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Over many years I have collected many wonderful stories that are a comfort to read. I have re-read some of them many times. I love being with familiar characters. Some authors write comfort books as a whole series. I know what the book will be like when I buy the newest one and again I want to be with the characters, listening in, participating, and anticipating the good outcome.
Comfort reads are those books that hit the spot for various reasons and continue to do so. It doesn’t always mean that they are easy books. Mrs. Mike by the Freedmans hurts the heart and yet there is so much that is important in the story and it is so authentic that it remains one of the most important books I have ever read.
So “comfort” may be a misnomer of sorts for some books. And yet, there are other books that make me smile to think about them. I can pick them up and sink into the story even though I know the ending very well. Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of those.
Generally, there are some days when I just need to have some comfort books at hand to read while also reading some difficult books.
I enjoyed Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. He was very honest about his life and it is an interesting story. He is a few years younger than my youngest son and I couldn’t help comparing him to my own boys. He mentioned that as a toddler, if he was not held on to he ran fast. That was my oldest son.
He mentioned that if an adult said don’t write on the wall, he went and did it without understanding why. I remember my own mother telling my brother and me not to ride down the hill on the folded down baby carriage. No steering, no brakes…lots of thrill with a pond at the end of a drop off. But still we did it.
It is not a comfort book by some definitions and yet I connected with him in a comforting way because of his voice and what he chose to talk about. Hard things to read and yet a treasure mine, too.
I am finding the novel of The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen hard to read. It is well written and gripping, but definitely not a comfort read. So I read a bit of that and then went back to Trevor’s true story. In fact, despite the good writing, the gripping story and the many awards the book won, I decided The Sympathizer was not for me after all and I quit reading it on page 194. I don’t even want to send it to anyone here, though I suppose I would if you twisted my arm a little. It is going to the great green box in the sky.
The Precious stories by Alexander McCall Smith are comfort reads. I enjoy the humor in Donna Andrew’s mysteries which I have given to my sister. I just bought Convergence by Cherryh from the Foreigner series and I consider that series to be a comfort read. I need to re-read the James Herriot books that were such a comfort years ago. His stories based on his vet experiences in Yorkshire were poignant and often hilarious.
All Creatures Great and Small
All Things Bright and Beautiful
All Things Wise and Wonderful
The Lord God Made Them All
Humorous stories are also fun and a great comfort. I should re-read the Spencer Quinn stories with Chet the dog as the narrator. The last one got a bit too serious for me, but I love Chet’s take on things.
Dog On It (2009)
Thereby Hangs a Tail (2010)
To Fetch a Thief (2010)
The Dog Who Knew Too Much (2011)
A Fistful of Collars (2012)
The Sound and the Furry
Paw and Order
Scents and Sensibility
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What are your favorite comfort stories?
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