What makes a book a “relaxing read”? For this list, we’ve tried to indicate authors and titles that feature leisurely-paced, heart-warming stories. Family and friendship – and all the humor, sadness and just plain everyday drama they entail – is often a major theme. Some also may include elements of the Mystery, Romance or Inspirational genres. For those times when you’re just looking for a plain old “good story” try one of these!
Some authors whose works usually fall into this category include:
Maeve Binchy
Sarah Bird
Jennifer Chiaverini – Elm Creek Quilts series
Barbara Delinsky
Fannie Flagg
Dorothea Benton Frank
Philip Gulley – Harmony series
Jan Karon
Thomas Kinkade
Debbie Macomber
Joan A. Medlicott
Mary Alice Monroe
Emilie Richards
Haywood Smith
Nicholas Sparks
Joanna Trollope
Marcia Willett
Miss Read
Selected Titles
Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
One Summer by David Baldacci
I Gave My Heart to Know This by Ellen Baker
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson
Cedar Green by Rose Boucheron
Getting Sassy by D. C. Brod
Rose’s Garden by Carrie Brown
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
Gone to Green by Judy Christie
Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God by Joe Coomer
The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas
Walking Across Egypt by Clyde Edgerton
The Lion Is In by Delia Ephron
I Remember You by Harriet Evans
A Good American by Alex George
Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons
The Whole World Over by Julia Glass
Sweet Jiminy by Kristin Gore
A Painted House by John Grisham
East of the Mountains by David Guterson
The Gazebo by Emily Grayson
The Underside of Joyby Seré Prince Halverson
Hannah’s Dream by Diane Coplin Hammond
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
Friendship Cake by J. Lynne Hinton
Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson
Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor
The Ha-Ha by Dave King
Bill Warrington’s Last Chance by James King
Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
Nadia Knows Best by Jill Mansell
Solomon’s Oak by Jo-Ann Mapson
A Good Year by Peter Mayle
Million Dollar Baby: A Majorie McClelland Mystery by Amy Patricia Meade
Don’t Tell Alfred by Nancy Mitford
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell
The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones
The Lilac House by Anita Nair
Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
London Holiday by Richard Peck
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard
Pastures New by Ann Purser
Julie and Romeo by Jeanne Ray
Little Night by Luanne Rice
The Secrets of Barneveld Calvary by James C. Schaap
Saving Cicadas by Nicole Seitz
Selling the Lite of Heaven by Suzanne Strempek Shea
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
The Lemon Jelly Cake by Madeline Babcock Smith
World of Pies by Karen Stolz
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
The Cape Ann by Faith Sullivan
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor
Welcome to Harmony by Jodi Thomas
The Road Home by Rose Tremaine
Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
The Angels of Morgan Hill by Donna VanLiere
Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
Out to Pasture: (But Not Over the Hill) by Effie Leland Wilder |