What's on your Keeper/Comfort Shelves?

[BlueMtn]

Keepers are not only the book themselves, but the time of life I read them (the memories they bring back).  They are old friends that are revisited whenever that comfort or memory path tugs at to be taken...

Here are a few on my own overflowing shelves:

Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (set I've had as a child)

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by J. R.R. Tolkien
My Horses, my Teachers by Alois Podhajsky
The MoonSpinners by Mary Stewart
The Sookie Stackhouse Series 1-9 by Charlaine Harris
The Magic Series 1-3, On the Edge by Ilona Andrews
Mercy Thompson Series & Alpha and Omega Series & Hurog Series by Patricia Briggs
The Harry Dresden Series by Jim Butcher

What's in your wallet?  Or in this case, on your keeper shelf?

[BlueMtn]

Well I just went and checked and Beach Music was available on www.Paperbackswap.com (free is good!) so I'll give it a try.  I've not read Pat Conroy before.

I have  DL audio of Diana Gabaldon "Outlander" to try this fall.

Thanks for sharing!

I'll post some more of my fav's in a minute.

[BlueMtn]

Lije Baley series Isaac Asimov
Taran Series by Lloyd Alexander
Several different series by David Eddings
Lots of Jane Austen & Georgette Heyer
The Liad Universe by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Tinker by Wen Spencer
My romance section has historicals by Julie Garwood, Nora Roberts, Linda Howell, Elizabeth Lowell
Jules Verne!
The art of Driving (horses) by Max Pape

[Sensoo]

Neil Gaiman's Sandman Series, American Gods
Richard Calder: Dead Girls, Dead Boys, Dead Things (Three book omnibus)
Roger Zelazny:  This Immortal, A Night in the Lonesome October
Ted Chiang:  Stories of Your Life and Others
Patricia Wrede:  Everything (It's the memories...)

[Sachiko]

Ooo, patricia Wrede, yeah....

for me:

Chronicles of Narnia
The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper
To Say Nothing Of The Dog/Bellwether/Domesday Book, Connie Willis (but NOT Passage, that one troubled me, which I know it was supposed to do, but, there you go, NOT COMFORTING)
Lecture Series on the Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley
Discworld (anything) Terry Pratchett
Homecoming series, Alvin Maker series, Ender's Game series, Ender's Shadow series, Enchantment, Orson Scott Card
Patriot Games, Tom Clancy
Princess Academy, Bayern Books, Shannon Hale
Wind in the Door, Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters and etc., Madelaine L'engle
anything at all by Diana Wynne Jones!!!
Faith of the Fallen, Terry Goodkind
Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder
Snow Crash, Diamond City, Neal Stephenson


That's all I can think of for now.

Narnia/CS Lewis and Madelaine L'Engle are especially evocative to me; I read those when I was 6 and reread them every year after. Lovely lovely books.

[mjt_3]

My comfort reads..
Chronicles of Narnia.
LOTR & The Hobbit. My Aunt bought me a copy of The Hobbit waaaay back in 87 and had it signed by Rob Inglis, if memory serves I think he narrated LOTR and The Hobbit.
The Darkness series by John Marsden. The descriptions of the Aussie bush are spot on. I always come back to these books
Ilona Andrews.of course!!!
Bio's written by Sara Henderson. Who owned a cattle station in the Northern Territory. Such a strong woman I admired her a great deal

Thats all I can think of for now, I'm sure I will add to the list!

[Cathica]

For me:

Die Unendliche Geschichte ( Neverending Story) by Michael Ende 
Momo by Michael Ende
Das fliegende Klassenzimmer (The Flying Classroom) by Erich Kästner
Homo faber by Max Frisch
Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
Sooki Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris
Mercy Thompson& Alpha and Omega Series by Patricia Briggs
Fever series by Karen Marie Moning

Some Classics:
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
All books by Jane Austen
my Shakespeare Collection

and of course every single book by Ilona Andrews 

[Yala]

Oh, I would have forgotten MOMO if not for you Cathica, thanks My other keepers are:
Tamora Pierce, pretty much everything
Some of Ralf Isau's books, especially 'Museum der gestohlenen Erinnerungen'<- has Nimrod in it , once in a while also 'Kreis der Dämmerung'
Trudi Canavan earned her place there in the last couple years
I haven't reread David Eddings' books in a while but I used to read them a lot
'Witch' and 'Witch and Warrior' (may have a different name in new editions) by Marie Brennan
Dee Henderson's 'O Malley' series (christian romance with absolutely great characters, her other books I wouldn't recommend)
Maria V Snyder's books, but those don't exactly qualify as comfort reads
'Pferdemond' by Evita Wolff
'Das Zauberbuch' by Hans Kruppa (absolute comfort read!)
A couple 'Calvin and Hobbes' comics
Edit: Of course Ilona Andrews! Stupid me! *headdesk*

Some I forgot which are still at my parents due to lack of space, but the most important ones are here

[BlueMtn]

I'm really enjoying what others have in their keeper archives.  Some I have, some I've read, and some I'm going to try!   

[SylviaSybil]

I lost all my childhood books in a particularly crazy move.  So there are some I love and can't remember to buy, such as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  My book collection dates back to my mid-teens.  From memory here, since I'm not at home and can't see my bookshelf...

The Edge & Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews
The Women of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong
Hurog & Mercy Thompson & Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs
Miles Vorkosigan & The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold
Discworld by Terry Pratchett

I know there are more, but I can't visualize them.

[Sachiko]

I loved Sharing Knife. I would love eto find a clone of it for future romance reads.

(Isn't that funny? I worry so much about writing something New! Fresh! as a writer, and I headdesk whenever I find I'm "sharing" an idea, and yet as a reader I love being able to find more of what I like. I guess it's the publishing/gatekeeping thing that starts to feel like a zero-sum equation.)

Cathica, I'd forgotten Michael Ende's Neverending Story but I love that one too! That book made an impression on me when I was small in thinking about what I would do with absolute power. The movie was fun, but I think it's the second part of the story that gives it its power.

[Steinchen]

All 6 novels by Jane Austen
The Mists of Avalon and The Firebrand from Marion Zimmer-Bradley (along with some other books written by her, but those two are my favorites)
Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
Mercy Thompson/ Alpha&Omega by Patricia Briggs
Every single book by Ilona Andrews
The Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery (I loved those books as Teenager, I cannot give them away!)
My favorite YA novel (though it is not fantasy) is "Ludvig meine Liebe" by Katarina von Bredow (Swedish author) I still could read it once a month.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris

[Yala]

Oh, I know Anne of Green Gables, they're my bff's favorites, too

[lacrima]

Hmm, hard question.

Probably Hex by Rhiannon Lassiter (that was the first book I lusted after so badly, I had to buy it.)
The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams (if I had them, I would include his Otherland books too)
Everything by Ilona Andrews
Angels Blood by Nalini Singh
Eragon books by Christopher Paolini

[Ying]

hmmm, my comfort read are:
All Ilona's books
"Old" Linda Howard books
LOTR
Jane Eyre
Study series: Maria V Snyder
Patty's books (Mercy, A&O)
Paper Moon by Joe David Brown
That's all I can think of on top of my head.