Goodreads asked author Lydia Millet to share her recommended reading list with us. Millet's new novel, A Children's Bible, will be published on May 12.

From Lydia Millet: "In this time of plague, those of us not afflicted with the illness and, due to a lack of medical expertise or other essential skills, not toiling painfully on the battleground against it either, suffer instead a lesser torment: long periods of boredom. Punctuated mostly by frustration. Also work, for some. Tedious household tasks. Unwashed Zooming preceded by frantic three-minute flurries of facial and/or hair grooming. Plus the odd spike of virus fear, job anxiety, interpersonal friction, useless longing for absent friends or pleasures, or sudden grief. As my son likes to say, everything sucks.

Some people may argue this isn’t the time for levity. Those people, like so many others before them, are wrong. It’s always a time for levity.

Laughing may not solve our problems, but it’s better than not laughing. It can be done safely at home. It comes with health benefits and a rush of endorphins. And it’s contagious, but not in a bad way. When brought to you by words on a page, it’s a victimless crime.

These are powerful books.

One is a guilty pleasure (spoiler: Borat) accompanied by sometimes obscene photographs. Another one (I’m looking at you, Tina Fey) is technically a memoir, but don’t hold that against it. The rest are novels, stories or creative prose, listed alphabetically. The first is even topical: It features a massive family sequestered together in a house."

[Check out more recommended reading lists from your favorite authors.]