Some books to curl up with on a rainy day

Swell weather we've been having of late, isn't it? Some of us have no choice but to brave the frequent showers for work or errands, while leisure or social outings have been dampened by rain. According to our Meteorological Department, things could remain this way for a while.

Of course, rainy days also mean fewer people at our bookstores. Yes, you can order online and have your books delivered to your doorstep (and pray the rain doesn't seep into the package), but it's just not the same without you guys being present. Nevertheless, if you're keen on a good book or three, we'll do whatever we can to help.

Can't decide what to read? Why not start with these titles we think you'll love to curl up with on a rainy day?

The Stormy Petrel by Mary Stewart
Random House
9780345468987

A term has ended in Cambridge and English professor Rose Fenemore takes the opportunity to go on a sabbatical in a rented cottage on a Scottish island. Some peace and quiet, at last! Just when she gets down to work on her writing, two men appear in the middle of the night, each with a story to tell. Who's telling the truth? What will these encounters lead to? And will Professor Rose finally have the peace and quiet she was looking for?

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Penguin
9780141441146

Ah, a Brontë classic, and a lauded one. Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up under her cruel aunt and suffers further deprivations in a charity school. Her troubled childhood forges her into an independent, principled lady who won't compromise on her beliefs. Jane is tested by her growing feelings for the brooding Edward Rochester, master of Thornfield Hall and guardian of the girl she is governess to. Just when Jane feels her search for happiness is over, Thornfield Hall's secret is exposed and she has to make a choice. What will it be and where will it lead her?

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Stripes
9781847495730

Another novel about an orphan ending up at a mysterious mansion sees spoiled Mary Lennox sent to live with her uncle at Misselthwaite Manor in the Yorkshire Moors. Unhappy with her circumstances at first, Mary's attitude changes when she learns of a secret garden her deceased aunt used to take care of. She finds the garden and shares it with the young brother of the mansion's maid and, later, her sickly cousin who has been bedridden for several years. Soon, the garden and the bracing Yorkshire air changes the three children in remarkable ways.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Arrow
9781784706111

So far the titles are pretty chill. How about a thriller? Suffering trauma from a break-in, travel journalist Lo Blacklock sees a luxury press launch on a boutique cruise ship as an antidote. However, she is woken up by screams at night and sees a body thrown overboard from the cabin next door. But it seems no one checked into that cabin, and no passengers are reported missing. Was she seeing things, or is she trapped on a boat with a murderer?

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Penguin UK
9780241951514

In this "sharp and clever parody of the melodramatic and rural novel", newly orphaned, 20-year-old Flora Poste imposes herself upon her distant relatives, the Starkadders of the isolated Cold Comfort Farm. The place is in a bad state and its inhabitants have issues. Thus, Flora takes it upon herself to fix things with "modern common sense". How will the Starkadders, who put up with her because of some unmentionable deed they did to her father, react?

 

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
HarperCollins
9780008514266

Set in the late 19th century in a fictional Canadian town, middle-aged siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert adopt a boy they hope will help them at their farm at Green Gables. Instead, they get 11-year-old, red-headed orphan girl Anne Shirley. Imaginative, talkative, and energetic, Anne (spelled with a "e" at the end, she insists) thrives in Green Gables and has many adventures there. This work by Lucy Maud Montgomery has been considered a classic children's novel for decades.

Do these work for you? Even if they don't, it's fine. When it's pouring outside or if you've just freshened up after wading through the rain, brew a cup of tea (or coffee), grab a blanket, and enjoy a cosy day in bed or the couch with a book.