Reversing a Reading Rut

“Spring” always toys with my emotions, delivering grey, cold, rainy weather when it’s reputation is all buttercups and rainbows. But lately, it’s not only the weather making me cranky: I’ve been in a reading rut for months, utterly failing in my quest to find a great new novel to read each evening and distract from my weather-related woes.

After excitedly starting several books that have received glowing reviews, only to be nonplussed and underwhelmed, I finally admitted defeat this week and decided to follow the wise advice of author Elizabeth Goudge:

“In times of storm and tempest, of indecision and desolation, a book already known and loved makes better reading than something new and untried...nothing is so warming and companionable.”

The seven books in the Narnia series by CS Lewis were the comfort reads of my childhood, and so this week, I returned to that magical place, starting with The Magician’s Nephew, which tells Narnia’s creation story. The familiar tale of goings on in a bucolic, unpolluted, and idealistic young world has been a deeply soothing antidote to my modern-day worries about climate, technology, and politics. And children’s books are short: I quickly finished The Magician’s Nephew and have happily moved on to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Feeling nostalgic, I also indulged a craving to re-watch St. Elmo’s Fire, the 80s movie classic about a close-knit group of friends navigating life after college graduation. I was worried it would not hold up to the march of time but was delighted by the universal themes (unrequited love! the search for purpose! enduring friendship!) and vintage 80s music, fashion, and interiors. I had forgotten how ubiquitous multi-strand pearl necklaces and Princess Diana-inspired hairstyles (on men and women) were and that stylish apartments in 80s movies (see: Wall Street) all had photo murals covering entire walls.

This week’s trip down memory lane got me thinking about the other books and movies I find comforting. In addition to the Narnia books, I love returning to Laurie Colwin’s novels (populated by upper-crust New Yorkers in the 80s), coming-of-age movies set on or near college campuses (Pitch Perfect, Good Will Hunting), and wedding movies like High Society, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Steel Magnolias, and The Princess Bride.