Reading corner

I'm experiencing a dry reading season this week. My book pile has been
reduced to old things I've tried before and rejected, and guess what -
I still reject them. One I tried this week, an anthology of British
short stories (I don't like short stories, they tend to be bleak) was
so depressing, it made me not want to go to England ever again and meet the miserable people that occupied those pages.
So I'm pacing the floor (very small space), restless, book less,
and that is not a good state of mind to be in. All kinds of thoughts
bubble up undisturbed. Thankfully, my regular visitors come to talk and
shop a little and distract me from myself.
If you have a great book to recommend, please send a comment. I'm desperate for good, kind, interesting, transporting words.