Comfort Books

I stumbled onto a new blog tonight, and the writer was speaking about comfort books. And I smiled, because so many of you, my friends, would name the same books that immediately sprang to my mind.

What books do you turn to? Which stories ease their way under your skin, breathing comfort and warmth to your heart, like a much loved blanket. Are their charecters you've soaked up, leaving them feeling like kindred spirits, rather than just the imagination of another person?

Which great novels do you want turn to when you need to wind down and relax, letting them work their magic on your tired, aching soul.

Here, for the record are mine. My five favourite books. These are books I don't ever have to 'get in to'. I'm there, right away, as my fingers touch the well worn spines, and I open them up. Already transported into the much loved worlds.

Anne of Green Gables.

Do you think it's possible to be a girl and not love Anne? To not wish for a gentle Matthew. To not just know that under Marilla's tough exterior beats a heart of gold. To not know that the first boy (other than her Daddy) that she ever loved was Gilbert Blythe? To not wish for a kindred spirit like Diana?

Pride and Prejudice.

I love Elizabeth Bennet. I love just everything about her. While I am very, very fond of Mr Darcy, though, I am wildly in love with Mr Knightley, so it is Elizabeth alone who brings this book into this list.

Does every family have a Lydia? Mine does. Though I'm doubting she's read this.

Little Women.

Jo March was my first heroine, and I wanted to stay up late at night and write like her. I was furious, however when she didn't marry Teddy. Theodore Lawrence, in my opinion, was wronged, and I don't know what Miss Alcott was thinking. It left me sad everytime I read it. I know she had plans and a happy ending for Jo, but oh, how I wished it differently every time.




Much Ado about Nothing (Ok, so it's a play. But it's my favourite. Though here, I confess. The Kenneth Branagh film is simply one of my favourite things to watch of all time. I watch that far more often than I pick up the Bard's volumes).



If you haven't seen the Kenneth Branagh Version, I implore you. Set aside a night. Get some chocolate. Curl up and indulge. It'll change your life like the BBC version of P&P.




Ender's Game (and indeed, the whole series).




Give it a try. It is the best science fiction book I have ever read. In fact, before being pressed to read it, I couldn't stand the thought of reading Sci Fi. This book is unlike anything you'd expect. The whole series is wonderful, but Enders Game can stand alone as a masterpiece.

Just missing out on my list here were Persuasion, The Katy Books, The Naughtiest Girl Books and Magician (and the series that followed - again, the only "Fantasy" series I recommend).

So. What's yours? What literary treasures do you curl up with on a rainy day? Where do you do your reading? In bed? On the sofa? Out in the garden?


I tag everyone doing NaBloPoMo.