Comfort Reading

At one time or another, all of us hit a stressful point in our lives that leaves us un-focused and un- settled. Doesn’t matter if it’s happy stress or horrible stress – the effect is the same, we need something to make us feel better. Something that will let us shove the stress related thinking to the back of our brains and give us a respite.

Frequently people talk about comfort food – and that has its place – but stress is not something you can eat your way out of. You can still obsess and worry while chewing. No, the real answer is reading!

Of course.

For some people the comfort read is a beloved book, frequently one that brings a bit of emotional catharsis: Jane Eyre for example. Others go for something light: P. G Wodehouse’s Jeeves is always my father’s choice.

For me the ideal choice is a series – preferably one I have lost track of and now has new installments I haven’t read. This gives me the excuse of going back and rereading from the beginning - it is easier to lose one self in in something that is familiar, but not too familiar. So, a series you started reading a while back is a good choice – you remember you liked it, but not all the details. You start with book one and have the comfort of knowing that when you finish you don’t have to struggle to find your next read because book two is waiting for you. Usually by the time you have finished all the ‘old’ books and are getting into the ‘new’ books, you have enough focus to be comfortable exploring the new territory.

You also have the option of skipping around through the series – reread a few and then move into the new stuff – whatever feels most comfortable.

So, if life is giving you a hard time, I recommend a comfy chair, a cup of tea and a stack of good books!

Most of the series I read are mysteries or SciFi/Fantasy – so here are a few of my go to comfort reads:

His Majesty's Dragon: First book in the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik

I recently discovered that I had missed the last book of the nine-title series – perfect!

Novik also has a new series - The Scholomance; first title is A Deadly Education. Think a darker and more grown-up take on wizardly education than Harry Potter.

The Crow Trap: First book in the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves. This is a fairly substantial series and is also the basis for a BBC TV program – so you can go either way with this.

Cleeves also has other series that are (or will be) TV series. A good one is Shetland: first book is Raven Black.