“The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on.”
–Oscar Wilde 

On Tuesday, dear readers, we talked about some of the things we do to deal with stress…well, ok, we talked about some of the things I do to deal with stress.  I am sure you have your own, unique, and wonderful ways to handle the growing pressure of the world and all the Things it demands of us everyday…perhaps now, more so than ever.

But that is where friends–and, more specifically, Bookish Friends–come in.   At every time in my life that I’ve had a hard time, I’ve had good friends who not only had my back, but took care of by brain, as well, offering solace, escape, and, blessedly, even a laugh or two. Today, I thought I’d share with you a list that was compiled by the good people at the Boston Book Festival, who asked their friends on social media what books they were turning to for comfort, answers, or just to escape (friends who help friends are the best friends).  This is the list they produced.  I hope it brings you some peace, some good ideas, and some time to yourself to think.  And never stop sharing your suggestions with us, as well!

Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
Ian Bremmer, Superpower: Three Choices for America’s Role in the World
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
Chris Dixon, Another Politics: Talking across Today’s Transformative Movements
Emma Donoghue, The Wonder
Negin Farsad, How to Make White People Laugh
Ellen Fitzpatrick, The Highest Glass Ceiling: Women’s Quest for the American Presidency
Omar Saif Ghobash, Letters to a Young Muslim
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Eric Hoffer, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
Jenny Jaeckel, Spot 12: Five Months in the Neonatal ICU
Autumn Kalquist, Defective (Available on Kindle only)
Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer
Tyler Page, Raised on Ritalin
Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach
Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death
Dawn Powell, The Wicked Pavilion
Alex Prud’homme, The French Chef in America
Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter series
Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Solmaz Sharif, Look: Poems
Jessica Shattuck, The Women in the Castle
Rebecca Solnit, The Faraway Nearby
Destiny Soria, Iron Cast
Art Spiegelman, Maus
Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States