The Life of Things

Sorry, didn't mean to give away your whereabouts there.

Cheers Dolly Rocket. Thanks to an family-owned audiobook read by Prunella Scales, though, I know the book already. I can quote bits still. It does tick almost all the boxes -- but not the first and most important. The title tends to give that away! The Starkadder residence is a blissfully bleak comedic setup, but unlike the Badger or Durrell homes, I would not want to visit it personally.

Thanks for that ian, will check it out.

Many, many thanks to all! I'm particularly grateful to Echo for von Arnim who looks interesting and of whom I hadn't heard. I also had forgotten about Dandelion Wine, which I'd intended to read a long while ago but forgot about -- so thanks to Ms. Drinkwater for taking the time away from Edgewood. And all suggestions in general were much appreciated too. If anyone thinks of anything else, please don't hesitate! This is just why I asked.. I do not normally read things like this myself and thus didn't know where to begin -- it's not that I'm short of reading material in general, quite the contrary! Cheers to all.

This multiquote thing is good. Those look fun, please convey my thanks to the top of your head chesilbeach! I have to say Sousa, I think your tastes run to denser, more literary fiction than I'm after on this particular occasion. The books I gave as examples are perhaps not entirely negligible, but they're really pretty simple. Not Nobel stuff really.

I have not been to school since 1988! This is just what I want to read at the moment. (In case you think it's narrow, it's not all I want to read, but it's the only area for which I could use recommendations.) I got this list considering The Wind in the Willows and My Family and Other Animals -- why they were so important to me. However I take the point that I put it all a little surgically and perhaps "obfuscated by clarifying" so I have made a shorter version: Hi, I'm looking for more books like Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows and Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals -- which I think of as fun, fairly light (whilst still of literary merit) and above all cosy, homey and comfortable/comforting in their different ways. I like the fact that there is no love and romance, and nothing harrowing/depressing. I also like the fact that they feature nature, and are English in perhaps a rather old-fashioned way. If you know any more books you think are in that line, I would love to know what they are! Thanks a lot. I hope this is less offputting...? It's a thoughtful suggestion and I thank you for it, but I have to say, I do not think it would actually be comforting in the sense I intended.

Hi and many thanks for reading. I'm on the lookout for cosy, comforting books of a pretty specific nature. They could be fiction or non-fiction, and either adult or advanced children's/young-adult reading (although I would like to avoid books which consist mostly of children interacting with other children. I would like a good many adult characters). Alas I'm just not familiar enough with the canons and catalogues to know what's available that might suit me. I want the books to be cosy, which to me means that they should treat of home and its comforts as an important element. Love and romance should not feature prominently, nor action and crime take any major centre stage, and nothing particularly harrowing should occur in terms of grief, fear, pain and depression etc. Absolutely ideal would be books that additionally: -- Treat of "Englishness" in some way, if perhaps tangentially -- Feature countryside and/or animals (not necessarily English countryside and animals BTW) -- Are set 1850-1950 -- and perhaps written then -- Are more vignettes than gripping single plot. But if a book does not hit every one of those latter points please don't hold it back as it might still suit very well. In fiction, Grahame's Wind in the Willows is a good fit on all counts; for non-fiction, Durrell's My Family and Other Animals is perfect. I can't help thinking there must be so many more authors and titles that would work? Please do recommend anything you think might be close, and I'll take a look. If you have heaps of ideas then by all means bring on the deluge! I'm sure imaginations here are first rate, but still, you might find it hard to imagine how grateful I'll be for your help. Thanks so much again.