The real world turns ugly, but I'm still reading end of the world books ...

I've been reading a lot of End Of The World books in the last couple weeks. Zombies. Plagues. Other various catastrophes. Books about survival. I've always been a fan of the apocalyptic, and it's been fun tracking down relevant titles for the podcast.

After what happened in Boston yesterday, I picked up my e-reader for bedtime reading with some trepidation. Is it okay to read books like this--books full of violence and struggle--after something so terrible happens in the real world? Would I still want to?

I stayed up late reading a sweet and sad story about two women falling for each other in the aftermath of a terrible plague, so I guess the answer is yes.

I'll be talking about these books on the podcast in the coming weeks. This post is just to acknowledge my ambivalence about this kind of reading, and ultimately to admit that I found these books to be weirdly comforting after the terrible, upsetting circumstances of yesterday. Something about love and friendship in the face of a crumbling world makes me feel a little better.

What do you read when the world gets too scary, when the news gets too grim? What makes you feel better?