10 Crowd-Pleasing Books That Are Easy to Love

If you’re looking for creative storytelling that’s easy on the eye and stimulates the senses, look no further than Taylor Jenkins Reid’s MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE. One fateful night at an LA bar, our protagonist Hannah Martin is out with her friend and new roommate, Gabby, when the two meet up with Hannah’s old boyfriend Ethan. As a fun night comes to a close, Hannah has a decision to make: head back to the apartment with Gabby or take up Ethan’s offer and catch a ride with him. Little does she know both decisions come with drastically different outcomes, as the reader learns when Reid follows each story line to its own conclusion. Destiny, love, and tough decisions make this book oh so compelling and easy to fall for.

Written under a pen name, this work of fiction is composed in the style of a journal from an unforgettable character named, well, Hendrik Groen. Hendrik is a self-proclaimed “inmate” of an Amsterdam nursing home, where he spends his days almost bored to death. As a means of entertaining readers, but more so to capture his complaints and frustrations with the other residents, Hendrik begins a daily journal. Exploring his own past and misadventures, Hendrik eventually documents the arrival of Eefje, a new resident who triggers a will to live that had long been dormant. The two, along with a group of wily seniors, begin to take life into their own hands, organizing a club to experience all manner of activities that give readers a glimpse at the senior care system and a ton of laughs along the way. Exposing a unique segment of our society, THE SECRET DIARY OF HENDRIK GROEN, 83¼ YEARS OLD is the perfectly lovable companion for any down day.

Is there anything better than a natural storyteller? It’s the reason we pick up books in the first place, and Isabel Allende’s EVA LUNA is the ultimate example of “easy to love.” Eva Luna was conceived in an act of salvation and named Eva “so she will love life.” But, as she soon finds out in a South American country, life can be complex. Without wealth, she uses her vivid imagination and storytelling prowess to make her way, meeting all kinds of characters through a series of improbable and fortuitous coincidences. Street dwellers, madams, and urban guerrillas alike all fall under Eva’s spell and her ability to craft a narrative that feels like modern art, and the reader, luckily, is with her every step of the way. Strange, sensational, and captivating, EVA LUNA is Isabel Allende’s own storytelling master class that readers can’t help but pine for.

It’s hard not to love a book that features a Brooklyn wedding-planning company, aptly named In Love. Georgia Clark’s IT HAD TO BE YOU follows Liv Goldenhorn after her business partner and husband, Eliot, unexpectedly dies. Perhaps even more unexpected, Eliot leaves his share of the business to his secret mistress, Savannah, who suddenly shows up in Brooklyn looking to make good on Eliot’s will. What starts out as contempt (and confusion) quickly becomes friendship between Liv and Savannah as they seek to overcome impending financial ruin and continue serving their clientele of lovers looking to tie the knot. Packed with characters that could justify their own spinoffs, IT HAD TO BE YOU is a charming novel about surviving tragedy and the power of friendship.

A searing and sarcastic debut from Namibian writer Rémy Ngamije, THE ETERNAL AUDIENCE OF ONE is a coming-of-age story for every young person, no matter where they’re from. Twenty-four-year-old law student Séraphin is on his way to his last year of law school in the South African city of Cape Town, but before he can leave and begin his future, he must survive another year with his family and friends in Namibia. Séraphin, a self-assured Rwandan, spends his remaining months of youth with friends, girlfriends, and anyone else looking to have an adventure, despite the drama and consequences that can (and will) follow. Facing explosive fights, never-ending embarrassments, and racial hostilities, Séraphin navigates his present with Ngamije’s cutting commentary all so he can, hopefully, set off for his future. THE ETERNAL AUDIENCE OF ONE comes from a new literary voice that you can’t afford to miss.

New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover never fails to make us fall in love with her books, and NOVEMBER 9 is no different. In this incredible love story, Hoover introduces us to Fallon, an aspiring actress looking to make it big on Broadway, and Ben, an equally-as-aspiring novelist, who happen to meet the day Fallon is making her cross-country move from Los Angeles to New York. Despite her impending departure, the two can’t help but spend the day together in awe of each other, in what becomes Ben’s creative inspiration for his dream novel. While they are forced to live separate lives, the two agree to meet each year on the same date, November 9, in hopes that fate will eventually be in their favor. That is until we find out Ben might not be everything that he claimed . . . Passionate and propulsive, Hoover’s novel is a total page-turner and worthy of your attention.

If you’re a fan of quirky books with a little bit of every genre, let me introduce you to TJ Klune’s bestselling book, THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA. Meet Linus Baker. He’s a rule-lover and uptight caseworker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates the orphanages charged with housing children of all kinds of fantastical abilities. When he learns his bosses in Extremely Upper Management are assigning him an island orphanage of “especially dangerous” kids to report on, he’s not too thrilled. But it’s there Linus meets Arthur, the master of the orphanage, who is clearly set on providing a loving home for his extraordinary children, no matter the cost. Both a love story and an exploration of finding family, THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA is an endearing novel that is surprisingly charming and all the more lovable because of it.

What happens when a family from a fishing town is faced with despair? Emma Hooper’s OUR HOMESICK SONGS follows the Connor family, one of the last remaining groups in the village of Big Running in Newfoundland. When the fish seem to have disappeared, Aidan and Martha have no choice but to travel to the mainland and alternate working at an energy site to provide for their children, Cora and Finn. Not willing to abandon their home without a fight, the kids do their part to resurrect the town, with Cora turning empty houses into places of escape for herself and her brother while Finn seeks out a plan to lure the fish back to the island (with help from his reclusive accordion instructor). Hooper carries readers on different journeys following each of the Connor family members, ultimately weaving them together for a story of hope and familial bonds. It’s a charming and mystical work of fiction.

When a professor of mathematics cracks a notoriously difficult problem concerning prime number distribution, it is, understandably, a big deal. So big a deal, in fact, that the entire galaxy gets word of the earthling’s breakthrough and some, like the Vonnadorians, are less impressed and more concerned. This is the conceit of Matt Haig’s THE HUMANS, in which Professor Andrew Martin is kidnapped for his work and “replaced” by a Vonnadorian visitor (an alien) in an effort to erase all evidence this ever happened in fear that Earth simply cannot handle such power. But when the extraterrestrial visitor begins to see the beauty of humanity’s flaws, he questions the mission he’s been tasked with. With hilarious descriptions of new-Martin’s sudden love of human offerings (like wine and peanut butter), this novel is a dark comedy that’s all heart. Totally readable and consistently funny, THE HUMANS is a unique take on our species’ loving qualities.

No lovable list is complete without a stellar summer read, and Laura Dave’s HELLO, SUNSHINE hits all the right notes for a novel to bring to the beach. After her fall from grace, Sunshine Mackenzie, the soon-to-be Food Network star who’s been outed as a fraud on Twitter, is forced to go back to her hometown to start fresh, which means getting into the kitchen to finally learn what her YouTube videos have falsely portrayed for years. Despite losing millions of fans, a line of cookbooks, and even a husband, Sunshine remains determined to make a comeback and relies on a newly formed connection with her niece and a real-life friendship to fight her way back into the culinary world. Filled with laughs, love, and redemption, HELLO, SUNSHINE is the final book on our list that will make you believe in second chances.