In January, I was having a conversation on Twitter with Sheri W, who mentioned that she re-reads a few Jennifer Crusie books “on the regular to battle a bad day.”
I know exactly what she means. As I replied to her, I have books like that, “Bad Day Re-Reads,” which are always happy/sexy/fun books.
Sheri agreed, saying hers were Bet Me ( A | BN | K) or Agnes and the Hitman ( A | BN | K).
Since we had that conversation, I've been thinking about my Bad Day Re-Reads, the books I know will give me a break from crap days or from feeling really crummy. They're all stories that make me happy, that are friendly and peaceful and more than a little funny, and that somehow have a reassuring quality. Know what I mean?
My Bad Day Re-Reads list includes Holiday Sparks by Shannon Stacey ( A | BN | K), probably my favorite novella ever. Even if it's the opposite of the holiday season (it's a Christmas novella though the holiday plays a relatively minor role in the story), I can read it and it'll make me happy.
I also have a few historicals that I will re-read any time I need to mellow out, or be lifted up a bit. The Summer of You by Kate Noble ( A | BN | K) is one I've read a few times, especially because the progress of the plot and the setting the characters inhabit is welcoming – and warm, because it's summer, after all. Plus there's a wry and witty humor in the heroine that I love.
Devil's Bride by Stephanie Laurens ( A | BN | K) is also a pick me up read for a rather odd reason. The details about running a household and the ways in which Honoria manages her life, and the parts of Cynster life that encroach on her life are like flannel jammies for my brain. Everything is ordered and the details are explained and there are lists that are checked and cross checked, and all that organization coupled with the emotion, the not-quite-purple-but-definitely-lavendar prose, and the single minded pursuit that is Devil Cynster are so soothing. (Yes, I realize this is a bit strange).
The Bad Day Re-Reads for me are slightly different from comfort reads for me, though they're definitely related. The Bad Day Re-Reads have a quality to the writing and the story that doesn't disintigrate over time and multiple readings. For me, they're all mellow and warm, and they work to make me happy every time I read them, and re-read them, and re-read them. It's a mix of enduring quality, tone, and the way in which I connected with the book.
What about you? What are your Bad Day Re-Reads? What books do you find uplifting or guaranteed to make you feel better? Which do you recommend?
I re-read books constantly, most of the time for no reason at all, but like SL and KKW above my “today really sucked” books tend not to be romance.
I am more apt, when feeling crushed and/or angry, to find myself reaching for a mystery (Dick Francis, Ngaio Marsh, Aaron Elkins etc), maybe because a mystery presents a real problem (one with consequences far more serious than even the worst day at work) that is SOLVED.
I reach for my romance favorites when I am tired, and just want to be entertained and get that warm fuzzy feeling of a HEA. I am slowly building my Kindle hoard of Carla Kelly (any and all except the religious ones) and Jennifer Crusie (3x to 4x re-read titles include “Bet Me” and “Anyone But You”), but I also have some Mary Balogh and Mary Jo Putney that serve the purpose admirably.
Another one I’ve gone back to several times is “This Can’t Be Love” by Kasey Michaels.
Jo Beverley, esp. the Malloren books!
Linda Howard To Die For
I would not survive without these..also older Joan Wolf regencies.
oh – @ Judy W – yes! I have ALL of Patricia Veryan’s romances, and some of them were really hard to find. As I recall, they are rather more demanding than most Regency or Georgian romances (IMO) what with all the character interweaving, the conspiracies, the history, etc. Definitely need to revisit them and see if that assessment holds.
I know that now it is kind of “the thing” to have multi-book sagas but I think PV was one of the first to do it (maybe our learned hosts could weigh in on that), and she did it in a substantive way, not just a “and now let’s do a spin-off with THIS subsidiary character” way.
Anyway, I think that is why I have not made these “comfort” or “bad day” regular reads, because once you finish one you kind of want to grab the next one. So maybe “Bad WEEK” reads. LOL
Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. The heroine toughens up and gives the hero a run for his (or her) money. Sebastian is so confused by his feelings that it’s fun to read.
Motorcycle Man by Kristen Ashley. I’m not sure why, except I love Tack. Watching these two blend their lives is fascinating and gives one hope that the most outlandish couples can pull through.
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. Love how Dain is so confused about Jessica and how she’s always one step ahead of him. I just plain love Dain.
Oh, so many bad day re-readables, which is fortunate, because I need different re-reads for different kinds of bad days. Sometimes it takes me three or four tries to find the book that will help. Mostly I look in terms of authors: Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, L. M. Montgomery, Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Moon, Loretta Chase, Mary Jo Putney, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Eva Ibbotson, Laurie R. King. That’s not in order of preference, since that shifts all the time, and I’m forgetting some favorites. Linda Howard, for instance. I could go on and on and on…
Books. Good books make me feel better.
@Annika:
Oh, no. I have those, too!
