I hope you get lots of suggestions! My post this week was all about ghost stories, so some of them might appeal to your love of the paranormal.

My TTT .

I am all about the light and breezy. I love sap and cheese. Romcoms and small town romances also do well by me. Glad you all are safe and doing well. I am staying indoors as much as possible. I had to go out twice for medication for my parents, but that's it!

Here are some books that I think are fun, heartwarming, humorous and entertaining: My Mrs. Brown, Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure, Miss Buncle's book, Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper, Sixteen Brides, and Married with Zombies (which is more about the couple's relationship than the zombies and totally made me laugh.) Hope you find something good to read! :)

Okay. I'm simply going off the top of my head here:

- Jenny Lawson's books may be something for you. They're hilarious at times, but also serious-ish since it tackled her mental illnesses as well. I only read Furiously Happy but it made me laugh and tear up [like, simultaneously and separately].

As for ghost stories.. I don't know how old your kids are, but Victoria Schwab's MG horror books were an amazing read to me - and might be for your kids and yourself as well? Maybe a fun activity to do together even. Tunnel of Bones is the first book in the series - the second one is out as well.

Uhmuhm.. *checking my shelves*

Sophie Kinsella has some fluffy books that aren't too heavy and without the smut - as far as I remember. It's been a while.

Aaand Circe by Madeline Miller. Historical Fiction but it's amazingly feminist and beautifully written too.

Hope it helps you out a bit, haha.

Some that I think fit the bill:
The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek (mystery/thriller with some humor)
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (I suppose it could be classified as high fantasy, but it's written for kids, is infused with humor, and really meets #5 on your list)
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Harcastle (it is a little dark, but brilliant in how the mystery all works out)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (fits #s 1 & 6 at the very least)

I tried to find some to recommend that weren't already on my list for the week, but darn it, they're all on the list for a reason.

My TTT

I like a wide range of genre's too. https://pmprescott.blogspot.com/2020/03/ttt-032420.html

The Tea Chest by Josephine Moon. Fits "Light, entertaining stories that still have substance" and "Women's fiction that's heartwarming without being cheesy or sappy." Chick-lit isn't usually my cup of tea (pun intended!), but the promised aesthetic of a tea shop drew me in, and the feminism kept me there. This book is a lovely comfort read and absolutely delivered on the tea vibe. I loved how the women dealt with their own issues but also built a safety net among themselves over the course of the story. There was more depth and complexity than I expected, and Moon did a great job of promoting healthy relationships and demonstrating what they do and don't look like.

The Eight by Katherine Neville. Fits "Action/adventure." With FEMALE protagonists, who have agency and get things done. (Don't bother with the sequel.)

For en engrossing mystery I'd always recommend an Agatha Christie. I've only read a few so far but have really enjoyed them. I don't read memoirs/autbiographies much but I did like A Street Cat Named Bob (though I'm biased because I love cats!).

I recently enjoyed Ayesha at Last and For Darkness Shows the Stars, two quite different Austen retellings. Deathless Divide was eerily appropriate to the current situation. The Light in Hidden Places hits a bit close to home, too, but it's supposed to end with hope. We'll see.

Well, I was going to suggest Vivien Chien's Noodle Shop Mysteries, but I see you're already reading those! :D On the rom-com side of things, I really enjoyed Ashley Poston's Geekerella, though I'm not sure if you've read that one yet or not.

RaeAnne Thayne is always a safe bet - especially her Haven Point series. As for cozies have you tried anything by Ellie Alexander? I love her! Also Jennifer Ashley has a great historical mystery series. And anything by Agatha Christie or Patricia Wentworth (except Grey Mask - it's only meh) And I can't remember if you've read any Jenny Colgan or Hazel Gaynor. Both are fabulous. Good luck and I can't wait to see what you end up reading.

I want to recommend one of my favorite books "that nobody has ever heard of and I don't know why." It's a Pete Dexter book called "Spooner" that was published in 2009.

I fell in love with the book's first paragraph:

"Spooner was born a few minutes previous to daybreak in the historic , honeysuckled little town of Milledgeville, Georgia, in a makeshift delivery room put together in the waiting area of the medical offices of Dr. Emil Woods, across the street from and approximately in the crosshairs of a cluster of Confederate artillery pieces guarding the dog-spotted front lawn of the Greene Street Sons of the Confederacy Retirement Home. It was the first Saturday of December 1956, and the old folks' home was on fire."

It's a weirdly, funny, tragic book. Get a load of the opening sentence of the second chapter:

"Due to problems of tone and syntax, not to mention good taste (how, after all are you supposed to fit a regular baby and a dead one into the same paragraph without ruining it for them both?), Spooner's birth was left out of society editor Dixie Ander's regular weekly account of local comings and goings in the Miledgeville World Telegraph, and the birth certificate itself was subsequently tossed by Miss Ander's unmarried first cousin, Charlotte Memms, who at this point in her career had worked without oversight or supervision for thirty-six years in the Baldwin County Office of Registrations and Certificates, filing and discarding documents as she saw fit."

This one is not for everyone, but I think Pete Dexter is a genius and that this proves it.

Here's the author blurb Dexter wrote for the book cover:

"Pete Dexter began his working life in a U.S. post office in New Orleans, Louisiana. He wasn't very good at handling mail and quit, then caught on as a newspaper reporter in Florida, which he was also not very good at. He got married, and was not very good at that either. In Philadelphia he became a newspaper columnist, which he was pretty good at, and got divorced, which you would have to say he was good at because it cost only three hundred dollars. Dexter remarried, won the National Book Award, and built a house in the desert so remote that it has no postal service. He's out there six months a year, pecking away at the typewriter, living proof of the adage 'What goes around comes around' - that is, you quit the post office, pal, and the post office quits you."

