The Best Books To Read During Hard Times

To buy: $16, amazon.com, indiebound.org

An elderly gentleman called Ove learns to see the world in a new light in Fredrik Backman’s funny and touching novel set in Sweden.

To buy: $18.99, amazon.com, indiebound.org

Family is at the heart of Betty Smith’s classic coming-of-age novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which finds a hopeful young girl struggling with the hardships of poverty in early-1900s Brooklyn.

To buy: $16, amazon.com, indiebound.org

Anne Shirley, the heroine of L.M. Montgomery’s classic novel, proves that even in the wake of tragedy, sometimes all it takes is a little imagination to change your life and the life of your community.

To buy: $17, amazon.com, indiebound.org

Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling memoir is the result of a life-changing journey, a “search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia,” which she embarked on when her life at home reached a critical turning point.

To buy: $20, amazon.com, indiebound.org

This slim volume is packed full of inspiration on how to embrace mercy, which Lamott defines as “radical kindness”; it’s a foundation upon which to forgive others—and oneself—for pains big and small.

To buy: $16.99, amazon.com, indiebound.org

If you’re searching for inspiration and humor in equal measure, you’ll need to look no further than David Sedaris’ hilarious and heartening essays.

To buy: $16.99, amazon.com, indiebound.org

Life is a journey, and Paulo Coelho’s bestselling novel The Alchemist is a poetic reminder of that beautiful, painful, essential fact.

To buy: $7.19, amazon.com, indiebound.org

Rediscovery and rebirth are the beautiful themes at the heart of this classic novel, which follows a broken family as they cultivate a secret garden and find their way back to each other in the process.

To buy: $16, amazon.com, indiebound.org

For two years, Cheryl Strayed wrote the “Dear Sugar” advice column, and some of her most inspiring and insightful answers to letters are collected in this wonderful volume.

To buy: $17.99, amazon.com, indiebound.org

The journey of life—its ups and downs, its triumphs and tragedies—are traced in the life of Zora Neale Hurston’s heroine Janie Crawford, who learns that the most essential act of all is claiming your own experience and telling your own story.

To buy: $25, amazon.com, indiebound.org

Dr. Paul Kalanithi wrote this beautiful, posthumously published meditation on life and loss as he was battling advanced lung cancer. It’s an exquisite perspective on comprehending mortality and purpose from the perspective of a doctor during his career and, at the end of his life, as a patient.

To buy: $16.99, amazon.com, indiebound.org

If you’re looking for permission to change your life in big ways or in small, let Shonda Rhimes’ book Year of Yes give you wholehearted permission, plus guidelines for how to do it.