You can’t travel during self-quarantine in the physical world but there’s no limit to how far we can travel in our minds.
Reading books is the perfect way to take entire journeys while also learning important life lessons.
It’s wonderful how you can curl up with a fiction book that takes you out of your environment while also helping you grow.
How is this possible?
Reading books opens your mind to different ways of thinking and brings others experiences into your mind from a first-person perspective. As a result, fiction can build empathy, critical thinking, and also helps you understand others’ motivations. Reading fiction helps you develop emotional intelligence. And studies support this fact!
Now you have a perfectly good reason to spend more time during your self-isolation reading books.
In this post, I’d like to recommend three brilliant pieces of work that will make you laugh and think as well.
Humor boosts your brain functioning and when you laugh you release endorphins that make you feel good. Something we all need to carry us through difficult times.
Here are three great books that provide food for thought and reasons to laugh.
Calvin and Hobbes
While this may be cheating because Calvin and Hobbes is really a comic book series, it deserves to be read by everyone.
You may have come across Bill Waterson’s Calvin and Hobbes comic strips in newspapers or magazines. This comic series is a delightful work of art that follows the (mis)adventures of a young boy, Calvin, and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, that comes to life in Calvin’s imagination.
It has hilarious stories that sometimes reflects Calvin’s thoughts and those of his parents at other times. But what makes the book so brilliant are the thought-provoking insights and questions that will make you pause.
If you can get the 4-volume book then you have a keepsake that’s worthy of being passed down generation to generation. Or you could start with smaller digests. Aside from wit, humor, and wisdom, there are also beautifully drawn scenes that will make you appreciate them for the art forms they are.
Here’s just one of the many brilliant quotes you’ll find:
“You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
What mood is that?
Last-minute panic.”
Dive into Calvin and Hobbes if you want to feel laughter, wonder, and perhaps shed a few tears.
The Martian
It’s fitting to read about a human being facing an impossible situation with humor and grit during these challenging times. The Martian by Andy Weir is about one man’s mindset and actions while coping with near-death from being stranded on the surface of Mars.
You’ll be drawn in by the practical problem-solving that the protagonist does every day to survive. There’s a lot of interesting information that will keep you glued to the book. What gives the book it’s strength is that the trials faced by our hero are punctuated by sarcastic and hilarious thoughts.
At the bottom of this practical, funny, and compelling story is the message of how we humans are gritty and adaptable. This is the perfect book to get you through the day, reminding you of what you’re capable of as a human being.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
While reading this book, you’ll feel like the author, Douglas Adams, is speaking directly to you. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a stunning read that will keep you hooked with the use of language, humor, and creativity.
It’s also thought-provoking because it often makes incisive insights on humanity and pursues the meaning of life in a light-hearted manner. The story follows what happens to the human and alien main characters after the destruction of the earth. You’re treated to new worlds, technologies, and absurd experiences with a large dose of humor.
It’s helpful to remember two simple words that the book tells us to remember while we’re trying to make sense of an inexplicable world…”Don’t panic”.
Use Books to Boost Your Mind and Personality
Reading fiction does more than entertain you. It develops your personality by boosting your emotional intelligence. You’ll also find much-needed humor to help you stay in the best mindset while spending time indoors.
Try these recommended books as a way to grow, think, and laugh so that you can improve your well-being in an effective way.