The best books for when you’re feeling your worst

Why am I passionate about this?

I have bad days. At times there have been a lot of bad days. I’m alone, caring for someone, working, scooping the cat box, and mopping the floors. Sometimes it can all feel a little sad and hopeless, like I am alone in the world. Stories are where I go when I’m happy. When I want adventure, mystery, or romance. But they are mostly where I go when I want to feel like I’m not the only one who feels this way sometimes. I can see that it’s not just me. I’m not alone.


I wrote...

We Were Beautiful

By Heather Hepler,

Book cover of We Were Beautiful

What is my book about?

It’s been a year since fifteen-year-old Mia Hopkins was in the car crash that killed her older sister and left her terribly scarred. The doctors tell her she was lucky to survive. Her therapist says it will take time to heal. The police reports claim there were trace amounts of alcohol in her bloodstream.

But no matter how much she tries to reconstruct the events of that fateful night, Mia’s memory is spotty at best. She’s left with accusations, rumors, and guilt so powerful it could consume her.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Heather Hepler Why did I love this book?

Eleanor is completely relatable to me on my worst days. She’s neurotic and judgmental and favors predictability.

Reading this made me feel a little less bad about myself when all I do is lie on the couch and read and eat cookies for dinner. It also helped me to see that sometimes all you need is one person to love you for everything to change.

By Gail Honeyman,

Why should I read it?

24 authors picked Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick

"Beautifully written and incredibly funny, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is about the importance of friendship and human connection. I fell in love with Eleanor, an eccentric and regimented loner whose life beautifully unfolds after a chance encounter with a stranger; I think you will fall in love, too!" -Reese Witherspoon

No one's ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of…


Book cover of The Midnight Library

Heather Hepler Why did I love this book?

I often lie awake at night wondering what my life would be like if I had married my college boyfriend, kept swimming in college, moved to France, or became a professional pastry chef. In the wee hours of the night, all of these things seem like they would lead to a better path than I’m on now.

This book made me see that every choice is just that, one choice, but it’s one that leads to another and another. Some are good, and some aren’t, but it doesn’t help to lie awake staring at my ceiling and wishing it could be different. 

By Matt Haig,

Why should I read it?

35 authors picked The Midnight Library as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year

"A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."-The Washington Post

The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of…


Book cover of The Reading List

Heather Hepler Why did I love this book?

I’ve always believed that reading can change the world, or at least my part of it. This book proved this to me as it wove seemingly unconnected lives together. Grief, anger, sadness, and loneliness all fall away when they begin reading and talking about the stories.

This book reminded me of sitting on the floor at the back of my town’s library. It reminded me of what it’s like to travel across time and around the world with just a book spread out on my lap. 

By Sara Nisha Adams,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Reading List as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*A finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Fiction, discover this year's most uplifting and heart-warming debut*

'Absolutely gorgeous' RUTH WARE
'The most heartfelt read of the summer' SHONDALAND
'A joyful, uplifting read!' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
'A captivating debut' HEIDI SWAIN

_________________________________________________________________

A faded list.
Nine favourite stories.
For two strangers, friendship is only a page away . . .

When Mukesh Patel pops to the local library, forgoing his routine of grocery shopping and David Attenborough documentaries, he has no idea his life's about to change.

He meets Aleisha, a reluctant librarian and the keeper of a curious reading list…


Book cover of The Language of Flowers

Heather Hepler Why did I love this book?

I love the idea that there is someone out there who perfectly understands you. Even when I’m cranky, or when I’m making references to obscure bands, or when I’m not making a lot of sense, but I am clearly emotional.

This book introduced me to two people who love each other but can’t communicate well except through flowers. 

By Vanessa Diffenbaugh,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Language of Flowers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A flower is not a flower alone; A thousand thoughts invest it'

All over the world, flowers are an integral part of human culture whether it is the perfect table centre for a wedding, a beautiful bouquet for a birthday, a message of thanks, or to pay one's respect at a funeral. But, while everyone knows that red roses signify love, few may realise that an entire language of flowers exists with every bloom, folliage and plant having a particular emotion attached, be it hazel for reconcilliation, wisteria for welcome or ivy for fidelity. This unique language was created by…


Book cover of The Wonder

Heather Hepler Why did I love this book?

I can be cynical. I can refuse to see the miraculous even when it’s right in front of me. I don’t want to be like this, but I’m a skeptic. But what if I let myself believe something surprising, beautiful, and impossible?

This book made me want to believe in miracles, prayer, faith, and one person’s ability to change everything. 

By Emma Donoghue,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Wonder as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now a Netflix film starring Florence Pugh: In this “old-school page turner” (Stephen King, New York Times Book Review) by the bestselling author of Room, an English nurse is brought to a small Irish village to observe what appears to be a miracle—a girl said to have survived without food for months—and soon finds herself fighting to save the child's life.

Tourists flock to the cabin of eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell, who believes herself to be living off manna from heaven, and a journalist is sent to cover the sensation. Lib Wright, a veteran of Florence Nightingale's Crimean campaign, is hired…


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The Midnight Man

By Julie Anderson,

Book cover of The Midnight Man

Julie Anderson Author Of Opera

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author History nut Europhile Artist London lover

Julie's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

A historical thriller set in south London just after World War II, as Britain returns to civilian life and the men return home from the fight, causing the women to leave their wartime roles. The South London Hospital for Women and Children is a hospital, (based on a real place) run by women for women and must make adjustments of its own. As austerity bites, the coldest Winter then on record makes life grim. Then a young nurse goes missing.

Days later, her body is found behind a locked door, and two women from the hospital, unimpressed by the police response, decide to investigate. Highly atmospheric and evocative of a distinct period and place.

The Midnight Man

By Julie Anderson,

What is this book about?

BEWARE THE DARKNESS BENEATH

Winter 1946

One cold dark night, as a devastated London shivers through the transition to post-war life, a young nurse goes missing from the South London Hospital for Women & Children. Her body is discovered hours later behind a locked door.

Two women from the hospital join forces to investigate the case. Determined not to return to the futures laid out for them before the war, the unlikely sleuths must face their own demons and dilemmas as they pursue - The Midnight Man.

‘A mystery that evokes the period – and a recovering London – in…


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