During these strange times, we’re all trying to find a bit of comfort, normality and escape. With this in mind, the Stryvling team have decided to share a series of our reading recommendations here on our blog. This month, the publishing team are recommending 10 books we’ve been reading to beat boredom during lockdown. The list features everything from hard-core fantasy, to political commentary and heady romance. We know not everyone will be able to buy books right now, so we’ve also included some great online reading resources, covering everything from the best fan fiction sites to public domain gems. Let us know if you end up reading any of these books in the comments or on Twitter and if you have any recommendations yourself!
Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
Recommended by Emma (Editorial)
A beautiful graphic novel about the developing romance between the two main characters, Nick and Charlie. It’s adorable and heartwarming and the closest book equivalent to a cosy cup of tea. While it touches on some serious issues it is always overwhelmingly positive and lovely—the perfect cheer-up read! (And even better, there are now two sequels that you can read afterwards).
The Island Child by Molly Aitken
Recommended by Madelaine (Project Management)
There’s something about characters who are desperate to escape their confines that has always gripped me, especially when they need to grapple with the ghosts of memories past. Aitken’s debut novel traces the life of Oona and her desire to leave her island home off the west coast of Ireland. Steeped in Irish folklore and themes of motherhood and freedom, this novel comes highly recommended. I’m eager to see how it plays out!
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
Recommended by Eimear (Editorial)
Filled with nectarine orchards and languid days spent on the beach, this is a dreamy Mediterranean escape like no other. Oliver and Elio’s intense romance is heightened by the beauty of the Italian Riviera in summertime and by the fact they know it is coming to an end. This book will have you thinking about first loves and reaching for a glass of red wine.
We’ll Always Have Paris by Ray Bradbury
Recommended by Bethany (Marketing)
We’ll Always Have Paris is a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury. I’ve read this book countless times as I feel every time you read it your favourite story changes. My favourite (currently) is the title story. It centres on a mysterious individual who wanders the streets of Paris as the reader follows his internal monologue. I also enjoy Massinello Piert, a story based on a strange character who owns a collection of unusual pets. I think this is the ideal isolation read as the stories are 10–20 pages long so you can dip in and out as you please. The stories are also well balanced between thought-provoking and heartfelt which is ideal for the current time.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Recommended by Emma (Editorial)
I’ve recommended this to so many people I think my friends are actually sick of hearing about it… but it’s so good! The world-building is incredibly detailed, the characters and relationships are wonderful and there are numerous dragons. It’s also over 800 pages, making it the perfect lockdown distraction for fantasy fans.
“I Will Not Be Erased”: Our stories about growing up as people of colour by gal-dem
Recommended by K (Marketing)
This is a fantastic collection. Every single essay tells a brutally honest story, but with love, kindness and humour. There’s much to learn from these memoir-autobiographical essays, though my main takeaway is to be kind to yourself and others, and live your truest life to your best ability. Highly recommended.
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
Recommended by George (Production)
Written in the 1970s, Piercy’s novel focusses on a woman committed to an insane asylum with the ability to communicate with the year 2137. The book presents the reader with two competing ways of life: the present, which is displayed as a totalitarian-horror; overtly technological and exploitative, and the year 2137: a beautiful feminist utopia. Although it’s now 40 years old, the book feels more timely than ever in the ways it talks about how utopia can be achieved. It’s an excellent book with sharp prose and while it offers a damning indictment of the current state of the world, the ultimate message of moral courage to change the world for the better is something that I think we can all get on board with right now.
Tentacle by Rita Indiana
Recommended by Madelaine (Project Management)
I cannot believe it’s taken me this long to read Tentacle since it was gifted to me at Christmas. Knowing my love for translated fiction, this Dominican title is chock full of topics I’m very interested in and which are relevant to present society, from queer theory and race to apocalyptic disaster and climate issues. I’m so excited to get into this now that assignments are over.
Circe by Madeline Miller
Recommended by Jenni (Marketing)
I was a bit late to the party with Circe but was intrigued to read it after developing an interest in Greek mythology through Stephen Fry’s Mythos and Heroes (also excellent, especially the audiobook narrations in which Fry adopts an impressive range of regional accents—hilarious). Unlike Fry’s retellings, Miller adopts a more fictional lilt in her writing, using creative license to investigate the myth of Circe—an ill-fated half-nymph half-goddess. Packed with various twists and turns, Circe‘s fantastical narration provides easy reading and an escape from every-day life.
Goldilocks by Laura Lam
Recommended by K (Marketing)
This is a gorgeous book—a quiet thriller with a non-linear narrative and layers which unfold like a flower in bloom. Packed with plenty of food for thought and characters to love, this book is essentially about five women who go to space to steal a planet. It also features a fraught foster-mother–daughter relationship on a spaceship and provides an unapologetically unsubtle political commentary on climate change and US politics. Goldilocks is due to be published on the 30th of April 2020, so it’s one to look forward to!
Content warning: there is a pandemic in this book that is eerily similar to the one we’re currently experiencing, but this one is man-made and eventually curbed.
Online Reading Resources
If you’re interested in reading (or writing) fan fiction, Archive of Our Own and Fanfiction.net are great resources.
Wattpad and Scribd include some fanfiction but also have a lot of social publishing. Some of their titles have gone on to be turned into Netflix films!
Project Gutenberg has over 60,000 public domain books available to read online, so it’s a good option for reading classics and other historical texts. Internet Archive is another great resource for free e-books, as is LibriVox if you’re looking for free audiobooks.
Stryvling Press 
Not a novel but a series of memories and aphorisms from a very witty lady. Nora Ephron writes about growing old but that shouldn’t put anyone off what is a scintillatingly funny take on life.’I Remember Nothing’ does what all good books should do–make you nod your head and say ‘ I do that too!”
She’s the screenwriter for such films as ‘When Harry Met Sally’ and ‘Sleepless in Seattle.’ That says it all.
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