It’s time again for another Rest Room Rambles. It has been a while since we’ve done one of these, and I’m excited to open another community discussion thread.
This month, I thought we’d do something a little bit different, given that I know a lot of people here are avid readers, even if it’s something that you may struggle to do because of your symptoms.
Last year, before I moved to Substack, I recorded a podcast episode dedicated to just this topic, that (I think slash hope!) is full of tonnes of useful advice if you need to find ways to adapt your reading life to make it accessible to you.
A few years ago, I’d not only been struggling with the practicalities of reading (a real challenge given how central it was to my life) but I was also in a weird place of transition with my health. I was anxious, I was depressed, I was frustrated. So I treated myself to something I’d always wanted to do - a bibliotherapy session.
“you'll explore your relationship with books so far and your unique readerly identity will be sketched. You will be guided to books that can put their finger on feelings that you may often have had but perhaps never understood so clearly before; books that open new perspectives and re-enchant the world for you.”
It really was like a therapy session…but with a whole lot of books sprinkled in. We talked about the issues I was struggling with as well as my reading life (what I loved, what I hated etc), and soon afterwards I received an email with a “reading prescription”. It was centred around the idea that I was looking for uplifting and immersive reads to help me cope with (or distract me from?) living with chronic illness.
Today, I’d like to open up a thread to offer just a little bit of that, and to do so I’ve partnered with my friends over at Listening Books for a bibliotherapy discussion thread.
Listening Books is a charity which provides an audiobook lending service for anyone in the UK whose illness, mental health condition, physical disability, learning disability or learning difficulty makes it more challenging to read or hold a book. Online access to their collection of over 10,000 audiobooks is just £20 a year, with free memberships also available to anyone who would find this fee a barrier to joining. For more information, you can visit www.listening-books.org.uk.
Obviously, we can’t do a full bibliotherapy session for each person, but I thought it might be nice for us to be able to share a little bit about what kind of books/vibes of books we’re looking for and we can recommend a read to each other.
I’ll be in the comments with Emily Pye from Listening Books, but I thought it would be nice if we could also all recommend books to each other too. So if you read a comment where you’re like “I know JUST the book for this person” - please do share!
I think it’d be helpful to share a little bit about what kind of book you’re looking for (perhaps even why) and what you enjoy/don’t enjoy in a book. Obviously, they don’t have to be books about chronic illness - they can (and I think, should) be about anything.
Here are some examples to get you started:
What book would you recommend for someone who likes cold, dark mysteries set in a fantastical world with a romance element?
Can you recommend me a book I might enjoy based on my love for a certain TV series?
What non-fiction books can you recommend to help me manage finances in the cost of living crisis?
Can you recommend any children's books with a disabled protagonist?
So…over to you! What kind of books would you like to discover?
This concept really brings me joy! While I’m outside of the UK, I’d still love to receive recommendations.
I’ve recently been enjoying fantasy and speculative fiction- an escape but also worlds where non normative bodies are.. the norm! Some recent favorites include Clair Khloda’s “Woman, Eating” (I swear the author based her lead character on someone with ME and Dysautonomia), Ken Liu’s short stories “The Paper Menagerie” (I adore LeVar Burton’s narration of some of them) and work by NK Jemison. I prefer work right now without such complex names and/or shorter chapters so I can try to recall things and continue to read through a crash (though I often have to go back as I’ll forget everything). I particularly love work in this genre that pays attention to food as I do some food writing as a side hustle.
I do also enjoy illuminating non Fiction when I’m up for it and read several works recently on the cultural invention/history/ trauma of hysteria. Again, I swear these women, or some of them had hEDS, MCAS, and Dysautonomia. Some I think me/cfs too. I don’t need to necessarily continue on that theme but reading about cultural histories of disability interests me. Thanks for this amazing consult!!!
You've given me a fair few books to add to my list! I've got a couple of books that this comment has made me think of:
First is The Victorian Chaise-Longue. It's a novella by Marghanita Laski.
"This ‘slim, brilliant, very scary novel’ came out in 1953 and is about a young married woman who lies down on a chaise-longue and wakes to find herself imprisoned in the body of her alter ego ninety years before." I didn't know what it was about before I read it, and it's heavily about themes of illness (which interestingly don't come up in a lot of the reviews of it).
A more fantasy option is Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. It's actually apparently the book that inspired Dracula.
"In an isolated castle deep in the Austrian forest, Laura leads a solitary life with only her ailing father for company. Until one moonlit night, a horse-drawn carriage crashes into view, carrying an unexpected guest – the beautiful Carmilla.
