Reading a good book has been the go-to escape mechanism since stories were invented by early humans to impart wisdom, knowledge and a sense of escape. A pandemic seems like the perfect time to revisit this age-old avocation. Here are five books I personally recommend for the ultimate escape.

1. “Love in the Time of Cholera” by Gabriel García Márquez

This is just one of many marvelous novels from the Nobel Prize-Winning author, Gabriel Garcia Márquez. As the title indicates, a pandemic of sorts plays a part in the story and seems utterly appropriate during our time of physical distancing. It’s an outlandish love story that explores so much that is true but never spoken about male/female relationships. The protagonist, Florentino Ariza loves Fermina Daza from a distance for the bulk of their lives, assuaging his broken heart with 622 affairs (but don’t worry, he saves his heart for Fermina). The twist at the end will make you smile. While you may be tempted to simply watch the movie with Javier Bardem as Florentino, treat yourself and your psyche, to the book first.

2. “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens

Before you eye roll and skip to number three of this list, hear me out. “David Copperfield” isn’t the “Tale of Two Cities” you trudged through as a class reading aloud in 7th  grade. This novel is somewhat of an autobiography about one of the greatest writers (Charles Dickens!) in English literature. First published as a serial in 1849, Dickens takes use through the personal history and adventures of David Copperfield that include his writhing life-long nemesis, Uriah Heap and dear friend Wilkins Micawber. Definitely a book of ups and downs, the characters are so well drawn you’ll think about them wistfully for weeks after you finish this epic.

3. “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles

Transport yourself to Moscow just after the revolution put an end to the aristocracy and meet Count Alexander Rostov who is sentenced to live the remainder of his life in the posh Metropol hotel. How can a man who’s never worked a day in his life practically raise a child, influence politics and transform his life into one of meaning all under the watchful eye of the Kremlin? The saga spans 30 years and is full of breathtaking scenes full of wit and drama. Here’s another book that will make you sad it’s ended and leave you wondering what was next in these characters’ lives because they’ll become a part of yours. Spoiler alert: Kenneth Branagh will play the Count in the soon-to-be-released movie so get crackin’ on this book!

4. “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, this novel has a modern-day Don Quixote feel that will make you laugh out loud and you won’t even have to conjugate any verbs! The main character is a slothful, but intelligent 30-year-old Ignatius J. Reilly who lives with his mother and puts himself in crazy predicaments while he seeks/avoids work. You’ll dive into this book and barely come up for air. When you finish it, you’ll wonder why the truly brilliant author, John Kennedy Toole, committed suicide at age 31, leaving his smeared manuscript buried in his bedroom for his mother to find. 

5. “Lincoln in the Bardo” by George Saunders

Winner of the Man Booker Prize, Saunders is a contemporary author who also wrote an amazing collection of short stories, “Tenth of December.” “Lincoln in the Bardo” is written in a form you’ve never encountered in a stream-of-consciousness style of ghosts colluding about how to get President Lincoln’s newly-deceased son, Willie, out of the “bardo.” The “bardo” refers to an in-between state of consciousness between death and the beyond, a kind of limbo that exists for the dead who can’t move on because of unfinished business or feelings. It’s an extraordinary read you’ll never forget.