Comfort Reads

    If I was a car driven by my different emotions, most of the time, my confidant, capable Glad self, who raised five children, steers. It says things like, "I understand you want to sit on the couch and watch the newest season of The Crown, but this house doesn't clean itself," and "Yes, this is a good book, but if you don't turn out the light soon, you will be grumpy tomorrow." That woman gets stuff done and enjoys it. However, this season Anxiety snuck out of the trunk, crawled over the back seat, and keeps grabbing the steering wheel. I needed something that wouldn't stress me out or plunge me into despair. So, no Maggie O'Farrell. 😱

    The first stop is Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. I'm not a big rereader, but this book I've read four or five times. I know what's going to happen, which is comforting, but I am also dazzled (Redazzled? Bedazzled?) by the language. I fell asleep on the couch listening and woke up to Marianne praising Willoughby, snorted in disgust--Willoughby--am I right? Then fell asleep again. It was a great nap. 

 

    When I worked in a bookstore, I shelved many Naomi Novik books and thought they looked interesting. I like fantasy and fairytales. I heard Novik recommended on the podcast What Should I Read Next and went looking for them on Libby (a terrific app for borrowing audiobooks). Hurray, I found them! It might be a case of the right time and right place, but I enjoyed these so much. Spinning Silver weaves together several narrators in a tangled plot. The two Novik books I've read have had a Slavic flavor that shows up in the food, location, names, and clothes. Spinning Silver is based on the fairytale Rumplestiltskin, but it tears the story I know apart and reassembles it into a fresh, face-paced account. I love a story that has me saying, I didn't see that coming; therefore, I loved Spinning Silver. I didn't want the Novik party to stop, so I borrowed Uprooted and liked it as well. Novik's heroines are strong and resourceful, likable and encouraging. They helped soothe my anxiety. 

🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉

You can do hard things, maybe not on the first try, and maybe not by yourself, but you can.