{"id":10609,"date":"2024-11-24T17:01:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T01:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/?p=10609"},"modified":"2024-11-24T17:01:28","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T01:01:28","slug":"on-the-joys-of-comfort-re-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/?p=10609","title":{"rendered":"On the Joys of Comfort Re-reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

(I made this post’s featured image using Adobe Firefly’s AI generator. To see the prompt, check out the alt text. I was rather amused, myself, since I was provided with Asian and Black versions too, after not specifying any particular race or ethnicity.) Anyway, on to the post!<\/p>\n

One of my favorite fall and winter activities is cozying up with a book while I\u2019m nice and warm indoors\u2014and if I\u2019m truly in need of comfort, I\u2019ll often turn to a much-loved title and give it a re-read.<\/p>\n

This is something I\u2019ve done since I was a child, actually. There were certain books I turned to again and again\u2014because I loved them; because they felt safe, like an old friend; because I could escape into them; because I felt as if the stories themselves understood me in a way I couldn\u2019t articulate. In some fundamental way they had become real, and I wanted to inhabit that reality for a while.<\/p>\n

I wanted to become part of the story, too.<\/p>\n

Instead of being stuck at my dad\u2019s during a required visitation after my parents divorced, I wanted to be James rolling away inside a giant peach, away from Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, going on adventures and finding friends who understood me. Instead of being plain old boring me, I wanted there to be something special about me. A psychic power like in The Girl with the Silver Eyes<\/em>. (Don\u2019t ask how many times I attempted in vain to move things with my mind.) The ability to commune with dolphins like in A Ring of Endless Light.<\/em> There were so many more, too.<\/p>\n

\"James \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"The \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \"A<\/p>\n

I also re-read books when I wanted to laugh.<\/p>\n

There have been so many of those over the years. Anything Roald Dahl. The Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy<\/em>. Good Omens<\/em>. Numerous compilations of Bloom County and Life in Hell.<\/p>\n

\"The \u00a0 \"Good \u00a0 \"Childhood<\/p>\n

I still re-read books when I\u2019m in need of comfort. There are so, so many wonderful books that I\u2019ve read over the years since my childhood and teen years, books which have been become loved and treasured. Books that I turn to when I don\u2019t feel like reading anything else. Books that I want to hug close to my heart. Books that are more than just this one writer\u2019s inspiration\u2014that bring me somewhere compelling and vivid, that turn me<\/em> into someone compelling and vivid, even if just for those minutes spent reading.<\/p>\n

\"Doomsday \u00a0 \"Graceling \u00a0 \"A \u00a0 \"The<\/p>\n

At the moment, I\u2019m re-reading Connie Willis\u2019s Oxford Time Travel books. This is my first actual re-read of these, and it just felt like the right time, as it were. (I\u2019m glad I didn\u2019t re-read Doomsday Book<\/em> during the Pandemic, though\u2026IYKYK.) I\u2019ve re-read ALL of Tamora Pierce\u2019s series multiple times. I\u2019ve been through the Graceling books at least twice now. (Girls Who Kick Ass is evidently a theme I find comforting.) I\u2019ve been through the President\u2019s Daughter series a few times, most recently last month. I dip back into the occasional Diana Wynne Jones; doesn\u2019t matter which. Any and all are terrific.<\/p>\n

So there you go.<\/p>\n

What are your<\/em> go-to comfort re-reads?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(I made this post’s featured image using Adobe Firefly’s AI generator. To see the prompt, check out the alt text. I was rather amused,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[112,110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dear-tbr","category-who-we-are"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10609"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10628,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10609\/revisions\/10628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingya.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}