Books to Read While Social Distancing

As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to halt our freedom to partake in activities outside of our homes, many are seeking various forms of entertainment while staying put. While most of us are binging television shows, putting down the remote and picking up a good book might be the respite we need over the next few weeks.

Thanks to e-books, audio books and Amazon, books are one of the easiest things to access, unlike toilet paper.

From stories of pandemics and post-apocalyptic societies and triumphant narratives about spending time alone to pure page-turning escapism, here is a list of suggested books and series compiled by Time to read while staying safe at home.


Severance
Ling Ma

Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel

The Road
Cormac McCarthy

The Book of M
Peng Shepherd

Zone One
Colson Whitehead

Wave
Sonali Deraniyagala

My Year of Rest and Relaxation
Ottessa Moshfegh

Wild
Cheryl Strayed

Walden
Henry David Thoreau

A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles

The Martian
Andy Weir

Solitary
Albert Woodfox

Middlemarch
George Eliot

The Neapolitan novels
Elena Ferrante

The Wolf Hall trilogy
Hilary Mantel

1Q84
Haruki Murakami

War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy

Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace

My Sister, the Serial Killer
Oyinkan Braithwaite

I Feel Bad About My Neck
Nora Ephron

The IQ series
Joe Ide

Black Leopard, Red Wolf
Marlon James

The Crazy Rich Asians trilogy
Kevin Kwan

Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid

Harry Potter series
J.K. Rowling

World War Z
Max Brooks