7 Feel-Good Books to Peruse on Independent Bookstore Day

As I started this book, I said out loud to my dog, “Man, it feels good to have fun again!” Grant Ginder deploys his sharp, irreverent sense of humor and brilliant pacing to delightful effect in this rollicking story. I loved the way adult siblings Nick and Greta, plus their mother, Congresswoman Nancy Harrison, relate to one another: often exasperated, sometimes downright angry, but ultimately loyal and loving. Ginder is a New Yorker; if you are too, snag a copy from Greenlight Bookstore.

I adored every single member of the extended Sullivan family, all of whom find themselves at a decision point or breaking point in their lives, as we all do sometimes. One by one in interwoven plots, these cousins, siblings, parents, and children all make their way back to their native Chicago and the family restaurant that was once the center of their orbit. In keeping with the book’s setting, you could get your copy from The Book Stall in the greater Chicago area.

It soothes my brain to read splendid writing! Megan Mayhew Bergman’s highly anticipated new collection, HOW STRANGE A SEASON, delivers complicated, nuanced female protagonists, each figuring out her own way to reconcile past, present, and future. Bergman is an award-winning essayist on environmental topics as well, and that talent for writing about the natural world surfaces throughout these stories, as flowers, trees, and plants take on significant meaning. Get yours from Northshire Bookstore near Bergman’s home in Vermont.

When I first picked up Liv Stratman’s debut novel, CHEAT DAY, I thought it looked like fun—perhaps a light, frothy, rom-com set in a bakery? Turns out, it is indeed set in a bakery. There is some romance. And the reading experience is a great deal of fun. But there’s nothing frivolous about this book, and Stratman is no lightweight as a writer. Come for the relatable story of a woman unsure of what she wants out of her relationships and her career; stay for the exquisite prose. Bonus: CHEAT DAY is now out in paperback, so it’s a bargain! Grab a copy from WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn.

I don’t mean to be superficial—I know we’re not supposed to judge books by their covers—but this one makes my eyes so happy. When I pulled my early copy of Mustique Island from its envelope, I gasped. Look at it: The punchy, beachy colors! The glamorous, 70’s vibe! That typeface. Even better, Sarah McCoy has the storytelling chops to make the inside as lovely as the outside. This one comes out in May, so put it on your preorder tab while you’re checking out at Bookmarks—the local indie near McCoy’s home in Winston-Salem, NC.

It’s fun to have something to look forward to, which is why you should also preorder this entertaining and thought-provoking book, out in June. THE MUTUAL FRIEND is Carter Bay’s debut novel, but it’s not his first time telling a story; he was the cocreator of the television show How I Met Your Mother. Not surprisingly, reading this ensemble story feels like binge-watching a favorite series about lovable characters. And I don’t want to give anything away, but let me just say it has a very unusual narrator. Preorder yours from Skylight Books in Los Angeles.

Helpfully, this book comes with a diagram of the train line from Hampton Court to Waterloo Station in London, so you can visualize which character gets on at which stop. That’s important, because the train is where all these endearingly flawed humans meet, and where their lives begin to weave together. Think Love Actually with a touch of Ted Lasso and Bridget Jones’s Diary, and you have the vibe. Pooley lives in the UK, so Americans looking to buy it from her local indie would have to make a long trip (and look for it by its British title: The People on Platform 5). But on this side of the pond, you can preorder it from the online indie, Bookshop. I might also suggest listening to this one on audio from Libro.fm, the audiobook shop that supports independent bookstores!

BOMB SHELTER IS OUT NOW!

A lifelong worrier, Mary Laura Philpott always kept an eye out for danger, a habit that only intensified when she became a parent. But she looked on the bright side, too, believing that as long as she cared enough, she could keep her loved ones safe. Then, in the dark of one quiet, pre-dawn morning, she woke abruptly to a terrible sound—and found her teenage son unconscious on the floor. In the aftermath of a crisis that darkened her signature sunny spirit, she wondered: If this happened, what else could happen? And how do any of us keep going when we can’t know for sure what’s coming next? Leave it to the writer whose critically acclaimed debut had us “laughing and crying on the same page” (NPR) to illuminate what it means to move through life with a soul made of equal parts anxiety and optimism (and while she’s at it, to ponder the mysteries of backyard turtles and the challenges of spatchcocking a turkey).