So begins a feverish friendship between Laura and her mysterious, entrancing companion. But as Carmilla becomes increasingly strange and volatile, prone to eerie nocturnal wanderings, Laura finds herself tormented by nightmares and growing weaker by the day…
Pre-dating Dracula by twenty-six years, Carmilla is the original vampire story, steeped in sexual tension and gothic romance." To me, this also had themes of illness - of transformation. I love the Pushkin Press edition: https://pushkinpress.com/books/carmilla/
This is a new non-fiction, but the best I've read about chronic illnesses recently is The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O'Rourke. It digs into the social, cultural, political, medical history of why we're still be failed with these illnesses. Meghan also writes about her own experience, and I found myself literally bawling because I don't think I've ever read anything that captured how I feel about so many things to do with chronic illness the way I did reading this book.
Natasha has already done a cracking job recommending you titles, but here are a couple of others that sprang to mind when reading your words.
- The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - Written with barely controlled fury after she was confined to her room for 'nerves' and forbidden to write, Gilman's pioneering feminist short story scandalised nineteenth-century readers with its portrayal of a woman who loses her mind because she has literally nothing to do. This chilling account of postpartum depression, "hysteria", and a husband's controlling behavior in the guise of treatment, sounds like it would be just up your street.
- An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon - This story follows Aster, a 25-year-old low-deck resident of the HSS Matilda: a space vessel organised much like the antebellum South, which is ferrying the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot-if she's willing to sow the seeds of civil war. With nuanced exploration of neurodiverse/amputee/mentally ill characters, this book explores non-normative bodies and the fight for justice in a fantasy setting.
We hope these recommendations are of interest to you!
Wow! I absolutely love that bibliotherapu exists. Strangely enough I think I did this with films too when my endometriosis was keeping me in bed but I needed an escape/distraction but I think crucially a story that mirrored in some way my own. Hello Marvel Universe with epic themes. I love, love, love mythology but also I felt if I'm honest I wanted something that seemed visceral too. Because it felt 'epic' just getting out for a ten minute walk, having a bath - I'm sure this is similar to others too.
I wanted to say thank you for saying 'reading is reading is reading' because as a dyslexic learner I'd always undermined my listening to books as somehow less than real reading. Not anymore!
Okay I have some suggestions...I've been reading the audiobooks of the Wimsey series. They have romance and mystery and murder and I fins they can feel like being in a fantasy world because they are set in a past era. There is a dash of humour too too keep up some light and shade.
For a children's book about a disabled character I have some points that might help??? I watched the Merlin series on BBC as he is 'magical' but has to hide it and I felt it related to his lack of acceptance in a society that ignores him but he has a destiny. Which seems so big headed but it really helped me! Also he gets underestimated a lot and I felt I was going through a bad patch with feeling very patronised whenever I disclosed my disability. Also there are the Shardlake books which has the main protagonist with a disability set in Tudor england and he solves murders.
Apologies for the tv recommendation but thought it might offer a genre of books in a similar genre?
Oh, and yes! Reading is reading is reading! It's so interesting how we all take in information differently. I can't really listen to fiction audiobooks as it doesn't feel like reading to *me*, but I know others for whom it's the only way they can take in that information and it's so much more immersive. Non-fiction on the other hand is different.
I'm glad you've found audiobooks are a more accessible option for you!
It is is so interesting isn't it! I love hearing how different people take in stories or non-fiction. Also when I was starting to have to reduce my activites around pain and energy I found it very odd listening to audiobooks without doing something else visually and with my hands so I actually struggled with them then. It's so helpful to have discussions around the variety of ways to read and engage with fiction or non-fiction. (Now I just kind of fiddle with a scrunchie or somthing tactile and it sort of helped me...?)
Thank you! And thank you for your lovely comment. I love the sound of the Wimsey books, so I've added them to my list. Perhaps some Christmas reading - since I used to read Sherlock Holmes over Christmas!
I really love your reflection on how you kind of "tv-movie-i-therapied" yourself and how you related to the different things that you watched.
It's not a mystery, but when you mentioned "set in a past era with a dash of humour to keep up some light and shade", I don't know if this would be of interest (and it's a bit of a tangent from what you were talking about) but I got Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield in a book box a couple of years ago and it was such an unexpected charming joy. I found it incredibly comforting and funny.
As a review in the Independent put it: "Before there was Bridget Jones, there was Delafield's provincial lady, cataloguing her struggles with supercilious neighbours, a distracted husband and unforthcoming hyacinth bulbs. The home counties domesticity may be a creation of the 1930s, but some things are eternal, from the mixture of joy and tedium that is parenting, to the jolt of horror when you catch your reflection unawares in the mirror of a changing room."
Oh I love the sound of the Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield - have added those to my list. And I really hope you enjoy the Wimsey series and definitely find myself also drawn to similiar storeis around Christmas time too. If you want the 'romance' angle for the Wimsey stories pick one with the character Harriet Vane. Not that the others are any less enjoyable just don't have the romantic bit in them lol
Thank you so much for this comment!! I’ve been looking for gentle audiobooks to listen to as I’m struggling to read on the page too much, and I LOVE the Wimsey mysteries - Gaudy Night is one of my all time favourite books. Which I have on audiobook. But I’ve never connected the dots before, I’m so pleased now!
