This time of year, as sunny days, bright mornings and golden evenings emerge painstakingly from the gloom of winter, is long and slow. So, too, were my literary companions these past three months.

Long novels can be daunting, especially for people like me, who are in part motivated to read by the satisfaction of getting to cross one more book off a list.

But in times of upheaval, they are sometimes the best accompaniment.

Poetry

• Li-Young Lee, “The Invention of the Darling”

Fiction

• Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “One Hundred Years of Solitude”
• Nial Williams, “Four Letters of Loves”
• Charlotte Bronte, “Jane Eyre”
• Michael Chabon, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay”