Y’all, I’ve just been introduced to the concept of Book Prozac by the lovely and amazing Rachel Hawkins, author of the highly entertaining Hex Hall series. Book Prozac are those wonderful tomes that let you get out of your head and into another world altogether. And when — sadly — they come to an end, you find yourself relaxed, refreshed and just a little bit better equipped to tackle reality. I’m not just making this up guys, I’ve got nearly applicable science to back it up.
So in the interest of saving the sanity of the world (without a prescription), I’d like to compile a list of the most pleasurable of all pleasure reads. Take the time to leave a comment and tell all your friends to drop by, too! Keep checking in and together, we’ll compile a list of enough peer-reviewed paper prozac to get us through the long, dark winter. Or at least through February…I freaking HATE February.
I’ll start:
And Both Were Young by Madeleine L’Engle
Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
Guards! Guards by Terry Pratchett (or any of his Discworld books involving Sam Vimes)
Marian Keyes — seriously, pick any one
So Facebook it, Tweet it, +1 it, but let’s get the word out!
Harry Potter, always makes me happy. And I’ve read the entire Charlaine Harris, Sookie Stackhouse series twice. (Three times.)
*gasp* How could I have forgotten Harry! Brilliant!
Divergent by Veronica Roth! You’ll never think of the number 4 the same way again.
Ooh! I just read the blurb and was forced to download it to my kindle as quickly as possible. Can’t wait to read it!
I’ve got a ton. Let’s see…
1) the narnia series
2) Eye of the Dragon by Stephen King
3) Farenheight 451
4) Flowers for Algernon
5) Harry Potter
6) NOT TWILIGHT
7) did I say that out loud?
8) Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor
9) Room
10) The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
11) I can always get lost in any book by Nora Roberts
12) The Green Mile by Stephen King
13) Dances with Wolves *the book not the movie*
14) Dragons Forever by Eisley Jacobs *seriously people, AWESOME YA BOOK*
15) To Kill a Mockingbird
16) I’ll shut up now
Oh, Pauline. You’ve given me so many ideas. Also, the NOT Twilight is really resonating. I’ve found that many times when I’m feeling down, simply reminding myself “Hey, at least I’m not reading Twilight,” cheers me right up.
Harry potter, hunger games, in the time of butterflies, a tree in Brooklyn, like water for chocolate, Rita Hayworth and the shawshank redemption, wicked, house of the spirits, and a prayer for Owen meeny. That’s all I can think of right now.
Harry Potter
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Anna & the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Anything by Julia Quinn
Everneath (comes out in January, by Brodi Ashton. TRUST ME on this one)
Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Forgot these:
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows (comes out in January)
Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins
Anything by Tessa Dare
*sigh* Me again. So hard to just recommend a few books and leave it at that!
Hourglass by Myra McEntire
The Girl of Fire & Thorns by Rae Carson
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Gone With The Winde by Margaret Mitchell
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I really will stop now. *slaps hands away from keyboard*
Divergent ~ Veronica Roth,
Hourglass ~ Myra McEntire
The UnBecoming of Mara Dyer ~ Michelle Hodkin
All These Things I’ve Done ~ Gabrielle Zevin
Lola and the Boy Next Door ~ Stephanie Perkins
Saving June ~ Hannah Harrington
Ten Things We Did & Probably Shouldn’t Have ~ Sarah Mlynowski (Make sure you’re not eating, drinking or have a full bladder while reading…it will end badly for you if you do.)
What Alice Forgot ~ Liane Moriarty
Falling Home ~ Karen White
Hush Hush series ~ Becca Fitzpatrick (Patch > Edward)
There You’ll Find Me ~ Jenny Jones (You’ll be booking a trip to Ireland when you’re done)
Making myself stop for now…
my go to author is robin mckinley. i even managed to get write one of my uni coursework papers on her representation of women. she mostly writes about girls who Have Adventures and don’t just wait around to be rescued (i wasn’t keen on her more recent titles which departed from the theme). most importantly, she manages to avoid making them feminist rants! instead they’re beautifully written, rich, comforting, enveloping fairy tales and fantasies that i love to get lost in. and having reminded myself why i love them i’m off to grab one off the shelf and get myself buried in it…
Jen…thanks so much for your list. I know it’s hard to stop once we get going. Love how much crossover I’m seeing. Makes it really easy to see which books and authors are the ones to watch.
Anna…I’ve never heard from her but your description of her work exactly sums up my ideal Prozac Read. It also pretty much summarizes exactly the type of book I keep trying (but failing) to write myself. I’m off to look into her right this minute!!
ok–those literary connoisseurs and ones who like to use their brain when they read can just skip this post. : )
I love kids books. They just seem so brainless (and, for some, innocent) to me. To that end, my favs in the “kids” category are:
1. Harry Potter series
2. Narnia series
3. Anything by Kate DiCamillo (esp, Tale of Despareaux, Magicians Elephant and The Mysterious Journey of Edward Tulane)
4. The Mysterious Benedict Society series
5. The Secret Garden
6. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (this is the first in a series too–but I can’t remember the others in the series)
Non-kid books:
1. Same Kind of Different as Me
2. All Over But the Shoutin (but, this one is a little depressing)
3. Sarah’s Key (again, depressing and really haunts me—but I thought it was well written)
4. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (the only book that I was required to read in high school that I actually enjoyed)
5. Firefly Lane
6. The Help
7. Dear John (I am actually a little ashamed of this one–but I could not put it down)
8. A Walk to Remember (see comment above)
9. The Five People You Meet in Heaven.
There is a website called http://www.goodreads.com where you can log in your books, rate them, “friend” people, and see the books they have read and their comments. Its free and I have really enjoyed it.
Kelly…thanks for such great recommendations. I’ve read a goodly few of these which makes me even more inclined to try the rest. I’m actually on Goodreads, but found it overwhelming. I need to give it another go.
I adore this post! I get great ideas from lists like these.
My list is small but important to me.
1. The Outlander series – my most favorite books ever!
2. Anything by Margaret George (historical fiction)
3. The Harry Potter series
4. Anything by Sandra Brown, Julie Garwood or Nora Roberts (not intellectual but still lovely and great on a rainy – or snowy – day)
Now. Off to amazon.com with a list of books to get. 🙂