More Comfort Reading

I'm not of fan of overly sweet books.  Lifetime Movies are not my jam.

But I do love a well-written book that focuses on the good in us rather than the bad.  

Rosamunde Pilcher ticks all the right boxes for me with some of her novels, including Shell Seekers, September, Coming Home, and Winter Solstice.

It's almost that time of the ear when I reach for m well-worn copy of Winter Solstice.

 

From Amazon:

"From #1 New York Times bestselling author Rosamunde Pilcher, Winter Solstice (the basis for the TV movie) is the story of five unforgettable characters, lonely and haunted strangers who find love and loyalty as a reborn family of friends during the Christmas holidays.

Elfrida Phipps, once of London’s stage, moved to the English village of Dibton in hopes of making a new life for herself. Gradually she settled into the comfortable familiarity of village life—shopkeepers knowing her tastes, neighbors calling her by name—still she finds herself lonely.

Oscar Blundell gave up his life as a musician in order to marry Gloria. They have a beautiful daughter, Francesca, and it is only because of their little girl that Oscar views his sacrificed career as worthwhile.

Carrie returns from Austria at the end of an ill-fated affair with a married man to find her mother and sister sharing a home and squabbling endlessly. With Christmas approaching, Carrie agrees to look after her sister's awkward and quiet teenage daughter, Lucy, so that her mother might enjoy a romantic fling in America.

Sam Howard is trying to pull his life back together after his wife has left him for another. He is without home and without roots, all he has is his job. Business takes him to northern Scotland, where he falls in love with the lush, craggy landscape and set his sights on a house.

It is the strange rippling effects of a tragedy that will bring these five characters together in a large, neglected estate house near the Scottish fishing town of Creagan."

Today's comfort -

Anyone who knows me knows my favorite place to be is home.

And you know my next favorite place to be is Paris.

Paris and I are not quite finished with one another just yet and I'll be saying hello to her in a few months.  More about that soon.

In the meantime, while attempting to escape from the hatefulness and corruption constantly brewing these days, I'm choosing beauty and comfort as often as I can.

Today I'm choosing the Paris artwork of Raoul Dufy - Enjoy!!!

From Wikipedia:

Raoul Dufy (French: [ʁa.ul dy.fi]; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvist painter, brother of Jean Dufy. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textiles, as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted for scenes of open-air social events. He was also a draftsman, printmaker, book illustrator, scenic designer, a designer of furniture, and a planner of public spaces.

Raoul Dufy was born into a large family at Le Havre, in Normandy. He left school at the age of fourteen to work in a coffee-importing company. In 1895, when he was 18, he started taking evening classes in art at Le Havre's École des Beaux-Arts (municipal art school). The classes were taught by Charles Lhuillier, who had been, forty years earlier, a student of the French portrait-painter, Ingres. There, Dufy met Raimond Lecourt (fr) and Othon Friesz with whom he later shared a studio in Montmartre and to whom he remained a lifelong friend. During this period, Dufy painted mostly Norman landscapes in watercolors.

In 1900, after a year of military service, Dufy won a scholarship to the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where again he crossed paths with Othon Friesz. (He was there when Georges Braque also was studying.) He concentrated on improving his drawing skills. The impressionist landscape painters, such as Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, influenced Dufy profoundly. His first exhibition (at the Exhibition of French Artists) took place in 1901. Introduced to Berthe Weill in 1902, Dufy showed his work in her gallery. Then he exhibited again in 1903 at the Salon des Indépendants. A boost to his confidence: the painter, Maurice Denis, bought one of his paintings. Dufy continued to paint, often in the vicinity of Le Havre, and, in particular, on the beach at Sainte-Adresse, made famous by Eugène Boudin and Claude Monet. In 1904, with his friend, Albert Marquet, he worked in Fecamp on the English Channel (La Manche).

