Happy book please

What did you choose Pleasebenice?

@readsalot
Sarah Winman was in my class at school. Couldn't believe it when I saw she became a novelist. Good on her!

The Stephanie Plum detective series by Janet Evanovich.

I don't normally read American novels but these are very enjoyable, especially the portrayal of Stephanie's Grandma Mazur.

the No 1 Ladies Dectective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith.

Another yes.
I don't have the complete set and wondered whether to send them to the charity shop but can't part with them!

Lovemylife

Cold Comfort Farm made me laugh out loud, as did Lessons in Chemistry.

Lessons in Chemistry.

I bought this a while ago but haven't read it yet.
Right, next after the one I've just started.

Joanna Nell books, set in Australia:

The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village
The Great Escape from the Woodlands Nursing Home
Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year
The Tea Ladies of St Jude's Hospital

"Away with the penguins" by Hazel Prior?
Yes, a lovely book.

Just finished The Appeal, TerriBull and I can't remember when I've laughed out loud so much throughout a book!
Love the 'Ladies of Letters' feel to it.

I like Amanda Craig's books which are semi amusing state of the nation satires about serious subjects, whilst simultaneously poking the fun out of larger than life media caricatures. These were her most recent ones which encapsulated those qualities. The Lie of the Land, The Golden Rule and The Three Graces.

Janice Hallett's first run away success , The Appeal. About A fund raising exercise related through a series of emails, featuring participants of a small town amateur dramatics society with a murder at the heart of the plot. Definitely had its funny moments.

Anne Griffin is a good author.
When All is Said.
The Island of Longing
Listening Still.
All excellent books. 👌

I like Mike Gayle's books. He's a local (Birmingham) author. His books are heartwarming.

Grandma600

I second anything by PG Wodehouse or EF Benson (notably the Mapp and Lucia series) and would add The Barchester Chronicles by Anthony Trollope. Happy reading!

‘Paying Guests’ by E F Benson is very funny!
However I find some of his earlier novels deadly serious and very moralistic.

‘Thorley Weir’ is another of his I’d recommend - not for laughs but a very good, satisfying read - a decidedly unpleasant character who makes a lot of money out of exploiting struggling young writers and artists, finally gets his come-uppance.

Any book by Anne Tyler is usually paints a humorous picture of family life in the US, particularly Baltimore, with excellent observations of weird and wonderful characters.
Would recommend The Accidental Tourist for starters.

This review says it better than I could:

"Catherine Fox's glorious Lindchester series is the twenty-first-century answer to Trollope's Barchester. - but Trollope was never so funny, so fundamentally kind or so mischievously attentive to grace." Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill

The first of the Lindchester Chronicles is Acts and Omissions

Cider with Rosie or
Lark Rise to Candleford

The series of books by A J Pearce about the staff of a women’s magazine set during WW2. The first one is Dear Mrs Bird, about letters being sent to the problem page. The books take you back to wartime London. It still maintain a cheerful feeling throughout.

Your group could try The Belle Fields and sequel Ashes of Roses by Lora Adams. Very descriptive, funny, sad, serious and a real twist at the end of Belle Fields! Couldn't wait to get hold of the sequel, Ashes, to read how things turned out - not what I expected!

I'll second You Are Here - in fact, any of the David Nicholls books. Funny and touching - and unputdownable.

Silas Marner by George Elliot - dark moments but lovely in the end.
If you want something more contemporary, try Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshigazu Kawaguchi. And the sequels in a similar vein.

The Guncle by Steven Rowley. Ever the fun uncle, Patrick is suddenly left in charge of his niece and nephew. It's heartwarming and witty, with the characters coming together while coming out over the weight of grief.

Totally agree about Three Men in a Boat and disagree with the Unlikely Voyage of Harold Fry, the ending is so bleak. (Or perhaps I was not in the right place when I read it).

I've just read The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. A brilliant book, I really enjoyed it.

Not Spaghetti
I loved Miss Bensons Beetle

You Are Here - David Nicholls

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell.

Aveline

I dont know. I used to like Miss Read but on reading one recently I just found it irritating. Try DH Stevenson? The Mrs Tim series is fun. Very much of its time of course.
EM Delafield is terrific too especially her 'Diary of a Provincial Lady' series.

That’s interesting because I re-read all the Thrush Green series and enjoyed them but started the Fairacre ones and found them a bit tedious.
There are lots of great suggestions here, some of which I haven’t read, so thankyou. I find I’m less and less keen on my previous diet of thrillers, police procedurals etc. I think maybe because the world is in such a state I’m seeking escapism of a different sort?