If you’re struggling to stay motivated to read right now, join the club! In these stressful, uncertain times, it can be difficult to find the focus and mental headspace for a book — even when it’s something you’d normally devour. In fact, thriller author Andrea Bartz addressed this in a live Q&A she did in our POPSUGAR Book Club group on Facebook, telling us, “It’s a very anxious and scary time for everyone; it makes perfect sense that you’re having trouble reading. You are not alone, and there’s nothing wrong with you.” She suggested reading a genre you don’t normally read, rereading an old favorite, reading something like a short YA novel or graphic novel, or even just trying audiobooks.
To help you get out of a reading rut and maybe even find a new favorite while you’re spending more time at home, we reached out to our POPSUGAR Book Club members (join us!) to find out which books they’ve enjoyed the most while social distancing. While some readers wanted to lose themselves in a “fluffy romance,” others “needed to fully lean in with a pandemic dark comedy.” Some completely shifted their reading preferences from stressful thrillers to feel-good books with happy endings, and others found comfort in traveling to a new place via the pages of a novel or visiting old friends with a beloved reread.
So what books are these avid readers recommending? Well, there’s a buzzy new release described as “Steel Magnolias meets Dracula” that many of our book clubbers raved about, a Queer Eye star’s memoir with a message of hope, a true crime audiobook that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat, a new Marie Kondo book with practical advice, and even a middle grade murder mystery set on the moon. Keep reading for all the book inspiration you need right now!