Books That Offer Escapism

[@jeanninethompson6243]

I never click a video so fast

[@AnonB765]

Thanks! I need some book recommendations like this. And thank you for everything you share personally and about books. You are one of my comfort channels as well as entertaining. ❤

[@SupposedlyFun]

That means a lot-thank you! 🥂

[@cosettie5913]

Greg, I just finished A Place For Us this morning and you were 1000% correct when you said it is one of the greatest American novels. The last 10 pages were so incredibly beautiful and had me in tears. Thank you so much for recommending it 💗

[@tyghe_bright]

Very surprised they didn't include Becky Chambers. Her Monk and Robot books are so cozy.

[@Joan-COYI]

Wow so many to choose from, thank you, I did my online grocery shopping whilst you informed and entertained me. Going to look at the list and download an audiobook.

[@johntyndall1373]

Hi, Greg! I've just finished The Pairing by Casey McQuiston, Fall for Him by Andie Burke, and I'll Have What He's Having by Adib Khorram (all queer and all spicy). Next up is The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun. I live in Canada but I still need these comfort reads to assuage my anxiety due to your election. I look forward to your National Book Award 2024 video.

[@AnneAbbey]

I think I might reread Lord of the Rings. It's been over a decade since I last read it. Sometimes escapism for me is just a reality check that there have been others who have been here before. Now the torch has been passed to us to raise in dark times. Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

[@johnfleming5470]

Americans just elected Sauron

[@AnaReads19]

I personally have read several of Becky Chambers's books and loved them all. There is very little romance, but they are cozy.

[@Rawful_mayo]

Seconding Chambers! I love her stuff! A Psalm for the Wild Built and it’s sequel would definitely go on this list

[@MarilynMayaMendoza]

Hi Greg, I usually don’t read romance or fantasy, but curvy girls summer sounds fun. I recently read a book about dating apps that’s so-called literary fiction called “ I’m mostly here to enjoy myself” by Glynnis McNichol. it’s about Paris, a woman turning 47 without kids or boyfriend and a funny dating app. I highly recommend it. I also like the mystery and I’m reading a cozy one right now to get my mind off of November. I also stopped watching news mostly. Aloha.

[@brendamiller1486]

Great video! The Magical Cats series by Sofie Kelly is one of my favorite series of all time and I hardly ever hear of anyone talking about it.

[@catherinejager3264]

Loved this video - didn’t think I would - even though it included Greg 😊 My reading time is limited, so I try to stick with “health food”. But I think I’m due for a binge of “cinnamon rolls” 😁 Many of these sound so fun ❤ Ready to bring evil down 😈 with love 🥰

[@MJ-in-Canada]

Have you ever woken up on Christmas Eve with a hangover and a dead Santa in your pantry?🎅Then you’ll identify with Anna’s character in “Happy Bloody Christmas” by British author, Jo Middleton (2024). If you enjoy a festive murder mystery with plenty of laughs, this is the book for you. I should mention that I’m only half-way through this book but it’s a page-turner, and the only thing that stopped me from turning the next page was that Greg had posted a new video.😁

[@TiggerTellsTales]

I just bought this for my girlfriend!! She would definitely help me bury the body 😂 So glad to here it’s good. We just read The Family Upstairs together and we were both traumatized 🤪

[@MJ-in-Canada]

@@TiggerTellsTales “Happy Bloody Christmas” is the perfect gift for a friend. I got your “help me bury the body” reference. 😆

[@debrahills8148]

My reading had been a little muted lately, so I checked out a book called Toto at the library. It’s a novel about Oz from the point of view of Toto and it’s described as funny and snarky which just might work. PS who am I?😂

[@KnittingGma]

Ooo - I read The Verifiers by Jane Pek. One of my fave reads of the year!

[@lilybugslibrary]

I haven't read Furever After, but I have read the first 3 or 4 in the series and they were all terrific. I hope you like this one. I think Curvy Girl Summer and That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human sound fun.

[@dqan7372]

"My escapist read involves some romance..." Back in college we were assigned to write a short love story. I asked if I could write a hate story instead. Assignment accepted, and I wasn't sent to the campus counselor either. (Maybe I was already seeing him for depression.) I like cozies well enough, but the thematic ones can be pretty disappointing when the supposed enthusiast turns out to know very little about their topic. Books I've returned to for comfort include Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Hobbit, and old Hardy Boys books. Classic and cozy mysteries can be fun, but I bail on a lot of them, especially the cozies.

[@SupposedlyFun]

Hobbit and LOTR seem to be big escapist books for a lot of people.