They start off as sort of classic golden age mysteries, then from Strong Poison onwards the romantic subplot kicks in and they become more layered as the series continues. Which is all to say that I didn’t love the first few the first time I read them, and the later ones are still my favourites
We have a couple of big murder mystery fans in the Listening Books team, and we love C. J. Sansom's Shardlake series, as well as Dorothy L. Sayers' Wimsey books, too! Wimsey makes such an elegant and sharp-witted protagonist, doesn't he? And what an interesting thought that historical settings can feel like fantasy worlds!
There's no need to apologise for recommending a TV show - in a similar way that audiobooks absolutely count as reading, all forms of enjoying storytelling are valid, including through film and TV. I myself am actually a Merlin fan, and have recently been watching it with my family! You're right that it's a fantastic story about a young person who doesn't fit societal norms, which can absolutely be interpreted as an allegory for disability. It's wonderful to hear that this story supported you during a tough time. Many of our members have also commented that the stories they've listened to through our audiobook lending service have helped them to process their own disabilities.
If you enjoy historical Young Adult stories about magical misfits pursuing their destinies, a good book for you could be Witch by Finbar Hawkins! This book is set in 17th-century England, where civil war rages and witches have become pawns in a plot to oust the king. The protagonist, Evey, does not want to be a witch, but she cannot deny the magick coursing through her veins. After witnessing the brutal murder of her mother by witch-hunters, Evey vows to avenge her and track down her killers. But she promised her mother that she will keep Dill, her little sister, safe. It's a breathtaking tale of the power of women, witchcraft, fury, revenge and the ties that bind us.
As you also mentioned that you love mythology and the Marvel Universe's epic themes, you may also enjoy The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris! The novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods - retold from the point of view of the world's ultimate trickster, Loki. While Loki is planning the downfall of Asgard and the humiliation of his fellow gods, who torment him by refusing to accept him as one of their own, greater powers are conspiring against the gods and a battle is brewing that will change the fate of the Worlds.
Thanks for contributing some recommendations of your own! We hope the books we've suggested for you are interesting :)
Thank you Emily. Both of those recommendations have been added to my list! And it's great to know there are some other fans of Shardlake and the amazing Lord Peter Wimsey. Yes he is such a wonderful protagonist. I also find that I want to start imitating his use of language after listening to the audiobooks. ;-)
I've never heard of bibliotherapy before. So cool!
I really enjoyed reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and mostly read via audiobook. Do you have any recommendations that are similar to that with great narration?
So funny that you mention this book. I’m not a fiction audiobook listener at all - but I listened to Daisy Jones and the Six (also by Taylor Jenkins Reid) on audiobook and it was brilliant - it was like listening to an audio documentary!
Hi there, we absolutely loved Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, so we totally understand why you'd want to find more books like it!
We think you might enjoy:
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Jay Gatsby causes quite a stir when he buys a mansion on the east coast of America and sets about hosting the most lavish parties. Anyone who is anyone wants to be seen at his glittering parties, but Gatsby himself always seems to be watching and waiting. The Great Gatsby is the perfect encapsulation of the glamorous 1920s, with gin, sex, scandal - and all the glitz and glamour of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. In our audiobook collection we have two copies of this title available to stream and download, one of which is brilliantly narrated by actor William Hope, who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab - When Addie La Rue makes a pact with the devil, she trades her soul for immortality. But there's always a price - the devil takes away her place in the world, cursing her to be forgotten by everyone. Addie flees her tiny home town in 18th-Century France, beginning a journey that takes her across the world. Until one day, in a second hand bookshop in Manhattan, Addie meets someone who remembers her. If you’re looking for another historical and current day-based novel, then The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is the book for you! The copy in the Listening Books audiobook collection is gorgeously narrated by American actor and author Julia Whelan.
We hope these recommendations are helpful to you :)
I LOVE this topic! I've been reading lots of memoirs as I've found them more accessible with brain fog - as you don't need to remember the plot details so much. Particularly ones either about another culture, or about someone on an adventure. As someone who loves the outdoors but can't hike right now, it's great to be able to still live these experiences through books. Is anyone else into this type of reading? I've just finished Unlost by Gail Muller which I really enjoyed
I love this thread so much, and I’ve just signed up to listening books! I use Libby a lot already for my local library, but so excited to have a much wider range of audiobooks available (and I’ve recently had to cancel my subscription to the big audiobook place because it was getting too expensive).
I’ve already added a whole pile of books from this thread to my wishlist. I’m particularly looking for book series with a soothing narrator that are well written but not highbrow, and fairly gentle and undemanding (I have a short attention span for audio even when not fatigued). I’ve been listening to Stephen Fry read Sherlock Holmes on repeat lately (skipping over some of the stories that don’t age well), and I love Terry Pratchett - Discworld is my all time favourite. Every single time I re-read or re-listen I’ll pick up something I missed before, and since getting sick I’ve found a lot of themes about doing the hard grind that’s in front of you from the witches books especially to have fresh resonance.
