Favorite Book(s) Read During COVID-19?

[Lenore]

Hey! What have you enjoyed reading since the COVID-19 began in late 2019/early 2020? I really enjoyed Untamed by Glennon Doyle.

[Katie.dorny]

Omg so many!! Being in lockdown and furloughed I have nothing else to do!

Here are a quick few:

The road to Jonestown
Red notice by Bill Browder
Kindred by Olivia Butler
Home going by Yaa Gyasi
The mothers by Britt Bennett
Boy swallows universe by Trent Dalton

All are literary fiction bar the road to Jonestown and Red notice which are gripping non fiction which read like thrillers.

[Guadalupe]

Hi there!! I didn't read much because I had lots of assigned readings for Uni, but I read Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth (both by Tamsyn Muir) last year and they are simply amazing!
They are sci-fi/fantasy with a bit of mystery in the mix, and the universe the author has created is really interesting and original. Plus there are many canon queer characters

[John]

I really liked The Chaperone, which has a gay subplot.

[Bill]

If there's a plus to the virus lockdown it's that I've gotten to read more. Here's what I've enjoyed most:

Non-fiction: Ghosts of St. Vincent's by Tom Eubanks

Fiction: Lie With Me by Philippe Besson
The Overstory by Richard Powers

But the best thing read during this period, and one of the books I've enjoyed more than any other for a very long time, would be one which I've recommended to everyone I know who likes to read: One Boy's Shadow by Ross A. McCoubrey

[Emese]

My absolute favorite is They both die at the end but I’m currently reading Cinderella is dead and it’s captivating.

[JB]

Probably Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (sad gay classic)

But then there's also...

Life Isn't Binary: On Being Both, Beyond, and In-Between by Alex Iantaffi & Meg-John Barker (non-fiction - changed how I think about binaries of gender/sexuality/relationships)

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver (really cute YA romance with a non-binary kid and a male friend)

Heartstopper: Volume One by Alice Oseman (another cute YA romance between two British boys - this one's a comic)

Bloom by Kevin Panetta (yet another cute YA gay romance comic about two boys working in a bakery)

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei (incredibly powerful comic about his experience of being a child in an internment camp)

[Laaibah]

Oh definitely ‘Only Mostly Devastated’, ‘I Wish You All The Best’, ‘Here The Whole Time’, ‘The Cemetery Boys’, ‘They Both Die At The End’, and ‘The Girl’s I’ve Been’ you’re looking for something with an LGBTQ+ stance. They’re all so underrated it’s not even funny. Also ‘I Killed Zoe Spanos’ is by far one of the most amazing thrillers I’ve read. It was a tad confusing sometimes but it all adds to the thrill of the book. If your into some greek mythology definitely read ‘Circe’ it’s beautiful. And finally an underrated book which I’d recommend is ‘The Starless Sea’. Not many people know much about it sadly.

Happy reading! :)

[Jorge]

I definitely bought more books than actually read. Of the few books I did read- I want to say that Red, White & Royal Blue was one that I truly enjoyed.

[JB]

Laaibah wrote: "Oh definitely ‘Only Mostly Devastated’, ‘I Wish You All The Best’, ‘Here The Whole Time’, ‘The Cemetery Boys’, ‘They Both Die At The End’, and ‘The Girl’s I’ve Been’ you’re looking for something wi..."
Hope you don't mind I just followed you bc we seem to have very similar taste! Loved those first three and the next two are on my list.

[Nicole]

I read We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby and it made me laugh out loud multiple times. I loved The Art of Doing Nothing by Jenny Odell and Hunger by Roxanne Gay. Last year I didn’t complete my reading challenge because I was too absorbed with technology but I hope to this year.

[Jaynie]

Definitely slowed down the reading during lockdown (surprisingly). But I absolutely loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Wasn’t aware what it was going in, came out completely heartbroken. Luv dat.

[Eugene]

How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones. This is excellent, when many similar books are forgettable.

Rabbit, Run by John Updike, who knew how to set up an engrossing villain-protagonist.

Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor, who could find almost Lovecraftian weirdness in realistic situations.

[John]

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

[Michael]

Demon Kings: A Memoir of Poetry, Sex, Art, Death, and Enlightenment by John Giorno

[Bill]

I was moved by Take It On Faith by Bradley A.F.

[David]

The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams
A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
We Others: New and Selected Stories by Steven Millhauser
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith