Life is weird right now. And when life is weird there's only one thing for it and that's to pull out the comfort reads. Tried and true comfort reads especially. This is not to say I won't continue on with my more challenging books (like Zola and Patrick Hamilton, etc), but it's more a matter of padding things a bit. Actually a while back I was sorting through some book bins and doing some of weeding (a bit of advice here, if you're weeding lots and plan on putting the books up for Mooch, don't do it all at once...unless you enjoy lugging lots of books to the post office), and I came across some books that I recall reading and enjoying ages ago and was thinking I might like revisiting them sometime. These are four nice, long thoroughly entertaining books that I plan on keeping close by.
Rosamunde Pilcher's Coming Home. I loved this book and have always meant to read it again. It's set partially in Cornwall (would fit in with these books too) before and during WWII. "This involving story tells of an extraordinary young woman's coming of age, coming to grips with love and sadness, and in every sense of the term, coming home..."
Maeve Binchy's Light a Penny Candle. I went through a big Maeve Binchy phase at one time. This is another WWII tale set in Ireland.
Kate Saunders' Night Shall Overtake Us. This one is set before and during WWI. It begins in an English boarding school about four girls whose lives become intertwined.
Lisa Appignanesi's Dreams of Innocence. Another war novel, again set during and after WWI. Kirkus Reviews called it "a rare blend of intense emotion and intellectual challenge...sensual, thought-provoking and passionate."
So I suppose these would all be considered 'women's fiction' and therefore more along the lines of popular reads, but it's nice to have a few good books that are purely entertaining, not terriby taxing and able to keep the reader's mind focused on the story rather than other stressful sorts of things.
While I'm at it, I came across these books as well, which are comfort reads of a different type. I've been wanting to read more thrillers/spy novels after really enjoying Winter in Madrid, and I came across a few (once again) in my bin. I've not read either Robert Harris novel, Fatherland or Enigma, though I've owned them both for quite some time. Once again both are WWII stories. Fatherland is a revisionist history story told from the perspective of Hitler having won the war, and Enigma is about British cryptographers breaking the Nazi Enigma Code in 1943. Atonement by Ian McEwan isn't really a thriller, though it is again set in WWII and I would love to read it again as well. Perhaps this is going to be my year of rereading.
The joys of having your own personal library!