It’s difficult to do anything when one is sick or feeling down. While others might nap away a minor fever or watch Netflix, my go-to solution for when I can’t focus on any work during a sickness nor sleep any more (because I napped too hard during the day) is to read books. I also turn to reading for comfort whenever I’m just not feeling my best. Sometimes, the books find me and I realize they were exactly what I needed on an otherwise gloomy day.
The following is a list of works—from fairy tales and post-apocalyptic comics to science fiction and children’s books—that distracted me during a recent bout of fever, along with stories I’ve turned to when I wanted to take a break from my life and lose myself in a feel-good world where I don’t have to overthink everything, where I can just sit back and let the words take over…