Feel Good Reads
American humourist P.J. O'Rourke once said, "Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it." But sometimes we simply feel like reading something other than all those worthy and impressive literary award winners - something lighter but still well-written, something wonderfully witty which makes us laugh out loud, or maybe just a cracking good adventure. So for all of you who wander in and tell us that you're looking for something different to read, but you don't really know what you want; or who need something for a friend in hospital; or a book to take on holiday; or just something to escape from the grimness of the nightly news - we are delighted to present a new area in our bookshop entitled "Feel-Good Reads."
Titles include both fiction and non-fiction options - beloved classics from P.G. Wodehouse, Barbara Pym, and Nancy Mitford; hilarious travel narratives from Bill Bryson; amusing essays from David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs; modern Australian classics from John Clarke, Shane Maloney, and Thea Astley; plus many more from Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions to Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole series; from Alexander McCall-Smith's warm and witty Scottish tales to Paul Carter's gripping and often hilarious true-life adventures.
We will also be promoting Feel-Good Friday where we will feature a chosen title from these shelves and posting on facebook, twitter and instagram so keep an eye out for your next great read.
The Sparkle Pages by Meg Bignell
$32.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
'Is marriage just a series of texts about where the children are and whether we need milk until one of you dies?? Susannah Parks - wife, mother, cleaner of surfaces and runner of household - is a viola virtuoso. Except she hasn't picked up a viola for over a decade. She has, however, picked up a lot o ...Show more
Paris and Other Disappointments by Adam Rozenbachs
$34.99 AUD
Category: Travel Writing | Reading Level: 4 Non Fiction
Sick of going overseas and enjoying himself, comedian Adam Rozenbachs decided he should take his father on the trip of a lifetime to Europe. For his dad, it was a chance to return to the place he hasn't seen fleeing post-war Germany as an immigrant. For Adam, it was a chance to repay his dad for everyth ...Show more
The Life And Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid: Travels Through my Childhood by Bill Bryson
$24.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Non-fiction | Series: Bryson
"Bill Bryson's first travel book opened with the immortal line, I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.' In this deeply funny and personal memoir, he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was, in the curious world of 1950s Middle America. It was a happy time, when almost everything w ...Show more
A Dream of Italy by Nicky Pellegrino
$29.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
Here is your chance to buy your own home in southern Italy for less than the price of a cup of coffee. The picturesque mountain town of Montenello is selling off some of its historic buildings for just one euro each. To be considered as a future resident of Montenello contact the town's mayor, Salvio Va ...Show more
Adults by Emma Jane Unsworth
$29.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction | Reading Level: very good
'DAZZLING' Marian Keyes, 'HILARIOUS' Dolly Alderton, 'TENDER' Jessie Burton, 'MAGNIFICENT' Daisy Buchanan, 'INCREDIBLE' Candice Carty Williams, 'MOVING' Laura Jane Williams, 'BRILLIANT' Nikesh Shukla, 'I LOVED IT' Sam Baker, 'PAINFULLY TRUE' Kate Davies Jenny is unloved, unemployable and emotionally unf ...Show more
Goodbye to All Cats (Wodehouse Pick-Me-Up) by P. G. Wodehouse
$12.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
'Wodehouse is a tonic' - New Yorker. A Wodehouse pick-me-up that'll lift your spirits, whatever your mood. Cheaper and more effective than Valium'.* Offers 'relief from anxiety, raginess or an afternoon-long tendency towards the sour'.* 'Read when you're well and when you're poorly; when you're tra ...Show more
The Last Four Days of Paddy Buckley: A Novel by Jeremy Massey
$22.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
A dark and unexpected novel about a Dublin undertaker who finds himself on the wrong side of the Irish mob. Paddy Buckley is a grieving widower who has worked for years for Gallagher's, a long-established--some say the best--funeral home in Dublin. One night driving home after an unexpected encounte ...Show more
The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker by Joanna Nell
$32.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction | Reading Level: very good
A poignant ode to love and the memories that make a well-lived life, from the author of THE SINGLE LADIES OF JACARANDA RETIREMENT VILLAGE As the wife of retired ship's doctor Dr Henry Parker, Evelyn is living out her twilight years aboard the Golden Sunset. Every night she dresses for dinner - gown, tia ...Show more
The Origin of Me by Bernard Gallate
$32.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
Lincoln Locke's fifteen-year-old life is turned upside down when he's thrust into bachelor-pad living with his dad, after his parents' marriage breaks up, and into an exclusive new school. Crestfield Academy offers him a new set of peers - the creme de la creme of gifted individuals, who also happen to ...Show more
The Secret Life of Shirley Sullivan by Lisa Ireland
$32.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
'An endearing novel about one gutsy, smart and inspirational woman. I want to be Shirley when I grow up.' Rachael Johns 'Elderly. Is that how the world sees me? A helpless little old lady? If only they knew. I allow myself a small smirk.' When Shirley Sullivan signs her 83-year-old husband, Frank, out o ...Show more
Bridge Burning and Other Hobbies by Kitty Flanagan
$19.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Non-fiction
Kitty Flanagan has been locked in an industrial freezer in Western Australia, insulted about the size of her lady parts in Singapore and borne witness to the world's most successful wife swap in suburban Sydney. It's these valuable lessons from The University of Life that have taught her so many things, ...Show more
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
$32.99 AUD
Category: Feel Good Fiction
From the author of Lily and the Octopus comes a moving and deeply funny novel about a once-famous sitcom star who is left to care for his niece and nephew after an unexpected family tragedy. Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he ...Show more