The feelings of aloneness that come from this extended period of isolation and uncertainty bring with them things more troubling than boredom. It’s worth remembering that people out there are still struggling with the same challenges as before, only now it may not be as easy to get the desired help and support. Grief and depression, feelings of otherness, sexuality, trauma… These things haven’t gone away just because there’s a new crisis. But books aren’t going away either.
Everybody has their own kind of reading to suit their situation. In times of uncertainty and fear, you may be the kind of reader that reaches for something uplifting, you might go straight for escapist thrills, you might seek out some zany humour… you might be the sort of person who leans right into the darkness. Whatever your style, and whatever the circumstances, I’m sure we can all agree that books provide a whole panoply of comforts — and those comforts are very much not limited to the mug-clutching, blanket-wrapped flavours so widely espoused by the media (not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course). Often enough, the comfort that reading provides comes from the sensation that there is just something that good in the world, that there are people you’ve never met with whose thoughts and feelings you can mesh, that somebody knows what you are feeling, that someone else somewhere sees you. And then, sometimes, the catharsis is a mystery. This stuff can change your life.
With this in mind, I’ve put together a short list of some books that have provided all sorts of people with relief and comfort during trying times and imparted a sense of healing. The books on this list have been gleaned from various sources including articles, book reviews, reader testimonies and people in the know. Whatever you are going through, you’ll find something for you.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
What it is:
A young boy routinely encounters an ancient, natural monster who helps him come to terms with his mother’s terminal illness and his struggles at school.
What you’ll take away:
New perspectives on forgiveness, acceptance and loss. Catharsis and a new sense of wonderment.
Primary topics:
Terminal illness, childhood trauma, family trouble, acceptance.
Apt Adjectives:
Beautiful, heart-breaking, metaphorical, surprising, dark.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
What it is:
An incredibly affecting coming-of-age story. Introspective and shy, highschooler Charlie is hopelessly stuck between the life he’s running away from and the life he wants to live… until, that is, he meets some weird new friends who lead him into completely uncharted territory and help him see things anew.
What you’ll take away:
Revitalised views on friendship and growing up, appreciation for the awkward among us, reassurance.
Primary topics:
Homosexuality, love, abuse, friendship, healing and moving on.
Apt Adjectives:
Honest, awkward, heart-breaking, music-motivated, quirky, empathetic.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
What it is:
Acclaimed author Joan Didion’s account of the year following the sudden, tragic death of her husband. A portrait of a long marriage and a life filled with ups and downs.
What you’ll take away:
Deeper understanding of the universality of grief, new feelings of toughness and personal power, the certainty that you are not alone when losing a loved one.
Primary topics:
Illness, mourning, grief, marriage.
Apt Adjectives:
Truthful, powerful, humane, devastating, informative.
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
What it is:
The story of an overweight Dominican nerd who lives in New Jersey and dreams of finding love and literary fame despite the fact that he knows the long-standing family curse will never allow it. A testament to human perseverance.
What you’ll take away:
More than you ever knew about the Dominican Republic, an authentic view of the super-dorky, new determinations to make the most of life and stop worrying about whether or not you’re too weird.
Primary topics:
Social misfits, family history, Dominican Republic, immigrant experience, lack of romantic/sexual fulfilment, pop/nerd culture.
Apt Adjectives:
Controversial, modern, unique, sassy, magic-realistic, generational.
Every Day – David Levithan
What it is:
A lives every day in a new body, a new life. A never knows whose it will be, but knows it changes every day. That’s why A has vowed never to interfere with the lives they inhabit, to go unnoticed. But then, while inhabiting the body of a boy named Justin, A meets the girl they want to spend every day with and everything changes.
What you’ll take away:
A fantastical new appreciation for connections and trying not to get attached, familiar feelings of stranger-ness and fate, new comfort in self-sacrifice.
Primary topics:
Love, longing, acceptance, gender, selflessness, human variety.
Apt Adjectives:
Magical, poignant, questioning, bittersweet, teenaged, intelligent.
Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
What it is:
An unflinching account of Kaysen’s two year stay in a famous institution for mentally ill teenage girls. An incredible portrait and exploration of mental illness and all the notions surrounding the words sanity and insanity.
What you’ll take away:
Revitalised interest in psychology, comfort from knowing you are not the only one who questions definitions of sanity, faith in the recovery process and important shared experiences with a relatable narrator.
Primary topics:
Mental illness, suicide, psychiatry, society, togetherness, belonging, recovery.
Apt Adjectives:
Vivid, searing, uncomfortable, searching, intelligent, philosophical, unforgettable.
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
What it is:
A vibrant and riveting historical saga that takes on many of the most formative ideas of the last two hundred years, travels across the globe and follows the life of a gifted woman torn between the scientific and the beautifully mystical.
What you’ll take away:
The knowledge that categorisation is not as simple a process as if often made out, a trip into very different socio-political times, reassurance that there is always room to carve out your own life despite all pressures.
Primary topics:
Enlightenment, science, self-reliance, spirituality, romance, natural world, world history.
Apt Adjectives:
Sweeping, lyrical, rich, historical, philosophical, ambitious, accessible.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
What it is:
The Western classic on the practicalities of death, grief and over-arching confusion. The harrowing account of a poor Southern family’s ill-fated journey across the countryside to bury their diseased mother and wife.
What you’ll take away:
An outlook on death, grieving and family devotion that is more primal and physical than any espoused by modern culture, a deeply thoughtful reading experience that is as disturbing and funny, as preposterous and chilling, as it is influential – a whole new literary perspective.
Primary topics:
Poverty, family, death, grief, struggle, superstition, every-day-turned-unthinkable.
Apt Adjectives:
Strange, dark, macabre, earthy, moving, modernist, unforgettable, oddly-cathartic.
Me Talk Pretty One Day – David Sedaris
What it is:
A collection of hilarious essays from famed humourist David Sedaris inspired by his move from the US to France, the more entertaining aspects of his family and absurd modern irritations.
What you’ll take away:
Laughs. Ordinary life through the voice of a cynical, gay, somewhat misanthropic wit, new insights on life and aimlessness, new satirical leanings.
Primary topics:
Family, relocating, aimlessness, society, language and speech, satire, being bad at stuff.
Apt Adjectives:
Ironic, witty, smart, real.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What it is:
A famed and important discussion on culture, colour, race and immigration (which is also a love story) told with authority and thoughtfulness from the point of view of an academic Nigerian in the US who blogs about her experiences as she is forced to confront her own blackness.
What you’ll take away:
Lots of immigrant empathy, many lengthy discussions, a new understanding of the African Diaspora, and relief from your many unexpressed frustrations.
Primary topics:
Race, immigration, interracial relationships, bias and prejudice, endurance of love, home.
Apt Adjectives:
Fiery, explorative, conscious, astute, hard-hitting, charming, grounded.
Hunger by Roxane Gay
What it is:
A candid and vulnerable memoir about every aspect of the human body, specifically focused on what moves us to think we are free to judge those that are not our own and the never-ending cycle of hunger, denial and comfort into which so many of us have been plunged.
What you’ll take away:
Knowing that you are not alone in your anxieties concerning appearance, sex, pleasure, consumption and health. A comforting ally, new stores of resilience and the ability to see through the nonsense that may be keeping you down.
Primary topics:
Weight, sexuality, self-criticism, formative experiences, reality, absurdly-high- expectations, cultural-critique.
Apt Adjectives:
Vulnerable, rigorous, moving, raw, feminist, triumphant.