I think we can all be honest with each other here and acknowledge that, on the whole, 2016 has been a pretty rough year.  We’ve lost a lot of very talented, respected, and decent people, the weather has been extreme to say the least, and this election is just plain ugly.  I mentioned the other day that if I was reading a book about the major events of 2016, I would probably choose to read a different book.

Which got me thinking about why I read.

There is no short answers here.  I read to learn, I read because I am in school and was told to, I read to communicate….but mostly, I read to cope.  This is one of the reasons I am such a fan of horror novels.  Because, as we’ve mentioned before, horror fiction offers a safe, manageable way to experience, and thus learn to cope with fear and anxiety (the good ones also tend to be wonderfully creative and smart, too).  They also allow us to experience the worst-case scenarios through the experiences of other character, while remaining unscathed ourselves (I have not been turned into a vampire more times than I care to admit), and to come away realizing that our own reality is far more stable in comparison.  But fear, or dealing with fear, is not all there is to life, right?

And that is why I believe in books with happy endings.  Because life can be ruthless and mean and utterly unconcerned with us and with those we love.  And life is a huge fan of throwing bad news at us when we are least prepared.

Some people choose to deal with that by reading about other people’s experiences with sudden shocks, with loss, or with life crises in general–much like my reason (one of many) for reading horror novels.  Novels with sadness and heartbreak and unpleasant, real-life surprises provide a manageable, controllable way of dealing with the issues in our own lives.  They allow us to empathize with others in similar situations, and, perhaps, to find ways of coping (or things to avoid) based on the actions of characters.  And some people find crying cathartic.  And I promise you, if these kind of books are for you, we will help you find them–because there are a lot of them.

I, however, almost always hate crying.  Crying makes me angry.  As does bad news, sudden surprises, and loss.  And when bad things happen to characters for whom I care greatly, I get just as angry on their behalf as I would if those things happened to me.  Thus, I realized long ago that books that mirrored life were probably not, overall, beneficial to my health.  And I proudly, and loudly, began looking for books with happy endings.  Books where characters survived and grew and were rewarded for doing so.  Books where people could be redeemed and the devil could be bested and the  fires could be put out and there was still magic left in the world.  I know these things don’t happen in real life.  That is why these books are fiction.  But there is a huge amount of power in creating–and insisting on–happy endings.  They are a source of defiant hope in a world that seems to be getting cynical.  They are a little bit of light in an otherwise dark day.  They are a reassurance that if it could happen to these characters, it could happen to you.

Now, I realize that we are not all going to agree on what a “happy ending” is….which is a prime example of why I hate love triangles.   Happy endings don’t have to be a Deus Ex-Machina descending on a scene to right every wrong to the utter detriment of reality, nor to they have to be ones where everyone is rewarded according to their actions, like in Victorian school primers.  Instead, the books that I love are the ones where courage, honesty, self-realization, and love–actions that reject and repel anger and cynicism and dejection–are all valued and championed.  Those kind of books can come in many forms.  Ultimately, what makes a book’s ending “happy” is often when characters decide to turn their story into one of triumph.  When they chose not to give in.  When they chose to love.  When they chose to celebrate their successes, rather than regret their defeats.  And that is something that takes an enormous amount of courage, especially in today’s climate.

And if you are like me, and believe that a few books with happy endings are good for the soul in troubled times, then stop by the Main Library and check out our display of Books With Happy Endings.  I don’t promise they will all be light, or easy reads.  But I can promise that they will take a stand for the goodness of people (and animals, in some cases), and provide an excellent counterpoint to All That 2016 has thrown at us.