As the world is scrambling with the global coronavirus pandemic, people are increasingly turning to books to entertain and inform themselves while stuck at home.
NPD BookScan recently announced that sales of adult non-fiction books on contagious diseases increased by 52% in the first eight weeks of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019.
While readers are increasingly intrigued by novels on deadly viruses, Canadian author Margaret Atwood took to Twitter to recommend several books that she deemed essential in these times of crisis.
"OK Twitterpals, as I crouch in my burrow, what would you like the most? a) comforting book reccos b) plague book reccos c) poetry book reccos d) stupid/weird/mundane things I have done to pass the time, which would have passed anyway...," she asked her fans.
When actress Mia Farrow asked for "a plague book" recommendation, Atwood cited non-fiction books like Hans Zinnser's "Rats, Lice, and History"; Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies"; as well as Charles Mann's "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus."
Ahead of World Poetry Day on March 21, "The Handmaid's Tale" author recommended Carolyn Forché's "In the Lateness of the World."
"In the Lateness of the World" marks Forché's first new collection of poetry in 17 years, with Atwood teasing that the 96-page title "gives us some perspective."