# What's Your Comfort Reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910 "2007-05-21T11:18:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/1 "2007-05-21T11:18:10Z")
Some evenings you just can’t face _Types Of Ethical Theory_, _A Brief Introduction To Logical Positivism_ or the latest Booker winner by a controversial Nigerian playwright that you feel you _ought_ to be reading, and reach instead for a well-worn comfort book. It’s like an old friend; you’ve read it half a dozen times before, and know just what to expect. Picking it off the shelf and cracking the covers is like slipping into a warm bath: no effort, no pretense, just slide into it and _relax_. So what do you choose? I go for one of Robert B. Parker’s _Spenser_ books when I want trusty familiarity: sure, the series lost its edge a long time ago - Hawk has become the black Santa Claus instead of a wry leg-breaker with an odd sense of honour, and I’m sick of the goddamn dog, and Susan is too perfect and cutesy-poo for words - but for well-crafted tough-guy prose and a straight-shootin’ hard-hittin’ wise-crackin’ PI setting the world to rights a punch and a quip at a time, Spenser can’t be beat. Comfort reading at its best. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/2 "2007-05-21T11:24:21Z")
Mine is definitely Sharon Penman’s novel, “Here be Dragons”. OK, so it’s a large tome but I’ve read it many times and it’s always been a great book to delve into. In fact, all of her novels are worth the effort. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/3 "2007-05-21T11:26:40Z")
[The Secret History](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-History-Donna-Tartt/dp/0140167773/ref=pd_bowtega_1/203-5375906-8271152?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179746490&sr=1-1) by Donna Tartt [Collected Poems](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collected-Poems-1951-92-Charles-Causley/dp/0333575172/ref=pd_bowtega_3/203-5375906-8271152?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179746581&sr=1-3) by Charles Causley, now sadly out of print. [Memoirs of a Sword Swallower](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Memoirs-Sword-Swallower-Daniel-Mannix/dp/0965046958/ref=sr_1_1/203-5375906-8271152?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179746660&sr=1-1) by Dan Mannix. [Moon Palace](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moon-Palace-Paul-Auster/dp/0571142206/ref=sr_1_4/203-5375906-8271152?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179746727&sr=1-4) by Paul Auster. Comfort reading is great. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/4 "2007-05-21T11:34:57Z")
I have a really bad habit of re-reading the same books over and over again. For just good old cheezy comfort: Old John LeCarre; Jack Vance Original Earthsea novels; Flashman novels Raymond Chanlder ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/5 "2007-05-21T11:37:22Z")
[Three Men in a Boat](http://www.amazon.com/Three-Men-Boat-Bummel/dp/0140437509/ref=sr_1_2/103-1518416-0570237?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179747066&sr=1-2) by Jerome K. Jerome. [The Man Who was Thursday](http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Was-Thursday-Nightmare/dp/0375757910/ref=sr_1_1/103-1518416-0570237?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179747200&sr=1-1) by G.K. Chesterton. (His Father Brown detective stories are excellent comfort reading, too.) Any of John Thorne’s brilliant [food writing](http://www.amazon.com/Serious-Pig-American-Search-Roots/dp/0865475970/ref=sr_1_4/103-1518416-0570237?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179747370&sr=1-4). ---
**Author:** ![Lilacs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lilacs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilacs)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/6 "2007-05-21T11:41:17Z")
My comfort books will always be \*\*\*Lord of the Rings \*\* \* and _ **The Silmarillion** _. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/7 "2007-05-21T11:50:59Z")
A Shropshire Lad by A. E. Houseman Lois McMaster Bujold’s books. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/8 "2007-05-21T11:54:36Z")
james lee bourke and his cajun stuff christopher moore carl hiassen ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/9 "2007-05-21T11:56:26Z")
I’m another compulsive re-reader. I usually have at least one Discworld book on the side as my comfort read. A lot of sci-fi and fantasy that I read as a kid also falls under that heading: Bradbury, Heinlein, Niven & Pournelle, etc. “The Complete Poems: Anne Sexton” and Adrienne Rich’s “The Fact of a Doorframe” are my comfort poetry reads. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/10 "2007-05-21T12:30:41Z")
[Cities in Civilization](http://www.amazon.com/Cities-Civilization-Peter-Hall/dp/0394587324), by Sir Peter Hall. [History of the World](http://www.amazon.com/Cities-Civilization-Peter-Hall/dp/0394587324), by JM Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/11 "2007-05-21T12:51:51Z")
Gone With the Wind. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/12 "2007-05-21T13:23:42Z")
Whenever I move I reread _Pride and Prejudice_. It takes the edge off the strangeness of being in a new place. Read that sucker about 17 times now. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/13 "2007-05-21T13:58:04Z")
**Heinlein** or **Pratchett** , doesn’t really matter which book or which author. ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_And_Candy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/14 "2007-05-21T14:07:02Z")
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte The Never Ending Story by Michael Ende Emma by Jane Austen ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/15 "2007-05-21T14:10:33Z")
[QUOTE=Clockwork And Candy] Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte [/QUOTE] Oh, yes, definitely! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/16 "2007-05-21T14:52:10Z")
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance…Persig ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/17 "2007-05-21T15:06:25Z")
Like other I often keep an old Heinlein on standbye. Rereading murder mysteries by Dorothy L Sayers or Ngaio Marsh is always soothing. ---
**Author:** ![myrnajean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@myrnajean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myrnajean)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/18 "2007-05-21T15:08:50Z")
A Moment in Peking, by Lin Yutang. I must have read it at least 10 times already. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/19 "2007-05-21T15:21:30Z")
The Bible, Narnia, Atlas Shrugged, Dracula, Almanacs ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910/20 "2007-05-21T15:34:25Z")
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee The Stand, Stephen King Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry Addie Pray, Joe David Brown (the book Paper Moon was based on) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell The World According to Garp, John Irving [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-comfort-reading/404910.md?page=2)