What are your favourite 'comfort' reads?

[adrianmolesmole]

(Loosely) following on from another thread. What books pick you up and make you feel less down, or lonely? A book that feels like a warm hug to you.. I have a few, mostly faves from my childhood, but I'd like to learn what others turn to?

Some of mine are:

The Dovekeepers, by Alice Hoffman
Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto
Sister of my Heart, by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni
The Mistress of Spices, by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni
Narnia - The Lion the witch & the wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew
Any of the Harry Potterses!
And any of the Adrian Moleses!

@wildthingsinthenight thank you for the “Love Nina” recommendation, I just read a few preview pages and loved it instantly.

Continuing the epistolary theme, has anyone mentioned the wonderful “Letters Between Six Sisters”?

Any of the James Herriot books.
Any of Rosamunde Pilcher’s, but especially September
M C Beaton’s, Hamish McBeath or Agatha Raisin series
Lillian Beckwith’s Hebridean series
Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple
Harry Potter, I read the entire series from beginning to end three times in a row.
The Darling Buds of May...HE Bates?

@Gilead

Goodness we are showing our ages with Lorna Hill and Malcom Saville. Loved them! I still read Alan Garner, Elidor et al. Little Women. Half Magic Wuthering Heights.

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My 13yo loves Malcolm Saville too. Doesn't necessarily show age!

I'll add anything by Diana Wynne Jones too.

Currently reading Dorothy L Sayers. On my third Lord Peter Wimsey novel and finding it such a comforting read.

Agree with Barbara Pym being a comfort read. So funny too.

Always Jane Austen. Juliet Stevenson reading Austen to you while you soak in the bath is about as comforting as it gets. (On audible; I don’t keep her locked in my bathroom!)

@Christinayangtwistedsister

Rivals-Jilly Cooper

Yassss!!

Riders
Rivals
Polo
MWMHJ

Ballet Shoes
Apple Bough

Circle of Friends
The Glass Lake
Light a Penny Candle

Same as many pps, the Helen Forrester books, the whole Little Women series, Ballet Shoes and Anne of Green Gables. I also adore Katherine by Anya Seton and have read it at least yearly for over 30 years.
I love The Secret History by Donna Tartt and reread that often, although it has lost some allure over the last couple of reads, not sure why.

Anything by Maeve Binchy. It's like getting a massage or taking a warm bubble bath!

@SusieQ5604

Anything by Maeve Binchy. It's like getting a massage or taking a warm bubble bath!

I wish she'd written a sequel to Circle of Friends. It's just such a good book, I love everything about it.

I love Circle Of Friends, too. I might revisit it actually. Love all Maeve's. My sisters and I say reading a Maeve Binchy book is like getting in warm, cosy bed, with a mug of hot chocolate whilst it's chucking down outside.