When I am feeling very sick, or sad and want a bit of escapism, I often dive right back into my old ‘comfort’ books. Some of these books I have reread a hundred times, and it’s like going back to old friends. You know the characters well, you know exactly what will happen, but you can lose yourself in their familiar but different worlds.
And right now, with everything going on, it seems to me that the best thing to do is curl up with a hot chocolate, a comfort book and some biscuits, to wait until either I have a vaccine or spring is here. You could call it hibernating.
Speaking of hibernating, I only learned a few days ago that when animals hibernate, they don’t just sleep for half of the year; they still wake up and eat, but they are just a lot, lot slower. I feel like I’ve been lied to for my whole life!
Anyway, these are just a few of the books I turn to for comfort. I grew up reading a lot of my gran’s childhood books, so a lot of these are quite old fashioned, but they work for me! Let me know what your comfort books are in the comments; maybe I can add some more to my comfort book list.
Daddy Long Legs
Daddy Long Legs tells the story of Jerusha Abbott (Judy), an orphan who grew up in a huge, very institutionalised orphanage and had never seen real family life. In the first chapter she is told that she has been sponsored by an anonymous trustee of the orphanage, to go to a girls’ college and become an author. In return, she has to write the trustee (whom she names Daddy Long Legs) regular letters updating him of her progress at college.
The book is comprised of all of her letters to Daddy Long Legs, to whom she narrates the very honest story of her first experiences outside the institution, and her forays into education – both academic and real world education. We see her blunders over popular knowledge and her delight at visiting ‘real’ families for the holidays. The letters that she writes are filled with spirit, and very entertaining, and alongside the letters are the cutest stick drawings. This book is such a lovely, easy to read book, and is one of my top, go-to comfort books.
Carbonel
Rosemary, a young girl, buys a broom and a cat from an old woman at the local market. When she gets home, she is surprised by the fact that the cat is able to speak. The cat, whose name is Carbonel, is the King of Cats. He tells Rosemary that he was enslaved by the old woman from the market, who is a retired witch, and he can only be freed and return to his throne if the spell is undone. So Rosemary and her new friend John set out on an adventure to undo the spell on Carbonel, so he can return to his throne.
This is such a lovely, easy read, with witchcraft, talking animals and very gentle adventure, so it makes the perfect comfort read, in my eyes. What’s better is that, if you enjoy Carbonel, there are two more books in the series, so you can stay immersed in his world for a little longer.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
If you haven’t heard of this book I’d be very, very surprised. Sadly JK Rowling has shown herself to be transphobic so I would urge people who want to read this book to buy a copy second hand – its better for your wallet and the environment anyway. However I specifically re read the first book because this is the lightest book, and I just love reading about Harry Potter discovering the wizarding world, all the different teachers, lessons, places in the castle, sweets, Diagon alley. My very favourite chapter is the Christmas chapter, maybe a little dull, but I love learning about the ordinary aspects of the world more than the main plot! There is just something very enticing about being in the wizarding world – if we removed the darkness of Voldemort from it that is.
As an added bonus, when I first start trying to read more complicated books in new languages, I always started with Harry Potter. I’ve read it in at least three languages and have the fourth on my bookshelf now! I know the story so well that it’s easy to follow, but it gives me a feel for the language and allows me to build some confidence to read books I don’t know! A tip for other language learners out there!
Swallows and Amazons
This is, I think, a children’s classic, and tells the story of four children on holiday in the lake district, who are allowed to borrow the sailing boat ‘Swallow’, and camp on an island in the middle of Lake Windermere for the summer. On Wild Cat island they meet the Amazons, a pair of tomboy sisters who have their own sailing boat and live on the shores of Lake Windermere. The Swallows and Amazons declare war on each other to choose which flag will be used when they unite to fight the retired pirate living on the houseboat in the lake.
This book is filled with make believe, camping, mapping ‘unchartered territory’ and sailing adventures. Growing up as a tomboy, I, more than anything, wanted a sailing boat of my own, to go and explore unchartered territory and wild camp. In fact, a kayaking friend and I used to go on long kayaks together and draw maps afterwards, naming all the different places we had kayaked past with the things we had seen there, or things that had happened!
This book is most definitely a product of its time and should be read through that lense. But it is for me, once more, this adventurous, but not scary, comfort book that allows such fun, make believe and escapism. Again, this book has an entire series to read through as the children end up going on more sailing holidays.
Pride and Prejudice
To be fully honest with you, the first few times I read this book I didn’t get past the second or third chapter. I found it slow and boring. In retrospect maybe I was too young for it. Since then I have grown to love it, and I’m not really sure why, because whilst people say Mr Darcy is so romantic, I’m not sure I really see that. I read the book for Elizabeth Bennet, who is so sure of herself and her judgments, but learns to be less sure of them as time goes on. I often find that once I’ve read Pride and Prejudice, I feel like going on a bit of a Jane Austen binge as well – it must feed some of the romantic in me at least.
If you are less of a bookish person (have you seriously read this far?), or are too tired to read at the moment, I really enjoyed the Lizzie Bennett diaries on youtube, a modern retelling of the story, where Lizzie Bennett is a vlogger and tells the story of Pride and Prejudice through her vlog. This series is good fun, the characterisation is great, and it makes an easy way to consume the story in a more modern context.
What are your comfort books?
These are just a few of my comfort books. I am a book hoarder because I love to reread books. Most of my flat is taken up with books, and that’s only half of them, as a lot are still at my parents’ home in the UK! If you would like to see more of my comfort books, let me know, and tell me, what do you read over and over again? There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure, so share away!
