Comfort reads

[MsInterpret]

I'm recovering from Covid and I've picked up Watership Down. I've never scarred myself by watching the film (DH still haunted by it from childhood) but I think of the book as a comfort read as though it's dark, it's a saga, with the whole cast of characters and gamut of emotions, which I always find comforting.


What are your comfort reads?

[AngryPrincess]

Terry Pratchett.

[TheoriginalLEM]

The vera series by ann cleaves.

[Bookwyrm]

Anything by James Herriot, L.M. Montgomery, Jane Austen or Rumer Godden.

[MsInterpret]

@bookwyrm is LM Montgomery Anne of Green Gables? Do you think you have to have read that as a kid or is it enjoyable for a first time adult reader?

[Bluntasduck]

Watership Down is my ultimate comfort read. I don't know how many times I've read it. I grew up on the edge of the Southdowns and the landscape descriptions make me so nostalgic.

[highlandcoo]

[quote MsInterpret]@bookwyrm is LM Montgomery Anne of Green Gables? Do you think you have to have read that as a kid or is it enjoyable for a first time adult reader? [/quote]
That's an interesting question OP. I first read it as a child - and loved it as I really identified with Anne - so it's difficult to know.

Just came on to say that the Netflix version is very good too. Excellent casting.

[pallisers]

Anne of Green Gables is a lovely read as an adult. Her novel The Blue Castle is lovely too (free on kindle I think),

The Women in Black by Madeliene St John is lovely.

I find most of Trollope great for a long comforting read.

[4amWitchingHour]

Harry Potter
His Dark Materials trilogy
Little Women series
Terry Pratchett - Witches and Vimes
Jane Austen
Maeve Binchy

When I was a kid it was always Heidi. I loved that story, and still now fantasise about living in the Swiss alps

[Bookwyrm]

@MsInterpret Yes, L.M. Montgomery is the author of Anne of Green Gables, which I first read at the age of eleven; I re-read (for the umpteenth time!) the series last year at the age of 35 and I truly think that reading was my favorite, I gleaned so much more from them than I did as a child, especially Anne's House of Dreams, which tells the beginnings of Anne's marriage and motherhood. I think the books can be enjoyed by any age but Anne may seem immature in the first few books to an adult reader coming to the series for the first time. I second The Blue Castle being a wonderful read!

[MsInterpret]

Oh yes, Heidi @4amWitchingHour I'd forgotten about her!

I am lucky that as a primary school teacher I get to read a lot of children's fiction, new and old, for work, so no shame in Harry Potter, which got my through both periods of morning sicknesses. Also rate His Dark Materials at any age.

[CaraDuneRedux]

Lord of the Rings and Narnia, I think simply because both were such an enormous part of my childhood/ teens.

[CleverCatty]

I Capture The Castle and Cold Comfort Farm

[DrRamsesEmerson]

Georgette Heyer! So stylish and funny, I very often turn to them when I need a comfort read.

Also Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody books.

[wlv12]

Rosamunde Pilcher or Rosie Goodwin books are my comfort.

[SOLINVICTUS]

Bill Bryson
James Herriot
Stuart Maconie
The first two Bridget Jones
The first two or three Marian Keyes
Inspector Morse

[Standrewsschool]

Maeve Binchley
Jilly Cooper
Jeffery Archer

[Firefretted]

James Herriot, I Capture the Castle, PG Wodehouse, the Ruth Galloway mysteries (all the characters feel like old friends)

[JaninaDuszejko]

Along with many already mentioned The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency is a comforting read. I want a wise calm and forgiving friend like Mma Precious Ramotswe.

[elkiedee]

@Firefretted I also really find reading the Ruth Galloway books very comforting. And her second book in another series, The Postscript Murders, was a book I found very comforting in a review copy in the autumn. It's one of today's 99p Kindle Daily deals on Amazon.

[mum2jakie]

Agatha Christie for me. I re-read them all the time when I don't have the mental energy for anything more taxing.

[Londonmummy66]

Another vote for Georgette Heyer - love The Grand Sophie. Agatha Christie is good to although a bit racist sometimes.

[elkiedee]

As well as the Anne books, L M Montgomery wrote a trilogy about a girl/teenager living with relatives after her father's death and wanting to be a writer. Emily of New Moon is the first. I was disappointed by the final book after the first two. I read Anne of Green Gables when I was much younger first but I think the early books, particularly, are enjoyable as an adult. The last two or three get a bit grating.

[mynameisnotmichaelcaine]

The Darling Buds of May series by HE Bates.

[booksandwool]

Another vote for the Colin Dexter Morse books, they always work for me. Also PG Wodehouse, it's like lazily eating a bowl of custard, in a good way.

[HelenaJustina]

LM Montgomery
Sir Terry
Georgette Heyer
Ellis Peters (Cadfael)
Rosemary Sutcliffe
Alexander McCall Smith
Elinor Brent Dyer (Chalet School series)