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During three months of widespread lockdown, we asked 17 writers to offer diaries of their time in isolation. As stay-at-home measures eased and protests proliferated, The Times compiled their experienced into a meta-narrative of this unprecedented period in their lives and ours. For writers (or artists of any kind), it was a time of not just creativity and contemplation but also consumption and absorption (and sometimes procrastination). In the short windows of time they shared with us, these authors collectively read 55 books, listened to 20 musical artists, watched 25 shows and saw 18 movies. We’ve gathered them together as a document of escapism, consolation, mourning and creative ferment — and not necessarily a list of recommendations. Many of these are widely acclaimed works of genius; others are not. Proceed at your own risk.
The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org if you buy these books through links on our site. They were independently selected.
Books
Laila Lalami fell asleep with Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar.”
(Laila Lalami)
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“American Salvage,” Bonnie Jo Campbell
“The Babysitters Club,” Ann M. Martin
“Baja Oklahoma,” Dan Jenkins
“Beany Malone,” Lenora Mattingly Weber
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“Because of Mr. Terupt,” Rob Buyea
“Behold the Dreamers,” Imbolo Mbue
“The Bell Jar,” Sylvia Plath
“Betsy-Tacy” books, Maud Hart Lovelace
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“Blessing the Boats,” Lucille Clifton
“The Blinds,” Adam Sternbergh
Novels of Edgar Box (Gore Vidal)
“Burning Province,” Michael Prior
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“The City in the Middle of the Night,” Charlie Jane Anders
“D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths,” Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire
“Dead Astronauts,” Jeff VanderMeer
“Dragon Hoops,” Gene Luen Yang
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Ivy Pochoda and her daughter, Loretta, with their favorite books.
(Courtesy of Ivy Pochoda)
“Either/Or,” Soren Kierkegaard
“Finding Sanctuary,” Abbot Christopher Jamison
“The Furies,” Janet Hobhouse
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“From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,” E.L. Konigsburg
“The Galleons,” Rick Barot
“Girlhood,” Melissa Febos
“The Glass Hotel,” Emily St. John Mandel
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“Godshot,” Chelsea Bieker
“Golden Gates,” Conor Dougherty
“The Good Thief,” Hanna Tinti
“Heaven, My Home,” Attica Locke
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“Heavy,” Kiese Laymon
“Interior Chinatown,” Charles Yu
“The Last Picture Show,” Larry McMurtry
“Madame Bovary,” Gustav Flaubert
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Anna Solomon read Helen Phillips’ novel “The Need” in quarantine.
(Mike Burger)
“Middlemarch,” George Eliot
“Minor Feelings,” Cathy Park Hong
“The Need,” Helen Phillips
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“The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone,” Deborah Madison
“The Night Fire,” Michael Connelly
“Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes,” Rick Riordan
“The Poisoned Chocolates Case,” Anthony Berkeley
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“Postcolonial Love Poem,” Natalie Diaz
“The Power Broker,” Robert Caro
“The Power,” Naomi Alderman
“Rift Zone,” Tess Taylor
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“September 1, 1939,” W.H. Auden
“Slouching Towards Los Angeles,” ed. Steffie Nelson
“The Song of Achilles,” Madeline Miller
“Spirit Run,” Noé Alvárez
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Susan Straight organized a “Fence Library” in front of her house in Riverside.
(Susan Straight)
“Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber,” Mike Isaac
“There Will Never Be Another You,” Carolyn See
“These Women,” by Ivy Pochoda
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“To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee
“Toothless Wonder,” Barbara Park
“Treasure Island,” Robert Louis Stevenson
“We Lived Happily During the War,” Ilya Kaminsky
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“Weather,” Jenny Offill
“White Fang”; “The Call of the Wild,” Jack London
“Why Life Speeds Up As You Get Older,” Douwe Draaisma
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Movies
“I’m pretty sure Danny Boyle was trying to warn us in ’28 Days Later’ that the virus that turns people into zombies isn’t nearly as dangerous as greedy, immoral humans.” — Laila Lalami
(Peter Mountain / Fox Searchlight Pictures)
“28 Days Later”
“Bringing Up Baby”
“Chungking Express”
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“Crocodile Dundee”
“Desperately Seeking Susan”
“Edge of Tomorrow”
The movies of Jacques Demy
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“Independence Day”
“Key Largo”
Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina in Jean-Luc Godard’s “Pierrot le Fou.”
(Canal Plus)
“Lawrence of Arabia”
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“Paris, Texas”
“Pierrot le Fou”
“Quiz Show”
“Red River”
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“Shattered Glass”
“The Shop Around the Corner”
“Thor: Ragnarok”
“Walk the Line”
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TV
Joseph Julian Soria, left, Joaquin Cosio and Carlos Santos in a scene from “Gentefied.”
(Kevin Estrada/NETFLIX/Kevin Estrada/NETFLIX)
“The Barchester Chronicles”
“Brideshead Revisited” (1981)
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“Come Dine With Me”
“Country Music”
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“Devs”
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“Fleabag”
“Gentefied”
“Gunsmoke”
“Hillary”
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“Little Fires Everywhere”
“Love Is Blind”
Kenneth Clark’s “Civilisation”
Julia Garner in “Ozark” — a big hit with a few quarantined authors, including film critic David Thomson.
(Jessica Miglio / Netflix)
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“Kitchen Nightmares”
“Naked and Afraid”
“The Office”
“Ozark”
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“The Plot Against America”
“Quiz”
“Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America!”
“Seinfeld”
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“Six Feet Under”
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”
“Wild North”
WrestleMania
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Music
Singer-songwriter Norah Jones, whom Charles Finch found himself listening to in spite of himself.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Alabama Shakes
Allman Brothers
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The Beatles
Beethoven (performed)
BennY Revival
Patsy Cline
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Sam Cooke
Steely Dan (performed)
Bill Evans
Gregorian chants
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John Prine, a touchstone for several authors even before his death from COVID-19.
(John Chiasson)
Jimi Hendrix
Alicia Keys (to Stephen Colbert)
Knower
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Led Zeppelin
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Norah Jones
John Prine
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Puff the Magic Dragon
Bill Withers
Yo-Yo Ma on Mr. Rogers
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