Best books of comfort when you’re very sad?

[UntifyDu]

Please

The midnight library is really good. But when I'm really sad I like to read trash or actually watch trash on TV as I don't have the energy to read anything. Hope you're okay

Cheering you up funny books? Or self care type books? Say more!

I too found The Midnight Library to be very comforting. It was like a hug in a book.

Georgette Heyer is my favourite comfort read. I've read her books so many times it's like meeting up with an old friend.

I also love to reread things like the Tamora Pierce books.

for you.

Diary of a Provincial Lady. Fantastic to dip into and also wonderful on audio.

I’m sorry if you’re very sad, OP. 💐

If you just mean an easy, amusing and thoroughly escapist read, some of my go-to’s are Excellent Women, Some Tame Gazelle, and Crampton Hodnet (very funny IMO) , by Barbara Pym. All real period pieces now, set shortly pre or not long after WW2 - main characters all women.
I’m probably quite a bit older than you, so your tastes may be quite different though.

First line of Some Tame Gazelle goes,
‘The new curate was a very nice young man, but what a pity it was that his combinations showed, tucked carelessly into his socks, when he sat down.’ 😂

Sorry you're feeling low OP.
I hated the midnight library, I felt it was trite and covers heavy subject matter really, albeit in a sugarcoated way.

When I want a comfort book I always go for something older or a classic- anne of green gables, pride and prejudice or something aimed at teenagers. I think generally TV hits the spot better though if you need immediate distraction and engagement. BBC adaptations or literary adaptations etc.

The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden. And Ballet Shoes. Children’s classics for escapism.

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge.

I was going to say childrens classics like Paddington, swallows&amazons, Noel streat field books - what did you used to love and reread?

I re read Sherlock Holmes and a few classic hercule poirot books when needing comforting.

Fierce self compassion Dr. Kristin Neff.

I find Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher to be very comforting and heart-warming.
it does have a death in it though so avoid if grief is why you’re feeling sad.

Tom's Midnight Garden for me.

I love the Elizabeth Jane Howard books - the Cazalet chronicles. I love all of the characters, and it is like visiting friends to go back and read again.
Also a big fan of Ballet Shoes and Wind in the Willows.

If you like dogs (I do!) then Monty Don's My Life in Dogs is excellent. Although he talks about the death of his dogs it is with such warmth and love, and interspersed with the kind of things that made me think 'yep, that's how to live a life'

Yes the Cazalet Chronicles came immediately to mind when I read the OP's request.

Omg that book is wonderful.

I Capture The Castle
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
The Blue Castle
Little Women

I always find Katie Fforde easy comfort reading. They're all the same formula, a woman for some reason (usually a man) runs away to an idyllic countryside location to change her life with a rather predictable ending. They're pure fluff but perfect escapism if you're feeling a bit rubbish.

Comfort books are my favourite genre:
The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets Eva Rice
I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith
Miss Marple books Agatha Christie
Daddy Long Legs Jean Webster
Dear Mrs Bird AJ Pearce
Miss Pettigrew Lives for the Day Winifred Watson
The Darling Buds of May HE Bates
Any Miss Read books
Goodbye Mr Chips James Hilton
The Pursuit of Love Nancy Mitford
A Month in the Country JL Carr

Sorry @UntifyDu to hear you’re sad.

I liked reading all my Enid Blytons and Nancy Drews. Also Agatha Christie. Just soothing escapism.

My favourite non-fiction self-soothing book is A Place of My Own by Michael Pollan, although everything he writes is so logically written and well researched that it's all good.

My two favourite chick lit cheer-up books are Ain't She Sweet by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie. Both have feisty female leads.

The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Lots of wisdom, some humour, and gentle commentary on the ups and downs of life.

I always come away feeling lighter, with my hope restored and reminded of the good in humanity.

Any in the "Mapp and Lucia" series.

Any PG Wodehouse.

Balm for the soul. Gentle and funny.

Another vote for The Midnight Library also
The Boy, The Fox, The Horse and The Mole, it saw me through the toughest time in my life, marriage ending and loosing my darling Dad within a month.

I hope you are ok and that your state of mind is a very temporary blip.

My Family and Other Animals - gentle and funny in an idyllic sun-soaked setting.

I also second PG Wodehouse - pure comfort.