Henri Matisse's Luxe, Calme et Volupté, which Dufy saw at the Salon des Indépendants in 1905, was a revelation to the young artist, and it directed his interests towards Fauvism. Les Fauves (the wild beasts) emphasized bright color and bold contours in their work. Dufy's painting reflected this aesthetic until about 1909, when contact with the work of Paul Cézanne led him to adopt a somewhat subtler technique. It was not until 1920, however, after he had flirted briefly with yet another style, cubism, that Dufy developed his own distinctive approach. It involved skeletal structures, arranged with foreshortened perspective, and the use of thin washes of color applied quickly, in a manner that came to be known as stenographic. Dufy's cheerful oils and watercolors depict events of the time period, including yachting scenes, sparkling views of the French Riviera, chic parties, and musical events. The optimistic, fashionably decorative, and illustrative nature of much of his work has meant that his output has been less highly valued critically than the works of artists who have addressed a wider range of social concerns.

This is a part of the Wikipedia article used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). The full text of the article is here →

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Dufy 

A Different Sort of Comfort Read

 

Who else reads cookbooks like they're novels?

I know I'm not the only one.

I am well aware that recipes are easily available on-line.  I make good use of that resource.

But there's just something about a cookbook that is appealing to me.

And, a comfort.

If you're a fan of the J. D. Robb In Death series, this might interest you.

From Amazon:

"Discover seventy-four to-die-for recipes inspired by the world of J.D. Robb's #1 best-selling series―with a Foreword by J.D. Robb herself!

With more than seventy amazing photographs, and story excerpts that connect the recipes to the novels that inspired them, The In Death Cookbook will transport fans from the bustling streets of futuristic New York City to Lieutenant Eve Dallas and Roarke's luxurious Manhattan mansion, where they'll learn to prepare the most delectable dishes. From Autochef favorites to Summerset's mouth-watering desserts, readers will find professionally developed, easy-to-prepare selections ranging from breakfast entrees to sides, main courses and everything in between. Contributions from the whole In Death cast of characters, including the beloved snack―Feeney's Candied Nuts!

A must for every J.D. Robb fan and a great holiday gift.

"I can still wish for an AutoChef, but until technology grants that wish, please enjoy these fun, adventurous, comforting, fancy, and basic recipes―inspired by the In Death series and its characters. I hope you find pleasure in the preparation and in the sharing of these dishes with friends, family, and lovers." ― J. D. Robb a.k.a. Nora Roberts"

And, if you're lucky enough to have a sister-friend (as I do) like Lesa Holstine, maybe she'll surprise you with a copy.  

Thank you, Lesa.  I love you to the moon and back.

Comfort reading continues

 

Blindsided by betrayal in pre-WWII England, a woman charts a daring new course in this captivating tale of resilience, friendship, and new love by the bestselling author of The Rose Arbor and The Venice Sketchbook.

Surrey, England, 1938. After thirty devoted years of marriage, Ellie Endicott is blindsided by her husband’s appeal for divorce. It’s Ellie’s opportunity for change too. The unfaithful cad can have the house. She’s taking the Bentley. Ellie, her housekeeper Mavis, and her elderly friend Dora—each needing escape—impulsively head for parts unknown in the South of France.

With the Rhône surging beside them, they have nowhere to be and everywhere to go. Until the Bentley breaks down in the inviting fishing hamlet of Saint Benet. Here, Ellie rents an abandoned villa in the hills, makes wonderful friends among the villagers, and finds herself drawn to Nico, a handsome and enigmatic fisherman. As for unexpected destinations, the simple paradis of Saint Benet is perfect. But fates soon change when the threat of war encroaches.

Ellie’s second act in life is just beginning—and becoming an adventure she never expected.

Comfort Reading Continues

 

Reading anything written by Sarah Addison Allen is, to me, the epitome of comfort reading.

Other Birds is her most recent.  

"When Zoey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment on a tiny South Carolina island, she meets her quirky and secretive neighbors — including a girl on the run, two estranged middle-aged sisters, a lonely chef, a legendary writer, and three ghosts. Each with their own story. Each with their own longings. Each whose ending isn’t yet written."

I recommend reading them all.

Every one of 'em.

Gobble them up while indulging in your favorite snacks and comfort food.

Hal Groat II

Comfort Reading

 

I love this book.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Discover the word-of-mouth hit hailed by Ann Patchett as “a cause for celebration”—an intimate novel about the transformative power of the written word and the beauty of slowing down to reconnect with the people we love.

“I cried more than once as I witnessed this brilliant woman come to understand herself more deeply.”—Florence Knapp, author of The Names

LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • A PBS TOP SUMMER BOOK • LIBRARYREADS PICK OF THE MONTH

“Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle. . . . Isn’t there something wonderful in that, to think that a story of one’s life is preserved in some way, that this very letter may one day mean something, even if it is a very small thing, to someone?”

Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime.

Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.

Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read.

Home - our safe spot. For now.

Turn into this driveway and we're home.

Our life here has always been pretty simple.

We worked.

Then we retired.

We've contributed to society.

We've minded our business, paid taxes, voted.

We've watched the world change.

Watched our country change.

The peace we worked for seems to now be broken.

Our dollars aren't going as far as they used to.  We have no say in where our tax dollars are being spent.  Gerrymandering is infringing on our votes.  Men wearing masks and carrying guns are roaming our streets freely while people are being disappeared.  We can now legitimately be called a police state.  The man sitting in our White House is not above personal revenge tactics - suing institutions, firing individuals he doesn't have legal authority to fire, ordering the shooting and killing of people in international waters for suspected crimes.  Guardrail support from supposedly independent government agencies, congress,  and the supreme court seem to be, basically, missing while a partisan group of people performing the will of the president rather than following laws and basic constitutional tenets (like freedom of speech - did you see this?) .  Freedoms are being willfully whittled away with spoken threats to anyone, including journalists, speaking out against current conditions and policies, in disagreement.  

There's so much more.  SO much more - the VP of the US doing racist podcasts  (do not even get me started . . .)

There is very little integrity left within our government.  

But it's all too exhausting.  I have to stop right here.  I invite you to read this article, it says all I'm too out of steam to say.   https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/opinion/trump-charlie-kirk-crackdown.html?unlocked_article_code=1.mU8.tJI5.5dXTt1asLRMM&smid=url-share

As for me, Annabelle, and our Donnie.  We are, today, happily ensconced in our little home at the edge of the wilderness.   Minding our own business in our own little private world.  We're even vaccinated!  Because we, unlike our weird  administration, believe in science.  Who knew believing in science would become a political us vs. them thing.  Unbelievable.

And dammit.  Robert Redford died.

Comfort reading continues

 The 15th novel in Jan Karon's Mitford Series.

I was surprised by this.  I had no idea this was coming.

I received an ARC through NetGalley and loved it.

It will be released in early October - go ahead and pre-order it!

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jan Karon gives her beloved fans what they want for Christmas: a new Mitford novel.

When Father Tim’s wife, Cynthia, asks what he wants for Christmas, he pens the answer in a love letter that bares his most private feelings. Then the letter goes missing and circulates among his astonished neighbors. So much for private.

Can a letter change a life? Ask Helene, the piano teacher who has avoided her feelings for a lifetime. Ask Hope, the village bookseller who desperately needs something that’s impossibly out of reach. Or, if you’d like to know how a brush with death can be the portal to a happy marriage, Cynthia will tell you all about it.

In My Beloved, Harley gets an important letter of his own; a broken heart teaches the Old Mayor, Esther Cunningham, a lesson long in coming; and thanks to Lace and Dooley, readers get what they’ve been waiting for: Sadie.

Poignant, hilarious, and life-affirming, My Beloved sets a generous table for millions of readers who love these characters like family. With Karon’s signature humanity shining through on every page, this is a season of life in Mitford you won’t want to miss.

And read the earlier books while you're waiting.  😊

More comfort reading

 

From the New York Times bestselling author, the first of two epic and triumphant novels celebrating one intrepid woman's life across multiple generations in the American South.

1908: The Lowcountry of South Carolina is at the cusp of change. Mayfield, the grand estate held for generations by the Rivers family, is the treasured home of young Eliza. A free spirit, she refuses to be confined by societal norms and spends her days exploring the vast property, observing wildlife, and riding horses. But the Great War, coastal storms, and family turmoil bring unexpected challenges to Eliza, putting her on a collision course with the patriarchal traditions of a bygone era.

