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Reading to Ease Your Mind & Spirit

Adult - What We're Reading | May 1, 2025

  • Give your mind and spirits a lift in May, Mental Health Awareness month: Pick up a work of feel-good fiction, memoir, or self-care. If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available: Call or text 988 for free, confidential support.

Gentle & Feel-Good Fiction

  • Front cover of The Reading List, an illustrations of colorful books falling against a yellow background

    The Reading List / Sara Nisha Adams
    A shared list of beloved library books forges an unlikely friendship between a lonely widower and a teen library clerk in this heartfelt tale about connection and grief.

  • Front cover of Meet Me at the Lake: an illustration of two people atop a lighthouse, looking out at the sunset

    Meet Me at the Lake / Carley Fortune
    A tender second-chance romance unfolds between two people bound by one unforgettable day, revisited years later as they confront the past and dream of more.

  • Front cover of Elinor Oliphant, an illustration of a woman standing, showing her neck to her legs. She's wearing an orange shirt and brown skirt; her arms are crossed in front of her. She has brown hair, barely visible, to her shoulders.

    Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine / Gail Honeyman
    A quirky, socially awkward woman’s tightly structured life begins to unravel in unexpectedly healing ways after a random act of kindness.

  • Front cover of The House in the Cerulean Sea: a colorful illustration of a brick manor house perched on the edge of a cliff

    The House in the Cerulean Sea / TJ Klune
    A warm-hearted fantasy about a caseworker who discovers a magical orphanage that changes his life. Filled with kindness, whimsy, and found family.

  • Front cover of The Authenticity Project: an illustration of a woman with short black hair and wearing dark reading classes holding up a book to read

    The Authenticity Project / Clare Pooley
    A found notebook filled with one man’s truths sets off a ripple effect among strangers who open up, connect, and transform their lives through honesty and vulnerability.

  • Front cover of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill showing an illustration of a red-haired woman in blue eyeglasses, holding a book and reading it, one eyebrow arched

    The Bookish Life of Nina Hill / Abbi Waxman
    A trivia-loving introvert’s quiet life is upended when she discovers she has a sprawling new family, forcing her out of her comfort zone and into community.

Memoirs & Essays on Healing

  • Front cover of Everything Happens for a Reason

    Everything Happens for a Reason / Kate Bowler
    A theologian facing terminal cancer examines the myths we tell ourselves about suffering and invites readers into her quest for meaning and grace.

  • Front cover of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone showing a yellow tissue box against a blue background

    Maybe You Should Talk to Someone / Lori Gottlieb
    A therapist shares stories from her practice and her own life as she seeks therapy herself, revealing the humanity and humor in healing.

  • Front cover of I'm Glad My Mom Died showing a picture of the author, holding a pink urn and smiling

    I’m Glad My Mom Died / Jennette McCurdy
    A darkly funny and moving memoir about child stardom, abuse, and reclaiming identity after a complex and painful mother-daughter relationship.

  • Front cover of Tiny Beautiful Things showing a single cube of sugar

    Tiny Beautiful Things / Cheryl Strayed
    A collection of raw, compassionate, and profound advice columns that delve into life’s messiest questions with honesty and heart.

Self-Care & Wellness

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