@Shanna:
That is so awesome. I love that.
When I need a bit of cheering up I reread Jill Barnett’s Bewitching. It is hilarious, laugh-out-loud funny. I think I reread it about once a year. I also love re-reading Catherine Anderson’s Baby Love and Phantom Waltz. The heroes are such good guys and I love the romance. If I’m not in a romance mood I might re-read sections of the Outlander series or books 3 and 4 of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series (Ramses is adorable!).
I love to read some L.M. Montgomery when I’m feeling down. My very favorite is The Blue Castle. In fact I may go pick it up now! Also anything by SEP but partial to Heaven, Texas. Another comfort is Girl of the Limberlost because my grandmother gave it to me when I was 11, and it always makes me feel close to her.
I think my comment got eaten, so I hope this doesn’t double-post! I thought of some extra books, anyway. Tara Lain’s books are sweet and steamy fun, with very sympathetic characters. Her Aloysius series, SINDERS AND ASH, and HEARTS AND FLOUR are good to try if you like m/m, while GENETIC CELEBRITY and DECEPTIVE ATTRACTION will appeal if you enjoy m/m/f menage. M/M fans will also enjoy Anne Brooke’s Delaneys series (the tale of how an unassuming guy starts dating a bunch of strangely lovable gangster brothers…at the same time) and Evangeline Anderson’s STR8TE BOYS (something about cute boys clueless about their lust for each other makes me happy, and the progression of events is fun!), and Ethan Stone’s BARTENDER, P.I. (adorably ditzy hockey player turned detective, it’s priceless). And m/m author JA Rock has a free-read parody of Nancy Drew books, “Trouble At Possum Ranch,” that made me hysterical the other week…it’s got SBTB written all over it! Download here:
http://www.jarockauthor.com/extras—free-reads.html
The fake review blurbs alone are glorious!
My having a shitty day books almost always have to make me smile and top of that list is Darynda Jones’ Charley Davidson series. If I’m in the mood for a historical it’s usually Julie Garwoods The Lions Lady and if I need some inspiration to get out there and kick ass and take names it would be Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels books or Tanya Huffs Conferation series 🙂
This is going to sound a bit odd.
My favorite book for an “I can’t do this anymore” day is Memory, by Lois McMaster Bujold, because if Miles could pick himself up from that, surely I can pick myself up from this.
And for when I’m feeling sorry for myself because of a migraine, the novella “The Mad Earl’s Bride” by Loretta Chase, because she knows whatfor from migraines, and if Dorian can survive his, I can survive mine [g].
My bad day “comfort reads” aren’t necessarily happy, cheery books.
Lisa Kleypas’s Love in the Afternoon, the last of the Hathaways books. Parts of it are heart-wrenching, but there’s tons of humor, too. One of the few truly LOL books for me.
Sherry Thomas’s Not Quite a Husband and His at Night. Neither is a particularly comfortable read, so I don’t really know what about them makes them comfort reads for me (if that even makes sense). But I do love a good grovel (that probably doesn’t speak very well of me), and the grovel in NQAH is particularly satisfying.
Elizabeth Lowell’s Reckless Love (mentioned the other day).
And some SFF/UFs like Ilona Andrews’s Kate Daniels series, Lynn Flewelling’s Nightrunner series, Wen Spencer’s Tinker, etc.
There are more, but these are starters for me.
(I haven’t read everyone else’s lists yet, but I suspect they will end up costing me some money!)
Ohh. I forgot one. Mary Stewart’s Thornyhold is my flannel jammies read, Sarah. The quiet scenes where Gilly revels in her new (inherited) home, putters in the kitchen, communes with the cat, etc. really hit a certain spot for me.
I go for Crusie. Agnes and the Hitman, Bet Me, Welcome to Temptation, and Faking it.
I have enough of Jill Shalvis’s backlog that I’m not rereading her yet, but I could see Lucky Harbor making the list in the future. Also, Tessa Dare, especially the Spindle Cove series.
Oh this is a very a propos topic for me. Here is my list, in no particular order:
The Silver Horse – R.A. MacAvoy
Tea with the Black Dragon – R.A. MacAvoy
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austin
Faking It – Jennifer Crusie
Bet Me – Jennifer Crusie
The Devil’s Delilah – Loretta Chase (or sometimes Lord of Scoundrels)
Any of Connie Brockway’s “light” romances
Most of mine have been mentioned (Almost Like Being in Love, The Blue Castle, Dick Francis’s mysteries, a bunch of Heyers – especially Cotillion, Frederica, Black Sheep) but my number one go-to is The Count of Monte Cristo. Nothing like hundreds of pages of delicious piping hot revenge to brighten a bad day.
Also, to go in a completely different direction, the Junie B. Jones series when I want a) a quick read and b) to laugh and laugh and laugh.
ITA on the Crusie and Kasey Michaels ouvres for comfort reading after a bad day. I also have comfort watches: free 80’s flicks on youtube.
