I’ve been trying to keep my anxiety and negativity in check and have been looking for short novels that lean toward positive feelings. Something like “Star Trek The Next Generation”: inspiring, encouraging; even though there are difficulties we learn, adapt and make mistakes.
But at the end we’ll make it and we’ll get out of it better than we got into it. 😅
Possibly sci-fi or scientific, or adventure (eg the Hornblower saga)
(Sorry couldn’t find a better way to describe it 😅)
I highly recommend anything by Becky Chambers. Her Monk and Robot series is the definition of cozy fiction and the space series is also very low stakes, but engaging. I would also recommend the fantasy books, Legends and Lattés, about an orc who stops adventuring to open a coffee shop, and the prequel, Bookshops and Bonedust, which should actually be read after Legends.