The cosiest book you ever read

[MellowBird85]

As autumn approaches, I’d really like to find a proper cosy book - the type that you can curl up by the fire with while the rain lashes against the windows but not too twee iykwim? I wouldn’t mind something based in the 18th or 19th century (but not essential). I went on GoodReads and found a list of “Books to Read on a Rainy Day” and all the classics were at the top of the list - Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride & Prejudice, etc. I’m willing to give these a go but just thought I’d get some opinions on here first. TIA

If you've not read the classics, start there, though to be honest I find pride and prejudice to be more of a summer read.

Classics:
David Copperfield
Bleak House
Oliver Twist

Light read:
Entertaining Angels
Marley and Me
A street cat named Bob
The Guy Next Door

Kids books for nostalgia:
The Secret Garden
A Little Princess

Historical fiction:
The Heretic Queen

I'm sure there are more but for now it'll do.

The Crimson Petal and the White was the cosiest book I think (at the start anyway), apart from the early Harry Potter's, but the ending annoyed me, so be warned.

A Country Child by Alison Uttley. No real plot, just lots of descriptions of the life of a Victorian (?) girl on a farm. The chapters on Christmas are the cosiest thing I’ve ever read I think! Also Children of Green Knowe. Also Christmas, also cosy! Although both are children’s books.

The thirteenth tale

I was thinking about the same thing today. I decided that an Agatha Christie would fit the bill. Just add tea & toasted crumpets for good measure

If you like historical fiction, have you ever read any books by Georgette Heyer?

A Maeve Binchy? Maybe the Copper Beech or Circle of Friends?

The Night Circus has lots of lovely crisp autumnal vibes

The Secret History

Rosamund Pilcher. The Shell Seekers or September.

Precious Bane by Mary Webb. I absolutely adore this and want every lover of books to read it.

Angela Thirkell High Rising

If you want something that demands nothing at all of you, but is not entirely banal, I would suggest the books by Miss Read - there is a whole raft of them. Set in the country and balm to the tired brain.

If you were going for a Brontë I’d be looking at the tenant of wildfell hall, although it does get a bit grim in places. Precious Bane! I must differ!

I had come on to suggest Maeve Binchy but I see someone has recommended Miss Read - loved these for a nice easy gentle read, also the Janet Reachfar books - the series titles all start My Friend. Particularly the earlier ones.

As I’ve been typing I realised I had been thinking of Gone to Earth by Mary Webb, not Precious Bane. Don’t read Gone to Earth for cosy, it’s wet, muddy, dark and miserable iirc.

Wuthering Heights on a list of cosy books!

Anything by Elizabeth Goudge. She’s old-fashioned, but her books are full of family and reassurance.

#Coldhandscoldheart Yes Gone To Earth is not good but Precious Bane is a fabulous 'plain woman with a good heart triumphs' story.

I agree that a good Agatha Christie is nice and cosy. Particularly the Miss Marple ones.

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale is quite lovely, but as it's prodominately Christmas focussed, I might suggest you hold that one for closer to the festive season.

Another 'winter' book is The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey - again, bit early for that one!

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan is a very nice, although not a seasonally correct book.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig is a lovely book, I read that in a couple of rainy days last year.

Reservoir 13 by Jon McGragor is perhaps not what you are looking for, it's a bit harder at the start, but I think it would be a good read for this sort of weather. (A girl goes missing while on holiday staying at a holiday cottage in rural UK - but the book isn't really about her/the search for her, it's about the villagers and how they cope with this tragedy hitting people staying in their town and then how they move on with their lives - it is oddly uplifting!)

@rosegoldwatcher I think whenever I hear Mary Webb I hear ‘Gone to Earth she is Gone to Earth!’ And feel all doom and gloom. And forget that precious bane isn’t like that. Funny how one has stuck so much more than the other.
Actually a bit of cold comfort farm might be good too.

Ive just finished the latest Philippa Gregory book, Tidelands, loved it. I look reading on dark nights.

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield.Childrens book but has many a cosy moment

Rosamund Pilcher. The Shell Seekers or September.

Another vote for anything Pilcher. Love her. Also Agatha Christie.

You had me at hello by Mhairi McFarlane was a little treat as well.

EF Benson, the Lucia series, wonderful!
The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford

Cold Comfort Farm
Miss Pettigrew lives for a Day
Diary of a Nobody
Three Men in a Boat
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

The Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, not just for children

All Wonderful! I envy anyone who gets to read any of these for the first time.

If you like Agatha Christie try Dorothy L. Sayers, love Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane

I think the Cazalet Chronicles are cosy; entertaining and easy but gripping in terms of character and plot, in a soapy kind of way. They're not particularly autumnal but they take place over a long stretch of time, so I think every season is represented!

Another vote for Rosamund Pilcher - especially The Shell Seekers.

Also all the Agatha Christie Miss Marple books. Miss M remains me of one of my childhood maiden aunts.

E Nesbitt - The Painted Garden

Sorry, Noel Streatfeild wrote The Painted Garden....