From Louis Erdrich to Kurt Vonnegut, a reading list for social distancing

Books provide entertainment, education, comfort, and a sense of connection during uncertain times.

“We’re all so isolated in our little individual homes and whatnot, but reading offers me a sense of connection to a larger community than just myself,” book lover and Subtext Books manager Matt Kelliher said during a recent conversation on MPR News with Kerri Miller. “That’s what I’m gravitating to: stories that help me relate to others.”

Fellow book lover and Twin Cities-based editor and copy writer Anitra Budd has been giving books about disease outbreaks a second look. For example, Budd was recently reading a book about how the so-called “Z-bug” epidemic changed the lives of characters in the book “Jakarta,” by Rodrigo Márquez Tizano.

“I had started it before everything happened and then it was there and I was like, ‘I think I should finish it because, I don’t know, maybe this will help?’” she said. “It didn’t help.”

Budd clarified that it’s an amazing book. But she said while reading about pandemics and dystopia may be just the ticket for some readers, it didn’t work for her.

“I completely recommend it when we are past this. Maybe don’t read it now,” she said with a laugh.

Beyond that, she says, she’s drawn toward books to enjoy with her children, specifically the “Wayside School” series from Louis Sachar.

“I consider those classics,” Budd said. “I loved those books as a kid. ... I am just sort of like gobbling those down.”

Listeners called in and tweeted their recommendations:

Fiction:

• “The Best Bad Things” - Katrina Carrasco

• “In the Distance” - Hernan Diaz

• “Middlemarch” - George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Ann Evans

• Louise Erdrich’s, “LaRose;” “The Plague of Doves;” and “The Round House.”

• “Tess of the d'Urbervilles” - Thomas Hardy

• “What Happens In Paradise” - Elin Hilderbrand

• “News of the World” - Paulette Jiles

• “The Tender Land” - William Kent Krueger

• “Whiskey When We’re Dry” - John Larison

• “Wittgenstein’s Mistress” - David Markson

• The “Wolf Hall Trilogy” by Hilary Mantel

• “Deep River” - Karl Marlantes

• “The Darwin Affair” - Tim Mason

• “1984” - George Orwell

• “Animal Farm” - George Orwell

• “True Grit” - Charles Portis

• The “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling

• “Lincoln in the Bardo” - George Saunders

• “Station 11” - Emily St. John Mandel

• “The Glass Hotel” - Emily St. John Mandel

• “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien

• “A Gentleman in Moscow” - Amor Towles

• “Cat’s Cradle” - Kurt Vonnegut

• “Tom Robbins” - Kurt Vonnegut

• “I Hotel” - Karen Tei Yamashita

• The forthcoming novel, “The End of October” - Lawrence Wright, author of “The Looming Tower”

Poetry

• “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude” - Ross Gay

• “The Book of Delights” - Ross Gay

Non-Fiction

• “Leadership: In Turbulent Times” - Doris Kearns Goodwin

• “Braiding Sweetgrass” - Robin Wall Kimmerer

• “The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz” - Erik Larson

• “Born a Crime” - Trevor Noah

• “Recollections of My Non-Existence” - Rebecca Solnit

What books are you turning to? Tweet @KerriMPR to share your reading suggestion.

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