Following the last post on "comfort viewing," let's go further and talk about "comfort reading" (being a perch librarian, I naturally have to talk about books). Comfort reading shares many similarities with its more pictorial counterpart. It involves a book (or books) you absolutely love that you return to over and over again. You can read the entire book from beginning to end, or you can just re-read your favorite sections. It's a feel-good read that makes you smile, giving you warm and fuzzy feelings.
Comfort reading can be something you read in your childhood or something you read more recently. Maybe it's fantasy taking place in an entirely fictional world. Perhaps it's an action-adventure thriller that makes you feel invincible, one in which evil is punished and good is rewarded. It could also be a book that has characters you like and with which you can relate. Whatever it is, comfort reading is different for everyone.
My comfort reading veers toward fantasy and the paranormal. Like my comfort viewing (Smallville and other takes on Superman), it's escapism that I find entertaining and relaxing. During the pandemic I found myself re-reading books I loved when I was younger, such as The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Lord of the Rings series. I also read (more like devoured) newer series dealing with the paranormal like A Discovery of Witches. Then there were the light, funny books--The 100-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, How to Be a Canadian, and The Library of Lost and Found.
Some psychologists will say that we can get as much life satisfaction from the world of a book as we can from a real life social situation. We've often heard that books are friends we can re-visit any time we want, and that turns out to be true. Indeed, comfort reading provides us with a connection not only to the characters, but to the authors as well. What are some of your comfort reads? Share with us!
Wishing you lots of comfort reading from the perch.
