Comfort reading
Guardian writers reveal their favourite reassuring reads
It's not only adults who need comfort reading
Alison Flood: A new report suggests that children aren't reading challenging enough books. But we all know that revisiting old favourites is a balm in difficult times
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge: a fairytale of middle-aged love
This gently witty 1946 story about reconciliation and the restoration of equilibrium is an enduring treat, albeit one that reads differently at different stages of life, writes Maev Kennedy
The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban: moving metaphysics for kids
Both comforting and devastating, this tale of two discarded toy mice by the Riddley Walker author is a profound little book – the equal, in some ways, to the Alice books, writes Stuart Kelly
The Day of the Locust, by Nathanael West, glamorously grotesque
Ellie Violet Bramley: For readers in austerity Britain there’s comfort in a novel which follows the casualties of an earlier crash-and-burn
Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel: tragic scenes from a comic family
Jess Sutcliffe: This witty graphic novel focused on family relationships, sexual orientation and grief resonates with a comforting honesty and literary depth
The Tao Te Ching by Laozi: ancient wisdom for modern times
Damien Walter: The mysterious Laozi's insights may be hard to translate, but the meaning is clear – learning to be self-aware could improve modern life
Brendon Chase: the thrill of escaping into the wild
B.B's novel of young runaway boys turning feral in the countryside is filled with sensual detail, and a love for the natural world
Christmas Day by Paul Durcan: delicate, courteous, cordial
Reader Claire McAlpine finds kindness and forgiveness in a book-length poem set on 'the feast of St Loneliness'
Writing in the Dark by Richard Caddel: a quiet contemplation of night
18 Dec 2013: Written at night on a backlit handheld screen, Billy Mills says Caddel's final collection of poems is infused with a love of the world
Emil and the Detectives, by Erich Kästner: an adventure for the child in us all
Paul Simon: The story of Kästner's schoolboy sleuth throws a lasting light on Germany in the 1920s, before the darkness fell
Notwithstanding by Louis de Bernières: pleasures of the parish pump
From rambunctious nuns to soft-hearted military men, eccentric characters save these stories of village life in rural England from tweeness, writes Tim Maby
Possession: an unforgettable lesson in love and letters
Reader Sara Richards finds comfort and joy in AS Byatt's Booker-winning triumph of biographical sleuthing
The Code of Woosters, by PG Wodehouse: Splendid, Jeeves!
Charlotte Jones: Bertie Wooster has been in the soup before, but the glorious convolutions of this particular Jeeves novel 'win the mottled oyster'
Watership Down by Richard Adams: A tale of courage, loyalty, language
Keren Levy: A sense of mythical nostalgia makes this story – of a treacherous journey and quest for survival – one to pick up, time and time again
Love in a Cold Climate: still sparkling, despite its age
Moira Redmond: Nancy Mitford's novel offers a funny and subversive take on the self-assurance of a 1940s aristocratic family. Each reread uncovers new details, and uses a sharp wit to examine love, attraction and ageing
A Christmas Carol: a classic that warms the heart, even as it makes you weep
What Dickens's comforting – and discomfiting – Christmas tale lacks in joy it makes up for in familiarity, writes Lisa O'Kelly
Comfort reading: The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker
Continuing a series on writers and readers' favourite comfort reads, Lindesay Irvine picks a book that finds exquisite pleasure in the minutiae of things
Comfort reading: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Imogen Russell Williams: A great deal warmer, and much more comforting, than its title, this month's Reading group selection is a cheerful favourite of many – including me
Comfort reading: Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Reader Tim Hannigan finds a comfortable travelling companion in Kipling's 'little friend of all the world'
Comfort reading: The Scar, by China Miéville
Justine Jordan: It might not be Miéville's best novel, but this fantastical 'ripping yarn' can't be beaten
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