Just need something undemanding to read in the middle of the night!

[NeedingEasyReading]

Have NC for this as going through a tough time. I'm not sleeping very well and reaching for my Kindle in the middle of the night before I nod off again.

My usual crime and psychological thrillers aren't doing it for me at the moment sadly. Amazon is full of 'you read this so here's more of the same'.

Does anyone have any recommendations for really easy reading that doesn't require much brainpower at 3am? I'd be happy with cheesy 'girl inherits a café in Cornwall and gets it together with the local author' or 'divorced woman holidays in Italy and decides to buy a bookshop' type things as long as they aren't really badly written. My guilty pleasure is Danielle Steel (if only all problems could be solved with a cashmere sweater and pair of slacks!) but I've run out of those.

Any suggestions of books/authors would be appreciated.

Emily Henry for romance

Agree with the suggestion of Nancy Mitford

Revisiting favourites is also a great idea - very soothing and comforting if you’re going through a tough time. I hope things look up for you OP.

Or try the cazalet chronicles (family saga)

I have a similar comfort style of reading to you and need absorbing books that aren't thrillers that I can read without having to concentrate too hard. I've read every books by these authors:

Mhairi McFarlane
Jojo Moyes
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Amanda Prowse (she is prolific - not read all of these yet!)
Kristin Hannah
Graeme Simsion

Have you tried listening to audiobooks to send you back to sleep? I love the snoozeband for comfortable Bluetooth speakers that sends me to sleep, and there are loads of podcasts of 'Sleepytime' type with novels read calmly without big noises or laughing or whatever to wake you up. An episode of Anne of Green Gables or Pride & Prejudice sends me off to sleep straight away and I am someone who used to have to read or do an hour's work every night at 3am because of insomnia.

Very old, but the Poldark books are my comfort read.

Jill Mansell books fit the bill

Have you come across the Quick Reads books?

They were written to by well known authors to be engaging and easy to read.

The one I'd really recommend for is A Day at the Beach Hut by Veronica Henry. It wax the first book that I'd read if hers and now I'm a massive fan. I've recommended her Booja to lots of people and they've all seemed to like them too.

Agree with those who said Jilly Cooper.

Not sure if Virginia Andrews or Marian Keyes would be your thing?

I like most Mike Gayle and David Nicholls for nice, easy reads. Enjoyed Us and You Are Here.

A couple of Lianne Moriarty are good. Here One Moment and What Alice Forgot.

And I listened to an enjoyable and not taxing Audible a while ago : The Girl on the 88 Bus.

Diary of a Provincial Lady series and Mapp and Lucia series do it for me.
Both written in 1930s . Nothing much happens, but in an amusing and engaging way.

Does it have to be reading? How do you get on with audible or audiobooks on YouTube ?

I love to settle down with a 'story' as if someone is reading me. And curiously the more I want to listen, so long as I'm not trying to sleep, the faster I drift off

Milly Johnson's books

Milly Johnson, Julia Quinn and my favourite Mary Balogh, she has a couple of different series and I love them.

Agree with those who said Jilly Cooper

I'd never read any Jilly Cooper until someone recommended Prudence on here. I loved it

Maeve Binchy- oldie but goodie and there are loads of them.

If you’re struggling to get to sleep I can highly recommend the Nothing Much Happens bedtime stories podcast and website - gentle stories read for grown ups by a woman with the most comforting, soothing voice imaginable.

I did read The People on Platform 5 a while back - not my usual reading material but it was just the sort of easy, kind read I needed at a difficult time.

I read a couple of books by Beth Moran recently . They may fit the bill. Romances but with more substance.

Rhys Bowen is another favourite author.

Also try the Calm app. DH lustens when he can’t sleep. It has lots of sections - calming music, breathing exercises, gentle stories to listen to etc. it’s really good.

Gill Sims Why Mummy . . . (Drinks, swears, + 2 others).

Lovely series of books. Makes you laugh & cry.

Jodi Taylor’s Frogmorton Farm series, starting with The Nothing Girl, is one of the most interesting and funny things I’ve ever read. Think magical reality/romance/mystery with some laugh-out-loud moments. She also has a long sci-fi series that is fascinating.
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series; Patricia Briggs’ urban fantasies starting with Moon Called.
Or you could really decide to do a deep dive into really solid wonderfulness like Dickens (start with David Copperfield); Austen (of course); the Bronte sisters (you can’t beat Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights)
And there’s always Rowling’s wonderful Cormorant Strike series under her pen name Robert Galbraith.
Have fun!

Cormoran not Cormorant of course. Bloody auto correct

As pp have said, all the 1970s Jilly Coopers with girl names ( Imogen, Emily, Prudence etc) are fab for this. Pure escapism. DD picked one up (on my recommendation!) and read it straight through on the night before her A-level results - worked a treat!

Georgette Heyer
James Herriot
PG Wodehouse
Terry Pratchett
Jodi Picoult

Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series

CW: this is definitely not a cosy read. Sexual assaults and vigilante justice are rife herein.

If you want to sleep then listening to an audiobook can be a nice distraction which can help you drift off. I listen to Greg Wagland from Magpie Audio reading Sherlock Holmes stories on Spotify or YouTube and a guy called Nick Martin who reads PG Wodehouse short stories on YouTube with no adverts. Both have very soothing voices.

Richard Osman’s books
Robert Thorogood’s Marlow books

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary