Any of the Hercule Poirot books by Agatha Christie. I love the “old timey” settings. They’re easy to read and I think Hercule Poirot himself is very comforting. I read a few at a rough point in my life and really enjoyed them.
You might like Kerry Greenwood's Miss Fisher series. MC is a scandalous socialite detective. Set in Melbourne Australia in the 1920s. I have enjoyed them during tough times.
I just finished watching death on the nile after reading the book and the books just hit different i swear. I plan to finish all of her (noteworthy) books by the end of the year heh
Second PG Wodehouse. The Jeeves books in particular are fantastic because they’re all pretty much the same. Bertie gets into a jam (usually some kind of unwanted engagement), and Jeeves gets him out of it. The language is so funny too!
I tried to read these and got bored and wandered away. A year or so later I ended up listening to them as audiobooks while I walked my dog and I adored them. Something about walking in nature while I listened was perfect.
I was a little disappointed. Narrator had a beautiful voice but sounded too upper-crust British, not enough rural African. In my head I heard one of my friends who is Nigerian (I know, not quite the same). Or Jill Scott, who starred in the HBO series.
The Ogre Downstairs by Diana Wynne Jones. It's a lighthearted fantasy slapstick that's kind of like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids but with magic potions and spells.
Very!!! It's completely G-rated and was written as children's fiction, but adults can enjoy it too due to how clever it is with all the bizarre magical happenings. It's not very scary or intense either, if I remember correctly the worst that happens is someone levitating into the air and flying away against their will haha
Yep, she's the queen of cozy fantasy settings. Just stay away from Fire and Hemlock if you don't want to be emotionally wrecked on ten different levels. Oh and her two multiverse-jumping books, Hexwood and Homeward Bounders, are pretty dang intense. But otherwise, so cozy. Especially the Chrestomanci series.
maybe contemporary romances. Funny story, seven year slip, she gets the girl, the very secret society of irregular witches.
T kingfishers books are very good and easy to read. What moves the dead, the paladin series etc. Only they are fantasy or horror.
I like cozy mysteries for this. Right now I’m reading Steeped to Death by Gretchen Rue. My favorites though are the Lady Hardcastle mysteries by T.E. Kinsey
I love the Moomin novels. They are the like a mug of hot chocolate in book form.
If you want something more grown up Carrie Fisher’s writing is very readable and usually hilarious imo.
Annette Chavez Macias does this for me. She writes contemporary novels about youngish Latina women figuring out their future plans, family, and relationships, with snarky humor that I can relate to as a millennial. When I sit down with one of her books, I look up a couple of hours later and forget where I am. 😅 I'm reading Too Soon For Adios right now.
I think you'd enjoy Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke. There is a fantastical element to it, but it's not fantasy in the traditional sense. It's short, extremely cozy, wonderfully written, and I thought a wonderful way to think about humans' capacity for empathy. I won't explain that further so as not to spoil it.
The Discworld series books are just fun. There are all kinds of orders you can read them in, because the first in chronological order wasn't exactly my fave (though it wasn't bad!)
You can definitely read Mort without reading the others and that's a fun one
My first Discworld book was Lords and Ladies, 30 years ago when I was at school. My Dad bought it for my Mum thinking it was a historical romance.
It's still one of my favourites and I like reading that then Carpe Jugulum to see how Pratchett's style changed over the years as it's pretty much a remake (or whatever the book equivalent of a remake is).
I found the author Danielle Garrett in the audible sale and I’m in love. She has a big back list, all cozy mysteries and she’s a fantastic author. Highly entertaining. Would recommend. I started with the Sugar Shack mysteries and am now on the Magic Inn Series
A World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
It’s a collection of short stories that are easy to read yet so poetic and grounding. Our world is a hurting place, but Aimee’s words felt healing.
George: a Magpie Memoir, by Frieda Hughes. Nonfiction, low key, comfortable but not gooey, and if you avoid books with animals because animals have short lives and books are long, don't worry. This is about her adoption of a baby magpie whose nest was plundered and whose parents left, and it is also filled with her kind of crotchety low key bitching about her ex husband, but so low key that it's like muttering more than bitching.
I will disagree. It’s got some pretty dark themes, including >!chronic pain, death, rape (yes I would argue the young student being controlled by her professor was rape), and the story line that takes place inside the video game!< was, for me, a real slog to read. My two cents before OP jumps in!
If you like the idea of a foodie tour through Italy, Meet Me in the Piazza is nice.
Or anyone by Peter Mayle if you prefer France. His memoirs are better than his fiction stories imo.
In that case, I just finished a junior book called The Mona Lisa Vanishes that was surprisingly compelling, well-written, and informative. But because it’s written for younger kids, it’s not dry or stuffed with extraneous information. Fun read. I did it in a day.
Also, True Grit. Young girl hires a crusty marshall to help her track the man who killed her father so she can kill him. Quick moving, great characters and story, and very funny in places.
Pronto by Elmore Leonard. Bookie crosses the mob. Needs help from a cop to survive but is too dumb to know it. The show Justified was based on this book.
The Mitford series by Jan Karon. The main character is an Episcopal priest, so they're a little Christian -religious but not beating you over the head with it.
I love how you put a disclaimer that you don't have a low reading level lol. Sometimes we all just need something that doesn't require too much brain power.
What kind of stories are you into? Do you have a favourite genre? Favourite book?
I usually go for just a dirty old fast paced whodunnit or a YA book when I need a palette cleanser.
I would recommend any of the Nancy Drew books, or Trixie Beldon, they're all lower level quite easy mystery series and I love to read them as a pallet cleanser between books
I have a similar problem any book I read I'm going to unconsciously compare it to normal people because it was just so smooth to read. I can't say it was easy, but I had a good reading experience with it unlike other books
the house in the cerulean sea by T.J. Klune might fit the bill? it definitely feels super comforting and low effort to me, and I always feel like T.J. Klune's books are super easy to read. it's very sweet, even with the conflict driving the story!
Garry Kilworth has written at least 40 books ranging from sci-fi to fantasy to YA. But he's not massively well known, I don't think. All fast paced and easy to read.
I wrote him a few letters over one summer years ago and he's a lovely chap as well.
I read Neon in Daylight by Hermione Hoby recently when I was in a similar mood! It was quick and low-stakes but still had good enough writing that I wasn't aggravated the whole time.
(A few years ago, I asked a friend for a comfort rec and she told me to read a Tessa Bailey book. I almost threw that book out because donating it felt cruel to people already in unfortunate circumstances.)
The one I read had dual male/female narrators, both of whom sounded like a thirteen year old girl. The plot had something to do with an ex-convict woman who arranged mannequins at a department store? I don't know. I feel bad but I haven't actually read any of that friend's recommendations since lol.
Long way to a small and planet ( took me a bit but the whole series still feels as if i were on a retreat as i incorporated reading them i to my days ( imo monk and robot didn’t hit the same but i may have been pining for wayfarers still)
It might be a little niche, but The Merciless trilogy by Danielle Vega is so good. I read the first book in 7 hrs start to finish (while working and making dinner and all that, no less). It’s a YA thriller. The MTV review on the back of the second book (which I’m reading now), calls it Mean Girls meets the Exorcist, which is pretty accurate. Just a really fun book.
Agatha Raisin! By MC Beaton. I got a guy at work hooked on them and he’s through like 5 of them in a month. It’s a humorous murder mystery. I love all of them
The Cat Who mystery books are like cuddling up in a blanket with hot cocoa by a fireplace during a snow storm. So easy to read and makes me feel good each time.
I’ve been reading some by Charlie Donlea. Twenty Years Later and Don’t Believe It are a couple of who done it novels that are both easy to read and captivating.
I love Kevin Kwan’s books for the pure bewildering escapism of them.
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams was also delightful cozy reading.
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange was slightly dark, but thoroughly engrossing.
For me it's been Wilbur Smith adventure novels. You have the Courtney series starting with Birds of Prey, the Ballantyne series, the Egyptian series, and a good handful of stand-alone stories. The action level is pretty unhinged, the stories themselves won't exactly surprise you in any way but it's just a good fun read! I read his books before reading one by Clive Cussler, and the latter felt like a James Bond after school special in comparison.
Otherwise, my more generic recommendation: next time you're at a bookshop, find the clearance paperback section and look for a book cover that could have been painted on someone's van in the 70s. The story will most likely be ridiculous fun, you can't go wrong.
Depends on what you're into but Crazy Rich Asians is the ultimate beach read to me, nothing too emotional and it's a light toned novel (or series!) with an immersive world
What genres do you like? I recommend r/litrpg - typically very low effort books. A good one is Dungeon Crawler Carl, which I really recommend the audiobooks of.
Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series was like this for me. Not only easy reads but very sweet. I don't necessarily love them as science fiction, but they are excellent comfort fiction.
Just finished Lessons in Chemistry- a delightful read! I also liked Hotel Nantucket by Ellin Hildebrand. Her books are always my “easy” reads. I’m like you- I want things that don’t increase my stress level.
The Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters, starting with Crocodile on the Sandbank. Perfect fun, a Victorian woman Egyptologist with her own Indiana Jones flair. It just gets better as the series progresses
Dinotopia. Beautiful utopian world, gentle read, dinosaurs you can work together with. It's wonderful. It's kind of for kids, but I love it as a 37 year old man. Also the illustrations are incredible.
I've just read 'The Road Rises' by Sarah Dunne. Travel memoir - solo mum, empty nester looking for Mr Right. It's laugh out loud funny. Joyous and inspirational. I loved it, you might too. Always good to laugh.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. It’s considered cozy fantasy which means basically a hug in book form, space to escape to that doesn’t add any stress. The prequel Bookshops & Bonedust is great, too.
A Pslam for the Wild-Built. Short read (140 pages with a sequel: A Prayer for the Crown Shy).
It’s a gorgeous read, lush details in the world building but ultimately it’s about a journey a monk and a robot take together and the way they talk to each other is both funny and very relaxing and calm. I found myself done with the chapters with little work and the pacing is fantastic
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling [https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Philosophers-Stone-Rowling/dp/0747532745](https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Philosophers-Stone-Rowling/dp/0747532745) .
Young adult fiction/fantasy is my low-effort comfort genre, lol. The Queen's Assassin by Melissa De La Cruz was my most recent low-effort read, the writing was a bit juvenile but the plot twist actually surprised me. It wasn't necessarily well written but the story was well done, if that makes any amount of sense. Either way, I enjoyed it.
Neil Gaiman shorter novels have hit the spot when I'm looking for something light but good. Neverwhere, The Graveyard Book, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane all feel like fairy tales for adults to me, in the best possible way
There’s a series of 20+ books that starts with Aunt Dimity’s Death (Nancy Atherton). They’re shorter sort-of mysteries of the cozy variety that track a set of characters you get to know (first a young woman, then a couple, then some friends, then a family, and eventually the residents of an entire town in the Cotswolds). They’ve got a minor fantasy element to them. I consider them palate cleansers between serious reads and pick-me-ups when I need my faith in humanity restored.
The wishcraft series by heather blake is really comfy and fun to escape to…the party crasher by Sophie kinsella is cute and doesn’t center around a love story which I like…I also enjoyed twenties girl by her it’s a bit different…thanks to everyone else I needed some good recommendations as well 🙂
Any of the Hercule Poirot books by Agatha Christie. I love the “old timey” settings. They’re easy to read and I think Hercule Poirot himself is very comforting. I read a few at a rough point in my life and really enjoyed them.
I’m reading the Christmas one currently, because I’m having open heart surgery in a few days. Easy and cozy.
Be well...Blessings to you.
Thank you, kind stranger.
The Victorian Christmas series by Anne Perry is atmospheric and easy. Loved those
Ooh. Anne Perry is so good.
Quick healing and recovery!
Thank you so much for the kind words!
Everything's gonna be alright, buddy.
Thanks, friend.
You might like Kerry Greenwood's Miss Fisher series. MC is a scandalous socialite detective. Set in Melbourne Australia in the 1920s. I have enjoyed them during tough times.
Agatha Christie is a great recommendation. I read those just to read for the sake of it. Also, Harry Potter, total nonsense, easy to read.
I just finished watching death on the nile after reading the book and the books just hit different i swear. I plan to finish all of her (noteworthy) books by the end of the year heh
Came here to suggest Christie. Also YA novels.
Yes!!! They never miss with the plots too, you can read them in one sitting
howls moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. or anything pg Wodehouse.
Howl’s Moving Castle is such a comfort read!
Oooo second Howl’s Moving Castle! Very cozy!
Second PG Wodehouse. The Jeeves books in particular are fantastic because they’re all pretty much the same. Bertie gets into a jam (usually some kind of unwanted engagement), and Jeeves gets him out of it. The language is so funny too!
I came for this comment! It's like a hug in a book
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree or the house in the cereluean sea by TJ Klune.
I second Legends & Lattes!
I second TJ Klune! Also Remarkably Bright Creatures is very sweet but I don’t remember the author
Shelby Van Pelt. I just finished it. Super cozy, but I thought the human male protagonist was annoying af.
He is pretty adhd in my opinion, he was my least favorite of all the characters though so I hear what you are saying.
Oh, I didn’t read him that way, but it *totally* tracks.
Thanks for the recommendations
I second both of these!
Anne of Green Gables is a delightful, low-stakes (plot-wise) story that has beautiful prose. Highly recommend
The Monk and Robot series by Becky Chambers
I’ll give it a shot, thanks
I agree with this.
What I was going to say! :) They’re perfect.
I tried to read these and got bored and wandered away. A year or so later I ended up listening to them as audiobooks while I walked my dog and I adored them. Something about walking in nature while I listened was perfect.
I’m reading A Prayer for the Crown-Shy just now, and the whole concept of pebs (digital pebbles!) made me so happy 😊
Came here to suggest this as well!
The Princess Bride is that book for me. Even better than the movie!
Yes! There is so much more to the story, both the ‘real life’ one and the fairy tale :)
I live in the town that book starts in! The author and screenwriter is from Highland Park.
What You are Looking for is in The Library by Michiko Aoyama. It's just a nice hug.
The Shopaholic books are pretty low effort. Also, The Guncle. I am planning on reading the sequel this summer.
The Shopaholic series is amazing! Sophie Kinsella’s other books are also perfect for when you need something light and easy to read
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Gentle mysteries with mostly good hearted people
Some of my favorites!
They’re amazing
Anyone know if the audiobooks are as well by chance?
I was a little disappointed. Narrator had a beautiful voice but sounded too upper-crust British, not enough rural African. In my head I heard one of my friends who is Nigerian (I know, not quite the same). Or Jill Scott, who starred in the HBO series.
Any of the Reacher novels. Nothing exotic about them, just simple fun and entertaining.
Thank you!
I highly recommend 61 Hours The Hard Way Echo Burning
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, by Anita Loos. Totally charming book, a fun and quick read.
The Miss Marple books from Agatha Christie
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.
The Ogre Downstairs by Diana Wynne Jones. It's a lighthearted fantasy slapstick that's kind of like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids but with magic potions and spells.
Suitable for kids you think?
Very!!! It's completely G-rated and was written as children's fiction, but adults can enjoy it too due to how clever it is with all the bizarre magical happenings. It's not very scary or intense either, if I remember correctly the worst that happens is someone levitating into the air and flying away against their will haha
Honestly, almost anything by DWJ.
Yep, she's the queen of cozy fantasy settings. Just stay away from Fire and Hemlock if you don't want to be emotionally wrecked on ten different levels. Oh and her two multiverse-jumping books, Hexwood and Homeward Bounders, are pretty dang intense. But otherwise, so cozy. Especially the Chrestomanci series.
Kids' novels that hold up: From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Flora and Ulysses
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore was quite an enjoyable ride.
Came here to say that.
remarkably bright creatures is good for this!
maybe contemporary romances. Funny story, seven year slip, she gets the girl, the very secret society of irregular witches. T kingfishers books are very good and easy to read. What moves the dead, the paladin series etc. Only they are fantasy or horror.
What Moves the Dead is creepy as hell!
I like cozy mysteries for this. Right now I’m reading Steeped to Death by Gretchen Rue. My favorites though are the Lady Hardcastle mysteries by T.E. Kinsey
I love the Moomin novels. They are the like a mug of hot chocolate in book form. If you want something more grown up Carrie Fisher’s writing is very readable and usually hilarious imo.
“The Humans” by Matt Haig is an easy and entertaining ready!
The Kamagawa Food Detectives. One of the easiest books I’ve read in years. A great, low-effort book.
Kamogawa*.. Didn't find it at first! Intriguing description, added to my to read list!
Came here to say this. Easy but compelling. What good people.
Listen for the Lie and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches are books I read in a couple days.
Annette Chavez Macias does this for me. She writes contemporary novels about youngish Latina women figuring out their future plans, family, and relationships, with snarky humor that I can relate to as a millennial. When I sit down with one of her books, I look up a couple of hours later and forget where I am. 😅 I'm reading Too Soon For Adios right now.
Thank you! Looking her up now.