I’ve also liked Jodi Taylor’s chronicles of st Mary series, though it gets a bit samey and predictable in the middle, the Sean Duffy Belfast series by Adrian McGinty, the Rivers of London books...I guess I’m not too focused on genre as long as it’s not horror or overly gory, but I like a sense of humour and something that’s a little bit distanced from present day either by place or time. And not too emotionally stressful - I love Marian Keyes but have had her latest book sitting waiting to be read for months now because I know that as much as I’ll love it, it’ll also make me cry and I’m not ready 😂
I feel like this post is just a mess of contradictions, but I’ve tried a couple of series recently and given them up because of the way the (male) author wrote the female love interests, so would love some ideas!
If you've not read it already then Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series might fit what you're looking for. I read them on Kindle in 2020 and they got me through the first weeks of lockdown and having covid. I've just looked and Listening Books has them narrated by Tim Curry, who has a very soothing voice. They don't have the most recent book yet but you can ask for books to be added to the library.
The first book is Sabriel and it follows a young woman learning to become a necromancer (not as dark as it sounds or as gory) in a magical world. Lots of adventure, plenty of humour and I really enjoyed the world building.
Oh that’s a great idea, thank you - Garth Nix is definitely someone I’ve had recommended to me over the years but I’ve never got round to trying, sounds brilliant!
Hi Kelly - first of all, welcome to Listening Books! We hope you enjoy having access to the 10,000+ audiobooks in our catalogue, and if you have any questions about our service, please don't hesitate to get in touch with our friendly membership team.
Seems like you have a fantastic literary taste! We've also discarded a few books in our time once we've had enough of poorly-written female characters...
Based on what you already enjoy, we think you might also like:
- The Vinyl Detective series by Andrew Cartmel - The protagonist is a record collector and a connoisseur of vinyl, hunting out rare and elusive LPs. His business card describes him as the Vinyl Detective and some people take this more literally than others. For example, the beautiful, mysterious woman in book 1, who wants to pay him a large sum of money to find a priceless lost recording on behalf of an extremely wealthy, yet shadowy, client. These fun, fast-paced mysteries are full of wry, quirky humour which is very reminiscent of Ben Aaronovitch (of whom we are also big fans!).
- Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - Also part of a series, this tells the story of Sophie Hatter, who has been cursed by the Witch of the Waste. Sophie goes to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, where she meets the dreaded Wizard Howl, Howl's apprentice Michael, and Calcifer the fire demon, with whom she agrees a pact. The story follows her quest to break the spell cast upon her, with the author's unique combination of magic, humour and imagination. Although it may not be quite as funny, many have compared Diana Wynne Jones' writing style to that of Terry Pratchett - so could be well worth a read (or listen) for you!
Thank you, these are both brilliant suggestions! The Vinyl Detective sounds right up my street at the moment, I’ll definitely check it out. And I know Howl’s Moving Castle is a treasured book by so many people, I’ve always meant to get around to reading it and it’s definitely on my list now.
Thanks so much for organising this Natasha - fantastic idea for a thread!
I'd love recommendations for books like Becky Chambers'. Full of warmth, strong characters and relationships, that feels like wrapping yourself up in a blanket when you need something comforting. Sci-fi/fantasy would be great but other genres are good too. Bonus points if it's in the Listening Books catalogue!
Strong relationships between characters keep us coming back again and again to some of our favourites!
You might enjoy the following titles:
- Network Effect by Martha Wells - Don't be fooled by the main character's name being Murderbot - this story is really quite warming! Murderbot has spent a lot of time alone, and thinks it likes it that way, but the desire for emotional connection is creeping in. This leads to vulnerability, however, so Murderbot habitually soothes itself with its favourite books and TV shows. But when Murderbot's human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.
- The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater - Every year on St. Mark's Eve, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them - not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. What Blue doesn't anticipate is that Gansey - along with his friends Adam, Ronan, and Noah - will rope her into a search across ley lines for a mythological king whose discovery will grant them a wish. This is a fantastic fantasy story about love, friendship and found family.
Both of these recommendations are available to stream and download from the Listening Books website or the Libby app. We hope they're helpful!
I’ve added both of these to my wishlist, I’ve heard friends with similar taste talk about Murderbot before but never investigated it but these both sound brilliant!
You get full marks for getting the right vibe here because I love both of these series! I read Murderbot recently and I'm so happy they were on Listening Books because I wasn't sure about them (the name did put me off!) but Kevin R Free's narration was perfect and Murderbot would be very disapproving at my human glee at the way its not-friendships developed over the series.
And I've been meaning to reread The Raven Cycle for a few years now. I loved the characters and think it'd be great to listen to the audiobooks this time. I think I'll save them for my probable post-Christmas crash when I need something comforting to listen to.
