There are worse places to bury yourself than inside a book. And often there is no better place to find yourself. Scott Weaver has looked into the future, and with grim times approaching—or at least not abating—he recommends you dive into some Ralph Ellison or Lorrie Moore or T.S. Eliot. Maybe a little Joan Didion. Twenty-one timeless, humanizing reads make Scott’s list and when you look up from the last page of any one of them, you may conclude that worldly matters are more trivial than they seemed. Perhaps you have a few titles of your own to add. Read the cover story here, and don’t forget to make your own suggestions.