Pete is now 76 years old, and he is one of my very favorite authors.

I will always suggest Becoming when it comes to memoirs. Love that book!

As for light and fun, the first two that popped into my head were two graphic novels: Pumpkinheads and The Tea Dragon Society. They were both so cute and fun and touching!

Anne Tyler is one of my all-time favorite women's fiction authors. Have you read her? I especially love her book Accidental Tourist.

Glad to hear you guys were able to get out for a bit! It's been storming or raining every day here, so being stuck inside is a little extra depressing lol.

Oh oh oh, I've got the perfect one! The House in the Cerulean Sea, if you haven't read it yet. It's fantasy, but on the lighter end. M/M background romance. Mostly comedy with an older protagonist, some kids you will absolutely fall in love with, and a positive and inspiring message! I read an ARC and plan on buying myself a copy because I loved it so much. I definitely recommend it as a "pick up your spirits" sort of read. :3

Ok...this is fun!!! (I’m having difficulty commenting...if this is a duplicate please delete)

Light, entertaining stories that still have substance:

Inspiring biographies/memoirs
* (Fun but probably not inspiring) Talking As Fast as I can by Lauren Graham (if you are a fan of GG or Parenthood)
* (mostly light) Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
* 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Easy, breezy romcoms
* (this is all I got!) What You Wish For by Katherine Center

Family sagas
* Eden by Jeanne Blasberg
* Hard Cider by Barbara Nemon
* A Place For Us by Fatima Mirza
* Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Action/adventure/survival stories
* The River by Peter Heller

Women's fiction that's heartwarming
* Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schafer
* Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor/Heather Webb
* Hurricane Season by Lauren Denton
* Looking For Me by Beth Hoffman
* This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagán
* The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay
* Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson

Cozy Mysteries
* Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny

Humor
* Things MY Son Needs to Know About the World by Fredrik Backman

Sweet/small-town romance
* How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry
* Glory Road by Lauren Denton
* Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center
* The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
* Late Bloomer’s Club by Louise Miller
* Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

Haunted house/ghost stories
* (gentle ghost) The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Miao

Overall feel good, cozy, gentle reads:
No 1 Ladies: Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

I'm currently reading Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin, and it's so funny! There is a more serious side to it. It's loosely based on the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and I've heard it gets a bit deeper toward the end.

I can't remember if you've read Royal Holiday, which was fun and light.

A couple that spring to mind for me are The Shark Club

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/546283/the-shark-club-by-ann-kidd-taylor/

as well as Eight Hundred Grapes.

I love both of them.

For small town romance on the lighter side, I would recommend Annie Rains. Her Sweetwater Springs series sounds right up your alley.

Have you read The Flatshare? Family Sagas--I know lots of good older ones from the 1950s tto 1980s--Taylor Caldwell or Herman Wouk or RF Delderfeild. I'm not fully awake yet (working at home) but I review all the books I like on my blog.

If you're looking for a cute fluffy romance, I highly suggest Tweet Cute by Emma Lord! It's a fun and light romance about two teens who run the social media accounts for rivaling burger chains, and eventually fall in love

Look at how many suggestions you received! You'll be reading for a long time on these. Comforts reads on my blog today. And I started a new book on my Kindle - yay! It's going well.

Easy, breezy romcoms--those are SO my speed! I've been reading a lot of those lately!

I am glad you all got a chance to enjoy the nice weather and that friend time ended up being part of it. My girls were more eager to go places at the beginning, but now that this is dragging on and the numbers are rising, I they like to stick close to home. It is such a scary thing right now, but keeping God front and center and leaning on Him to get us through.

Thanks for visiting my blog. I am glad you found some uplifting and inspiring reads there. I love Karen White's books. I have two here I still need to read.

Praying you all stay safe and healthy.

Hallo, Hallo Susan,

It has been such a long while since I've been able to visit with the book bloggers I enjoy reading and sharing my bookish life with - I definitely agree with you about Erotica; especially as sometimes I find Contemporary Romance authors are pushing the limits on the mainstream side of it and trying to be a bit more "e" if you know what I mean? I mention this on my blog as I prefer traditional Romance (Contemporary, Historical, time slip/travel, etc) as much as I love INSPY Romance, too.

I'll have to give a good think about your choices in genres as I generally have quite a few I can share to recommend. My mind/heart hasn't been on blogging or visiting lately.. we're the family w/o the means to stock up on supplies so each week we can budget in our shopping we're having to call round the stores to see who has the toilet paper deliveries and who doesn't; plus the food shortages are making for interesting scavanger hunts!

Mind, my parents were both in the ER this March as we had some medical emergencies (not related to the current crisis) - in a nutshell, I've felt overwhelmed. I have some lovely comments I need to respond to on my blog this week, too. However, I saw someone came from your blog to mine today - just wanted to say if it was you, *thank you!* for visiting with me.

I look forward to reading through your current posts and offering a better comment than this one tonight. I just wanted to reach out and say "Hallo" - appreciated the top anchour of this TTT and look forward to resuming mine in April as I just dropped the ball to be honest.

Glad you and yours are doing well. Here's to things getting better all the way round for us all. Without prayer I'd be lost -- sending a bit of friendship and positive thoughts in this note.

Glad you and yours are doing well Susan. I am checking out many of these recommendations as well. If you want something light, I enjoyed Bruce Cameron's Dog's Way series. There are three I think.

Insights From a Prophet’s Life, Conviction, The Beantown Girls, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Marina,The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, anything by Elizabeth Peters!