Synchronistic Memes

[fabrisse]

Not actually memes, now that I think about it, but madlori brought up what she calls "secret books" and linaerys asked about comfort books.

So, I'm interested in both. What books do you feel like you're the only person who knows about them? What books do you turn to for comfort?

In my case, Terry Pratchett is my number one comfort read. My mood may determine which of his books I pick up, but if the specific one I'm yearning for is inaccessible, I can still find something in any of his works.

For secret books, I selected two by Janet Kagan, Hellspark and Mirabile.

Comments

[eanja]

My comfort book (in terms of what comes to mind with that term), is The Tightrope Walker by Dorothy Gilman. Though Pratchett works too.

The first secret book that comes to mind is The Diary of Ducrot Pepys, by Ronan Grady. It's a possibly privately published humorous account of West Point Cadet life around 1940. Written by a cadet, and probably first published in cadet magazines. I ran across it while there, unsurprisingly. Since it was almost 50 years old when I read it, none of my classmates have heard of it either, and I don't know that it would be particularly entertaining to anyone who wasn't a former cadet.

A less obscure secret book would be Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor by Mervyn Peake- a rather marvelous picture book about a pirate captain who befriends a strange creature from a pink island and eventually leaves the high seas to settle down to desert island bliss and laziness. It's very much what you'd expect if you crossed Dr. Seuss and Edward Gorey.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

I'm unfamiliar with all three of those, but I want to find The Diary of Ducrot Pepys. It sounds wonderfully informative about old traditions.

[eanja]

I could loan it to you, if you like. It's quite short. I could also explain references, if needed. You have a military background, so probably would get much of it, but it was written to an audience of fellow cadets, with the assumption that they knew all the slang.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

That would be great.

[daylyn.livejournal.com]

I used to read David Eddings books (and sometimes Mercedes Lackey books) as my secret, comfort read but I haven't read either for a while. I'm not really sure why. Although now I think that my true secret comfort read is CM slash. :) (And other fanfic too).

Hello, btw. Hope you're doing well. (My life is a little less crazy -- my dad is recovering and that's good news and a relief).

Take care!

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to hear your dad is doing better. How's the new job going?

I've never read David Eddings, but I have a guilty addiction to telepathic white horses. *G*

[katewallace.livejournal.com]

Comfort books: anything in the "Spenser" series by Robert Parker. Good Omens if I want to laugh alot. The "Original Star Trek" novels: "Doctor's Orders" and "The Wounded Sky" both by Diane Duane.

Secret books: I'm not sure how secret they are, but I've never really come across many references to James H. Cobb's "Captain Amanda Lee Garrett" series :"Choosers of the Slain", "Sea Strike", "Sea Fighter" and "Target Lock". I've read them over and over and really enjoyed them each time. Sort of a "Captain Janeway in the late 21st century" series.