Need an escape..

[cattreats]

I've suffered a very recent bereavement and I need a part of each day when I can just escape from everything.

I've got quite a few audible credits but everything I look at is either about mother / daughter relationships, death or too highbrow for my very short concentration span.

I've just returned a whole load of books that I can't contemplate listening to at the moment and I've got the next Jodi Taylor and Ben Aaronovitch on order.

Can you help me with any suggestions?

I love urban fantasy, my favourite authors so far have been:

Jodi Taylor - Chronicles of St Marys
Ben Aaronovitch - RIvers of London
Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

I like the Benedict Jacka series - but not as much and I haven't really got into some of the other similar authors.

I am sorry for your loss. Grief is a hard road, but you are wise to take some time to let the burden lift awhile.

Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks is one of the first of the urban fantasy genre and, I reckon, still one of the best. Another old one, which might be out of print is Sister to the Rain - Melisa Michaels, highly recommended.

Connie Willis’s To Say Nothing of the Dog is a very funny time travel novel. It’s beautifully written.

For very enjoyable straight fantasy, The Lies of Lockie Lamora and sequels are highly entertaining.

Garth Nix’s Newt’s Emerald is sort of Georgette Heyer meets fantasy. Good fun.

My favourite comfort reads are Elizabeth Peters Vicki Bliss series. Night Train to Memphis is one of my favourite books - it’s funny, romantic, and thrilling. It’s just plain fun. I’d start with Street of Five Moons, although it’s not the first book in the series. Romantic suspense rather than urban fantasy.

Thank you. I will look at those - I'm not looking only for urban fantasy suggestions, I just couldn't think of any other books that I'd enjoyed.

I'm so so sorry for what you are going through. In similar situations I've found vintage comedy distracting, doesn't require too much concentration and is completely divorced from normal life. So P.G. Wodehouse particularly Jeeves and Wooster novels or Mulliner short stories; E.F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia novels; Elizabeth Von Arnim 'The Enchanted April'. Also I've found re-reading books from childhood comforting, like Ursula Le Guin's 'Earthsea' series.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde might be worth a look. A bit different and not to difficult.
Miss Peregrines home for peculiar children - might not be your thing but worth a nose at.
What about something completely different? My Family and Other Animals is funny (as is the picnic and suchlike pandemonium, also by Gerald Durrell).

Sorry for your loss and pain.

After my lovely mum died I found it very hard to concentrate on anything but also needed to escape into a book.

I found going into the library quite relaxing, just the routine of going in along with the peace and quiet. I used to get books from the recently returned shelf as it saved me looking along all shelves and also got to read genres that I probably wouldn’t have considered before.

Jodi Taylor - Chronicles of St Marys
Ben Aaronovitch - RIvers of London

The closest series I've found to these is the Modern Magick series by Charlotte E English.

I hope things become a bit easier for you soon.

The sixth book in the series is partly about the main character's relationship with her mother and how they develop a new understanding and acceptance of each other, but you should be safe with the first five.