The Comfort BookThe Comfort Book
What it's about
Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library and Reasons to Stay Alive, offers short reflections, lists, quotes and stories about how to get through hard times, drawing on his own experience of depression and anxiety, and on the lives of people he admires.
Why it's worth reading
It was a Goodreads Choice finalist. It's gentle, consoling and easy to dip into.
You'll love it if you liked
The Good Life
Meditations for Mortals
The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying TimesGood to know
It's made of very short pieces.
By the numbers
- Readers46 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller36 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
On our reserve shelf: it's well reviewed, but isn't currently a prize winner, a lifetime bestseller or a book everyone's talking about, so we don't rank it. We check again every month, and it can still turn up in your 50 once you've read most of our ranked books.
Why it made the list
Reads as
Practical
More by Matt Haig
If you like this, read next
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
The Anxious Generation
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
Unreasonable Hospitality
The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times
What Happened to You?Explore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Self-help and business booksTop 25 · 85 ranked
New booksTop 25 · 481 rankedBooks of the 2020sTop 25 · 555 ranked
Fantasy booksTop 25 · 459 ranked
Mysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 555 ranked
Literary novelsTop 25 · 309 ranked
Memoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 ranked
Science fiction booksTop 25 · 313 rankedQuick answers
Is The Comfort Book worth reading?
It was a Goodreads Choice finalist. Its Must-Read Score is 63.8 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The Comfort Book about?
Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library and Reasons to Stay Alive, offers short reflections, lists, quotes and stories about how to get through hard times, drawing on his own experience of depression and anxiety, and on the lives of people he admires.
How long does it take to read The Comfort Book?
About 6 hours (256 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after The Comfort Book?
If you liked it, try The Good Life by Robert Waldinger, Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman or The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall.