My favorite books to escape reality

This is one of the scariest and most elegant books I have ever read. It’s got all my favorite things; a haunted house, a group of charismatic flawed characters, a troubled heroine, a creeping atmosphere of dread… I was completely wrapped up from page one, routing for Elenore who, after decades of servitude under her abusive mother and dominating older sister, just wants to live her life and drink from her own cup of stars. Stephen King called this one of the finest horror novels of the late 20th century, so there’s that too. 

It’s like Harry Potter but rated R. Meant for readers (like me) who are secretly desperate to believe in magic but need to be convinced. I followed Quentin, a brilliant but sullen teenager into Brakebills an elite school of magic and I never wanted to leave, even when things got hairy-which believe me they did. A must for anyone who loved the Narnia books. It’s also a sneaky recommendation because it’s the first of a trilogy, but I bet you’ll be hooked and devour the other two—if they don’t devour you first. 

I am a sucker for an adventure especially if it involves night markets, monsters, and black magic and Neverwhere has it all.  An unwilling hero (the best kind) Richard Mayhew helps an injured woman on the street and as a result finds himself in the dark, terrifying, and ancient world of London Below. It’s Alice in Wonderland meets Wizard of Oz with a hint Dickensian crack. 

Gaiman has no boundaries, turning all literary archetypes on their heads. The first time I read this I was like ‘Wait, you can do that?!’ He does. This book not only altered the way I wrote but changed the way I experienced the subway- forever. 

I just reread it again and was as breathless and enthralled as I was the first time.

You know that frightening jolt when a painting reaches out and grabs you? Duma Key is your own private gallery you might never (want to) escape from.  

I love this book not only because it was written by one of my all-time favorite writers but it’s about an artist and the act of creating art, which is King’s specialty (think Lisey’s Story, The Shining, or Bag of Bones).

The protagonist Edgar Freemantle is a successful contractor in Minnesota until he suffers a terrible accident. He flees to Duma Key, a lush, oppressive island packed with mystery and malevolence, and unwillingly begins to paint these amazing terrifying works with life-altering results. 

Paintings that might possess you, islands with dark pasts, curses coming true?

Now, that’s my kind of book. 

During the pandemic I couldn’t bear to read much. It was hard to focus and I shut down. 

The Measure was the book that pulled me out of it. It held my attention with an iron grip, and it never let go. The premise is frighteningly simple; everyone in the world who is twenty-two will receive a box with a string it in. The length of the string dictates the length of your life. The prose was so sharp and clear that I expected at any moment to receive my own box. 

The Measure got me excited about fiction again, I was enraged, excited, and enchanted and at one point moved to tears. I can count on the fingers of one hand how often a book has made me cry, The Measure is one of them. 

Enjoy.