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Goodreads Members Suggest: Favorite Comfort Reads
"Stay calm and read on" might be our collective slogan for the coming months. Since we all might need some help with that, we asked Goodreads members on Twitter and Facebook to name the comforting reads they turn to when life is hard.
Their responses ranged from classic children's stories to comedic memoirs. Some readers swear by "anything romance." Others like a heavier read to remind themselves of human resilience. And a good number mentioned cozy mysteries as their genre of choice—it's in the name, after all. One surprise? Multiple mentions of books featuring cats (and none featuring dogs).
Here are some comforting titles that are vetted and approved by your fellow readers. We hope you find a cozy book or two to cuddle up with in the weeks ahead.
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What book is your favorite comfort read? Share your recommendation in the comments below!
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Check out more recent articles:
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Comments Showing 1-50 of 332 (332 new)
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Ila
(new)
Mar 25, 2020 12:41AM
Its Wuthering Heights, The Song of Achilles, David Copperfield, and The Great Gatsby for me.
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One hundred years of solitude? A comfort read? You guys are hardcore!
Rui Ning wrote: "One hundred years of solitude? A comfort read? You guys are hardcore!"Thanks for saying it! And When Breath Becomes Air is a pretty tough read, too. . .
Nancy Mitford's "The pursuit of Love"is very funny and cheering.Funniest book ever for me is John Steinbeck's "Tortilla Flat", this is naturally comedic in the language of the Paisanos of Monterey. Just pure genius in the "show, don't tell" style of writing that is given by an author respecting the reader.
Mine might be a bit of a strange pick: Süskind's "Perfume". I first read it in high school, and now that I've picked it back up, it's oddly comforting. It's such strange, beautiful prose.
Children's fantasy books all the way. The top drawer of the dresser by my bed is full of all my childhood favourites, and I intend to (re)read my way through all of them in these months of self-isolation. Currently reading 'A Wrinkle in Time' and will probably pick up 'The Ogre Downstairs' next.
For me, comfort reads include "Good Omens', 'Snow Crash', and 'A Wrinkle in Time'...Good Omens because it makes me laugh, Snow Crash...I'm not really sure why but it's comforting to me... and A Wrinkle in Time because it was my favorite book in childhood and I've read 3 copies to pieces and it's like...I suppose a comfort object...a blankie...ETA: Also (almost forgot...shame on me) Fred the Vampire Accountant series and Pears and Peril are rather comforting...Fred for his calm approach to a crazy life and Pears and Peril because it's such a comforting concept.
Most Meg Cabot books comfort me, geek girl by holly smale is also comforting. The parasolverse books by Gail carriger are like warm hugs.
I would recommend The Dead Writer a novel by Núria Añó who is translated in English and it shows the creation of a literary work trough Anna, the main character.
Rui Ning wrote: "One hundred years of solitude? A comfort read? You guys are hardcore!"I was thinking the same!
BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY. So funny always puts me in a good mood.
“The Shadow of the Wind” for me!!! So beautifully written and engrossing.
Harry potter . But now trying to read LOTR series with this continuous spare time .
Any/all of Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books.
For me, my comfort read has always been Mary Stewart's romantic mystery/thrillers. I guess this is because I read them when I was a teenager and they gave me a warm, comfy, safe feeling.
Harry Potter! It's almost like a salve but in book form.
Anna wrote: "Mine might be a bit of a strange pick: Süskind's "Perfume". I first read it in high school, and now that I've picked it back up, it's oddly comforting. It's such strange, beautiful prose."I totally agree with this!
Ila wrote: "Its Wuthering Heights, The Song of Achilles, David Copperfield, and The Great Gatsby for me."Tempted to start Ulysses so I feel productive during this time.
Nicolas wrote: "Someone here really likes cats hahaha :P"I do but i didnt make the list lol
Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. Easy reads, some cheesy humor, fun action. Basically the perfect comfort read.
Michael wrote: "Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. Easy reads, some cheesy humor, fun action. Basically the perfect comfort read."I agree. Also, the Virgil Flowers' books by John Sanford have lots of humor.
