Feel-good books

Do the long, cold January nights give you the urge to read beside a cozy fire, or all bundled up under your covers? The booksellers at Bertrand Bookstore have you covered, dear readers. They have compiled here a list of feel-good books for you to enjoy. Whether you lean more toward fiction or self-reflection, the choice is yours!

*You can order all of the books shown in this list online.

Fiction

• Home Body, Rupi Kaur - Simon & Schuster, 192 pages, 22,00$ (9781501175305)

If you don't know Rupi Kaur yet, now is the time to let yourself be swept away by her simple and intimate poetry. This third collection of poems is full of raw, honest conversations with oneself, and supported, as always, by the author's drawings.

• The City We Became, J. K. Jemisin – Orbit, 448 pages, 35,00$ (9780316509848)

Rising star of the fantasy novel and three-time Hugo Award-winner J. K. Jemisin offers us one of her best books and brings us into a world where cities have a soul embodied by one or many human avatars. The first installment of The Great Cities trilogy is set in New York City, where the five avatars must come together to stop the evil threatening to destroy the city. You won’t be able to put this book down.

• Adulthood is a myth: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection, Sarah Andersen – Andrews McMeel Publishing, 112 pages, 16,99$ (9781449474195)

This funny, frank, and highly relatable collection of comics is sure to make you laugh. Tackling subjects as diverse as holding hands, relationships or girls’ purses with casual drawings, Sarah Andersen knows how to put feelings and thoughts we’ve all had into images.

Nonfiction

Art/Cinema: My Neighbor Hayao, Ken Harman - Harry N. Abrams, 272 pages, 37,99$ (9782374951355)

Have you spent quarantine watching all the Ghibli Studio movies on Netflix? Then you'll surely be interested in this tribute to the acclaimed Japanese filmmaker and animator Hayao Miyazaki. In this book, you will find works of art by more than 250 artists inspired by Miyazaki's films. This is the perfect book for fans of the animation master who wished to explore his work in a different way.

Social science: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, Jenny Odell – Melville House Publishing, 206 pages, 23,99 $ (9781612198552)

In a world where our value seems to depend on our productivity, we always want to do more and use our time to its maximum. Jenny Odell suggests that we stop running and take the time to redefine our priorities, to question capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism, and to truly disconnect.

Gardening: The Language of Flowers: A Fully Illustrated Compendium of Meaning, Literature and Lore for the Modern Romantic, Odessa Begay – Harper Collins Publisher, 254 pages, 34,99$ (9780062873194)

This magnificent illustrated book lists 50 of the most popular flowers and gives us a summary of their meaning in mythology, folklore and popular culture. A great way to rediscover your favorite flowers.