It’s still January (barely!), so I guess talking about my failed reading and blogging resolutions will fit right in. I’m not the only one out there who’s struggling am I? I had big plans for January: review the reading year just past, outline my hopes and plans for the reading and blogging year ahead. Unfortunately, a major crisis at work, illness at home and my own desperate need for sleep interfered with my plans. I have yet to do any of the things I hoped for - plus now I have backed up chores at home that need my attention too.

I struggled these past few months trying to balance work and home and *snort* personal time. My reading and blogging time were drastically curtailed. What’s an overscheduled working mom who is snowed under to do anyway? What do you turn to when you’re stressed and tired and have too much to do and too few hours to do them in? Who or what are your comfort reads? The reliable oldies but goodies that you can count on to pull you through? Do you turn to gothics or traditional regencies? To contemporary humor, to love and laughter, to chick lit? Romantic suspense? Sheiks and billionaire’s secret babies?

For the last few weeks I managed to set aside my usual January goal setting (and breaking!). Instead I settled in with several romances I dug up out of my TBR (To Be Read) bookcase. I curled up with my favorite throw and a huge mug of tea and the radio playing in the background. Basically instead of driving myself bananas with all of the shoulds, ought to be’s, needs to be done right now I pampered myself. How often do you take the time, especially when you’re stressed, to pamper yourself?

This month I returned to the romances I cut my teeth on- medievals. Way back in the day, farther than I care to admit, I fell headlong and hopelessly in love with medieval romances. The epic sweeping sagas never failed to take me away from my troubles. Eventually I branched out into Regency and Georgian set books, but I’ve always had a soft spot for 1100 to 1300. Over the years though, medievals slowly became harder and harder to find. Or perhaps I stopped hunting so diligently. Whichever explanation holds the truth, eventually I wasn’t reading medieval romances anymore. And I missed them.

Maybe it’s all of the pageantry and horses and armor and beautiful gowns and handsome knights. Maybe it’s because the faraway time period helps me set aside my own life. Escapism at its easiest. Winging my way back into the past somehow helps me relax and decompress. What is it about your comfort reads that draws you back to them time and time again? Are they classics? Authors new to the genre? A book or an author in one of the new romance subgenres? Are you someone who has switched subgenres in the last few years? Are your comfort reads the same as they have been for years or have they changed?

I feel better now. Batteries recharged, hope restored and all that jazz. Ready to slay the dragons and do the dinner dishes. I hope your comfort reads can do the same.