I should definitely add to my feel-good inventory.

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    1. I think we would all agree on "Little Women", Lex, such a fantastic and heartwarming story.

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  5. The Girl in Hyacinth Blue is a lovely read. I would like to read more of Vreeland's novels.

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    1. Same here, Lisa. I said that when I read it and never got any further, will have to explore.

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    2. I have her novel, Clara and Mr. Tiffany, sitting in my 'to be read' pile and need to read it at some point... Hopefully, sooner rather than later!

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    3. I will look through the descriptions of her books, Lisa, and decide which one to take. Or if I stumble upon one in a bookshop.

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  6. This is a great list! I've read a couple of them. Thanks for the recs! I like to balance out my heavier reads with some uplit!

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    1. Same here, Carol. These might not all be "light" but certainly enjoyable.

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  7. Great list! If On A Winter's Night is a book that definitely made me smile. And I also love How to Make an American Quilt. :)

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    1. Thanks, Lark. If on a Winter's Night is such an unusual story, I absolutely love it. And the Quilt story is such a great book about friendship.

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  8. I love your wider interpretation of the theme. Yes, Calvino's book fits so well in it! And Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt's books - have you read the others? This one is part of a cycle on religions. They are so good

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    1. Thanks, Emma. Whoever read "If on a Winter's Night ..." loves it, like Lark ^^. I have read "Oscar and the Lady in Pink". I wasn't aware he had written more on religion. Must explore.

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  9. The only one I have read is Little Women, now off to look at your laughing list ;)!

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    1. Thanks, Cindy. You are not the only one who has only read "Little Women". My list is quite diverse, so I'm not surprised. But it is an absolut fabulous book, so I'm not surprised.

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  10. I have All the Light We Cannot See on my TBR. I'm hoping to get to it soon.

    When you get the chance, I hope you can pop over to my post: https://readbakecreate.com/10-books-with-yellow-covers/

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    1. Oh, I'm looking forward to your review then, Pam. It is such a lovely book.

      See you on your page.

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  11. LITTLE WOMEN never fails to make me smile! Also cry. It's a book that puts my emotions through the wringer, for sure.

    Happy TTT!

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    1. True, Susan. It has its ups and downs. Certainly one of the best books ever written since it still touches us today.

      You just had me think about "Friends" when Rachel and Joey swap books. Have you seen that?

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    2. I've never really watched Friends, but I have seen clips of this episode where they spoil the endings of the books for each other. So rude! LOL.

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    3. Heehee, Susan. Well, Rachel spoils it for Joey because he did it first, thinking he wouldn't. Mind you, I haven't even read the Steven King book and could halfway guess what he meant. LOL

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  12. It is nice to have our faith in humanity restored from times to time!

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    1. Very nice. And even though I read about the other part, as well, because I want to know about everything, it is always lovely to stumble upon good people.

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  13. I didn't do one this week because my books are not really smiley happy feel-good books. Facts and history are sometimes very depressing.

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    1. Often they are, Sarah, but sometimes they also make you feel good if you stumble upon good people. I think you might enjoy a few of these books, even though most of them are fiction.

      Still, you can always do a twist. You are good at twists!

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    2. And thank you, Sarah. I always enjoy your posts.

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  14. I forgot that I wanted to read "Girl in Hyacinth Blue." Thanks for the reminder! LOL

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    1. Heehee, Lectrice, I didn't intend to. It will pop up whenever there is a topic with girl, flowers, colours, art ... lots of topics it would fit in. I love it.

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