“We should always make time for the things we like. If we don’t, we might forget how to be happy.”
Sometimes reading books provides the uplifting escape from life we all need from time to time. Whether it’s destressing from work or overcoming anxiety, light and easy books provide solace and comfort in a way no other medium can. These stories have the power to make us laugh and warm our hearts to provide a quick enough fix to carry on when things seem hard or uncertain. So, if you’re looking for a nice light book, What We Reading has you covered with the best books for light reading. These easy reads have all been selected on the back of being quick-to-hook reads, all things funny and heartwarming and provide an uplifting and smart happy ending that resonates with you long after you’ve closed the final chapter.
The Flatshare (The Flatshare #1) – Beth O’Leary
Starting off our list of books for light reading is Beth O’Leary’s Flatshare series. Tiffy Moore is in desperate need of a cheap flat. Leon Twomey works long nights and needs cash. Their friends might think they’re crazy, but they seem to have stumbled upon the ideal solution: Leon has dominion over the flat during the day whilst Tiffy is at work, whilst she has it the rest of the time.
The pair share a bed and a flat but have never met. Yet, with obsessive exes, demanding clients, wrongly imprisoned brothers and the fact that they have still never seen each other in the flesh, Tiffy and Leon soon learn that building the perfect home involves throwing out the rulebook. The Flatshare is a charming contemporary romance tale following these two characters as they fall in love via the notes and messages they leave for one another.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Flatshare
The House In The Cerulean Sea (The House In The Cerulean Sea #1) – T.J. Klune
A Goodreads Choice Award-nominated book for Best Fantasy, T.J. Klune’s The House In The Cerulean Sea is a story of a magical island, a dangerous task and a burning secret. Linus Baker leads a quiet, isolated existence. Now aged forty, he lives in a tiny house with his devious cat, and old record collection and oversees the welfare of magical children in orphanages.
One day, he is unexpectedly given the task of travelling to Marsyas Island Orphanage and assessing whether six especially dangerous children might be about to bring about the end of days. A gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, a were-Pomeranian, a green blob and the literal Antichrist – all protected by the enigmatic Arthur Parnassus. This enchanting tale is one of the best books for an uplifting look at finding family and how it can be discovered in the most unexpected places. Imaginative and bright, it’s the perfect light read for a quick spirit lift!
Check Out The Best Books Like The House In The Cerulean Sea
The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo (Reidverse) – Taylor Jenkins Reid
No one is more surprised to be asked to report the life of Evelyn Hugo than Monique Grant. After all, her husband has left her and her professional life is going nowhere fast. Nevertheless, she is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career and arrives at Evelyn’s luxurious apartment.
In Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo, readers are whisked across Los Angeles in the 1950s and, through Monique, experience the fascinating story of Evelyn’s life. Through her tales of ruthless ambitions, unexpected friendships, forbidden love and seven husbands, Monique begins to strike up a profound connection with the ageing Hollywood icon. Yet, as her story draws to a close, she soon realizes that their lives intertwine in tragic and irreversible ways. Light and easy to read, Jenkins Reid’s book is a life-affirming and addictive page-turner.
Josh And Hazel’s Guide To Not Dating – Christina Lauren
Another one of the best books for light reading, Christina Lauren’s Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating is a delightful good friends-to-lovers romance tale. Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot for guys to handle. She has an army of pets, an eye for the absurd and a tendency to allow her lack of a filter to ruin a delicate moment.
Josh Im has known Hazel since college and has always viewed her as more of a spectacle than a compatible partner. From the first night they met when she unceremoniously threw up on his shoes to the incoherent email she delivered in a post-surgical haze, her playfulness is the complete opposite of his mellow calm. Yet, ten years on from being cheated on, going out with her seems to be a breath of fresh air. Not that the pair are dating. At least, not each other. Because the two of them setting each other up on progressively more outlandish double dates couldn’t ever lead to anything blossoming between them, right?
