Gentle Reads for Adults

Stories to curl up with that aren't going to get your heart racing. We've included a selection of fiction and non-fiction titles that feature folks you might like to spend time with. These titles were selected with accessibility to multiple formats.

Updated August 15, 2023
G
Greater Victoria Public Library
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Anything is possible
Strout, Elizabeth
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An unforgettable cast of small-town characters copes with love and loss in this "compulsively readable" (San Francisco Chronicle) novel from #1 bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout "This book, this writer, are...

Also available in Large Print, CD, eBook and eAudiobook.

The kitchen front : a novel
Ryan, Jennifer
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies' Choir comes an unforgettable novel of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition and the four women who enter for a chance to better their lives. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY GOOD HOUSEKEEPING *...

Also available in Large Print and eBook.

The brilliant life of Eudora Honeysett : a novel
Lyons, Annie
Paper Book
USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "One adorably British odd couple . . . Charming." -- People "An exquisitely poignant tale of life, friendship and facing death . . . heart-breaking yet ultimately uplifting . . Everyone should read this book." -- Ruth Hogan, author of ...

Also available in Large Print and CD format.

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir : a novel
Ryan, Jennifer
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "A delightful debut."--People    For readers of Lilac Girls and The Nightingale, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir unfolds the struggles, affairs, deceptions, and triumphs of a village choir during World War II. ...

Also available in CD, eBook and eAudiobook.

Lessons in chemistry
Garmus, Bonnie
Paper Book
#1 GLOBAL BESTSELLER WITH MORE THAN 8 MILLION COPIES SOLD * Meet Elizabeth Zott: "a gifted research chemist, absurdly self-assured and immune to social convention" (The Washington Post) in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a ...

Also available in Large Print, eBook and eAudiobook format.

An Irish country welcome
Taylor, Patrick
Paper Book
An Irish Country Welcome is a charming entry in Patrick Taylor's internationally bestselling Irish Country series. In the close-knit Northern Irish village of Ballybucklebo, it's said that a new baby brings its own welcome. Young doctor Barry Laverty and his wife Sue...

Also available in Large Print, CD and eAudiobook.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Shaffer, Mary Ann
CD
#1 "NEW YORK TIMES "BESTSELLER " I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. "January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her...

Also available in CD, eBook and eAudiobook.

The Jane Austen society : a novel
Jenner, Natalie
Paper Book
* INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * "This novel delivers sweet, smart escapism." --People "Fans of The Chilbury Ladies' Choir and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will adore The Jane Austen Society... A charming and...

Also available in Large Print, CD, eBook and eAudiobook.

Remarkably bright creatures : a novel
Van Pelt, Shelby
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Soon to be a Netflix Film A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick! NAMED A BEST BOOK OF SUMMER by: Chicago Tribune * The View * Southern Living * USA Today "Remarkably Bright Creatures [is] an ultimately...

Also available in Large Print, eBook and eAudiobook.

One night on the island : a novel
Silver, Josie
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December . . . When a double-booking at a remote one-room cabin accidentally throws two solace seekers together, it feels like a cruel twist of fate. But what if it's fate of a different kind? "A perfectly...

Also available in Large Print, eBook and eAudiobook.


A man called Ove (large print)
Backman, Fredrik
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller Meet Ove. Heâe(tm)s a curmudgeon âe" the kind of man who points at people he dislikes. He has staunch principlesâes strict routinesâes and a short fuse. People call him âeoethe bitter neighbor from hell.âe? But behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So...

Also available in Large Print, eAudiobook and CD format.

A single thread : a novel
Chevalier, Tracy
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestselling Author1932. After losing both her beloved brother and fiancé in the Great War, Violet Speedwell appears doomed to a life of spinsterhood. Unwilling to spend her life caring for her grieving, embittered mother, Violet moves to the town of Winchester, home to one of...

Also available in Large Print, eBook, CD and DAISY format.

The story of Arthur Truluv : a novel
Berg, Elizabeth
CD
From New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg comes a wise and emotionally powerful novel about three people who've lost the ones they love most, only to find second chances where they least expect them. For the past six months, Arthur Moses's days have looked the...

Also available in Large Print and eBook.

The spoon stealer
Crewe, Lesley
Paper Book
Born into a basket of clean sheets--ruining a perfectly good load of laundry--Emmeline never quite fit in on her family's rural Nova Scotian farm. After suffering multiple losses in the First World War, her family became so heavy with grief, toxicity, and mental illness that Emmeline felt their...

Also available in eBook.


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