Strangely enough, readers are opting for tales of contagions, isolation, war and zombies, say NH booksellers – The Union Leader

Strangely, in these chaotic times of COVID-19, readers are often turning to dark stories on deadly contagions, isolation, illness and zombies, according to several area booksellers.

The books are all selling. We cant keep Stephen Kings The Stand in stock, says Michael Joachim, general manager of the Toadstool Bookshop in Nashua, of the dark, post-apocalyptic novel about a deadly militarized flu strain.

While customers cant come into their brick and mortar stores right now, several local booksellers are working behind the scenes to keep readers engaged and connected.

Our entire book inventory is online. Were doing phone and online orders, with shipping and curbside service. Our toy/game/puzzle inventory is not online, but were finding ways to share information about those items through social media and by talking to people on the phone, says Michael Hermann, owner of Gibsons Bookstore in Concord.

And often employees are still available by phone and email for personal recommendations.

Weve had a big run on Defoes Journal of the Plague Year and Boccaccios Decameron I mean, by the standards of how those classics usually sell. Chris Bohjalians new novel, The Red Lotus, has been very popular, and it is about (spoiler alert) the plague, Herrmann says.

Tom Holbrook, owner of RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, says customers can call them for home delivery or visit the store online.

If people need recommendations, or are looking for something obscure, I urge them to email us at info@riverrunbookstore.com. Wed be glad to help out, he says.

As for the type of books that are popular right now, that may surprise you. As many in the Granite State remain isolated or quarantined, Holbrook has also noticed a spike in books about isolation or illness.

Remarkably, we have seen a lot of people looking for books on the 1918 flu epidemic, so much so that most of our distributors are now out, but Im sure they will reprint quickly, Holbrook says.

Joachim, who says Toadstool Bookshops (there are also locations in Peterborough and Keene) are busy online.

We special order for free. Customers do not have to prepay for special orders. We also do rare and out-of-print searches, and our Peterborough and Keene stores have large used-book sections, Joachim says.

Joachim said its only partly true that people are seeking out grim end-of-days reading.

As always, there are those with a slightly macabre sense of humor who are jumping in and running with it. I made a display of end-of-the-world apocalypse books, like World War Z, Pandemic, The Silence, The Road, The Dog Stars, Station Eleven, and of course, The Walking Dead, he says Some people get a chuckle. Others are not amused.

For readers simply looking for the most recent releases, book stores have plenty of options.

We had a lot of interest this past week in new novels by N.K. Jemisin (The City We Became) and Emily St. John Mandel (The Glass Hotel). (We also have) new releases from Max Barry (Providence), the late Oliver Sacks (Everything in its Place: First Loves and Last Tales), and Bart Ehrman (Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife), says Herrmann.

Holbrook says the popular Wolf Hall Trilogy is finally complete.

Our most popular new release is The Mirror and the Light, which is book three of the Wolf Hall Trilogy and has been much awaited. The trilogy is historical fiction, and nice and long, so it fits that category as well, Holbrook says.

But mostly, people are continuing to read what theyve always read. Erik Larsons The Splendid and the Vile, which is about (England Prime Minister Winston) Churchill and the (World War II-era) Blitz, has been very popular. But to understand whats happening right now, people are turning to books like Laurie Garretts The Coming Plague and David Quammens Spillover, which were remarkably prescient about our current situation, says Herrmann.

If youre looking for an escape, Holbrook suggests a good whodunnit may do the trick.

I also always recommend detective mysteries to people during stressful times. You would think reading about murder would not be helpful, but really, its the fact that the killer is always caught in the end and order is restored that comforts people. You cant get better than (mystery writer) Louise Penny for a series that is both comforting, intriguing and hopeful. Start with Still Life and read them straight through, he says.

Or maybe youre using this time to take on those big books youve been putting off.

There has also been an uptick in people buying big, long books that they have been meaning to read. Ive had five orders for War and Peace this week seriously, Holbrook says.

He admits that while many are turning to the Internet while in isolation, that interest could change.

Right now, everyone is spending way more time than usual on their screens the news, school, social media to keep in touch. I predict in a week or so people will want to settle down with a paper book for a while to unplug. Well be there to help with that, Holbrook says.

Its clear some are actively seeking out stories about devastating times in human history, whether fact or fiction. But maybe the underlying reason for investing time reading about previous disasters is knowing that the crisis will end, in one way or another.

Unsettling things that happened in the past can be strangely reassuring people got to the other side of them, after all. Its the same logic that makes some kids like to learn about dinosaurs theyre dangerous, scary, and safely in the past, Herrmann says.

I think it has to do with the broader way that reading promotes empathy and understanding, even across generations, he adds.

I think many people turn to read dark fiction or even nonfiction about horrific disasters to feel better about their current situation: It could be a lot worse, Joachim says.

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Strangely enough, readers are opting for tales of contagions, isolation, war and zombies, say NH booksellers - The Union Leader