When I read for pleasure, I read mostly the classics, history or historical fiction. Lots of historical fiction these days is quite depressing. Think Cold Mountain. It is a great story, wonderfully told, but the ending could have been happier.
In the past few years, I have read The Black Flower, The Year of Jubilo, Long Remember, The Mulberry Empire and Lost Nation to name just a few historical novels. Search Google for any of the above and the first hit will generally take you to Google Print where you can read a selection. (Google Print is very cool, by the way. ) I can recommend each book but I'll warn you that each is relentlessly bleak. Human history is certainly full of tragedy, but it is also full of comedy, courageous acts, social progress, and acts of kindness small and large. I wonder why apparently so few modern novelists see it that way.
All of that is a preamble to my recommendation of the Moosepath League -- a series of relentlessly positive books. Cordelia Underwood, Mollie Peer, and Daniel Plainway make up the series. The books are centered in Portland, Maine in the year 1896 and follow the exploits of the Moosepath League as they travel throughout Maine. Follow the link above for more information on the books. They make great summer reading.
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