comfort reading
- At February 4, 2011
- By Rachael
- In Books and Writing, Village life
72
When I was little and reading Little Women for the first time, I was struck by the romantic idea of Jo, curled up in a garret weeping over her book with a pile of apples. I used to sneak up to my bedroom with my favourite books and hide in a corner, wishing I had a garret, and eat books and cry over Beth’s death.
I started to think about my favourite books for comfort reading, having asked the question on my facebook page and realised I have loads.
These are just a few of the books which live close to my favourite chair in the sitting room (which happens to be right next to the bookcase, not surprisingly).
Anne of Ingleside – because this is the story which inspired me to have lots of children. I think I missed the fact that she had a live in help in the shape of Susan, which is probably why I’m not so sweet natured or lovely a mother. But oh, I do still have a crush on Gilbert, as I remember him in the television adaptation.
(My fifteen year old self was very disappointed that there were no Gilbert-a-likes at school)
Joanna Trollope, because The Rector’s Wife and A Village Affair are such beautifully drawn pictures of English village life and her characterisation is wonderful. H.E. Bates because his depiction of English life is funny and touching and I love a bit of nostalgia. Stella Gibbons because – oh dear, almost all all my books are about a certain era. I think I have a bit of a thing for postwar England.
Pride and Prejudice needs no explanation. And there’s nothing nicer on a wintry afternoon than a pony book (have a look, if you’ve lost all your old ones, at Jane Badger Books – bliss).
And finally, my new (old) comfort reading. Well, actually, I haven’t started it yet, but I’m on the edge of a precipice and when I fall I may be lost for a very long time.
My friend Melanie, who writes a lovely blog at Madame Guillotine is a very big Georgette Heyer fan and is holding my hand and cheering me on as I take the plunge. I found Arabella in a secondhand bookshop a while ago, and I’m about to set sail into the world of Regency romance.
What’s your comfort reading?
ps – how could I forget Ruby Ferguson? I’ve given her a post of her own.
MelD
LOL it was the Pullein-Thompson that made me laugh, still got a load of those (and Jill, of course…!), but shhhh!!! (I liked the Pony Club Camp ones with Merry and Noël and Henry…!)
Anne – tick
Cold Comfort Farm – tick
…. tick tick tick…
What about Jean Webster’s Daddy Long Legs
I also seem to go back to Agatha Christie over and over (daft, really!).
As for your Jump! review, well, even if I wasn’t a Jilly Cooper fan a reference to “a P-Th for adults” and a love for Van Halen would have sent me running for the next bookshop in any case, wouldn’t they?!
Linda
It has to be the Famous Five for me – all those lovely picnic teas! Or The Magic Apple Tree by Susan Hill – great to dip into now and again.
Your blog looks lovely; I’ve favourited you and look forward to the next post. x
Hausfrau
Alexander McCall Smith, P.G. Wodehouse, Raffaella Barker (wish she’d write more books like Hens Dancing), various mystery writers (P.D. James, Caroline Graham, Christie, etc.)–oh, and I Capture the Castle!
Kath Parklover
I loved those TV mini-series of Anne of Green Gables. Me and my Mum, who rarely sits still and watches TV for any length of time, sat there for days watching the lot and crying.
Kath Parklover – most recent blog post – Bookworms and Nature Lovers
Dani
My comfort reading: John Wyndham.
Rachael
Oh, I must go back and re-read him. I loved The Chrysalids.
Sara B
I seem not to have read any of the books mentioned above; is there something wrong with me?
Sara B
…or any of the books mentioned below…
Rachael
It’s either a) because they’re not in Welsh or b) (more likely) because they don’t have pictures of foxy men in them. Ha ha. xxx
Sara B
Hm, I don’t read that many Welsh books either…but you’ve got me banged to rights on the second point! xxx
AJ
Lovely post – the Pullein-Thompsons – joy! Also Ruby Ferguson’s Jill’s Gymkhana? Great to see them still available on Amazon.
Now – Nancy Mitford, books about the Mitfords (arg – am sounding like nutter), Miss Read and reading my way through the Bloomsbury Group.
Jill’s Gymkhana still #1 of course.
Rachael, I’m new to your blog but love it! Look forward to reading more.
AJ
Rachael
Ooh, hello. I am very glad you like it, and it’s lovely to meet you!
I have MitfordFests so I don’t think you sound at all bonkers. When I had my last one I think I spent about three months reading nothing but Mitford books/letters/biographies. I ended up fluent in Honnish and thinking in a terribly clipped and brisk manner. Ha!