[@1book1review]

I probably told you before that my go to escapism is a lot of fantasy, not the serious kind (although I like those as well) but mostly the queer chill kind that is out there. On Stardust Grail, don't think you'd like it, tbh. When you said it has romance I really had to think about that one, and can't really remember that. I would recommend Ocean's Godori as a scifi with romance instead. Although not queer. Queer and found family is in Floating Hotel, which is also scifi on the light side.

[@ReadBecca]

I've really liked Kimberly Lemmings books, she's very self aware of how silly they are and makes it delightful, plus most everything is named for food. They do kind of have fantasy journey/quest plots too, and don't be fooled very high spice rating not pure cutesy. Absolutely sold on Just One Taste, that sounds great. I can't recall if I've suggested it before, but big fit for the elements you mention you are feeling right now, you might check out Lavash at First Sight. Fun romcom set at a food conference that goes full on reality show cooking competion, where rival Armenian American families daughters fall for one another.

[@mradcaqbdb]

Hmmm. I don’t think any of these are my thing. I recently came across the term “romantasy” and gagged a bit. So anything fantastical has a high bar to clear to grab my interest. I’d be interested in plain romance or romance with a thriller/mystery aspect, but magic? I don’t think so. I was in B&N yesterday for a browse because I had to stop at Petco next door. I was kind of surprised at the large number of tables that featured romance books. But then I realized they were all M/F romances. I’m sure they must have had a queer section somewhere in the store, but with the amount of romance titles featured on the tables in plain view, I wondered whether it was a statement that the queer romances were elsewhere. No purchases for me, but I was really just browsing. I thought they might have put out Brightly Shining a couple of days before its release on Tuesday, but no luck.

[@nanimaonovi2528]

I'm reading 'The Wind in the Willows' again. Spending Christmas in a badger set sounds good about now. Alexis Hall can get very off colour, I'd recommend 'A Lady for a Duke' it has top quality pining and it's not vulgar. Vampire fans might like 'Velvet and Iron' by Alexis Hall as well, a coworker of mine loved that series. Kimberly Lemming is short on editing but long on body positivity and diversity and silliness. I'd read the books in order because there is a dash of plot.

[@MJ-in-Canada]

My fave character in “The Wind in the Willows” is Mr. Toad even though he’s annoying and full of himself.

[@nanimaonovi2528]

@MJ-in-Canada he was based on the author's son 😀

[@MJ-in-Canada]

@@nanimaonovi2528 I didn't know that!

[@JentheLibrarianreads]

Mary has read ‘How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying’ and her review for you is that it’s very rude and funny and she really enjoyed it 😊

[@neetupd8510]

You could check out Undomestic goddess by Sophie kinsella...it's witty!

[@SupposedlyFun]

Thanks for the recommendation!

[@julieg_quebec-julesselivre8641]

Hi Greg! As a fan of Abby Jimemez, I also really like Emily Henry but not as much. 🙂 Good luck with your evil… he never stopped making the headlines and I can’t believe we have four more years of it coming and I’m Canadian! We all need strong vitamins (or whiskey 😂) to go through this… sending love and hugs!

[@curtisrobinson7962]

There's something other than whiskey that's legal in Canada, that would be my choice.

[@andygilly14]

Hi Greg! Another Emily Henry's books I recommend is 'People We Meet in Vacation' and 'Book Lovers'. Another book I think you and, especially Joel, might enjoy is Laura Esquivel's 'Like Water for Chocolate' ❤

[@amyschmelzer6445]

I own a used copy of Like Water for Chocolate. Why do you think Joel would like it? I am trying to plan out some theme months to help me read down my physical tbr. One of my ideas was translated literature but I own more of those than I could possibly read in a single month so I need to prioritize.

[@SupposedlyFun]

I’ve read Like Water for Chocolate and thought it was fun! I think it’s on Joel’s TBR.

[@SupposedlyFun]

Every chapter opens with a recipe, which is right up Joel’s street.

[@debrachiappetta1024]

Book Lovers is my favorite Emily Henry book.

[@candacehardy100]

The Frameup. I hated this book so much I didn't finish it. I guess I don't love mysteries that are so light and unrealistic.

[@spexi513]

📕🪱💔🤍💙

[@johnfleming5470]

I’d like to be put in a coma for the next 4 years

[@SupposedlyFun]

Hopefully you would wake to something better.

[@pwcinla]

Almost all these books have the same simplistic, candy-colored covers. Clearly they're trying to appeal to a certain demographic of reader; I don't know who, but it's not me!