DEBORAH CROMBIE: What fun to have the lovely Jonelle Patrick visiting us all the way from Tokyo this morning! I have no idea what time it is in Japan, but Jonelle is a treat any time of day. She has a new coming out on April 21st, THE SAMURAI'S OCTUPUS.
I can't wait to learn the significance of the title, but today she's here to chat about something else. Here's Jonelle!
LET’S TALK COMFORT
READS
Good morning, Reds and fellow Readers! It’s me, Jonelle,
waving at you from Tokyo.
The divine Deb kindly invited me here today because I have a
new book coming out in April, but first there’s something else I’ve been dying
to ask the Reds and Readers about.
Did you open your email this morning and save Jungle Reds for last, knowing it’ll be a welcome antidote to whatever fresh outrage just screamed at you from the headlines? Like me, do you top up your cuppa and come here to be reassured that smart, thoughtful people still care about books and writing and each other? That there are still kind people on this earth who listen to each other, offer condolences in times of loss and sadness, encouragement to those with health woes, and joy at every new book release and award? I don’t know about you, but for me, Jungle Reds is one of those safe havens and islands of goodness I’ve come to rely on in this weary world.
But what do you do in the middle of the night when you need something more to whisk you away from your cares and worries? That’s what I’m here to ask about today.
Reds and Readers,
what do you look for in a comfort read?
Sometime during covid I stopped reading thrillers—a genre I
used to consume by the truckload—and started seeking out the kind of books that
will gently but firmly lure me away from staring at the ceiling at 3:00 a.m.
and worrying about test results or fretting over the problems of the world. I’m
pretty sure the Reds and Readers are world-class experts on comfort reads, because
so many of you write them and we so often recommend them to each other.
So…what defines a
comfort read for YOU?
What must-haves do
you look for in a comfort read?
What no-fly zones must
a comfort read absolutely avoid?
What are your
favorite comfort reads (and why)?
To get us started, want to hear mine?
Must-haves: Writing and plot so immersive I need to
set a timer if I’ve got somewhere to be; a setting/situation that’s very
different from the reality I’m escaping; a satisfying ending (everyone gets what
they deserve, good or bad)
No-flys: Graphic violence or cruelty; evil triumphing
over good in any lasting way
Favorite comfort reads: Mysteries have always been my
all-purpose comfort read—especially if they take place elsewhere and elsewhen (i.e.
not in the present-day USA)—because puzzling over a crime I know is going to be
solved in 350 pages stops me from obsessing about the problems that are tougher
to solve in real life. I’ve also started reading more historical fiction,
because whatever dire straits and evil leaders and wretched conditions the
characters have to endure, I know for a fact we survived that era. That the
pendulum always swings, humanity lurches forward, and evil goes out of style
again.
My latest go-to
comfort reads:
The Wine of Angels
by Phil Rickman
The Mists of
Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
A Letter of Mary by
Laurie King
In the Bleak
Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming (this whole series, to be honest. Eek,
have I developed a vicar fixation?)
Matrix by Lauren
Groff
So tell me, Reds and
Readers, what about you? What do YOU look for in a comfort read?
Jonelle Patrick writes what she reads. Her new mystery, The
Samurai’s Octopus, takes place in Japan’s Yoshiwara pleasure quarter in the
1780s, where the shÅgun rules with an iron fist but women hold all the cards.
It’s a place where those with the most power must beg favor from those with the
least, and one resourceful girl growing up at the House of Treasures just might
bring down a high-ranking murderer if she manages to find the mother she’s
never known. If you’re my long-lost twin when it comes to comfort reads, here’s where
you can find out if The Samurai’s Octopus
checks all your boxes too…
Congratulations on your new book, Jonelle . . . I’m looking forward to reading “The Samurai’s Octopus” . . . .
ReplyDeleteComfort reads are like getting a hug from a book . . . . you’re left feeling peaceful and your heart is smiling. I have to agree with you, Jonelle, about Julia’s Clare Ferguson / Russ Van Alstyne books being comfort reads; I’d also add “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” and many children’s books like “Goodnight Moon” . . . .
Joan, no surprise, you are a woman after my own heart. I hesitated to mention how many YA books I consume in times of true distress, but now that you've opened the door, Counselor, I'll admit that the Narnia books are in my emergency stash for those dire staring-into-the-abyss nights. YA and childrens' books go that extra mile even beyond cozies, and I think the good ones are some of the finest literature ever written. (Did you ever reread Winnie-the-Pooh as an adult? I was astounded at how it spoke to me on a whole different level than the stories I was delighted by as a child!)
