How goes your reading during the pandemic? If you ask anyone this right now, you’d most likely get mixed answers. Reading has comforted us in times of change and crisis, but we’d be lying if we didn’t say we felt languished mid-quarantine and had no energy to pick up a book. You've probably felt the same, which is more than warranted in these abnormal times, even if we seem to have more time on our hands.

According to Bengaluru-based psychiatrist Shyam Bhat via the World Economic Forum on July 13, 2020, this may be due to the anxiety the pandemic has exacerbated, making it difficult for people to focus and keep up with their reading.

As you slowly work your way up to reading again, we recommend you start with fiction. These books by Singaporean authors comprise novels and short story collections, which are perfect if you’re looking for an immersive experience or reading in short bursts.

‘Bury What We Cannot Take’ by Kirstin Chen

Kirstin Chen's "Bury What We Cannot Take" is set against the backdrop of early Maoist China and follows a family's journey as they flee their home on Drum Wave Islet, only to be given a condition by the government to leave one child behind.

‘Lion City’ by Ng Yi-Sheng

"Lion City" is the first short story collection of award-winning poet and playwright Ng Yi-Sheng. The collection is a blend of science fiction, mythology, and magical realism, with strange tales involving a zoo whose animals are actually robots, the disappearance of the island of Singapore, and more. It is the winner of the 2019 Singapore Book Awards for Best Literary Work and co-winner of the Singapore Literature Prize 2020.

‘The Riot Act’ by Sebastian Sim

Sebastian Sim's dark comedy "The Riot Act," which bagged the 2017 Epigram Books Fiction Prize, centers on three women whose lives intertwine thanks to coincidence, accident, and opportunity. We recommend "The Riot Act" for a perceptive and satirical read!

‘This Is Where I Won't Be Alone’ by Inez Tan

Published by Epigram Books in 2018, Inez Tan's national bestselling "This Is Where I Won't Be Alone" is a collection of short stories figuring characters in complex navigation of displacement as they straddle for connection and a community they can call their own.

‘Ponti’ by Sharlene Teo

A story of friendship, memory, and adulthood, "Ponti" follows the lives of the friendless and fatherless Szu, her mother Amisa, a former actress turned hack medium, and the privileged Circe, who develops an intense connection with Szu. "Ponti" is the debut novel of Sharlene Teo, whose literary voice has already earned her comparisons to English novelist and essayist Zadie Smith.