Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Make Me Smile

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This is a challenging one for me! The prompt isn't books that made me laugh (which I would also probably struggle with to be honest), but books that make me smile, which to me means heartwarming. Books that tend to get described as "heartwarming" are books I really do not tend to respond to. But even my cold dead heart responds to some books, so here are ten that did actually make me smile.



Persuasion: If you don't break out into a big grin when the couple gets together at the end (this is not a spoiler in any Jane Austen novel), you probably don't like happiness.

The Red Tent: I really find the depictions of relationships between women in this book so realistic and touching.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn: Francie's life is hard in so many ways, which makes her victories that much sweeter when they do happen.

The Giver: The love Jonas grows to feel for the baby his family takes in, and the bravery he shows in taking the steps he needs to for the baby's protection, gets me in the feelings.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Seeing the wizarding world through Harry's eyes, and reading along as he makes his first friends, is honestly magical.

Ella Enchanted: The sweetness of the first love in this book is quite lovely.

The Wind in the Door: The purity of Meg's love for her little brother Charles Wallace and the measures she's willing to take for him are so moving.

About A Boy: I know, liking books about overgrown white man-children finally maturing makes me part of the problem, but this book has the kind of soft Hornby humor that makes me smile.

Eat Pray Love: It's not really the journey Elizabeth Gilbert takes after her marriage ends that gets me, its her strong, insightful prose.

My Antonia: Antonia is just such a winning character.

12 comments:

  1. Great list! Persuasion is my favourite Austen novel, and I'd really like to try The Red Tent.

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    1. Persuasion was the first one I read and none of the rest of them have been able to top it for me!

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  2. Ella Enchanted is a great choice!

    My TTT .

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  3. oh, The Giver is a great choice! We actually just watched the movie the other day, too. Always gets me in the feels. Have you read the other books in the series?

    Here's my TTT post.

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    1. I have not, and am surprisingly uninterested in doing so, given how much I've loved the first book for ages! I think it just feels like such a perfectly contained story.

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  4. I've read about half of these and I agree that they're smile-inducing reads. Even if there are some dark and sad elements, mostly they're happy, uplifting books.

    Happy TTT!

    Susan
    www.blogginboutbooks.com

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    1. I really love a downer, it's hard for me to think of happy books!

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  5. Reading the first harry potter makes me smile every time, I didn't even think to add it to my list!

    My TTT

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    1. There's really such an innocence to that first story, it's very sweet!

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  6. I love so many of these. I need to read the Red Tent though, people keep telling me how good it is!

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    1. I read it in high school and recently revisited it on audio and was surprised by how well it held up!

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