If you're feeling grim, you might need a book that makes you laugh out loud. If you're sick, you might have a little more time for a big read. If you've said something progressive in a bar full of drunk goons, you might want to call on some literary heavyweights (if only for comfort as you look for the best escape route). We have book balms for all your various circumstances, thanks to guest authors' lists over time.

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Predicament: In Need of a Laugh

Fix: Kathleen Winter's Books That Made Me Laugh Out Loud in Public. Of one book on her list, Winter writes, "When I finally started reading this story of Nomi Nickel's pilgrimage through small-town Mennonite hell, I knew I was in the hands of a writer who would carry me on mercurial wings through heartbreak and irony, with plenty of antisocial snorting."

Predicament: Bedridden

Fix: Marina Endicott's Books to Read When Sick. Endicott says of one of the short story collections on the list: "[The stories] deliver delight, fright, and wild, gangling weirdness to match your fevered post-modern malaise. If taken regularly they cause your brain to re-shape slightly inside your head, thus solving sinus trouble. Also full of useful advice in case of apocalypse."

Predicament: Confined to a Bus, Train, or Plane

Fix: Loren Edizel's Commuter Reads. Guess what author Edizel might be talking about here: "These are stories that will make you weep. Not from sadness, but a sense of gratitude and awe at being offered such beauty in words. How does [she] do it, how does she peel the apparently simple story from the outside in, taking you to the very depths of the human condition?"

Predicament: Wanting to Kickstart Writing

Fix: Alison Pick's Books That Made Me Realize I Needed to Be a Writer. Of one line in a poetry collection on the list – "We lie along each other’s lengths like mirrors reflecting the light" – Pick writes: "Amazed by the precision, the elegance of the line, and by the way the language itself seemed to shine."

Predicament: Missing Canada

Fix: Jill Sooley's Books for the Homesick Canadian. Sooley summarizes one book on her list this way: "Ultimately, [it] is a universal story of grief, the strange comfort grief provides, and one’s desire to hold on to it in all its subtle nuances."

Predicament: In a Bar, Seeking Literary Backup

Fix: John Vigna's Bar Brawl Writers and the Female Edition of the list. This is Vigna's preface to the list, which we love quite some bit:

"Suppose you find yourself standing in a Calgary bar, perhaps Ranchman’s, mouthing off about your beloved Vancouver Canucks who’ve just eliminated the Flames in the playoffs (unlikely as that might be) and you’ve been shouting to be heard—the music is loud after all. A large southern Albertan ranchman hears you. He’s wearing a big white hat that shadows his eyes. His belt buckle winks in the light and you notice it’s a shiny Calgary Flames logo. You exchange a few words, but he’s not interested in talking. Instead, all hell breaks loose. Beer bottles smash on tabletops, you and the cowboy slug each other, the unmistakable stench of man-sweat and confusion floods the room. As the deafening cheers from onlookers—now the women are in on the fighting—spur on the cowboy, you consider dropping down under a table and curling in the fetal position. At this point, it’s about having the right guys to watch your back. In no particular order, these writers and their books might just help you walk away from that bar and live to fight another day."

Thanks to Kathleen Winter, Marina Endicott, Loren Edizel, Jill Sooley, and John Vigna for these lists.