6 comforting reads for when you're feeling down...

Soothing books that can help you get through difficult times.

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Hello and Welcome to the inaugural ‘Julian Philosophy’ newsletter. Here are 5 books that I would recommend for unashamed comfort-reading. These are books I’ve returned to many times, especially when I’m feeling a bit gloomy, uninspired, or sad.

They’re also perfect for reading together. I often read them out loud to Jenaline when she’s having a rough day.

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Non-Fiction: The World of Yesterday, by Stefan Zweig (Buy it here)

Possibly the most comforting book ever written about the fall of the Habsburg Empire. Stefan Zweig provides a detailed account of his upward trajectory from aspiring poet to world-renowned writer. Full of intimate encounters with legendary artists, thinkers, and politicians (Rodin, Freud, and Metternich were all friends), this book lives permanently on my bedside table. Intellectual Comfort reading of the highest order, and a lamentation of the rich cultural milieu preceding the two world wars. (Buy it here)

Fiction: Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh Buy it here

Ok, another comfort read. Evelyn Waugh’s famous tale of two young Oxford students who engage in an ‘English’ friendship, the curiosities of English Catholicism and Aristocracy, and of course the teddybear Aloysius. This book contains one of my favorite lines about melancholy and heartbreak: “I should like to bury something precious in every place where I've been happy and then, when I'm old and ugly and miserable, I could come back and dig it up and remember.” Buy it here

Comic/Graphic novel: Dungeon - The Nightshirt, by Lewis Trondheim, Christoph Blaine Buy it here

I am obsessed with this series. Lewis Trondheim is one of the world’s most famous comic-book authors, and yet somehow remains criminally unknown in the US/UK. I’ve chosen this one, because it’s the first one I read. He blends fantasy, morbid comedy, and very adult themes in ways that are absolutely incomparable and always deeply imaginative. I’ve been collecting them in multiple languages. This one is a must-read. Buy it here

Manga: Bakuman vol. 1, by the creators of Death Note! Buy it here

This is a deeply inspiring manga series about the creative process and what it takes to become a professional manga artist. It’s also a deep-dive into how the manga industry works. Whenever I’m feeling uninspired, I re-read this series. It always gets me motivated. Buy it here

Children’s Book: The Little Prince (dual language edition), by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Buy it here)

This one is so obvious, but I had to include it here. Did you know that Saint-Exupéry was also one of the main influences for Hayao Miyazaki’s movies? This book runs deep through me, and inspires almost everything else I do. And while you’re at it, why not read the dual language edition to teach yourself some beginner’s French? (buy

Art: Klimt - The complete collection

Few artists remain quite as contemporary as Gustav Klimt. He’s probably the most comforting of the modernists, and his works always give me a sensual, intimate, rich feeling of love and desire, even on my darkest days. This Taschen edition contains many works you’ve probably never seen before, and provides enriching (comforting) context about Vienna’s Golden age and what it was like to be an artist at the turn of the century. Buy it here

Ok, that’s it for today! Hope these help you get through some difficult times.

What are your most comforting reads? Let me know in the comments. :)