There are books you read and think might have been created just for you. There are the books you can’t wait to discuss with your book club. And then there are books you read and think, “Just about every reader I know would love this.”

That’s the category I’d put “The Correspondent” in. Clearly, I’m not the only one. Nudged along by a glowing blurb from novelist Ann Patchett, Virginia Evans’ debut did OK when it appeared a year ago, but then librarians and booksellers started falling in love with it and recommending it. It grew into a No. 1 bestseller that’s soon to be adapted into a movie starring Jane Fonda as the title character, an opinionated retiree (a slightly sweeter take on Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge) who writes letters to neighbors, businesses and her archenemy at a nearby college.

It’s not overly sentimental but it’s warm, funny, rich with characters and (spoiler alert) has a happy ending. I’m not saying it was my favorite book last year, but it is a work that I have a hard time imagining the person who wouldn’t enjoy. “The Correspondent” doesn’t fit easily in any genre but it has antecedents, books in which older people rediscover their sense of purpose (it’s a popular “genre,” too, since that also describes blockbusters “Theo of Golden” and “A Man Called Ove,” classics such as Leslie Marmon Silko’s “Ceremony,” and just-published “The Last Letters of Sally and Walter”).

If you’ve already enjoyed Evans’ book, the only bad news is it’s too late for you to discover it. The good news? We know some others you’ll also probably love.

‘The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store’ by James McBride

The National Book Award winner’s playful latest is the most complicated and, in some sections, darkest book on this list. It’s a lot of things: a mystery, a portrait of a close-knit community, a tribute to wisdom and maturity. “Heaven & Earth” is set in a Pennsylvania neighborhood mostly populated by Black and Jewish residents who, united by feeling like outcasts, support each other. That’s helpful when a mysterious skeleton is discovered in the bottom of a well in the 1970s. Eventually, McBride lets us know what happened, in a chain of human connections that dates back to the 1930s.

‘Emily Alone’ by Stewart O’Nan

Versatile O’Nan has probably written at least one book to fit any reader, whether they like pulse-pounding nonfiction (“The Circus Fire”), historical fiction (“West of Sunset”) or, to get weirdly specific, Wisconsin-set tragedies (“A Prayer for the Dying”). The only caveat about O’Nan’s four books about Emily Maxwell (who is in her 70s when we meet her) is that they were written and published in nonchronological order, so you must decide in what order to read them. I’d start with “Wish You Were Here,” which introduces resourceful, occasionally ill-tempered widow Emily and her adult children, but you could also go with sunnier “Henry, Himself,” which backtracks to introduce us to her husband, Henry. “Emily Alone” is my favorite of the four because it’s such a detailed portrait of someone whose behavior rings so true, whether it’s tidying up before her cleaner arrives or regretting pieces of her life she feels duty-bound to part with. Then, you get to end (so far) with last year’s “Evensong,” a sad/funny triumph that finds Emily creating a family-of-choice in a retirement community.

‘Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand’ by Helen Simonson

All of the British author’s novels (including “The Hazelbourne Ladies and Motorcycle Flying Club” and “The Summer Before the War”) fit into this cozy category of books, but her first, “Pettigrew,” is the best. It’s set in one of those quaint English villages Agatha Christie used to write about, but no one gets murdered. Instead, the titular widower begins to realize his friendship with a Pakistani neighbor may be more than a friendship. And, this being England, his neighbors may not approve. The book is set in roughly the present, but it feels like it could have been decades ago, which is part of the appeal of Simonson’s hopeful, compassionate writing.

‘News of the World’ by Paulette Jiles

At the heart of the books on this list is usually this question: What person (or creature) will wake up the main character? Here, it’s a remote, wounded child. Jefferson Kidd, a crusty veteran of the War of 1812, becomes the reluctant caretaker of a girl, agreeing to drive her across dangerous Texas territory to relatives she doesn’t know. Eventually, Kidd opens up to the child and realizes that what he needs, like the protagonists of most of these books, is someone who needs him.

‘Our Souls at Night’ by Kent Haruf

Fonda also starred in the movie version of this one, her final pairing with Robert Redford. Gentle and spare, “Our Souls” is one of several overlapping Haruf novels set in small towns in Colorado, so a few characters will be familiar to fans of other Haruf titles such as his biggest seller, “Plainsong.” Haruf’s final book, “Our Souls” was published several months after his 2014 death and it reflects the yearnings of a person at the end of his life, as well as the loneliness at the core of many books on this list. Its main characters are Addie and Louis, two septuagenarians who reach an agreement to sleep with each other. Not to have sex — just to sleep and cuddle.

‘The Satisfaction Café’ by Kathy Wang

The shadow of “Olive Kitteridge” hovers over many of these books but the most Olive-esque character who is not Olive is Joan Liang. Her life is vaguely unsatisfying until, once her children are adults, she opens a cafe where people can come and talk about their problems to compassionate strangers. Wang makes the weird — maybe even vaguely creepy — concept sing. And cantankerous, resourceful, intuitive Joan is one of the most memorable literary creations in years.

‘Sipsworth’ by Simon Van Booy

As this sweetly comic novel opens, elderly widow Helen Cartwright has moved back to her childhood village to die. Grieving both her husband and her son, Helen thinks it’s all over for her until an unexpected friend, a mouse named Sipsworth, helps her realize she still has a lot of living to do. I know. Palling around with a mouse sounds like the makings of a terrible, twee mess but “Sipsworth” is unforgettable.

©2026 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.