These are my go to's for comfort: Jan Karon's Mitford series, Anne of Green Gables series, Jane Austen, Laura Childs, Kattie Fforde, Rosamunde Pilcher, Susan Wittig Albert, Earlene Fowler and Sophie Kinsella.
Ooh, I love these! The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, the Chronicles of Narnia, and Anne of Green Gables are my favorites from this list.
The Lord of the Rings Hands down, my top choice. I read it every few years, so I am probably on my 10th reading. Even the audio version is wonderful. Not the battle moments so much, but the visions of the elves, and Tom Bombadil and the Ents -- they ARE real, aren't they?
The Distant Summer by Sarah Patterson is a great YA book, if you can find it. Also, the entire Maisie Dobbs seriesiJacqueline Winspear and the entire Bess Crawford series Charles Todd are excellent for those who like historical mysteries.
Julie wrote: "Anything by PG Wodehouse"Absolutely!
I always turn to my Bloom County collection. Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness and Classics of Western Literature: Bloom County, 1986-1989 have been my anxiety-reducing books of choice since I was a kid.
Carrion Comfort by Dan SimmonsThe Necroscope by Brian Lumley
Dhalgren by Samuel Delaney
The Memory Room by Mary Rakow
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Aureole by Carole Maso
What does Isaac's post have to do with comfort reads?Some of my comfort reads are The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat; Thales Folly by Dorothy Gilman, Jane Austen books, of course, any books by Mary Stewart, Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Prayer for Owen Meany
Nicolas wrote: "Someone here really likes cats hahaha :P"Cats, actually all animals, are comforting.
My comfort reads are all Ruskin Bond. He is my fav author cause he just simplifies life to its minimum. My top reads are: The Room on the Roof, Rusty- the Boy from the Hills, The Book Of Nature, A book of Simple Living & Rain in the Mountains.
I agree - some of these books aren't comforting at all! Very well written, but not comforting.When I feel anxious, I reach for anything by Maeve Binchy. She soothes my soul.
Kent Haruf is another author that I love to escape with.
Mine is The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
My comfort reads are cozy mysteries, like Rita Mae Brown's Sneaky Pie novels, in which the animals do most of the sleuthing and have speaking roles throughout (to the audience, not the other characters). Agatha Christie's Poirot novels are excellent because they engage the mind and Poirot is adorable. Aside from mysteries I go for fantasy and magical realism, the best example of which (for me) is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clark. I never read dystopic novels anymore, since our world is dystopic already.
Bethany wrote: "Ooh, I love these! The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, the Chronicles of Narnia, and Anne of Green Gables are my favorites from this list."The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society was a lovely movie as well. It was on Netflix not too long ago.
Rouan wrote: "What does Isaac's post have to do with comfort reads?Some of my comfort reads are The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat; Thales Folly by Dorothy Gilman, Jane Austen books, of course, any books ..."
Never Cry Wolf by Mowat was excellent too!
Kiyo's Story, by Kiyo Sato, is doing it for me right now. Short stories as a genre are also appealing to me at the moment, appropriate as they are for diminished concentration. I'm currently reading Sarajevo Marlboro (thank you, Archipelago Press, for free online access to this and 29 other titles!).
LeGuin's No Time to Spare (a collection of her blog entries) is excellent and might be a fitting, calming choice for many.
I love niche memoirs by authors like Bob Tarte and William Alexander, or even Amy Chua's controversial book. Not someone's whole life, and not necessarily someone famous, but just a specific time or subject in their life. . . I recently read one called The Less People Know About Us, which was about a woman's lifelong experience with identity theft! It can be hard to know exactly where to start with these, but they have come up randomly for me in recommendations, and I find sinking into someone else's life and focus for that period of time very distracting and calming.
Maria wrote: "Always Harry Potter"It has been my comfort reading since I was 11
Anything by Louise Penny or Anne Perry!! Everything Louise Perry has written I've read at least twice and want to again!! I want to live in Three Pines. Also A Gentleman in Moscow and Alexander McCall Smith-the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series is sweet and so very special.
I'm currently reading Little Women and it has definitely become my favorite comfort reading book!!! It has actually become my favorite book and I have only gotten halfway through.
I weirdly find 1984 by George Orwell comforting... I know it’s strange!