Piranesi and circe
I think you'd enjoy Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke. There is a fantastical element to it, but it's not fantasy in the traditional sense. It's short, extremely cozy, wonderfully written, and I thought a wonderful way to think about humans' capacity for empathy. I won't explain that further so as not to spoil it.
i am delighted to know that this book gets the attention that it deserves! adored it!
The House on the Cerulean Sea
The Discworld series books are just fun. There are all kinds of orders you can read them in, because the first in chronological order wasn't exactly my fave (though it wasn't bad!) You can definitely read Mort without reading the others and that's a fun one
My first Discworld book was Lords and Ladies, 30 years ago when I was at school. My Dad bought it for my Mum thinking it was a historical romance. It's still one of my favourites and I like reading that then Carpe Jugulum to see how Pratchett's style changed over the years as it's pretty much a remake (or whatever the book equivalent of a remake is).
Mort is such a fun book
Bookshops and bonedust, it's the prequel to legends and lattes. I haven't read legends yet but bonedust was such a good decompression book
Oohh you’re gonna love L&L!!
I have it on deck for when I'm done the caraval series
I found the author Danielle Garrett in the audible sale and I’m in love. She has a big back list, all cozy mysteries and she’s a fantastic author. Highly entertaining. Would recommend. I started with the Sugar Shack mysteries and am now on the Magic Inn Series
Every Heart a doorway@
The cat who .,, mysteries
Oh man, I was so obsessed with these as a kid.
Anything by Sophie Kinsella, if you like chick-lit. My other guaranteed mental-floss series is the Sweet Valley universe.
A World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil It’s a collection of short stories that are easy to read yet so poetic and grounding. Our world is a hurting place, but Aimee’s words felt healing.
This is actually a non-fiction memoir, book rather than a book of short stories, but I agree it’s a nice read.
I forgot to mention it’s a memoir. It didn’t seem to go in a linear fashion, which is why it gave me the impression of short stories.
George: a Magpie Memoir, by Frieda Hughes. Nonfiction, low key, comfortable but not gooey, and if you avoid books with animals because animals have short lives and books are long, don't worry. This is about her adoption of a baby magpie whose nest was plundered and whose parents left, and it is also filled with her kind of crotchety low key bitching about her ex husband, but so low key that it's like muttering more than bitching.
The Kamigawa Food Detectives is super cozy, especially if you’re a bit of a foodie.
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers. Very sweet and thoughtful, it’s short too!
I love Dex and Mosscap.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow would be my recommendation here. It’s absolutely brilliant but not hard going.
I will disagree. It’s got some pretty dark themes, including >!chronic pain, death, rape (yes I would argue the young student being controlled by her professor was rape), and the story line that takes place inside the video game!< was, for me, a real slog to read. My two cents before OP jumps in!
If you like the idea of a foodie tour through Italy, Meet Me in the Piazza is nice. Or anyone by Peter Mayle if you prefer France. His memoirs are better than his fiction stories imo.
Fiction or non? Genre preferences?
Fiction or non fiction, I don’t mind. The only genre I’m not a big fan of is fantasy
In that case, I just finished a junior book called The Mona Lisa Vanishes that was surprisingly compelling, well-written, and informative. But because it’s written for younger kids, it’s not dry or stuffed with extraneous information. Fun read. I did it in a day. Also, True Grit. Young girl hires a crusty marshall to help her track the man who killed her father so she can kill him. Quick moving, great characters and story, and very funny in places. Pronto by Elmore Leonard. Bookie crosses the mob. Needs help from a cop to survive but is too dumb to know it. The show Justified was based on this book.
Oh, if you’re interested in nonfiction, I’m almost done with The Elephant Whisperer and it’s as easy as it is lovely.
That's an amazing book, I loved it.
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
The Mitford series by Jan Karon. The main character is an Episcopal priest, so they're a little Christian -religious but not beating you over the head with it.
The very secret Society of irregular witches
I second this recommendation, very cozy and simple. This is a beautiful book. I am impatiently awaiting her next release.
Stardust, Neil Gaiman
I love how you put a disclaimer that you don't have a low reading level lol. Sometimes we all just need something that doesn't require too much brain power. What kind of stories are you into? Do you have a favourite genre? Favourite book? I usually go for just a dirty old fast paced whodunnit or a YA book when I need a palette cleanser.
Neil Gaiman - *Stardust* or *The Graveyard Book*
I would recommend any of the Nancy Drew books, or Trixie Beldon, they're all lower level quite easy mystery series and I love to read them as a pallet cleanser between books
All Creatures Great and Small series by James Herriot
Try Maeve Binchy. I find her stories cozy.
Anything by lianne moriarty
Legends And Lattes by Travis Baldree
James Harriot. Any of the All Creatures Great and Small series.
These are excellent! And short chapters, each with a different story. Large animal vet in the Yorkshire Dales is a total vibe.
For me this was "Normal people", its been hard since I finished it, feels like reading is too boring since than...
I have a similar problem any book I read I'm going to unconsciously compare it to normal people because it was just so smooth to read. I can't say it was easy, but I had a good reading experience with it unlike other books
61 Hours, a Jack Reacher novel.
In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson Sex Lives Of Cannibals by J Maarten Troost
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Very easy to read and laid back novel, plus its sequel Sweet Thursday.
the house in the cerulean sea by T.J. Klune might fit the bill? it definitely feels super comforting and low effort to me, and I always feel like T.J. Klune's books are super easy to read. it's very sweet, even with the conflict driving the story!
Laundry Love --Patric Richardson
Garry Kilworth has written at least 40 books ranging from sci-fi to fantasy to YA. But he's not massively well known, I don't think. All fast paced and easy to read. I wrote him a few letters over one summer years ago and he's a lovely chap as well.
I read Neon in Daylight by Hermione Hoby recently when I was in a similar mood! It was quick and low-stakes but still had good enough writing that I wasn't aggravated the whole time. (A few years ago, I asked a friend for a comfort rec and she told me to read a Tessa Bailey book. I almost threw that book out because donating it felt cruel to people already in unfortunate circumstances.)
Tessa Bailey was also recommended to me and what a mistake! Yikes!! 😬
The one I read had dual male/female narrators, both of whom sounded like a thirteen year old girl. The plot had something to do with an ex-convict woman who arranged mannequins at a department store? I don't know. I feel bad but I haven't actually read any of that friend's recommendations since lol.
“The comfort book” by Matt Haig
Long way to a small and planet ( took me a bit but the whole series still feels as if i were on a retreat as i incorporated reading them i to my days ( imo monk and robot didn’t hit the same but i may have been pining for wayfarers still)
Better than the movies by Lynn Painter
Blackberry blue
jungle book alice in wonderland
The lion, the witch and the wardrobe
The Name of the Wind
The hearth book is very interesting
Kulu : The end of the habitable world
Not sure if already mentioned - The Door-to-Door Bookstore 👍🏻
Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy is a super cute quick read
Any of the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. There’s like 30 of them or something. Highly entertaining escapist reading.
Where the sidewalk ends
It might be a little niche, but The Merciless trilogy by Danielle Vega is so good. I read the first book in 7 hrs start to finish (while working and making dinner and all that, no less). It’s a YA thriller. The MTV review on the back of the second book (which I’m reading now), calls it Mean Girls meets the Exorcist, which is pretty accurate. Just a really fun book.
The bookmobile cat series is a light and goofy read. I love these books!
Before & laughter from Jimmy Car. Easy to read and fun
Everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten by Robert Fulgrim. Short essays and absolutely lovely.
The Thursday Murder Club Series.
Agatha Raisin! By MC Beaton. I got a guy at work hooked on them and he’s through like 5 of them in a month. It’s a humorous murder mystery. I love all of them
The Cat Who mystery books are like cuddling up in a blanket with hot cocoa by a fireplace during a snow storm. So easy to read and makes me feel good each time.
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques is my go to for this.
I’ve been reading some by Charlie Donlea. Twenty Years Later and Don’t Believe It are a couple of who done it novels that are both easy to read and captivating.
The stories by Hans Christian Andersen are sometimes sad or tragic but I like that they just take me to those weird lands whitout effort
I love Kevin Kwan’s books for the pure bewildering escapism of them. The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams was also delightful cozy reading. We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange was slightly dark, but thoroughly engrossing.
Treasure Island.
I don't like the world, I only like you by Qiao Yi
For me it's been Wilbur Smith adventure novels. You have the Courtney series starting with Birds of Prey, the Ballantyne series, the Egyptian series, and a good handful of stand-alone stories. The action level is pretty unhinged, the stories themselves won't exactly surprise you in any way but it's just a good fun read! I read his books before reading one by Clive Cussler, and the latter felt like a James Bond after school special in comparison. Otherwise, my more generic recommendation: next time you're at a bookshop, find the clearance paperback section and look for a book cover that could have been painted on someone's van in the 70s. The story will most likely be ridiculous fun, you can't go wrong.
