This year can be a dreary time for everyone. Spring may have come, but melancholy still seeps in because of the pandemic. This time of the year, you would have been traveling, going out with friends, catching up with family, and meeting new acquaintances. Those were the days, but a new cycle has become embedded in your routine. The only thing you can look forward to in your daily life is the free time of your evenings. A time where you can reach for something to read that’s comforting, calming, and fun. Something to keep your mind off what’s going on in the world outside. Thus, here are some books to remove the despair that is clouding your thoughts today. 

The Trouble with Angels by Jane Trahey

The Trouble with Angels is a loosely based book on the author Jane Trahey’s life as a schoolgirl. This was originally published with the title: Life with Mother Superior. The story is about two rebellious high schoolers at a Catholic all-girls boarding school. These two girls’ school life is not easy, especially when they have an ongoing war against the formidable Reverend Mother. The book is written anecdotally, with each chapter telling a different incident in which Trahey found herself embroiled. This is a quick and fun book to read, which the author deliberately keeps things light. This book gained fame and was turned into a film in 1966. 

Alternate Reality by B. Steve Ross

B. Steve Ross’s Alternate Reality is not an ordinary comfort read; it is a biography of the author’s life but told in comical storytelling for a lighter feel. The author emphasizes how like the superheroes and villains in books, each person somehow passes through a traumatic experience. He shares the mostly true story that led to him becoming a sociopath. From his childhood upbringing to the family dynamics he grew up in, the book is a tell-all with no bar hold.  Alternate Reality Book will surely comfort any readers that life may be challenging, but you can still get through it. B. Steve Ross also sheds light on the sociopathy that will make you re-evaluate your perspective of sociopaths. His biography will prove to you that not all sociopaths are bad. 

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

Marjorie Hart brings a memoir about the time she spent her summer at Tiffany. Hart shares her experience with her friend Liane Hansen about the best summer of her life in the book Summer at Tiffany. It was 1945, and the characters Marjorie Jacobson and her best friend Marty Garrett found summer positions as shopgirls in Tiffany & Co. They were the first women to ever work on the sales floor, a diamond-filled day job, and became the envy of all their friends. Hart recalls that it was the most magical time she spent with her best friend, rubbing elbows with the rich and famous; experiencing nightlife; dancing away the weekends, learning unforgettable lessons, and even falling in love. These memories she shares will warm any reader’s heart. 

Yours Ever by Thomas Mallon

Your Ever is a collection of famous letters with commentary by Thomas Mallon. He explores the many masterpieces dispatched through the ages by messenger, postal service, and BlackBerry. Thomas Mallon’s Yours Ever is a delightful investigation of the art of letter writing. Readers, whether history buffs or not, would find this book pleasing and enjoyable to read. Some of the letters are reckless, passionate, and self-revealing, which Mallon marvelously interpreted to bring insightful knowledge. In Yours Ever, you’ll find Madame de Sévigné’s reports to the French Court, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s advice to his daughter, Flannery O’Connor’s brilliant musings, Lord Byron’s lustful boastings, and so much more. 

This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

The only purely fictional book on the list is This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. This is a funny yet emotionally raw novel that tackles love, marriage, divorce, family, and the ties that bind each person together. The novel follows Judd Foxman, who simultaneously faces challenges from his father’s death, having an absentee pregnant wife, longstanding grudges resurfaces, and old passions reawakened. Judd’s week quickly spins out of control. Readers will find this book darkly humorous but insightful and open readers’ eyes to the probabilities in life.