As I have mentioned before I love getting TBR ideas from this group. We've had good discussion on "Bleak and Depressing". Please take the time to list of some of your Favorite--more fun and positive books (let's forget the Romance category). My book club just finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog. This is a delightful tale of a 54 year old French concierge and her clientele. Of particular note is a 12 year old girl of unusual intellect. Some will find the book "depressing" at the end, but boy it was a great read and a marvelous listen.
I found the Harry Potter books fun and uplifting; but, I must admit that I listened to them and the reader (Jim Dale) is a phenomena himself. He manages to have a different voice for each character that he maintains throughout the series. As much as anything the listen was Fun.
I have had David Sedaris on my TBR list forever, but would love some thoughts from all of you regarding which to read.
I am sure there are other fun books that I have read, but I can't think of them right now. I will add as I do.

I just went through my list of "read" books. Sadly not a whole lot of pleasant and uplifting there! As I think about this I'm struggling with light and fluffy can also equal pleasant and uplifting? I've read several that are fun to read, but not necessarily uplifting in a spiritual sense and certainly not deep. But that said, Mary Kay Andrews' books are always fun, Any of Armisted Maupins' Tales of the City Series are pleasant, and while this series is not "me" by any means, I surprised myself by absolutely loving every book in Jan Karon's Mitford series. I want to move to that town and live with all the characters. Those books make me feel at home the same way so many of the British tv shows set in small villages with quirky characters make me feel.

Betsy wrote: "I just went through my list of "read" books. Sadly not a whole lot of pleasant and uplifting there! As I think about this I'm struggling with light and fluffy can also equal pleasant and upliftin..." You are right, I did not want light and fluffy. Thanks for what you have shared, I will definitely check them out.

What about




I'm thinking of the women empowering themselves (okay, this might be a loose translation since Anne is only a girl. . .), finding themselves, and becoming "authentic".

I liked the Secret Life of BeesThe Secret Life of Bees. I also liked Peter MayleA Year in Provenceand think that it was uplifting. Didn't read Under the Tuscan Sun, but absolutely loved the movie. Keep em coming group-mates...I love to hear what others think.

Yes, I thought of Secret Life of Bees after I wrote my first comment. I enjoyed Under the Tuscan Sun, but liked the movie more (totally different than the book except for the setting!) And the Anne of series crossed my mind too.

Cherylann, how about more YA lit here? Wednesday Wars is great and uplifting - there's some sadness, but great outcomes and you just want to cheer for this kid.

Hmmmm - there are a lot. I have to think about this one (and I'm at work now and shouldn't be on Goodreads at all). Let me scan my shelves. I'll have a list tonight for all of you! I don't know the Wednesday Wars. I'm going to have to check that one out.
Betsy, you should join us on YA Reads for Teachers (and other adults)!

I truly loved the Anne of the Green Gables series, surprising myself, and I also enjoyed all of the Bill Bryson books. I think I like the Bryson stories because they can be picked up and put down at will, and there is usually always something to smile or laugh at in each section. Lorna Landvik makes me laugh out loud, too.

Quiltgranny wrote: "I truly loved the Anne of the Green Gables series, surprising myself, and I also enjoyed all of the Bill Bryson books. I think I like the Bryson stories because they can be picked up and put down ..."

Not only did I enjoy the Green Gables series, I also really enjoyed the Emily series.

Did you see that a contemporary author has written the prequel to the Green Gables series? Because I was a HUGE fan (I even made my family pilgrimmage to Green Gables one summer vacation), my mom bought me the prequel for my birthday. I'm waiting for a moment to savor every word...

Okay, Betsy, you wanted YA, you got YA.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
Holes by Louis Sachar
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by Dave Lubar
Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicholson by Louise Rennison
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Cheating Lessons by Nan Willard Cappo
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
While not all of these are warm and fuzzy/pleasant and uplifting all the way through, the human spirit triumphs in the end.

Wow, thanks.

Wow, Cherylann. You and my mom should talk! She teaches 7th-8th grade English and has read most of these. Many of the authors you list are her favorites. She met Chris Crutcher once and made me read The Sledding Hill last summer. I just bought her Stragirl at a book sale so she has an extra copy for her room. Laurie Halse Anderson, funny enough, is from the area I'm from, but she lived in the area I lived in near Philly for a while at the same time I lived there (we have both since moved "back home"). She used to frequent the B&N I worked at in North Wales. I am on a waiting list at the swapping site I'm part of to get Chains and her new one (Wintergirls?). Have you read either of those?

Cherylann wrote: "Okay, Betsy, you wanted YA, you got YA.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
Holes by Louis Sachar..."

Oh Cherylann - an embarrassment of riches! Thanks!

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words about the posting. One of my "missions" while teaching is to help my kids become life-long readers (really, screw the state tests, reading is what's important). For some kids, they already read voraciously and don't care who knows it. For others, they've gone underground by 8th grade, and I try to make reading "cool" again. For still others, it's about putting the right book in the right kid's hands. One book sometimes is all it takes to get a kid reading. So we read every day in my class. During reader's workshop, I'm reading too, usually YA. I can't give a kid a book if I don't know the book. I've developed the art of book-talking a new book for the classroom library to selling the book (manipulation works - for good or evil). I also talk to them about what I like and don't like as I read, what struggles I have as I read, and what strategies I use when I read. Essentially, through reader's workshop and their own self-selected books, I'm teaching reading (thanks to Atwell, Keene, Zimmerman, and Tovani for that trick)! So while it can be "embarrassing" at times to be an adult who knows a lot about YA, it pays off in the long run.

Jaime, I tried to get Laurie Halse Anderson to come to my school because it's close to where she lives (less than an hour). She is soooooo booked up it's absolutely impossible to get her. I adore her writing. She's gotten ahead of me, though. I haven't read many of her more recent books, oddly. I loved Prom, which is rather controversial (but then again so is Speak). My kids, who normally don't like historical fiction, pick up Fever, 1793 and like it. I suppose it's because they know Philadelphia and can make a connection to the place if not the time. I have to read more of her recent books.

Lastly, a shameless plug. If any of you are interested in YA books (there's good stuff out there, really), join us at YA Books for Teachers (and other Adults). This month were discussing which is not pleasant and uplifting. We're also in the process of voting on next month's book. It looks like is the front-runner.

Laurie Halse Anderson moved back to the Syracuse, New York area several years ago (about the time I did, maybe 5 years). When did you try to get her?

I will check out the YA reading group, and tell my mom about it!

We tried after Speak came out. I believe she was still in PA. It seems like Speak is a new book. Time does funny things the older I get. I didn't realize she had moved to Syracuse. Thanks for passing the word along about the YA group. I'm shamelessly promoting it and brow-beating all my friends into joining - luckily I spend time with 8th graders and know a thing or two about peer pressure ;)

Yeah, I think that was around the time she was coming into Barnes and Noble. My sense of time is off, though. I can't remember when I read it! She actually lives in Mexico, New York now. A small town North of Syracuse. Very near my relatives, in fact!

Here are few other YA books I've found to be very uplifting and worthwhile;

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech. Deals with self-discovery

Fair Weather by Richard Peck. A rural family goes to the Chicago Columbian Exhibition of 1893 at the invitation of the aunt who lives in the city.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. About a foster child learning about the meaning of family.

Sister Spider Knows All by Adrian Fogelin.

A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin. More family self-discovery and dealing with handicaps.

Rascal by Sterling North. This book tells a simple story of a year in the life of a young boy and his raccoon during WWI in rural Wisconsin.

That's all I can think of right now.