Feeling the blues and can’t think of anything to add some much-needed burst of colour, vivacity and joy into your day? We’ve curated the perfect reading list for you, to help you get over the blues. Here are 10 books to cheer you up when feeling down.
10 Books To Cheer You Up When Feeling Down:
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
This book is a list of 365 essays by Ross Gay, about simple things he took delight in on each day of the year. Gay wrote this book as a kind of yearly challenge, and the result is a concise book full of comfort and simple joy. This is a book that will make you smile even on your bleakest days, because it will remind you of the sheer beauty life holds.
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
The Prophet is Lebanese poet Gibran’s masterpiece, and the culmination of the years of knowledge he acquired. Written in the form of poetic discourses to villagers by a great prophet, it touches on various themes like joy, sorrow love, work, children, marriage, leisure, law and order and more. Not only is this book beautifully lyrical but also full of wisdom. Gibran, in his summary of the book, says that its message is ‘you are better than you think and all is well’. If that won’t lift up your spirits, what will?
The Body by Bill Bryson
Sometimes all you need is a distraction, a kind of escape, in order to better a sloppy mood. And this book, which reminds you of and makes you aware of the miracle of life, will definitely do the trick. Written in Bryson’s extremely humorous and eccentrically informative style, this book decodes the mystery of the human body.
Art Matters by Neil Gaiman
This is a book that will make you happy while also reminding you of the purpose of life. With adorable illustrations and an accessible format, Gaiman’s book reinforces the reasons why art exists, and needs to exist. It shows the very important place that art holds in life, and its life-affirming impact on life. It will cheer you up, and inspire you to either create or consume art.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
The reason this book is on this list is that it is a comfort book. It talks of an orphan living in an English train station, who encounters a great filmmaker who has given up his career. They form an unlikely friendship, and the filmmaker is inspired to make movies again after he adopts Hugo. Replete with black and white illustrations that take the breath away, this middle grade book will make you feel good.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
This fairytale-esque book tells a story within a story. A stranger asks a pilot to draw a sheep, and convinced of the strangeness of life, the pilot draws an enchanting fable involving a little boy and a rose. This book is achingly tender, and as heartbreaking as it is beautiful. But just knowing the human capacity to emote and create art will drown the blues for you, and the empathy you will feel for the boy will remind you why life is worth living.
Like The Flowing River by Paulo Coelho
This is a collection of essays and short stories by Brazilian writer Coelho, all of which are full of wisdom and philosophy. But this isn’t the regular, dreary philosophy – it is vibrant and colourful. These are reflections on subjects as diverse as archery, music, dance, writing and is the perfect book to drown your sorrows in.
The Beauty of All My Days by Ruskin Bond
This memoir by Ruskin Bond is full of his recollections of fragments of his beautifully simple life in the Himalayas. This book is the definition of solace, and as the title suggests, recounts the beauty of Bond’s myriad days. It is simple to read, yet it’s a piece of heaven because of the wonderful descriptions and small joys it talks of.
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
This book of joy follows a Monsieur Perdu in Paris, who runs a floating apothecary of books, and prescribes books as medicines for the emotional distresses of life. He himself is heartbroken, and his adventures all over Paris, with a lonely chef and a bestselling author. This book is full of tender warmth. It feels like a hug to the heart, and as the back cover says, is a ‘love letter to books’.
A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler
This book follows a lone man, Andreas as he scales the landscapes of the mountains in his hometown. Through his eyes we see the shifts of the world with war, his marriage and labour camps. This book radiates compassion and Andreas in his solitude and adjustment to change, feels like a dear friend.
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