A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman
Another one of the most charming and life-affirming books for light reading, Fredrik Backman introduces readers to a grumpy, routine, and principled old man called Ove. Described as ‘the bitter neighbour from hell’, his crankiness and short fuse are renowned across his neighbourhood. Yet, underneath his stiff exterior lies a story and a sadness.
One November a chatty young couple and their two chatty daughters move in next door. One flattened letterbox then kicks into life a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats and the most unexpected friendships. All of which soon begin to change this one grumpy old man and a resident associate to their collective cores.
Check Out The Best Books Like A Man Called Ove
Evvie Drake Starts Over – Linda Holmes
In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth ‘Evvie’ Drake hardly ever leaves her large and painfully empty house. A year after her husband’s death, everyone in the town, including her best friend, Andy, assumes it is the grief keeping her locked inside. Meanwhile, in New York City, former MLB star Dean Tenney is in a serious sporting slump that he can’t seem to shake.
Invited to get away from the hustle of NYC by Andy, Dean moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house. The pair make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s husband, and she won’t inquire about his baseball career. Rules tend to be broken, however. Linda Holmes’ debut novel Evvie Drake Starts Over is a light and easy romance book that presents an uplifting story of two people starting over after two major setbacks. Heartwarming and inspiring, it is one of the best perfect books for light reading.
What Alice Forgot – Liane Moriarty
Alice Love is twenty-nine years old, devoutly in love with her husband and pregnant with her first child. She discovers that she is actually thirty-nine, divorced and with three kids when she comes around on the floor of the gym all the more shocking. This is the premise set up by Liane Moriarty in her profoundly thought-provoking and emotional 2009 book, What Alice Forgot.
Readers follow Alice as she is forced to reconstruct everything she has forgotten over the past decade, and whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. Most of all this light book is about Alice discovering whether forgetting in the first place is a blessing or a curse, and whether it is ever truly possible to start from scratch.
My Sister, The Serial Killer – Oyinkan Braithwaite
Despite what the premise and title might suggest, Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, The Serial Killer is an easy dark comedy thriller and one of the best books for light reading. The story follows two sisters, Korede and Ayoola. When Korede’s dinner is interrupted one evening by a call from her sister, she knows what is expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves and a strong stomach.
This latest call is the third boyfriend Ayoola has brutally dispatched, leaving Korede to attend to. For the good of the menfolk in their native Nigeria, Korede knows that she should probably alert the police to her lethal little sibling. But, family comes first. That is until Ayoola begins dating the doctor at Korede’s workplace whom she has always been in love with. Determined not to see the man wind up with a knife in his back, she is forced into a painful conundrum where saving one means condemning the other.
Wanderlost – Jen Malone
Looking for the perfect lighthearted book with a travel theme? Jen Malone’s Wanderlost is a must-read. Aubree Sadler cannot picture a better place to be than boring Ohio, and she’s all set for the perfect summer. But, when her sister gets into serious trouble, she is forced to take on her job leading a group of senior citizens on a whirlwind trip through Europe.
The group don’t even make it to their first stop before her perfect plan is upended. She finds herself still masquerading as her sister with no phone, no facts and the surprise guest of the company owner’s son, Sam. She knows this is far from the ideal time but, against a backdrop of Europe’s most romantic hotspots, her and Sam’s connection soon blossoms into something far more than they could have ever imagined. A coming-of-age road trip, Wanderlost’s premise may be over-the-top, but it serves as one of the best escape reads going.
The Worst Best Man – Mia Sosa
Fun, flirty and one of the best rom-com books for light reading, The Worst Best Man is the bestselling 2020 romance book by Mia Sosa. Wedding planner Carolina ‘Lina’ Santos was left on the altar at her wedding, the irony of which isn’t lost on her. Thankfully, she has been offered an opportunity that could change her life. The only problem? She has to work with the best man from her failed nuptials.
Max Hartley is determined to further his career until he discovers that involves collaborating with his brother’s ex-fiancée. Who cannot stand him for his part in convincing his brother to jilt Lina. But, working together without killing each other is needed for both their sakes and soon they discover that it might not be just their shared animosity that is creating sparks between them.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