Crusie definitely, Heyer, Jane Austen, Kleypas Love in the Afternoon if I’m feeling sad. And one that hasn’t been mentioned, Sunshine by Robin Mckinley, actually most of her list, but I love Sunshine.
@ k to k: You’re one of the only people I’ve met who is familiar with “Almost Like Being In Love”! Isn’t it a fantastic book? 😀 I prefer it in paperback over eformat, since the Kindle format renders the epistoliary nature of the text rather oddly.
Just curious:
When you all do a Bad Day re-read, do you read the entire book or just the bits you like best? I’m definitely do the latter and will skip any scene that doesn’t have the hero and heroine directly interacting with each other. I can re-read Mary Balogh’s Slightly Dangerous in about two hours when I skip all the side character scenes.
I love rereading. So many favourites to choose from including:
Loretta Chase – esp. Lord Of Scoundrels, The Last Hellion and Mr Impossible.
Meljean Brook – everything, but the first few books of the Guardian series always make me cry with happiness.
Ilona Andrews – Love Kate and Curran and their magical world
Julie James – all of them
Linda Howard – To Die For and Open Season
Marie Sexton – The Coda series (except the short stories)
@babyfishmouth If it’s a Bad Day reread, then it’s almost always just scenes. But if it’s a Bad Week/Month reread, that’s when I reread the entire book.
My Bad Day reads, for romances, are:
Georgette Heyer – These Old Shades or Arabella
Laura Florand – Chocolate series
Joanna Bourne – The Spymaster’s Lady
SEP – Match Me If You Can
Suzanne Enoch – Lessons in Love series or Taming Rafe
Jennifer Blake – Royal Seduction or A Challenge to Honor
Julie Anne Long – What I Did for a Duke
Jane Feather – The Least Likely Bride
These books tend to either be full of witty dialogue and/or deeply romantic with rich language that I can get lost in and forget my problems.
But what makes my Bad Day reads different from my comfort reads is that I will also reach for non-romances: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore and favorites from my childhood, like Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine and There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom by Louis Sachar.
Depends. Comfort reads abound on my shelf.
When I want to cry or am just in that down mode I go for Linda Lael Miller’s Banner O’Brien (the leprosy thing….sigh) or Knights.
When I want tender I go for Julia Quinn’s Everything and the Moon, Brighter Than the Sun, Splendid or Minx.
When I want pure escapism into a comfy world its Ilona Andrews and Patricia Briggs.
When I want engaging passion it’s Jennifer Ashley’s The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie and the Mackeltars of Karen Marie Moning-specifially The Dark Highlander and Spell of the Highlander.
When I want adult it’s Lorelei James or Emma Holly.
When I want the old standby that I can always count on it’s Harry Potter.
When I want deep world building with a mystery I’m always trying to wrap my head around it’s Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changelings.
Side note: I have this book. It’s a trigger book for me. It hits all of the tropes that I hate and will never change my mind about, but I can’t get rid of it. It’s my angry book for when I’m so pissed I want to stay in a bad mood. I reread that one once in awhile too. Anyone else have one?
My Bad Day rereads tend to be books I read in my teen and they include but are not limit to:
The Court and Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith
Any books by Tamora Pierce, Diane Wayne Jones and Patricia C. Wrede.
When I have a bad day, I prefer not to deal with major angst, eroticism, or complications. I’m looking for comfort, so my rereads would be:
Georgette Heyer-Especially Devil’s Cub and The Grand Sophy
Harry Potter
Loretta Chase-Knaves Wager, Viscount Vagabond, Lord of Scoundrels and Mr. Impossible
Eloisa James – Much Ado About You
Joanna Bourne – Her ladyships companion
Most of my favorite authors have already been mentioned here; Heyer, Balogh, Kleypas, Carla Kelly. I’ll just add a few more individual books that do the trick every time; Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers, The Chance by Edith Layton, To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt, Unveiled by Courtney Milan, No True Gentleman by Liz Carlyle, Twice Fallen by Emma Wildes, The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie. Most of these are not overly angsty, but His Captive Lady by Anne Gracie is also a good choice you need to have a good cry.
One that I just started (because I just got it today as a KDD) but having a feeling will become a “Bad Day Book” due to the awesome snarkiness of the dialogue is “When Beauty Tamed the Beast” by Eloisa James. I’ve been rather underwhelmed by the four or so books of hers that I’ve read (and outright hated “Your Wicked Ways”), so I’m cautiously optimistic with this one.
“Ransom” by Julie Garwood; “The Chocolate Touch” by Laura Florand (love Dom). “Knight” by Kristan Ashley (seeing a theme .. hmmm). Outlander/Voyager by Diana Gabaldon – can re-read the part where Claire goes back to find Jamie again in printing shop over and over and over… “The Elemental Series” by Elizabeth Hunter (just got me through a funeral in the family).