Comfort Reads for Hard Times

Hey guys, life has been crazy for me recently so I wanted to talk to you about some books that help you to get through hard times and I would love to have recommendations from you too :)

Intro & Outro acknowledgements:
Cookie by ✦ Shmidt Sergey ✦ from the Noun Project
Guitar by Vectors Market from the Noun Project
Music written & performed by K & M Gray

My Twitter: @kittygbooks
My Instagram: @kittygbooks

[leticiatoraci]

I remember being in schock when my grandmother died and I was much older than you then, so my advise is to take it easy and don't ask too much of yourself. You need time to cope with the emotions,

[jessib]

Kitty, this is a great recommendation video!! I wish it was a tag, because I think it would be great to get the entire booktube community talking about this as a concept which is how books can seriously help people cope and even tool build for dealing with hard times. I know for me right now it’s March in Michigan which means that the sky will not allow the sun to peek through for the next 20 days probably, so thanks so much for posting this!

[josephfernandez]

I’m sorry to hear that about your family member 😢. I unfortunately lost all my grandparents when I was young and my dad died in 2010, so you really have been lucky. When my dad died was really the worst since that was the first time I had to personally handle the funeral arrangements as well as take care of both the emotional and financial toll that it took on my mom. I hope she lives a long, long time!

[yourlongshadows]

My go-to comfort read is the Steerswoman series, though the Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers will probably be featured in the future, they're just such a lovely read.
Best wishes in this difficult time. Take care of yourself <3

[Tinahgirl]

I’m so sorry. I come from a huge family (my grandmother had 19 brothers and sisters), so unfortunately I’ve had to deal with it frequently. I’ve lost my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends....and it happens like 5 or 6 in a row. I take it day by day as well. Some days I can function, some days I can’t. Don’t expect too much of yourself, and don’t try to make yourself be ok. Just be whatever and however you need to be. 🤗🤗🤗 And rereading favorites either in print or audio form is how I get through really rough times. Anne of Green Gables, Little Women and anything by David Eddings are my go tos.

[davids]

I love the Riyria Revelations! Hadrian and Royce's dynamic is so great and the side characters and plot are intriguing.

Thank you for your previous recommendation of "Empire of Silence." I am reading that right now(25% through) and I am really enjoying it.

Praying for you through this time.

[noram]

My grandmother passed away last week so I understand what you’re going through. It’s my first experience with this kind of loss. She was a mother to me and losing her carved a huge void in my heart. I’m still struggling with coming to terms with losing her. You video has come in the right time so thank you❤️.

[BooksBobs]

Best wishes for the house hunting and thoughts and prayers to you and your family in the difficult time ahead!! Oddly enough I was thinking about this recently and I'm in a similar enough situation. I jumped back into The Way Of Kings to get through!!!

[JasonsWeirdReads]

I read Nevermoor recently and can see how it would work for this. I’m finding that Eye Of The World And The Great Hunt from WoT are great comfort reads recently. Great idea! I’m going to check out some of these other books.

[treebranch]

Great video- came at a perfect time. My mom is also quite ill and my brain is all over the place as well. I’ve wanted to hide away in stories when it gets overwhelming and these hints will help trying to find a book I can stick with.

[biggestNWFreak]

I so so much hope your relative don't have to suffer too much and it will be an easy passing. It allways helped me to think, that my relatives are in a better place now with their loved ones, and that it's okay to be sad.
I'm suffering from clinical depression and severe social anxiety. I love to read Tolkien's Hobbit in the bad moments, because it gives me the feeling, that a nice grandpa is reading me a good night story. I also have Matt Haigs Truth Pixie lying next to my bed and Grimm's Fairy Tales (I'm German, so I grew up with them :) ), so I can read them every evening before bed time. Due to my illness I have troble with sleeping. Reading this easy and comforting stories (about children eating witches, I know :D) helps me to calm down my mind. Other comfort reads are everthing by Brandon Sanderson, but especially the Stormlight Archive, because I understand the characters and their illness so well, and it gives me strength to see, that they are struggling but still fighting back their illness. And sometimes I read it just to feel something again.

[katiewright]

I kind of know what you mean about being in a weird headspace. A few years ago when I was starting college I was really excited for that and I had started my first job, but right around the time the school year had started my Uncle had found out that the cancer that he hadn't had in 2 years was back and it had come back stronger and faster. I remember about 2 months later my parents telling me that he wasn't doing well and had maybe a week left so a couple days later we went to visit him in the hospital only to have found that we were an hour too late and that he had passed. It is weird because just a few months ago my sister, who is 17, and I were cleaning our room we found this stuffed dog from sister's 1st birthday that you could write Happy Birthday messages on so she could look at when she was older. We saw that someone had written a message on the butt and wondered what goofball did that. It turned out to be my Uncle he had written something along the lines of when she turned 21(we're american) they could share a drink together. The two of us ended up sitting there laughing and crying at the same time.
I just want to say that I understand what it is like to go through happy and sad moments at the same time. I guess that's why we have the word bittersweet.

P.s. my comfort read is Harry potter but I also love doing sudoku and jigsaw puzzles because I would do them with my Uncle. Sometimes doing things you liked to do with the person you lost can be comforting. Also sorry if this too long and personal the video just reminded me of my Uncle.

[nylorac]

In terms of reading while in a weird head space I say one route to go is to read something extremely complicated or fast paced. Something that does make you think about it rather than the things that might be weighing you down. For me personally when my mind is wandering in a million different directions I need informative media, something like cooking shows, or articles, documentaries. Maybe in terms of books that would translate to non-fiction reads, cook books, memoirs, books on animals ...

[aneweliseonlife]

Thank you so much for this! This is the perfect timing. I am also going through some life changes when it comes to my health and growing up and all that jazz. The books I have been drawn to are the books with fluffy main characters. Most of the time I am a morally grey girl all the way. But right now I need my good guys good and bad guys bad. I need classic supportive side characters and little emotional conflict. Usually those books would get a “meh” read out of me, but right now when everything irl seems crazy I need to know the good guys win in the end haha~

[punypunny]

Kitty - Pls do one video each for favourite female and male hero/character. Thanks!

[hellogoodbyeandallinbetween]

I'm sorry to hear that you are going through some troubling times, happy for you to be buying a house though!! I really appreciate the recommendations. Something I'd really love if you would consider doing is writing the titles of the books you talk about in your description. It would make it so much easier for me to copy and paste them across to my goodreads 'to read' list!!

[arcticsprendogs]

My go-to for both returning to something I love and reading a children’s book is the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. It’s such a vast series, but it’s written in a way that makes it easy to go back to no matter what’s going on in my life. 😊

[lisamckeogh]

Thanks for a lovely video! My prayers are with you and your family! x

[clairemeehan]

I find myself reaching for children's /YA fantasy if times are tough, especially stories I read as a youngster (e.g. Narnia Chronicles or Grimm's tales). There is something about connecting to the child within that helps me feel comforted. Also laugh out loud books such as some of Terry Pratchett's discworld stories are great to revisit (I have particularly enjoyed Snuff, Carpe Jugulum, Making Money and Witches Abroad). Wishing you all the very best Kitty.

[BedtimeBookworm]

I really love middle grade fantasy when I’m feeling down. I love reading Diana Wynn’s Jones, particularly her chronicles of Chrestomanci series!