When all of this pandemic stuff started, my life did not change a whole lot. I was already working from home as an author and did not go out a great deal. So, for me 2020 was strange, but not as stressful as I think it could have been. For that, I am extremely grateful! However, 2021 hardly ventured into January when things began to get stressful. They were all external things that I could do nothing about and I think that was the hardest to manage. Thus far, I have had a death in the family (from covid-19), other family members with health difficulties, my own health issues, and also I’m getting ready to move. (I’ll have more info on that in a month or so.) Between all these things, as well as trying to work as an indie author, this year has been quite stressful, and we’re barely at the beginning of April.
In times of stress, I turn to comfort food. I try to do things that I know are relaxing and that will calm me down, or allow my brain a chance to recover. This comes in comfort food, and also in rewatching favourite television shows or, my personal favourite, rereading books that I know I love. Comfort food, but books.
As a reader, I read just about every genre. I write/film book reviews twice a week on my blog and youtube channel (Quill and Pen Society, for those interested). A goodly number of those reviews end up in the fantasy/sci-fi genre, simply because a lot of authors in that genre signed up initially, but I read everything. When I’m not reading for review, though, I like to explore new things and will read all sorts of books. This year, I have almost exclusively been reading comfort books.
These books take the form of books that I have either read before, multiple times, and still enjoy, or I read books by a favourite author that I haven’t yet read before. For example, in the romance genre, I have recently reread Penny Reid’s Neanderthal Seeks Human, the first book in her Knitting in the City series (you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Neanderthal-Seeks-Human-Knitting-City-ebook/dp/B00BUWA58E/). This book has characters that I love, a story that is familiar and yet different, and invokes feelings of pleasure and curiosity every time I read it.
I don’t know if I love rereading books because the story is familiar, or if I am trying to feel the same things that I felt when I first read the book. Either way, rereading favourite books is calming and puts me in a better mindset and ultimately lets me face the world with all the intent and joy that I can have.
Also, I just like reading.
What sort of books do you turn to again and again? Something dark? Comforting? Twisty? Simple? With characters you love or hate?