I had to do too much yesterday morning and crashed harder than I expected afterwards. I listened to half of The Raven Boys and it made spending the very long afternoon and evening doing my best impression of a deflated balloon much more bearable. I havent read The Raven Cycle for five years and it felt like putting on a cosy old favourite jumper, which was exactly what I needed. It's improving today's recovery too.
Thank you so much Natasha and Emily for doing this recommendation post!
So sorry to hear you've been having a tiring time, I hope you've managed to get some more rest since that busy day! I'm so glad this thread has been beneficial for you, and that audiobooks have provided comfort and companionship when you've needed them. Thank you for your comments Emily, take care!
This concept really brings me joy! While I’m outside of the UK, I’d still love to receive recommendations.
I’ve recently been enjoying fantasy and speculative fiction- an escape but also worlds where non normative bodies are.. the norm! Some recent favorites include Clair Khloda’s “Woman, Eating” (I swear the author based her lead character on someone with ME and Dysautonomia), Ken Liu’s short stories “The Paper Menagerie” (I adore LeVar Burton’s narration of some of them) and work by NK Jemison. I prefer work right now without such complex names and/or shorter chapters so I can try to recall things and continue to read through a crash (though I often have to go back as I’ll forget everything). I particularly love work in this genre that pays attention to food as I do some food writing as a side hustle.
I do also enjoy illuminating non Fiction when I’m up for it and read several works recently on the cultural invention/history/ trauma of hysteria. Again, I swear these women, or some of them had hEDS, MCAS, and Dysautonomia. Some I think me/cfs too. I don’t need to necessarily continue on that theme but reading about cultural histories of disability interests me. Thanks for this amazing consult!!!
Of course - book recommendations are worldwide!
You've given me a fair few books to add to my list! I've got a couple of books that this comment has made me think of:
First is The Victorian Chaise-Longue. It's a novella by Marghanita Laski.
"This ‘slim, brilliant, very scary novel’ came out in 1953 and is about a young married woman who lies down on a chaise-longue and wakes to find herself imprisoned in the body of her alter ego ninety years before." I didn't know what it was about before I read it, and it's heavily about themes of illness (which interestingly don't come up in a lot of the reviews of it).
https://persephonebooks.co.uk/products/the-victorian-chaise-longue
A more fantasy option is Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. It's actually apparently the book that inspired Dracula.
"In an isolated castle deep in the Austrian forest, Laura leads a solitary life with only her ailing father for company. Until one moonlit night, a horse-drawn carriage crashes into view, carrying an unexpected guest – the beautiful Carmilla.
So begins a feverish friendship between Laura and her mysterious, entrancing companion. But as Carmilla becomes increasingly strange and volatile, prone to eerie nocturnal wanderings, Laura finds herself tormented by nightmares and growing weaker by the day…
Pre-dating Dracula by twenty-six years, Carmilla is the original vampire story, steeped in sexual tension and gothic romance." To me, this also had themes of illness - of transformation. I love the Pushkin Press edition: https://pushkinpress.com/books/carmilla/
This is a new non-fiction, but the best I've read about chronic illnesses recently is The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O'Rourke. It digs into the social, cultural, political, medical history of why we're still be failed with these illnesses. Meghan also writes about her own experience, and I found myself literally bawling because I don't think I've ever read anything that captured how I feel about so many things to do with chronic illness the way I did reading this book.
Oh! I’m so very excited about all these recommendations!! Thank you!
I’ll just add that I did a whole art exhibition called “Remembered as a chair” so the first recommendation is... too spot on!! I already ordered!!
You're welcome! I'd love to hear your thoughts on it when you've read it.
Oh I'd love to hear more about that exhibition.
The title of your exhibition sounds amazing! Would also love to hear more about it.
Hi Hollis, thanks for your comment!
Natasha has already done a cracking job recommending you titles, but here are a couple of others that sprang to mind when reading your words.
- The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - Written with barely controlled fury after she was confined to her room for 'nerves' and forbidden to write, Gilman's pioneering feminist short story scandalised nineteenth-century readers with its portrayal of a woman who loses her mind because she has literally nothing to do. This chilling account of postpartum depression, "hysteria", and a husband's controlling behavior in the guise of treatment, sounds like it would be just up your street.
- An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon - This story follows Aster, a 25-year-old low-deck resident of the HSS Matilda: a space vessel organised much like the antebellum South, which is ferrying the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot-if she's willing to sow the seeds of civil war. With nuanced exploration of neurodiverse/amputee/mentally ill characters, this book explores non-normative bodies and the fight for justice in a fantasy setting.
We hope these recommendations are of interest to you!
- Emily
Erp: I misspelled an author’s name. It’s Claire Kohda who wrote “Woman, Eating.”
Wow! I absolutely love that bibliotherapu exists. Strangely enough I think I did this with films too when my endometriosis was keeping me in bed but I needed an escape/distraction but I think crucially a story that mirrored in some way my own. Hello Marvel Universe with epic themes. I love, love, love mythology but also I felt if I'm honest I wanted something that seemed visceral too. Because it felt 'epic' just getting out for a ten minute walk, having a bath - I'm sure this is similar to others too.
