I re-read a lot — insert flashing lights for that understatement. In fact, I think my definition of a good book is that I’ll want to re-read it. Great characters, plot and writing style tempt one into renewing acquaintance.
But some books are special favourites for those times when I’m tired…not depressed or in pain or anything dramatic…just tired and wanting to curl up in a corner and escape for a bit.
For a long time, my go-to author was Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels, but (as with Georgette Heyer’s regencies and Mary Stewart’s romantic suspense) I’ve read them so many times I’ve had to put them aside for a bit. I enjoy Jayne Ann Krentz, Patricia Briggs, Nalini Singh (the Psy-Changeling series, but strangely, not the Archangels one), Terry Pratchett, Margaret Maron, Emma Lathen, Margery Allingham, Penny Jordan, Susan Napier, Sophie Weston, Dick Francis, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Edmund Crispin, um…actually I have quite a stack of comfort books around me. This list could take a while 🙂
So, are there any comfort books you keep around for those times you need a pick-me-up?
5 responses to “Comfort Reading”
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I'm not a rereader at all. I have a keeper shelf, but I hardly ever reread them. Weird, but it's sort of comforting seeing them on my shelf. My sister is always rereading her favorites.
I always have so many unread books – new adventures to explore – which is probably why I prefer to read a new book each time.
Wow. I can't imagine putting a much-loved novel down knowing I'll never read it again. I'm grieving just at the thought. But I understand the whole "so many new books" thing. Time to read is just so precious.
I so rarely reread fiction. I tried reading my favorites from my youth, but age changes you. What I found so fascinating then didn't hold the same appeal now.
But I do reread nonfiction on occasion.
Looking back at childhood favourites can be wretched. I enjoyed Mary Grant Bruce books as a kid (old Australian writer from about 1910), but now, even making every allowance for the attitudes of the time, I can't bear to read the racism.
But we must be polar opposites on our reading habits — I reread fiction all the time … and very seldom non-fiction.