Reading · Happy on Purpose

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This Sunday marks the solstices: summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s the unofficial midpoint of 2026, making it the perfect time to catch up on the year’s best cultural offerings!

Whether you’re on a much-anticipated vacation, enjoying the long, lazy days of summer at home, or pulling out your coziest sweaters to sit by a roaring fire, eating comfort food, each season provides plenty of reasons to get lost in a great show or a stack of books.

Read on for everything worth catching up on in 2026 so far: all the books, TV shows, and movies I’ve enjoyed this year, plus Happy on Purpose readers’ favorites, too!

And keep scrolling to the end, for a very special giveaway…

This year, I’ve leaned into cheerful, comforting, heartfelt books about relationships and ordinary lives, and for the most part, so have you! Here are my favorites, plus scroll down for the books Happy on Purpose readers have loved most so far this year…

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion. I am now a passionate devotee of this cozy, charming series set in a fictional part of London in the 1800s. Plucky, clever Emma is a twenty-year-old orphan in a financial bind due to her dastardly cousin, Archibald. It is a pleasure to escape into Emma’s world of long walks, fascinating neighbors, gentle romance, and polite social life. If you’re in the mood for something comforting, these books are perfect. There are 8 volumes, and apparently a ninth will be released later this year!
Whistler. Ann Patchett’s latest novel is a heartwarming tale about family, friendship, and the unsung heroes amongst us. I couldn’t put it down, and was very sad to finish reading—I came to love the characters, and now miss them! I’d love to read a sequel!
More Than Enough. By beloved author Anna Quindlen, this is a lovely, comforting meditation on friendship, love, and the true meaning of family. Set in Manhattan and Connecticut, with a main character named Polly and a very unique book club(!), it’s reminiscent of Laurie Colwin’s books.
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage. The best memoir I’ve read in a long time. I was transfixed by its understated, yet shocking, details of the unraveling of a seemingly happy marriage. While I’m not divorced, I experienced it as the story of a woman grappling with a sudden, shocking trauma and how she learned to move on.
This Is Not About Us. This immersive novel reads as a family saga told in short stories. It’s about everything from familial love, heartbreak, misunderstandings, plus a controversial apple cake—and I tore through it!
Lake Effect: a Novel is a “midlife awakening” story by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, who wrote The Nest. It’s a family saga set in Rochester, New York, during the 1970s sexual revolution. It’s a well-written exploration of how changing social norms affect the way we live and love. I appreciated the depth of each character’s development and the theme of our struggles around accepting our authentic selves.
Lady Tremaine. This imaginative, cinematically written novel is a clever retelling of Cinderella’s story from the perspective of her stepmother. I loved the clever conceit and literary prose, and the exploration of motherhood, freedom, and love, through a much-maligned character’s eyes.
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout follows a soul-searching middle-aged high school teacher who discovers a shocking, life-changing secret. The writing is beautiful, and the story is achingly poignant, and will make you think about what real love is, honesty, and the unbearable everyday sadness of missed opportunities for connection.
Yesteryear, a satirical thriller about “tradwife” culture, follows a Harvard dropout-turned influencer and is clearly inspired by the Instagram sensation Ballerina Farm. Not far into the book, our heroine, who proves to be a tricky, unreliable narrator, finds herself mysteriously living in the 1800s, and I was desperate to know why! This novel is great book club fodder: there’s much to discuss, including women’s life choices, influencer and tradwife culture, the perils of social media, and more.

Like me, you loved Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage, Yesteryear, and Lady Tremaine. Here are the other books Happy on Purpose readers raved about this year…

The Correspondent. Far and away, this epistolary novel is your most-loved book of the year.
Theo of Golden. A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, you loved this novel about the power of generosity, the importance of connection, and the quiet miracles that happen when we choose kindness and wonder.
Heart the Lover. A literary love story that melted readers’ hearts.
One & Only. A fun romcom set in a multi-generational matchmaking agency!
London Falling. Readers highly recommend Patrick Radden Keefe’s latest closely-reported true-life story of a family devastated by the sudden death of their nineteen-year-old son, who was living a secret life in London’s dangerous criminal underworld.
Wild Dark Shore. This moody mystery set on a remote island off the coast of Australia was also one of my favorites of 2025!

