Comfort Reads discussion

What are your very favorite all time comfort read books?

You may list up to ten books, and you can post whether they’re in any kind of order: such as by top favorite on down, or however you experience them.

If your favorite is a series, it’s okay to list the box set as one book if it’s published that way. Otherwise, unless you have a particular favorite book within a series (in which case post that book) please list just the first book of a series.

If you’re very discerning, you might have fewer than ten all time top comfort books, so just list one to nine books. If you have more than ten books, you’ll have to think hard about, and be selective about, which books you want to include on your list.

Here is my list, top favourites down:

1. Anne of Green Gables
2. Emily of New Moon
3. The Lord of the Rings
4. The Story Girl
5. Jane of Lantern Hill
6. A Traveller in Time
7. The Daughter of Time
8. Outlander
9. All Creatures Great and Small
10. How Green Was My Valley

Ooh, I’m hoping between us all, we’re creating a helpful “master list” for other members. I could have probably easily chosen 100 books!

In approximate order with favorite at the top:

1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
2. Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'Engle
3. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
4. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. Harry Potter Boxset Books 1-7 by J.K. Rowling
6. I Never Promised You A Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg
7. Time At The Top by Edward Ormondroyd
8. Into the Forest by Jean Hegland
9. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
10. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton (the whole series so far)

(EDITED TO PUT ON UPDATE FEED)

And edited to change my list. ;-)

If you do this, please shelve any new books or post a message asking me (or Lee) to shelve them for you. Edited messages don't show up as new so Lee & I might miss seeing changes! Thanks!

What interesting lists so far. I don't know how you guys do it! I'll have to think about this for a while before I post.

My top 10 (in no particular order) are an eclectic bunch of books including classics, poetry, children's books, fiction, thrillers, historicals, etc:

1. Persuasion - Jane Austen
2. Thornyhold - Mary Stewart
3. The Long Winter - Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. The Hound of the Baskervilles - A.C. Doyle
5. The Blue Castle - L.M. Montgomery
6. Harry Potter (entire series) - J.K. Rowling
7. Trojan Gold - Elizabeth Peters
8. Trade Wind - M.M. Kaye
9. Ammie, Come Home - Barbara Michaels
10. Idylls of the King - Alfred Lord Tennyson

Lee wrote: "What interesting lists so far. I don't know how you guys do it! I'll have to think about this for a while before I post. "

Me,too. I have seven so far in a list, but I'm not committing anything yet.

I almost feel like I need to re-read a few of my childhood favourites in order to see if they're still as great as I remember.

Lee wrote: "I almost feel like I need to re-read a few of my childhood favourites in order to see if they're still as great as I remember. "

I feel that way with books and movies. While compiling my list, I thought, have I read this book in the last year? 5 years? Can't put it on my all-time top list if I don't read it over and over

Exactly! I mean, I love Anne of Green Gables and quite a few of the books listed above but I haven't read them in many years. In general, I'm not a re-reader with very few exceptions.

And I reread certain books constantly. I reread the entire Anne of Green Gables series and the Emily of New Moon series almost religiously (Lord of the Rings as well). All of the books on my list I've reread at least four times (and that's a conservative guess).

Gundula wrote: "And I reread certain books constantly. I reread the entire Anne of Green Gables series and the Emily of New Moon series almost religiously (Lord of the Rings as well). All of the books on my list..."

Same with me. With the exception of 1 book, I've re-read all my comfort books numerous times.

I reread certain books many times also, but you don't have to do that to put a book on the list. If you have a very fond memory and it was a great comfort to you at some point in your life, one of the top ten, onto the list.

I keep thinking of more books. I truly could easily have a top 100 list. I keep thinking of books I read when I was young, over & over, but haven't read for ages... And some newer books too!!

What a lovely dilemma to have: too many books to decide what to put on a list such as this!

Lisa wrote: "What a lovely dilemma to have: too many books to decide what to put on a list such as this!..."

Indeed! That's also one of the reasons I couldn't list my top 10 in any particular order. With the exception of Trade Wind (which IS my favorite book), I couldn't possibly rank them :)

I have my top two or three, but I'm stalled after that. I really have to scan my bookshelves.

Is it okay to include an author, someone that encompasses many books, any of which I could include on the list?

Jeannette wrote: "I have my top two or three, but I'm stalled after that. I really have to scan my bookshelves.

Is it okay to include an author, someone that encompasses many books, any of which I could include ..."

Jeannette, The problem with that is that Lee and I are trying to shelve the books, which is why a box set works but an author doesn't work as well.

Also, we're trying to get members to pare down to their top 10 favorite comfort read books. I know it's hard!

More work on my list! :)

Jeannette, I understand. I think the only author I have read over and over is Jane Austen. I'm trying to decide if I should put all of her books or just my favourites.