DeleteJoan, no surprise, you are a woman after my own heart. I hesitated to mention how many YA books I consume in times of true distress, but now that you've opened the door, Counselor, I'll admit that the Narnia books are in my emergency stash for those dire staring-into-the-abyss nights. YA and childrens' books go that extra mile even beyond cozies, and I think the good ones are some of the finest literature ever written. (Did you ever reread Winnie-the-Pooh as an adult? I was astounded at how it spoke to me on a whole different level than the stories I was delighted by as a child!)
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Jonelle! Do you live in Japan full time? I lived on the Okakyu Line fifty years ago for a couple of years, teaching conversational English and studying Japanese. Your new book sounds fabulous!
ReplyDeleteComfort reads for me are historical and smart cozy mysteries, which is why that's also what I write (as Maddie Day). They were a great comfort to write during pandemic lockdown - my story was pretty much the only thing I could control and make sure things came out right in the end.
Edith, I have been a fan of yours forever (speaking of smart cozy mysteries!) and I never guessed you'd lived here until you mentioned it the other day! Have you been back since your Eikaiwa days? I have a cultural visa now for writing, so I COULD live here all the time...if all my family wasn't in San Francisco. I spend about half the year here in Tokyo, and the other half ironing napkins for all major holidays (none of my kids has twelve plates, forks or chairs, so I've been unsuccessful at retiring from turkey duty). But you are my sister in writing being a way to escape the various horrors of reality for a few hours (ugh, the pandemic was the worst, wasn't it?) I was so homesick for Japan the first time we moved back (I cried all the way to Narita Airport), writing my first (utterly unpublishable) novel was a way for me to spend four hours a day in Japan, even though my body was on Pacific Coast Time.
DeleteJonelle, intrigued by The Samurai’s Octopus as you are a new-to-me author! and one of my comfort reads is Shelby VanPelts’ octopus tale of Remarkably Bright Creatures. To answer your question about reading Jungle Reds: I just visit the website daily, don’t get the emails. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteElisabeth, you have wonderful taste in comfort reads. I LOVED Remarkably Bright Creatures! It's going to be one of my future 3:00 am Top Five, once my increasingly tired braincells forget enough of it to make it feel new again. I loved spending time with the characters and know it will all come out right in the end, which my two biggest hot buttons. (And I've seen you here before, never guessing that you do that most dedicated of things: come here without even an email to remind you! It really says something about a community when it's welcoming and safe enough to be part of peoples' everyday lives, don't you think?)
DeleteEdith, I have been a fan of yours forever (speaking of smart cozy mysteries!) and I never guessed you'd lived here until you mentioned it the other day! Have you been back since your Eikaiwa days? I have a cultural visa now for writing, so I COULD live here all the time...if all my family wasn't in San Francisco. I spend about half the year here in Tokyo, and the other half ironing napkins for all major holidays (none of my kids has twelve plates, forks or chairs, so I've been unsuccessful at retiring from turkey duty). But you are my sister in writing being a way to escape the various horrors of reality for a few hours (ugh, the pandemic was the worst, wasn't it?) I was so homesick for Japan the first time we moved back (I cried all the way to Narita Airport), writing my first (utterly unpublishable) novel was a way for me to spend four hours a day in Japan, even though my body was on Pacific Coast Time.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new book, Jonelle, I love histoical mysteries and it is going on my TBR.
ReplyDeleteSince the pandemic, I also have been searching for comfort reads. The Jungle Red Writers' books are all on the list, but I have also been reading lots of historical mysteries and lots of romances and romantic mysteries. In particular, I have gravitated towards books that are laugh-out-loud funny, devouring series like the Shackleford Sisters by Beverley Watt and The Carsington Family Series by Loretta Chase. If you like to laugh, I cannot recommend anything funnier. I just read A KING'S RANSOM by Janet Evanovich and could hardly put it down. I do set timers in order to get to appointments.
Oh my goodness, a new Janet Evanovich that comes this highly recommended from you? Straight to the TBR! And thank you for the laugh-out-loud funny recommendations that hooked you into reading an entire series. You know how some books start out funny, but the style of humor wears thin by the end? Hearing of a writer whose funny bone goes the distance is like GOLD.
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