Books for Comfort, Fun, and Escape | Recommended Reading, Part 5
There’s nothing like escaping into a good book — a book that takes you somewhere new, or that, for a time, helps you forget about the here and now. In our final list of Recommended Reading, we’re sharing the books and stories our community is turning to for comfort, fun, entertainment, and escape while in social isolation.
“It’s been comforting to read about people alone on the ocean for hundreds of days on end...” — Luis Jaramillo
Recommendations from Luis Jaramillo, Director of MFA in Creative Writing Program and Assistant Professor of Writing:
At the end of February, I started reading for the first time Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, a modern classic of science fiction. What I wasn’t expecting was that it would feel almost like the news. The novel is set in California in 2024, hot from climate change, and burning with fires. People either live in gated neighborhoods, or on the streets, where beheadings are common. The protagonist of the novel is a teenager named Lauren Olamina who comes up with a new religion called Earthseed, for which she writes aphorisms like, “The only lasting truth/Is Change.”
The other books I’ve been reading have to do with extreme sailing challenges, A Voyage for Madmen, about the first solo around-the-world race, and Gipsy Moth Circles the World, Sir Francis Chichester’s account of his own single-handed circumnavigation. It’s been comforting to read about people alone on the ocean for hundreds of days on end, being called on to do things like dive under the hull to plug a leak while sharks circle, or to take down sails as wind howls and giant waves break over the boat in the super chilly Southern Ocean.
Recommendations from Mindy Fullilove, Professor of Urban Policy and Health:
In college I took a course in Victorian literature to fill an English requirement. I had just read Devil’s Cub, a book by Georgette Heyer and mentioned it in class. The professor immediately said, “That’s good, but These Old Shades is her best.” That got me running back to the bookstore and started a habit that persists to this day: when the stress goes up, the Heyer comes off the shelf. Because of eye strain from too much screen time, I turned to books on tape this go-round. So far, Audible’s version of those two and the wonderful Unknown Ajax have helped me weather the pandemic.
Recommendations from Rachel Dozier Ezell, Costume Designer, College of Performing Arts:
I’m on book two of Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, and it’s a way for me to escape one world for another. My guilty pleasure is young adult post apocalyptic novels or sci-fi fiction. I found out about her while listening to the Levar Burton Reads podcast. This book is West African fantasy. I’m also re-reading The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. I wanted to revisit her work after having 15 years passed since I last read it. She’s still brilliant and her writing and analysis on culture is still relevant and eye opening.
For Self Empowerment, I’m reading I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t) by Brene Brown. I just love her so much. She’s southern, honest, and reminds me to forgive myself and love myself, and to never stop questioning. I’m also obsessed with her new podcast (Unlocking Us); feminism, social advocacy, mental health awareness. etc. up my alley. Finally, for crafting, I recommend Feminist Cross-Stitch: 40 Bold & Fierce Patterns by Stephanie Rhor, as I do embroidery and cross stitching in my free-time as a meditation and art therapy.
Recommendations from Jessica Gross, MFA Creative Writing ’18, and author of the forthcoming novel, Hysteria (Unnamed Press, 2020):
For comfort, I turn to novels with languid pacing and luxuriant prose. Ideally, they’re set abroad, to enable maximum escapism; if they involve carnal desire, all the better. André Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name, about a summer romance between two young men in Italy, is an obvious choice. (The film is just as gorgeous as the novel it was based on, but if you haven’t read it yet, I beg of you!) In a similar vein, there’s Garth Greenwell’s What Belongs to You, about an American teacher’s relationship with a man he meets in a public bathroom in Sofia, Bulgaria. The sentences, not to mention the sex scenes, drip with sensuality. And is there anyone who hasn’t yet heard of Sally Rooney? Conversations With Friends, Normal People, anything and everything she writes, yes, please. For poetry, I’d point to Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky With Exit Wounds, which is almost unbearably beautiful, even when the subject matter is devastating, and filled with longing.
“Don’t waste your time on something that doesn’t captivate you. Just flip the page.” — Helen Schulman
Recommendations from Helen Schulman, Professor of Writing for the New School Creative Writing Program:
What I love about short stories, especially for a time like this, is how they capture a whole world in their brevity. Translation: I love them for their shortness! You can pick and choose among them. Some are funny and some are terribly sad, some comforting and some mind-expanding. They don’t require the energy of a deep dive into a novel. You can use them as a coffee break when the universe is tap-dancing on your last nerve. You can travel quickly in time and space. These stories were chosen for their different voices and were meant to be read as an eclectic collection of possibilities and points of view. I don’t expect one reader to like or love all or any of them. But what’s great about that — besides the possibility of being stretched by something new — is that you can easily flit through and look for what is appealing. Borges said that there should be no compulsory reading. I agree, at least in this case. Don’t waste your time on something that doesn’t captivate you. Just flip the page.
Lorrie Moore “How to Become a Writer”
John Cheever “Goodbye My Brother”
Flannery O’Connor “The Displaced Person” (In O’Connor’s short story collection: A Good Man is Hard to Find)
James Baldwin “Sonny’s Blues”
Tim O’Brien “The Things They Carried”
Jamaica Kincaid “Girl”
zz packer “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere”
Adam Hazlett “The Beginnings of Grief”
Jhumpa Lahari “Once in a Lifetime”
Amy Hempel “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried”
David Schickler “The Smoker”
Denis Johnson “Work” (In Johnson’s short story collection: Jesus’ Son)
Recommendations from Dr. Emmanuel Cohen, Art and Design History and Theory faculty and First Year Coordinator and Faculty at Parsons Paris:
When I don’t know what to read, or what genre of books is going to entertain me, I favor writers who have a very surprising style, embracing weirdness in the way they conceive their stories. In other words, I read Thomas Pynchon, Enrique Vila-Matas. Depending on their books, the atmosphere can be a bit stark, but the surrealist take often helps to undermine any feeling of fear or anxiety (at least for me). The books I read recently by Vila-Matas are A Brief History of Portable Literature and Never Any End to Paris. But read the pitch of the book before starting it, it might not be adapted to all sensibilities! I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation on Dadaism and Surrealism, my tastes are not that conventional, I must admit!
“E.B. White’s seminal essay ‘Here is New York’ reminds New Yorkers just how wonderful and resilient their shining city is, even during times of acute crisis.” — Lauren Krauze
Recommendations from Lauren Krauze Faculty, Parsons first year and MFA Creative Writing ’10:
I recommend The Solace of Open Spaces, by Gretel Ehrlich. This is a series of essays about the beauty of raw land and nature and the kinds of comforts and truths it can offer us when we are experiencing isolation. Also, Essays of E.B. White. White writes eloquent, startling prose about the everlasting relationship between humans and nature, and often with a bit of wise humor. His seminal essay “Here is New York” reminds New Yorkers just how wonderful and resilient their shining city is, even during times of acute crisis.
Author’s note: If you’re interested in purchasing any of the books above, we hope you consider ordering through your local bookseller! We’ve linked each book to its respective website on IndieBound.com, for easy access in finding and supporting a bookstore near you.
Want more recommended reading? Check out our previous Recommended Reading posts: Part 1: Poetry for Difficult Times, Part 2: Cooking and Crafts to #StayHome, Part 3: Environment + Sustainability, or Part 4: History, Politics, and Global Connectivity.
