snuggly books

Okay, so not really snuggly . . . but what are the books you can always fall back on?

I've noticed recently that I've gotten in a slump again of reading blogs and magazines, and not so many books (some really GOOD blogs and magazines, but all the same), and whenever that happens, I tend to turn to old favorites to get my book-reading engine started again. In other words, after a reading slump, I don't want to say, "Hey, I ought to be reading more books! Let's dive into Augustine!" No, it's more like, "Hey, I should be reading more books. Well, it's never a chore to spend a few days in Narnia."

Eventually, reading my familiar books gets me ready to tackle my more difficult acquaintances - this time, a lovely little perusal of "Mandy" by Julie Edwards (think "Secret Garden") got me feeling fit enough to tackle Tennyson - and it had me making a list of authors that are just old, comfortable friends. If these books were real people, they'd be the ones whose calls I'd never screen:

-Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters" and "That Hideous Strength"
-"Gaudy Night" or "Murder Must Advertise" by Dorothy Sayers
-ANYTHING Vorkosigan by Lois McMaster Bujold
-"The Four Story Mistake" by Elizabeth Enright
-"Dear Enemy" by Jean Webster
-anything by Essie Summers or Georgette Heyer
-poetry by John Donne, George Herbert or Gerard Manley Hopkins
-the Brother Cadfael mysteries, by Ellis Peters
-the "Betsy" books by Maude Hart Lovelace

And, yes, about half of those are either romances (of the delightful, full-of-daily-details, old-fashioned variety) or children's books. But I'd defend all of them as good literature, at least of their sort. (Not great, necessarily, but good.)

So . . . who are your dear old friends? Your old comfy slippers of books?

Funny thing is, most of those old comfy slippers, familiar as they are, are of the very finest craftmanship. Bad literature just isn't that soothing. :)

But share yours with me, I'd love to make some new acquaintances at my library!

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell