Books can be a refuge for highly sensitive people. Here are 6 that will speak straight to your soul.
Many of my fondest childhood memories are related to books. I remember early winter mornings when I would rush up to the bookshelf and sit down to read in the dark, oblivious to the fact that everyone was still fast asleep. Then there were the evenings spent at the local library with my mother, flipping through books while the rain poured down outside. One of my favorite memories is Snoopy collection in our holiday home in northern France. I spent hours surrounded by dusty copies of Snoopy, inhaling their old book smells.
I’m sure many Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) feel the same way. Reading is a safe space where you can go on all kinds of adventures without feeling overwhelmed. It’s an activity you can do at your own pace—a relief for HSPs who absorb so much external stimulus that they often feel exhausted. There is something peaceful about being alone with a good book.
The best books are the ones where you can relate to the story or the characters in some way. You want a story that sounds a little like yours—or a protagonist whose thoughts sound like yours. Of course, everyone has different tastes, but here are six books that I think will resonate with HSPs.
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Books for highly sensitive people
1. All the light we can’t see written by Anthony Doerr
A novel about two teenagers during World War II, All the light we can’t see takes the reader on a rich and thought-provoking journey. It follows the lives of Marie Laure, who lives in Nazi-occupied Paris, and Werner, who is a member of a Nazi service in Germany.
Doerr plays her characters brilliantly, especially the young bookworm Marie Laure, who is blind. He describes his world as he sees it, with intricate descriptions of sounds, touches and smells. The reader begins to travel the world with him. It is a wonderful exploration of the non-visual senses. HSPs, who are especially attuned to their senses and process a lot of external stimuli (sounds, touch, general “mood”), will no doubt appreciate this startling depiction of the outside world. The title says it all.
Quote:
“If you close your eyes, you don’t know the blindness. Beneath the world of skies and faces and buildings is a world rawer and older, a place where surface planes fall apart and ribbons ripple through the air.”
2. Death and the penguin written by Andrei Kurkov
This surrealist dark comedy explores themes as diverse as isolation, loneliness, the mafia and the relationship between man and his pet. Set in post-Soviet Ukraine, the film tells the story of a writer, Viktor, and his pet penguin, Misha. Viktor works for the local newspaper as an obituary writer and lives a lonely life with Misa. However, obituary writing turns out to be a more dangerous profession than Viktor ever imagined, and Viktor suddenly finds that his survival rests on little Misha’s shoulders.
The loneliness and warmth in Viktor and Misha’s relationship touched me as a sensitive person (HSPs often have special relationship with animals). And if you’re a writer like me, you find it comforting to read about another writer’s struggles.
Quote:
“Misha brought loneliness with her, and now the result is two complementary lonelinesses.”
3. Quiet written by Susan Cain
This Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller is a popular read they are introverts. Not all HSPs are introverts, but most HSPs share some common traits—namely, they dislike loud, crowded environments and need frequent downtime. This nonfiction book applauds the students, the quiet thinkers, those who do their best work alone or in very small groups. It even touches on high sensitivity and some of the overlapping research on the two properties.
It was very comforting for me to see that certain traits that society tends to frown upon (not attending classes, needing time from people) bad properties at all. In fact, they are powerful, unique, and can be extremely useful to society. HSPs often feel a little invalidated for being who they are. Quiet it tells the world how much power lies in being true to your inner self.
Quote:
“The secret of life is to put yourself in the right light. For some it’s the Broadway spotlight, for others it’s a lamplit desk… Everyone shines when they’re properly lit.”
4. There is no way out written by Jean-Paul Sartre
In this French play, three strangers die and go to Hell. They end up being locked in a room and waiting to see what hell has in store for them. While they wait, they start talking and realize that they don’t really get along. They’re starting to get on each other’s nerves – and there seems to be no way to avoid each other’s company. Hell turns out to be very different from what they all expected.
If you are an HSP who hasn’t had enough downtime away from peoplethis wonderfully dark read will almost certainly resonate with you.
Quote:
“Can you stop your thoughts? I can hear them ticking like a clock, tick, tick, and I’m sure you can hear mine.”
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5. Madonna in a fur coat written by Sabahattin Ali
This Turkish novel, originally published in 1943, has become a bestseller in recent years. It tells the story of Raif, a sensitive young man from Ankara who loves the arts and is somewhat addicted to romance novels. Raif’s father, who does not care too much about his son’s interests, sends him to Germany to make a career for himself. In Berlin, Raif spends his time wandering the streets and visiting art galleries – not exactly what his father had in mind. One day he finds a painting of a woman that stops him in his tracks. She must be the woman of his dreams. Deeply moved, he decides to find her.
The story is heartbreakingly romantic and reads like a work of art. HSPs are often moved by the deeper emotions of art, beauty, and life. This novel, with its deeply sensitive protagonist, contains all of these.
Quote:
“I must have known that pale face, that dark brown hair, those dark eyebrows, those dark eyes that spoke of eternal torment and determination. I’d known this woman since I opened my first book at age seven—since I began to dream at age five… She was a swirling mix of all the women I’d ever imagined.”
6. The Witches written by Roald Dahl
A childhood favorite, I picked this book up again last summer and couldn’t put it down. Fascinated by his Norwegian grandmother’s folklore stories, a young boy searches for ‘REAL WITCHES’ – monstrous, legless creatures who turn children into mice.
Both the grandson and the grandmother live in their own little bubble, cut off from the outside world (as a child with HSP, escaping from the real world was often on my agenda). Together they build a world where folklore and reality merge into one. They have the kind of deep and meaningful connection that HSPs crave. And the writing style is so charming that it will put a smile on your face, guaranteed. A good light read when the real world is too much!
(Honestly, Dahl is such a master that you’ll be happier if he’s full 16-book Roald Dahl collection.)
Quote:
“‘Children should never bathe,’ said my grandmother. ‘It is a dangerous habit.’
“I agree, Grandma.”
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