I honestly don't know how many times I've read the L.M. Montgomery titles I listed (and with Emily and Anne, rereading "always" means reading the entire series). I also have a bunch of titles that I could not put on the list, as they are in German and have never been translated into English. But, I am pretty happy with my list.

Yes, All Jane Austen's books would fit. I just gave up re my Agatha Christie books.

Gundula wrote: "hey are in German and have never been translated into English"

Gundula. So sad. That's too bad! Maybe you could post about them in another thread/other threads. Most of us won't know by title but you could tell us a bit about them and why they were/are comfort reads.

I might do that in the children's literature section and the humorous biography section, but not tonight (I want to actually get some reading done, often I end up posting and forgetting to actually read).

Gundula wrote: "I might do that in the children's literature section and the humorous biography section, but not tonight (I want to actually get some reading done, often I end up posting and forgetting to actually..."

Me, too! :)

Me three! Goodreads is a dangerous place and my activities here definitely cut into my reading time.

All right, I think I'm ready:

The Little Prince
Persuasion
The Changeling Sea
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast
J.R.R. Tolkien Boxed Set
The Man Who Loved Jane Austen
Sundays at Tiffany's
In Aunt Lucy's Kitchen/A Little Shopping: The Cobble Street Cousins #1-2
Cottage Style
Reaper Man

These are books that comfort me; they all make me happy. They are like good friends that I visit over and over.

Thanks to whoever added my books to the bookshelf! I meant to get to it tonight! :)

Jeannette, I was happy to add them. Actually, when I checked, many of them were already shelved but I added the ones not yet shelved to our group bookshelves. Thanks for adding books to the shelves when/if you can.

If you notice you want any of them on different shelves, feel free to edit.

I went home last night and looked through what I've read to find a comfort read and I came up with

Love in the Time of Cholera.

And I have to agree with Gundula on All Creatures Great and Small

Diane D, I loved the magical realism in Love in the Time of Cholera, but I didn't at all like One Hundred Years of Solitude!

Chrissie wrote: "Diane D, I loved the magical realism in Love in the Time of Cholera, but I didn't at all like One Hundred Years of Solitude!"

Chrissie, I feel exactly the same as you on those two books!

Diane D, Same thing with Willa Cather. I loved My Antonia, but several of her other novels I found completely drab. One could go on and on. I adore The Shadow Lines: A Novel, but Sea of Poppies sucked big time. I have read almost everything by Amitav Ghosh, and b/c I like him so much I demand more from him. His other good books are:
The Glass Palace
The Hungry Tide: A Novel,
Dancing In Cambodia At Large In Burma....
My point being that it is important to pick a good book when you begin with a new author.

Concerning South America, two conemporary novels that I liked alot are The Seamstress: A Novel, which Lee recommended to me, and The Invisible Mountain which has delightful magical realism, at least in the first portion. However I don't know how you define a "comfort read" - for me anything that truly drags me away from what is bothering me IS a comfort read. It doesn't have to be rosy at all.

Chrissie, have I told you lately that I love you? I simply must get to reading more Amitav Ghosh because you know I loved Sea of Poppies. I am cracking up here! :-)

Hi Chrissie -- thanks for all the recommendations! I have not read any of those in your message 35. Again, I completely agree with you :) that you must pick a good book when you start with a new author; otherwise, me personally, I will never pick up another (example: Burroughs who wrote Running with Scissors..UGH).

And LOL about defining a comfort read. I was hesitant on what to put on this thread, especially being a newbie, I figured if I posted Wuthering Heights, as dark as that story is, folks would think I'm crazy tee hee!!

Lee, this is a great group - and we owe it all to you for starting it! Let's give a big hurrah to Lee. We musn't forget Lisa - the co-moderator. The greatest is that all these GR friends are now all at the same place. Lee, none of Ghosh's books are bad. He has more which I haven't mentioned.

Diane, I was a little worried too in the beginning about books that cover difficult themes. There MUST be more like me, and it seems you too, who are comforted by being pulled away into another person's life. If Wuthering Heights comforts you, well then it does. I LIKE that all these friends can appreciate different types of books. You get pulled to try new books. And if we don't like them, fine, we just say so.

Chrissie wrote: "Lee, this is a great group - and we owe it all to you for starting it! Let's give a big hurrah to Lee. We musn't forget Lisa - the co-moderator. The greatest is that all these GR friends are now al..."

Thanks, Chrissie. Yes, Lee started a really great group. But the main reason it's such a wonderful group is because of all the members, everybody's participation! So many fun, interesting people, and yes, it's nice to see friends here, and make new friends too.

This is a very enjoyable group and I'm happy I stumbled across all of you (thanks to Christine)!
Hurrah to Lee and Lisa!

Chrissie, I do love all the different takes on so many different books and authors and being able to talk about them. And you're right, not everyone needs to agree or like the same thing. Also there are so many books I never would have read if I weren't a part of GR.

Diane D. wrote: "Also there are so many books I never would have read if I weren't a part of GR. "

Me too!

