Hi all!
I hope everyone is staying as safe and sane as we possibly can in this pandemic. I apologize for my hiatus; I needed to take a break after my 3 month old puppy Cassia passed away last year. After I started posting on Instagram regularly again, I looked at what everyone else was going through in the world and decided to focus on bringing as much joy to folks as possible. It was very easy to discern that people really need comfort.
Especially in critical times like these, comfort can easily slip through our fingers. We are surrounded by panic, fear, loss, grief, and hatred. These things come way too easy for us, and given the circumstances, it's very clear why. You know what else is easy, though? Kindness. Hope. Free-flowing love. Why are those things so hard to focus on, then?
When so much is bad most of the time, that's all we can see. A wise fictional character once said,
"If you look for the light, you can often find it. But if you look for the dark, that is all you will ever see."
(If you know who said that, you get 100 awesome points.)
Of course, in order to address certain issues, you can't just ignore all the bad all the time. My goal is to encourage you all to prioritize finding the light. Think of five things that are good when you feel gripped by the panic and fear. I tell my close friend to pick out five "rays of sunshine" when he feels especially hopeless. We're all cooped up right now, so we might as well be cooped up with things that bring us comfort. Or at the very least, some welcome distractions.
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| We should all endeavor to achieve Zinnia's level of comfort. She looks pretty cozy, right? |
It should come as no surprise that I find comfort in baking and books, and if you're reading this, you may feel the same! Books have the unique property of transporting us to safer places and providing brief escape. Rereading our favorite tales eases anxieties as we greet familiar characters like old friends. Stories have resolution and give us much needed closure. Books help us feel not so alone.
As such, I surveyed my wonderful followers of @redsbreadsandbooks Instagram account and asked everyone to recommend books that bring them comfort. Some are familiar, like the Bible. Others might be new to you and might even become your new favorite! I've compiled the list for you here so you can enjoy some quarantine comfort yourself, however small or brief. If you'd like to recommend something, leave it in the comments and I'll add it to the list!
I offer you all a warm, comforting virtual hug. Stay safe, friends.
Quarantine Comfort Books
1. The Bible
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
3. The Secret of Dragonhome by John Peel
4. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
5. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
6. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
8. The Legend of Drizzt series by R.A. Salvatore
9. The Irish Jesuits Sacred Space Prayer Books
10. Strength to Love by Martin Luther King Jr.
11. All books by Jane Austen (Start with Pride and Prejudice, Emma, or Persuasion!)
12. All books by Charles Dickens (Start with Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, or Great Expectations!)
13. Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
14. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
15. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
16. The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
17. In the Eye of Heaven by David Keck
18. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
19. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
20. The Martian by Andy Weir
21. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
22. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
24. A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
25. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
26. Sherlock Holmes books by Arthur Conan Doyle
27. Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown
28. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
29. Nancy Drew novels by Carolyn Keene
30. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
31. Dinotopia: Lost by Alan Dean Foster
32. Isaac Asimov's Robots in Time series by William F. Wu
33. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
34. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
35. Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket and Groot Steal the Universe by Dan Abnet
36. Walden by Henry Thoreau
37. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
38. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
