Is Still Alice the once about the woman with Alzheimer's? That was a good book.
I'm not very good at light reads. I like the heavy stuff that makes you want to die, or just makes you feel awed and stupid.
I haven't read it, but I hear that Terry Follis's "Best Laid Plans" is a hilarious and really well written book (
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/201 ... plans.html ) Another great, lighter-than-my-usual book is "Come, Thou Tortoise" by Jessica Grant. This one is pretty quirky.
For the "heavy, winter fare" coming up in a couple of months, I'd recommend Swing Low by Miriam Toews (or any of her other books, which aren't quite as horrific, but still have those elements. "Swing Low" is a first-person account of her father's life and mental illness/dementia), anything by Anne Marie MacDonald, or anything by Alice Sebold. (But note, if anyone in the group is a survivor of abuse, these books might trigger them. It's not at all sensationalized violence, just very deep, real, and intimate stories that weave in violence/abuse)