Very personally, I’m between two.

“Hamlet” defined how I see stories. It was one of the first books I ever read, when I was 3, and made me obsessed with Shakespeare, old stories, and dramatic anti-heroes to the point of becoming a History major far away in the future. Hamlet defined how I think about stories, and about the world, from the very start of my life.

Then there’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. I read it when I was 12, and my mom briefly told me that it had been a controversial book back in its time. It shaped a lot how a see the idea of beauty and art. It’s still my favourite book, one I go back to every year, and there’s something uniquely precious about its preface, the way it shows its ideas, and the history behind it all. It doesn’t just say beauty is important, art is vital: it shows it. When I started studying maps at University, people would always ask why I chose the ones I did, and for most of them the answer “because they were beautiful” seemed shallow. For my advisor, who knew about my thing for Oscar Wilde’s work, it made perfect sense.

Though I’m in kind of a similar spot, audiobooks have helped me in the past. I’d still be going out for a coffee while listening to a book, and that would help. Also, like other said, rereading books and going for lighter stuff helps a lot.