Relaxing Reads

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

St. Charles Public Library

For help finding these or other books, just Ask Us! 

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