When you read the World is your Oyster! by Jane McNeice

Reading will almost always be my solace in life, but right now it’s even more than that. From us being people who might travel the length and breadth of the country, or travel thousands of miles globally – the world being our oyster – we’ve transgressed to measuring and living in square metres, maybe acres if more fortunate. Our life playgrounds are much reduced. But they don’t have to be…

Our minds are powerful tools, they can create hopes, dreams, and glorious images. If today you don’t want to be in your sitting room, kitchen, or garden (for those lucky enough to have a piece of your own green space) you can be anywhere a book and your imagination can take you. The world is still your oyster, and it’s not even limited to earth. Books are not exclusive to those we might label ‘readers’, they’re for everyone. There are so many accessible ways to read nowadays – audio books, large print, accessible e-readers, and braille. If you crave to be in the Cotswolds right now, or a bustling New York City, or remote outer-Mongolia, find a book where these places are featured. The book will transport you there. If you want to see through the eyes of someone who isn’t you for a while, or to escape your current challenges, then read a book with enriching characters and see the world through their eyes. If your mood is low, read a book that will make you laugh out loud. If you want to feel the warm sunshine on your back, read a book that describes this. Being in ‘lock down’ does not mean you cannot travel – the mind is your oyster!

I’ve experienced some great reads in my life, books that have transported me through characters and places and changed how I’ve felt in the process. These are a few of my personal favourites:

1. Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
2. Chasing Daylight, Eugene O’Kelly
3. Only Love is Real, Dr Brian Weiss 
4. The House at Riverton, Kate Morton
5. Ferney, James Long
6. Gatecrashing Paradise: Misadventures in the Real Maldives, Tom Chesshyre
7. New Starts & Cherry Tarts, Liz Eeles 
8. One Thought Changes Everything, Mara Gleason 
9. Somebody Should have Told Us: Simple Truths for Living Well, Jack Pransky
10. The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan 
11. I Thought it was Just Me (but it isn’t), Brene Brown
12. Me Before You, Jojo Moyes 
13. The Camomile Lawn, Mark Wesley 
14. Quiet: The Power of introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, Susan Cain 
15. House of Sleep, Jonathan Coe