Five Great Books to Read During “Social Distancing”

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, friends! This year feels quite weird, but I know missing it will make years to come that much more special. I’ll never, ever take for granted a green beer or a drunken Whiskey in a Jar rendition.

I have a feeling I’m going to be eating my words soon, but I’m kind of loving the quiet that has come with social distancing. While I love my friends and (obviously) still see Jim, I have also had the opportunity to FaceTime people I don’t normally get to. I get to read more. I get to clean more and detox more. I’m finally playing with my Cricut. My dogs are loving the fact that I’m always, always here.

It’s been nice. So far.

So, for those of you who are already going crazy, I thought I’d compile some good recent reads of mine. I hope you enjoy.

When Life Gives You Pears by Jeannie Gaffigan

OK, talk about major girl crush. Jeannie is the wife of Jim Gaffigan and the brain behind a lot of his comedy. I like to think I am the brain behind a lot of my Jim’s comedy (he does standup too, in case you didn’t know). Anyway, Jeannie, mother of five and devout Catholic, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2017 and the story of how much she changed because of it is nothing short of inspiring. It’s amazing how tragedy can bring things in to focus in one’s life, and this is a fantastic story of how. Jeannie is hilarious and I feel as though we’re probably long-lost friends.

The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede

I’m apparently on a bit of a 9/11 kick lately (The Only Plane in the Sky from my previous book list is also fantastic) but this one is a bit more light-hearted, if such a thing can happen with 9/11. When the planes hit the Twin Towers and it was apparent the U.S. was under attack, a quick decision was made to close all airspace above America. Well, several planes were en route from Europe when that call was made, and they had to make an emergency landing in Newfoundland. Turns out, Newfoundland is full of the nicest people in the world and they took these refugees (of sorts) under their wing and made them feel as welcome as possible. The Day the World Came to Town is a fantastic story about finding beauty in hardship and I absolutely loved it.

All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams

I feel as though recent years have been absolutely full of World War II-era books, but this one really broke the mold. It’s simply fantastic and almost de-throned The Nightingale as my favorite from this genre. All the Ways We Said Goodbye follows three seemingly separate story lines, years 1914, 1942, and 1964 all in the Ritz Paris. Aside from that, it’s tough to explain, but trust me when I say it’s fantastic and is definitely one that I plan on reading again.

Karamo by Karamo Brown

I know he’s gay and that I’m happily in a relationship with a wonderful man, but gosh is Karamo dreamy or is Karamo dreamy? I feel as though I could listen to him talk for hours and hours on Queer Eye and his book is no different. It’s light-hearted and heavy; serious and silly. It might not be riveting literature, but it’s certainly worth the read.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

I’ll be honest- I haven’t read this one yet but it’s next up! I’m particularly interested in it because it tells the story of a nanny/mom relationship and I nannied in grad school. No matter how you slice it, nanny/employer relationships can get seedy and this sounds like it explains a (rather dramatic) situation quite well. I’m really, really looking forward to this one. I’ve heard from multiple sources that it’s amazing.