Celebrating "Gentle" Books

I read a lot of books and one category I love is what I call "gentle" books. These are books filled with little to no drama of any type. The type of book that is a joy to read and leaves you feeling refreshed and hopeful. 

The most recent "gentle" book I have read is the really fun Legends and Lattes about an orc starting up a coffee shop in a city that has never seen coffee before. (Thanks Three Avenues Bookshop for the recommendation)

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed. 

I came up with the term "gentle" books after reading the Monk and Robot books which just are lovely. In many ways these are like having an relaxing philosophical conversation with a friend, over a cup of tea, while walking in the woods.

On a moon called Panga where AI and robots are a distant myth, Dex is an adventurous and friendly tea monk who travels the human-populated areas of their moon meeting villagers and townsfolk. Dex custom-blends tea to fit the people's needs and personalities, and they confide their misgivings to the monk. One day Dex, seeking a change in their routine, travels into the wild and meets a robot named Splendid Speckled Mosscap and they are thrown into a road-trip with a question on their minds: "What do people need?"

I was first introduced to Mushishi via some episodes that were up on Netflix at the time and then I discovered it was based on a series of books which I then read all of. (I am glad I read them when I did because now most of them are no longer in my library system) Both the show and the book are very "gentle" and will have extended moments where you for example see Ginko walking in the woods, watch snow melting, watch plants growing etc. 

The series is an episodic anthology with no overarching plotline in which the only common elements are Ginko and the Mushi. Ginko is a man with one green eye, who not only can see various types of mushi but also attracts them. Because of this ability, he is constantly wandering. He appears to have a generally laid back personality, however, he can be very serious and focused on his work when it comes to protecting people from mushi. He stresses that the mushi are not evil, but merely trying to survive like everyone else. A majority of the stories do not focus on Ginko but rely on him as a catalyst to move the story forward by diagnosing or curing mushi-related illnesses and phenomena.

I really enjoy reading "gentle" books and am always looking for more to read. So what are your favorite "gentle" books? What "gentle" books would you recommend others to read. Leave me a message so I can share other "gentle" books because I think most of us would enjoy reading more "gentle" books.