What treats help keep your spirits up?

[petra]

In this time of empty restaurants and closed stores, what little things do you plan so you can look forward to them?

Comments

[petra]

I have a bag of Atomic Hot Balls that I find soothing. My SO has been going through Nutella like it's going out of style. We haven't really done non-food treats, though I've been tempted by some things like a sticker delivery service.

[via_ostiense]

I've been buying chips and candy with more frequency. (I guess normally I would get my junk food fix at the office, where there's often stuff lying around.)

[daegaer]

Plain Greek yoghurt and a large helping of frozen berries mixed through to help chill it allows me to pretend that I'm eating ice cream!

[petra]

That sounds delightful.

[petra]

We've been indulging in potato chips, too. It's the little things that make the big things easier to take, I think.

[daegaer]

Lidl had good offers on frozen berries today too! It was really quite cheering.

[althea_valara]

I bought ice cream yesterday! Raspberry with chocolate chips, and cinnamon bun.

I also have butterscotch hard candy on hand. Normally I spend my money on chocolate, but that goes so fast... A bag of butterscotch lasts me several weeks and is cheap, so it's worth it.

[petra]

Cinnamon bun ice cream sounds delightful!

I find hard candy very soothing in a basic "Suck on something sweet for a long period of time" sort of way.

[dine]

I've been adding more chips and ice cream when I place grocery orders. and I'm trying to write postcards every day or so. I've been averaging 4-7 each time I leave the apartment (1-2 times a week); at the same time I'll run errands if there are any, but often my stated purpose is simply hitting the mailbox and getting a mocha, mostly it;s because I just need to OUT for a bit. so I get a fancy coffee and drive around for 20 minutes, and feel much better when I get home again, sometimes with lunch I didn't prepare myself

[via_ostiense]

Ooh I like the postcards! I sent a batch of postcards to friends during the 1st or 2d week, but not since then. *makes mental note to write postcards tonight*

What do you write about? I can never think of anything to write about until I've filled up half the writing space with banal pleasantries, and then end up squishing some thoughts in in teeny tiny writing once my brain comes up with something interesting.

[petra]

That sounds like a good escape from the weight of existence, for sure. I have my stack of drabbles-and-cards to get in the mail to you and a bunch of other people, which should happen tomorrow.

[minoanmiss]

*postcard fistbump* Speaking of which...

[duskpeterson]

I'm actually buying from restaurants more often than I usually do (twice a month, as opposed to twice a year), in order to support the local restaurants. The only brick-and-mortar store I go to regularly is the local pharmacy; they offer home delivery currently. I had switched to home delivery of groceries (from a local supermarket) before this happened. All of my other shopping has been online, for years. I'm not really much of a shopper.

Dusk (who feels increasingly weird as this crisis makes me realize how different my lifestyle is from everyone else's)

[petra]

Well, I'm glad you're finding it in your budget to support local restaurants more than normal; I'm sure they appreciate it.

We haven't had delivery of groceries here for very long, far less pharmacy stuff, so there's been no impetus to switch over for my family.

Most of the rest of our shopping is online, too, so you're not *that* much of an outlier.

[dine]

postcards are a good way to say 'hi, I'm thinking of you' - and often that's pretty much what mine say. not all the (many) people in my massive address book are extremely close friends, so with them I might even work up a little script and add personal notes relating to the individual. that can save brain power, especially when I'm feeling fraught.

if it's a closer friend, I'll update on my life a bit, and ask specific questions about theirs. but I've found (from receiving them) that even a fairly banal note is great - a nice change from the flyer and bills, and a reminder someone is thinking of you

[dine]

mail happens when it happens - and is appreciated whenever it arrives!

[dine]

*fistbump*
happy mailing :)

[fred_mouse]

I have been buying books.

[petra]

Books are a good investment.

[mific]

Yes audiobooks and ebooks for me, too.

[fred_mouse]

That they are. I am 'investing in my retirement' and such like. Because I want my preferred authors/author groups to write more, and I want their current work available when I retire...

[fred_mouse]

I've been investing in ebooks for a while -- I've only just made the effort to start reading them! Are you finding anything particularly interesting?

[mific]

Hard to know where to start with the recs! What genres do you like?

[fred_mouse]

I'd be interested in, say, the last three things that you would give 5 stars (or, if you rarely rate something five stars, then four).

In terms of what I like: I read predominantly in science fiction and fantasy, with the occasional foray into romance, horror, and historical fiction of dubious accuracy. I read adult and young adult fiction, although there is the odd mid-grade books that I've read on recommendation. I'm also willing to read outside my comfort zone if people recommend things. I don't like the dark side of people, so I don't like much abuse, gas lighting, everybody-is-unpleasant, although I don't object to it as necessary detail. I'm not keen on dystopic fiction, much prefer that things are trending upwards by the end. And I don't cope well with second hand embarrassment.

What I'm looking for more than anything is recent fiction, because I'm woefully behind. Most of what I've read that is recent is Hugo award nominees, of which I've liked several. Before that, my most recent rated 5 fiction books are Erin Morgenstern's 'The Starless Sea', Christina Henry's 'The Mermaid', and Donna Maree Hanson's 'Through These Eyes' - two of these are darker than I usually go, and the other is more 'literary' than I would have expected to enjoy, so don't feel you need to restrict yourself.

I'm not reading much non-fiction at the moment, because that part of my reading time is going to work and work adjacent texts.

[mific]

Okay! Well, some of these you might have read, but here goes.
For pure sci-fi:
The 'Children of Time' series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Brilliant, and I love that he always, always surprises me.
The novels in 'The Expanse' series by James S. A. Corey. I love the TV show and the novels are richer and more detailed, with vastly more and different content. Treat the TV show as a fanwork of the novels, as they differ quite a bit.

Then, my zombie apocalypse recs - I know it's been done to death (!) in movies and TV, but these are all seriously good.
'The Girl With All the Gifts' and 'The Boy on the Bridge' by M. R. Carey. Zombie apocalypse, but done so incredibly well and with an ultimately hopeful ending. The second book's mostly a prequel, but also an epilogue.
'World War Z' by Max Brooks, especially the audiobook which is amazingly well done, with multiple readers voicing the various accounts. It's not new, but if you've never listened to it I hugely recommend it. Forget the crap movie, which had barely anything to do with the book. The horror's bearable as it's made up of accounts after the war's been won.
And the 'Newsflesh' series by Mira Grant. A superb fusion of near-future worldbuilding with newsfeeds eclipsing print media, in a world after the Rising. Again, the horror's more bearable as the world's been vastly altered, but not destroyed.

Like you, I don't enjoy books that are ultimately bleak and tragic, or where I don't like any of the characters. All these are really engaging, with excellent characterisation.
If you've read most of those let me know, and I'll see what else I can think of. :)

[fred_mouse]

Thank you!

You've managed to pick a whole lot I've not read. I've ordered two of the Corey because the series is on the ballot for the Hugos this year, so that encourages me. The Tchaikovsky looks interesting - not an author I know anything about. And I don't read much in the zombie genre, so knowing what is good gives me hope -I tried Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and was rather scathing about it, but for reasons that weren't the zombies. The only other zombie book I remember reading is Justina Ireland's 'Dread Nation', which is amazing, and I have the sequel lined up to read when I've finished some other reading!

[mific]

Oh yeah - I just got Dread Nation and the sequel. :)

You might find the Tchaikovsky a little slow at the start as he sets up the situation, but the series is so great it's really worth persisting until you get to characters who are a bit more likeable. But a warning, his are maybe not the best books if you're spider-phobic!

[fred_mouse]

Spiders are fine. Useful to know that the stories are slow moving.