5 Surprisingly Great Books To Tear You Away From The Screen

Positive reads that offer a bit of escapism in the strange times.

1. The Better Angels of Our Nature - Steven Pinker

Immerse yourself in 900 pages of concentrated positivity bought to life by cognitive-psychologist Steven Pinker. An educational read, tracking the history of the human race and how society has progressed and improved over time, with statistics to demonstrate that things will only get better! Filled with surprising facts, for example that the rate of murder has declined by 50% since the medieval period, and other though provoking instances put into perspective to calm the anxious mind. A soothing, smart book after which the reader becomes a little more erudite and gains a more informed, optimistic view on the world.

2. Anxious People - Fredrik Backman

A charming and relatable novel from the bestselling Swedish author Fredrik Backman. Turn away from gloomy Scandinavian noir to a more light-hearted tale in which a bank robbery doesn't quite go to plan, leaving the ambitious robber with a group of hostages in lieu of his desired bags of money. The hysteria that ensues in the following pages reveals that the criminal is actually the most mentally stable person out of the company- the hostages on the other hand, developing Stockholm syndrome (pun intended), start seeing their captor as the one in need of rescue. Overall a funny, very touching tale with a believable happy ending.

3. Straight Man - Richard Russo

A classic tale of an ordinary man's midlife crisis told in the first-person by university professor William Henry (Hank) Devereaux Jr. His mundane, unfulfilling existence is turned upside down in one moment after he threatens to kill a goose per day if his department will not receive better funding. From there, the trouble is pretty much continuous, one ridiculous situation precedes the next, but believable and relatable throughout. Funny, heart-warming novel, with endearing characters that truly make mediocrity remarkably appealing.

4. Whose Body - Dorothy Sayers.

What better genre to chose when looking for escapism than crime fiction? The first book in the series that follow Lord Peter Wimsey, Aristocrat-turned-Amateur-Detective on his quests to solve mysteries in 1920's Britain. This detective novel begins with the discovery of a corpse in a bath tub, naked but for a pince-nez, which Lord Peter immediately ascertains is linked to the disappearance of a well-known financier the same day. But finding out exactly how these two incidents correlate leads our protagonist into an unlikely dark place, where he is forced to battle with his own traumatic memories of service in World War I in order to unmask the murderer.

5. Shark Drunk - Morten Strøksnes

Captivating autobiographical tale of two men who set off in a tiny rubber boat to fish for a Greenland shark- the biggest in Norwegian waters. On one hand, the story of Strøksnes and his friend Hugo's incredible adventure on the open sea, the excitement and existentialism of being alone in such a vast space with a dangerous task. On the other hand, an informative, educational read drawing on scientific and social histories that that turns a seemingly mundane subject of fishing into an intellectual page-turner.