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Original poster

A good comfort read

39 replies

zippyswife · 04/01/2025 12:26

Not sure if this is a genre but I love books that are rich in description and often in detail of daily tasks. Although these aren’t similar books I love the Japanese books like Sweet Bean Paste memoirs of a Geisha for this reason and Fannie Flaggs Redbird Christmas and Fried Green Tomatoes…. Is this a genre in its own right? If so what is it called and do you have any recommendations?

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MillicentMaybe · 06/01/2025 18:40

zippyswife · 04/01/2025 15:14

@MillicentMaybe sounds perfect. Any particular recommendations? I read Of Mice And Men 30 odd years ago. I wasn’t a fan then but I’m a different person now and may love it.

There are so many, and some easier than others. The Grapes of Wrath is wonderful, but possibly not for a first read. East of Eden isn’t an easy read either. Cannery Row could be a good starting point. If you enjoy that go for Tortilla Flat. The Pearl, The Red Pony, so many great reads! Can you tell I’m a fan? Oh, Travels with Charley - he went off in a van with his dog and travelled through the US. The van is now in the Steinbeck museum in Salinas, and I have a photo standing beside it. Try Of Mice and Men again. Also, for something entirely different The Moon is Down.

I do hope you find something to enjoy in his writings.

Santasbigredbobblehat · 05/01/2025 22:33

Oh yes, I loved the James Herriot books as a teen. Also My Family and Other Animals.

RachelCarew · 05/01/2025 15:41

That’s lovely @BigDahliaFan . I hadn’t thought of reading them again. I actually travel to Thirsk most weeks at minute. It is still a nice market town.

BigDahliaFan · 05/01/2025 15:25

RachelCarew · 05/01/2025 15:22

Oh wow @BigDahliaFan , blast from the past. I grew up in Herriot country and was obsessed with the books.

My DH read them all again fairly recently when he was going through a bad patch. I’m thinking of picking them up again.

RachelCarew · 05/01/2025 15:22

Oh wow @BigDahliaFan , blast from the past. I grew up in Herriot country and was obsessed with the books.

BigDahliaFan · 05/01/2025 15:20

James Herriot books. Comfort reading and seem like ancient history now.

MaryGreenhill · 05/01/2025 15:18

I absolutely loved
R.F Delderfield's Avenue books . Only two of them.
The Dreaming Suburb and The Avenue Goes to War .

MrsSethGecko · 05/01/2025 14:56

The Fortnight in September, R.C. Sheriff. It's an old one but very gentle, just a nice family who go on holiday and have a lovely time.

User92736 · 05/01/2025 14:52

MillicentMaybe · 04/01/2025 13:48

John Steinbeck paints pictures with words.

Tortilla Flat by Steinbeck fits this description.

Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men not so much.

PigglyWigglyOhYeah · 05/01/2025 14:29

redblonde · 05/01/2025 09:40

How about The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard? Series of 5 books about the Cazalet family starting pre WW2 and continuing to the 50s. First one is called The Light Years. Lots of description of daily life, you get caught up in the characters over the years.

Oh, yes! These are fantastic books.

Copperas · 05/01/2025 13:21

I have a soft spot for the Miss Julia series by Ann B Ross - Bible Belt America and always makes me laugh. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_B._Ross

MyGhastIsFlabbered · 05/01/2025 11:26

If you want froth and frivolity you can't beat Georgette Heyer imo

dothedanceofjoy · 05/01/2025 10:12

Eva Ibbotson is lovely for this

indecisivewoman81 · 05/01/2025 09:47

I love reading Anne Tyler books for this. Her books are gentle and about ordinary families and people but I find them so comforting and lovely to read.

Her characters seem to stay in my mind like old friends or family members and I have to remind myself that it didn't happen it was something I read 😂

redblonde · 05/01/2025 09:40

How about The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard? Series of 5 books about the Cazalet family starting pre WW2 and continuing to the 50s. First one is called The Light Years. Lots of description of daily life, you get caught up in the characters over the years.

RachelCarew · 05/01/2025 09:39

I’m re-reading Frenchman’s Creek. I find reading classics again really comforting. Not sure what I’ll read next but I usually re-read three or four classics in January and February.

Santasbigredbobblehat · 05/01/2025 09:31

I’ve recently been rereading Joanna Trollope and Rosamund Pilcher for comfort. I would agree with with Maeve Binchey too.

I’m about to read A Month in the Country.

LarkinAboot · 04/01/2025 23:40

HE Bates Larkin series, Dixie Smith I capture the caste - Nancy Mitford, Georgette Heyer mysteries - second Agatha Christie too.

Cecilly · 04/01/2025 23:12

My comfort read is Anne of Green Gables.

teaandtoastwithmarmite · 04/01/2025 23:09

I find the Agatha Raisin books comforting

honeyfox · 04/01/2025 23:09

Marian Keyes?

highlandcoo · 04/01/2025 23:06

Steinbeck and John Irving are both excellent but not cosy reads imo.

I think you would really like Persephone books. It's a small publishing house that focuses on mainly women writers who used to be very widely read but are less well known now. Dorothy Whipple is one of their most popular authors and High Wages is a great read. It's the story of a young women working in a draper's shop in a small town. Lots of period detail. I'm old enough to remember these shops with mahogany labelled drawers, and glass countertops where the shop assistant would lay out goods for perusal. Quite nostalgic.

The founder of Persephone Books, Nicola Beauman, speaking at their first festival last year, fiercely defended the importance of the novel with a domestic setting. She argued that the most precious things we have are family and home and books with domestic themes should be more highly regarded.

Other ideas - Leonard and Hungry Paul is a heartwarming tale of two friends who wouldn't be regarded by many as successful or admirable, but they are just decent and kind. It's a gentle read.

I also like the Scotland Street series by Alexander McCall Smith, and James Herriot's vet books. Good when you need to escape harsh reality for a bit.

MaryGreenhill · 04/01/2025 22:44

I read a lot of Anna Jacobs books OP. She is a bit like Catherine Cookson. They are very daily task orientated , cleaning, preparing a home and quite old fashioned but very easy reading 😊

Polecat07 · 04/01/2025 22:13

"Miss pettigrew lives for a day" is an often recommended feel good one.
Pretty short too, I finished it in a day and loved it.

MILLYmo0se · 04/01/2025 22:07

I love Frannie Flaggs books, Ann Tyler is another favourite

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