Life is loud. Deadlines pile up, responsibilities creep in, and before you know it, even your favorite hobby—reading—starts to feel like work. If you’re in that headspace where everything feels like too much, it’s time for a bookish balm.
Today’s Reader’s Remedy is for:
💤 The Burned-Out Bookworm
Symptoms may include:
– Rereading the same sentence five times
– Feeling overwhelmed by heavy plots
– Avoiding your TBR like it’s a pile of taxes
– Needing comfort, whimsy, and low-stakes escapism
✨ Here are five gentle fantasy reads to soothe your soul without draining your brain:
🌿 1. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
A prickly professor sets off on a scholarly adventure to catalog fae in a quiet Nordic village. With cozy academic vibes, slow-burn charm, and just enough folklore magic, this one feels like a soft sweater and crisp winter air.
🐸 2. The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz
A delightfully quirky graphic novel that’s part cheesy romance, part fairy tale, and 100% adorable. With LGBTQ+ rep, food puns, and royalty in disguise, it’s the perfect low-stakes escape when your brain is fried.
🐉 3. The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill
This gorgeously illustrated graphic novel is short, sweet, and full of healing. A perfect pick for a single sitting read when your brain needs rest and your heart needs warmth.
🐈⬛ 4. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
This book mixes witchy vibes with found family, a sprinkle of romance, and a lot of heart. It’s perfect for fans of cozy stories where magic and love go hand in hand.
🪻 5. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
A standalone court fantasy that’s more about politics and kindness than violence or war. The protagonist is an outsider trying to do the right thing in a world full of rigid formality and power plays—but it’s written with such quiet beauty that it’s oddly comforting.
📖 Prescription:
Pick one, curl up in your coziest reading nook, light a candle if that’s your thing, and let yourself rest inside the softness of a world where magic heals more than it harms.
💬 Have a favorite comfort read or a “bookish balm” that gets you through the hard days? Share it in the comments—we’re always building our emergency self-care shelf.
literary gluttony 
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