I wanted to say thank you for saying 'reading is reading is reading' because as a dyslexic learner I'd always undermined my listening to books as somehow less than real reading. Not anymore!
Okay I have some suggestions...I've been reading the audiobooks of the Wimsey series. They have romance and mystery and murder and I fins they can feel like being in a fantasy world because they are set in a past era. There is a dash of humour too too keep up some light and shade.
For a children's book about a disabled character I have some points that might help??? I watched the Merlin series on BBC as he is 'magical' but has to hide it and I felt it related to his lack of acceptance in a society that ignores him but he has a destiny. Which seems so big headed but it really helped me! Also he gets underestimated a lot and I felt I was going through a bad patch with feeling very patronised whenever I disclosed my disability. Also there are the Shardlake books which has the main protagonist with a disability set in Tudor england and he solves murders.
Apologies for the tv recommendation but thought it might offer a genre of books in a similar genre?
Great ramble topic Natasha!!
Oh, and yes! Reading is reading is reading! It's so interesting how we all take in information differently. I can't really listen to fiction audiobooks as it doesn't feel like reading to *me*, but I know others for whom it's the only way they can take in that information and it's so much more immersive. Non-fiction on the other hand is different.
I'm glad you've found audiobooks are a more accessible option for you!
It is is so interesting isn't it! I love hearing how different people take in stories or non-fiction. Also when I was starting to have to reduce my activites around pain and energy I found it very odd listening to audiobooks without doing something else visually and with my hands so I actually struggled with them then. It's so helpful to have discussions around the variety of ways to read and engage with fiction or non-fiction. (Now I just kind of fiddle with a scrunchie or somthing tactile and it sort of helped me...?)
Thank you! And thank you for your lovely comment. I love the sound of the Wimsey books, so I've added them to my list. Perhaps some Christmas reading - since I used to read Sherlock Holmes over Christmas!
I really love your reflection on how you kind of "tv-movie-i-therapied" yourself and how you related to the different things that you watched.
It's not a mystery, but when you mentioned "set in a past era with a dash of humour to keep up some light and shade", I don't know if this would be of interest (and it's a bit of a tangent from what you were talking about) but I got Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield in a book box a couple of years ago and it was such an unexpected charming joy. I found it incredibly comforting and funny.
As a review in the Independent put it: "Before there was Bridget Jones, there was Delafield's provincial lady, cataloguing her struggles with supercilious neighbours, a distracted husband and unforthcoming hyacinth bulbs. The home counties domesticity may be a creation of the 1930s, but some things are eternal, from the mixture of joy and tedium that is parenting, to the jolt of horror when you catch your reflection unawares in the mirror of a changing room."
https://persephonebooks.co.uk/products/diary-of-a-provincial-lady
Oh I love the sound of the Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield - have added those to my list. And I really hope you enjoy the Wimsey series and definitely find myself also drawn to similiar storeis around Christmas time too. If you want the 'romance' angle for the Wimsey stories pick one with the character Harriet Vane. Not that the others are any less enjoyable just don't have the romantic bit in them lol
Thank you so much for this comment!! I’ve been looking for gentle audiobooks to listen to as I’m struggling to read on the page too much, and I LOVE the Wimsey mysteries - Gaudy Night is one of my all time favourite books. Which I have on audiobook. But I’ve never connected the dots before, I’m so pleased now!
I've not heard of these before, so I'm really excited to add them to my list!
They start off as sort of classic golden age mysteries, then from Strong Poison onwards the romantic subplot kicks in and they become more layered as the series continues. Which is all to say that I didn’t love the first few the first time I read them, and the later ones are still my favourites
Oh nice! And that's good to know they're worth persevering for!
Hey Kelly! I'm literally listening to Gaudy Night as I type this - serendipity! I really love the series and it's great to hear that you do too.
Ohhh, I love the Wimsey series too! I also found some really fun podcast episodes about them on the hilarious Story Girls podcast.
These are some fantastic suggestions, Bryony!
We have a couple of big murder mystery fans in the Listening Books team, and we love C. J. Sansom's Shardlake series, as well as Dorothy L. Sayers' Wimsey books, too! Wimsey makes such an elegant and sharp-witted protagonist, doesn't he? And what an interesting thought that historical settings can feel like fantasy worlds!
There's no need to apologise for recommending a TV show - in a similar way that audiobooks absolutely count as reading, all forms of enjoying storytelling are valid, including through film and TV. I myself am actually a Merlin fan, and have recently been watching it with my family! You're right that it's a fantastic story about a young person who doesn't fit societal norms, which can absolutely be interpreted as an allegory for disability. It's wonderful to hear that this story supported you during a tough time. Many of our members have also commented that the stories they've listened to through our audiobook lending service have helped them to process their own disabilities.