Widow’s Bay. At times mysterious, hilarious, and (mildly) terrifying, this series stars Matthew Rhys as the hapless but determined mayor of a tiny New England island that may or may not have a centuries-old curse. The show is beautifully filmed, the story is wildly unpredictable and inventive, and the cast of characters is adorably kooky. Both my husband, Jim, and I have been hooked!

Rooster, Steve Carell’s hilarious “coming-of-middle-age” comedy is set on a college campus, and is centered on relationships and unrequited love. I love the father-daughter scenes and the relationships between teachers and students.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles, the TV series based on the bestselling book, is every bit as quirky, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking as the novel. The cast, starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole Kidman, and Nick Offerman, is excellent, and I can’t wait for Season 2.
Hacks returned for a very satisfying fifth and final season this spring. This clever, hilarious, and poignant series about the relationship between a boomer standup diva and a millennial joke writer is one of my all-time favorites, and I highly recommend watching the post-episode breakdowns with the writers for the inside baseball on how they wrapped up this iconic show.
Not Suitable for Work, a sitcom by Mindy Kaling, follows five Manhattan-based twenty-somethings navigating work, friendships, and love. The humor and low-stakes drama remind me of 90s-style shows like Friends and Mad About You, and I’m into it!

Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette was a swoony favorite for its evocative 90s NYC scenes, fashion, music, and recreation of the doomed love story of an iconic couple.
Eternity is a touching movie starring Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner, about a woman forced to choose whom to spend eternity with in the afterlife: her second husband of 65 years, or her first husband who died young.
Song Sung Blue, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson in the true story of a midwestern couple who covered Neil Diamond songs, was surprisingly poignant and memorable.

Beef, Season Two, set at a Californian country club (with a side-trip to a luxe Korean medispa), reminded me of The White Lotus, with its themes of privilege, complicated relationships, and corruption. The cast, including Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac, is fantastic.
Your Friends and Neighbors, starring Jon Hamm, Amanda Peet, Olivia Munn, and James Marsden, returned for a second season of upscale suburban shenanigans and bad behavior, including a run-in with a port-a-potty, an FBI raid, and a shocking death…
Imperfect Women, starring Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss, and Kate Mara, is a thriller crossed with eye-candy, starring gorgeous homes, elaborate outfits, and friends behaving badly.

Marty, Life Is Short. This is an inspiring and heartwarming biography of the beloved comedian, with cameos from his MANY famous friends, including Tom Hanks, Catherine O’Hara, and his longtime best friend, Eugene Levy.
Rafa. This 4-part Netflix series is essential viewing for tennis fans, and is a revealing review of the former world number one’s experiences with injury, pain, and mental health struggles.

Paradise, a post-apocalyptic thriller, was one of my favorite shows of 2025, and returned for a stunning, nail-biting second season. Starring Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, and Shailene Woodley, this season was filled with detailed flashbacks that took us to Graceland, a bunker beneath a post office, and into nascent AI technology…
Ponies, is a fun 70s spy thriller set in Russia and starring Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson, as the wives of American spies who become unlikely spies themselves. The 70s fashion, decor, and music are great, and make this a rollicking watch.
11.22.63, the time-travel show based on a Stephen King book, starring James Franco as a high school teacher trying to prevent JFK’s assassination, is an excellent period-themed, thought-provoking series about what would happen if we could go back and alter events.
Scarpetta, is a TV series based on the bestselling Patricia Cornwell books, starring Nicole Kidman as focused but fallible detective Kay Scarpetta. Jamie Lee Curtis is amusing as Scarpetta’s scatty sister, who is married to Scarpetta’s former colleague, played by an excellent Bobby Cannavale.
Apex, a movie starring Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton, is an edge-of-your-seat cat-and-mouse game thriller about a grieving rock climber being pursued by a wily, deranged hunter in the stunning Australian Blue Mountains.
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, a dark comedy/thriller series that follows a divorced soccer mom who falls down an accidental rabbit hole of blackmail and murder. She’s fighting for custody of her daughter, trying to make it to work on time, and coaching soccer games, all while trying to solve a dangerous crime…
The Boroughs is a hard-to-describe comedy/sci-fi mystery with a star-studded cast, including Geena Davis and Alfre Woodard, set inside a New Mexico retirement village that may or may not also be home to a cluster of aliens!