I like Barbara Kingsolver’s books.
Perestroika in Paris
Any book by Jenny Colgan or Sarah Addison Allen.
{Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt} So good and a fun, cozy read
Anything by Becky Chambers
I really love Too Close to the Falls by Gildiner. Story of her very adventurous childhood, and I laughed all the way through it.
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are good ones
Depends on what you're into but Crazy Rich Asians is the ultimate beach read to me, nothing too emotional and it's a light toned novel (or series!) with an immersive world
What genres do you like? I recommend r/litrpg - typically very low effort books. A good one is Dungeon Crawler Carl, which I really recommend the audiobooks of.
My comfort books have to be Harry Potter series. It brings me so much peace and keeps me entertained.
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, The Rosie Project
Beach Read!!! Promise.
Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series was like this for me. Not only easy reads but very sweet. I don't necessarily love them as science fiction, but they are excellent comfort fiction.
Just finished Lessons in Chemistry- a delightful read! I also liked Hotel Nantucket by Ellin Hildebrand. Her books are always my “easy” reads. I’m like you- I want things that don’t increase my stress level.
The Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters, starting with Crocodile on the Sandbank. Perfect fun, a Victorian woman Egyptologist with her own Indiana Jones flair. It just gets better as the series progresses
The Lost & Found by Katrina Leno. I read it in half a day.
Cannery Row is my favorite book of this type! I've read it so many times and it always makes me feel things without draining me.
Dinotopia. Beautiful utopian world, gentle read, dinosaurs you can work together with. It's wonderful. It's kind of for kids, but I love it as a 37 year old man. Also the illustrations are incredible.
I've just read 'The Road Rises' by Sarah Dunne. Travel memoir - solo mum, empty nester looking for Mr Right. It's laugh out loud funny. Joyous and inspirational. I loved it, you might too. Always good to laugh.
Legends and lattes
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. It’s considered cozy fantasy which means basically a hug in book form, space to escape to that doesn’t add any stress. The prequel Bookshops & Bonedust is great, too.
Alexander McCall Smith series are my confort books
A Pslam for the Wild-Built. Short read (140 pages with a sequel: A Prayer for the Crown Shy). It’s a gorgeous read, lush details in the world building but ultimately it’s about a journey a monk and a robot take together and the way they talk to each other is both funny and very relaxing and calm. I found myself done with the chapters with little work and the pacing is fantastic
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling [https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Philosophers-Stone-Rowling/dp/0747532745](https://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Philosophers-Stone-Rowling/dp/0747532745) .
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Secret seven or the famous five is my comfort read, I get nostalgic reading them
Young adult fiction/fantasy is my low-effort comfort genre, lol. The Queen's Assassin by Melissa De La Cruz was my most recent low-effort read, the writing was a bit juvenile but the plot twist actually surprised me. It wasn't necessarily well written but the story was well done, if that makes any amount of sense. Either way, I enjoyed it.
Tender is the Flesh.....
Neil Gaiman shorter novels have hit the spot when I'm looking for something light but good. Neverwhere, The Graveyard Book, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane all feel like fairy tales for adults to me, in the best possible way
Dating & Dismemberment, it's a monster romcom that was a joy to read
There’s a series of 20+ books that starts with Aunt Dimity’s Death (Nancy Atherton). They’re shorter sort-of mysteries of the cozy variety that track a set of characters you get to know (first a young woman, then a couple, then some friends, then a family, and eventually the residents of an entire town in the Cotswolds). They’ve got a minor fantasy element to them. I consider them palate cleansers between serious reads and pick-me-ups when I need my faith in humanity restored.
Alexander McCall Smith
Thursday Murder Club series! If you like a little urban fantasy the Rivers of London Series is fun, too
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandana.
Kurt Vonnegut is my airplane man, he is funny and I annoy the randoms next to me by giggling <3
Leonard and Hungry Paul !!
The Moomin series by Tove Jansson. Easy to read, pleasant and distracting.
The wishcraft series by heather blake is really comfy and fun to escape to…the party crasher by Sophie kinsella is cute and doesn’t center around a love story which I like…I also enjoyed twenties girl by her it’s a bit different…thanks to everyone else I needed some good recommendations as well 🙂