Sometimes I want to read like an explorer, learning something new and venturing onto every page not knowing if it might be the page where things go wrong. But there are many times when I read for comfort, and then I turn to books I know well. Books I know really well. Books I’ve read over and over and over again because they always make me feel better.
For me, this kind of comfort reading goes beyond escapism. There are lots of books that can give me a temporary escape from reality, but comfort reads give me sustenance. They remind me about the flow of friendship and the reassurance of people who understand. Not only do the characters feel like friends, but specific scenes that I like feel like friends. The jokes that I know are coming are still funny. These books refresh me and leave me smiling at the end.