If you enjoy historical Young Adult stories about magical misfits pursuing their destinies, a good book for you could be Witch by Finbar Hawkins! This book is set in 17th-century England, where civil war rages and witches have become pawns in a plot to oust the king. The protagonist, Evey, does not want to be a witch, but she cannot deny the magick coursing through her veins. After witnessing the brutal murder of her mother by witch-hunters, Evey vows to avenge her and track down her killers. But she promised her mother that she will keep Dill, her little sister, safe. It's a breathtaking tale of the power of women, witchcraft, fury, revenge and the ties that bind us.
As you also mentioned that you love mythology and the Marvel Universe's epic themes, you may also enjoy The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris! The novel is a brilliant first-person narrative of the rise and fall of the Norse gods - retold from the point of view of the world's ultimate trickster, Loki. While Loki is planning the downfall of Asgard and the humiliation of his fellow gods, who torment him by refusing to accept him as one of their own, greater powers are conspiring against the gods and a battle is brewing that will change the fate of the Worlds.
Thanks for contributing some recommendations of your own! We hope the books we've suggested for you are interesting :)
- Emily
Thank you Emily. Both of those recommendations have been added to my list! And it's great to know there are some other fans of Shardlake and the amazing Lord Peter Wimsey. Yes he is such a wonderful protagonist. I also find that I want to start imitating his use of language after listening to the audiobooks. ;-)
I've never heard of bibliotherapy before. So cool!
I really enjoyed reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and mostly read via audiobook. Do you have any recommendations that are similar to that with great narration?
So funny that you mention this book. I’m not a fiction audiobook listener at all - but I listened to Daisy Jones and the Six (also by Taylor Jenkins Reid) on audiobook and it was brilliant - it was like listening to an audio documentary!
Hi there, we absolutely loved Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, so we totally understand why you'd want to find more books like it!
We think you might enjoy:
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Jay Gatsby causes quite a stir when he buys a mansion on the east coast of America and sets about hosting the most lavish parties. Anyone who is anyone wants to be seen at his glittering parties, but Gatsby himself always seems to be watching and waiting. The Great Gatsby is the perfect encapsulation of the glamorous 1920s, with gin, sex, scandal - and all the glitz and glamour of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. In our audiobook collection we have two copies of this title available to stream and download, one of which is brilliantly narrated by actor William Hope, who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab - When Addie La Rue makes a pact with the devil, she trades her soul for immortality. But there's always a price - the devil takes away her place in the world, cursing her to be forgotten by everyone. Addie flees her tiny home town in 18th-Century France, beginning a journey that takes her across the world. Until one day, in a second hand bookshop in Manhattan, Addie meets someone who remembers her. If you’re looking for another historical and current day-based novel, then The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is the book for you! The copy in the Listening Books audiobook collection is gorgeously narrated by American actor and author Julia Whelan.
We hope these recommendations are helpful to you :)
- Emily
I LOVE this topic! I've been reading lots of memoirs as I've found them more accessible with brain fog - as you don't need to remember the plot details so much. Particularly ones either about another culture, or about someone on an adventure. As someone who loves the outdoors but can't hike right now, it's great to be able to still live these experiences through books. Is anyone else into this type of reading? I've just finished Unlost by Gail Muller which I really enjoyed
The Clockbreakers series by Kate Ristau is a really fun fantasy series with a disabled protagonist! Full of magic & mythology. For ages 8-12.
I love this thread so much, and I’ve just signed up to listening books! I use Libby a lot already for my local library, but so excited to have a much wider range of audiobooks available (and I’ve recently had to cancel my subscription to the big audiobook place because it was getting too expensive).
I’ve already added a whole pile of books from this thread to my wishlist. I’m particularly looking for book series with a soothing narrator that are well written but not highbrow, and fairly gentle and undemanding (I have a short attention span for audio even when not fatigued). I’ve been listening to Stephen Fry read Sherlock Holmes on repeat lately (skipping over some of the stories that don’t age well), and I love Terry Pratchett - Discworld is my all time favourite. Every single time I re-read or re-listen I’ll pick up something I missed before, and since getting sick I’ve found a lot of themes about doing the hard grind that’s in front of you from the witches books especially to have fresh resonance.
I’ve also liked Jodi Taylor’s chronicles of st Mary series, though it gets a bit samey and predictable in the middle, the Sean Duffy Belfast series by Adrian McGinty, the Rivers of London books...I guess I’m not too focused on genre as long as it’s not horror or overly gory, but I like a sense of humour and something that’s a little bit distanced from present day either by place or time. And not too emotionally stressful - I love Marian Keyes but have had her latest book sitting waiting to be read for months now because I know that as much as I’ll love it, it’ll also make me cry and I’m not ready 😂
I feel like this post is just a mess of contradictions, but I’ve tried a couple of series recently and given them up because of the way the (male) author wrote the female love interests, so would love some ideas!
If you've not read it already then Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series might fit what you're looking for. I read them on Kindle in 2020 and they got me through the first weeks of lockdown and having covid. I've just looked and Listening Books has them narrated by Tim Curry, who has a very soothing voice. They don't have the most recent book yet but you can ask for books to be added to the library.