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. Lisa and I love hanging out with such a great group of people.

Let's see if I can list some... These aren't in any special order except the order in which they occur to me.

- L.M. Montgomery: Emily of New Moon (and the rest of the Emily series)
- L.M. Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables (and the rest of the series)
- L.M. Montgomery: The Blue Castle
- Maria Gripe: Skuggan över stenbänken and the rest of the series (A Swedish juvenile/young adult series, I've usually read this in Finnish translation but I don't think it exists in English... which is a great pity, these remain one of the most wonderful books I've ever read)
- Maria Gripe: Agnes Cecilia
- Elina Karjalainen: Uppo-Nalle and the other books in the series (much loved Finnish children's fiction about a poetic teddy bear and his friends)
- Tove Jansson: The Moomin Series, starting from Comet in Moominland
- Michael Ende: The Neverending Story

Most of these seem to be children's/young adult fiction, fantasy or both. I guess it's very fitting for comfort fiction, since it's often something we associate reading for a long time to escape from the everyday world. These are the ones I'm thinking of the most easily, but I feel I must have forgotten something completely obvious, so I left a few empty spaces to return to when I remember those obvious things!

Katri, my favorite by Maria Gripe is Hugo and Josephine.

I've never read that one. Not sure why; I recall picking it up when I was a kid and not getting into it. Might have just been a wrong time for reading, but somehow I never tried again; I got a lot more attached to the Shadow series and certain others that I just read over and over again.

Katri, did you ever read Den Vita Stenen by Gunnel Linde? The kids and I loved that one. After that we each found our own smooth white stones. Through the book they became magical! Talking to you I think of all these Swedish books I have read with the kids......

Chrissie wrote: "Katri, did you ever read Den Vita Stenen by Gunnel Linde? The kids and I loved that one. After that we each found our own smooth white stones. Through the book they became magical! T..."

That was a great novel, but I read it in German. Unfortunately, it was one of the books that did not end up making the trip to Canada with me (I was not allowed to take all of my books, and you know, I'm still a bit bitter at that, even after more than 30 years, I guess when it comes to books, I do hold grudges). Do you know if this book has been translated into English?

Gundula, I don't know if it was translated into English. Talking about being annoyed at not being allowed to take too much when you moved to Canada - well here is a story that must outdo yours. When my family moved from the US to Sweden I was told to take as little as possible too. So particularly many of my books and records weren't allowed to come with me. BUT MY FATHER TOOK THE STUPID WASHING MACHINE AND DRIER!!!!! They didn't even work b/c of the different electrical currents used in Europe. The weight of some books and records is nothing compared to such houseold appliances. I didn't think to argue then. I was just a teenager!

Chrissie wrote: "Gundula, I don't know if it was translated into English. Talking about being annoyed at not being allowed to take too much when you moved to Canada - well here is a story that must outdo yours. Whe..."

Chrissie, that does take the cake (OMG). And, of course, we don't dare argue, they're our parents. By the way, what did your father end up doing with the appliances? I cannot believe that your father would not have checked or been aware of the different electrical currents, I knew that when we moved to Canada, and I was ten at the time.

Gundula, You can buy a converter that makes it possible to use American appliances.... but the costs involved make taking such appliances over RIDICULOIS! My father in fact went over to Sweden one year before us to set everything up. So how come he didn't think this through! He started his own ad agency. But that was over 40 years ago so it is forgotten - well sort of. Sometimes I think of my old Gene Pitney records.... On the other hand no I wouldn't listen to them now. Life changes. New things replace old things. The whole move was so exciting - that took priority. I am doing it again - getting off subject! Send me a message if you are curious about anything

Did you ever read The Wheel on the School. I know it was translated into Swedish b/c I read it in Swedish! Meindert DeJong was very popular back then in Scandinavia. I loved it. I don't think I ever got around to reading it to the kids. I just read it to learn Swedish.

Chrissie wrote: "Gundula, You can buy a converter that makes it possible to use American appliances.... but the costs involved make taking such appliances over RIDICULOIS! My father in fact went over to Sweden one ..."

Actually, I would dearly love to learn to read Swedish. I would love to be able to read Astrid Lindgren in the original, I love her stories.

And, I have not read The Wheel on the School, but I'm going to check it out. Thanks

I just looked and they list The White Stone here on Goodreads. Hey, I just learned some Swedish! :)

Jeanette, it is great for kids and their Mom's.... I always wonder if I would think the same now, but I adored it a bit more than 20 years ago. OMG time passes!

Oh gosh, this is hard, but I'm enjoying reading the responses. Without thinking about it a great deal, I would say some of the following are books that give me a warm, old friend feel:
All Agatha Christie books
The Hound of the Baskervilles
To Kill a Mockingbird
Ethan Frome (rather dark, but I love it)
The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again
The Call of the Wild
Jane Eyre
The Westing Game (YA)
The BFG (YA)
The Castle in the Attic (YA)