What do you read for comfort?

[Brad Ellison]

So you're tired, beaten up by life, had a bad day, got dumped, dumped on, spat on, denounced renounced, fired, or whatever, and you need something to boost your spirits, what books do you go to?

The guys I usually reach for when times are rough are Ray Bradbury (whose writing is so beautiful it hurts), John Steinbeck (who always seems like he's looking straight at whatever he's writing about and telling the pure truth about it, good and ill), Raymond Chandler (because Philip Marlowe's tired and beaten down and sick of being the only decent man in a bad world, but he sticks it out, and never breaks his own code), Khalil Gibran and the Biblical Psalms (both of which I find as refreshing as ice water).

[ShannonA]

Comics or the Spenser mystery books. Science-fiction, fantasy, and horror usually require too much thought for them to be comfort reads.

[Old Scratch]

Comfort? It may seem strange, but I'll avoid escapist fare in these circumstances, I want something that will convey a real sense of richness to life. Usually I'll go with non-genre fiction, something like Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies or The Kite Runner, to name some recent examples. If I'm feeling really sentimental and want comfort, I'll probably read some Twain. When I'm burned out, I oddly don't have a lot of time for what at that particular moment I'll consider "nonsense", fantasy and sci fi which I normally enjoy.

[David Goodner]

I have a few books I read over and over again.

Stackpole and Alliston's X-wing novels are pretty much the only good Star Wars EU stuff in existence. I prefer Wraith Squadron to Rogue Squadron, generally. Stackpole is primarily a wargamer and his books have the better ship combats, but Alliston is a roleplayer, and his books read like a really good Star Wars campaign.

Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey, years before she went mad and needed to be locked in the attic where (unfortunately) there was a word processor. During Jr. High, I read Dragonsong and Dragonsinger every day - not "read part of them every day until finished." I had them nearly memorized, and could read either book in about four hours.

The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg. A really interesting children's book I picked up completely by chance. I was at work (in the bibliographics section of a library) with some time to kill, and it was on a truck waiting for processing. I was hooked by the third sentence. I ended up processing it so I could take it home, and then urged practically everyone I know to read it.

Similarly, School Story, by Andrew Clements. To the extent that I'm a connoisseur of children's lit (not much) I can generally take or leave Clements, but this book was really good. When I'm in a bad mood, I read certain sections of it to cheer myself up.

There's some others I revisit less often. Every so often, I re-read The Hobbit, which is like going to visit your slightly senile but still cool grandparent. (I wish I had slightly senile but still cool grandparents. I have batshit insane grandparents instead. Damnit, now I'm depressed and need some comfort reading.)

David G.

[vitus979]

Pratchett. When I need a good decompression I like to read funny stuff and nobody does funny like Pratchett when it comes to sf/fantasy fiction.

[Anaka]

Neil Gaiman, specifically Neverwhere and the Sandman comics. I'm not saying those are his best works, but they're the ones that pull me back. Coraline is awesome as well and has a place of reverence on my shelf, but it's not particularly comforting.

Robin McKinley. Really, any of her work with the exception of Deerskin (which is awesome, but not so comforting either). I'd say I go back to The Hero and the Crown the most, though, and The Blue Sword and Sunshine are runners-up.

Watership Down by Richard Adams.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Any of the Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander.

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle.

Any of a slew of Agatha Christie novels, particularly her non-fiction travelogue Come Tell Me How You Live and her short-story collections, many of which focus on vaguely supernatural themes.

Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. Yes, it's a time-traveling Jacobean romance novel. It's also damn fine writing that I'd recommend to anyone.

Some of Jim Butcher's work is also worming its way onto this list, but it isn't there yet.

EDIT: Oh, and the Mordant's Need pair of books by Stephen R. Donaldson. Forgot that one. I suspect it wouldn't resurface in my choices these days as often as it once did.

[vitus979]

With time for a little perspective and added specificity I've found myself reading the last couple chapters of Thud! more than a few times since the book was released.

WHERE'S MY COW?!

[Leif]

I second the Pratchett.

[Ashnak]

Slightly OT:
The children's Where's my Cow book was the first book my (then-2yo) daughter would stay still for at bedtime. After a year, she now knows "Coffi Henwy", "Foulolwon" and "SarDetris the Twoll." We're still working on "Vetinary" and "Cut-me-own-throat Dibbler."

[The23SidedDie]

Oddly, Raymond Chandler - I've read and reread the books, but they're fast reads, and super funny and shady and Phillip Marlowe is just a one-in-a-million protagonist.

[TheQuestionMan]

Anything by David Gemmell's, but especially the Denai Series.


David Gemmell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gemmell


QM

[vitus979]

Slightly OT:
The children's Where's my Cow book was the first book my (then-2yo) daughter would stay still for at bedtime. After a year, she now knows "Coffi Henwy", "Foulolwon" and "SarDetris the Twoll." We're still working on "Vetinary" and "Cut-me-own-throat Dibbler."

Ah, but can she say "Buggrit. Millenium hand and shrimp"? :p

PS this thread has decided what my friend's baby shower present will be (on Sunday). "Where's my Cow" for the child and "Thud!" for the father.