16 Uplifting Books to Read in These Dark Times
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Yeah, I know, another list of books that someone claims you should read while in quarantine, while you sit on your couch and just stare at your phone because that’s all you’re capable of doing. I get it. I’m in the same place right now. We’re going through a global trauma event right now and your brain doesn’t have a whole lot of space available for much else. This list isn’t here to say “if you don’t read these you’re doing quarantine wrong.” These uplifting books, these happy, distracting, think-about-something-else-for-a-while books are here to just be a distraction, something to pick up and focus on when you make the mistake of looking at the news and feel your blood pressure rise.
So here: try these uplifting books. If you can’t focus enough to read, try an audiobook. Maybe that will work better. But let these books become the world you live in for a little while.
Written by a trans woman, this is a collection of essays and prose poetry that look at the world we live in and try to find a reason to create. It pushes you to acknowledge how we deal with the hard stuff, especially within marginalized communities, and how we sometimes turn that hurt to each other. But it also looks past that, saying we can do better, we can love better, and that compassion will make it easier for us to rebuild the world. We have two paths ahead of us, and like the author, I hope we choose love. As a forewarning, while this book is definitely hopeful and uplifting to me, some of the essays do talk about suicide and transphobia, so please be aware before picking it up.
We’ve all had that significant other that wasn’t that great of a partner but no matter how they treated us, no matter how many times they walk away from us, we welcomed them back with open arms. If you haven’t had a relationship like that, then I’m happy for you. Seriously. But this graphic novel is about such a relationship between two high school girls, and the effects it has on the other relationships in your life. Yes, it’s a book about high school drama, but it doesn’t feel like high school drama, and you end up feeling alongside the main character Freddy as she figures out just what to do with a girlfriend who constantly breaks up with her.
This one may hit a little too close to home, but it’s not about the most recent plague that’s, uh, plaguing us. It’s about the last one that happened where the government did nothing: the AIDS crisis. David France takes you through how the community banded together, fighting for a treatment and to be treated as human. The books teaches you about the activists who created groups like ACT UP and TAG, and tells you the stories of people who were fighting to survive and to help help others survive as well. It’s a hopeful story, and one that eventually leads to the beginnings of a good ending: early March, two people in London were cured of HIV (the virus that eventually leads to AIDS) and as of March 29, 2020, they have shown no signs of the virus returning.
I don’t know about y’all, but I loved seeing Lin-Manuel Miranda’s tweets every morning, with the little inspirational bits letting you know you are doing your best and you’re not alone. I haven’t seen them recently, but we’ve all been a little distracted recently. Fortunately, this book collects a lot of them, little pieces of prose to start and end you day with, accompanied by beautiful drawings done by Jonny Sun. It’s perfect for giving you words to base your day on and keep repeating to yourself throughout the day.
This graphic novel is all about finding somewhere to belong, and how to find happiness and acceptance along the way. It’s touching and comforting, with a host of characters that will remind you of someone you know, maybe even yourself. It is a little nihilistic in tone, but the kind of nihilism that is based in hope, that maybe nothing in the universe matters, and your life is your own, so do what you want. Be happy. Also there’s a fair amount of puns, which are always nice.
It’s exactly what it says it is: a book of delights. It’s comprised of essays of varying lengths written in the span of one year about things Ross Gay found joyous, especially the small things. The way a candy melts in your mouth, or the birds singing outside on a sunny day. It’s a nice reminder that while things may suck (and boy howdy do they suck right now) there’s still some good in the world, still some things to be happy about during the day, even if it’s just your cat curled up in your lap purring away, or your dog continually excited that they get to spend the day with you.
Of course I included a book by Terry Pratchett, who would I be otherwise? This is a collection of his nonfiction essays and speeches on a variety of topics, from mushrooms to Gandalf to his belief in the right to die movement. No matter the topic, however, it always has the Pratchett humor and righteous rage to it, and those phrases that hit you in the gut with meaning before you realize what happened. This collection also has one of my favorite essays written by him, “Let There be Dragons,” about how we need fantasy, even now in this age, because otherwise what is there to hope about? Sure, it may be a thin wisp of hope, a brief glance towards the future, but it’s a beginning.
This story has a main character a lot of us can relate to: someone who lives a solitary life with a cat and his work. Only this work is related to making sure children—magical children—are well taken care of in government orphanages. But when our protagonist is sent out to see if a group of kids may bring about the end of the world, he finds a place that may be home. It’s a beautiful example of found family (and queer romance!), and a nice balm on the soul in times like these with people who support each other and the nice banter that flows between them.
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