The Wind in the Willows The Wind in the Willows discussion


220 views
#moodboosting - What do you read to make you feel better?

Comments Showing 1-50 of 55 (55 new)    post a comment »
« previous 1

message 1: by Katie (new)

Katie Ward The Reading Agency is asking people to suggest #moodboosting books for their new list of fiction, non-fiction and poetry guaranteed to give you a lift. I can’t resist! Here’s my list. What do you read to make you feel better? Please tell The Reading Agency; your choice might help someone else. K x

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Miss Garnet’s Angel by Salley Vickers
The Art of Happiness by HH Dalai Lama and Howard C Cutler
A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen
Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill
Two Cures for Love: Selected Poems 1979-2006 by Wendy Cope


Mark The wind in the willows


message 3: by K (new) - rated it 4 stars

K D Wind and the Willows would be a good choice, I just finished the Return to the Willows. ANd I'm very glad to say it has done the original justice. Well written, a quick fun read. "Feel goods" aren't my forte, so list is small anymore.


Mark Read all the ones that some one from Oxford wrote that toke the story on some years a go.
And thay are bril.


message 5: by [deleted user] (new)

Kh wrote: "Wind and the Willows would be a good choice, I just finished the Return to the Willows. ANd I'm very glad to say it has done the original justice. Well written, a quick fun read. "Feel goods" aren'..."
I know. I liked Return to the Willows nearly as much as the original, which is saying something.
I'd have to say The Catcher in the Rye, The Last of the Mohicans, Rebecca, and Wuthering Heights.


Joanne "Mama Makes Up Her Mind"


Diana All Creatures Great and Small


Richard Anything by P. G. Wodehouse, but especially UNCLE FRED IN THE SPRINGTIME.


Angela The Darling Buds of May by H.E.Bates


Cally Any of the Discworld books except the Rincewind ones make me feel better. Also the James Herriot books are wonderful.


message 11: by Lora (new) - rated it 3 stars

Lora Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott


message 12: by Katie (new)

Katie Ward Thanks everyone for these contributions. I will pass them on to the Reading Agency. Best wishes, K x


Ashley All the classic kids fantasy stories... alice... oz... etc. I always like some slapstick humor once in a while like Caprice Crane's books.


message 14: by John (new) - rated it 4 stars

John W. James Herriot's "Every Living Thing". Just finished reading it again. Read it originally around 1995. Very pleasant to read. I want to share this with the granddaughter who is in school to become a nurse. Not quite the same profession but some of his stories sound like something she would enjoy.


Poiema Any book by Gladys Taber.


message 16: by Dodo (last edited Jul 27, 2013 05:10AM) (new)

Dodo Diana wrote: "All Creatures Great and Small"

But YES!!! And the other books by Herriot, as well.

The Wind in the Willows is not bad, either, but the Mummin Troll stories are much better. Or books by Astrid Lindgren, her Emil in particular. Or Terry Pratchett, pick any. Or Robert Asprin`s Myth series, especially the first three books. And many more.
Not Anne of Green Gables, though. Of course, tastes differ...


William Richard wrote: "Anything by P. G. Wodehouse, but especially UNCLE FRED IN THE SPRINGTIME."

I totally agree. There is no one like Wodehouse.


Joanne I remember when I discovered Wodehouse, "The Week-end Wodehouse." I laughed so much.


William Joanne wrote: "I remember when I discovered Wodehouse, "The Week-end Wodehouse." I laughed so much."

I love the Mr. Mulliner stories.


message 20: by Donna (last edited Jul 27, 2013 11:21AM) (new) - rated it 3 stars

Donna Davis Where's The Hobbit? "...roads go ever ever on..."

Maybe also Randy Pausch's Last Lecture. By the time he tells us how lucky HE is, we realize how lucky WE are!

Also, what about some Garrison Keillor? Pontoon was so funny, it made me laugh out loud and I entirely forgot my own life until it was over.

And I agree with the inclusion of A Street Cat Named Bob.

For those who love whimsy, what about Tove Jannsen's Moomintroll series?


Kastian "A Night in the Lonesome October" by Roger Zelazny, my better medicine, when i'm ill.
"The City In The Autumn Stars" by Moorcock, Michael - sad story


Oliver Matilda By Roald Dahl


message 23: by Christine (new)

Christine Dickens! HE MAKES ME LAUGH!
barneby ridge, David Copperfield, pickwickpapers, dombey and son... the quirky characters are so secure in their person. good or bad , beautiful or hiddious. they love themselves. makes me know that we live our lives as we can. it is as it always was. and I am happy that I am here to participate. the oz books are great too. the issues and wisdoms are for all ages. also strong characters.


