Comfort Reading, Watching, Listening, & Eating

By Andrea Lipinski, Young Adult Librarian
May 5, 2020
Kingsbridge Library

 

When we need a morale boost, we often turn to things that comfort us. But comfort means different things to different people. Sometimes we’re comforted by familiar things that remind us of home, or of childhood. We can be comforted by funny books, or scary movies, or podcasts that immerse us in other people’s stories and make us forget about our own lives for a while. We can be comforted by food that we share with others, either in person or virtually.

Over the last several weeks that I’ve been isolating at home and worrying about the future, I’ve found myself looking for things that will cheer me up. I’ve been reading YA novels and graphic novels that pull my mind into their plots and distract me from the news. I’ve been watching way too many Perry Mason episodes, because when I’m watching them, I relax into the familiar patterns of the black-and-white stories.

I listen to comedy podcasts at night, listening to my favorite episodes over and over again until the words lull me to sleep. When I’m not ordering food to be delivered from my local restaurants, I’m cooking things like brisket, chicken noodle casserole, and the chili that my mother used to make when we were kids. All of these things give me comfort in different ways.

Here are some suggestions for comfort reading, watching, listening, and eating, from the New York Public Library and beyond. Explore these links if you want to boost your morale, give yourself a change of perspective, or just get out of your own head for a while.

Then tell us in the comments: What does comfort mean to you? And what are your comfort reading, watching, listening, and eating recommendations?

READING

Reading

WATCHING

Watching

LISTENING

Listening

EATING

Eating

 

Images CC0 Public Domain from PXHere