Comfort Books

In My Humble Opinion
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Y’know the (now passe’ but recently hyper-trendy) term “Comfort Food”? It meant “jes’ good eats” or “cookin’ lahk maw useta make”. Essentially: Meatloaf, beef stew, hearty, heavy food that was nice to eat on cold fall evenings. The culinary equivilant of a heavy, fluffy comforter on a cold winter’s morning.

There’re books like that. Books that, no matter how often I reread them, leave me feeling better than when I started. Books that can’t be overread. Books that I can always read, regardless of my mood or even my desire to read.

I’ve got a bunch of 'em but to list a few,

A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door (and not the sequels) by Madelyne L’engle. The scene with Meg and Meg’s mom and Charles Wallace at the beginning, where they’re having a midnight snack and Mrs Who(?) burst in always…moves…me somehow. It’s a powerful scene.

Have Spacesuit, Will Travel (and several other Juvies) by Robert Heinlein] O.Henry stories for the space-age. Hard work, diligence, decency pay off. Plus adventure, excitement, and damned good writing.

Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon and Time Pressure by Spider Robinson. Just uplifting to me.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. One of the funniest books ever written

The Princess Bride by William Goldman: The “Good Parts” version (IE: I’ve paperclipped the first horrible 40(?) pages that discuss the narrator’s frigid wife and fat kid and horribly self-indulgent '70s “It’s hard to be a star” bullsh*t. Apparently the narrator’s life doesn’t parallel Goldman’s, but that doesn’t diminish the ugliness. But once the magic starts with “The year that Buttercup was born, the most beautiful woman in the world was a scullery maid named Antoinette.”…)

Half Magic by Edward Eager. Another hysterical book-the scene with the cat that can half-talk…bwah-ha-ha!

The People Collection by Zenna Henderson…(this one’s perfect for restoring your faith in humanity)

Esbe: A Winter’s Tale by Linda Haldeman. Perfect mood-setting book for a cold, snowy night. Beautiful and evocative.

Reaper Man by Pratchett…the end bit. After the dance. If you’ve read it, you know the part I mean…don’t spoil it for those lucky few who get to read it for the first time. :slight_smile:

I could go on and on, but how 'bout you, my fellow Dopers? I know I’m not the only one who has ‘comfort’ books.

Fenris

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You have two of mine on your list: The Phantom Tollbooth and Reaper Man. Actually anything by Pratchett. I’ve been reading them in rotation for years now.

I reread Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently books pretty frequently (more so than the Hitchhiker’s Guide series).

I’ve also read all the Sherlock Holmes stories many times.

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Little Fuzzy and Fuzzy Sapiens by H. Beam Piper

Fuzzy Bones by William Tuning.

Agent of Change, Conflict of Honors, Carpe Diem and Plan B by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.

Hunter’s Oath and Hunter’s Death by Michelle West.

Any of Gregory McDonald’s Fletch or Flynn books.

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The Once and Future King by T.H. White – especially “The Sword in the Stone,” which has all the magical stuff and none of the depressing stuff. :slight_smile:

The Tempest is uplifting no matter how many times I see or read it.

Actually, when in need of comfort reading I’ll usually pull out Bulfinch’s Mythology or something like that (or, when I’m feeling particularly nostalgic, the D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths. Yeah, it’s bowdlerized, but I like the pictures. ;))

5

My comfort books vary according to what I have on hand, whether I’m in Austin or at my parent’s house in Houston. They include:
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
The Barrytown Trilogy by Roddy Doyle (especially The Snapper and The Van)
The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper-Why can’t I ever find a complete set of these anywhere?
Dreams Underfoot by Charles DeLint-at least until I loaned it to someone and never saw it again.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Brain Droppings by George Carlin

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My all time favorite comfort book is Boy’s Life by Robert R McCammon. I just finished it again. :slight_smile:

Rose

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My own comfort books vary greatly, I have a somewhat bizzare taste…

Anything by Mark Twain. I highly recommend The Innocents Abroad, Life on the Mississippi, or any of the collections.

Most science fiction by Isaac Asimov, although some of it is getting a little dated. Larry Nivens and Jerry Pournelle also have a graet collection of books out there - try Lucifer’s Hammer, The Mote in God’s Eye, and others.

Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. If you haven’t read this one, you should. A fascinating description of a section of American history that isn’t too familiar with people today.

Catch-22, by Joseph Heller. Wicked satire that goes way beyond being merely a protest against war.

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Children’s: A Little Princess, Anne of Green Gables, All-of-a-Kind Family, just about anything by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Adult: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Great Expectations. (Victorian novels are so nice to curl up with; serious, yes, but you know nothing too awful is going to happen.) Oh, and a lot of classic mysteries … I tend to work my way through Agatha Christie every three or four years, as soon as I’ve forgotten the endings.

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Fenris!

Omigosh, you are like the first person I ever encountered besides me who ever read Half Magic! And yeah, Carrie the half-talking cat is great. Did you ever read the others by Eager: Magic By the Lake and Knight’s Castle? They’re way cool as well! Definitely some of my comfort book choices.