The first book is Sabriel and it follows a young woman learning to become a necromancer (not as dark as it sounds or as gory) in a magical world. Lots of adventure, plenty of humour and I really enjoyed the world building.
Oh that’s a great idea, thank you - Garth Nix is definitely someone I’ve had recommended to me over the years but I’ve never got round to trying, sounds brilliant!
Hi Kelly - first of all, welcome to Listening Books! We hope you enjoy having access to the 10,000+ audiobooks in our catalogue, and if you have any questions about our service, please don't hesitate to get in touch with our friendly membership team.
Seems like you have a fantastic literary taste! We've also discarded a few books in our time once we've had enough of poorly-written female characters...
Based on what you already enjoy, we think you might also like:
- The Vinyl Detective series by Andrew Cartmel - The protagonist is a record collector and a connoisseur of vinyl, hunting out rare and elusive LPs. His business card describes him as the Vinyl Detective and some people take this more literally than others. For example, the beautiful, mysterious woman in book 1, who wants to pay him a large sum of money to find a priceless lost recording on behalf of an extremely wealthy, yet shadowy, client. These fun, fast-paced mysteries are full of wry, quirky humour which is very reminiscent of Ben Aaronovitch (of whom we are also big fans!).
- Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - Also part of a series, this tells the story of Sophie Hatter, who has been cursed by the Witch of the Waste. Sophie goes to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above her town, where she meets the dreaded Wizard Howl, Howl's apprentice Michael, and Calcifer the fire demon, with whom she agrees a pact. The story follows her quest to break the spell cast upon her, with the author's unique combination of magic, humour and imagination. Although it may not be quite as funny, many have compared Diana Wynne Jones' writing style to that of Terry Pratchett - so could be well worth a read (or listen) for you!
Hopefully these are good recommendations for you.
- Emily
Thank you, these are both brilliant suggestions! The Vinyl Detective sounds right up my street at the moment, I’ll definitely check it out. And I know Howl’s Moving Castle is a treasured book by so many people, I’ve always meant to get around to reading it and it’s definitely on my list now.
Thanks so much for organising this Natasha - fantastic idea for a thread!
I'd love recommendations for books like Becky Chambers'. Full of warmth, strong characters and relationships, that feels like wrapping yourself up in a blanket when you need something comforting. Sci-fi/fantasy would be great but other genres are good too. Bonus points if it's in the Listening Books catalogue!
Hi Emily, great request!
Strong relationships between characters keep us coming back again and again to some of our favourites!
You might enjoy the following titles:
- Network Effect by Martha Wells - Don't be fooled by the main character's name being Murderbot - this story is really quite warming! Murderbot has spent a lot of time alone, and thinks it likes it that way, but the desire for emotional connection is creeping in. This leads to vulnerability, however, so Murderbot habitually soothes itself with its favourite books and TV shows. But when Murderbot's human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.
- The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater - Every year on St. Mark's Eve, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them - not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. What Blue doesn't anticipate is that Gansey - along with his friends Adam, Ronan, and Noah - will rope her into a search across ley lines for a mythological king whose discovery will grant them a wish. This is a fantastic fantasy story about love, friendship and found family.
Both of these recommendations are available to stream and download from the Listening Books website or the Libby app. We hope they're helpful!
- Emily
Some more brilliant recommendations, thanks Emily! I've just added Network Effect to my list. It sounds right up my alley!
I’ve added both of these to my wishlist, I’ve heard friends with similar taste talk about Murderbot before but never investigated it but these both sound brilliant!
You get full marks for getting the right vibe here because I love both of these series! I read Murderbot recently and I'm so happy they were on Listening Books because I wasn't sure about them (the name did put me off!) but Kevin R Free's narration was perfect and Murderbot would be very disapproving at my human glee at the way its not-friendships developed over the series.
And I've been meaning to reread The Raven Cycle for a few years now. I loved the characters and think it'd be great to listen to the audiobooks this time. I think I'll save them for my probable post-Christmas crash when I need something comforting to listen to.
It's great to hear we interpreted your request well - sorry it didn't result in any new recommendations for you this time, though!
Rereading The Raven Cycle with audiobooks sounds like a great activity for the new year :)
- Emily
I had to do too much yesterday morning and crashed harder than I expected afterwards. I listened to half of The Raven Boys and it made spending the very long afternoon and evening doing my best impression of a deflated balloon much more bearable. I havent read The Raven Cycle for five years and it felt like putting on a cosy old favourite jumper, which was exactly what I needed. It's improving today's recovery too.
Thank you so much Natasha and Emily for doing this recommendation post!
So sorry to hear you've been having a tiring time, I hope you've managed to get some more rest since that busy day! I'm so glad this thread has been beneficial for you, and that audiobooks have provided comfort and companionship when you've needed them. Thank you for your comments Emily, take care!
- Emily :)