Books to Read After a Break-Up

Books to Read After a Break-Up While we at the Riot take some time off to rest and catch up on our  reading, were re-running some of our  favorite posts from the last several months. Enjoy our highlight reel, and well be back with new stuff on Monday, January 6th. This post originally ran June 4, 2013. _________________________ Im sorry. I cant. Dont hate me. Breakups suck. Always. No matter whose fault it is if it even is anyones fault they just suck. And theres almost nothing you can do to make them suck less.  Cry, eat, wallow, cry, drink, misbehave, cry. You will feel better eventually, but its really hard to hurry the process along. Books wont make you sick if you read too many at once, get you arrested, give you a hangover, throw out your stuff, or text you at 2am asking you to come over and read them again. You can reject them, but theyre incapable of rejecting you. Better than that, reading the right book can lift you up and help you process, or at least distract you from the pain. I consulted with my fellow Rioters to compile a list of books  that might help someone who is going through a breakup. Apply liberally, with chocolate, wine, and internet videos of baby animals as needed. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Genre: YA fantasy. Read it when: You want to be distracted and soothed. I find YA comforting in general because of the tendency of good to triumph over evil. The HP books on tape are my favorite non-chemical remedy for insomnia. Lovey-dovey quotient: Nonexistent in primary characters until book 4. After then, teenage romance increases with each book  but is never the sole focus. If I Stay by Gale Foreman. Genre: Family-centered tearjerker. Read it when: you want to cry your eyes out over something other than your life. Lovey-dovey quotient: There is mild to moderate teenage romance, but its not the focus of the story. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. Genre: Personal essay-style memoir, humor. Read it when: You want to hang out with someone but don’t feel like leaving your couch or talking to people. Mindy is here to be the friend in your head. Good for cheering yourself up, distraction, thinking about how you want to handle your life in general. Lovey-dovey quotient: Very low. Mindy tells a few hilarious, self-effacing stories about dating. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Genre: terrifying psychological thriller. Read it when: you want to think about something other than your own life, even if its dark and disturbing, and/or see a relationship go  way further south  than yours did. Lovey-dovey quotient:  Below  zero. This book is about a marriage gone very, very bad. You are not as much of a trainwreck as these people. (Danger: do not use as a self-help book.) The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, translated by Rod Bradbury. Genre: Fiction/humor. Read it when: youre ready for a chuckle. This consistently absurd story unfolds in a matter-of-fact way that I found irresistible. Theres even a hopeful, second chances sort of message behind the novel as a whole. Lovey-dovey quotient: Almost zero. The only romance happens  between peripheral characters and is never a focus. I Dont Care About Your Band: What I Learned from Indie Rockers, Trust Funders, Pornographers, Felons, Faux-Sensitive Hipsters, and Other Guys Ive Date by Julie Klausner. Genre: Humor, memoir, advice. Read it when: Youre ready to think about what happened and what should happen   next. Lovey-dovey quotient: This is anti-lovey and dovey. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. Genre: Psychology, advice, relationships, memoir. Read it when: You want a wise woman who knows a thing or two about the world to sit you down and tell you about life. Includes lots of anecdotes from Strayeds life and other peoples lives, so its also a bracing dose of you-are-not-alone. Lovey-dovey quotient: This is nonfiction, so any relationships discussed are anecdotal. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Genre: apocalyptic humor Read it when: youre ready for cheering up but still want a bit of darkness in your humor. Lovey-dovey quotient: Extremely low. The main characters are asexual. There is a romance between two of the B list characters, but its a minor plot point. I know there must be more post-breakup appropriate books out there. What would you recommend? _________________________ Sign up for our newsletter to have the best of Book Riot delivered straight to your inbox every two weeks. No spam. We promise. To keep up with Book Riot on a daily basis, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, , and subscribe to the Book Riot podcast in iTunes or via RSS. So much bookish goodnessall day, every day. Sign up to Unusual Suspects to receive news and recommendations for mystery/thriller readers. Books to Read After a Break-Up