Comments on: Take two books….

By: Laura

Laura — Sun, 16 May 2010 23:42:53 +0000

This post is amazing. I actually wrote a short story essay regarding this very topic years ago when I came home from NYC after trying to dry out from my wild ways. Stuck in a transient hotel, while I looked for a job with little or no money-I turn to 1)romance novels-good ones though with some heft, or chick lit. Susan Isaacs is the best and they are long enough to keep you from using other meds to distract you…2) john sanford Lucas Davenport series, 3) good legal fiction; 4) James Frey-a Million little pieces because no matter how addictive I consider my personality at certain points in my life, his is worse.5) catcher in the rye; 6)Jane Austen

By: Rissa Watkins

Rissa Watkins — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:16:01 +0000

After losing a baby I went into a depression. Books definitely were my therapy. I discovered the urban fantasy genre and would read to escape the pain in my life.

Kim Harrison, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris and Mary Janice Davidson were my therapists. I read everything they wrote and when I raised my head after a while, I realized the pain had grown bearable.

I still love the genre.

By: MaryWitzl

MaryWitzl — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:31:47 +0000

Most of Robert B Parker's detective stories are surefire ways to cheer me up. I recommend A S Byatt's 'Possession' for anyone needing a cure for a broken heart.

By: Liesl

Liesl — Sun, 09 May 2010 02:33:36 +0000

ELLA ENCHANTED.

Maybe my heart never matured past fourteen, but I adore that book. It's short, sweet, light and charming. Life can be heavy sometimes and that book lifts me right up.

By: Amy B.

Amy B. — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:12:04 +0000

My go-to book in times of distress, despair, or blah-dom is The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. It's short without making me feel cheated, complex in a deceptively simple way, and honestly, the first time I read it, I was shocked that someone had put together a book that seemed tailor-made for me. Even though the series continues and gets better, Thief is the one always on hand in case of emotional emergencies.

By: Clix

Clix — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:06:09 +0000

The whole Bloody Jack series ALWAYS makes me smile.

By: Elspeth Antonelli

Elspeth Antonelli — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:43:38 +0000

Anything by P.G Wodehouse lifts my spirits, but my favourites will always be the "Jeeves and Wooster" tales.

By: M Clement Hall

M Clement Hall — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:43:34 +0000

I'm not a poet, and couldn't write poetry to save my life, but when "blue" or "up-tight" an anthology of the long established works (ones that make sense not just sounds) can be mentally relaxing.

By: David Jarrett

David Jarrett — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:34:08 +0000

Without a doubt, Richard Adams' "Watership Down" is the one that never fails to lift my spirits.

By: Sangu

Sangu — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:23:40 +0000

Mmm, I have to say that when I need a bit of self-medication, I read something light, funny and absorbing, like Georgette Heyer or Eva Ibbotson's 'The Secret Countess'. My favourite 'relaxing' book is Jacqueline Carey's 'Kushiel's Chosen', because it has a gorgeous massage scene that always makes me feel instantly relaxed.