My Five Books For Rainy Days

Some people enjoy rain. Apparently, it calms them and they revel in the smells and sounds it provides. I am not one of those people. I am horribly meteoropathic, rain makes me sleepy and cranky and very unpleasant to be around. Just ask anyone. :)

I’ve long ago learned that books are the only cure for this condition, and that some get me out of my mood of doom and gloom more easily than others. On GoodReads, I have a shelf named ‘Books for rainy days’ so I’ve decided to name this post after it and share with you the books I’m most likely to reach for every time the weather tries to announce the apocalypse. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. THE CHARLEY DAVIDSON SERIES

“This is one Fruit Loop beyond certifiable.”

No matter how many times I rave about these books or how many people I convince to read them, it never feels like enough. Charley pulled me through some really tough times and she is the most likely to make me laugh in 90 seconds or less. All I need to do is pick up any of the four books available so far and open it to a random chapter, and I’ll be laughing like a hyena in no time at all. In Charley’s own words: if she were edible, she’d be a fruitcake – much like Stephanie Plum, but unlike Stephanie, she’s also endearing, intelligent and above all competent.

2. MASH  - THE NOVEL ABOUT THREE ARMY DOCTORS

“We act insane, because if we didn't, we would most surely become insane.“

Remember MASH, a movie from 1970. with Donald Sutherland? (Yes, that’s the guy who played President Snow in The Hunger Games.) No? How about the TV series with Alan Alda?

 

If you do, you probably already know that they were both based on a book by Richard Hooker. MASH is, hands down, the funniest book I’ve ever read, and no matter how many years pass (it was first published in 1968), it never stops being gut-bustingly funny. If you haven’t met Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper John McIntyre, Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan and the rest of the gang, you’ve been missing out on a lot. Their pranks aren’t always completely harmless, as testified by Shaking Sammy, the Protestant chaplain whom they’d bound, gagged and offered as human sacrifice, but they are always hilarious.

3. BAD TASTE IN BOYS

“Excuse me if I feel skeptical,' I said. 'Coach's foot fell off. How exactly do you propose to cure that? Superglue?”

Most authors have this overwhelming need to make sense, but Carrie Harris suffers from no such limitations, and I adore her for it. She would never let a small thing like sense get in her way. Sense is overrated anyway. The best way to enjoy Carrie’s debut is to jump in and hold on for dear life. The plot has more holes than Swiss cheese and the entire thing is like an episode of Looney Tunes, but if you can relax and just go with the flow, you’ll get to laugh until you drop.

4. WICKED APPETITE

First of all, I should mention that I’m not a Stephanie Plum fan. The first book was amusing, and grandma managed to shoot a few things in the second one, which was also fun, but it all went downhill from there. That said, Wicked Appetite is a whole different kettle of fish. It’s Evanovich’s attempt at writing paranormal… urban fantasy, I dare say, but like everything else she does, it’s not to be taken seriously at all. In Wicked Appetite, we have a heroine whose superpower is making the most delicious cupcakes, a one-eyed ninja cat, a wannabe witch and a monkey that keeps flipping people off. Like Bad Taste in Boys, Wicked Appetite makes no sense whatsoever, and there’s something so incredibly relaxing about not having to pay attention to worldbuilding or plot or anything else but one silly line after another.

"The way it’s been told to me is that there are seven deadly sins known collectively as SALIGIA. Envy, Pride, Greed, Gluttony, Lusty, Grumpy, and Sneezy.”
“I think some of those were dwarfs,” I said to Diesel

5. A STRAIGHT LINE TO MY HEART

A Straight Line To My Heart by Bill Condon is my latest addition to the shelf, and one that will surely help me cope with many rainy days to come. This Aussie contemporary YA is short, soothing and often laugh-out-funny. It’s one of those books that makes you feel better about life even while it’s breaking your heart.

„The thing I've noticed about life is that it just keeps coming at you. And it can be a real bummer. What you need to remember is that you're not alone. You've got friends and family. That's how we get by. We talk and share and eat cake and giggle in the dark, even when we're scared - no, especially when we're scared.“

And that's it. There are, of course, quite a few more, but these are the books I wanted to mention today. Expect a second part of this post... oh, in about four months or so.

What about you? What is your favorite comfort read? And which of these would you be willing to give a chance?