This has been a rough year. My own family has been through a lot - in addition to the coronavirus stuff and the lock-down. Sometimes I find I need to read things that are more uplifting and encouraging for awhile and avoid anything that is too dramatic, too intense or too morbid. Here are a few books (and some poems) that can be helpful for those times.
For family reading:
The Sugar Creek Gang books by Paul Hutchins.
These books are Christian fiction geared towards kids. We recommend the books prior to the 1990's editions because they made some changes in the books later that weren't great. (Why update a good thing?) Plus the older books give a look into how people used to live in mid-western rural American farm country. There are lots of details of life that are now forgotten or little known.
The stories follow the adventures of the Sugar Creek Gang - a group of boys who live in rural Indiana. The adventures are varied and interesting from catching crooks to going on vacations in the north woods, visiting a missionary in Cuba, snowstorms, and visiting Chicago. They include a lot of roaming around in the woods, learning to be responsible, doing their chores faithfully, learning people relationship skills, and working towards the goal of seeing various people become real, born again Christians. There is also an emphasis on growing in the Christian walk throughout the books. There is a lot of humor as well as some difficult lessons. These books are bit exciting for some kids, but enjoyable for the adults reading them out loud as well. I always like the parents of Bill Collins (the storyteller character) in these stories because they seem like people I would like to have for friends of my own. :-) There are some books that deal with some more sensitive subjects - the destructive aspects of alcohol consumption and the use of bad language are repeating themes that I recall, but some other things are addressed as well.
Here's a website about the series.
For the older editions I recommend looking on AbeBooks and Ebay. Possibly Amazon as well.
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The Grandma's Attic books by Arleta Richardson.
These are Christian fiction based on true stories. These stories take place in Michigan back in the old days and follow the adventures of Mable O'Dell from her childhood into adulthood, marriage, and motherhood. The first books in the series have stand alone chapters - each one being a separate story with the biblical lesson given from "Grandma" (Mable herself). These books are fun and there is a lot of humor from the real life stories and events. Some stories are also more serious or heartwarming. Part way through the series the format changes to each book being a continuous story with a plot. These later books follow Mable through her later education and teaching years and then into marriage and motherhood.
These books can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. I took the first book and read some of the stories to my mom when she was staying in the rehad hospital and memory care facility in the last weeks of her life because the stories were interesting and only one short chapter long, so she could follow them. She really seemed to enjoy them a lot. :-) (She had read them to us when we were younger.) My husband also read some of them out loud to me during our pre-marriage months when I was sick and not able to do much. :-)
These books will probably also have to be purchased second hand either online or locally.
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The Jungle Doctor books by Paul White
These books are Christian fiction based on true stories. These stories take you back to British East Africa to a hospital in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and follow the adventures of a missionary doctor and his African assistants. (There is an English nurse - called a "sister" - as well, but she doesn't figure as much in the stories.) These books give a great insight into the thinking of the African people in that place and time. There is drama, humor, and a lot of encouragement and adventure. The biblical lessons are very clear. The books can be enjoyed by children and adults and the books do not have to be read in order, although there is an order to them. (A more recent publication of these books has them out of order, which was a puzzle to me.)
Note: Some difficult subjects are sometimes dealt with. Also there are medical situations that may be a bit much for squeamish people. :-) There are also Bible quotes that are translated from the local African language back into English or perhaps come from the RSV. Look them up in your King James Version if you would like.
These books are sometimes available on Amazon, but can also be purchased second hand online. I do not know if the more recently published editions have been altered.
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And here are a few fiction stories that are just fun or sweet without being Christian.
The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I doubt that I need to say much about these to explain them because they are so well known, but these books follow the adventures of the Ingalls family as they moved around in the United States frontier in the early days. They are fiction based on a true story and, while they have a fair bit of struggle, they are also inspiring for learning to live through hardships and survive.
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For adults and young adults:
Then I will recommend two fiction books by Grace S. Richmond. These books were written years ago and have a winsome vintage quality that I personally find to be gentle and enjoyable.
Strawberry Acres - [Spoiler Alert] Follows the adventures of a family of four young adult orphans and their uncle as they shift from city life to country life. This book has it's humor and a little romance, but I think it is also good to encourage you to get out and dig in the dirt and grow things, which is a good way to cheer up in and of itself. :-) It's also a good reminder to make the best of a difficult situation and not assume that something that looks bad can't be turned to something useful.
A Court of Inquiry - This book follows four adults through their relationships with various young ladies in a country boardinghouse. It initially presents various types of young women for the consideration of the reader. Then later it shows where these various young women end up as married women. It is a humorous commentary on human nature - especially young female human nature. Obviously it is from a by-gone era, but it still has its charms and is applicable to modern young women in some ways. :-) This book has an element of romance as well, but it is not exactly the main story.
These books can be enjoyed by young people as well as adults. They have been reprinted and are for sale on Amazon (or at least one is), or you can find them free in various ebook formats or to read online at gutenberg.org
Strawberry Acres
A Court of Inquiry
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Last but not least, I recommend the poems of Annie Johnson Flint for encouragement and edification in the truth of the Lord. These poems have been a great help to me during various dark times of my own life. Miss Flint experienced some very difficult things in her own life, and God helped her to pass on the comfort and courage He gave her to us in the form of poetry.
