So lately I've been in a bit of a funk. Lord knows there are plenty of things to stress me out. Work. Kids. Health. Aging Parents. But it's more than that. I've been stagnant, both in my writing and my friendships. It's time I tested new waters.
But instead I've crawled back into the past and found it to be a lovely new place. It's fresh and warm, sort of like bread from the oven. It seems time has not diminished many of the books I once loved and I'm rediscovering them all over again. I began buyin the newly re-released Georgette Heyers. Sourcebooks has them all being gradually re-released with gorgeous new covers. Oh, How I love Heyer! Let me count the ways.
I think I love her feisty heroines the best, followed by her pairings of equally wide-eyed heros and heroines. My personal favorite may be Black Sheep, closely followed by Faro's Daughter, Frederica, Regency Buck, and Friday's Child. I also adore Cotillion. Her characters are magnificently drawn and the situations are always fresh and entertaining. Her history is so right that I never find myself pulled from the story. Yummy!
If Heyer is fresh bread, then M.M. Kaye is chocolate chip cookies. I'm reading my way through her Death in... series. So far I've re-read Death in Kenya and Death in Zanzibar. Next up, I'm thinking Death in the Andamans and Death in Cypress. Or maybe Kashmir. I love her mysteries. Exotic locales, young lovers, treasure, spies, creepy houses: her books have it all. I only wish there were more of them. If all you know about this woman is The Far Pavilions, you simply must give her mysteries a try.
Mary Stewart would have to be a big steaming baked potato with all the fixings. Always romantic and always suspensful, her novels really set the bar for me. Intrepid heroines who sometimes rescue their heros simply made my teenaged heart go pitty-pat. No jerk, a-hole exucuses for Alpha Males. Her heros are witty, urbane, and utterly devoted to their heroines. The danger often somes from within, killer cousins and deceptively faithful family retainers abound. What's not to love?
So who are YOUR comfort foods? I mean reads. Comfort reads. I knew that.
And what do they taste like?