Comfort Reading

[callmemadam]

I didn't list my September books and I read very few books in October, for sad reasons which some people know about. So I thought I'd list the comfort books I read.

First and best, David Copperfield. I know, I know: there's so much wrong with it. But it's Dickens' Pride and Prejudice, his 'darling child'. It's not as good as Great Expectations, any more than P & P is as good as Mansfield Park but next to Middlemarch it's my favourite book for getting lost in. I also read
Nancy Mitford's four novels which begin with The Pursuit of Love.
Gaudy Night and Busman's Honeymoon which should surely always be read as a pair.
Henrietta's War and Henrietta Sees it Through by Joyce Dennys. If you don't know these and you like the diary format, seek them out. IMO they are better than The Provincial Lady.

New books I read were Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith.
A Short History of Tractors in Ukraianian by Marina Lewycka. I heard this read on R4 and enjoyed it all over again.

Comments

[slemslempike.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I haven't read Henrietta's War - I will definitely look out for that.

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

I adore those books. Read the first one two or three times on a family holiday to France for which I hadn't packed enough books.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Could I ever forget it?

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Oh do, it's lovely.

[hartleyhare.livejournal.com]

David Copperfield is excellent comfort reading, especially at this time of year. It seems to go with big thick sweaters and curling up by the fire, somehow.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so glad someone else likes it. I feel a freak for liking Dickens so much.

Stupis LJ is not making my replies in the right places.

[gghost.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry that you've had sadness in your life recently. I adore 'David Copperfield', and one of my favorite comfort reads is Nancy Mitford's 'Christmas Pudding'.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Glad you like David Copperfield. Nancy Mitford seems to be a universal favourite on my Friends List.