Sometimes you just need to get your mind off of what’s happening in your life or in the world. Great fiction can take you to another time and place. I went through all my top reading lists and picked some books that are guaranteed to let you escape for a while.
Lily Ross is the wife of Sheriff Daniel Ross, mother to two children with one on the way and daughter of a coal miner who died trying to rescue miners. Everyone in the area lives each day hoping to not hear the siren from the mines. Talk of miners creating a union is getting stronger as the mine owner wants to reopen the “widowmaker” – a shaft that collapsed and killed many good men. Lily doesn’t know her husband has taken the miners’ side until he is murdered. In the wake of his death, she is offered his job as sheriff until a special election can be held. The town thinks she’ll just be a placeholder, but she can’t rest until she sees justice done for her husband’s death in The Widows.
Read the full review here.
She didn’t know anything different when she was little, but the townspeople called her family and those who lived near her, “Swamp Rats.” She had three older siblings and a mother and father, but there was always turmoil in the house. Her father was loud and abusive when he was drunk, so Kya learned her way around the marsh and how to hide when her father was on a tirade. Her mother finally reached her tipping point one day and walked away from the family. One by one, each sibling left until Kya enjoyed a few short months of peace with her father. Then, when she wasn’t even 12, he left her, too. How she survives is told in Where the Crawdads Sing.
Read the full review here.
Eleanor’s life thrives on a routine – well, thrives might be the wrong word. It’s a rather boring life, but it’s a life Eleanor can handle. The less emotion in her life, the better. She doesn’t know how to deal with being happy or sad. She can handle being bored. She works, eats, listens to the radio, reads and drinks vodka – over and over again. Until one day a coworker follows her as she leaves work and they see a man fall unconscious and they both help get him to the hospital. Her routine slowly gets shaken up from then on and she can finally find a way to deal with why she is the way she is in Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Just Fine.
Read the full review here.
Two paths of fame emerge in Daisy Jones & The Six. On one path, Daisy Jones grows up in LA with dreams of being a singer who sings the songs she writes. While she dreams and writes, she gets caught up in the rock ‘n’ roll scene doing drugs and sleeping around. When she gets a chance to get noticed for her voice and looks, she find out that she must put forth the effort to finish her songs and not just rely on getting by. On the other path is Billy Dunne. He teams up with his brother and some other musicians to create a band called The Six. In his mind, the band is a team, but to the rest, Billy is always in charge – singing, writing the songs, deciding what goes on the record and editing the tracks. They cross paths in Daisy Jones & The Six.
Read the full review here.
Beatrice lives in the Abnegation faction of her city, where all the residents are supposed to be selfless. She is only allowed to look in a mirror once a year when her hair is cut. There are four other factions in her city and she must soon choose which one she wants to live in. She loves her family, but she feels out of place in their selfless world. She can venture to Candor where they always tell the truth, Amity where there is peace at all costs, Erudite where the quest for knowledge is held highest or Dauntless where bravery is required. One simple test will tell her where she is best suited, but those results prove she belongs nowhere and everywhere. She’s Divergent.
Read the full review here.
Fast forward a few decades and picture a city built on the moon where people have lived most of their lives. Artemis is a tourist attraction, but in order to keep the tourist attraction running, there have to be people who work there. Jazz has lived on the moon since moving there with her father when she was 6 years old. Her father is a welder, but Jazz has chosen to find her own way after squandering her potential, as everyone tells her. She can barely afford a room that is slightly larger than a coffin and works as a runner delivering packages. She needs more money and is offered a deal that she finds hard to turn down in Artemis.
Read the full review here.
During World War II, the Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans in hopes that they would soon take control of England. Instead they stayed for several years. On Guernsey, the village people did what they could to survive and help those in need on their island. Getting caught coming home late one night, a few of them create a literary society, which ends up drawing them even closer during a trying time. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is composed entirely of letters. At first, it is slightly confusing as to which character is which, but the author creates such different personalities that it soon becomes easy to read. Juliet is a writer and book lover who gets a letter in the mail from a man who has bought a book that used to belong to her about Charles Lamb.
Read the full review here.
Lonesome Dove is a place that sticks with you, whether you are a character in the book or a reader. The ranch in Texas near Lonesome Dove is where the story begins and where the cowboys let their minds wander back to while they’re on the cattle drive to Montana. Some never want to go back and some wish they never left. Despite hardships and death, the drive must go on. Finishing the journey will make the journey worth it.
Read the full review here.
Every once in a while, you come across a book that has everything – love, humor, sadness, relationships that start and end and an unforgettable character. Ove lives in a world that has moved past him. He believes in doing the right thing and that other people should do the right thing. He also believes people should know how to do basic things in life, like make coffee, parallel park and write a letter. A Man Called Ove begins where it ends, with Ove trying to buy and iPad even though he knows nothing about them.
Read the full review here.
Do you ever wish your pet could talk? If so, A Dog’s Purpose will give you a glimpse into what might be going on in their minds. The book follows a young puppy through his life with his mother and then in a pound until he is euthanized because of a broken leg. That is not where the story ends, though, but is just where it begins as the dog wakes up as another puppy but can remember his last life.
Read the full review here.
What great fiction would you recommend to escape to a different mindset? Share in the comments!