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Explore and discover your next great read with us!
Whether you're seeking romance and joy, drama and action, or anything in between, our genre spotlights will help you find your next favorite read. Happy reading! |
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Gentle Reads |
What are gentle reads?
Gentle reads tend to be timeless stories featuring endearing protagonists with universal appeal. Their stories are hopeful, often laced with humor, and leave you feeling optimistic and comforted. Gentle reads are frequently associated with certain genres -- like classics, cozy mysteries, light romances, relationship fiction, and Christian fiction. However, any fiction that meets the criteria may be a "gentle read."
What happens in gentle reads?Characters draw upon their inner strengths to meet challenges. A tendency toward positivity, kindness, love, and compassion drives the narrative. Plots tend to focus on relationship building -- these can be romantic, familial, within a larger community, or in a social group unified by a shared interest. Here are some characteristic traits:
- Graphic language, sex, or violence are largely absent. If sex or violence does occur, it is "off-stage" (vs. described in detail).
- A strong sense of place and community shapes the story. Small-town and rural settings are common.
- Well-drawn secondary characters support the protagonist's efforts.
- Stories celebrate wholesome, shared values that draw characters closer together.
- Sad things may happen but are not suddenly or violently introduced.
Burton, K. (2023, December). "Genre Guide: Gentle Reads for Adults." NoveList Plus. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
Types of Gentle Reads Christian Fiction: Characters are influenced by Christian principles and faith. They are often guided by their faith in God and God's will. Inspirational Fiction: Characters in these books strive for positive changes and inspire those around them to make the world better. They often have spiritual themes, but not specifically Christian. Clean Reads: Books that don't contain explicit language, violence or sex. |  |
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| Michiko Aoyama |
"For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, a charming, internationally bestselling Japanese novel about how the perfect book recommendation can change a readers' life. What are you looking for? So asks Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian. For Sayuri Komachi is able to sense exactly what each visitor to her library is searching for and provide just the book recommendation to help them find it. A restless retail assistant looks to gain new skills, a mother tries to overcome demotion at work after maternity leave, a conscientious accountant yearns to open an antique store, a recently retired salaryman searches for newfound purpose. In Komachi's unique book recommendations they will find just what they need to achieve their dreams. What You Are Looking For Is inthe Library is about the magic of libraries and the discovery of connection. This inspirational tale shows how, by listening to our hearts, seizing opportunity and reaching out, we too can fulfill our lifelong dreams. Which book will you recommend?"
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| | Megan Walker |
Creating a list of ten things to do before her marriage to the Duke of Marlow, Rosalind Newbury enlists the help of her best friend, Liza, and prodigal son-turned-boxer, Charlie, with whom she falls in love, forcing her to choose between following her heart and family duty. |
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| | Beverly Jenkins |
When a post-Reconstruction African-American community succumbs to a desperate need for funds and purpose, its mayor puts the small town up for sale and finds a buyer in Bernardine Brown, who believes the town's sale to be a sign from God. |
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| | Mia P. Manansala |
Returning home to help save her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant, Lila Macapagal is shocked when her ex-boyfriend, a notoriously nasty food critic, dies suddenly, moments after they had a confrontation, leaving her the only suspect. |
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| J. C. Cervantes |
Harlow Estrada returns to the enchanted Hacienda Estrada, a family farm in Mexico where her mother, sisters, aunt and cousins harness the magic of charmed flowers, but when she's chosen to watch over the farm, she panics since she, herself, is magic-less, until she opens her heart to love and creativity. |
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| | Shelby Van Pelt |
After her husband dies, widow Tova Sullivan starts working at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, where she forms a special bond with a giant Pacific octopus who holds the key solving the mysterious disappearance of her 18-year-old son, Erik, over thirty years ago on the Puget Sound. |
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| Vinegar Girl | Anne Tyler |
A modern retelling of The Taming of the Shrew follows the experiences of a preschool teacher who alienates others by speaking her mind and who manages her family's home before she is expected by her eccentric father to marry his assistant to prevent the young man's deportation. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Breathing Lessons. |
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| The Hurricane Sisters | Dorothea Benton Frank |
When an emotional hurricane blows through their lives, testing them in ways they never thought possible, 23-year-old Ashley Anne Waters, her mother Liz and Maisie, the family matriarch, must turn to each other for strength and support as the bonds they share are ultimately transformed. |
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| Melanie Dickerson |
"From New York Times bestselling author Melanie Dickerson comes a fresh reimagining of the classic Mulan tale. Mulan isn't afraid to pretend to be a son and assume her father's soldier duties in war. But what happens when the handsome son of a duke discovers her secret? Mulan is trying to resign herself to marrying the village butcher for the good of her family, but her adventurous spirit just can't stand the thought. At the last minute, she pretends to be the son her father never had, assumes his dutiesas a soldier, and rides off to join the fight to protect the castle of her liege lord's ally from the besieging Teutonic Knights. Wolfgang and his brother Steffan leave Hagenheim with several other soldiers to help their father's ally in Poland. When they arrive, Wolfgang is exasperated by the young soldier Mikolai who seems to either always be one step away from disaster . . . or showing Wolfgang up in embarrassing ways. When Wolfgang discovers his former rival and reluctant friend Mikolai is actually agirl, he is determined to protect her. But battle is a dangerous place where anything can happen--and usually does. When Mulan receives word that her mother has been accused of practicing witchcraft through her healing herbs and skills, Mulan's only thought is of defending her. Will she be able to trust Wolfgang to help? Or will sacrificing her own life be the only way to save her mother?"
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| | Melissa Ferguson |
"You've Got Mail meets Attachments in Melissa Ferguson's latest sweet rom-com" |
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| The Expectant Detectives | Kat Ailes |
Embracing country life as they prepare for the birth of their first child, Alice and her partner Joe instead find themselves suspects in a murder investigation when a dead body is discovered at the local prenatal class and teams up with other moms-to-be to clear her name. |
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| | Samuel Burr |
Raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists, 20-something Clayton Summer, when the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in his life passes away, bestowing her final puzzle on him, embarks on a quest to uncover the secrets surrounding his birth, which will change him, and the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, forever. |
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| Louise Miller | Unexpectedly inheriting property from a beloved community baker, two headstrong sisters navigate growing hostilities about whether or not to sell, before the disappearance of the baker's dog forces everyone to work together. By the author of The City Baker's Guide to Country Living
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| | Sarah Addison Allen |
Arriving on Mallow Island, right off the coast of South Carolina, to claim her late mother's apartment, Zoey meets her eccentric and secretive neighbors, including a girl on the run, a lonely chef, a legendary writer and three ghosts, each with their own stories whose endings haven't been written yet. 200,000 first printing. |
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| Hummingbird Lane | Carolyn Brown |
After a decade-long separation, childhood friends Emma and Sophia reconnect at a small artists' colony in south Texas where they rediscover their true selves, enjoy the company of nurturing and creative strangers, and make good on an old promise |
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| An Enchanting Case of Spirits
| Melissa Holtz |
After a girl's night out with drinks and tarot readings, newly widowed single mother Alyssa Mann begins seeing ghosts, one of whom reveals unwelcome and unexpected facts about her late husband's death. Original. |
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