And oh yes, Jill’s Gymkhana definitely the absolute best.
kyooty
My current comfort reads are blogs…
Rachael
Oh yes, I forgot them. There is nothing like a cup of coffee and a good old blogfest!
BucksWriter
Oh yes, Bill Bryson’s ‘Notes from a Big Country’ made me laugh so much that a stranger on a train asked me to write down the details for her!
BucksWriter – most recent blog post – And finally for now
Rachael
Hahahaha! Oh yes, I remember snorting with laughter at Bill Bryson on a train once too.
English Mum
Ooh, I have loads that I read and re-read all the time. I love ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ by Frances Mayes, and the sequel, Bella Tuscany. I must have read them both about ten times. It’s just pure escapism, all about an American couple who buy and renovate a Tuscan villa (and cook loads of yummy Italian food too). I also love Bill Bryson (reminds me of my Dad!)
And Khlari has just reminded me that I loved India Knight’s Don’t You Want Me too!
Rachael
Ooh, yes, I love them. They are gorgeous, especially on a really cold, wintry day.
BucksWriter
What a great thread!
For me it would have to be I Capture the Castle, Jane Eyre, Adriana Trigiani’s books or anything by the great Alexander McCall Smith!
Rachael
Ooh, I haven’t read anything by Adriana Trigiani – she’s another one on my ‘to read’ list. This has been a lovely way of finding new authors, and being reminded of old favourites I’d forgotten!
Heather
I’ve got a couple of hers you can have if you want… i’m not a big fan personally
Heather – most recent blog post – Why Are Journalists Being Attacked In Egypt
Rachael
Yes please – we can do a swap in March! x
molly campbell
Elizabeth Buchan is one who you would love, I would think. She is wonderful. Great blog! molly
molly campbell – most recent blog post – WIDE AWAKE AND WORRIED
Rachael
Ooh, thank you Molly – I’ll get some from the library and give her a whirl. I’ve heard of her, but haven’t read any. Thanks for visiting!
Merry
Yep, Elizabeth Buchan gets my vote, certainly for Light of the Moon, Consider the Lily and Daughters of the Storm.
Merry – most recent blog post – Book Review 6 The Pull of the Moon
Liz
Georgette Heyer!! Love her books, I can feel a re-read coming on
x
Liz – most recent blog post – Tag I’m it
Rachael
I can remember my friend Polly’s mum reading them all – she used to sit at the kitchen table keeping an eye on dinner and reading her way through huge piles of them!
jfb57
Geogetter Heyer was my number one author as a teenager. I thought I was being so grown up! ATM any book that I’m able to sit down & read is a comfort. Usuaully my reading time is limited to in the bath & just before lights out in bed! Must do something about the I think!
jfb57 – most recent blog post – All the Queens Houses!
Rachael
There is nothing nicer than an afternoon curled up with a book – very good for the soul. A book in the bath is a close second, though. Lovely.
Don't Step On The Cracks
ah comfort reading – Forever Amber which I discovered in a cupboard at my grandparents house as a teenager will always be a favourite and then the incomparable Jilly Cooper. A guilty pleasure!
Don’t Step On The Cracks – most recent blog post – Remembering the art of conversation
Rachael
Oh I love, love, love Jilly.
linda
A Room WIth a View, The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Lady Chatterley’s Lover. (Eep, I feel odd now. I think only Room could be considered comforting.) Those are my enduring favourites.
Nowadays, I think of Philippa Gregory as my idea of escapist, comforting, relaxing reading. Not very challenging, but engaging and cinematic. For similar reasons, I read everything Tracy Chevalier writes, as I can always count on good storytelling in a straightforward style. I can read them in one gulp.
Because of Melanie, Georgette Heyer is also on my list. My public library has a shelf full.
P.S. A friend went to university with a guy named Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert. Yes — first, middle and last.
Rachael
I think comfort reading is allowed to be unchallenging (see pony stories for proof of mine! ha). Oh, Gilbert G Gilbert. What a fab name.
linda
I believe he went by Gil Gilbert, poor thing. I’d have thought vital statistics dept. would have vetoed such a thing…
Melanie
Ooh, thank you for the mention! *mwah* xx
For me it is Heyer (of course), Forever Amber and Hen’s Dancing by Rafaella Barker.
If you want more Heyers, we live near the infamous Book Barn (an ENORMOUS hangar full of millions of second hand books) so can pick you up an armful.
Melanie – most recent blog post – The Wedding of the Century – Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly
Rachael
Oh yes, I love Rafaella Barker too. And yes please, the Book Barn sounds like a lovely idea!
