Good books to distract you from the C word

[Sabrina]

I wanna see some recs for books that’ll take your mind totally off corona. I’m struggling big time with being able to concentrate, and I’m sure others are too.

You can recommend for a variety of reasons: it’s lighthearted, it’s an engrossing fantasy world that’s nothing like the real world, an “it could be worse” world, etc.

Let’s get a good thread of distracting reads going!

[Kathy]

Great idea, Sabrina!

I'm listening to a chicklit book set in Ireland and it's light and distracting:
Summer at the Garden Cafe by Felicity Hayes-McCoy.

It's the second in a series, but I think it could be read without reading the first. The first was good too. The Library at the Edge of the World.

[Milena]

I would recommend The Friend Zone, The Flatshare, and Get a Life, Chloe Brown. Although I need a break even between light books that are too much alike.

Also, I am listening to Know My Name: A Memoir. It's very engrossing. Upsetting, but in a completely different way from what's going on now. A reminder that there are other problems in the world.

[Sabrina]

I personally find space books super distracting. Probably bc they’re so outside our reality that I get totally pulled in. I’m on mobile so I can’t link the books but here are a few I really like:

I read Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kauffman like right before all this started getting big and I think it’s a perfect distracting read!

Also Aurora Rising by the same author duo is really good!

[Cheryl A.]

Kathy wrote: "Great idea, Sabrina!

I'm listening to a chicklit book set in Ireland and it's light and distracting:
Summer at the Garden Cafe by Felicity Hayes-McCoy.

It's the second in a serie..."

Thank you, Kathy! I looked up the books and now have the series on TBR with my personal goal this year!

[Cheryl A.]

Paranormal Cozy Mystery is my all time favorite subgenre because they are usually funny and unrealistic (really, would you go to a bakery own by a vampire?) They are wonderful for me to get into the series of magical beings but not scary or unsettling. The point is to find what books let you totally relax and not even notice the time is passing let alone what is going on!

[Ann]

Kathy wrote: "Great idea, Sabrina!

I'm listening to a chicklit book set in Ireland and it's light and distracting:
Summer at the Garden Cafe by Felicity Hayes-McCoy.

It's the second in a serie..." Library at the edge of the world was soo fun to read. Good idea

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I just posted a blog post on this exact topic!

https://www.bourquesbooks.com/books-t...

I have books about friendship, funny audiobooks, love stories, mysteries, and dystopias!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I have a weakness for swashbuckling- The Three Musketeers, Scaramouche, The Scarlet Pimpernel.
Also humorous mysteries by Spencer Quinn, Tarquin Hall, Christopher Fowler and Regency romances, especially funny ones.

[[deleted user]]

I'm having a love affair with Tessa Dare's historical romance books, she's an amazing writer and her books are so much fun to read!
Romancing the Duke is a great one to start with :)

[Ann]

What a good idea. I downloaded and read two of the books listed here and have another I just kindled. (that is a word right) They are fluff books and just what I need right now.

[Lin]

In the last three days I finished The Honey-Don't List by Christina Lauren and The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman. Both were very cute, funny and had no real purpose in life 😀.
I’m currently into audio books while coloring. Reading a book is not holding my attention at the moment.

[Marie (UK)]

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant is a good laugh

[Trish, Annular Mod]

Marie (UK) said "The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant is a good laugh"

I've got that down in my short-term list as well :-)

[Johanne]

Immersing myself in large-scale fantasy worlds seems to work for me. I just finished Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb yesterday, and today I started Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence.

A good fun fantasy heist I´d recommend is The Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch. I´ve only read the first one, The Lies of Locke Lamora, but that was highly entertaining.

For something really fun and lighthearted I recommend the steampunk series, The Finishing School by Gail Carriger, first is Etiquette & Espionage.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Johanne wrote: "Immersing myself in large-scale fantasy worlds seems to work for me. I just finished Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb yesterday, and today I started Grey Sister by Mark ..."

Yes, I like Robin Hobb and Scott Lynch. The sequel to Locke Lamora, Red Seas Under Red Skies also has heists, plus pirates!

[[deleted user]]

Johanne wrote: "Immersing myself in large-scale fantasy worlds seems to work for me. I just finished Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb yesterday, and today I started Grey Sister by Mark ..."

Carriger is one of my favorite authors, her Parasol Protectorate series is my second favorite series of all time, (following closely behind the Kate Daniels series).

[Rose]

If you are into romance novels and mystery, Tasha Alexander is a great author.

[Katerina]

I highly recommend Sky in the Deep! It’s a Viking story and is absolutely impossible to put down. Everyone I’ve recommended it to has LOVED it. It was my favorite book I read last year!

Sea Witch was also a great read that will transport you. It’s kind of the back story to how Ursula became Ursula. 95% of the book takes place on land so it isn’t an under the sea story but it’s pretty dark.

The Traitor’s Kiss trilogy is very good too! They’re a “slow burn” where there’s a lot of back story and build up before you truly get hooked about halfway through each but they’re so worth the full read. They are filled with suspense and are kind of a “who done it” with a love story and some action tied in.

Also, the Kowalski series by Shannon Stacey is a great light-hearted romance that will transport you to small towns and make you giggle! I just read the first in her Boys of Fall series and enjoyed that as well.

[Diane]

Sabrina wrote: "I wanna see some recs for books that’ll take your mind totally off corona. I’m struggling big time with being able to concentrate, and I’m sure others are too.

You can recommend for a variety of ..."
I've been reading some wonderful books which has given me some 'perspective' from the COVID-19 crisis. Even if we didn't have this pandemic, these books would be great and mind-changing to read: The Little Bookshop on the Seine -Rebecca Raisin,The Italian Teacher -Tom Rachman,Lands of Lost Borders -Kate Harris, The Last Train to London -Meg Waite Clayton, Belonging-Nora Krug.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

This month I've read The Fountains of Silence and The Alienist, both of which completely sucked me in! The Fountains of Silence was a historical fiction romance, while The Alienist was a gruesome murder mystery... Both were quite long and very engrossing.