Marian Keyes’ Reading List: The Ultimate Comfort Reads

Looking for comforting reads to get you through lockdown? Bestselling author Marian Keyes (The Break, Watermelon, Grown Ups) shares her top picks, from Booker-nominated debuts to feminist retellings of traditional fairy tales.

“Life is very challenging at the moment and personally, I’m desperate for a holiday from reality and from my head,” she says. “Reading has always been a huge pleasure for me but because so much fear is circulating, there are lots of subjects I’m currently not able for. I’ve put together a collection of titles that I’ve found engaging, uplifting, distracting and entertaining. I hope that some of them give you enjoyment and respite. I am thrilled to share this list on a platform that supports the vital work of independent bookshops.”

Her curated reading list is being shared on Bookshop.org – the new alternative to Amazon, designed for socially conscious shoppers keen to support high street bookshops online.

The Ultimate Comfort Reads, As Chosen by Marian Keyes

© Dean Chalkley

• The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson (Pan MacMillan)
• Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen (PRH)
• I Never Said I Loved You by Rhik Samadder (Hachette)
• Gravity is the Thing by Jacqueline Moriarty (Atlantic)
• Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny (Harper Collins)
• Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe (PRH)
• Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Ranjeev Balasubramanyam (PRH)

• Writers and Lovers by Lily King (Pan MacMillan)
• The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill (Scholastic)
• The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan (Little, Brown)
• Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (PRH)
• Filter This by Sophie White (Hachette)
• The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield (PRH)
• My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic)

• The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abi Waxman (Hachette)
• If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane (Harper Collins)
• Odd One Out by Lissa Evans (Simon & Schuster)
• Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid (Bloomsbury)

• The Switch by Beth O’Leary (Hachette)
• The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard (Pan MacMillan)
• Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce (Pan MacMillan)
• Brother of The More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido (Bloomsbury)
• The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson (PanMacMillan)
• Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld (Harper Collins)

READ MORE:

Elena Ferrante’s Reading List / The C&TH Reading List