stories that feel like home . . .

Some books are so familiar that reading them is like being home again.

~ Louisa May Alcott ~

As the years go on, and as I grow...both as a person and in age, there's one thing I've come to learn about myself. And that is the absolute fact that my favorite books are the ones where the stories feel like home. When I say feel like home, what I mean is a story that feels like coming home to the place that overflows with warmth, comfort, safety, relief, familiarity, goodness, beauty, family and kindred spirits. Where you can practically smell dinner simmering away on the stove and you can hear the creak of the old staircase. Where you know you're safe and protected and you can step away from the noise of the world. The kind of story where the setting comes to life in your mind, almost as if you can step right into the page and experience it in person. A story where the characters feel like old friends and kindred spirits who you can relate to and learn from. A story where goodness lies at its heart, where beauty of ordinary life shines through, and where you know your heart and soul are going to be filled to the brim with something truly lifegiving. That's what I hope for my home to be, both for myself and my family, but also for anyone who comes through our door. But, I've come to realize that's also what I love in a story. And just because it's not always sunshine and rainbows, as is the same with life, the beauty and goodness shines through and makes a way and all is well in the end. Stories like that are the ones that I have come to realize are the ones that stick with me...and I find myself pondering them long after I return the book to my shelf.

As a teenager and young woman in my early to mid-twenties, I didn't make the best choices when it came to reading material. My choices were nearly always books with a strongly, burdensome, guilt-ridden, toxic, heavy religious bent. They did nothing to feed my soul and fill me with goodness. Instead, they stole my peace and made me question every single little thing in ways that one should never have to. They caused me many years of anxiety and a tangled web of thoughts always running through my mind. It wasn't until I was in my mid-twenties that I made the switch to fiction. And not just any fiction, I made the conscious choice to fill my mind with fiction that wasn't heavy, dark, or depressing. I sought out books that were light and beautiful and happy. To many, those words automatically mean that a story lacks depth or realness or substance, but I beg to differ. I think and truly believe that folks would do well to stick with those sorts of books and set aside those books that are "deeper" with themes and tones that trigger anxiousness and depression and an overall dark view of life and the world. Depth can absolutely exist and be found in beauty, lightness, and happy endings. Not only that, but also in gentle, comforting, wholesome, charming stories, too. At least that's what I've found to be true.

In my fiction-reading-journey, the biggest thing I've been on the search for are stories that feel like home. Stories that are exactly what I described above; stories and characters that I can relate to and feel a connection with; stories that show and remind me that goodness and beauty do indeed still exist in this world. (I can sometimes get caught up in forgetting that.) With this post, I wanted to shine a light on a few of the stories that have come to hold a special place in my heart...stories that feel like home.

Growing up, I was very familiar with Jan Karon's Mitford series. My mom learned about them from a friend and began reading them when I was 6 or 7 years old. She collected the books as she finished one and was ready for the next. Those same books sit on my shelf today, as a few years back she gave me her set. Those books have made it around to three more friends, plus her stepmother...and every single one who read them all loved them. I grew up hearing about the characters and stories and from my mom and the ones she shared her books with all talking about how much they loved everything about them. Last November, after years of prodding from my mom, I finally picked up the first one and read it for myself. Needless to say, I was in love. It was unlike any of the other books I'd read before, as it felt like home...really and truly. It was like coming back to a part of myself and healing a piece of my heart that needed mending. The stories are heartwarming and charming and full of good, clean humor. The storytelling is gentle and comforting and wholesome. Mitford is a town that I would want to live in if I could, and its townspeople are folks I wouldn't mind having for neighbors or running into while running errands. I've since read the second book in the series and am about to begin the third soon. 

I didn't grow up with Anne Shirley. She was a kindred spirit I met right after I stepped into my twenties, and that was through the Megan Follows movie series. It wasn't until my mid-twenties that I finally read my first Anne book. Several years had passed, and I returned to that same story last autumn and found so much more the second time round than I even did the first time. L.M. Montgomery created an entire world...a world that invited my grown up, adult self to reawaken my imagination, to rediscover wonder, and to cultivate a strong desire to notice the beauty right in front of me. I realized that I live in a magical land, filled with wonder and beauty and whimsy, all thanks to Lucy Maud's imaginative writing. She stirred up something within me when I met Anne. I see the world differently...my imagination has been reawakened and that's something I think every adult needs to experience. In some ways Anne and me are kindred spirits; in other ways, I find myself more of a Diana sort of girl. Either way, the characters in these stories feel like dear old friends. And so does the landscape and scenery and nature that is written about so vividly in these books. I've still just read the first Anne book, but you can be assured that I have plans to pick up the second very soon. And I'm also curious about Montgomery's other books...are they as captivating and wondrous as her books about the Anne girl?

While the stories I shared above are full series, there are some books that are standalones. Not only that, but I've realized that each of these standalones have some similar qualities about them. Each one of these makes you realize it's okay to be quirky and to be yourself. They help you realize that being normal isn't necessarily a virtue, but rather denotes a lack of courage, as Aunt Frances so wisely says in Practical Magic. As someone who has never felt like I belonged or fit in, who has always felt broken or weird in ways, and who spent my childhood being bullied by adults and children alike (and even into my adulthood, too), stories like these always feel like home...like finding a kindred spirit and a place where I can actually belong. 

Sarah Addison Allen's First Frost was one of the first books I ever read that felt like coming home. I found myself in this story; I was comforted and healed and felt seen. Not to mention, this is a story that is set in the month of October and brings all the autumnal feels and cozy vibes right off the page. Natalie Lloyd's A Snicker of Magic is a middle-grade that my sister told me I must read. I read it a few months ago, and it immediately became a favorite. Her storytelling is so captivating and her characters, though they be children, felt like kindred spirits. Where were these children when I was in school? I'd have liked to have them as my friends. Both of these books feature characters who are learning to accept their unique qualities and quirks and being okay with being different...whether that be in talents or skills, personality, or the things that make them who they are. It's funny and kind of ridiculous, but even in my thirties, I deal with insecurities and low self-esteem sometimes because I feel different than what is considered "normal"...what even is normal? I am always drawn to characters and stories (whether in books or on screen or even in song) that make me feel like I'm not the only one to experience those thoughts and feelings.  The Waverly women in First Frost and Felicity and her family in A Snicker of Magic are some of those characters for me.

Picture books are also rich with stories that feel like home and characters that feel like kindred spirits. Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge is just one example of that. These woodland folk love home and simple pleasures and family and friends. They love celebrating festivals and holidays and making an ordinary day feel magical and special. Brambly Hedge is the sort of village I would jump right into if I could. Think Mary Poppins style. {{smiles}} Their homes feel like home to me, and I am inspired by how they make havens that are so cozy, comfy, and welcoming. So yes, I have some kindred spirits who are mice.

There are others I could mention, and perhaps I'll share more in another post. And along with these fiction selections, I have a few authors who write diaries/memoirs that feel like home to me, but I'll save those for another post. The stories I shared her today are the ones that come to mind first when I ponder stories that feel like home. Jan Karon wrote that the reason she writes the stories she does is to give readers an extended family and to applaud the extraordinary beauty of ordinary lives. That single phrase is exactly what I mean when I say "stories that feel like home". It's precisely the thing I look for in a story as well. And the wonderful thing about books is that I can find that in stories written for adults as well as for children, even in picture storybooks. I stand by the thought that a children's book that is truly well written can also be enjoyed by adults...and make them ponder things, take away something meaningful, and stir up their imagination.

I would absolutely love to hear from you...what are the books that feel like home to you?