Top 5 Wednesdays: Books That Make Me Smile

For some reason, I always have a tough time trying to think of books that make me smile. There have definitely been books that I’ve read, even very recently, that made me smile but I guess it’s not something that I really think about after the fact. It was particularly challenging to find books that I’d read this year that really made me smile because so far, I’ve read quite a few thrillers and fantasy series. While I’ve definitely enjoyed them, I wouldn’t specifically say that they make me smile. Actually, when I tend to think of books that are almost guaranteed to make me smile, I usually tend to go for graphic novels or even children’s books. These are often just so light and fun to read, and they are a great pick-me-up and break from some of the darker or denser things I otherwise read. I also tend to think of fluffy contemporaries and romances, since those are books that often make me smile too! Even some of those can be a little more questionable since so many tend to include a more serious storyline as well (ie. The Flatshare or Beach Read, which definitely made me smile, but had their share of deeper content).

Top 5 Wednesday is a meme created by Gingerreadslainey on Youtube, and is now hosted by Sam at ThoughtsOnTomes. The official GoodReads group with the weekly topics can be found here.

1) Book Love by Debbie Tung – I read this book in January this year after having it on my TBR absolutely forever, and it was definitely one that made me smile because it was so relatable! This book is a series of comics all about the author’s love of books. These kinds of collections are always very quick for me to read, usually half an hour to an hour at most, but I often find myself going back to read some of the comics over and over. I’d seen many of these before online, but it was a lot of fun to see them all collected in one place and will definitely make any book-lover smile.

2) The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt – I don’t care that I’m way too old for this book, it was so cute! It’s very rare that I pick up a picture book anymore, but surprisingly, I often really enjoy the ones that I do try. This book is told from the perspectives of Duncan’s crayons, with each colour writing him a letter to express their complaints. I thought it was such a creative and fun story and loved the different personalities the crayons had. This was such a fun book to read, and I’m glad I decided to give it a chance. I think this just proves that you’re never too old for picture books!

3) The Baby-sitter’s Club graphic novels by Raina Telgemeier – I put Raina Telgemeier’s name as the author since she was first, although the series has now branched out to a few other author/illustrators, including Gale Galligan, and upcoming books by Gabriela Epstein and Chan Chau. This series is pure nostalgia for me since it was a childhood favourite, and I love that it is being revitalized in a new format for the next generation. I think the authors have captured the spirit of the original series so well and it’s fun to revisit the familiar stories and experience them all again.

4) Little Moments of Love by Catana Chetwynd – This is another series of comics that I’d mostly already seen online, but absolutely loved reading as a collection! It is a series of comics that Catana drew of her and her boyfriend, John. The comics show daily moments in their relationship, such as doing activities together, socializing with friends, and a lot of funny interactions. Their relationship is adorable and I love the way the comics so easily capture their dynamic, and I also very strongly related to Catana in a lot of the comics. I definitely want to read her other collections!

5) The Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer – This one is a bit more of a random pick since I haven’t read these books recently, but these never fail to make me smile! This was by far one of my favourite childhood series, mostly because I found the characters so adorable. I can only distinctly remember reading a few of them, but I actually wouldn’t mind picking up a few more, even now as an adult. I love the way the author captures a child’s perspective through Critter and especially love the illustrations.

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