Lessee… other comfort books of mine:

Dracula, Bram Stoker

Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E. L. Konigsburg

Black and Blue Magic, Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh

Edie, Jean Stein

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Several of mine parallel Fenris’ choices (no real surprise). Here are a few that I return to again and again:

Godstalk by P.C. Hodgell–it’s like visiting with an old, dear friend and hearing about all her adventures since last we met. I’m more than a little in love with Jame…and that’s a dangerous thing. :slight_smile:

Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson

Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, Red Planet, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein (the first three novels I ever read)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle–I need a new copy; my bookshelves aren’t complete without it.

Mad Amos (the collection of Mad Amos Malone shorts) and the early Flinx books by Alan Dean Foster–they bring back memories of sitting up in the tree branches as a child, reading novels and old dog-eared F&SFs. Peaceful memories.

Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart–no matter tired or glum I may be, Master Li’s schemes always get a smile and a chuckle out of me.

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Bleak House, by Dickens.

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:smiley: I’m reading Mote right now, for the first time.

As for comfort books, I’d say that anything by Nick Bantok fits this category, as well as A Weave of Women by E.M. Broner and The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy. Big artbooks also bring on a kind of sedate happiness.

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SIight hijack–ballybay–The Dark is Rising paperback boxed edition, ISBN 002042565. With that number any bookstore should be able to find it for you. Hardcover matched set is harder to find, unfortunately.

Creaky and Fenris I am also a fan of the books by Edward Eager, since I discovered them at the library as a child. I recently bought several at a library sale–sad to think they may not be available for new people to check out, but maybe they just got new editions.

I re-read The forgotten Beast of Eld by Patricia McKillip when I really want to escape into a book, especially if a good cry is in order. It helps keep my romantic heart hopeful. And I pull down various books by Charles DeLint, in fact, I think I’ll re-read Trader for my next kick around book (I have one, never before read book going(because there are just too many books out there and if I just re-read stuff, I’ll never read them all), and at least one kick around book–the one I pick up when I only has 10 minutes, or if I’m going to a resturant alone.

Pratchett is good for light reading, I’m still finding puns or clever jokes that I missed the first time around. And cher3, I also re-read the Dirk Gently books more often that Hitchhiker’s. Really wish Adams would write another one.

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My all-time comfort book is the Illuminatus! trilogy. Other’n that, we have Zelazny’s Amber series, and PREACHER by Ennis and Dillon, TRANSMETROPOLITAN by Ellis and Robertson, THE AUTHORITY by Ellis and Hitch, FINDER by McNeil, and INVISIBLES by Morrison. What can I say? Good comics put me at ease.

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Both the Hitchhiker’s series (excepting the final one), and the two Dirk Gently adventures.

On the more poetic side, Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet and T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, especially Little Gidding, the last few lines of which never fail to send a shiver through my spine.

Daniel Pinkwater’s Yobgorgle: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario. Pages are dog-eared and yellowed, a favorite since I was a kid.

Singular essay: Edward Abbey’s Coda: Cape Solitude which ends the collection Abbey’s Road.

Robert Pirsig’s Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and, to a lesser extent, Lila.

The Tao Te Ching.

On the comic book/graphic novel front, I keep going back to Frank Miller & Geoff Darrow’s Hard Boiled.

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Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles. Despite my user name, I’m less thrilled with the House of Niccolo.

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Katisha:

Do you know that The Sword in the Stone was published first, and as a separate book? When T.H. White incorporated it into The Once and Future King he cut out a lot and changed a lot. If you haven’t read the uncut version, go to a library and read it! I also recommend the “fifth book” of TOAFT, published separately as The Book of Merlin.
As for my “comfort books” – which I interpret as books I can yank down and just dip into, a lot of them have been listed:

Sherlock Holmes (by Doyle, of course, but also a lot of imitators)

Heinlein “juveniles” and non-juves. Heck, I’ve justfinished re-reading “Puppet Masters”, which I didn’t intend to read – I just picked it up and got hooked.

Early Frederick Forsyth Thrillers – Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Devil’s Alternative

The Lord of the Rings

C.S. Forester books, especially Horatio Hornblower novels

Dave Barry books

Mark Twain (except Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn)

Cecil, of course, and Berga Evans books, and William Poundstone, and the like.

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I flee to children’s books when I’m in need of comfort. Especially:

The Little House series

The Betsy-Tacy books

Anne of Green Gables

Daddy-Long-Legs

anything by Noel Streatfeild

anything by Rumer Godden

anything by Edward Eager (YES!)

anything by E. Nesbit

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Either the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series or Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. I have multiple copies of all the above mentioned. Some for the car, some for the bedroom, some in the living room etc…

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I’m with you there. I got back from a late shift at the Food Co-op at 11:30 last night, made a stiff drink and my solitary supper, and pulled out R. Crumb/Aline Kominsky’s COMPLETE DIRTY LAUNDRY COMICS. “Ha ha…the poor swine! Lookit how MISERABLE he is!” Great schadenfreude reading.

M.F.K. Fisher’s or John Thorne’s foodie essays. More nourishing than actual food sometimes.

Another late-night favorite is the huge PENGUIN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORROR AND THE SUPERNATURAL, which is fun on its own and also steers one to more primary reading/viewing pleasure. “Hey, I haven’t wached SECONDS for years! And it’s time to re-read E.F. Benson and Maurice Level!”