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Make Me Feel Better Books: A List

I had such a great response to my question about your favorite "make me feel better" books! It delighted me to no end. I also had several people ask to see the list and so for those of you who didn't get a chance to glance through the comments I decided to compile them here in list format. The better to add to your TBR, my dears! Seriously, what I'd love is a series of Retro Friday reviews from you guys on each of these books. They are obviously near and dear to your hearts and I'd love to hear more on why. I enjoyed seeing how many of you named the same authors, the same books, and I wholeheartedly agree on anything by Robin McKinley, Sharon Shinn, Mary Stewart, Megan Whalen Turner, Tamora Pierce, Jane Austen, Eva Ibbotson, Diana Peterfruend, and the Brontes. Me being me, I'd go ahead and add Ellen Emerson White, Juliet Marillier, and Lloyd Alexander to the list. Just for good measure! So I hope you enjoy the list below. Amazing, isn't it?!

Make Me Feel Better Books


The Mitford Series by Jan Karon (Kate)
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett (Alexandra)
Dragon Prince by Melane Rawn, Star of the Guardians series by Margaret Weiss, and anything by Sharon Shinn (Sunny)
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (celi.a, catherinecw, Tiffany M., farrarwilliams)
Sabriel by Garth Nix, Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, & anything by Louisa May Alcott, L.M. Montgomery, and Gene Stratton Porter (celi.a)
•The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (catherinecw, MsM, Emily, Becky)
•The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce (catherinecwJen)
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen (catherinecw)
Fortune and Fate by Sharon Shinn, Chalice by Robin McKinley, The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett, and On the Edge by Ilona Andrews (LinWash)
The Good Luck Girl by Kerry Reichs (Sabrina)
•Anything by Nora Roberts or Linda Howard (Sabrina, MsM)
The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery (mainhoonemily, Raspberry)
Home Cooking and More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, and Nine Coaches Waiting or Thornyhold by Mary Stewart (mainhoonemily)
The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (MsM, Emily)
Anything by Charlaine Harris (MsM)
Archangel by Sharon Shinn (Tiffany M., heidenkind)
Angelica by Sharon Shinn, Juniper by Monica Furlong,  Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi, When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn (Tiffany M.)
Early Janet Evanovich books (Brenda)
Siddartha by Herman Hesse and the Belgariad and Malorian series by David Eddings (heather)
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (Sandy Shin)
Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters, anything by Christina Dodd (heidenkind)
Anything by Mary Stewart (heidenkind, Kaethe)
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (Princess Allie, Jen) 
Anything by Kelley Armstrong (Princess Allie)
Anything by Megan Whalen Turner, Robin McKinley, and Sherwood Smith (Chachic)
Anything by Diana Wynne Jones (Chachic and DarlaD)
Mystic & Rider by Sharon Shinn (Emily)
The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton (Jen)
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, anything by Mary Hooper, Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, and anything by Eva Ibbotson (Raspberry)
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (Lizzy)
•Anything by Dorothy Dunnett, Patrick O'Brien, and Georgette Heyer (Linda Gillard)
Dreaming in Black and White and Dreaming in Technicolor by Laura Jensen Walker, Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen, Belong to Me by Marisa delos Santos, Happyface by Stephen Emond, and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Tina)
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (farrarwilliams)
The Death In . . . books by M.M. Kaye (Misti, mainhoonemily)
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford (Alexa)
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher, To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (Kaethe)
Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes, The Secret Society Girl series by Diana Peterfreund, the first three Pink Carnation books by Lauren Willig (Erin)
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and anything by Meg Cabot (Becky)

Comments

  1. I love so many of those books :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm pretty sure I don't disagree with any of those books. It's a fabulous list.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is awesome! I'm going to print it out. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Uh oh... my TBR list officially hates this post. Lots of titles on there I've never read and there are plenty of days when I need a comfort read!

    ReplyDelete
  5. So many good books in this list! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is a wonderful resource. Thank you! Linking to it on my FB page...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous7:15 PM

    I bookmarked this list, it's great, I am re-reading Cold Comfort Past, your post was an inspiration ...plus I am finally watching North and South (BBC) right now and I am thinking "why have I not seen this before?"

    ReplyDelete

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