Can anyone recommend a really comforting book?

[PumpkinWitch]

I am looking for something really nice to read that is not upsetting. I am doing the freedom program at the moment so anything about domestic abuse or with a lot of violence is too much for me.

I have been reading all the call the midwife books which I enjoyed. My grandma was a midwife at that time.

It can be fiction or non fiction. I don’t really like sci-fi (apart from Douglas Adams) but I enjoy lots of different types of books.

The queen and I, and the Adrian mole books by Sue Townsend always make me feel happy. How to be good by Nick Hornby is really funny too. I know you said comforting but I find laughing to be very comforting. How to build a girl and how to be famous by Caitlin Moran are positive reads too.

The Diary of a Provincial Lady by EM Delafield is nice.

I think anything by Maeve Binchy would fit the bill.

Thornyhold by Mary Stewart is a lovely and quite gentle book.

KillerFlamingo

So interesting how some people love books that I thought were terrible.

See, I also love books that I know are terrible. The Rutshire books by Jilly Cooper started off okay, but the later ones are repetitive, contain a lot of bad writing and have some reprehensible views and yet are still part of my comfort reading.

Actually, thinking about it, the Rutshire books wouldn't fit the OP's brief, but JC's "name" books probably would (Harriet, Imogen, Bella etc but not Octavia or Emily if male violence is to be avoided).

You're right, imo, about going back to your formative years and I love the Sherlock Holmes short stories and "Three Men in a Boat" because my father introduced me to them at an early age.
And I still have my mother's first copy of "Little Women", another comfort read, along with its sequels.

The OP asked for comforting books not great books though killer flamingo.

I really enjoyed the authenticity project very easy to read but a good page turner aswell.
There is also a series of books based on the netflix programme 'sweet magnolias ' it's really good and again easy to read. You almost feel like you are the characters friends in it if that makes sense you're kind of rooting for them. Hope you find something good.

I really enjoyed the authenticity project very easy to read but a good page turner aswell.
There is also a series of books based on the netflix programme 'sweet magnolias ' it's really good and again easy to read. You almost feel like you are the characters friends in it if that makes sense you're kind of rooting for them. Hope you find something good.

I agree that there are some books here that I have thought are terrible (Away with the Penguins and The Keeper of Lost Things) but it wouldn't do if we all liked the same thing.

I agree about James Herriot, I am listening to the new versions from last year on Audible and finding them very relaxing. Also Coming Home and The Shell Seekers.

Not sure about the going back to formative years thing though. I loved Diary of a Provincial Lady and the Lark Rise books when I was young but having read them again more recently they weren't a patch on how I remembered them. The Little House on the Prairie Books were still great though.

Rosamunde Pilcher books are definitely like a hug. I'm a big fan. They are so nice, gentle and comforting.

I am not sure about Maeve Bincey. There are some books that might be twee but would still be upsetting. I can’t cope with anything that has abuse in. Jilly Cooper may be the same.

A lot of the things I would otherwise enjoy are quite upsetting. Game of Thrones has lots of rape scenes.

Mavis Cheek's novels are witty and fun.

I thoroughly enjoyed All The Lonely People by Mike Gayle. Heartwarming, with characters I really cared about.

I do really like I Capture the Castle too. That is one of my favourites. I also really like the Pursuit of Love so will watch that when it comes on the TV.

I do like rereading my old favourites but something new can be more absorbing because you don’t know what is going to happen.

Another vote for Leonard and Hungry Paul - nothing much happens but it is so beautifully observed and written.

I read this recently and very much enjoyed it. www.amazon.co.uk/Unlikely-Pilgrimage-Harold-Fry/dp/0552778095?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Also, if you like Douglas Adams have you tried Terry Pratchett? He’s not everyone’s cup of tea but a good place to start is the Tiffany Aching novels. Strictly speaking they are for young adults but I love them and re-read them if I want to feel comforted and inspired.

Bookworm by Lucy Mangan. It's like a big warm cuddle of nostalgia.

Oh I have downloaded Bookworm @Actuallyabitgreynow. Bored with the book I'm currently reading so might jack it in and start that one instead.

If you like Maeve Binchy, Deirdre Purcell is similar.

Seabiscuit is the most comforting book I have ever read. It's not the story so much as the storyteller. The author is the best storyteller I have read. She also wrote Unbroken.

The Salt Path

Moonlight over Mayfair by Anton du Beke is a lovely warm read.

@Fnib I've read it before but I'm reading it again, it is beautifully written and so interesting! Let me know what you think :)

@Actuallyabitgreynow

Bookworm by Lucy Mangan. It's like a big warm cuddle of nostalgia.

I do love this. I was the one book I managed to read during the first lockdown.

@Itwasjustresting

Also, if you like Douglas Adams have you tried Terry Pratchett? He’s not everyone’s cup of tea but a good place to start is the Tiffany Aching novels. Strictly speaking they are for young adults but I love them and re-read them if I want to feel comforted and inspired.

I haven’t read any Terry Pratchett as I don’t really know where to start. I probably would like them. Does it matter which one you read first?

The St Mary’s Chronicles by Jodi Taylor
All of Sarah Addison Allen’s books
Maisie Dobbs series by Jaqueline Winspear
The Euphemia Martins series by Caroline Dunford.