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Original poster

What are your comfort reads - books that you can read over and over again?

234 replies

harpomarx · 21/06/2008 22:03

You know, those books that you have been reading for years, have old dog-eared copies of and will pick up when there is nothing new that takes your fancy.

Mine are:

Almost anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but especially The Beautiful and Damned.

Betty MacDonald - The Egg and I etc

Nancy Mitford Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate etc

J. D. Salinger Catcher in the Rye

Cold Comfort Farm

OP posts:
aDad · 23/06/2008 08:20

I'm always so behind on things that I want to read that I can never bring myself to re-read anything.

I can't think of a single book that I've re-read as an adult.

MrsBumblebee · 23/06/2008 08:07

Christiana, have you read the Peacock Spring? If anything, I like it even more than Greengage Summer.
On the childrens' book front, I forgot Susan Cooper. The Dark is Rising is such a great Christmas book, I tend to reread it most years.

bearmama · 23/06/2008 06:58

The Silver Crown - Robert o'Brien
Heroes and Villains - Angela Carter
A Vicious Circle - Amanda Craig
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Time Travellers Wife
Fire Child - Sally Emerson
The Stand In - Deborah Moggach
A Stranger Came Ashore -Mollie Hunter

hellish · 23/06/2008 02:50

John Irving - all of his but especially Hotel New Hampshire

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

Five Quarters of the Orange

Time Travelllers Wife

fishie · 22/06/2008 22:36

hatrick ohh millymollymandy you are so lucky to have girls.

i like joan aiken for a soothing reread. georgette heyer is for serious mental disturbance and jilly cooper bella, octavia etc for full breakdown.

josephine tey, margery allingham for drooping around. chalet school anytime.

Onlyaphase · 22/06/2008 22:32

Jilly Cooper - Riders and Rivals
Any of the old Mary Stewart books other than Merlin ones
Susan Howatch - any of hers
Neville Shute - In the Wet, Town like Alice
Narnia books
Clare Chambers

and another vote for Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

EsmeWeatherwax · 22/06/2008 22:32

Another vote for Terry Pratchett here, my ultimate go to books. Also like the No 1 ladies Detective Agency books, they kept me sane in the weeks after dd's birth, when my poor hormonally addled brain wouldn't let me sleep while she slept, so I read them instead.

hatrick · 22/06/2008 22:27

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sleepycat · 22/06/2008 22:26

This reply has been deleted

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dinny · 22/06/2008 22:23

Jane Eyre
most Maeve Binchy
loads of Enid Blyton
loads of Christine/Josephine P-T

in short - my childhood faves

ShrinkingViolet · 22/06/2008 22:22

another vote for Georgette Heyer, the Chalet School series, and Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men series (can't get into his proper adult ones) and the Bromeliad. And Dick Francis, and Judy Astley.
Anyone read Mike Ripley (Angel series)? He's on my shortlist of "authors I buy their books rather than take out from the library" so that the books are THERE for when you need them.

RustyBear · 22/06/2008 22:21

Christiana - it has been made into a film, but not since 1961 - time for a remake perhaps?

GooseyLoosey · 22/06/2008 22:19

Terry Pratchett for me too - requires no thought and is midly amusing.

Also have re-read many times:

  1. Lord of the Rings (but no longer)
  2. Dune
  3. Riddle Masters Game

I have read them all so many times my copies are dropping to bits. Lately though, I have recognised that I need to find something new so will look here with interest.

Nappyzoneneedsanewname · 22/06/2008 22:18

captain corellis mandolin

maidamess · 22/06/2008 22:16

Nigel Slater - The Kitchen Diaries

Anything by Anne Tyler

cyanarasamba · 22/06/2008 22:16

Vanity Fair - Thackeray
A Town like Alice - Nevil Shute

And yes, Bleak House! I find the opening "fog" passage especially relaxing.

christiana · 22/06/2008 22:15

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christiana · 22/06/2008 22:13

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janeite · 22/06/2008 22:09

Miss Austen of course.

Ballet Shoes
Daddy Long Legs
Famous Five (for reading in the bath when my to read pile is empty)
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
What Katy Did
Nigella - How To Eat

RustyBear · 22/06/2008 22:08

There are advantages to having teenage children - you can have a lie-in & finish your book on a Sunday!
Now I'm rereading The Documents in the Case.

PigeonPie · 22/06/2008 21:55

RustyBear - wow, that's amazing! Very that you were able to finish it this morning!

FossilSister · 22/06/2008 20:12

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield. Fantastic. I even liked the BBC adaptation with Victoria Wood last Christmas. DH got me a lovely original for Valentine's Day.

Has anyone read Hens Dancing by Rafaella Barker? The heroine of that book is a mother of 2 darling sons and one baby daughter, living in Norfolk and a big Georgette Heyer fan. I haven't really conveyed how lovely it is. I buy it for all my pregnant friends.

MrsBumblebee · 22/06/2008 20:09

Most have already been mentioned: Austen (esp. Sense and Sensibility), Brideshead (my maternity ward book), tons of children's books (Potter, Pullman etc).
Also the Raj Quartet by Paul Scott.
A Suitable Boy.
Peacock Spring and Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden.
Ooh, and thanks for reminding me of My Family and Other Animals - one of the ultimate comfort reads.

anneme · 22/06/2008 20:00

How many of us now are going to go off and reread all kinds of books we had forgotten!
So pleased to see quite a lot of Chalet School books - they are my ultimate comfort read - I think becauseI know them and know the characters and feel safe. Also Anne books and lots of other children's books eg Just william and Jennings. Also Brideshead Revisited - I love the first half which is so evocative of a time gone by.

FoulOlRon · 22/06/2008 20:00

I'm just reading a prayer for owen meany now - it's fantastic!