Feeling overwhelmed by the news? Need something uplifting to, well, lift your spirits?  We’ve put together a collection of Up Lit on our OverDrive site.

What is Up Lit, you may ask? In a nutshell, it’s any novel that has an optimistic outlook, makes you feel good, and focuses on empathy. It doesn’t mean the characters don’t face challenges, but their journey is also full of kindness, hope, and affirmation.

If you speed read through that list, try using NoveList’s appeal mixer to find similar titles. You can find the appeal mixer by scrolling just past the first “I’m in the mood for…” collection at the top of the page. There are options for searching for adult, teen, middle grade, and young readers.

For Up Lit titles try character options like relatable, likeable, spunky, or quirky alongside tone options such as upbeat, hopeful, heartwarming or whimsical.

And when we’re all back to high-fiving and hugging and you’re ready for something a little different, you can switch your search to flawed and menacing if you’d like!