Melanie
Alrighty. Will get you some favourites next time I am there!
Melanie – most recent blog post – The Wedding of the Century – Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly
Rachael
Yippee! We can flounce around Paris being glam and reading them!
Domestic goddesque
You aren’t the only one with a Gilbert crush….I adored the screen version and for ages thought I’d marry him. IN fact my first proper boyfriend was called Gilbert. (DH is Steve though!)
Domestic goddesque – most recent blog post – February is the month to
Rachael
Oh swoon.
‘Anne Shirley, what in heck are you doing?’ – I rewound that bit so many times!
Virginia Moffatt
Oh this is so funny – I was going to do a similar post on my blog. I love your take on Anne of Green Gables, had EXACTLY the same response to Gilbert. Wasn’t he gorgeous?
And of course Pride and Prejudice, because I’d love to be Elizabeth and I’ve always been in love with Mr D. (Oh the moment when they meet at Pemberley!)
But my all time favourite is The Lord of the Rings. I resisted it for years on the basis of creating a point of difference with all my siblings. Then one half term, aged 13, I was totally bored, picked up The Hobbit, read it in one sitting and found myself having to follow on. Since then, I’ve probably read TLOR every 18 months or so (which makes it about 21 times). I love the selfless heroism, the companionship, the real struggle to overcome evil. Been reading it lately, very slowly, and nearly at the end, don’t want it to finish!
Rachael
Ooh – I haven’t read the LOTR series. K has, and they’re sitting up on the bookshelf in our bedroom. Maybe I should give them a whirl. I love getting lost in new books.
Deer Baby
Little Women makes me cry so hard I don’t find it that comforting because it makes my eyes and throat hurt. Oh yes to Anne of Green Gables and any in that series (Gilbert Blythe – sigh). And Laura Ingalls Wilder. Things like Carrie’s War or I Capture The Castle are always good to curl up with or Brideshead Revisited.
And cookery books are definitely comforting. Nigel Slater and Nigella are firm favourites for comfort.
Deer Baby – most recent blog post – Hysteria at 112 Decibels
Rachael
This has been so lovely – I’ve been reminded of loads of my other favourites. I loved the Laura series, and V recently read Carrie’s War. I felt quite envious of her reading it for the first time.
Karl
I must admit my comfort reading has taken the form of the Just William books. I’ve got the first ten and am losing myself in another world…perfect
Rachael
It is another world – a rather lovely antidote to life today, and definitely perfect with tea and toast on a rainy afternoon. Bliss.
Karl
Mid you, I also enjoy reading your work, so please do carry on
Karl
Rachael
Oh that is very kind! Thank you Karl.
Pumpkin and Piglet
Oh so many! It really depends on why I need comforting. Cookery books are read like novels and very good for the feeling sorry for myself, pmt days. Jodi Picoult for wasting a few hours and George Orwell’s 1984 for anything else. It may be a bit of an odd choice but I’ve read it several times since the first time 15 years ago and I just love it!
Rachael
Oh I love 1984 – I read it for the first time aged 10, in 1983. There was something terrifying about that. I have read it several times since then. I do love George Orwell.
Heather
Well there’s this one about seals and Scotland and stuff, very good, just can’t remember the name of the woman that writes it…
My comfort reads in a disjointed, I’ve had a few drinks, manner…pride and prejudice and sense and sensibility are two of my favs. If I need a good laugh i’ll go for Terry Pratchet or hitch hikers guide. For girly romance stuff Bridget Jones’ Diary is a firm fav as well, as is the Twilight series…although I do tend to get a bit hooked on them and can’t rest until i’ve read the whole lot. also HP series for a bit of other worldly stuff but again I have to keep reading the whole lot which is rather time consuming.
It surprising actually how few books there are I would read over an dover. Oh and Charle Dickens – love. all of them. Except Oliver which I can’t abide. Oh, and for really silly moment some Far side.
Heather – most recent blog post – Why Are Journalists Being Attacked In Egypt
Rachael
I love the Far Side. And Bridget – both books and film (in fact the films are my favourite comfort viewing, but that’s a blog post for another day, I think!). Have never really got on with Dickens. That’s a shameful admission, isn’t it? I’ve never watched a Bond film, and I don’t like the Beatles. (This is turning into a confessional. Off to say five Hail Marys and four Our Fathers!)
jane owen
It has got to be Rebecca for me, have read & re-read so many times, HP always hits the spot, Cider with Rosie because it reminds me of my dad and is about the place I grew up in..however it always makes me cry so I have to be feeling strong!!
