My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

What we're reading

The cosiest book you ever read

147 replies

MellowBird85 · 04/09/2019 16:48

As autumn approaches, I’d really like to find a proper cosy book - the type that you can curl up by the fire with while the rain lashes against the windows Smile but not too twee iykwim? I wouldn’t mind something based in the 18th or 19th century (but not essential). I went on GoodReads and found a list of “Books to Read on a Rainy Day” and all the classics were at the top of the list - Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride & Prejudice, etc. I’m willing to give these a go but just thought I’d get some opinions on here first. TIA

OP posts:
Report
ALoadOfTwaddle · 04/09/2019 20:52

If you've not read the classics, start there, though to be honest I find pride and prejudice to be more of a summer read.

Classics:
David Copperfield
Bleak House
Oliver Twist

Light read:
Entertaining Angels
Marley and Me
A street cat named Bob
The Guy Next Door

Kids books for nostalgia:
The Secret Garden
A Little Princess

Historical fiction:
The Heretic Queen

I'm sure there are more but for now it'll do.

Report
ALoadOfTwaddle · 04/09/2019 20:56

The Crimson Petal and the White was the cosiest book I think (at the start anyway), apart from the early Harry Potter's, but the ending annoyed me, so be warned.

Report
ImportantWater · 04/09/2019 20:56

A Country Child by Alison Uttley. No real plot, just lots of descriptions of the life of a Victorian (?) girl on a farm. The chapters on Christmas are the cosiest thing I’ve ever read I think! Also Children of Green Knowe. Also Christmas, also cosy! Although both are children’s books.

Report
Rubytinsleslippers · 04/09/2019 20:57

The thirteenth tale

Report
VittysCardigan · 04/09/2019 21:00

I was thinking about the same thing today. I decided that an Agatha Christie would fit the bill. Just add tea & toasted crumpets for good measure

Report
ArtichokeAardvark · 04/09/2019 21:00

If you like historical fiction, have you ever read any books by Georgette Heyer?

Report
MaggietheHorseThief · 04/09/2019 21:02

A Maeve Binchy? Maybe the Copper Beech or Circle of Friends?

The Night Circus has lots of lovely crisp autumnal vibes

The Secret History

Report
Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 04/09/2019 21:07

Rosamund Pilcher. The Shell Seekers or September.

Report
rosegoldwatcher · 05/09/2019 20:57

Precious Bane by Mary Webb. I absolutely adore this and want every lover of books to read it.

Report
Chickenpie9 · 05/09/2019 21:59

Angela Thirkell High Rising

Report
Mishappening · 05/09/2019 22:03

If you want something that demands nothing at all of you, but is not entirely banal, I would suggest the books by Miss Read - there is a whole raft of them. Set in the country and balm to the tired brain.

Report
Coldhandscoldheart · 05/09/2019 22:10

If you were going for a Brontë I’d be looking at the tenant of wildfell hall, although it does get a bit grim in places. Precious Bane! I must differ!

I had come on to suggest Maeve Binchy but I see someone has recommended Miss Read - loved these for a nice easy gentle read, also the Janet Reachfar books - the series titles all start My Friend. Particularly the earlier ones.

As I’ve been typing I realised I had been thinking of Gone to Earth by Mary Webb, not Precious Bane. Don’t read Gone to Earth for cosy, it’s wet, muddy, dark and miserable iirc.

Report
Clawdy · 05/09/2019 22:17

Wuthering Heights on a list of cosy books! Shock

Report
DancelikeEmmaGoldman · 06/09/2019 04:35

Anything by Elizabeth Goudge. She’s old-fashioned, but her books are full of family and reassurance.

Report
rosegoldwatcher · 06/09/2019 10:01

#Coldhandscoldheart Yes Gone To Earth is not good but Precious Bane is a fabulous 'plain woman with a good heart triumphs' story.

Report
DisgruntledGuineaPig · 06/09/2019 13:46

I agree that a good Agatha Christie is nice and cosy. Particularly the Miss Marple ones.

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale is quite lovely, but as it's prodominately Christmas focussed, I might suggest you hold that one for closer to the festive season.

Another 'winter' book is The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey - again, bit early for that one!

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan is a very nice, although not a seasonally correct book.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig is a lovely book, I read that in a couple of rainy days last year.

Reservoir 13 by Jon McGragor is perhaps not what you are looking for, it's a bit harder at the start, but I think it would be a good read for this sort of weather. (A girl goes missing while on holiday staying at a holiday cottage in rural UK - but the book isn't really about her/the search for her, it's about the villagers and how they cope with this tragedy hitting people staying in their town and then how they move on with their lives - it is oddly uplifting!)

Report
Coldhandscoldheart · 06/09/2019 18:47

@rosegoldwatcher I think whenever I hear Mary Webb I hear ‘Gone to Earth she is Gone to Earth!’ And feel all doom and gloom. And forget that precious bane isn’t like that. Funny how one has stuck so much more than the other.
Actually a bit of cold comfort farm might be good too.

Report
Bobbindobbin · 06/09/2019 18:51

Ive just finished the latest Philippa Gregory book, Tidelands, loved it. I look reading on dark nights.

Report
MrsGrindah · 06/09/2019 18:58

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield.Childrens book but has many a cosy moment

Report
AnneLovesGilbert · 06/09/2019 19:03

Rosamund Pilcher. The Shell Seekers or September.

Another vote for anything Pilcher. Love her. Also Agatha Christie.

You had me at hello by Mhairi McFarlane was a little treat as well.

Report
BillywilliamV · 06/09/2019 19:04

EF Benson, the Lucia series, wonderful!
The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford

Cold Comfort Farm
Miss Pettigrew lives for a Day
Diary of a Nobody
Three Men in a Boat
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

The Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, not just for children

All Wonderful! I envy anyone who gets to read any of these for the first time.

Report
BillywilliamV · 06/09/2019 19:06

If you like Agatha Christie try Dorothy L. Sayers, love Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane

Report

Newsletters you might like

Discover Exclusive Savings!

Sign up to our Money Saver newsletter now and receive exclusive deals and hot tips on where to find the biggest online bargains, tailored just for Mumsnetters.

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Parent-Approved Gems Await!

Subscribe to our weekly Swears By newsletter and receive handpicked recommendations for parents, by parents, every Sunday.

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

DarlingNikita · 06/09/2019 19:09

I think the Cazalet Chronicles are cosy; entertaining and easy but gripping in terms of character and plot, in a soapy kind of way. They're not particularly autumnal but they take place over a long stretch of time, so I think every season is represented!

Report
Chottie · 06/09/2019 19:09

Another vote for Rosamund Pilcher - especially The Shell Seekers.

Also all the Agatha Christie Miss Marple books. Miss M remains me of one of my childhood maiden aunts.

E Nesbitt - The Painted Garden

Report
Chottie · 06/09/2019 19:09

Sorry, Noel Streatfeild wrote The Painted Garden....

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.