Books To Lighten My Load

[Separatedandabitsad]

Hello! I’m looking for books I can read at night before bed that will be enough to take me out of my own head (& put me to sleep) but not disturbing/gory in any way.

I don’t usually read ‘chick lit’ (as it’s often called) purely because I’m going through a separation and the heavy emphasis on romance/love triangles in some of those books can be off-putting.

I am struggling to sleep these nights and have very early starts; so I’m keen to tackle this. The philosophy night-reading I’ve been doing is probably not helping.

I’d be most appreciative of any recommendations.

Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals.

James Thurber.

I love natural history, so anything by Robert MacFarlane, especially The Wild Places and The Old Ways.

James Rebanks The Shepherd’s Life.

During a bad breakup when I couldn’t read romance, I remember rereading books like Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising series, Alan Garner and Tolkien.

Even if you’ve read them before, I’ve found rereading favourite books to be good for stress relief.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
Mapp and Lucia books
Jeeves and Wooster books
The James Herriot books
Bill Bryson travel books

The Midnight Library - Matt Haig
A Month in the Country - JL Carr
Educated - Tara Westover
The Dutch House - Anne Patchett
The Member of the Wedding - Carson McCullers
Mothering Sunday - Graham Swift
The Bees - Laline Paul
The Ocean at the end of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
A Moveable Feast - E Hemingway
The Go-between - L. P. Hartley

Actually OP sorry, the last one is based on a romance of sorts but it's a flawed one, just really beautifully written.

The Enchanted April - Elizabeth von Arnim

If you like cats / squirrels / donkeys / village life try the very amusing books by Doreen Tovey

Precious Bane by Mary Webb.
I agree with the pp suggestion of The Go Between.
Tully by Pauline Simons

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I’ll check them out.

Old Baggage Lissa Evans

The Diary of a Provincial Lady. Written originally as a column in a magazine so short entries. Very funny.
Also

The Diary of a Provincial Lady. Written originally as a column in a magazine so short entries. Very funny.

On Kindle the Elizabeth Aston Mountjoy series starting with Children of Chance. Elizabeth Pewsey if you want paperbacks. There are six each with different characters but with the same few from the first that run through to a greater or lesser degree. They are one of my go-to comfort reads.

Thanks so much for more recommendations.

I’ll Google them all. I very much like the sound of The Diary of a Provincial Lady.

Akin by Emma Donoghue is very life affirming and has no romance.
I also read Old Baggage in the first lockdown and loved it.
There's a sequel to The Diary of a Provincial Lady called Provincial Daughter and it's also very funny. I got them both in a set from The Book People years ago. I hadn't heard of them before that so they were a lovely find.

The other half of Augusta Hope is good. Fairly short chapters. But a bit of a love story perhaps.

Glad you've had great recs OP. Would also agree with a PP that 'Precious Bane' is a wonderful read.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer might fit the Bill

Thanks very much everyone.

I’m going to go through all of your recommendations today and I’ll order any that I think I’d read. Excited! 📚

Not a reading book but I have started listing to a podcast called Nothing a much Happens. It’s a woman basically reading a very boring, yet comforting story - it helps me to drift off.

Oh fab! Thanks a million!