Rachael
HP is bliss, and yes, Cider with Rosie is another gorgeous one. I love crying over books.
Muddling Along
Arabella is a brilliant one – a great introduction
Ahem I have all of the regency ones of hers (yes including the out of print ones) if you want to borrow…
Muddling Along – most recent blog post – How intimate is too intimate
Rachael
Ooh, hooray, yes please. Am off to bed with Arabella now!
PinkCat
Thank you so much for dropping by my blog today and for your kind comment. I was so pleased to find your blog. I’ve spent the last hour flicking through it, knowing that my husband will be home soon and I promised to make a start on the tea. Oops!…I will be back!
My comfort reads are definitely by Gervase Phinn or Miss Read – simple and probably not classics but I love the descriptions of the landscape and children. I’ve also taken to reading Sharon Owens in the bath which is lovely until it goes cold. x
Rachael
I loved your blog too and felt just the same way. Planning to spend a blissful morning tomorrow with coffee and a bacon sandwich reading your archives. Finding a new kindred spirit-y blog is as lovely as finding a new author you like, isn’t it? And yes, I read in the bath until I’m prune-like, too.
Merry
All of these really
http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/4299/favourite-books-one-from-each-shelf
But probably the Eva Ibbotson ones most of all; somehow her characters are brave through loss and grief without being annoying and that is just comforting. Victoria Clayton characters always improve themselves without being clichéd, Freya North makes me laugh. Harry Potter for when running in to anything that might make me cry would be too much.
And oh! You have me on your blog roll – thank you
Rachael
Yes I do. I find it amazing that we’ve been floating about online for so long together and not properly met. I am glad we have now! And yes, I love Freya North – particularly because I always remember that she bought herself a horse with her first advance!
Merry
Merry – most recent blog post – Book Review 6 The Pull of the Moon
jontybabe
I just love Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights and Rebecca! I recently read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Made me cry and cry. A beautifully written book. Highly recommend!
Rachael
Ooh I love a good weep – will have to give that one a whirl. And of course I forgot Rebecca. I love that too.
Heather
oooh, I will have to pick that one up. Have been wondering about it.
Heather – most recent blog post – Why Are Journalists Being Attacked In Egypt
Abby
I find big, beautiful interior design and travel books really comforting. And Harry Potter
Abby – most recent blog post – Museum of Nottingham Life
Rachael
I can’t think how I forgot the HP books – they are just bliss, aren’t they? You can escape into another world (although I do end up trying to summon cups of tea with ‘accio’ spells after reading for a while!).
Jennifer
Ooh, I love postwar England stories as well. I actually do a lot of cookbook browsing for comfort reading, sounds silly I know. Oh, and you won my garland giveaway! I’m not sure if you got my e-mail but if you can send me your address today I can get it in the mail tomorrow. Have a great rest of the day.
Jennifer – most recent blog post – Springy Pots
Rachael
Not at all – I love cookbooks, too. I find Nigella Lawson and Nigel Slater very comforting to read with a cup of tea. Am very excited about my hearts!
Khlari
Ooh, loads.Depends which kind of grump I’m in really.
Angela Carter’s Wise Children/Nights at the Circus …they mae me laugh AND cry
The Narnia books….all of them.Like chocolate in childhood…
India Knight’s ‘Don’t You Want Me?’Reminds me of my mixed-up life.
Nancy Mitford…The Pursuit of Love, The Blessing, Don’t Tell Alfred…just gorgeously evocative.
and my guilty secret…Jilly Cooper. Appasionata, The Man who Made Husbands jealous,etc. Escapist fun that probably kept me sane(ish)
Rachael
Jilly is my absolute favourite! And India Knight, and Nancy Mitford. And yes, it really depends on the grump. You are so right!
Karen Jones
Great Post, Pride and Prejudice most certainly. Read it as a single, very lonely 30 yr old living by a wind swept sea when I first moved to Devon. I cried. A LOT! Thankfully I have moved on : )
My comfort reading these days is more comfort looking.
I adore Rachel Ashwell’s shabby chic lifestyle books and anything I can get my hands on that is remotely Junk style living xx
Karen Jones – most recent blog post – Welcome
Rachael
Ooh, how romantic. I lived on the Isle of Skye as a lonely student one university summer (admittedly there was a boyfriend floating about, but he was a bit rubbish) and spent hours sitting on a rock, hugging my knees and being a bit windswept and artistic. (And not at all pretentious, obviously. Ahem.)