5 Books to Help You (Temporarily) Escape the Real World

By Shana

For those who have had just about enough of the news and need to escape the real world (or at least escape the current version of the real world) here are a few lighter-hearted books (all books that I rated at five stars) that should distract and amuse:

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life

by Samantha Irby

These are a set of essays and if you don't mind some foul language, the occasional discussion of bodily functions, and absolute frankness, this might be for you. I absolutely love Irby and her irreverence and willingness to share what 99.9% of the population would find embarrassing is amazing.

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A Study in Scarlet Women

by Sherry Thomas

Clever gender-swapped take on Sherlock Holmes. It is a great historical mystery, and Thomas uses Victorian England to perfection as it exacerbates the plight of a woman who does not want marriage and wants a way to chart her own course. Charlotte Holmes is brilliant and not what you expect. Thomas introduces the characters we've come to love in the original Sherlock, but her take is (dare I say it?) far more interesting and engaging than Conan Doyle's. The entire series is stellar, it has a hint of romance, but the real stars of the series are the well-developed characters (and their interaction) and the suitably convoluted mysteries.

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What If?  Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

by Randall Munroe

The title really says it all. It is lots of fun if you are of a certain curious and nerdy bent.

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A Short History of Nearly Everything

by Bill Bryson

This is somewhat long, but can be listened to in fits and starts as each chapter mostly stands alone. Bryson is very funny and takes what is fascinating science and history and makes it entertaining and digestible.

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Dear Committee Members

by Julie Schumacher

The entire book is made up of the correspondence of one dryly sarcastic, put-upon creative writing professor. It is an acquired taste, but for those who have an inkling of the absurdities of academic life might find this tickles their funny bone.