Pretty much the title. Just found out my mom is going to lose her battle with cancer and quite soon. This wasn’t supposed to happen. All the treatments appeared to be working and she just finished her last round of chemo. I’m taking a last minute flight to go be with her and my brothers/dad. It’s devastating.
I’m getting tired of Reddit and would love a good escape book. Can be murder mystery, something fun and quick like murderbots, I even quite enjoyed memoirs of the geisha. Also love Tim Dorsey.
by chaunahhh
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I recommend *Beware Of Chicken*, by CasualFarmer. Four books published so far, audiobooks by Travis Baldree. I’m borrowing a quote from a fellow reader on the Patreon:
>I read DCC when I want to hate myself. I read this [Beware Of Chicken] when I want to feel good. It’s so peaceful. I channel this feeling as much as possible in my own life.
This slice-of-life story is a parody of the *isekai* (transported to another world) and *xianxia* (magic kung fu) genres. I didn’t know anything about either of these tropes, and I’m enjoying the hell out of this story! [https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/60888209](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/60888209).
MC (a modern Canadian) nopes out of the xianxia sect he’s been dropped into, and runs to the other end of the continent to…become a *farmer*? Romance, dick jokes, talking animals, and the best food in the world happen to him, anyway. The backstory and some action begin to come to the fore in the later books, but the world-building and relationships are all quite enjoyable. The books talk a lot about the search for meaning in life vs. the struggle for power; surprisingly insightful and inspirational at times! The increasing action and higher stakes in the later books makes the slice-of-life moments all the more powerful.
Books 1, 2, 3, and the just-published book 4 are available on Amazon as both ebook and audiobook (performed by Travis Baldree); Book 5, and the just-completed book 6 are still currently available *completely for free* on Royal Road. Book 7 recently began on Royal Road in March 2025.
As a really good book, I’d recommend Mexican Gothic. It reminded me a lot of Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.
To hopefully make you laugh though, I’d recommend something much sillier. Witches be Crazy, by Logan Hunder is a fun experiment. It seems like a cross between Ready Player One(nods to pop culture), and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.