Today’s TTT is “Books That Provide a Much-Needed Escape (bonus points if you tell us why!)”.
I used to read books obsessively to escape from life. This is not a habit I recommend, unless you are in a really terrible place and have no way of getting real help for what you’re going through. But that’s another topic—one that goes a bit deeper and darker than TTT intends.
So to keep it light, here are some books I’ve found to be page-turners or otherwise easy to get lost in, which may serve as a mild respite for election season the everyday ups and downs of life.
- Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. I have issues with this trilogy, but one thing is for sure: it is stubbornly engrossing. Life was miserable when I was reading this, yet my memories of it are fond… I read it with a friend and we became highly invested in medieval Norway and Kristin’s misadventures.
- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Gothic classics are escapism if ever there was. I’m especially fond of TWIW because I want to be Marian Halcombe when I grow up. :]
- The Lost Writings by Franz Kafka. Kafka’s short fiction is his best work, and this little book was quite a comfort to read when I discovered it.
- Malicroix by Henri Bosco. This was the kickoff novel for Reading the World. I’d never heard of Bosco before, but finally I had found an author who loves rain and rivers and dramatic landscapes as much as I do. 😆
- Nostromo by Joseph Conrad. In recent times, there’s only been two novels to give me nightmares, which would be Crime and Punishment and this book. It’s Conrad’s true masterpiece and peak escapism for history nerds.
- The Golden Pot and Other Tales by ETA Hoffmann. Hoffmann was a whimsical fella. His stories are so weird that you will surely forget your surrounds as you’re reading them.
- The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton. Chesterton was also exceedingly whimsical. This book is funny in parts, too. It took me 3 or 4 reads to get what he was trying to say, but I enjoyed every reading of this book just for the fun ride.
- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. I suspect this novel disappoints people who are looking for something graspable and uniform. Moby-Dick is really just a trip through Ishmael’s mind—and my goodness, what a meandering, billowy trip it is. If you can really let go and immerse yourself in the book, it’s complete escapism.
- Paris in the Twentieth Century by Jules Verne. This odd little book occupies a unique place in my mind, separate even from all other Verne books. It’s about a misfit who lives in modern times and prefers literature over STEM. I’m not sure if I would like the book as much as I did when I was a teenager, but I know if I read it again it will take me right back there.
- The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. This book was a joy to read, both after LOTR and a second time to my brother. Middle Earth is always a good escape. :]
Classics Considered 
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