Here are some of our best picks for people who are looking for books to soothe and cheer – the kind of stories that you can wrap yourself up in and disappear from the world for a while.

You can find even more picks by browsing our collections below.

Summer by Ali Smith

In the present, Sacha knows the world’s in trouble. Her brother Robert just is trouble. Their mother and father are having trouble. Meanwhile the world’s in meltdown – and the real meltdown hasn’t even started yet. In the past, a lovely summer. A different brother and sister know they’re living on borrowed time. Summer is the unmissable conclusion to Ali Smith’s innovative and dazzling Seasonal Quartet, and a deeply affecting story about people on the brink of change.

The Book of Hidden Wonders by Polly Crosby

Romilly knows little about her past but feels content in her ramshackle house with her eccentric artist father and her cat, Monty, for company. Then, her father finds fame with a series of children’s books starring Romilly as the main character, and everything changes. Strangers start to appear at their door, convinced the books contain a treasure hunt leading to a glittering prize, and as time passes, Romilly’s increasingly suspicious father begins to disappear before her eyes. In her isolated world, Romilly turns to the secrets her father has hidden in his illustrated books and discovers something unexpected…

The Miseducation of Evie Epworth by Matson Taylor

July, 1962, East Yorkshire: Sixteen-year-old Evie Epworth is teetering on the cusp of womanhood. With role models Charlotte Bronte, Shirley MacLaine and the Queen to inspire, she dreams of an independent life under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). But, before she can decide on a career, she must first deal with the malign presence of her future step-mother, the manipulative Christine. If Evie can rescue her bereaved father from Christine’s clutches, and save their farmhouse from being sold off, then maybe she can move on with her own life and finally work out exactly who it is she is meant to be. The Miseducation of Evie Epworth is a boldly joyful debut novel and the best thing to have come out of Yorkshire since Wensleydale cheese.

Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud

Meet the Ramdin-Chetan family: forged through loneliness, broken by secrets, saved by love. Irrepressible Betty Ramdin, her shy son Solo and their marvellous lodger, Mr Chetan, form an unconventional household, happy in their differences. Happy, that is, until the night when a glass of rum, a heart to heart and a terrible truth explodes the family unit, driving them apart. Exploring domestic violence, racism, homophobia and other upsetting topics, Love After Love is a harrowing read, but its emphasis on hope and connection renders it ultimately uplifting. This novel is an antidote to darkness.

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

1932, Minnesota: the Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O'Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own. Set over the course of one unforgettable summer, This Tender Land is an en­thralling, big-hearted epic.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

A bank robber on the run locks himself in with an over-enthusiastic estate agent, two bitter IKEA-addicts, a pregnant woman, a suicidal multi-millionaire and a rabbit. In the end the robber gives up and lets everyone go, but when the police storm the apartment it is … empty. In a series of testimonies after the event, the witnesses all tell their version of what really happened and it’s clear we have a classic locked-room mystery on our hands. How did the robber manage to escape? Why is everyone so angry? And what is WRONG with people these days? Anxious People is a riotous comedy about a hostage-situation at a Swedish apartment viewing.

A Theatre for Dreamers by Polly Samson

The year is 1960, and the world is dancing on the edge of revolution. On the Greek island of Hydra, a circle of poets, painters and musicians live tangled lives, ruled by the writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston, troubled king and queen of bohemia. Forming within this circle is a triangle which includes magnetic, destructive writer Axel Jensen, his dazzling wife Marianne Ihlen, and a young Canadian poet named Leonard Cohen. Into their midst arrives teenage Erica, with little more than a bundle of blank notebooks and her grief for her mother. Settling on the periphery of this circle, she watches, entranced and disquieted, as a paradise unravels.

Room for a Stranger by Melanie Cheng

Since her sister died, Meg has been happy to live alone. But then she experiences a terrifying home invasion and decides to advertise for a lodger. Andy, a financially struggling student from Hong Kong, expected that there would be challenges living with an elderly Australian woman, but he didn’t know it would be this hard. From award-winning author Melanie Cheng, Room for a Stranger is a moving novel that explores such topics as racism, cultural attitudes to the elderly, mental health, poverty, parental pressure, and more.