Bookclub! 5 Uplifting Books That Are Actually Really Good
For when a beach read just won't cut it.
There’s great skill in writing a book that’s both uplifting and, well, good. With just a few cheesy lines, an unsurprising twist or a poorly drawn character, you can quickly find yourself in beach-read – or worse, airport read – territory. It’s the difference between a novel you keep forever and one you’ll happily pass on in your next spring clean.
So, when you come across the rare gem that is both uplifting, beautifully written and actually says something, it’s a special moment.
In the first edition of Bookclub! I’m sharing the reads I turn to whenever my soul needs soothing.
Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
Set mid-pandemic on a cherry farm in Michigan, Ann Patchett’s latest tells a beautiful and moving story about love in many forms. As Lara spends her days picking cherries with her three daughters, she spills the tea on her relationship with Peter Duke, the Oscar-winning actor who she dated in her youth. But as Lara’s story begins to deviate from her daughters’ understanding of the events, Patchett starts to tell a deeper narrative – one about children and their parents, about what truths we are owed, about our failure to believe those who raised us might have had lives before we came along.
With its shimmering setting that shifts between present and past, Tom Lake is a sweet, peaceful and romantic story that’ll stay with you, in the very best way.
Still Life, by Sarah Winman
The premise of Still Life hooked me immediately – we’re in Tuscany, during a war, drinking wine. We have a 60-something-year-old art historian and a young English soldier who meet under surprising circumstances and discuss art and life and love. It’s a meeting that will change the course of their lives over four decades.
The style took some getting used to – no quote marks, loads of dialogue, enough characters to require a key – but once I relaxed into Winman’s approach and embraced the quirkier aspects of the story, I was swept away.
Still Life hums with originality and warmth, imbuing everyday experiences with profound meaning. There’s also a talking parrot, which still baffles me, and a character who can communicate with trees. But there’s enough laughter and wisdom and glorious meditations on beauty to keep you turning the pages.
Yeah, it’s strange. But it’s also worth it.
Love Stories, by Trent Dalton
Trent Dalton is just a man, standing in front of a stranger, asking them to tell him a love story. In this collection of stories from one of Australia’s most beloved journalists and novelists (Boy Swallows Universe, Lola in the Mirror), love takes center stage – romantic, platonic, life-long and fleeting.
Dalton spent two months on a Brisbane street corner with a sign: ‘Sentimental writer collecting love stories. Do you have one to share?’ The book chronicles the experiences that led him to this spot, with his sky-blue 1960s Olivetti typewriter, asking strangers to pour their hearts out. Oh, and their stories are in there, too. Big and small. Quiet and loud.
If you’re a fan of the NY Times’ Modern Love column, or just a fan of love, this beautiful and enriching book will give you all the feels.
A Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller
One of my all-time favourite books by American novelist Madeline Miller, A Song of Achilles is a provocative re-telling of the relationship between Achilles and Patrolus, from their childhood through to the Trojan War. If you’ve seen the movie Troy, it’s kinda like that, but with an intoxicating queer love story and a lot more class.
Miller wrote this book over 10 years while working as a Latin and Greek teacher, and you can tell. The prose is tight, the characters are richly drawn and nuanced, and the narrative is perfectly paced.
It is sad, I’m not gonna lie. But it’s also uplifting, evocative and gently edifying. I have recommended this book to so many people and I have yet to receive a bad review.
Hello, Beautiful, by Ann Napolitano
While we’re on the topic of sad but sensational reads… Hello, Beautiful. Oof, this achingly generous novel got me right in the heart.
William Walter is weighed down by childhood trauma when he meets the beautiful and ambitious Julia, the eldest of the four Padavano daughters. Swept into their chaotic but loving family, he sees a glimmer of what might be happiness. Along with Julia comes her sisters; romantic Sylvie dreams of a love story like the ones in the books she’s always buried in, while Cecelia is the artist, and her twin Emmeline, the family’s glue.
But Julia has mapped out their future with a brittle 10-year plan, the kind of life she wants, the kind of husband she desires. And when William’s repressed trauma starts to bubble to the surface, Julia struggles to understand, and the resulting events create a chasm between the sisters that will change them all forever.
This is a book about loyalty, sacrifice, betrayal and forgiveness; it’s about the price of love, and the lengths we are willing to go to keep it.