Movies and Books to Escape COVID Anxiety

Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

Well hello, hello! How the hell are you? How are things where you are?

In LA, it’s feeling like such cognitive dissonance: more stuff is open than was at the beginning of the pandemic, yet cases here now are higher than ever. My anxiety is pretty high (also school just restarted, and it seems like it will be intense this quarter), but I’m trying my best to just remember all I can do is keep myself safe by doing what I’ve been doing this whole time. But damn it’s feeling never-ending right now…

So, onto something lighter. For those of us who are able to be spending more time at home, I think we’re all looking for escapes in books and movies.

Here’s some of the best media escapes I’ve found:

TV/Movie

Schitt’s Creek: This is stretching it a little bit, because the last few episodes were right at the beginning of quarantine, but this show is just such a good light-hearted escape. The ending is incredibly emotional, so if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s an excellent emotional release—I sobbed my eyes out. (I cry at a lot though, so there’s that.)

I’m Sorry: I think this show is so underrated! It’s about a woman (played by Andrea Savage) who is a TV writer living in LA. I love it because she’s such a strong female lead, and deeply sarcastic. My friend Leah introduced me to this show when I visited her in NYC in late February, and I am now going to let Leah make all of my TV recs because this was spot-on.

The Baby-Sitters Club: Does your soul need a hug? Yes? Then this is the show for that. I was OBSESSED with the Baby Sitters Club books growing up—there’s 100+ in my dad’s attic—and it was such a warm and fuzzy nostalgic watch, but updated slightly for today to be more diverse and address more social issues. If you were also a huge fan, which character did you want to be? I wanted to be Stacey (so much so that I wanted to change my name to Stacey when I turned 18), and that still holds true. A friend of mine said she definitely thought of me as a Stacey, and that was the best compliment I got this year.

Eurovision: If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know that my love for Will Ferrell knows no bounds—though I will concede that 2008-2019 were not his finest work. HOWEVER! He is back with Eurovision, a hilarious movie about an Icelandic duo competing in an international singing competition. The soundtrack is written by ABBA and is so catchy. It reminds me a lot of Blades of Glory.

Books

I’m working my way through heavier anti-racist stuff both personally and for school, but for this, I’m talking about the fiction I’ve read.

The Woman in the Window: This is an excellent thriller about a former therapist in NYC who becomes a recluse with deep social anxiety. I don’t remember if they specifically named Gramercy Park or just alluded to it, but as someone who lived nearby in Flatiron, I loved the reference to it. The extent of her interaction with the world is through her window…and then she sees something she can’t forget and becomes involved in the story. I had a small inkling of the ending, but it still surprised me.

Big Summer: A plus-sized influencer who was humiliated by her ex-best friend is then asked to be in said friend’s wedding—because she has no other friends to ask. The book starts out light, but then there is a very unexpected plot twist that turns it into a bit more of a thriller.

Rodham: This is a novel imagining what would have happened had Hillary Clinton not married Bill. Some of the fictionalized descriptions of her felt a little off from what I’ve read, and there were some steamy scenes, which made me really uncomfortable thinking of two very public figures’ sex lives. That said, it was an intriguing read.

The Lies that Bind: A woman in NYC goes to a bar after a nasty breakup, and her rebound is…not what she expected. The book takes place around 9/11, which also felt a little weird? I don’t know, too soon? (Even though it was nearly 20 years ago, it still feels like just a few years ago.) I thought that this book was a little overwrought, but it was still a fast and easy read.

Vanishing Half: I’m currently reading this very popular book (by a Black author) for a book club I’m in. It’s about Black twins who run away from home at 16 and end up leading very divergent lives. One is light-skinned and one is darker-skinned, leading to them being treated very differently. From a literary standpoint, this one is better-written than the ones above, so it’s not a fast read but it’s a good one.

What have you been reading/watching?

7 comments on “Movies and Books to Escape COVID Anxiety

  1. Bahareh

    Thanks for sharing this! Schitt’s Creek is one of my all-time favorite tv shows!! I have’nt read or watch the others you listed but I’m assuming your taste is great since you listed Schitt’s Creel so I’m excited to give them a shot. 🙂 I’m currently watching the Politician and it’s pretty good so far!

    Reply
  2. Laura

    YAY for a new blog post! I just requested all the ones I hadn’t read from the library… these sound good. I already have the Vanishing Half on loan and was planning to read it in the next week. I REALLY liked The Lies That Bind; I had a galley of it before publication and it really drew me in.

    Reply
  3. Jamie

    I just finished the babysitters club omgggg I loved it! I was also obsessed with the books so it was so nostalgic! I don’t know if I wanted to be Dawn but I did want to change my name to Dawn as a kid .
    Also, reading Big Summer now and I’m hooked! I’m getting toward the end and dying to see what happens!

    Reply
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