Joanne I agree Christine, Dickens can be funny, and wickedly funny at that.


message 25: by [deleted user] (new)

Little Women is my go to feel good book, also A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. For straight up make me laugh I gotta go with any of the Neil Simon plays


message 26: by Christine (new)

Christine Joanne, Lol!! I love Noddy Boffin and Web with the wooden leg...


Lucy_k_p Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome.


Joanne "Minutes Of The Last Meeting" by Gene Fowler is a funny book that introduced me to Sadakichi Hartmann. I enjoyed learning about him, and I correspond with his granddaughter.


message 29: by Sue (new) - rated it 3 stars

Sue When I feel down, I read 'Little House' books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I wanted to be her so bad when I was a little girl.


message 30: by Jess (new) - rated it 4 stars

Jess I read 'Cold Comfort Farm' by Stella Gibbons, 'The Lives of Christopher Chant' by Diana Wynne Jones (almost any Diana Wynne Jones book, really), any of the Betsy-Tacy books or Anne of Green Gables or 'The Last Unicorn' by Peter S. Beagle.


message 31: by Eva (new) - rated it 4 stars

Eva Cally wrote: "Any of the Discworld books except the Rincewind ones make me feel better. Also the James Herriot books are wonderful."

I second this!


Lesley Arrowsmith Donna wrote: "Where's The Hobbit? "...roads go ever ever on..."

Maybe also Randy Pausch's Last Lecture. By the time he tells us how lucky HE is, we realize how lucky WE are!

Also, what about some Garrison Kei..."


I always felt that the Moomin books had a deep well of melancholy within them.


Shannon Old favourites:I capture the Castle by Dodie Smith,
Storm ahead by Monica Edwards,A Christmas Carol by Dickens.
A new one is:Racing in the rain by Garth Stein


Bjarne Amilon Leaf by Niggle.


message 35: by L.A. (new) - rated it 4 stars

L.A. Shute Hilltop House by L. A. Shute and the Hardly Hill series.


Daniela Kraml elizabeth peters and the wolf chronicles by joan aiken


message 37: by Emma (new) - rated it 2 stars

Emma The Hobbit
George's Marvellous Medicine
Matilda
James and the Giant Peach
and...any of the Harry Potter books...

Always cheer me up :)


Taliah I agree with Lesley: the Moomin books remind me of happier places and simple life: melancholy. Anything fantasy, really, can take me someplace where I don't have to be scared of anything, and don't have to think about anything sad.
But Pride and Prejudice is my go-to-book after a nightmare...


Nickelini Jane Austen -- especially Pride and Prejudice, the Brontes, Dickens . . . I read Anna Karenina during the weeks when my mother was dying and it was perfect. I guess my answer is 19th century literature.


Poiema Anything by Gladys Taber. She's soothing and gives me a "nature fix" that always elicits the feeling of serenity.


message 41: by Renee E (last edited Jul 26, 2014 09:21PM) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Renee E For pure giggles, anything by Patrick McManus.

I think I hurt myself laughing reading a couple of his books.

For something to take you away for awhile, anything by Patricia McKillip. Her stories feel real, take you through darkness and lead you out to a feeling of lightness and hopefulness that translates to the real world.


message 42: by K (new) - rated it 4 stars

K I don't really have any so called "Feel good" reads. I just read whatever, whenever. Mind you, I do love Doctor Who novels. :)


message 43: by Emma (new) - rated it 4 stars

Emma The Moomin books, I Capture the Castle, Jane Austen's Persuasion... and (whisper it) anything by Georgette Heyer.


Renee E One that always puts things into perspective for me is Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind, the journal of Moira Soshin O'Halloran, a young Irish-American woman who went on an adventure to Japan, entered a Zen monastery, attained enlightenment and became a Buddhist saint.

It's not at all what you'd expect :-)


Chris If graphic novels are to be included, perhaps Owly by Andy Runton?


message 46: by Brad (new) - rated it 5 stars

Brad Lyerla Getting Even, Woody Allen. Westward Ho! SJ Perelman. My Life and Hard Times, James Thurber. I also loved Wind in the Willows.


message 47: by Rut (new) - rated it 5 stars

Rut Recently I read “A thousand splendid suns”. It is rather cruel story but after reading it I said to myself “My problems are nothing. Fiction or not fiction, if others have survived to things any close to this and go on with their lives…then I shall endure any trifle that may be on my way”… Again, it is a harsh story, so I would not recommend to read it if you are feeling really down unless you are decided to get to the end no matter what you feel in between.


Chrisl Word of mouth library favorite feel good book
Blind Your Ponies


Sarah Definitely children's lit, almost anything good in that genre works for me.

Roald Dahl's books cheer me up because I grew up with those books especially, although The Wind in the Willows and Winnie-the-Pooh are some of my favorites as well.


message 50: by Rut (new) - rated it 5 stars

Rut Winnie-the-Pooh! Just looking at the pictures those books is soothing.


« previous 1
back to top