It is extremely difficult to force productivity when you are anxious, bored, or sad. This period we are in right now is overwhelmingly full of anxiety, boredom, and sadness. I am not going to be the person to tell you to learn a new language or instrument while you're trapped in your house, because I know sometimes it takes all of your energy to just get out of bed and watch a video for online classes. I am sharing some of my most favorite books with you, to transport you to a world outside of the one we're living in right now.
WARNING: Most of these books, if not all, aren't "feel-good" or "easy-reads", because that's just not the type of reader I am. However, these books are beautifully written, thought-provoking, and long enough to take you out of this harrowing reality for just a little while.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
I cannot count how many times I have read this book, but I do remember it being the first book I ever open-mouthed sobbed at. It is a narrative with perspectives from different women living in Afghanistan during the war. The war is petrifying, but it comes second to their husbands, who treat them terribly. Hosseini accurately, and sympathetically, explains the gender inequality that was lived through every day by women during this specific time and place. They struggle with abandonment, loss, pregnancy, abuse, and many more heart-wrenching themes that make you yearn for their happiness and freedom. Hosseini is a master of description, and something that always stands out to me about his novels is how he uses the physical nature of the Middle East to develop his characters. Deserts, mountains, trees; everything is important to their growth and not easy to branch the connection between the landscape and the characters. This book is around 380 pages with every instance holding immense emotion. I recommend this book to everyone, no matter your background because it is full of stories that stay with the reader.
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Another book about women that were treated unfairly; I have a common theme in my favorite books...This one is very popular (rightfully so) and I first read it in my English class senior year. This book broke me in more ways than I can count and Atwood is, obviously, a master writer. She writes multiple intertwining narratives throughout different periods so effortlessly, but you have to pay full attention or you might miss some important pieces. This story is mysterious, and you are trying to piece together the solution to two sisters' problem throughout the entire novel. If there is one book that I could erase from my memory just so I could read it again for the first time, it would be this one. I cannot emphasize enough how impactful the twists are and how much you feel for these women and their lives. With a page count of around 530, this is a pretty lengthy novel, but with all the alone time we have, I think it will be easy to propel yourself through. All Hail Queen Atwood!
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
If you're down to read some freaky shit during a freaky time, this is the book for you. This is another classic science fiction/fantasy novel, but if for some reason you haven't had the chance to read it yet, this is the time. This is a series of vignettes surrounding the future and its technological development, and how harmful it could be to humans. All of the stories are told through the tattoos on a traveling stranger's body; they move and breathe as they illustrate the perverse tales. My favorite part about re-reading this book (over and over again...) is seeing how similar some of the inventions that Bradbury imagined in the 1950s are compared to our ever-changing technological landscape of today. This is a page count of around 250, each short story around 15-30 pages; not super long and also allows you to stop and start quite frequently if you are needing some time to do other things.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
Yes, we all know and love Stephen King, and I am quite a huge fan of his. This book, though, is not one of his most popular, but it is my absolute favorite by him. There is something nostalgic about this novel for me that I am ever drawn to. This story follows a 9-year old girl who gets lost in the woods and must survive alone as she is severely dehydrated and malnourished. Of course, there is a sinister undertone, as always by King, that I think can be relative to many people during periods of isolation and increased stress. Her mind becomes unwound as she struggles to survive, and this undoing materializes in haunting ways. I love this book and, again, it is one I have read more times than I can count. It has a page count of around 220 (that's nothing if you've ever read "It" or "The Stand"), but its storyline does not lack from lesser pages. All Hail King King!
Iphigenia Crash Land Falls on the Neon Shell That Was Once Her Heart by Caridad Svich
Okay, long title: yes. Is this a book? No, it's actually a play. So, I'm breaking a couple of rules here for my final choice. This is a play I did a project on in high school, and I had to write a 20-page paper over it, so I'm pretty intimate with the inner-workings of what makes this play so amazing. It's a difficult read for the first time, due to a lot of intense themes, but it is worth it to expand your personal library. This play is a modern re-working of the Greek tale "Iphigenia in Aulis" by Euripides. One of my favorite things to explore is the different adaptations of Greecian myths because their stories are applicable to many different time periods. This one, though, is very edgy with themes of drugs, sex, and rock and roll. The setting is in Mexico City during the tragic deaths of hundreds of impoverished, native women. This is educational about issues outside of our country while also being an entertaining, haunting read. Plays are typically way shorter than novels and this has a page count of around 90 pages. This might be very different compared to plays or books you have read in the past, but it definitely opened my eyes to new genres and types of storytelling.
