I love literature as much as the next person but sometimes I want to just shut my brain off and immerse myself in a simple engaging story. Any suggestions?
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a fun romp on its own, but it also has a ton to dig into it you want to, but definitely isn’t necessary.
Might relisten to those audiobooks to turn my brain off then lol
Great suggestion! I’m listening to it right now lol
A wizard of earthsea, the curse of chalion, the vorkosigan books, enders game, the aubrey/maturin books, the vlad taltos books, discworld books, the kingkiller chronicles.
I find all those to be pretty immersive; i hope you find one you like.
Beware of the kingkiller chronicles
Ended up being one of my favorite book series of all time and when I was almost done with book two, I learned that book three hasn’t been released in over 10 years. It’s a whole thing with fans going a little crazy over it.
Even aside from the “may or may not ever see this” of book 3, book 2 is pretty different from book 1. I thought a lot of book 2 got pretty dull.
Ready Player One. Definitely just a popcorn book
The Thursday Murder Club and subsequent books in the series by Richard Osman. Everyone’s decent, reasonable, and a little ridiculous. The stories are neatly tied up at the end of each book. I’m actually looking for books like that right now myself.
This made me realize I don’t read a lot of feel good books. On the easy and chill, the Culture series is pretty good as far as I have read. Similar to the Dresden File, I enjoyed the Laundry Files. I got told that the female characters become more believable over the books and the writing improves, but the first books are already entertaining.
Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell and subsequent books.
These might be too young for your taste, but ones I still go back to as engaging, comfort reads are The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede and Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards.
Honestly with what I have had to deal with today I’m more than OK with a story aimed at younger readers. I really need some child like whimsy in my life right now
I don’t think my suggestions are “feel good,” but I like Stephen King for this kind of thing. Also techy/thriller/sci-fi from Michael Crichton, Blake Crouch, Andy Weir (which is more humorous), which are all fast-paced and easy-to-read. If you like horror comedies, then Grady Hendrix has some novels that are ridiculous and fun.
If you’re into rereading, then something you’ve already read and enjoyed could be a relaxing read, too!
Well, I guess The Dresden Files can be considered like that. The series is pretty easy to read, without using much brain power, but they are still lots of fun.
There are many crime series like that too. But I have only heard about them, haven’t read them personally.
Also, if you don’t mind progression fantasy, there are tons of web novels that fit the bill.
I usually stick to scifi but I do enjoy the likes of Dan Brown and Steve Berry. Fast paced historically ispired conspiracy mysteries or whatever you want to call them. It’s just plain fun. :)
When it comes to scifi Betty Chambers writes something akin to comfort scifi. Her books are like a warm blanket, just cozy all around!
