TWO COMFORT BOOKS TO READ IN 2025

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1. FRENCH BRAID BY ANNE TYLER




What do you aspire to do every morning when you walk around your house as a 60-year-old with a mug of coffee and a newspaper or Kindle in hand? When I grow old, I imagine myself reading Anne Tyler every single day, sipping my chai, loitering on the lawn, and letting the warmth of the sun penetrate my old, wrinkled skin just like her words do. I would love to read a few pages of her book every day, laugh with her characters, shed tears of joy and sorrow as they disintegrate and unite, hold the book closer to my heart whenever it ends and heave a sigh of relief as I open another.

 

When you start an Anne Tyler book, you should know what you are getting into. Ritualistically, all her books are set in Baltimore and revolve around a family whose members are all troubled, different, and unique in their own ways. Yet, none of her two books reads the same. It’s the magic Anne Tyler weaves with all the familiar words and unfamiliar territories.

 

This time, it’s about the Garretts’ family and how their lives change as the kids move out one by one. Grandma Garrett returns to her art after finding time, leaving Grandpa Garrett lonely and sad. The Garretts grow into a big family but they could never manage to go on that one trip, ever. Years later, the cousins don’t even recognise each other when they meet by chance. Such are the Garretts. But really, can there be anything special about a family whose members are all so much into themselves? I bet, you will be surprised to find out.

 

Well, if you know I don’t do reviews of Anne Tyler books here. I only try to talk about the experience. Because there is something truly special about her writing that I just can’t get enough of. One of the best things I love to read in her books is the dinner table conversations. They are just… 🤌. I have even dreamt of having such conversations with my own family members someday. That’s how much her books have deeply deeply inspired and affected me.

 

The most unsettling part about her books is seeing your favourite characters getting overlooked or growing old and lonely. The stillness in their lives, the longing for their family to be together again becomes palpable and I feel I can see myself in each one of them. I love the vulnerable yet strong characters she writes, their mundane lives dissected in depth, and the reflection of flawed human nature in every character. At the core, this book studies human lives and families to the minute detail with the ability that only Anne Tyler is gifted with. I will be really surprised if someone doesn’t enjoy what she writes.

 

2. MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON (BOOK 1/5 OF AMGASH SERIES) BY ELIZABETH STROUT

 


All I wanted was to read Oh William, and for that to be achieved, I had to start with the first book in the series. That was genuinely why I picked this book up. But oh my, did I just fall in love with it? It would be an understatement to say that without putting it in all caps—I LOVED IT!!

 

Lucy has been amusing herself by gazing through the window of her hospital room for nine weeks after undergoing surgery for her appendix. Her mother is finally visiting her after years of separation and they discuss the married lives of everyone they know in Amgash. Basically, gossip. But behind all the gossip are tales that are interwoven with Lucy’s past. What is it that Lucy wants to forget, and what is it that she wants to overcome?

 

I devoured this book in a breath, with the same urgency with which it was written. I did not expect to connect so much with Lucy—in her poverty-stricken childhood, in her punishing loneliness which she loved deeply, in her tangled relationship with her parents, in her anger towards the world and money, and in her kindness that stayed even after she lost everything. Lucy is strong, tender, and flawed yet always learning. She could identify easily with any of us, but to be Lucy takes courage and grit. Lucy’s voice is brittle yet resounding, and it definitely triggered something in my head that made me fall for it.

 

The book mostly explores the relationship between Lucy and her mother—delicate, problematic, and twisted with a hint of love and longing. It covers so many important topics like colonialism, discrimination, abuse, PTSD, and isolation without making it heavy for the readers. I loved the pacing, the breaks it gave the readers to breathe, the language, the style and everything in between. This book makes you pause, reflect, and reorient yourself which is all you need in a world that rarely cares for others. I recommend everyone read it, and I am now looking forward to the next books in the series. I can’t wait till I get to Oh William and find out what the buzz is all about.



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