1988: At 88, Eliza is the scion of the Rivers/DeLancey family. She’s fought a lifetime to save her beloved Mayfield and is too independent and committed to quietly retire and leave the fate of the estate to her greedy son. She must make decisions that will assure the future of the land and her family—or watch them both be split apart.

Set against the evocative landscape of the twentieth-century Lowcountry, Where the Rivers Merge is a dramatic and sweeping multigenerational family story of unyielding love, lessons learned, profound sacrifices, and the indomitable spirit of a woman determined to persevere in the face of change in order to protect her family legacy and the land she loves.

Comfort Reads cont'd

 

This was a re-read for me.

I loved it every bit as much as I did the first time.

"In this intimate debut novel, a woman returns to her small Southern hometown in the wake of her mother's sudden death--only to find the past upended by stunning family secrets.

Lila Bruce Breedlove never quite felt at home in Wesleyan, Georgia, especially after her father's untimely death when she was a child. Both she and her brother, Henry, fled north after high school, establishing fulfilling lives and relationships of their own, steeped in art and culture. In contrast, their younger sister, Abigail, opted to remain in Georgia to dote on their domineering, larger-than-life mother, Geneva. Yet, despite their years-long independence, Lila and Henry both know they've never quite reckoned with their upbringing.

Now, when their elderly mother dies suddenly and strangely, found among the dense vines of the muscadine arbor behind the family estate, they must travel back to the town that raised them. But as Lila and Henry uncover more about Geneva's death, shocking truths are revealed that upend the Bruces' history as they know it, sending the pair on an extraordinary journey to chase a truth that will dramatically alter the course of their lives.

With deep compassion and sharp wit, Pamela Terry brings to life the culture and expectations of a small Southern town that values appearance over authenticity--and where the struggle to live honestly can lead to devastating consequences."

The description does not do the book justice.

It's this and so much more. 

What makes a book special?  Sets it apart from other books you read and enjoy?

It's characters that have dimension and personality.

It's the author's voice and word choice.

Phrasing and pacing.

Descriptions that place you so deeply in the story you're able to actually see the scene being described.  And feel it.

Pamela Terry is an author I think we're going to be hearing a lot about in the future.

"The Sweet Taste of Muscadines" won't be available until March - AND it'll be worth the wait. Not to worry - I'll be back to remind you! 

I was lucky enough to run across it at NetGalley and even luckier when my request to read it was granted.  

Comfort Reads

 I am finding myself, more and more, in need of comfort reads. 

I’m just not sure there will be enough of them to get me through the next three and a half years.

As I find them, I will share them here for those of you who are feeling the same. 

Here's my first recommendation, but stay tuned 'cause there are more to come.

WHERE LIGHT LINGERS by Ashley Farley fits the bill perfectly.

Description from Amazon -

“Sometimes the quietest miracles grow in the darkest seasons.

After six years of caring for her ailing parents, literature professor Selwyn Aldridge is alone in the weathered Victorian house where she grew up. Grief hangs heavy in every room, and her mother’s once-glorious garden is buried beneath weeds. When a bottle of morphine disappears during a moment of despair, Selwyn begins to question her grip on reality—until a radiant stranger named Blossom appears, arriving with uncanny timing and an instinct for exactly what Selwyn needs.

With Blossom’s quiet guidance, Selwyn begins to restore her mother’s garden—and, slowly, her own sense of purpose. But when an old flame resurfaces, a pregnant student turns up in need, and strange disturbances echo from the garage apartment, it becomes clear Selwyn’s story is far from over.

Set against the lush, literary backdrop of Oxford, Mississippi, Where the Light Lingers is a soulful novel about second chances, chosen family, and the quiet miracles that take root when we begin again.

For readers who loved The Secret to Southern Charm by Kristy Woodson Harvey or The Summer House by Lauren K. Denton—this soulful Southern novel will speak to your heart.”